Ahsoka's POV
Rex's voice immediately rings out as the transmission from outside disappears from the screen. "Alright everyone, please calm down and stand back." I hear the desperation crack in his voice when he finishes. It was practically useless trying to get the attention of the terrified group of younglings and padawans before him.
"I'm sure the council has everything under control outside. You heard Dooku yourselves. He's gone now." shouts Rex.
One of the older padawans, with tawny brown hair and golden eyes resembling a cat's, lunges forward, locking eyes with me before addressing Rex.
"Trooper, let's just give the man what he wants. He's going to completely obliterate the temple if we don't give him the child!"
I tighten my grip on Shmi's jumper and pull her into my arms. The padawan seems completely flustered by the bright red clouding his clammy cheeks. I don't blame him. I'm trying to compose myself in front of the other jedi; if I don't seem confident, why should they?
"That is out of the question, Commander. Now please," Rex stands over him, biting down his bottom lip in frustration. I can almost see the resilient fire burning in the back of his brown eyes. "Step. Back."
The padawan does what he is told, and sulkily drifts back into the crowd. I grab Rex by the arm and pull him to the corner of the room.
"I need to go, Rex." I say.
"You cannot leave yet." He sighs. "There hasn't been an order from the council–"
I interrupt him. "I am not going to sit here and merely wait for an order that may not come. I am going to help." I take a trebling Shmi from my shoulder and place her in his arms. The rising volume of the crowd was making her uneasy. "Watch her. Do not let her out of your sight."
"Ahsoka," his voice as soft as fine ornamental robes. "These people need someone here to assure them everything will be alright; they aren't going to listen to a babbling clone trooper. They need a strong-willed, independent jedi who can lead them –"
"I'm not that jedi, Rex." I interrupt. He clasps his hand to his forehead and crinkles his nose. "I'll be back."
I look down to Shmi, sucking on the foam padding of Rex's undersuit. I gulp down the lump in my throat and gently kiss her forehead. "I love you. Never forget that."
I catch up with the council as they hurry up the grand staircase. My eyes find a man with brown-orange hair who looks around the foyer with glossy blue eyes; Obi-Wan.
"Master!" I yelp and sprint my way up the staircase.
"Ahsoka?" He asks to himself. I clasp onto his robe and pull myself through the impending crowd of jedi. "What are you doing here? If the council found out you'd be in serious trouble."
"That doesn't matter now, Master. I need to help somehow, someway. Dooku said he's going to be back in a day. We don't have a lot of time to waste!" I manage out in one breath.
Obi-Wan gives me a disbelieving look, and hurls me to the side of the staircase to let others past. "Okay, I understand, Ahsoka. And I have a plan. Well, actually it's Anakin's plan. But he's getting stitches as the moment."
"Well, what's the plan then?" I exclaim.
The bearded jedi sighs, leaning back on the railing. "Allies. And lots of them."
"What do you mean? Allies? Like… clones or –"
"No, no. We already have those and unfortunately they won't be enough." says Obi-Wan. "I mean pirates, bounty hunters, Gungans."
I shake my head. "That will take forever to round up enough of a force to be taken seriously. Thousands of credits on our part too. What makes you so sure they'll come to our aid? Besides, the council has already vetoed the idea earlier. "
"The council won't say no if allies show up. It's just they aren't going to send out a distress call to them." Obi-Wan explains. I've never seen the older jedi act so out of code and rebellious. It reminds me of Anakin too much. "And I'm sure they, the Gungans for sure, have seen the broadcast of Dooku outside. For all we know they could be on their way here now, and it would make our plan ten times easier to carry out."
My throat chaps of moisture, and I find myself unsure of my words. "Master, it's risky. If we're going we have to leave immediately."
Obi-Wan looks behind him, glaring up at the council making their way to the war room to discuss further steps. I feel the uneasy, guilty heat emanating from his crinkled brow. He doesn't want to disobey orders. I can tell. "Find Anakin and meet me in the hangar in ten minutes. Do not tell anyone where you are going. Inform Rex and tell him to keep the secrecy." Before I can even comprehend his lack-lustre instructions, he roars down the staircase in a whirl of his cloak and a sprint inn his step.
It turns out the bullet only grazed Anakin's side, so the infirmary was able to clear him with only a couple of stitches and a pain killer. Besides, the council called out to keep the infirmary open in case there is an attack, so I think the doctors were happy to let him leave.
Even though Anakin can't afford to be in any hot water with the council, he is more than happy to oblige to Obi-Wan's plan after I tell him. The three of us plan originally to take our individual starfighters, but fearing the council would catch on too quickly if we did so, we decide to take a single shuttle used for supply drop-offs. However the shuttle is over the farthest corner of the hangar and the proximity of the clones is too close to take the risk of just sprinting blindly to it.
"Here," Anakin tosses me a small, spherical ball from his belt before glaring back to the shuttle. It is covered in small bumps, resembling something used for sport, rather than something a jedi should have. "On my count, roll it underneath that control bench out of the clone's sight."
Obi-Wan gives him a disgruntled look and takes the ball from my gloved hands. "Anakin, it hasn't even been tested yet. This could engulf the whole hanger in flames. Do you really think this is the time to try it?"
"Wait wha –"
"We don't have time for this now. Either throw it or I'll do it myself, Master." Anakin whispers harshly.
Before I can even pull the ball from Obi-Wan's hands, it starts beeping. Loud. The clones twist around to where the three of us huddle behind a column. I hold my breath and I muffle its noise under my cloak.
"Throw it now! Now!" Anakin whispers with enough force for it to be a scream. I fumble with it under my cloak and throw it as it starts to crackle like a firework. The ball bounces off the wall opposite us and it's crackling stops. The clones pull up their weapons and rush forward.
"Hey, who goes there? All jedi are to report to their dorms until further notice, council orders!" One of them shouts, only a few footsteps where the three of us crouch. Anakin slowly begins to crawl forward, motioning for Obi-Wan and I to follow.
As I let go from the side of the column, I trip over my cloak and tumble to the ground. I'm sure the clones notice, and feel them march forward with a heavy click of their boots. The sphere explodes in a cloud of smoke and shrapnel and I take it as a chance to run. The clones circle amongst the growing cloud of grey smoke and yell profanities. Obi-Wan hurdles back an empty gas canister with a flick of his palm into the cloud. I do the same and send a rolling cart over on its side. Its clanging tools spill onto the concrete floor as Anakin pries open the door of the shuttle.
"Wait," I shout out as I buckle myself into a seat. "The doors!" The giant, iron doors that protect the hanger had been sealed shut during the lock down. And judging by the blinking red lights surrounding the trim, they haven't been unlocked yet.
"Concentrate and get them open, Ahsoka!" Anakin yells to me in a flustering fit of panic; the cloud was dispersing outside and soon the clones would easily see what was going on. Me? And alone? I sure as hell don't have the power to open the doors myself. No jedi would be able to get them open. Even the strongest alive couldn't.
Reluctantly, I outstretch my hands in front of me. My mind locks onto the pressured, sealed doors' center. Sealed? They aren't sealed. Just shut tight. I wriggle my hands apart from each other and I can feel them being practically being pressured themselves.
The ship lifts up from underneath my feet. "C'mon Snips! Concentrate!" Anakin shouts as he turns on the engine boosters. It's harder to concentrate with the crackling after effects of the smoke bombs outside and the trembling hum of the engines beneath, but I persist, and with the practical bursting of blood cells inside my brain, I feel the doors lurch open with the sound of bending metal.
I'm rocked back into my seat as the shuttle skids onto its side and twirls through the opening doors. Anakin bites down on his sweating lip as the sunshine breaks through the windshield like the turning on of a light switch. We're outside.
The shuttle flips back onto its stomach and flies up to planet's atmosphere in a thundering shake.