Second to last chapter! I'm almost done, baby! Thanks to everyone who still follows my updates and reads this. My apologies for taking so long. I'd like to thank SWTOR and the Clone Wars book The Cestus Deception for my breakthroughs. It's all come together now.

Disclaimer: I don't own this, I don't own any characters except those of my own creation, and I don't own Disney. If I did, Star Wars Rebels would be better written.

He gestured with two fingers as they together went out the door, sensing the other nod in agreement. Thankfully, a cursory sweep of the hallway showed no one approaching or leaving, which meant no unfriendlies on the outside watching their movements. Aiming for the far side of the doorway, steering clear of the actual door and the sensor that would cause it to slide open prematurely, he silently made his way. Once he made it to that side, he pivoted to face the other clone, who nodded at him. Nodding back in understanding, he led the silent rush into the room. Gree and Skee entered the room as quickly as possible, just in case anyone were to come down the hallway. They were supposed to be in their quarters, not the generals' quarters. Anyone in the household would naturally be suspicious.

"I don't see anyone," Skee said once the doors shut. Gree vocally agreed. The entire room was absent of intruders. Then, as if by a magnetic force, their attention swiveled in unison towards the closed closet door. It was the only space in which someone could hide. At Skee's nod, Gree charged towards the automatic doors, blinking only in reaction to their swooshing open.

Nothing.

"Okay, this is too weird," Gree grumbled in frustration. "I could have sworn we both heard something." He looked down and around to examine the scene before him. The closet here was twice the size of his closet, packed tightly with trunks, boxes, and various other containers. There was easily enough space to fit an average-sized being who wanted to fit in here.

"Yeah," Skee opined. "How could we both hear something that's not physically here?" Gree saw then the air duct, right above the bed, and motioned for Skee to look up. "Oh," was the lame response.

"Yeah, don't feel bad," he grinned at the younger clone standing outside the closet. "Apparently not everyone looks up."

"I was taught to shoot a target that was in front of me," Skee grumbled. "Not to shoot at a target that's flying around Force knows where."

"Yeah, yeah." Gree ignored him with practiced ease, kneeling down in the enclosed space carefully. There was stuff scattered around, and a locked chest. Someone had either been rifling around in here intentionally and caused the disturbance in the process, or both actions were intentional to begin with.

"Commander Gree," the General's voice crackled, "do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, General," the clone commander responded. Skee looked around; he knew there was no one else in the room. However, his fingers were busy opening up and typing on the wrist computer he had. As the head of a techie clone contingent, he knew all of the latest developments for and against their side. One of which involved technological spy gear that could be deployed on the other side of the wall in order to listen in to conversations. He was currently setting up a magnetic field to make their communication appear distorted and unreadable, in case there was anything set up that they hadn't detected. Once he was done, he nodded to Gree.

"The link is secure, General," he said.

"Good work, men. Now, listen to what I have to say. I just talked to Senator Organa. He understands the secretive nature of our undertaking here, and gave me some helpful information. Commander Gree, did Captain Skee update you on the files he found?"

"The ones regarding Project Monarch? Yes," Gree nodded affirmatively as he spoke.

"Excellent. The senator confirmed the possibility of such an occurrence. He also spoke of bunkers. Thousands of years ago, there was a civil war here on Alderaan. Each of the houses were split into two camps: they were either for, or against the Royal Family. Due to the war, underground bunkers were made to stock up on supplies, act as hiding places, generally to aid each house in their part of the war effort. Since the Kiln House was on the side of the royals, they were given extra land as a token of the family's gratitude. The senator suggested we look to find out what might have been added to the estate."

"General, I think I know where to look." Gree pulled up a holographic map of the house and grounds he had constructed. "One of the groundskeepers mentioned something similar to me when I was scouting out the grounds below. She was vague, perhaps intentionally –" as had to be considered with any source of intel "– but given where the visible tracks end, my guess would be to start there."

"Wait!" Skee took out his datapad and made a couple taps on the screen. His brow furrowed with every tap; he was searching for something he had seen before. Gree knew he had found it when his brow relaxed. Whatever he might joke about the techies, he would always appreciate their shared tendency towards having an excellent photographic memory. "Commander Gree, focus in on the garden area on your holo map."

When Gree had constructed his holo map, he had started by inputting the GPS coordinates, first of the mansion, and then the surrounding areas. The only unknown in his case was the forest; due to its dense thickness of foliage, the system was having a heck of a time determining exactly where it ended. That included the south side; given how everything grew, the north side was easier to pinpoint its own set of data points. Modern technology was useful only for so far, a point of contention often brought up between himself and Skee. Wordlessly, Gree did as his companion asked.

"Where about were the coordinates for the disappearing tracks?"

"Here." Gree tapped that portion of the holo, and it zoomed in. Skee looked like he wanted to say something, pausing before showing the other clone the screen of his datapad. The first set of coordinates had the same first digit as that location, and the second digit only five marks above the location's second digit.

"And the northern border is eight-and-a-half marks above that first set of coordinates," Gree said that portion aloud. "The second set, following the first two marks from there longitudinally, goes down almost the exact middle of the forested area." Which then means that we now have a more limited search area, his mind supplied as he swiped in a circle to mark the suggested search area. It was still a large search area, but it would take up less valuable time.

"Commander?" Luminara's voice sounded over his comm again, and he berated himself quietly for forgetting that his General was not physically present.

"My apologies, General," he said quickly. "I believe that, between Skee's and mine collaboration, we've not only found but also narrowed down our search area. I'm sending you the coordinates of where you and I will begin. I'm heading out there now."

"Very good. I will likewise head out. General Luminara out." The hologram winked out.

"Uh…" Skee looked askance at Gree. "I hate to ask, but what should I do?"

"Do what you do best, techie," Gree smacked him on the shoulder playfully. "Mess with their systems. Sneak around and find more information. Do whatever you can think of to make our search quicker and unhampered by any potential interference."

"Aw! But I wanted to go join the action with you guys for once," Skee whined.

"Well, maybe next time, techie," Gree said, clasping the other clone on the shoulder. "Just remember to lock the door."

"And hope they don't have blasters," Skee supplied.

"Better not. The ones that do are supposed to be at this mystery bunker. I'm the one they're supposed to be shooting at." Gree smirked. Skee rolled his eyes.

"Right. Well, good luck." Gree rose and immediately headed out the door. Skee remained behind, staring at the door as he sat on his haunches. He broke his gaze and returned his attention to his datapads. Time to do some hacking – again. He chanced a glance towards the closet. There was a lot of interesting stuff in that closet, and that chest was just begging to have its locking system cracked. Well, there was always later. He resumed his typing.

Typing never sounded so ominous. Of course, when being restrained it made all the difference. She could hear their talking as someone typed into commands into the big computer console. At least, she guessed it was a console. Sometime while she had been sedated, she had been moved from the table to this pod. The outer shell was portioned so the front part could either hang above the entrance or swing down to shut and secure the entire pod, and its potential victim, inside. Right now, the upper section hung above her head, mocking her in its current state. Obviously she couldn't go anywhere. Was it going to close now, or wait to shut her up later?

That all depended on the wise auspices of her current captors, one who was paid to do what she was doing, and the other because she was consumed by a lust for power.

Craning her neck from side to side, she strained farther and farther until she caught a glimpse of Marana Kiln's back. Everything else was illuminated by the glow of the console she was staring at. Given the angle she was standing at, the bounty hunter was likely doing the typing. Otherwise, the whole body would never be illuminated as it was now. Well, that figured. She was about to lose her memory, and all she could think of was the angle of the light. She again strained her neck to try to see more of the room before her. A sudden flash of light temporarily blinded her, and she pulled back. Her eyeballs felt like they had gotten seared down to the sockets. However, she had gotten a glimpse of a partial wall between them and her. Beyond, it looked like a dark tunnel extended beyond their position. The light wasn't strong enough to extend beyond the room, but she bet that that was where her jail cell was located.

"Frak," she whispered. She had to rest her head back against the cool metal beside her head; maybe by doing so her light-induced massive headache would dissipate. However, even resting her head didn't provide much relief, as the shackles around her wrists did not magically disappear with the closing of her eyes. The edges were dulled and rounded, but they still dug into the skin on her forearms and wrists as she sifted back and forth in order to find that elusively comfortable resting position. Her ankles were meanwhile permanently weighted down into blackness. She wasn't going anywhere any time soon.

With her eyes still closed, she stretched every fiber of her being as a final last-ditch attempt to reach the Force. It whispered around her before dissipating into nothingness yet again. She slumped against the cool metal wall in temporary defeat. Temporary, she called it, because she did not want to lose her mind. That's what would happen in effect, once this machine worked its intended purpose on her. Everything that was uniquely her would vanish, erased. Her body would be the only testament to her having been here in the galaxy, and that would be utilized as a puppet to play to the wishes of a deranged woman. Her memories ranged from good to bad, and back again. She had had her lows and her highs. Some periods were just even fields of the two contrasting each other evenly; no low outweighed a high and vice versa, rather maintaining a calm balance between the two. Regardless of the content, her memories made her Ani Laminara, second padawan to Master Luminara, and she didn't want to lose anything.

How could she fight the machine? She did not want to lose her memories. She didn't want to become someone else under the complete control of a maniacal overlord. However, could her mind withstand the machine without the Force? No Force meant she couldn't fight it, couldn't shield her memories, and couldn't attempt to overload the machine. Again she found herself becoming depressed, for a very reasonable reason. Yet hope still burned brightly within her, hope that her master would find her, hope that she may yet touch the Force.

With that hope reenergizing her body, she braced her legs against the back wall of the pod. Ignoring her raw wrists, she strained forward in another attempt to see what her stepmother was doing over at the console. If nothing else, at least the energy expelled might also help get the Force repressant out of her system faster. Both women were apparently still ignoring her actions, which was just fine with the padawan.

"…ener…mina…ound…ce…"

"Commander Gree, please repeat." Luminara stated, slowly and clearly. Their comms, great for the open battlefield, absolutely failed in dense forests such as this. Or as Ani would put it, it sucked. Clearly they'd have to watch their search patterns more carefully, else risk jeopardizing the mission due to miscommunication.

"General Lumin…I…ound…e…trance."

"Well done, Commander!" she responded, excitement coursing through her being unabated. She allowed this momentary slip in professionalism. If her padawan hadn't been kidnapped, she wouldn't be dealing with this in the first place. Really, when would beings across the galaxy realize that to kidnap a Jedi padawan was akin to volunteering to be put on death row? Even though no master would ever admit it (including her), their padawans were their offspring, their sons and daughters. There was no way in the nine Corellian hells that they'd abandon their children. "How far are you from my position?"

One final keystroke, and the damage to their systems was done. Skee sat back and relaxed. His role in this was done. He stretched his arms out and arched his back, erasing the kinks one by one. It seemed to take longer every time he had to do it. He abruptly stood and went over to the closet. If anything interrupted his program or was cause for concern, his system would give an audible alert. While he waited for word on the padawan's rescue – it made his heart race in fear of what they might find, he had time to and would search the contents. The chest he would start with, and then the other various boxes.

Kneeling down in front of the chest, he began to play with the lock. It didn't appear very complicated. It was a design whose pieces were scrambled, and with every move you had to swap the pieces. However, every time he made a move on the puzzle, the pieces would move back to their original positions. Any further moves could not be made unless the first move stayed the pieces' places.

"Frakking hell," he muttered. He then turned his attention to one of the smaller boxes on the lowest left-hand shelf. Since this and the numerous other boxes inside looked to be unlocked, he might as well start with them. It gave his mind more time to process potential solutions to the puzzle anyway.

By the time Luminara met Gree at the entrance to the cave-like bunker, the sun had began to set. Shadows began to deepen, and various creatures who inhabited the forest began to stir. To her immediate knowledge, there was nothing inside the forest that would eat them. Hopefully.

"Were you able to scan the inside, Commander?" she asked. He shook his head in the negative.

"No, General. All attempts to do so were blocked by some kind of energy field. The entrance also has a force field preventing our entrance. I'm currently attempting to use one of Skee's programs to unlock it, but it will take some time." The clone's datapad was out. Given his fingers' frantic tapping, it was taking longer than expected.

"Which we don't have much of," she replied shortly. She then reached out with the Force to see if she could sense any life forms inside. Okay, she sensed four, one should tell was the stepmother, and one other that stood out. That was probably her padawan.

/Ani?/ she reached out frantically. /Padawan, can you hear me?/ Nothing.

"Commander, I sense four beings inside. I identified the stepmother and potentially my padawan. Currently, we will assume that all except my padawan are armed and need to be taken out at the first opportunity."

"Noted, General. With prejudice." He gave a humorless grin. Once they got through, those below would regret their actions very quickly.

The bounty hunter appreciated the previous generations' paranoid desire for extra security. The cameras in the lower right hand corner kept her updated on what the Jedi and the clone were doing outside as she dutifully scrolled through the commands for the torture chamber. The stepmother was so preoccupied reading through everything that she didn't notice any extra typing done by her "minion". The kid had been right on quite a few points, but not all of them. Considering her age, however, it made sense she wouldn't remember much.

No one could ever convince her that old tech was useless tech. The cameras had been updated or replaced as easily as the torture chamber. Her previous training had been extremely useful in teaching her how to utilize old tech. Fortunately for her convenience, all instructions to all the systems had remained present and fully intact. The additional fact that she was trusted to do what she wanted and go where she pleased made her current employment that much easier to swallow.

If it hadn't been for a certain Jedi's actions almost a lifetime ago, helping her get exiled by her Mandalorian clan and causing her to owe a life debt, she wouldn't have been caught dead on this over-civilized world. She also probably wouldn't be making the money she did now. She hadn't arrived soon enough to make good on payment over a decade earlier, but by making her services available to the dishonorable one she would be making good soon enough.

Dishonorable. She had been branded as such for daring to aid the Jedi against the wishes of her clan and exiled as a result. However, it meant she got to have her life saved by the Jedi, see her leave the Order, and now see old horrors of history threaten to resurrect themselves as the Jedi's child struggled across the room. Threaten, she said, and only threaten it would. While her employer was currently occupied, she subtly typed in a command. If the other Jedi was smart, she'd be having the clone scan continuously for anomalies, and soon they'd notice this and make it inside. She had to wait; she could only act upon their acting.

Unbeknownst to her, Luminara was doing no less than what the bounty hunter expected. Gree was sitting there, fingers tapping out faster and more erratic patterns than before. He huffed in frustration. She understood while simultaneously releasing her frustration to the Force. Since the program was continuing to work, that had to mean that it was working. Otherwise, they'd have to move on to another program, and that would likely take as long as this program to work. They had to be patient.

A sudden beeping noise got her attention. "What is that?" she asked her clone commander. His first response was a groan.

"There's an anomaly in the shield detected. It wants to stop the program from running any further. Damn tech!" he growled. Frowning, likewise frustrated, she thought about it for a moment.

"If it's an anomaly, would it be related to the activities of the shield at all? Whether it's raised, weakened, or… not running at all?" she queried. A thoughtful look came upon his face.

"It's possible, General. But is it worth the risk? After all, the program is almost halfway done," he pointed out, the irritation bleeding back into his voice. Was it worth the risk? She closed her eyes and reached out with the Force, seeking to see whether or not there was danger ahead. To her surprise, unlike before she now sensed the Force urging her to go ahead. She opened her eyes and charged the entrance.

"General Luminara! Wait! It's not –" she disappeared past the threshold, "– safe," she heard him finish. She stepped back just inside the entrance, so she got his attention, and raised an eyebrow at him.

"You coming?" He was staring at her when she turned around and went back in. She heard footsteps follow, slow yet picking up with every step. She could have sworn she heard him comment under his breath about how Skywalker was corrupting everyone. Amusing idea; she would have to tell Skywalker that the next time she saw him.

They made it past one corner and turned down the next when they heard a telltale whirring noise. She would have been surprised if the bunker hadn't had more defense systems beyond the force field at the entry point, but it wasn't something she wanted to deal with now. Oh well. She ignited her lightsaber just as she saw the first flashes begin to rain down upon them. So far, at least it was only turrets. Hopefully that was all she had to deal with. Her instincts took over, but her fear for her padawan still ran deep within her mind.

Hang on, my padawan. I'm almost there.

"What was that?" Marana Kiln barked. The distant sounds of turret and blasterfire reached their ears. The Mandalorian dutifully brought up all the cameras. Together they searched until they found the appropriate camera. Most movement was subtle in the dark, but she wasn't looking for just any movement. A green, vertical glow waving around was as obvious as a sign in the daylight. The Master had come.

"Well, time to leave," the bounty hunter said. The politician gaped at her, which allowed her just enough time to cancel the commands on the screen. The machine didn't release the padawan, but at least it wouldn't begin the process of sucking out her memories.

"What? No! We can't!" Kiln raged. "We're so close!" The bounty hunter sighed and got up from the chair. She pounded on the closest lighting panel, causing the hallway lights to dim. There would be enough lighting for her to find her way out of the second entrance, but the lights were dim enough to not throw her shadow into any sharp relief. The politician also had to leave too, and unlike her had had no experience finding her way in the dark. Civilization did indeed weaken a person in too many ways.

"Look, the jig is up. The Jedi found our location. She is coming to rescue her kid, and we're all going to be dead unless we leave. Like, now." Walking towards the hallway, she threw over her shoulder, "And remember, I know the Jedi, too. That's why you hired me. I'm leaving. You should too." The older woman huffed but followed.

"Alright. I sent the puppet out to the second exit just in case anyway. At least our getaway ride is secure. But first," she rolled back one long, baggy sleeve to reveal a wrist control panel. She appeared to scroll through the list of options before tapping the big red button with a face full of glee. The bounty hunter had a bad feeling about this.

"What surprise do you have up your sleeve this time, Kiln?" The politician glanced back at her with a sidelong smile.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

It was the clanking that woke her up. Ani had fallen asleep some time ago. Not only did straining to see not help her a whole lot, it also sapped the little energy she had. Jarred awake by the machine's noises, she at first thought that the process had started, and soon she'd lose her memories. She started to mentally prepare to fight whatever the machine would do until, suddenly, the sounds just stopped. Deadened silence replaced it for thirty seconds, one minute, and then two. Relief spread within her body; it looked like the process stopped. But why? Distant sounds of blasterfire reached her ears, and it took everything she had not to yell. Her master was here! She was here! She came! She'd be saved shortly.

As soon as she had that thought, she felt a connection being renewed. The Force was back, and boy did she miss it. Apparently it missed her too, as it seemed more than happy to return to her fingertips. First things first, she had to get herself out of this machine and… wait… something didn't feel right. Was that her imagination, or did she hear a skittering noise? A shudder ran through her. Whatever it was, it was either mechanical or biological, or both. If it ran into her master and the clone commander, it was probably meant to do so, meaning it could cause some trouble.

Closing her eyes, Ani relaxed her body and did something she never thought she'd be happy to do again. She meditated.

Now that they had successfully fought past the turrets, Luminara still had her lightsaber drawn and ignited in the dark hallway. At least with every step of the way, they made it closer and closer to the interior. Comparatively, it wasn't illuminated much more than the hallway, but it was enough for their purposes. She, being the leader, kept a close eye out for any unexpected movement. Gree's steps behind her were slow and purposeful, his job to sweep the space behind them to prevent attacks from behind. Her steps became slower and quieter, for two reasons. First, to prevent others from hearing exactly where they were. Second, there was no sense in rushing out if the lights got brighter and impaired their vision in the process.

Ah. She saw the light change incrementally as they got closer. It became just a tad bit brighter. Someone was likely anticipating their arrival, and was stationed where the light controls were located. Her mouth became dry, and her heart began to pound faster and faster. Her breathing became slower in response, and deeper. Another bad thing to do was to almost pass out due to insufficient breathing. Normally it wasn't a problem due to her ingrained Jedi training; however, her padawan's life was at stake, and her worry was threatening to fight against her training.

Now she was at the intersection, the place where the tunnel connected to the main underground area. She paused to lean against the wall momentarily, reaching out with the Force. Curious; now she just sensed two beings. One was definitely her padawan, but the other one was more… it was a blank wall. Interesting. /Padawan/ she reached out through their bond. She would wait for a response before rounding the corner.

/Master!/ she heard the happy message back loud and clear. Testing the bond gingerly, not wanting to unintentionally hurt her padawan further, she received a concise picture. It was going to be okay. Her padawan was hurt, but not irreparably. The girl was bound inside some kind of machine, but she could feel the Force again. Additionally, there was no one immediately guarding her. /I'll be right there/ she sent to her padawan.

/Okay/ she received back. That was worrying. No snarky comeback, no witty phrase was sent. Instead, it was a simple acknowledgement. Oh no… She glanced back at Commander Gree, who nodded at her. No one was following them. She nodded back. Shifting her weight from her left to her right foot, she sprung out into hallway, body low, head covered from behind with her lightsaber. Pivoting around her left foot, she quickly scanned the surrounding area. No armed beings, no battle droids, no… oh wait. Crap. She gestured for Gree to come out as she shifted her lightsaber to defend her lower half.

"General, what's going…" she heard his voice trail off as he stood off behind her to her right. They were facing a wall of computer screens and a command console. Cameras were up, showing that their progress had been followed ever since they had set foot inside. However, that wasn't what captivated the general. In front of her was an insect-shaped droid. Tentacles were coming out of the chinks in its armored body to hover around in front of the Jedi Master. He wouldn't have noticed them if not for their rhythmic waving as reeds do on the bank of a river. "On."

"It's the JK-13." She glanced right and saw his eyes widen at the knowledge.

"Ah. The Jedi Killer."

"Yes." The creature advanced, and she stepped slowly back. The Force was being amplified through her senses, sensing that an attack was coming, but not knowing where. "Despite Cestus officially not manufacturing these for war use and a recent outright ban of them on the Core worlds, they still exist around the galaxy. They're especially desirable for the richer beings as an excellent security system."

"So either this was bought from the major sellout that happened prior to the Cestus mission and kept despite the law, or this was bought recently and is a direct violation of the law," Gree concluded. As she backed up slowly, so did he. She gestured for him to back away adjacent to the creature. Obviously, she wanted the creature to focus solely on her, not just preserving his life but also enabling him to find cover to get off a few decent shots when she said so. As a clone, he was very good at following orders, something she appreciated even more in situations like this.

"Gree, when I tell you to, start creeping over in the direction of that console. Stay over there and prepare to fire on my command. Given the nature of these droids, I will draw its attention."

"Yes, General." No, now was not the time to argue, especially since the droid was still advancing.

"Ready…" she held her position and reached out a hand. The Force began to quake the ground around the droid. "Get set…" The droid sent out a sudden hiss, and one of the tentacles cut a hair too close in front of her face.

"GO!"

Waiting, ugh. It was so annoying. She was this close to being free, and she still hung here because of a stupid droid giving her master and Gree trouble out in the main foyer. Ani was still meditating only because that helped keep her frustration down. Exhaling forcefully, her eyes yet remained shut, focusing on the viewing picture before her.

Submersed within the Force's embrace, she was able to "view" through her sense. The Force showed her the actions of the fight. The fact that it was drawing out longer than expected troubled her. JK-13, aka the Jedi Killer droids, were crafty examples of bioengineering and mechanical engineering. Not only did they look like works of art, they were worth every single credit that was spent on them. The living eels inside them could not only control the movements and speed of the machines they were grafted into, but they could also control the number, speed and size of their tentacles. Additionally, they were Force-sensitive. The only good thing about them was if they killed another sentient being, they began to go insane. However, she didn't want that to be an option here.

Luminara, she could see, was drawing the attention of the droid. Given the movements of the droid, it was more than invested in throwing out more tentacles in hopes of catching the Jedi. You could only dodge the numerous tentacles so often, though, before you got clocked by one (or more) and became incapacitated. Gree… was over in front of the console. Kneeling on the ground and using the chair as both cover and a prop for his firing arm, he must be waiting to take a shot at her master's say so.

Her senses saw that it wouldn't work. The programming must have been upgraded on this model, or perhaps the Force sensitivity was larger. Either way, it was preparing to take out the Jedi, having already detected the Master Jedi's bluff. Two tentacles, camouflaged to the same color of the floor, were moving towards her position, moving ahead in slow yet steady increments. The clone's shot wouldn't be any good, as you had to attack the insides within the shell to disable the droid. The energy field with which it surrounded itself would just absorb the blast. She had to make sure Master Luminara knew about this. How could she let her master know, though? She hemmed, hesitation paralyzing any idea she had. That is, until she sensed the Jedi Killer's readiness to make good on its counter attack.

/Master! Watch out/ her mind howled.

It was a good thing that the Jedi Master was exceptional with her rotational sand routine, having displayed it on occasion since Ansion. Luminara felt the onset of dizziness as she dodged three more tentacles that hit the floor and wall where she used to be. Finally, she got the droid to move where she wanted. She was about to shout out to Gree to shoot when her padawan's yell interrupted her thoughts. /Master! Watch out/, and accompanied was a mental picture of two tentacles suddenly attacking her from the ground. Oh look, there were two tentacles coming at her from the ground; having been camouflaged before, she wouldn't have seen them in time without her padawan's warning.

She swung deftly with her blade, and now two more tentacles were shorter by a great deal more. The droid scattered back over to her right, and she squared off against it again by going a couple steps to her right. She didn't know how her padawan saw it, but she wouldn't question it. /Keep going, padawan!/

Ani smiled at the encouragement that had been sent her way, and so continued to watch the fight. Her master trusted her; how could she have ever doubted that? She saw an unexpected attack come out of nowhere. The droid wasn't giving up easily, and again it was using camouflage.

/Duck!/

That had been close. Luminara had never faced off against one of these droids before, and now in the midst of fighting against this one she never ever wanted to fight one again. The JK-13 had attempted to sideswipe her by two creeping camouflaged tentacles, inchworming their way across the wall. Luminara backpedaled two steps diagonally away from the wall to avoid the left set of tentacles jabbing at her. Damn, these things were sneaky. Masters Obi-Wan and Fisto must have had a field day on Cestus when they had to deal with an army of these things.

According to the mental image her padawan sent her, she knew she should press her attack on the biomechanical being. Using her lightsaber at a dizzying speed, she deflected the tentacles as she stepped forward. The droid didn't like that, still squaring off against her attacks. Her lightsaber brushed against the energy shield it had erected around itself, and was repulsed. The creators hadn't spared any expense in assembling any portion of this JK-13, unfortunately enough for her. However, she needed to drive the droid backwards, and that was what she was going to do. So far, the droid was allowing itself to be driven back. How much longer that would last, she had no clue.

Gree had realized sometime after Luminara dodged those two camouflaged tentacles out of nowhere that a) he probably wasn't going to be needed, and b) she was probably being aided in certain Jedi-like ways. With the way the droid was being driven back towards him, however, it appeared at least that his assistance would be required after all. But if regular blaster fire didn't work –

/Gree/ He blinked. That wasn't the General, and he only knew that because the General had occasionally talked to him via the Force. If it wasn't her…

Padawan? He asked. A chuckle echoed back to him.

/Yes. I want you to remain where you are, but you are going to help/ Figures. /You will need to modify your blaster rifle so instead of separate blaster shots, it'll emit one continuous laser stream at the highest intensity possible/ He dialed the settings to emit the laser stream as she had instructed him. /When I say, you fire directly towards the middle of the back of the JK-13. That will overload the energy shield and allow Master Luminara to take out the droid in one strike/ Gree nodded and inhaled deeply.

He shifted his position around the chair so as to give him a more solid base from which to work. The butt of the blaster rifle set solidly against his shoulder, his left arm moved against the seat cushion to brace the barrel, and his eye focused on the back of the droid.

/Fire/

The trigger was pulled, and a laser was currently boring into the droid's back. Luminara had anticipated this, thanks to her padawan. Now came the fun part (that was never to be repeated within Skywalker's or her padawan's range). Tensing her legs, she quickly bounded back towards the wall. She ran upwards and twisted away into a somersault. Her upper body lowered itself over the creature as the faint outline of the energy shield was brought into focus, flickered once, and went down. Her lightsaber entered into the chink between the middle armored plate and the rear plate, and with a twist of the wrist seared the entire chest cavity.

She landed in a crouch on the opposite side of the droid and quickly turned around with lightsaber at the ready. A shriek was felt in the Force momentarily, and the body seen to collapse a second later. Keeping her eyes fixed on it, she gradually relaxed from her guard to a resting position, and thumbed her lightsaber off. Footsteps were heard as Gree came over to stand by her.

"Well, that was a good training exercise," he said. She turned to her left, and raised an eyebrow very, very slowly in his direction. His face remained deadpan. She huffed to cover an unintentional chuckle and turned away. Time to find her padawan and release her. She had the Force back, apparently, and a good thing too. If she hadn't, it would've taken longer to defeat that Jedi Killer. However, she knew her padawan's abilities inside and outside, and the potential for battle meditation never came up. It had to have been battle meditation; there was no other skill that gave insight this deep into an active battle. She never expressed this skill before, until just now. That was cause for concern. With what did they drug you, padawan?

Ani let herself hang by her restraints. Although she didn't expect to be so tired so soon, she had sensed the outcome of the battle. Soon her master would find her location. It wouldn't matter if she kept her eyes closed…

Someone – no, two people were speaking. Their voices may have been muffled, but the fact that there was speaking got her attention. She opened her eyes to see a pair of deep blue eyes staring back at her. It only took a moment.

"Master!" Tears started coming out of her eyes, and she didn't care. She hardly noticed Gree stepping out of the area to give the two privacy. All she cared about was focusing on the shape of the woman who was releasing her bonds. She was here. She was real. Everything would be okay.

"Oh, padawan." Luminara was smiling at her, and even she was tearing up. With her bonds off now, Ani leapt out towards her master. Or at least, she tried to. She underestimated the weak state her body had been reduced to, and she began to fall short. She didn't have time to fear as strong arms came underneath her armpits and hands wrapped across her back. She buried her head into Luminara's neck as the older woman guided them down onto the floor. She cried unashamedly as Luminara's mouth hovered next to her ear.

"It's okay, my padawan. It's okay. You're safe now. I got you."

Surrounding the lonely clone by now were several unopened boxes of various items. Skee had had spent the time well, looking through old memorabilia of the family and treasured items. The solution to the chest still eluded him, due to the fact that it continued to be uncooperative. All of which should be looked at by the padawan when she got back. When, and not if.

Even though she knew she had her padawan back, Luminara refused to let go. A good reason was sensing her padawan's reticence to say anything other than to grip her clothing tightly. That was alright. She had described enough back in the bunker. She allowed Commander Gree to sweep the darkening woods ahead of them for any signs of trouble. The stepmother and doppelganger and the bounty hunter had all escaped, and she didn't doubt that either one of them might attempt to make trouble for their small party. She stopped a short distance away, steadied her stance and braced her padawan.

"It's clear." Gree walked back towards them, the fluorescent paint on his armor giving just enough light to verify his presence.

"Thanks, Commander."

Once they walked clear of the woods, Luminara's comm began to beep. Never releasing her hold on her padawan, she brought her right arm over to the left so she could accept the incoming call (quickly toggling the controls so only her face would appear). To her surprise, it was the Senator.

"Master Luminara, greetings. How went your search?" Even though her padawan wouldn't appear on the other end of this transmission, the girl still attempted to stand stiffly at attention. A soft groan was heard a millisecond later, and she tightened her hold on the child.

"I found and retrieved my padawan, Senator," she responded crisply. "The bunker was as you described to us. My thanks again."

"Don't thank me yet, Master Jedi." Alarms began to blare inside her head. What had transpired since they began their search and rescue mission?

"What do you mean, Senator?" A long pause. Both her padawan and she shifted where they stood.

"You should come and meet me at my residence, Master Jedi. It would be wiser to talk there."

"Of course. We shall be there shortly." The transmission winked out, causing spots to appear in her vision. Darkness had come more quickly than anticipated. She led her apprentice over to her speeder bike and supported the pained efforts to board the back. It was slow, but she allowed it. Her padawan needed to at least make a show of having some dignity. Once her padawan successfully sat in a slumped position atop the back, she swung one leg over the bike's middle. Adjusting her own position, she felt her padawan's weight – lighter than usual, which was concerning – slump against her. Tiny hands on tiny arms wound around her waist. "Come on, padawan," she urged quietly, starting the speeder. "Hold tight. You will make it." She heard a little snort, and her own spirits were raised.

"Figures. We have to attend another meeting." The voice was no longer pained as before, and the tone attempted to be light-hearted.

"At least this one is one you have to stay awake for," she pointed out. "Although I'm sure no one would blame you if you happened to doze off."

"After all the time I spent asleep and drugged, I think I'm good. A comfy couch would be nice, however."

"I think we might be able to get that covered," she said with a smile. She revved her bike and whipped it around to head to the east, cutting just above the border of the Kiln property. She glanced to see Gree following after as she had specified. They weren't out of the woods yet, so to speak. The last thing they need were the sensors on the property picking up their positions. She pressed on a rotund device on the front panel of her speeder bike, and it whirred contentedly, scrambling the signals around them to keep their travel hidden. Gree had a similar device on his bike.

"The senator sounded worried," her padawan suddenly said.

"He's probably just concerned about your condition and wants to personally ensure you came out safely. There's no need to borrow trouble ahead of time." That phrase didn't stop her mind from pondering the possibilities of trouble as she led the way toward the Organa estate. This wouldn't be the first mission complicated by unexpected troubles.