Anakin didn't stay long in his tent. He waited until the call was finished, then he left his tent and began to train his Katas. He was determined to protect everyone.

First he felt how everybody was looking at him, but soon he was in a sort of trance, only concentrating on his Katas. From what his Master always told him, Anakin thought, should he feel this calm and collected while meditating. He decided to ask his Master why practicing Katas felt more like meditating than meditating.

Then he let this topic fall and began to think which fighting style was the best to protect everyone.

Right now he only practiced the Form I Shii-Cho like every youngling and beginner in the Order. Obi-Wan always said this because this Form is the basis of every other form. If he didn't know this form, then he couldn't master any other form.

Form V was the form he always wanted to learn, after he had heard from every form. It was called the way of the Krayt Dragon, and Krayt Dragons were strong. He wanted to become strong. He needed to become strong, if he wanted to achieve his goals. Another good point for Form V was that this form had a defensive stance and an attack stance.

At the first thought, it was a good decision to do both. But as he thought more about it and what he learned, he came to the conclusion that the defensive stance was to protect the user and not his allies. It was only to protect himself and not others.

The form to protect others is Form III Soresu, the form his Obi-Wan was about to master, Anakin remembered. With Soresu he could protect the others. He could deflect the blaster bolts of enemies while they shoot them down.

But still, he couldn't cover everyone even with Soresu, he would need agility and speed like in Form IV Ataru. But this form was not a defensive form.

Anakin sighed, while still doing his Katas.

He yearned to master Form V. He wanted to be as mighty as a Krayt Dragon.

Then he realized, he wasn't a Krayt Dragon, he was a Skywalker and a Skywalker wasn't known for his might. A Skywalker was known for his cleverness and the ability to adapt, to change himself in order to change other persons and things.

After this mission, he would ask his Master to teach him Soresu, and then he would learn the others' styles to switch while fighting and to be able to combine them. He needed to be a Skywalker to protect his loved ones.

With this plan in his mind, he ended his Katas, realizing that it was already dark.

After the call in Coruscant:

"Was this really a good idea to send a child there?" Mace Windu asked and looked first to Master Yoda and then to the Chancellor. They were in the Chancellor's office.
"Ready, young Skywalker is not," Yoda answered and looked disapprovingly at the Chancellor.
"Republic Intelligence said that this base can be a great danger for us. It needs to be destroyed. Anakin is a Jedi of the Republic. It is his duty to protect our Republic. And I think that he is capable of doing so. I trust his abilities and that he will complete this mission," the Chancellor said with confidence.

Slowly, Anakin and the clones got in a routine. They were in the searching area for two weeks and the days were quite the same. It was a dark time. The day started late and ended early. It was dark when they began the march for the day, and dark when they settled down for the night's rest.

And they were on their own. No signal got out and no signal came in. They even couldn't communicate with each other when they were too far away from each other, so they never left too far.

In the third week, it began to rain, seeming endlessly. The clones got more grumpy with every rainy day. Even their armor didn't save them from the endless rain.

Anakin on the other side was just happy. Even after over a year on Coruscant, the rain was still something special to him, and he loved it even if it slowed them down.

"How can you be so happy, al'verd'ika," Boil once asked, looking at the little soaked Jedi.

"I like the rain," Anakin answered, smiling.

"The rain? It is wet and cold and makes the sky dark," Boil said, thinking of the steady rain on Kamino. Anakin only shrugged. "I came from a desert planet. Being wet isn't a bad thing for me. And I don't mind being cold when it rains. I just like it," Anakin explained and jumped in a puddle, making Boil wet and muddy. He grinned and heard the others chuckle and laugh as well. Even Boil felt lighter in the force and less grumpy.

It rained for about two weeks. Around midday, the sky cleared and Cody let them halt.

"We will set camp here and let our things dry as much as possible with the high humidity," the Commander said, and they began to unpack the wet things and hang them up to dry.

While they and their things dried, they could catch a longer break than the last month.

Anakin settled down to meditate, so he could at least tell his master that he tried. He got to light meditation and was calmer than normally. He mused that it was due to nature and it's sounds. But he still couldn't reach a deep meditation without shielding himself from the storm that is the force.

A conversation got him out of meditation. He looked up and saw Waxer, Boil, Trapper and Crys standing in front of a branch.

"I dare you to eat the bug," Waxer said to Boil. "Don't say, you are afraid," Crys teased.

"Okay, I'll do it," Boil said and got the bug to his mouth.

"What are you doing?" Anakin asked them and walked to them.

"Al'verd'ika!" Boil exclaimed, looking up from the bug he wanted to eat.

"We want to know if Boil would eat a bug," Crys answered.

"You can't do that." Anakin said, alarmed.

"I heard in some cultures it is normal to eat bugs," Waxer stated.

"Yes, but you can't just eat it. This is a slug-beetle and unless you are a Gungan you shouldn't eat it without removing the legs and wings, and you should cook it. There are only a few insects you can eat raw and even fewer you can eat whole and raw," Anakin explained, taking the beetle from Boils hands.

The clones stared at Anakin, not really realizing what happened.

"Can I have a knife?" the Jedi asked. Crys gave him curiosity about what would happen next.

Anakin killed the beetle by cutting its head off, then removed its wings and legs.

"When you put it on a stick and roast it, then you can eat it," Anakin said and gave the beetle bag to Boil.

"How do you know all of this?" Trapper asked, examining the dead bug.

"Like Waxer said, there are cultures where it is normal to eat insects," Anakin only answers.

"I can make us some snacks for dinner," he offered.

"Oh, no no. That's not necessary," they answered quickly, looking skeptical at other insects that flew and crawled around them.

"I think it is a good idea," Someone said behind them. They turned around and saw Cody with crossed arms in front of his chest. "And I would say you help our al'verd'ika as thanks that he saved you from doing something stupid," he said and looked serious at his brothers.

Some gulped, others looked ashamed at the ground. Anakin only grinned. "Don't worry, I know that here live some I know from home, they really taste good," he said.

Together they caught some insects. Anakin taught them how to do it. He showed them edible insects and not edible insects. Told them which are the richest and best to survive and which are the best tasting. There were also some they could eat raw, and Anakin dared them to taste these insects, eating some itself.

In the evening, they roasted the insects and removed inedible things. Their young Jedi taught them how every insect tasted the best. And in the end they were fed up with insects not needing a ration bar, and it also tasted better, at least the most.

"We found it," Trapper exclaimed as he and Wooley came back from their scouting.

"We saw some clankers and followed them. The base is at a lake in an opening. It seems that the base continues into the lake. The front door is well guarded and has high defenses, but at one side is a ventilation shaft, big enough for us. It isn't guarded there, so we could sneak in," Wooley reported

"Good, it was about time," Cody answered, and the rest breathed a sigh of relief. Their searching had come to an end.

It was about two months, they searched on their own in the thickest part of the jungle without a chance to contact the others out there.

Their rations were getting low and wouldn't have Anakin showed them how to eat insects, they wouldn't have any food left. Since last week, they lived from insects and some edible plants they found, so they had some rations left for any emergency.

"Show us the ventilation shaft. Then we can make a plan and can begin tomorrow with it. Everyone, this is about stealth, I don't wanna hear anything from you," Cody ordered and everyone, even Anakin saluted. Cody looked confused at his Jedi Commander, and Anakin blushed, looking sheepishly at the ground. "Sorry," he murmured, but the clones only chuckled.

"Let's go," Cody said, and they sneaked to the base.

"There it is," Boil said, as they stopped at the side of the enemy's base, looking at the ventilation shaft.
They hid at the edge of the jungle, between them and the ventilation shaft was only a deepening, nearly a big hole.
Anakin frowned as he saw it.

"We should look nearer to the ventilation shaft," Cody said and wanted to leave their hiding spot as Anakin held him back.
"Stop. I don't think that this hole is just a little deepening," he said, picking up a branch and throwing it in the hole.

"What are…" Wooley began, but was interrupted by a tentacle coming out of the hole lashing out and a roar.
"Get back!" Anakin ordered, and they fled in the jungle, a tentacle following them but luckily didn't reach them.

"What was that?" Trapper asked, catching his breath.
"That was a sarlacc. Our entrance is protected from a sarlacc, we can't get around it. It will sense us and eat us. We need another way in," Anakin explained.

"Haar'chak. Of course, it wouldn't be that easy," Boil cursed.
"The question is, is there another way," Crys said.
"Maybe underwater. There could be a way. But we also don't know what lives down there," Trapper suggested.
"You are right, we don't know, but I don't think there is another plan or idea, right?" Cody asked and everyone shook their heads.

"You can swim in your armor?" Anakin asked.
"Well, not as good as in the underwater armor, and we have to leave some parts at the surface, but it is possible," Cody answered.
"And your blasters?" Anakin asked the next question.
"As long as we don't stay too long in the water, they will be fully functional," Crys answered. Anakin nodded and looked at his Master's lightsaber, hoping it would be waterproof.

He read once that it is possible to build a waterproof lightsaber, but this knowledge was long forgotten before Master Fisto rediscovered it, so Anakin wasn't sure if Obi-Wan had already adjusted his lightsaber. He hoped so. But the lightsaber wasn't the only problem.
He had only started learning to swim. He already was able to hold himself above the water and swim clumsily, but so far, he only swam in a pool where he could stand and see the bottom. The lake he saw was dark and deep.

Anakin gulped as they approached the water.
"Everything alright, al'verd'ika?" Waxer asked.
"I… I can't swim very well. I only learned the basics some weeks before we came here," Anakin admitted shamefully.
"Mhm…" Cody hummed. "Can you hold your breath and hold on Waxer?" he asked.
Anakin nodded eagerly. "I can do that," he answered.

"Good. Waxer, you take our little Jedi. Boil and Kit, you two help him. Trapper and Wooley, you lead the way down there. Crys and I will have your backs. Alright?" Cody asked. They saluted, "Sir, yes Sir!"

"Why are we sneaking in now? I thought you wanted to do it tomorrow?" Anakin asked, as he got himself ready for their dive.
"I hope they will be distracted from the raging sarlacc which didn't get his food," Cody answered and unlocked his weapon. Anakin nodded and felt if the lightsaber was attached to his belt.

As everyone was ready, they dived in.