Disclaimer:
Star Wars does not belong to me, nor do any of the images shown. This fic was created by me for entertainment purposes.
NA: I have translated this chapter using Chat GPT.
Star Wars Xion 13
An hour later, the fleet exited hyperspace, and Ahsoka and Master Plo Koon were somewhat frightened because…
Ahsoka's thoughts were interrupted by a feeling of alarm that made her shudder. In front of them, there was an enormous fleet.
"R2, activate the shields," her master commanded.
"Sir, there's a fleet of over fifty cruisers blocking the planet marked as our target," reported a clone, who, like everyone else there, seemed to want to remind his master that their fleet consisted of only seven cruisers and some frigates. They shouldn't raise shields; they should turn around and flee.
"We have to retreat," said Master Plo Koon, looking at the enemy battle line of over fifty cruisers. There was no way they could handle that fleet with just six cruisers, some frigates, and the Truth and Reconciliation.
"Well, you miserable old man, you've decided to give me a real battle. Let's see if you can destroy my ship and thwart my plans," said his master with a toothy smile, as if he couldn't hear them.
Ahsoka was also puzzled because the last time her master met Count Dooku, they were respectful to each other, but now her master exuded hostility.
"Master Plo Koon, battle formation. Ahsoka, activate the ion cannons as soon as we're within firing range. We'll take advantage of our superior range to fire one or two shots before the enemy can shoot back at us. The shields should hold for a few minutes while we even the odds," ordered her master, outlining an attack plan for the fleet, positioning the cruisers in a battle formation with the Truth and Reconciliation.
"Master, they knew we were coming; we should retreat!" said Ahsoka, looking at the wall of ships protecting the planet, more than fifty cruisers, and behind them, about a hundred frigates and a swarm of vulture droids with all sorts of droid bugs and hundreds of bombers. The planet was a true fortress.
The bombers alone were enough to destroy a fleet twice their size, not to mention the swarm of droids with hundreds of thousands of assault craft, mostly vulture droids. It was madness, and if they reached them, their fleet would be dismantled without being able to defend themselves.
"Of course, they knew. There's no way they'd let me keep this ship," said her master.
"Then the plan has failed. We can't face this fleet; we should take advantage of their forces being concentrated and attack other strategic points," said Plo Koon. His master shook his head.
"As I prepared to give them a headache, it's evident this small fleet was in my plans.
"As for strategic objectives, with the Geonosis factories taken and destroyed, the droid army has already suffered a heavy blow. If we destroy this fleet and all those droids, their reinforcements will be scarce, and other blockades will be less efficient. On the other hand, if we avoid this battle, it'll turn into a game of cat and mouse, and we won't get any benefit from this ship other than wasting time playing," explained her master.
Ahsoka looked at the energy levels generated by the engine; it was evident that her master counted on the shield holding up against the attacks of fifty cruisers for at least a few minutes while the overwhelming firepower of the Truth and Reconciliation allowed them to match the fight. The problem…
"Even if the shields hold up, that swarm of droids will tear us apart and board us. They can also bombard us," said Master Plo Koon, who had noticed the same flaw in their master's plan as she did. Even without the cruisers and frigates in that location, there must have been hundreds of thousands of droids, and they would be boarded from all sides. Her master nodded.
"R2, is our devouring abomination ready?" her master asked, and R2 sent him a report. "Good, let them come. We'll need plenty of resources for repairs after this battle," her master said, and Ahsoka understood that indeed, the shapeless thing in the cargo hold was a terrifying weapon.
Ahsoka, Master Plo Koon, and the clone commanders watched as the enemy fleet advanced towards them, but none of them objected further and prepared for combat, not because they had no objections, but because it was evident that their master wouldn't retreat no matter what they said.
"The enemy fleet is adopting a… strange attack formation," said a clone.
The enemy fleet, blocking the planet, was dispersing, leaving a significant distance between their cruisers. Ahsoka, who had already read the specifications of the Truth and Reconciliation, knew why they were doing this.
The ion cannons of the Truth and Reconciliation could disable an entire fleet of five cruisers in battle formation with a single shot. That meant, with maximum firing efficiency, the entire enemy fleet would fall after the ion cannons fired about eight times. In short, they knew the specifications of their ship, and their capabilities wouldn't come as a surprise. Ahsoka looked at her master.
"Master, they're going to surround us and form groups at all blind spots of the ion cannons," warned Ahsoka, as the enemy plan was evident, a textbook tactic when facing a less numerous opponent was to encircle them.
In this case, the enemy applied this tactic to adopt a formation where the ion cannons would be useless, and their casualties would be minimal.
"Calm down, if fleets act in formation, it's for a reason. They may be avoiding large numbers to lessen the impact, but we're also forcing them to disperse their forces, making them less effective, harder to handle, and less capable of concentrating fire while surrounding us," explained her master.
"They won't enter our firing range until they've resumed their formations and are ready to take us down," said Master Plo Koon, even though it was evident to all that it would be the enemy tactic due to their fleet's movements. Her master smiled.
"They haven't taken all our weapons into account," said her master with a chilling smile. He seemed ready to kill or die. "R2, show them that our fangs are larger than they think. Kyber Cannon fire!" he ordered, and Master Plo Koon flinched at the name of the weapon.
R2 executed the orders, and a concentrated beam, like that of a lightsaber but many times the regular diameter, shot out from under the frontal cannon battery.
Ahsoka wasn't surprised because she already knew it was there. However, she didn't know how effective it would be since the shields of droidekas couldn't be penetrated by lightsabers, and a cruiser had shields…
Ahsoka was stunned when the energy beam collided with the shields of an enemy cruiser, creating a massive explosion that engulfed two other cruisers, which were starting to move away to form their defense against the ion cannons.
Ahsoka looked at Master Plo Koon, who had a horrified expression on his face and seemed to be in shock for quite some time. She wouldn't get a response from him at this moment.
She couldn't understand it. This was the same weapon as the Death Stars that her master had made for her, and that weapon was like a lightsaber but with more power. This was not a weapon similar to a lightsaber; it was a weapon of mass destruction.
"The Death Stars are very powerful weapons, but in the end, they are anti-personnel weapons. If they caused explosions like this, whoever used them would be turned into ashes. They were weapons with limited capabilities. This cannon was designed for a spacecraft," Ahsoka concluded and looked at her master, who nodded as if he could read her thoughts.
R2 notified them that without the other cannons firing, and with all the energy directed to the Kyber cannon, it would be recharged soon, and they could fire again. On the enemy side, the cruisers, now in a dispersed formation, if such a thing existed at this level, activated their engines, tripling their separation speed.
"We're three times the maximum firing range!" murmured a clone. Ahsoka assumed that the Separatists were just as shocked.
"I can't sense anything," said her master, frowning. "No life losses," he added when Ahsoka looked at him, puzzled.
That meant there were only droids in the crews of those cruisers. Ahsoka furrowed her brow too. Her master was known for causing disasters with droid armies, so if the Separatists wanted to destroy the Truth and Reconciliation, it made no sense for them to use droids against it.
"Let's keep testing," said her master.
Ahsoka understood that he wanted to leave the droids in command, getting rid of the commanders. But if they could hide from her master's perception, this would be a gamble.
…
The Truth and Reconciliation fired another fifteen times using the Kyber cannon and once using the ion cannon before the enemy fleet got within firing range. The enemy had already lost nineteen cruisers. It was insane, and there would have been more if the cruisers hadn't been dispersed. Only the first shot affected three of them; the other shots only affected one cruiser each…
Ahsoka shook her head at the craziness she was contemplating. One shot, one cruiser destroyed, that was insane, and the Truth and Reconciliation had three of these weapons. For the ion cannons, they could only fire one at a time because they were port and starboard, but the Kyber cannon was located below the front cannons and could rotate ninety degrees left and right, covering the entire battle, and her master only had to select the target.
This made the enemy fleet give up maintaining distance while surrounding them, and they moved closer to fire and try to cause some damage, putting them within range of the ion cannons.
Her master grimaced.
"Impossible," he said. Ahsoka didn't know what he was thinking.
…
The battle began when the enemy cruisers entered attack range.
"Fire all cannon batteries!" ordered her master, and the more than five hundred turbolaser cannons of the Truth and Reconciliation concentrated their fire on a single enemy cruiser. The other cruisers also opened fire, but even together, they couldn't match the firepower of the Truth and Reconciliation with its more than five hundred cannons.
The enemy, scattered all around, seemed to want to surround them to regroup without fear of the ion cannons attacking them from blind spots. They also started firing, concentrating half of their attack on them, but…
"Light fire, shields holding," reported a clone. His report was accurate, but with twenty cruisers firing at them, it was a rain of fire. The problem was that the enemy formation was a mess, and the ion cannon kept them scared.
"Ion cannon, fire!" ordered her master, and the clones obeyed without hesitation, even though the most they could affect was one cruiser.
"Impossible," said Master Plo Koon, who was just coming out of his shock, seeing what the Kyber cannon could do.
R2 sent a battle report predicting a crushing victory for them. Ahsoka had already come to the same conclusion before. The enemy would never surround them, they couldn't attack in formation, and the Truth and Reconciliation wouldn't be affected by scattered fire.
The Separatist plan relied on the ion cannons, and they surely didn't plan to lose more than a quarter of their fleet before entering firing range. At this rate, they would lose half their fleet before taking their desired positions. They were doomed because they hadn't taken the Kyber cannon into account, whose range and firing angle would be their downfall in this battle.
"Did we win?" said Master Plo Koon incredulously.
"The enemy is retreating, the droid swarm and the rear frigates are advancing," reported a clone. Ahsoka's smile vanished.
"Too quickly, but there are only droids in that fleet," said her master, furrowing his brow again, as another enemy cruiser exploded into pieces when hit by the Kyber cannon.
"Dooku, he's here," her master said after several seconds.
"Ion cannon ready to fire in ten seconds," said a clone trooper.
"Kyber cannon firing in five seconds," informed another clone.
"Ion cannon, continuous fire," ordered her master. Against the swarm of vulture droids and saboteurs, it wasn't much because their maneuverability was a thousand times superior to that of the cruisers. "Prepare to launch our own vulture droids," her master said, placing his hand on the strange helmet that still followed him.
Ahsoka wondered if the helmet was some remote control device with which he planned to control the vulture droids, but controlling hundreds of droids alone would make them ineffective. It was more effective to let them act on their own, so Ahsoka didn't understand what her master intended to do.
"Rex, there are too many enemies. Our surprise weapon won't be able to handle all of them. Our troops need to come out and organize internal defense teams. They will go after our engines, the ion cannon, and the bridge. Don't fight them all, just hold them back while our abominations clean up the perimeter."
"The ones going out, follow the same pattern. Let it clear the way using the vulture droids, and you take care of the small fries left behind," ordered her master, and the clones began to organize.
Her master's words confirmed that he did indeed plan to control the vulture droids, and from what he said, he intended to sweep away most of the enemies threatening their main cannons on his own.
"Master Plo Koon, if the cruisers stay in the rear, the droids will ignore them," her master said, looking at Master Plo Koon.
"We won't withstand their solo attack," Master Plo Koon replied.
"Master Plo Koon, I'm being nice; withdraw the cruisers, they're in my way," her master ordered as he put the strange helmet that was still following him on his head.
Immediately, the weapon systems of the Truth and Reconciliation froze.
"Ahsoka, unless those cruisers hide behind the planet, keep firing the Kyber cannon and choose the best targets," her master ordered, and control of the Kyber cannon shifted to her station.
The droid swarm was approaching at high speed, and Master Plo Koon hurriedly ordered the cruisers to retreat because among the droid swarm were bombers, and in such numbers, they would devastate everything in their path.
…
The Kyber cannon fired a second time since it was in Ahsoka's hands, and an enemy cruiser, along with a frigate, were destroyed. The frigate had tried to act as a shield, but the shot passed through it and hit the cruiser; it seemed its shield couldn't withstand the explosion.
"The droid swarm is within range of our weapons. Cannon batteries in optimal position, no need to use the ion cannons," a clone reported, and all weapons opened fire…
The Force swirled around her master, catching his and Master Plo Koon's attention. Ahsoka thought it was a threat, but her master remained still in his command chair.
"Impossible," said a clone with disbelief, and Ahsoka hurriedly looked at her station.
"Impossible," Ahsoka thought, looking at her master with disbelief. Master Plo Koon, upon seeing the data, had the same horrified expression he had when he saw the Kyber cannon fire.
The cannons of the Truth and Reconciliation, under her master's control, didn't miss a single shot. It was one droid shot down with every shot, and the Truth and Reconciliation had more than five hundred cannons firing at the same time.
Her master had created another terrifying weapon, one that directly utilized the Force to cause mass destruction.
"Knight Anakin, what are you doing?" asked Master Plo Koon in a desperate tone; he seemed to struggle to refrain from intervening immediately.
The Kyber cannon was already something known and used only Kyber crystals, but this was a weapon that directly utilized the Force.
"Master Plo Koon, calm down, I'm just making good use of the training I received in my early initiates' classes."
Ahsoka blinked as everything made sense, understanding how this weapon of mass destruction worked, an ability even an initiate could use because her master wasn't lying. It was a skill taught to initiates, using the Force to perceive things while covering their eyes, but her master had turned a child's exercise into a weapon of destruction.
Master Plo Koon also grasped the ability that was being used and seemed to try to speak several times but couldn't.
"Calm down, Master; they're just droids," her master said, and Master Plo Koon sighed in frustration.
Ahsoka fired the Kyber cannon again, and the energy beam pierced through the droid swarm and hit another cruiser that was already out of the usual firing range. The Kyber cannon seemed to have no distance limit, and its current power was only limited by the Kyber crystals they had, which were her master's, and the ones taken from General Grievous, totaling just over twenty crystals. Moreover, the energy came from the Truth and Reconciliation. If they increased the Kyber crystals and the power source, could this weapon blow up a planet?
Ahsoka understood why the Jedi Council had threatened severe punishment for anyone who put Kyber crystals in her master's hands, but he had stolen them from the Separatists and kept increasing the power of the weapon he had created with them.
Ahsoka sighed, realizing that perhaps the Council was right to be so concerned about her master. He always managed to cause them trouble. Now he had turned a children's training exercise into a battle skill even a child could understand, although she doubted they could use it freely because her master was a Jedi censor, and his control over the Force was incredibly precise. He also intended to teach her the same, and when they weren't on the battlefield, she had to use the Force at all times, even when she slept.
Ahsoka looked, two seconds left until the next shot, and she aimed at her target. In front of them, droids exploded with a single shot, but they were hundreds of thousands, and the cannons of the Truth and Reconciliation, despite being many, didn't surpass six hundred. The droids would undoubtedly reach them. Still, this was another victory because her master didn't shoot at random, and the enemy bombers were facing a disaster.
…
"They're upon us," a clone reported when several tens of seconds after launching the attack, the droid swarm reached them, without their bombers but with their numbers. Even if each of them took a small piece of their ship, there would still be material left.
"Launching droids, Rex, order your squads to follow me. If they destroy the cannons, we'll be lost," her master ordered, as he also controlled the vulture droid system.
Several hundred vulture droids were launched, with black patches all over their structure, but that wasn't what surprised Ahsoka since she had seen it before. What surprised her was that the droids flew with the same crazy and aggressive style as her master, dodging blaster cannon shots by millimeters as they fired and eliminated their targets with a single shot before moving to the next one. It was as if they were also part of the ship's cannons.
Behind the vulture droids, divided into squads, were the clone squads, clearing out the droids left behind in the wake of destruction left by her master's controlled vulture droids.
However, the enemy was a fleet of hundreds of thousands, and a few hundred vulture droids didn't do much damage, nor were they an impenetrable wall, so they reached the Truth and Reconciliation. The ship shook.
"The shields are holding, but this is a drilling attack, and some breaches will open," a clone reported.
"Ignore them; the defenses will take care of those who manage to get through the shields. Keep firing the Kyber cannon," ordered her master, who continued to take down enemies.
He focused on the droids attempting to hit the bridge, creating a curtain of pure cannon fire between the bridge and the droids trying to send them flying into space. With so many enemies, it was challenging for Ahsoka to look at the cruisers.
The Kyber cannon was their most powerful weapon and had already taken down over twenty enemy cruisers during the battle, more than the five destroyed by the ion cannon. But it wasn't their only weapon, as the Truth and Reconciliation was a weapons platform. Now that the enemy had advanced their frigates and left them unprotected by the droid swarm to attempt boarding, these frigates were being decimated by the Truth and Reconciliation's cannon batteries and the reinforcement cruisers, which the droids ignored. The frigates were desperately trying to get back into the destroyer line, and the destroyers were trying to move ahead to return fire.
"This is a massacre," Ahsoka murmured.
The enemy had been surprised time and time again by weapons they didn't even know existed but had undoubtedly been designed with each event of this battle in mind.
"Bombers have slipped in among those droids, shields at fifty percent! They're tearing us apart!" said a clone soldier. "They've breached the upper hull, right in front!" he added.
Ahsoka blinked; she couldn't imagine how those bombers had escaped her master's perception.
"Dooku, you pushed it too far, I've discovered you!" her master said with a smile.
He took off the helmet, and the clones regained control of the turrets as the infiltrated bombers were destroyed when revealed. Her master looked at Master Plo Koon.
"Master Plo Koon, Dooku is directing the attack from Ryloth. I'll go destroy his base; that will give you an easy battle against the droids. Ahsoka and I will penetrate the enemy lines and destroy the enemy base on the planet, so the droids won't have a commander. Master Plo Koon will use the System 0, which I created, to handle the remaining droids. Without Dooku in command, there will be no more sneaky strategies or quick reactions."
"Rex, I don't want any of those cruisers leaving this battle; that wretched old man will pay for every dent he makes on my ship with one of his cruisers," ordered her master, who was already walking towards the elevator to go down to the hangar and penetrate the enemy lines.
Then, somehow, the two of them would infiltrate an enemy base that must have tens of thousands of droids guarding it and thousands of anti-aircraft cannons protecting it, and they would destroy it. As she dragged her feet to follow her master, Ahsoka could only think that this might truly be her end.
Master Plo Koon tried to argue something but couldn't find the words. There was also the matter that her master had left his place for her to use his new weapon to defend the Truth and Reconciliation.
"Master Plo Koon, the rest of the battle is yours," encouraged her master, who began to run as the ship shook from an explosion.
Ahsoka could sense Master Plo Koon's reluctance and fear. He urgently wanted to go with her master, and Ahsoka felt… protectiveness. Master Plo Koon didn't want her master to be in any danger, but his hands were tied.
As Ahsoka left her station and ran behind her master, she wondered if the entire council felt the same as Master Plo Koon, as she was sure his behavior was influenced by the so-called prophecy…
Exiting the elevator, her master used Jedi speed to run a hundred meters, where the clones were retreating from a wave of droids that barely fit in the wide corridors, determined to reach the bridge. But her master passed through them like a bullet, leaving behind only disarmed parts.
This was a skill he was teaching her, and Ahsoka already mastered it enough to disarm a couple of droids, but it was nothing compared to what she saw now, as her master had the ability to use Jedi speed and this skill that consumed much of his concentration.
…
While running and after turning in a corridor, Ahsoka saw a row of droids in retreat, being pursued by amorphous masses of what looked like a black mass immune to blaster shots, using tentacles to swallow the droids, which screamed and kicked when caught, but eventually disappeared inside that thing, and silence fell. Ahsoka didn't want to know anything and kept running behind her master.
Ahsoka reached the upper hangar with sore muscles all over her body, while her master, who probably disarmed thousands of droids while using Jedi speed, didn't even break a sweat. He smiled at her as clone soldiers guided them to the only ship there, a two-seater fighter, and handed them a backpack full of high-power bombs, but not enough to blow up an entire base.
Ahsoka noticed that these bombs also had black patches, and she didn't feel comfortable carrying them because her master had modified them.
"Rest from now on; once we reach the planet, you'll take care of the control room because Dooku and Ventress will keep me busy," her master said, and Ahsoka felt the weight of the world on her shoulders.
"Well, anyway, we're not going to reach any control room," Ahsoka thought, because they didn't have an army to make their way, and they would end up vaporized while trying to enter.
Her master, oblivious to her state, boarded the spacecraft and took control, setting a course for the astromech droid that would assist them. R2 was still on the Truth and Reconciliation's bridge; he wasn't part of this suicidal plan. It seemed her master held him in higher regard than her.
…
The flight between the planet and the fleet was insane because the cruisers, seeing that it didn't matter if they were far or near, couldn't escape the Kyber cannon, they got closer again, but ignored the fleet and fired at their small ship with everything they had. The vulture droids also followed them in dozens, but their ship was about five times faster than them, and they left them behind because it was one of the ships patched up by her master.
As for the cruisers firing at them, their cannons were powerful but slow, and a few rolls were enough to dodge their shots. So their small ship headed like a guided missile towards the planet, where her master said Count Dooku was coordinating the attack.
Ahsoka, filled with apprehension and fear, hurried to follow her master's advice and, in addition to resting, also meditated to regain control of her emotions.
…
Unfortunately, things were not different from what Ahsoka anticipated, and as soon as they entered the planet's atmosphere, they were met with a hail of anti-aircraft fire that destroyed their small fighter, turning it into dust.
Ahsoka had no idea how she was still alive, and how now her master and she were plummeting towards the planet's surface, where it was nighttime, but that didn't matter because the sky was illuminated as if it were daytime due to the number of cannons firing at them.
"Aaaaaaaah!" Ahsoka couldn't hold it in any longer and screamed at the top of her lungs as they fell… no, soared down, dodging cannon shots and making their already crazy descent towards the surface even faster.
"Calm down, take a deep breath, and enjoy the ride! This is amazing!" her master shouted, his tone ecstatic.
Ahsoka, who, like him, was headfirst and held in his arms, protected from the atmosphere and the elements by her master's astonishing mastery of the Force, which kept them from suffocating, screamed again and believed she also cursed her master several times, accusing him of being a complete lunatic. Her master just laughed and increased the speed.
…
The freefall flight lasted several terrifying minutes, but at some point, it stopped, and they found themselves inside an immense droid control room. Ahsoka had no idea how they got there. She was trembling and feeling vertigo throughout her body.
"Count Dooku, Ventress, a pleasure to see you again," greeted her master, gently descending to the floor with her in his arms. They were no longer upside down.
"Kill him!" Count Dooku ordered, and five destroyers advanced, but before they even reached five meters from the walls where they emerged a hundred meters away from them, they had been turned into pieces, just like around five hundred droids guarding and controlling the place.
Dooku stood in the center of the command room with Ventress by his side, and both wore expressions of anger as they saw the droids responsible for the consoles, who were supposed to be directing the attack in the planet's orbit following their orders, being dismantled.
With Dooku occupied, that meant Master Plo Koon would only have to deal with the droids, increasing his chances of survival several times.
"Count Dooku, I'm afraid I won't be able to accompany you this time because your droids are causing my troops trouble," her master said, placing her on the ground. "Destroy everything," he ordered and immediately leaped towards Count Dooku and Ventress.
Her master attacked quickly, with seriousness, and without his usual games, which were not games but a meticulous study of his surroundings and an attempt to make his rivals lose their calm…
"He's bluffing, he's exhausted," Ahsoka realized, and immediately activated her lightsaber and ran towards the consoles and terminals to destroy everything she could while planting bombs in her path. She also used the skill her master taught her to disarm everything she could.
Ahsoka didn't hold back and didn't even look at how the fight between her master, Count Dooku, and Ventress was going. If she didn't give these two Sith a reason to believe that the battle was lost and that there was no point in staying there, she and her master would be in serious trouble.
The separatists had also upgraded their droids, and they no longer deactivated when they lost the control room. However, if a commanding general fell, the droids would become tens of times easier to defeat. That's why her master charged against the command room alone…
Ahsoka felt a deadly danger looming over her, but it didn't come from Ventress and Count Dooku. Both of them, just like her, sensed the danger and withdrew from the battle, running without looking back.
"Skywalker! You'll pay for this!" Dooku reprimanded angrily.
Ahsoka could clearly feel all the Sith Lord's wrath; he truly wanted to drink her master's blood, but sensing death surrounding him, he didn't hesitate to escape, spewing venom and frustration, promising revenge.
Ahsoka, with the same sense of impending death, was also about to run, but her master appeared in front of her, from the midst of the room, explaining how they escaped from their ship and entered the enemy base without being vaporized by its defenses.
"Teleportation," Ahsoka thought, stunned, as her master embraced her, and the world turned into a clear sky, and they plummeted again…
About five seconds later, several kilometers away from them, an explosion erupted on a mountain, and Ahsoka wondered if Count Dooku and Ventress would come out alive because they couldn't teleport.
"Master, we're going to crash," Ahsoka warned. It seemed like her master was still finding the freefall amusing, but it made her dizzy.
Her master didn't listen and only when they were about to reach the ground, he teleported them to a cave.
This time, Ahsoka felt a jolt as they hit the ground with force.
"Ahsoka, now we're in enemy territory, and I need to rest. Leave the cave and check the perimeter; I'll sit for a while," her master said, leaning against a wall of the cave, clearly exhausted.
Ahsoka was surprised that he hadn't passed out yet; besides, she had only heard about Force teleportation in theory, and she didn't know anyone who could do it. Master Yoda said the Force was a powerful ally, and anything was possible, but she never believed teleportation was part of that package.
"Master, I'm tired too," Ahsoka complained, although she was more scared than tired. Today she faced death head-on more than once and needed to meditate to calm her emotions.
"Ahsoka, we're in enemy territory, and Dooku must be looking for us to skin us alive. I can't even walk anymore. If they find us, it's the end. Go watch the perimeter," her master ordered.
Ahsoka sighed and left the cave, which was on the side of a mountain. The landscape was desert-like, and the air was dry. This was Ryloth, the planet of the Twi'leks. Ahsoka looked around and tried to sharpen her senses in the Force, although thanks to her master, her nerves were unsettled, and her senses were dulled; many things could escape her attention at this moment, and if it weren't for her recent control training, she'd be unconscious by now.
She couldn't believe that after all her master had done, he wasn't…
Ahsoka blinked and ran back to the cave, where she found her master unconscious. She ran and touched his neck.
"You idiot, you scared me!" Ahsoka yelled. For a moment, she thought he had sent her out so she wouldn't witness his death.
He had only sent her out so she wouldn't see him pass out…
That didn't make much sense, Ahsoka thought, while a feeling of pain that didn't belong to her reached her, but it wasn't hers.
Ahsoka looked at her master and sighed. She took him and laid him on her lap. His plan to distance her and prevent her from sensing their bond had failed; she had calmed down faster than he expected, and she saw through his ruse.
"I'm not foolish! I already suspected it was you," scolded Ahsoka, making him rest on her lap and caressing his face.
It was a more square face, more severe eyes, darker hair. But they were his eyes, and it was… it was the same embrace. Her master had been that child who taught her to control the Force as a part of herself. But more than that, he…
"Master, I've looked for you everywhere!" Ahsoka complained, opening the bond they had created that day, and feeling him by her side.
Their bond was comfortable, calm, and with absolute self-assurance. There were no fears or doubts. He was the will to move forward. A will he had offered her that day. She hadn't understood it back then, but his feelings reached her with absolute clarity, and that's why she decided to accept his help without any doubt.
After that, time passed, and she grew up, coming to understand him. He had offered her trust and selfless support. All in exchange for nothing. She was valuable to him just for existing, and it was that sincerity and those feelings that formed their bond. A bond she didn't want to break, always seeking that helper, but the masters wouldn't tell her who he was, and he never gave his name in his classes; he didn't even have a fixed schedule; he would come and go.
Ahsoka felt their bond. His feelings reached her, and despite being surprised, she was calm. She also gave him a small tap on the head.
"You liar!" scolded Ahsoka.
She had searched for him, and in her heart were gratitude and good feelings, but she understood that his feelings for her went beyond that. That's why he hid it, why he didn't want a Padawan; he knew she would be the chosen one.
The masters had already warned him about this when they first met, the first time they returned to the temple, and she went through that terrible experience when she had to face the council for the first time on her behalf. That was a nightmare. Then, her master disappeared for several days, and no one wanted to tell her where he was, but Master Yoda and Windu spoke to her to warn her that her master took his visions of the future very seriously and, as his Padawan, it was her duty to keep him in the present. It made no sense to her at that moment, but now she understood everything.
"Speak clearly!" Ahsoka complained.
Of course, Master Yoda's and Windu's words were about her master's feelings towards her. He had feelings for an Ahsoka he knew from his visions, and in the council's opinion, that was taking visions too seriously. If she had to admit, she thought the same, but her master's visions were not ordinary; whatever he said, it truly happened. So she believed him and believed in his feelings. But she didn't have such feelings; she always wanted to be a Jedi.
She had studied all her life how to be a Jedi. She had never thought of any other possibility, especially not this one…
She hadn't thought about many possibilities; the Jedi were her ultimate aspiration and a role model, but in just over a month with her master, many things had changed, including her view of this war. Only two months ago, the Separatists were evil and insane beings. The Republic was all that was good, and the Separatists were all that was bad. The council was absolute.
Ahsoka sighed and stroked her master's hair. He had changed her perspective on this world. She still wanted to be a Jedi. But the council wasn't supreme; they made mistakes, especially when her master was around; he had a special gift for making them lose their calm and appear powerless and tired, very tired, even frustrated…
Well, even Dooku, who was a Sith Lord, seemed tired when her master had time to bother him…
"Qui-Gon, you bastard, don't think I can't feel you," her master said, and Ahsoka tensed, looking at him, but he was still asleep.
"Qui-Gon?" Ahsoka asked, but her master remained unconscious.
Ahsoka shook her head; it must be someone else who loses their cool when they're around her master, and now they're trying to avoid him; that wasn't unusual.
Ahsoka wondered what to do now. She didn't want to hurt him, and she felt pain from her master. A pain that reached her through their bond, but she couldn't identify it; it was a strange feeling for her. She didn't know how to help him, but she sent her own feelings of satisfaction for finding him, and that feeling of pain calmed down, so she thought it was okay and kept doing it.
Three hours later, her master started to wake up, and Ahsoka hurriedly closed their bond. She was ready to know, but not ready to face such an awkward situation, and her master didn't seem willing to talk about it either, so now they would both pretend ignorance and continue acting like they knew nothing. Ahsoka felt satisfied because she already knew what she wanted to know, and that was enough for her.
Her master woke up, and upon seeing himself on her lap, his heart raced, but he quickly regained control of his emotions. Now Ahsoka understood that he liked it, and she wasn't alarmed by it or thought she was making him uncomfortable. That was something that would make their relationship more bearable because this guy made her very nervous at times, and she felt like trying to see what it felt like to poke him with her lightsaber. She wasn't immune to the exhaustion of dealing with him. But now that she knew what was going on, she could take it easy, having an understanding of his situation.
Anakin got up with a horrible feeling of loss and reluctance, but he controlled his emotions and didn't stay on his Padawan's lap longer than strictly necessary, although he didn't stand up because he was somewhat dizzy. He had used his Force to the limit several times, moved through space multiple times, and finally faced Dooku and Ventress when he was already exhausted, overexerting his Force to make it seem like he was at his best and that the old man wouldn't risk too much in their fight, thinking that no matter how much they fought, he would only put his escape at risk if he stayed.
Anakin thought his body was too weak, but he hadn't managed to create proper nanites; the closest thing was artificial cells. He could perform Sith alchemy since he already had the knowledge, and he would surpass any Sith who attempted it, but he didn't want to delve into the dark side unless absolutely necessary, and now it wasn't. He had enough cards to deal with Palpatine, and if he continued to use his technological knowledge to give him an advantage in the war, the Separatists would soon be breathing down Palpatine's neck, asking him where the easy victory he promised them was and why they were losing so many battles…
"Master, what are we going to do now?" asked Ahsoka, bringing him back to reality because they were still in enemy territory.
Anakin took a deep breath and sat on his knees.
"We'll meditate and regain our strength. I can sense the battle isn't over yet, but there's nothing we can do for them. Don't worry about Master Plo Koon; with Dooku out of the game, he should have an easier time dealing with the droids and the enemy fleet; the 'Truth and Reconciliation' won't fall so easily either," Anakin comforted, knowing that Ahsoka's relationship with Master Plo Koon wasn't simple, and he was the Jedi who brought her to the temple.
Ahsoka nodded and sat on her knees. She looked different, and she might have already sensed their bond, but since she didn't mention it, Anakin could only breathe a sigh of relief and act like nothing happened. He wasn't ready for another painful break, although he was willing to face his feelings; if he could, he would take things slowly.
After abusing the use of the Force, it took Anakin half a day to get back in shape. He was surprised that no one was searching for them on a planet full of enemies, but he shrugged it off, and an hour later, he had taken a guard post next to Ahsoka and hacked into a radio.
…
"Master, Master Plo Koon reports that the battle is over. The Truth and Reconciliation is more holes than a ship; two of our cruisers have serious damage, and four need urgent repairs, but in terms of ships, it was a sweeping victory," Ahsoka reported as he kept watch.
"How's the 501st?" Anakin asked; this had been a tough battle for them.
"Rex reported only a few casualties. The droids were eaten by their pets, and they just had to delay their advance long enough for them to grow bigger. They now occupy several cargo holds.
"As for the pilot squads, their casualties were minimal. The vulture droids served as a vanguard and shields against the enemy's vulture droids' blaster shots, and their missiles were too slow for the new speed of the assault ships," Ahsoka informed, reading a report on a holographic unit. Anakin nodded.
"Tell them to prepare the farewell ceremony for the fallen clones. We'll conduct the ceremony as soon as we organize everything," Anakin ordered.
Anakin rarely allowed the clones to enter battles like this; they were slaves, and Anakin was very aware of that. However, if he refused to command them in the war, they would simply remove him from command, and then everything would be lost, including the clones. Anakin looked at Ahsoka.
"Are you okay?" Anakin asked, giving her room to complain about this crazy adventure.
"I'm fine," said Ahsoka.
Anakin blinked; they had been together for over a month, and by now, she would usually be complaining and warning him they'd die the next time. Anakin didn't say anything; he wasn't going to complain about his luck.
"Alright, we need to get back to the ship and bring the army to this planet. It would be great if we could capture Dooku since we already have Grievous," Anakin said.
"Master, Master Plo Koon reports that we have already received reinforcements, and the Republic forces have landed on the planet almost without any opposition. The Separatist army and Count Dooku fled as soon as we destroyed their command base," Ahsoka reported with a hint of disbelief.
Anakin thought that Dooku had fallen for his bluff of being in top shape, and he feared that Dooku would now be doubly cautious, knowing that Anakin could move through space. Of course, that was just one possibility. The other possibility was a damn ghost whispering in Dooku's ear. Anakin swore he saw it when he moved to Dooku's command room, but it was only for a second. Still, he wouldn't forget Qui-Gon's presence.
"Master, Master Plo Koon says that the Council wants to speak with us. They are already sending a shuttle to our position," Ahsoka said with a weary sigh.
Anakin smiled, but this was part of his plan; he already knew the Council would want to forbid him from even mentioning the Truth and Reconciliation outside the Council. If he hadn't declared before that the Truth and Reconciliation would be his new ship, they would surely be asking him to destroy it by now.
"Then we'll wait," said Anakin. Ahsoka sighed again.
Note: Hi everyone, as you can see, Anakin is still creating weapons of destruction now that he has his own battleship. System 0 was created with Jedi perception abilities in mind, and in the next chapter, its functioning will be explained, as the Force is only part of it, though a fundamental part. As for the name and idea behind it, they come from an anime, let's see if you know it; it's one of my favorites.
Note 2: I've written up to "The Clone Wars" so far, although "Revenge of the Sith" is already written, but I won't leave the Clone Wars aside because there are many things to explain in between, and you wouldn't understand the ending without them, as the political plot is in its early stages, and there are still characters like Qui-Gon and Maul, who have been active there, and I haven't written about what they've been doing yet, as we've only seen Anakin's plans and nothing about Palpatine's, which is the other side of this story. But don't get too excited, there won't be a point of view from Palpatine, but from Ventress, to see what has been happening with the Separatist side now that they have lost Grievous, and Anakin has a weapon that can break their blockades.
On the other hand, this war involves thousands of worlds, and the Truth and Reconciliation is just one ship. It can't be used for attacks on invaded planets because destroying cities is something the hero of the Republic wouldn't do.
NA: Don't forget to leave your comments, bookmark, follow, and subscribe.
