"We've got to find an air pocket now Snips!" Anakin struggled to keep his tone steady and in control, despite the piercing lance of terror that swept through his body at the thought of Ahsoka drowning before him. He wouldn't lose her, not like he had his mother.
"No arguments here Skyguy." Ahsoka replied, before gesturing towards another doorway beyond. Her tone was also surprisingly calm for someone running the risk of imminent death.
Then again, he supposed she was more than used to such things these days, and that thought only sent further chills down his spine.
What was the Jedi Council thinking, sending children into a war?! And what was he thinking bringing Ahsoka along on any mission that could have ever caused her harm, let alone letting her fight in a war?! He had tried his best to protect her, and yet she still came, both of her own accord and his.
Anakin knew why deep down. He was too selfish to let her go. She belonged by his side, even in war.
In the end, he supposed it was entirely his fault for letting her be a general's Padawan in the first place. He should have sent her back to the Temple that day on Christophsis, if only to protect her.
'And then she would no doubt have been assigned to another Jedi Master, one who wouldn't care about her wellbeing like you do.' Anakin's mind countered, confusing him further. Had he done right by taking her along with him?
"Hey! You coming or not? Kinda on the verge of drowning here after all!" Ahsoka's voice, one that was laced with a hint of humour despite her situation, drew him out of his internal thoughts. Stifling a smile, as now was not the time for such a thing, he pushed through the water, following behind her as she swam through another dark and flooded hallway.
Several turns through the hallway revealed no real air pocket, and Anakin was beginning to grow desperate. All they needed was a gap small enough for Ahsoka to remove her mask and drain any water within it. Maybe they would also be able to patch it up with something they could find, if they were lucky.
Passing through another doorway, Anakin's eyes scoured the room they had entered in search of something that would give away the presence of an air pocket.
But there was none. The entirety of the ship appeared to be flooded, with no place to get air in sight.
It would be too late to pull back now. Ahsoka would surely drown by the time they retraced their path.
It was next to impossible to ignore the voice in his head that was screaming at him to protect Ahsoka through any means necessary. He wouldn't let her down again.
He couldn't!
Continuing onward through the flooded wreck, salvation appeared. A small room off to the side of the main hallway, one that resembled a storage closest, was not completely flooded. How, Anakin was unsure, not that he really cared at that precise moment.
Reaching his free hand out, he grasped Ahsoka's free hand, pulling her into the closet with him and up to the surface of the water.
"You ok?" Anakin asked as he looked directly at Ahsoka. It was only then that he realized that the water level inside her mask had risen considerably, covering her entire mouth, with her only source of air intake being her nose.
Despite the peril however, Ahsoka seemed in high spirits as she nodded her head, extinguishing her saber to allow herself to grasp her mask with both hands and remove it, draining the water in the process.
"Close one huh?" Her voice echoed in the flooded closest, a smile on her face as she examined the damage.
Anakin couldn't help but roll his eyes at Ahsoka's flippant attitude. She had nearly drowned! Did she not understand that?
"Too close." Anakin replied tersely, passing his saber for Ahsoka to hold whilst he took her mask to examine. The crack wasn't exactly large, but large enough to allow water to slowly seep in and drown the wearer.
"So, what now then?" Ahsoka enquired from beside him, moving his lightsaber in her hand to illuminate the doorway they had come through. Her face suddenly shifted, as if she was concerned about something she had seen or heard.
"What is it Snips?" Anakin asked, his own eyes moving to the shadows beyond the doorway. It was difficult to see underwater and in the dark. Even harder when you were above the water line.
Ahsoka didn't reply for a few moments, instead closing her eyes in what looked like meditation, as if she was trying to sense something.
A few moments later she re-opened her eyes, but did not shift them away from the shadows beyond.
"I think something or someone is following us in here. Back in the hanger bay something shot one of those aqua droids, and I could have sworn I saw movement behind us earlier."
It was rare that Ahsoka behaved in a way that could be called paranoid, especially in comparison to himself. But, if she said she had seen something, then he believed her.
"Then we'll have to watch our backs." Anakin replied, before passing her mask back to her. "Stay here for a second. Gonna look in the cabinet below us. We might be able to find some cloth or something to repair that crack temporarily."
Ahsoka nodded in reply, taking the mask back from Anakin, passing his lightsaber back in the process.
Diving back under the water, Anakin gently pushed himself towards a large metal cabinet that had sunk from it's considerable weight. Not everything floated it seemed.
Approaching the cabinet Anakin brought his lightsaber forward to cut the lock, allowing him to open it without having to struggle, before reaching out with the Force and pulling the doors open, a feat that was harder than usual due to the water around them.
When the doors did finally open, Anakin held his lightsaber up in front of him to illuminate the contents within.
The cabinet itself appeared to be used to hold medical supplies, as evidenced by several medical kits that floated inside. The kits themselves were generally used for emergencies in the field, should one need to patch up a small wound to prevent infection or blood loss. Most of the items within were basic wrappings, along with several small bacta pads to cover wounds. Those would no doubt be useless.
However, there was one thing in the pack that caught his attention. A small tube floated in the centre of the pack, one that Anakin knew contained a thick substance designed to hold together wounds, as an alternative to stitches. The thick gluey substance was only designed to be temporary, at least until the person it was being used upon could get access to a bacta tank to heal properly in.
However, now it could possibly have another purpose. If Anakin remember his lessons in the Temple as a Padawan, the substance was not only thick in nature, but set hard quickly, and was waterproof.
All the things he would need to fix the crack in Ahsoka's face mask, if only for a short time.
Grinning behind his own helmet, he reached his free hand out to grasp the tube, before heading back up to the air pocket.
Upon surfacing he was met with a contemplative look from Ahsoka, who had clearly been watching what he was doing under the water to the best of her ability.
"Seriously? Medi-glue?"
"You got a better idea Snips?" Anakin retorted calmly, once again trading his lightsaber for her mask.
Shaking her head in a negative, Anakin unscrewed the lid off the tube, before gently squeezing a small amount of the thick liquid out of it and onto the crack on the mask.
When that was done he began to gently rub the substance across the crack, hoping that it would seal all the gaps that it could before hardening.
When he was content with his work he ceased the rubbing and waited for the glue to harden. It would only take a few seconds, if his memory was correct.
Playing it cautiously, Anakin waited for a minute before testing his repair job, dipping the mask into the water one way to see if any water seeped through the crack.
Submerging the mask slightly, Anakin was pleased to see that the unconventional repair job had worked for the time being. No water seeped through the crack, and thus now hopefully Ahsoka could push forward.
Smiling at his own stroke of ingenuity, Anakin reached forward with the mask, placing it back on Ahsoka's face himself, a smug smirk on his face.
"See? Told you I'd fix it. I can fix anything."
"Except for all the ships you crash huh?" Ahsoka replied, a smirk on her face as well as she handed his lightsaber back to him.
"Yes, except for those." Anakin replied.
When he was sure that Ahsoka was ready, he dived back under the water, heading back out into the flooded hallway. Glancing behind him he saw Ahsoka following, throwing a thumbs up in his direction in regards to his repair job.
Content that his friend was safe again, Anakin turned back around and continued forward.
The repair job seemed to hold, at least as far as Ahsoka could tell. She could no longer feel the rush of water against her lips, forcing her to breath through her nose. Instead, her helmet was empty, aside from the oxygen being pumped into it through the tank on her back. Frankly both she and Anakin were lucky that neither of them had been compromised yet. If that happened…
Shaking the thought out of her head, Ahsoka continued to swim forward, the presence of Anakin directly behind her, watching her six as he always did.
Swimming around another corner, Ahsoka halted for a few moments, casting a quick look behind her into the shadows, scanning them for movement. Anakin came up alongside her, his own eyes surveying the darkness they had come from, watching for anything.
"Anything Snips?" He inquired quietly. The last thing he wanted to do was reveal that they knew something was following them.
Reaching out with both the Force and her heightened sensory abilities, thanks to her montrals, Ahsoka listened. Nothing moved in the shadows beyond, at least nothing that gave away a telltale presence of another person or thing, and the only sound she could hear muffled in the water was the creaking of the shipwreck around her.
"Nothing so far, but I swear we're being followed."
Anakin said nothing in reply, merely nodding his head before continuing through the flooded hallways, pushing through some floating crates in the process. Ahsoka remained staring at the shadows for a few moments.
Still nothing moved, but there was something. A flash of something appeared in the deepest darkest shadow. Ahsoka couldn't tell if the flash of twin red orbs the size of balls really had existed, but it was all she needed to be convinced of her situation.
Something was definitely following them, and it didn't look friendly.
When Ahsoka finally caught up with him Anakin couldn't help but share her feelings of trepidation. He knew Ahsoka was a good tracker, no doubt in part thanks to her Togruta physiology. If she said something was following them, then he believed her. And if that person or thing wasn't going to reveal themselves, then all Anakin could do was wait. Perhaps it was just some sea creature that had decided to nest in the ship, or a scavenger looking for parts, the last thing on their mind being fighting two Jedi.
'One Jedi Anakin. One Jedi. Ahsoka left!'
Ignoring his own mind, Anakin turned his attention to the door in front of him. It had taken them a while, navigating the seemingly endless flooded hallways of the downed Venator, but finally they had come to their goal. Before him was a large door, one that separated the bridge from the rest of the ship.
Truthfully, most Venators had a pair of command bridges, in case of emergencies. One was generally used for command and control over the ship in general, whereas the other commanded the fighter squadrons based on the ship. As it stood, Anakin had simply chosen the closest one in hopes that what they were looking for was inside.
Waiting for Ahsoka to come up alongside him, he gestured towards the door with his lightsaber, offering a suggestion. Seeing Ahsoka nod in agreement was all the encouragement he needed, before he plunged his saber into the doorway, beginning to cut with a circular motion. Across from him, Ahsoka too delved her saber into the door, cutting in unison with him until both blades met.
Retracting the sabers, the duo floated backwards gently, before reaching out with the Force to pull away the hole they had cut.
The metal of the door fell away easy, it's weight forcing it down even in the depths of the ocean.
Not wasting anymore time, Anakin pushed forward through the water, entering the equally flooded bridge, his saber lighting the way. Behind him, Ahsoka followed.
The first familiar sight that Anakin came across was the ruined holotable that resided in the back of the bridge. Despite being underwater, Anakin swore he could see some sparks emerging from the damage the holotable had taken. It was clearly not operational, not that Anakin expected it to be.
The next sight that was familiar to him was of a human male floating in the water, one who quite clearly wore a uniform indicative of a Republic admiral. This was clearly the commander of the vessel, and he had gone down with his ship. Anakin respected that, even if he didn't like seeing it.
"Such a shame. I wish we could have saved all these people." Ahsoka's voice sounded around the room, her tone sad but resolute. He knew she didn't like this either.
"Me too Snips. Me too."
Continuing forward through the water, Anakin swam into the central area of the bridge. The transparisteel windows that lined the room were all smashed in, thick shards floating in the water around them. If they weren't careful they ran the risk of cutting themselves. This deep underwater would almost certainly lead to infection of such a wound as well, something which Anakin knew from past experience was not a pleasant experience.
It was then that another figure caught his eye, this one floating in the centre of the bridge. The only real reason this figure stood out to him was because of their attire.
"Looks like our Jedi didn't make it." Ahsoka stated from beside him, her tone neutral as she swam up to the floating body, her free hand carefully inspecting it. From where he was there appeared to be no sign of a blaster wound or anything to suggest he the Jedi had been murdered. Instead, it seemed that, like with virtually everything else on the ship, they had drowned. An unfortunate, and painful fate.
And now it meant one less Jedi to defend the Republic. Anakin allowed himself to mourn briefly, even if he didn't know the identity of this Jedi. From what Ahsoka had told him, information that in turn had been relayed to her from the Chancellor, the Jedi now floating before them had been one of the rumoured 'Shadows' of the Order, the closest thing they had to covert agents or spies.
And now it was yet another respected member of the Jedi Order, lost to the ongoing violence around them.
Swimming up to the body to join his former Padawan, Anakin too began to inspect it, reaching into a pocket on the Jedi's robe. He searched for several moments, before his hand stumbled across a circular item.
Grasping it in his hand, he pulled it out, opening his hand to see what he had found. It was a data drive, one no doubt containing all the information gathered by the Jedi on their travels.
And from the look of it it was ruined, no doubt thanks to the water.
"Kriff! Guess that any data on it is ruined then."
"Yeah, but at the very least you can return this to the Temple for safekeeping. Don't want it getting into the wrong hands now do we." Ahsoka replied to his statement as she pulled back from the body, her free hand now holding what looked like a lightsaber hilt, no doubt the one that belonged to the drowned Jedi Shadow.
Anakin was about to respond to the Togruta when a loud shriek pierced the flooded bridge, followed by an explosion of movement.
What appeared to be a mass of tentacles seemed to emerge from every direction, flailing around the bridge. Where they had originated from, Anakin couldn't tell, but if he had to guess they were most certainly hostile.
And then, the seemingly random flailing changed into what could only be seen as organized strikes, heading directly in towards him.
Author's thoughts
Before I proceed with the usual 'author's thoughts' section of the chapter, I first need to give an important shout out to someone. Recently, the individual known as "arrinsnyders" offered to play the role of beta reader for me, and has taken upon themselves the next to impossible task of proof-reading my work for mistakes that I may have missed (which is a lot), as well as offering advice on what sounds good, and what does not. Just from seeing the level of work they put into proof-reading this chapter, I can say that they have certainly taken to the task with upmost quality. Hopefully their assistance helps to make this story a lot better in the long run.
So, please offer your virtual high fives/thumbs up/handshakes/cookies to them please. I really appreciate their help with this chapter, and thus want to dedicate it to them.
Your the best pal! XD
And now, back to your usually scheduled schedule.
So, not much really happens in this chapter, aside from some internal Anakin stuff, which is always great fun to explore. I like the idea that Anakin has a tendency to just zone out at times due to his overwhelming feelings and thoughts, as it adds a level of humanity to him.
As for the way they fix Ahsoka's helmet, I'm not too sure if medi-glue is a thing in Star Wars, but I know from experience it is in real life, as I had to have it used one me once to hold together a nasty head wound, as opposed to stitches. Sticky, annoying stuff, but it did the job. If it could keep my brain inside my head, then I figure it would probably hold together a cracked face mask right?
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and are looking forward to the next one. It's a doozy I'll say that much, and will please a certain group of people. Cryptic I know. :)
As usual, comment and speculate at will. Speaking of which:
Mysterious guest number one: See, I didn't drown my favourite Togruta. That would be cruel if I did that. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. :)
TerminatorJedi: Glad you enjoyed the horror aspect of it. I'm a big fan of underwater shipwrecks, and really wanted to explore the creepy desolate nature of one.
And yes, something is definitely watching them. But what? Any guesses?
SLE's fave guest: If there are shadows, then 9 times out of 10 there is something hiding in them. Let's hope it's not too hostile to them.
It is Anakin and Ahsoka. When are they really prepared for anything to go wrong? They just wing it most of the time!
Yeah I imagine Order 66 did cause a few nightmares for her. She probably sees herself being forced to kill the clones to escape over and over.
tf330129: Keeping it up. XD