Anakin swirled his cup of caff, trying to blink the sleep from his eyes.
"So," He said, rubbing his face, "Saan wants us out there again today?"
"I assume so," Obi-Wan responded.
"Well," Anakin smirked, "Let's just hope-"
The floor beneath them jolted as a loud boom sounded throughout the Capitol building. Anakin's cup dropped to the ground and shattered as he reached for his lightsaber. Another boom sounded, this one farther away. The building began to rock back and forth.
Anakin and Obi-Wan ran for the door, their lightsabers aglow. Before they could reach it, however, a deafening explosion blew them back. Anakin felt himself break through the window, his lightsaber slipping from his hand. He forced his eyes open and twisted in the air, using the force to break his fall. He looked around for Obi-Wan, only to find his old master standing right beside him.
Anakin supposed that, at this point, any normal person would be going into shock or panicking. However, after going through Jedi training and fighting on the front lines for years, Anakin was fairly used to life or death situations.
There was a thick cloud of dust in the air, and Anakin could barely see to the other side of the mesa. The Capitol building was still standing, with people streaming out of the front door and the low windows. Anakin spotted a young man in a third-story window. He was looking around wildly for an exit, his teeth bared. Anakin called upon the force and began to lift the man down. He struggled at first before he realized what was happening, and as soon as he hit the ground, he ran. Anakin looked to Obi-Wan, who was helping an old woman down from a lower window.
Anakin! He felt Ahsoka call out to him. What's going on?
Bomb, he responded, observing his surroundings as the dust began to settle. Obi-Wan and I are alright.
I'm coming.
Anakin spotted his lightsaber on the ground a few yards away, dangerously close to the edge of the mesa. He picked it up, clipping it onto his belt.
From where Anakin was standing in relation to the building, he couldn't see the city. On the mesa around him, there were hundreds of Togruta huddled together in groups or lying dead or injured on the ground. He could barely hear the sirens over the screams. Anakin turned, looking out across the desert. The Capitol building cast a long shadow over the dunes.
Just as he was about to turn away, something caught his eye. There were three Toruta figures huddled behind a nearby dune, only about 60 feet away.
"Obi-Wan!" Anakin coughed. Obi-Wan appeared by his side in an instant. Anakin pointed to the three figures, already starting to run towards them.
The two of them leaped off of the back of the mesa, using the force to slow their descent. Anakin hit the ground running. He could hear shouts from one of the figures, but he was unable to discern what they were saying over the sirens and wails above.
The three figures turned and began to race across the desert, bobbing up and down as they ran over the dunes. Anakin followed them, his feet pummeling into the hot sand. A mirage formed on the horizon, but he ignored it, never taking his eyes off of the figures. They were gaining on their targets, now a mere 20 feet standing between them.
The three disappeared behind a large dune and Anakin scrambled up it a few moments later. When Anakin reached the top, he could see one of the figures, a large man, leaping onto a speeder that was hidden behind the dune, yelling orders to the other two. Anakin used the force to clear the dune as the second figure, a woman, lunged onto the speeder. Anakin grabbed the third figure as the speeder began to pull away, Obi-Wan appearing behind him and running after it.
The third figure, a greasy looking man, called out as Anakin twisted his wrist at an odd angle and threw him face-first into the sand. The speeder disappeared over the horizon and Obi-Wan turned back to him.
"What are you doing here?" Anakin growled at the man. The man turned and faced Anakin, spitting the sand out of his mouth. He had black striped lekku and yellow skin. Not a golden yellow like Ovota's skin, but a sickly, greenish yellow. The man had quite an unfortunate face, with a long, crooked nose that looked like it had been broken several times. He had deep, sunken eyes that darted around wildly. The man twisted his face into an awful grin, baring his yellow teeth.
"Just watching the fireworks," The man sneered.
Anakin ignited his lightsaber, pointing it at his throat. "What is your name?" He asked, immediately despising this man.
"Covrik Ki," He responded, leaning his head away from the buzzing saber. Obi-Wan grabbed Covrik and pulled him to his feet. Anakin clipped his lightsaber back onto his belt, pushing Covrik in front of him as they made their way back to the mesa.
I'm here, Ahsoka called out, Where are you?
We found one of the people responsible for the bombing, we're bringing him back now. He responded, giving Covrik an extra hard shove towards the smoking Capitol building.
Where?
In the desert behind the building. There were two others here as well, but they got away.
I see you, Ahsoka said. Anakin spotted her jumping down from the top of the mesa, landing gracefully at the bottom. She jogged towards them, her eyes widening as she saw the man they had apprehended.
"Covrik?" She exclaimed.
"You know him?" Anakin asked, glaring at the back of the man's head. Ahsoka fell into step with him and Obi-Wan.
"I've only met him a few times. He works with my dad. I always thought that he was a real prick, but he never seemed like the type to do something like this," She said. Covrik remained silent.
"We'll lock him up at the detention center for now," Obi-Wan said, stroking his beard pensively. "We can deal with him later."
Apparently, Covrik didn't like the sound of that, because he turned and started to run. He only made it a few feet, however, before he was lifted off the ground, writhing in midair as Ahakin brought him back to their position with the force. He grabbed Covrik by the lekku and pushed him forward again.
Covrik cried out in pain, gripping his lekku and stumbling forward. Anakin had learned the hard way that a Togruta's lekku were extremely sensitive. He remembered one instance where he had landed on Ahsoka's lekku in training. It hadn't been pretty. However, seeing as this man had just participated in a bombing that killed hundreds of innocent people, Anakin found it hard to sympathize with him.
They reached the mesa and Anakin threw the man upwards, ignoring his screams of terror and jumping after him. He landed on the top, grabbing Corvik's shoulder as Ahsoka and Obi-Wan joined him.
The dust had mostly settled, and Anakin could now see the full extent of the damage. The pale stone of the Capitol building was blackened in places, and the sand around the building was littered with rubble and pieces of broken glass. The emergency services seemed to have arrived a long time ago, as most of the people who had been lying on the ground were now gone. There were people in red uniforms loading stretchers onto a medical transport, and others in black uniforms were speaking with the witnesses.
There was a group of the black-uniformed Togruta nearby, along with a cabinet member. Anakin recognized her as the woman who had sat at the right hand of Saan at the last meeting.
"Excuse me," He said, walking up to the group. "Where is the High Commissary? Is she alright? We need to speak to her."
A man in a black uniform stepped forward. The uniform was decorated with many medals, and he wore an Akul tooth headdress. "I'm sorry, but the High Commissary is dead," The man said gruffly.
"I am deeply sorry to hear that," Obi-Wan said, bowing his head respectfully. "Who is in charge now?
"That would be me," The Cabinet member stepped forward. "My name is Daaro."
"I am General Obi-Wan Kenobi and this is my counterpart, General Skywalker."
"We discovered this man and two others observing the explosion from the desert. The other two got away, but since they ran when we approached, we believe that they were responsible for this attack." Anakin said, trying not to roll his eyes at the diplomatic introductions.
"Very well," The gruff man said, grabbing Corvik and handcuffing him. Corvic remained silent, glaring at Anakin as two of the officers took him away.
"What do we do now?" Ahsoka asked, stepping forward to stand beside Obi-Wan and Anakin.
"The city had been put in a hold," Daaro responded. "Citizens are not to leave their houses unless necessary. This is currently a stage 4 threat," She said, crossing her arms. "If it progresses to stage 6, we will have to move our citizens to the bunkers." Ahsoka nodded, frowning. "In the meantime," Daaro continued, "We must interrogate that man and launch an investigation into this attack."
"We will contact the senate and ask them to send a clone battalion for increased security," Obi-Wan said.
"That would be for the best," Daaro agreed.
"If you'll excuse us."
Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan walked a few feet away and stood in a circle.
"I'll contact the senate," Obi-Wan said. "Anakin, you deal with the interrogation."
"It would be my pleasure," he responded. "Ahsoka, you coming?"
"I don't see why not," She grinned.
And despite them standing in the middle of a crime scene, and despite the dust and wails and sirens, Anakin felt complete.
sigh...
Well, last time I promised a better chapter, and I feel like I didn't deliver on that promise at all.
I think I'm just shit at writing action lmao
For those of you who were wondering, I've been updating this story once every 3 days, and I'm hoping to continue that schedule until the story is done. I have 10 chapters planned out, but that might change idk