The Jedi Temple

Wind rushed through the two Jedi's hair as the ground came rushing up to greet them. Using the force to slow themselves down before impact was something that both of them were used to. There had been countless situations throughout the course of the war that had required such a manoeuvre. Whether it was jumping out of a ship, as they had just done, or falling off a ledge, both Ahsoka and Obi Wan had used the force to survive great drops countless times. They landed together and looked up to see Rex's ship flying off towards the spaceport. The two Jedi had landed on the roof of the lower section, overlooking the Eastern landing pad. From where they were, the only way into the temple was to drop down onto the landing pad about a few meters below them, and walk through the entranceway there. Obi Wan stuck peered over the side, sticking out his arm to tell Ahsoka to stay back from the edge. Congregated around the entranceway were a number of people dressed in Jedi robes, however, from Kenobi's birds-eye-view, he could see that they had a blaster strapped to their belts.

"It would seem we are too late; the clones have already taken over the temple. There's five of them disguised as Jedi guarding the entranceway." Obi Wan informed Ahsoka.

"If there are clones here, then there's a good chance that master Skywalker is here too."

"I agree, you ready to drop down?"

"I sure am" smiled Ahsoka. Obi Wan held up three fingers and dropped them one by one until his hand was in a fist. As his fist formed, he dropped down in to the side of the crowd of clones guarding the entrance. Ahsoka landed synchronised on the other side of them and drew her two lightsabres. With a swift thrust of her arms upwards, she sliced through the robes of two of the Jedi imposters before they had time to draw their weapons. Obi Wan drew his own lightsabre and decapitated one clone whilst using the force to smash another against one of the pillars that lined the walls of the Jedi Temple. The final clone had drawn his blaster and aimed it at the younger of his two lightsabre wielding opponents, firing off two rounds before Obi Wan's blue blade impaled his chest and left him to crumple onto the ground. Seeing these clones posing as Jedi had been the final confirmation that the clones truly had betrayed the Jedi order. This betrayal hurt Obi Wan dearly. Although he would not let the hatred and anger that he now felt for these clones drag him to the dark side of the force, he was certainly not going to show any remorse or hesitate for a second to unleash his full power on these traitors. Traitors that he had witnessed so many of his own brothers and sisters in the Jedi order die for. With their weapons still drawn the two Jedi walked into the temple. They were sure that the clones would have an ambush prepared for any Jedi foolish enough to return to the temple. Through the grand entranceway was a large room, the red carpet that ran along the floor was littered with bodies; clone and Jedi alike. Clearly a battle of epic proportions had taken place in this room, and throughout the entire building. Recently by the looks of things. There was still smoke in the air from the blaster fire, and the smell of burnt flesh was unmistakeably hanging in the air.

"I can't believe this has actually happened" murmured Ahsoka, shocked by what she was seeing in front of her. "How could anyone do this"

"I don't understand it either" Said Kenobi shaking his head in despair. Surely Anakin had not been involved in this brutal raid. The duo walked together through the temple, stepping over the bodies of their fallen comrades. As they made their way through the temple, in search of their old friend Anakin their emotions were out of control. Each Jedi body they walked past was a body of friend, student, training partner, teacher or hero. With the sight of each new body came another load on the now broken hearts of the two Jedi. From sorrow, to anger, and now helplessness, the Jedi's minds were in turmoil. They made their way up the stairs. Clearly a couple of experienced Jedi had led a last stand here, in the one narrow part of the temple. There were countless clone bodies at the bottom of the stairs, and blaster marks covered the walls, but clearly the Jedi had been overrun, their bodies now lying motionless at the top of the stairs.

"These Jedi weren't murdered by clones, this is the mark of a lightsabre" Obi Wan muttered, almost silently, as thoughts raced through his mind. Ahsoka slid down the wall she was now standing next to, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.

"Just give me a minute" she whispered to Obi Wan, who took a seat next to the young Togruta, who now had her head buried in her hands. They sat in silence for what felt like forever. Neither of them able to understand what could have caused Anakin to do such horrible things. Ahsoka felt helpless. Not because she thought she would meet the same fate as the Jedi that lay just inches away from her, but because she was certain that there was no way she would ever see the friend she had left behind when she left the Jedi, ever again. That man that had taught her so much, and been so kind, so thoughtful, and so understanding, was now gone forever.

"We have to find him" She finally said, breaking the silence "It's the only way we can be sure that he is truly gone. Maybe it's not too late to save him."

Obi Wan remained silent for a couple of minutes.

"I agree, but I wouldn't get my hopes up" He eventually replied. "I'll send out a warning for the other Jedi, and then we should get out of here."

Ahsoka nodded. She followed him towards the broadcasting room. They walked in silence. Once they got to the room, Obi Wan got to work programming the warning to the remaining Jedi, making sure that the Empire wouldn't be able to reprogram it anytime soon. He had noticed that when Anakin and his troopers had raided the temple that they had programmed their own transmission, calling all surviving Jedi back to the temple. Back to an ambush. He decided that he didn't need to tell Ahsoka, she clearly had enough on her mind right now. He glanced back over at her. Once again, she was sitting on the floor with her eyes closed, propped up against the wall. He wondered if it was safe to take her with him when he goes to confront Anakin. It was a real possibility that Anakin was beyond saving, and if that was the case, then he would do what needed to be done, and he did not believe that Anakin's former apprentice would be able to handle that in her current state.

"C'mon, let's get going" Obi Wan said once he was done. Normally when the two of them were together, they wouldn't stop talking. They were both chatty people, and Obi Wan's dry sense of humour always entertained the young Ahsoka, who would try and outdo him with jokes of her own. But not today. Not after what they had just witnessed. The scenes that they had seen in the Jedi temple had clearly taken their toll on Ahsoka. Obi Wan had experienced many horrific things that had scarred him, although he would never show it, but this certainly topped the list. Not even the first-hand sight of his master being slain by Darth Maul could top what he and Ahsoka had just uncovered. The fresh air that greeted them as they stepped outside was a relief. Although they had gotten used to it over time inside the temple, the smell of death and bloodshed was not pleasant.

"Where to now?" Ahsoka asked, deflated.

"I'm not sure" replied Obi Wan "But I think Anakin is off-world, I believe I would have been able to sense him otherwise."

"The only problem is; that still leaves the entire rest of the galaxy" replied Ahsoka.

"Now that the war has fulfilled all of Palpatine's purposes, he will be wanting to put an end to it. On Utapau, I saw Grievous ordering the Viceroy and some of the other confederacy leaders to a Mustafar. My bet is that the Emperor has sent his new apprentice there to put an end to this war once and for all." Explained Obi Wan.

"Okay, but we still have to get our hands on a ship capable of getting to the Mustafar system" Ahsoka reminded the Jedi master.

"After the bombing of the Jedi temple's hangar, our fleet was moved to that warehouse there" Obi Wan said, pointing at a large warehouse, two blocks away. The duo set off in that direction.

It wasn't a long walk to the warehouse, but Obi Wan and Ahsoka were treading carefully. They likely had a bounty on their heads, set by the Emperor, so they didn't want anyone seeing them. If they were spotted, it probably wouldn't be long before a squad of clones surrounded them. Or worse.

They reached the warehouse without strife, and were greeted by a large door that could only be opened by a control panel to the side. Kenobi keyed in the password and the door began rolling up, revealing a row of what had become known as 'Jedi starfighters' throughout the war, due to their popularity amongst the Jedi. Obi Wan and Ahsoka took one each. But before they could take off the room went dark as the warehouse door slammed back down to the ground. Moments later a red hue began to encase the room as emergency lighting came on. A siren was sounding, alarming anyone nearby that there was an intruder. Obi Wan quickly jumped back out of his fighter and yelled at Ahsoka.

"Get ready to lift off! I'm going to come with you if things get hairy!" Just as the words left his mouth, the door on the side of the building swung open and a half-dozen cone troopers piled through, all wearing the signature yellow stripes of Obi Wan's 212th battalion. They raised their blasters at Obi Wan as if they were part of a firing squad, about to execute a prisoner. But before they got any shots off, Obi Wan stuck out his hands and used the force to send one of the starfighters hurling into them, crushing them like dominos.

"Cover me!" Obi Wan yelled to Ahsoka as more clones continued to pile through the narrow side doorway.

"Already on it boss" smirked Ahsoka, ready for a bit of payback for what had happened at the temple. She lifted her starfighter off the ground, and swung it around to face the stream of clones rushing on from the side. Shots began firing at the starfighter, but the clones' blasters were unable to penetrate the starfighter's shields. Ahsoka lined up her shot and squeezed the trigger, sending powerful shots rocketing into the clones' formation.

Meanwhile Obi Wan had made his way over to the entire control panel and keyed in the password. But it wasn't working. This had all been a trap. The door controls were now disabled. But that wasn't enough to stop the Jedi master. He blocked out the commotion that was going on just meters away from him and knelt down next to the panel. In his mind, he imagined the electronic lock that was stopping the door from opening. Using all his concentration, he pictured prying it open, and sure enough, the door began rolling back up.

"Now Ahsoka!" He yelled. Ahsoka let off one more salvo before turning to face the main door. The door was rolling up to reveal a row of clones, armed with anti-air rockets, and in front of them was standing Commander Cody. Rage boiled up inside Obi Wan when he saw the man he had entrusted his life in so many times, now commanding a squad that was about to kill him. Without thinking Obi Wan let out a yell and pushed his hands forward.

The resulting shockwave sent all the troopers flying through the air and crashing into the ground hundreds of meters away from where they were just standing. Ahsoka had already began flying her ship out of the main door, and passed overhead of Kenobi right after he had scattered the clones. With a simple push, Obi Wan bounded onto the starfighter. Although most of the Jedi craft were made for a pilot only, Ahsoka had picked one that had a backwards facing gunner seat as well. The new model had only entered production towards the end of the war, and were the only ship of their size to have a hyperdrive fitted into their design, Which is why they gained the nickname Zippers. Obi Wan climbed into the back seat while Ahsoka rapidly piloted the craft into the sky. By now a couple of the troopers had regained their feet and managed to fire off a couple of missiles. But it was too late for them. Ahsoka plotted a course, and the ship went into hyperspace leaving the missiles, and Coruscant, far behind.