Rogue Squadron, it turned out, was available. And they arrived with Luke's fighter in tow, parking just out of sensor range.
"We can take the cloaked shuttle up there, dock with them and Artoo and I'll space walk into my fighter." Luke suggested.
"Then who flies the shuttle?" Bail demanded.
"I'll fly it." Anakin said.
"No." Bail glared at him. "We are not putting our lives in your hands."
"Yes." Kenobi countered. "But not alone."
"I'll go with him." Ahsoka said suddenly.
"No. I will. You get the colonists to safety." Obi-Wan said firmly.
Bail and Padme looked between them. Padmé opened her mouth.
Bail cut her off. "Don't even ask, Padmé́. You aren't going."
She scowled fiercely. "That's my decision."
Anakin shook his head. "It still might turn into a suicide mission."
"I don't care."
"They will need you, in setting up a new Republic. There never were enough honest politicians." Anakin pointed out.
She hesitated. "There aren't enough Jedi either."
Anakin winced.
"I didn't mean..."
"I know what you meant."
"Don't worry. I won't let it turn into a suicide mission." Obi-Wan said firmly.
"I'll hold you to that." She was staring at Anakin. "Take care of each other. The way you used too. Please.."
Anakin cocked a brow at Obi-Wan. The older Jedi pondered him right back. Luke hid a smile behind his hand.
"I believe that's settled then." Obi-Wan nodded.
"Almost." Anakin rocked in place, looking him in the eye. "Just one thing."
Obi-Wan's brow rose.
Anakin turned to Ahsoka. "Take care of her for me?" Anakin cocked his head to Padmé. "My son wants to know his mother."
Luke did a double take at this. Anakin winked at him.
"I'll do my best, Skyguy." Ahsoka smiled warmly.
"We make it through together. Or not at all." Padme's voice was fierce.
Luke's eyes widened at how similar to Leia she sounded. "Let's do this then."
Anakin froze as he realized he had to walk away from Padmé and Ahsoka. He chewed his lip thoughtfully. Padmé made the move he wanted to. Flinging her arms around him and kissing his cheek, then pulling back quickly. "Be safe."
Ahsoka solemnly clapped a hand on Anakin's shoulder. Anakin looked her in the eye, glanced at Padmé, shrugged and suddenly hugged her. Ahsoka returned it. They ignored Bail Organa's instinctive move for his gun. Before he could draw it, they had already separated.
"May the force be with you, Skyguy. The light side this time." Ahsoka said.
Finally Anakin spun after Luke and Obi-Wan.
Activating the shuttle's cloak, Luke shifted it gently through the canopy. Eyes roaming the controls, he glanced out.
"We really do need to hurry. Look how close they are." Anakin observed, noting the patrols were nearing the hidden ship.
They zoomed up into space and no-one saw them. Circling to the far side of the planet from the ships and jumping to the rendezvous, they found a squadron of X-Wing fighters waiting. Luke dropped the cloak and hailed them.
The reply was immediate "Gang's all here, Commander. Coming over?" Wedge Antillies asked.
"Yeah." Luke replied. "Be there in a few." He rose and headed back to the crew quarters. Anakin shifted over to the pilot seat. "Okay then."
"Opening the airlock." Luke called through the com.
"Acknowledged. Be careful."
"I will." Luke jetted out and they watched as he floated over to the sole empty fighter. One hand was on Artoo, who used his rockets to get over there.
As soon as Luke was in and set he hailed them. "Okay. Time marked. Meet you there in two hours."
"Acknowledged." Obi-Wan calmly replied and glanced at Anakin. "Let's go."
Anakin pointed the shuttle to the moons and reengaged the cloaking device. "Let's fly."
The tricky part was getting through without bumping into anything. Debris floated between the moons and planet.
"Looks like someone already got blasted here."
Anakin sighed deeply and nodded. A shiver went through him as a sense of cold and nausea hit.
"I feel it too." Kenobi stared at the moon. "We're close to what they are looking for. I wonder how close they are."
"Close, but not on top of." Anakin pointed at the scientists, digging less than a klick away.
"I see light reflecting over there." Obi-Wan noted. "It must be where the ship went down."
"We're in position. Are we ready?"
Anakin slid his eyes shut, reaching into the force with a smile. "Luke?" He opened them again. "Yeah, they're here."
"Anakin?"
"Hm?"
"I think I should do the shooting."
"Good plan. Don't trust me with the gun?" Anakin rose his brows.
"You're pale and your hands are shaking. I'm not sure you'd notice if the scientists were on top of that sith object in your need to blast it." Obi-Wan replied honestly.
"What do you plan to do if they are by the time we strike?"
"Make them move!" Obi-Wan calmly retorted.
Anakin took a deep breath. There were a few scientists in the general vicinity of the object. Not knowing what it was made it hard to be sure they were nailing it. They couldn't take any chances.
"And…disengaging cloak."
"Guns online." Obi-Wan replied. "Firing." Twin laser blasts shot out of the shuttle's wings. They crackled into the ground where the force disturbance originated, avoiding the scientists.
"I'm still feeling it."
Kenobi fired again, inching closer to the scientists. One had held his ground, the others fled. He frowned in dismay. "I think this one is force sensitive."
The figure dove for the ground, definitely reaching for something. Kenobi picked up his firing. "I may need to take him out." He looked definitely displeased by this.
Anakin flinched as well.
Suddenly his blast blew the scientist force user away from the place he was reaching. The ground exploded up with more than the usual force, sparks of light showering the air in a nauseating twist of colors. The sense of darkness mostly vanished, leaving only a lingering bad taste.
The man below reached out with a clenched fist and pulled at the air.
"Hello. Definitely a Force user." Anakin noted, struggling with the controls.
"He's twisting the guns!" Obi-Wan battled with the targeting system.
Anakin twisted the controls and forced the ship up while Kenobi spun the weapons. Their old master padawan bond rose up, connecting them in the Force. Obi-Wan fired again and the assailant went down again. Anakin whirled the ship back to the main Sith crash site and the Jedi master fired repeatedly.
"Hurry! TIE fighters coming in." Anakin said sharply. The scientists fled and finally it blew up violently. "Sorry guys, no prize today." Anakin said firmly.
Obi-Wan Kenobi slid his eyes sideways at Anakin. "So, do you think that there are more sith sites we should use for target practice?"
"I know there are. Uh oh." Anakin slammed the cloak back on as the tie fighters roared up. They just missed him. A tie bomber joined the chase and launched torpedoes. Anakin dropped the cloak, diverted power to shields and poured on speed. A few shots bounced off them. The torpedo blasted the shield and it flickered. Twisting the shuttle through moves it was never intended for he ramped up the shields further to compensate. "Anytime, Luke." He stated.
Suddenly four starfighters tangled with the ties chasing them. The rest were in orbit tangling with star destroyers. They were vastly outnumbered and outgunned. Anakin took the opportunity to head for orbit as far out of range of the destroyers as possible, on the far side of the moon.
Listening to the comm chatter they could see the blockade runner charging out of the atmosphere and surprising the distracted Imperials. The ship made the jump while the interdictor was trying to bring tractor beams around. Anakin breathed a sigh of relief as Ahsoka's presence vanished. Padmé and Ahsoka, with their fellow refugees were safe. Anakin slid his eyes half shut, one eye watching the distance out of atmosphere. As soon as they cleared it his hands were on the hyperdrive controls. He hesitated a fraction.
"Rogues clear yet?"
"You know they aren't. Stick to the plan." Obi-Wan advised knowing he was reluctant to leave his son.
Anakin sucked in a breath. Luke had handled the first death star and the emperor. He could handle the destroyers. He nodded and made the jump to lightspeed.
A few moments later, Anakin suddenly realized he was alone with his old master. He swallowed hard. After everything he'd done, all this time, the silence felt awkward. He looked at her. "Uh, well, we know what a nightmare my life has been. How did yours go? You did a great job disappearing." His body trembled whenever he remembered what he'd done.
"I spent most of the time on a sandy world of your acquaintance."
"You sat on Tatooine all this time?" Anakin turned to blink at him. "What did you do?"
"Meditated. I had new things to learn."
Anakin studied him, chewed his lip. "From Qui-Gon?"
Obi-Wan looked at him. "Qui-Gon appeared to you?"
Anakin nodded.
"Yes. Actually."
Still, Anakin blinked at him. "I'm trying to fathom doing nothing but meditate for twenty years."
"Actually it was surprisingly time consuming." Obi-Wan pressed his lips together. "Pondering our mistakes, letting go of the regrets, forgiving, trying to understand what why you would make such a choice, ... it took time."
"And watching Luke grow up." Anakin said, a touch of longing in his voice.
"Owen actually kept me distant. He didn't trust me. I guess he was afraid Luke would follow me on a wild crusade like you did."
"He blamed you?"
"I blamed me. Perhaps he sensed it. He feared Luke's talents coming to light."
Because of what happened to the jedi. Because Darth Vader hunted them down. Anakin ached at his son's talents being hidden because of it.
"I don't know why you blamed yourself for my mistake."
"I did not teach you to let go, Anakin. And Palpatine used it against you."
"I don't regret my son or my wife." Anakin said flatly. "Only that I had to hide them. Only that I let my fear blind me so thoroughly."
"I know. But it was my duty as your master to protect you from the sith. And if he had such influence while you were still my apprentice, and we both know he did, then it was my responsibility to stop it. And I failed."
"You didn't know he was a sith."
"It was my duty to know who and what was influencing you."
Anakin smiled faintly. "You tried. And contrary to Yoda's 'There is no try' I think trying matters. If only because it proves intent. I'm...I'm so sorry. I know words are useless." He linked back tears. "It...ah..."
"I know Anakin. I know it hurts. It hurt you and that pain fed the power of the dark side over you." Obi-Wan looked into his eyes. "And if you wish to remain free of the dark, you must know how you deal with this pain will determine whether you succeed or fail."
"I can't do it alone. I know I can't do it alone." He stared deeply into Obi-Wan's blue eyes.
"You most definitely will not have too, my friend."
Anakin swallowed as Obi-Wan squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.
to be continued...