Chapter 7

Shortly after the battle and Anakin and Plo had landed on the Resolute, they both proceeded to the bridge to report their status to the Jedi Council. Anakin was more effected by the loss than anyone, even though the battle was won, Grievous had still managed to get away. He focused on that more than the rescue of the captives, unlike Plo who, although was still disappointed, was relieved that two more innocent lives hadn't been consumed in the conflict. The Jedi master always did focus on the positives. The doors of the bridge opened and the two Jedi entered, approaching the holo-table. "Get me General Kenobi," Anakin ordered the clone officer standing by.

"Right away, General," he responded, immediately beginning to fiddle with all the controls.

Ahsoka and Yularen entered through the other side, "No luck, huh Skyguy?" she asked, sensing he was unhappy.

Anakin looked up at his padawan, "Not today, Snips. Otherwise, I would be holding Grievous right now...in a jar."

She snickered along with the surrounding crew. "Sirs," the officer spoke up. "I've got the General."

"Put it through," Plo responded, sensing Anakin's worry.

The holographic images of four Jedi appeared before them, Kit Fisto, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan, and Luminara Unduli. "Skywalker," Mace began. "I trust you have some progress to report."

Anakin hesitated for a moment, "Ah...yes, masters. We were able to trap Grievous's fleet, but Grievous managed to evacuate multiple shuttles and himself off the ships, and blasted off into hyperspace before we could catch him or even had a chance to board."

The quartet of Jedi sighed softly before Luminara stated, "Evacuating entire ships and running off like a coward at the first sight of Republic ships." The Jedi master sadly chuckled to herself. "We should have expected such tactics from Grievous. By the way, what is the status of the hostages? Did Grievous escape with them too?"

Anakin sighed again at the mention, more agitated this time, "No, we managed to safely rescue both of them. In fact, they're the reason Grievous got away."

"Oh well," Obi-Wan said. "At least we were able to fulfill part of our duty by saving lives."

"Indeed," Mace continued. "But in this war, we can never seem to fulfill all our duties at once. And Grievous doesn't help that."

"This war could have been over," Anakin muttered to himself, but loud enough for Obi-Wan to hear.

"Anakin, it's not fair to blame them, they probably had no idea what was even going on. Hostage extraction comes before capture of anyone, even Grievous." Anakin looked down again. "Don't feel bad about it. There's always something preventing us from catching that monster. There's always a next time."

Anakin sighed, he'd hoped there wouldn't be a next time. "Very well then," Plo said finally. "So I assume the mission now is to return them to their home planet?"

"Correct," Mace answered. "And after your done with that, we need you to make a stop at Raxus Prime."

There was a brief pause before Ahsoka asked, "Raxus Prime? What could possibly be on that piece of junk of a planet that we could need?"

"Ahsoka," Anakin immediately responded in a calm tone. "What do want there, masters?"

Obi-Wan immediately responded. "We've discovered that there are resources there that could be useful to us."

"Such as?" Plo asked.

"There is a great deal of metal in one specific spot, reusable metal. Not to mention the ore that can be obtained by melting down the other metal. And best of all, the Separatists are unaware of it."

"Great," Ahsoka muttered. "Now we have to run errands."

"Ahsoka!" Anakin snapped, more harshly. "Sorry my masters, we're actually very close to that system. We can be underway shortly."

"Good," Mace answered. "Contact us when you arrive."

The four holograms vanished. Admiral Yularen began as soon as they did, "Generals, Raxus Prime is actually on the way to the home world of the former hostages, we can return them home and have our metals."

"Not right away of course, unless they don't mind a quick detour," Ahsoka added.

"No, but we can scout and find a staging area for our other ships to move in."

"Very good Admiral. Men, plot a course for Raxus Prime." Anakin ordered. "I'll check on our guests." A.K.A., the reasons Grievous is alive, his mind yelled. He tried to ignore it, he couldn't let emotions cloud his focus, not again.