Thanks for the reviews! Hopefully this streightens out everything that happened in the last chapter.

Anakin was worried. They were a safe distance away from the factory. The pulse should have gone off by now, but all he had heard were some large explosions and he still hadn't heard from Ahsoka.

Has she gone crazy? Gallivanting around a burning factory with a battle droid of all things?

He turned to the nearest trooper. "Any sign of Rex or Ahsoka yet?"

"No sir," the trooper answered. Anakin sighed. At least the super-weapon's affects had worn off. His arm was fully functioning and his lightsaber worked fine.

Master, help me!

Ahsoka's cry through the Force was like an energy blaster. She was in trouble!

Anakin raised his comlink. "Ahsoka, come in. Ahsoka!"

He tried several times to reach her. Nothing worked.

Panicking slightly, Anakin signalled the clones. "Attention, everyone!" he shouted. Every trooper snapped to attention. "I need you to fan out and find Commander Tano. Is that clear?"

"Sir, yes sir!" the clones responded.

One clone came up to him. "Is the kid in trouble?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out," Anakin said grimly.

Recko Mindar, who had been posing as Captain Rex, straightened over Ahsoka's still form and morphed back into his true self, a clawdite.

Well, that was an easy enough catch. I can't believe Dooku is paying me three times my regular fee for this.

The bounty hunter fastened binders around the girl's wrists and began dragging her along behind him. His ship wasn't far, he could make a quick escape and leave the Jedi with Dooku at the rendezvous point.

Why he wants this shrimp, I'll never know. I would much rather have taken Skywalker, or possibly both of them.

Hopefully, Skywalker wouldn't know his Padawan was missing for at least a few hours. The only one who knew something was amiss was the pathetic clone captain, and he wouldn't be regaining conscious for a while. Plenty of time for Mindar to keep posing as Rex if needed.

Mindar stopped a little ways away from where he had hidden his ship. There were voices ahead.

"Trooper, have you seen Ahsoka?"

Skywalker! Mindar cursed his luck. His ship, the Red Midnight was hidden on the other side of this clearing, but it might as well have been the other side of the planet if he had to sneak past the republic military to get there.

You complete this job, you can buy another ship. Just get the girl off-planet.

Mindar left Ahsoka in the bushes where she couldn't be seen and took on the clone's captain's form again. If he could steal a gunship without being detected, he could get back through the republic blockade without having to sneak through.

He had only gone a few feet when a voice cut through the air.

"Rex!"

Mindar growled and turned around. "General?"

"Have you had any luck in finding Ahsoka?" Skywalker sounded quite frantic, and Mindar wondered if he'd sensed something.

"Uh, no, sir," Mindar replied quickly. Jedi can sense lies. Stay calm.

Skywalker looked at him curiously. "Are you OK?"

"Yes, General," Mindar said. It was time to get out of there. "I was thinking I should use a gunship to search for the brat- Commander Tano, I mean."

Skywalker seemed too concerned for his Padawan to notice anything that the bounty hunter was saying. "Go ahead," he said almost absently.

Mindar grinned to himself. Skywalker had pretty much just handed over his apprentice without even knowing it. Mindar strode quickly away and chose a gunship. Now he just had to get Ahsoka on the ship without anyone noticing.

Anakin was alerted to a presence in the bushes near by and sensed it wasn't a life-form. He pulled out his lightsaber and sprang upon the intruder.

"Ahh!" came a metallic scream. Anakin took stock of his prisoner- a simple battle droid. He angled his lightsaber, ready to turn it into scrap.

"Ahsoka!"

Anakin's lightsaber came to a halt inches from the droids face. "What did you just say?"

"Jedi! Ahsoka! I was rescued by Jedi then watched her be shut down by imposter-"

"What? Shut down? Back up, what happened?"

"If you could take your lightsaber away from my circuits, I would tell you."

Anakin switched off his lightsaber and glared at the droid. "What happened?"

"I am 448," the battle droid said in a slightly superior tone. "I was rescued by Jedi Ahsoka in the burning building- not willingly. It was much due to Jedi's threats to disassemble me that I went."

Anakin hid a smile. That definitely sounded like Ahsoka.

"We made it out of the factory and Jedi Ahsoka used an invisible weapon- the Force, I think she called it- to save the forest from the super-weapon."

"What?" Anakin did a double take. To stop a weapon like that using only the Force... Ahsoka shouldn't have had that type of power!

"Jedi Ahsoka told me I was free to go and I walked away. Then I heard a new voice and I turned back to see what was happening and I saw a clone stun her. But it wasn't a clone, it was a changeling! I am probably going to get thrown out of the droid army for this, but I wanted to help her. I made my way here and this is the reception I get. Honestly, the republic military has no manners..."

Anakin sat back, head spinning.

Ahsoka had been kidnapped! Again!

Why? Who was behind it this time? How was she different from the other Padawans, besides being the only one to be trained by the Chosen One?

Who and why is not important right now. I can worry about that later. I need to find her now!

Suddenly the facts clicked together. Ahsoka had been taken by a changeling, which was another word for clawdite. That clawdite had been pretending to be a clone. And a clone that Ahsoka had befriended and trusted was...

"Rex!"

Anakin sprinted from the bushes, silently berating himself. You gave the clawdite permission to take a gunship to get away on. Why didn't you just hand him a golden ticket saying Kidnap my Padawan?

Anakin found the clawdite's gunship just as it was taking off. He smirked at Anakin from the cockpit.

In a last, desperate move, Anakin Force-leaped onto the gunship as it soared into the sky. Almost instantly, the small craft began rocking from side to side in an attempt to throw Anakin off. Grimly, the Jedi hung on.

If he gets too high, I'll have to jump...

Anakin dismissed the thought and inched along the side of the gunship, trying to reach it's pilot. In response, the gunship began rocking more violently, nearly pitching Anakin off.

Anakin reached the cockpit and wrenched open the bubble windshield.

"Hello, Skywalker," the clawdite hissed pleasantly.

"Land the ship or I'll do it for you!" Anakin shouted angrily.

"No chance, Jedi! I'm making too much money off of this job!" the clawdite reached behind him, pulled out a blaster and fired off a quick shot. Anakin was already off-balance and dodging the blasterfire knocked his grip loose. He began the long fall back to the forest floor.

Anakin hardly managed to process the fact that he was falling from two hundred feet up. He used the Force to slow his descent and landed safely.

Several clones surrounded him.

"General! Are you alright?"

"No," Anakin answered quietly. He had failed his Padawan.

Again.

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