Ahsoka

The shuttle rumbled under Ahsoka's feet as she looked out at the forest-filled expanse of Falleen. The day was peaceful and even from this height she could hear the sounds of life down below. Her master beside her yelled out a warning of "5 minutes until dropoff!" She gripped the leather strap tighter.

Her stomach felt as if it was in knots, as always before a mission. No matter how many missions she went on, she knew there was a danger to it. Just a month ago one of the padawans she was in a clan with as a youngling was killed on a routine mission. She couldn't afford to get cockey. This wasn't a game; it was war. Anakin nudged her, "Remember the plan?"

"A plan? You just said we're kicking some ass, blowing shit up, and saving the day."

"Right. So you know the plan."

"How could I forget? It's the only thing close to a plan that we ever have." She rolled her eyes.

"No need to get snippy, young one," he admonished with a smirk. She could have sworn Rex behind her snickered but he passed it off as a cough. Ahsoka would never tell Anakin to his face since his ego was already huge, but the banter before missions really helped her nerves. It also reminded her that she wasn't alone and that her master had her back.

The seperatist base rolled into view- a large gray building surrounded by high walls with turrets. The walls were impossible to breech from the ground without risking heavy casualties, resulting in the aerial infiltration. Intel had said valuable information may be logged in the computers so the council had asked them to refrain from explosives… at least until the information was safely backed up. Then they had the go-ahead to blow it all to kingdom come.

Ahsoka adjusted the backpack full of explosives and prepared to leap into the fortress. Anakin yelled, "On my count! Three," Ahsoka gulped. "Two," She let go of the strap. "One," She bent her knees. "Jump!" Years of training and experience meant this wasn't Ahsoka's first time just jumping out into a freefall but her stomach dropped all the same. A rush of cold air hit her face and she called on the force. Her descent slowed, and she ended in a perfect roll, her lightsaber lit. behind them, shuttle after shuttle of clones dropped- enough to hopefully overwhelm the enemy forces.

The battle droids milling around the compound jumped into action, opening fire on them. Ahsoka's training took over and she began reflecting bolts back using pure instinct. Anakin signalled her with two fingers and the two jedi booked it to the doors of the facility with the wave of clones providing cover. They raced down the hallway, slashing any droids they came across on their way. When they reached a fork they skidded to a stop.

"Master, we should split up. I'll take this path and set the charges. You get the info." Anakin's eyebrows were furrowed and he seemed torn.

"No, it's safer if we stick together. We'll just take a bit longer."

"It'll waste time the troops might not be able to give us. Trust me, Master. I can do this." Anakin seemed reluctant but he nodded, understanding how important time was.

"Be safe, Snips. And comm me if you run into trouble." With a nod and a small smirk, Ahsoka took off down the left hallway where the plans said the power grid would be. A left, a right, and a short jump down a lift shaft later, she dropped on top of the main reactor. A couple battle droids below her took notice.

"Ahhh! A Jedi!"

"Oh no! What do we do?"

"We shoot her, dumbass."

"Ok that's not very ni-" The droid was cut off with a lightsaber to the head and his buddy followed soon after. If she wanted to avoid the reinforcements she would need to make this quick. Ahsoka slung the pack off her shoulder. She reached in and pulled out a handful of charges, placing them on the main reactor.

Ahsoka artfully set the remaining charges on what she felt would be the most explosive. A barrel of battery acid? Absolutely. A super important looking control panel? Definitely. The vent system? Eh why not. There's no such thing as a seppie base being too demolished.

After setting the charges she dashed to a nearby hallway to get out of the open and comm her master. "Charges are set. I set the timer to 10 minutes so hurry up, slowpoke."

"Copy that. Good job. Information has been downloaded and I'm heading back now."

"Race ya. Bet I'll win. You have been slowing down with old age, ma-" She was cut off by pressure against her throat. She instinctively reached and felt the rough skin of an arm squeezing her neck as her back slammed against a torso. A click and the feeling of cold metal against skin told her the captor had a gun held to her head.

"Snips? Do you read me?" From beside her Ahsoka felt a warm breath and a gravelly voice rasped,

"Ahsoka can't come to her comm right now." Her heart stopped and her blood ran cold. She would know that voice anywhere. It had been haunting her since the holocron incident. Cad Bane. She could hear her master yelling from her com, begging her to answer him, but at the moment she was more concerned with the lack of oxygen due to the pressure against her trachea.

She tried to reach out to the force to give her just a breath but couldn't focus. The edges of her vision were slowly dimming and she was vaguely aware of being dragged down the hallway. Her last coherent thought before completely passing out was 'kriff only 7 more minutes until the whole place explodes'.

Anakin

Anakin stared at his apprentice, concerned. He had just called out a five minute warning before they jumped down onto Falleen's surface and Ahsoka looked contemplative and a little frightened. Anakin knew what it could be like to get stuck in your own head before a mission and it was never good. He nudged her and she looked up at him, her big blue eyes reminding him how young she was- a child soldier. "Do you remember the plan?" A brief flash of panic before she gave him a sassy look.

"A plan? You just said we're kicking some ass, blowing shit up, and saving the day." Anakin grinned. He was such a genius.

"Right. So you know the plan."

"How could I forget? It's the only thing close to a plan that we ever have." She rolled her eyes at him. Well, that plan has worked many times in the past. If it isn't broke, don't fix it. He smirked and mock-glared at Ahsoka.

"No need to get snippy, young one." Behind him, Anakin heard a snicker from Rex. So obviously Rex wasn't just an amazing captain he also had an impeccable sense of humor. Anakin made a mental note to try again to promote Rex. Ahsoka turned back to the landscape but she looked happier and her force signature was much lighter. Anakin saw the gray of the fortress in the distance and quickly did calculations in his head of when everyone would need to jump. Unfortunately, Rex had a jetpack so there would be no throwing of his favorite captain. "On my count!" He yelled. "Three, two, one, jump!"

For a brief moment, he was weightless. Then Anakin slowed his descent and landed in a low crouch. He ignited his lightsaber and blocked laser bolts coming towards him, rebounding them to their source. A few droids fell and he internally congratulated himself. Anakin held out the signal to advance and the troopers behind him changed formation. They held back the oncoming droids as the two Jedi ran for the fortress door. A few droids tried to stop them but Anakin and Ahsoka made quick work of them. Anakin was about to propose another competition on who could destroy the most droids by the end of the mission. He hoped that the game would help lighten the mood. However, as he was about to propose the game, they reached a split path and Ahsoka proposed splitting up.

It wasn't that Anakin didn't believe in his padawan's abilities. He did. But she was a kid and he needed to protect her. A part of him resented the council for making a teenager fight in a war. At least he was an adult when the Clone Wars started. "No, it's safer if we stick together. We'll just take a bit longer."

"It'll waste time the troops might not be able to give us. Trust me, Master. I can do this." He did trust her. And his men needed them to make this quick. He really really didn't want to let her go off on her own without any of his men accompanying her.

"Be safe, Snips. And comm me if you run into trouble." As she ran off, something inside of Anakin screamed at him to run after her, tell her he changed his mind, and insist she stay by his side. But he let her go and focused on his own mission. He turned right and ran towards the research and development area.

The stolen plans of the fortress were a little outdated so Anakin ended up bursting into supply closets multiple times. He was grateful none of his men were there to see that happen. He eventually found the research and development department. There were very few droids, making this an easy mission. 'Almost too easy,' a paranoid voice in his head murmured. Anakin told it to shut up.

He had been having dreams again. They were like the ones before his mom died. Ahsoka would scream for him and he would try his best but he never made it in time. He had tried to talk to Obi-wan about it but Obi-wan had just brushed them off as nightmares. Maybe Obi-wan was right though and they were just nightmares. He hoped Obi-wan was right.

Anakin quickly disabled the security and plugged in the data storage, waiting for it to download. The download progress bar was filling agonizingly slow. Finally, a little ding sounded and Anakin grabbed the data storage, tucking it into a pouch on his belt. As if on cue, his comm flashed and Ahsoka's voice rang out.

"Charges are set. I set the timer to 10 minutes so hurry up, slowpoke." Anakin hadn't realized how worried he was until he heard her and it felt like a weight was lifted. The hard part was over and he would see her soon.

"Copy that. Good job. Information has been downloaded and I'm heading back now." Anakin turned and began to make his way through the hallway leading out of the research and development department.

"Race ya. Bet I'll win. You have been slowing down with old age, ma-" Panic rose up in Anakin's chest as it cut off.

"Snips? Do you read me?" Maybe the connection was bad. It didn't mean she was in trouble. Anakin wasn't sure he believed himself. His naive optimism shattered when Cad Bane's voice replied.

"Ahsoka can't come to her comm right now." Red hot anger coursed through his veins, replacing the cold fear. His voice came out as a snarl.

"Bane. Let. Her. Go. Ahsoka, are you okay? Ahsoka, answer me!" There was no answer. The comm was silent. Fueled by rage, Anakin ran towards the landing area where Bane most likely was. It was on the other side of the fortress closer to where Ahsoka had ended up so Bane had a head start. Anakin ran as fast as he could, using the force to propel him. He cursed himself for letting her out of his sight