Chapter 27 - Battle of Felucia

DISCLAIMER: We (unfortunately) do not own Star Wars. :P

Author's Note: Many thanks to loldelegate here on ff. net who has been giving us advice and suggestions for this fic! We never could have made so many unique plans without you! :D Also, this is basically a collab between all of us at this point, because we're sharing detailed ideas and plans. Lol.

~ Amina Gila

It's more relieving than it probably should be to heading back out to the battlefield again. Anakin is so used to the constant action now, he hardly knows how to live without it. Maybe he doesn't mind an occasional break, but he's always eager to be back.

"It's not going to be an easy battle," Cody says, looking between the others.

"The trees should give you more cover," Anakin offers, attempting to be optimistic. Felucia is... one of the more major planets that neither side will stop fighting for, and the Republic is not doing well there right now. Aayla is still down on the surface, but the other Jedi who was there was just killed, and they badly need reinforcements. Hopefully, the squadrons from the 212th and 501st who are going there will be enough.

"They'll also be a good place for droids to hide," Cody states grimly.

"That's what we're here for."

Their conversation is interrupted when Obi-Wan approaches, calling Anakin away to talk him privately.

"I spoke to the Council," Obi-Wan begins, and Anakin shifts uncomfortably. It has to do with that again, doesn't it. His master doesn't seem annoyed at him, but he does seem grumpy about something. That's pretty normal, though.

"They are... concerned about Ahsoka's most recent actions, and I am, too."

Well, Anakin knows that already, so there's obviously something else he's getting at.

"They want someone to keep an eye on her, see if she's up to anything else."

Anakin blinks, the words slowly settling in. They really doesn't trust Ahsoka, apparently. He knew it was serious, but he didn't realize it was this bad. What he doesn't understand is why there's so much distance between them. Obi-Wan wouldn't be bringing this up, unless... "You want me to... what?" he asks. Spy on her? Well 'spy' would be the wrong term because that implies she is up to something else – she probably is, knowing her – and he doesn't know that for certain.

"You're already close to her. You can keep an eye on her, and let me know about anything... significant."

They want him to use friendship with Ahsoka to spy on her? Use the fact that she trusts him to report on her? That's –

He's pretty sure Obi-Wan can see the reluctance written all over his face, since his master reaches out, briefly resting a hand on his shoulder. "It's for her own good, as well, Anakin," he says gently, "She is... not on a good path, and we can't help her if we don't know what she's doing."

Unease runs through him. For Obi-Wan to tell him that so openly, it's obvious the Council is very suspicious of her, for whatever reason. (Is it really that surprising?)

It makes it a little better, but only a little, that they might also be doing this to try and help her. He'd still be using their friendship, and... He's not really being asked though, is he? It's an order more than anything else. At the same time, if she is doing something that could hurt her in the long run, he can't stand by and do nothing when he could've helped her. And he has to admit that she has been... arrogant, in a way. He doesn't know what to do, and there's not anyone he can ask.

"I'll do it, Master," Anakin concedes at last. If nothing else, he can first see if there is anything that he needs to tell Obi-Wan in the first place.

**w**

"Anakin."

He startles slightly at Ahsoka's voice. He's hardly had time to speak with her since Ryloth, and he misses her, but at the same time, he hasn't been looking forwards to this conversation. He still remembers what Obi-Wan told him to do, and it settles over him heavily. He doesn't have a choice though, does he? His master ordered him to do it, and... Master Obi-Wan was right.

"Are we going to have this conversation right now?" he asks.

"Gotta happen sometime, right?"

He nods. It's not that he doesn't want to talk to her. He does, but he automatically feels guilty.

"I wanted to apologize for dragging you into it," she says, finally.

"Regardless, I agreed when I shouldn't have."

"Really?" Ahsoka asks, skeptically. "You regret it?"

"I didn't think it through," he admits, "I helped because you asked me to, but I didn't realize the full extent of what I was getting involved with."

"We won Ryloth, though. That's what matters."

"Yes," Anakin agrees, "And I am grateful we were able to save so many lives, but we both underestimated it's risks."

Maybe it was the wrong thing to say, because he feels her flare of annoyance in the Force. "Do you really believe that? I knew what I was getting into. I know how dangerous it is, which is why I reinforced all possible defective points on the Malevolence. I was keeping it safely inside Republic space, where the Separatists couldn't get ahold of it."

"Unless you were elsewhere and the Republic suffered a major defeat without your knowledge," he corrects, "In which case, the dangers are greater, because if the Separatists retook it, we'd never be able to destroy it."

"How much of this is you saying it?" she challenges, "We spent so much time on it. How could you have held so many doubts and never voiced them?"

"There's still a lot I don't know about the galaxy, about the Force, about being a Jedi," Anakin replies levelly, "But I do know, now, that in war, such drastic action without approval of superiors is dangerous. You can't know the bigger picture unless you have inside Council information, which... you do not. I... can only hope it will save more lives in the future."

Ahsoka is looking at him, jaw clenched, in a way that gives him the strong feeling she doesn't really believe him. In truth, Anakin doesn't know. He often repeats things Obi-Wan tells him because he thinks they're true, but what if they're not? He doesn't know, but it's very confusing sometimes. Sometimes, it's so hard to tell truth apart from lies, and reality apart from paranoia.

"I know what I'm doing, Anakin," she says, firmly.

He can only hope so. It does concern him, though, that often times she seems... to believe that she knows best and nothing could go wrong. He doesn't how to bring it up or if he should, though, so he doesn't comment. Expressing his doubts on her rebuilding the Malevolence in the first place might have made her far more reluctant to ask for his help in the future. (The part of him that doesn't want to use their friendship no matter what the reason wonders if that's a good thing.)

"I'm sure you do," he offers, "But I just don't want anything to go wrong and... for you to get hurt from it."

Her expression softens a little, at that. "Don't worry," she assures him, reaching over to rest a hand on his shoulder, "I think all of these things over before I do it. Now, I believe we have a battle to be getting to?"

**w**

Blaster shots are ringing out all around them, flying back and forth between the trees. At least it gives the clones a lot more cover, Anakin thinks grimly as he continues to spin his blades, deflecting away the endless blaster fire. Of course, it also gives the droids more protection.

They were called here to give reinforcements to Aayla, but after the initial ground they gained, they don't seem to be getting anywhere. The droids have almost impossible numbers, and they keep coming.

He slashes through more droids, then flips onto a super battle droid, stabbing it through the top. It falls to the ground, and he moves on to the next ones in line.

"Incoming!" one of the clones suddenly yells.

The Force screams of danger, and Anakin instinctively dives out of the way, but not fast enough.

He rolls out of the way of most of the explosion, but a blaster shot grazes across his arm. He barely dodges out of the way of another, ducking behind a tree to take cover. The injury hurts, but it's not really bad. He's been injured worse before, and had to keep moving. It's nothing more than the reality of war.

"Padawan?" he hears his master's worried voice through the smoke, and he hurries into view, kneeling next to him, "Anakin?"

"I'm fine," he insists belatedly, coughing through the smoke as he climbs shakily back to his feet. He needs to keep fighting. They could use more reinforcements already, and he has no idea when or if they'll be getting any.

"We might need to fall back and regroup," Obi-Wan observes grimly, reigniting his lightsaber as he turns back to the oncoming droids. More explosions tear through the ground around them, and Anakin winces at the feel of so many lives disappearing into the Force. It's worse here than usual. Forcing past the pain, he activates his own blade, moving back to his master's side.

Another explosion rings out, and the cannon blast from the droids flies through the air towards them. Anakin raises his lightsaber, ready to block it – but there's a sudden flash of red and the blast is deflected aside. A certain very familiar figure with red lightsabers stands in front of him, along with numerous other... bounty hunter looking people behind her.

"Asajj?" Anakin asks in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"You looked like you could use some rescuing," she chirps, then looks to the others, "Get moving, boys." With that, she charges into the advancing droids, cutting through them.

"When did you get on first name basis with her?" Obi-Wan asks, confused, as they keep fighting.

"Ahsoka kind of... works with her?" Anakin calls back, over the commotion.

"Then something tells me her presence here has something to do with Ahsoka," Obi-Wan concludes. Yes, it would seem like it. Though what,he can't imagine.

He doesn't take the time to respond – there's no time to talk about speculations anyway – and presses on with the battle.

With the added and very much needed reinforcements – especially another lightsaber user who knows the droids so well – it makes it easier. They actually do start pushing back against the droids, even if they still have a long way to go to even think about winning the entire battle on Felucia.

Anakin's lost track of how many hours it's been since Ventress arrived to help them, but they finally manage to finish cutting through the last of the droids in this sector. They still have occasional droids to mop up throughout the woods, but... at least this area is under Republic control. For now.

Right on cue, Ahsoka strides through the trees, cutting through a few remaining droids. "Hey!" she greets cheerfully.

"What's Ventress doing here?" Obi-Wan asks, suspiciously.

"She helped me with my part of the battle, and then I sent her over to help you with yours," Ahsoka snips, "It looked like you could use some rescuing."

"But what is she doing here?" inquires Anakin, moving to take a seat on the trunk of a tree nearby. His injuries are hurting badly now, being constantly aggravated through so much fighting and he needs to get them treated.

"I called them in," Ahsoka chirps.

"Mercenaries?" Obi-Wan asks, almost gaping at her.

She shrugs. "Yeah, and it looks like it worked. Come on, we need to get the rest of this area secure."

Somehow Anakin thinks that was more of an excuse to get out of a conversation – or more like argument – about it, as she promptly breezes away without giving Obi-Wan a chance to reply.

**w**

With a temporary stay in the fighting on Felucia, Ahsoka finds herself back on Coruscant, standing in front of the Council again. She's been planning to use the mercenaries she'd asked Ventress to gather up for a while, but she wanted to wait until it was actually necessary. Felucia has been... a difficult place for the Republic, so at least she was actually able to do something to make a difference there.

The Council doesn't look the happiest thought, not that that's a surprise. "You should speak to us on these matters before taking action," Windu admonishes.

"There wasn't time," Ahsoka defends, "I had to make the decision immediately or we'd have risked losing the entire planet."

They still all seem decidedly grumpy over the Malevolence, she supposes, even if it's technically not fully under her control anymore. It'd been put under the control of Captain Tarkin, who she doesn't know personally though she's heard a bit about. She's not quite sure what to make of him, but the Chancellor trusts him, and that's what counts.

"The Council has decided that you could use some time off the fronts," Windu speaks up, and her eyes narrow. This isn't some kind of genuine concern over how hard she's been fighting recently. She knows that much. "You will be put on meditative leave temporarily."

Somehow, she gets the feeling that the real reason they're doing this is because they're tired of her pulling surprises on them. And using very unorthodox methods to get things down.

Too bad.

But mandatory leave time isn't so bad. Maybe she could use a brief break, and besides, there's a lot of things she wants to take of that she never really has time for when she's out on the fronts.

Like dealing with the Separatist ships she got from Ryloth, and collecting more funds for future projects. And of course, trying to find a way to meet Dooku.

No, perhaps this isn't so bad after all.

**w**

Working alongside Obi-Wan is... It seems to be becoming a less and less comfortable situation to be in, as times goes on. Their relationship was already stained before the Malevolence incident, and frankly, Ahsoka doesn't really care, but now, it's worse. So long as they don't talk to each other about anything other than missions, though, she can tolerate it without snapping at him. Usually. Except when he's being an idiot about her efforts to bring the war to an end sooner. Really, it's highly about time that he remembers she does not, in fact, need to do everything he says.

"There's still heavy fighting on Felucia, despite our best efforts," Obi-Wan is saying as she stands next to him in the briefing room along with several other Council members, looking over a map of the region.

Maybe their best efforts would be a little better if they hadn't kicked her off the front and put her on leave in one of the most critical battles. She only holds her tongue because Yoda is in the room. "It's likely the fighting will go on for weeks before – " Obi-Wan cuts off abruptly, frowning down at the Grandmaster.

She follows his gaze, to see Yoda looking... tense, as he looks at some unseen point on the other side of the room. "Master Yoda, what is it?"

"A disturbance in the Force," he replies, "Intruders there will be in this Temple." Intruders in the Temple?!

Stranger things have happened, Ahsoka tries to reassure herself, but it's not really true. Never in her life would she have suspected the possibility that there would be intruders in the Temple. Master Yoda had sensed it though, and even if he's often wrong, he's not wrong about what he senses in the Force.

"We'll go look for them," Obi-Wan decides, and they hurry out of the room.

"I imagine they're after information of some kind," Ahsoka frowns as she walks alongside him through the halls, "But where do we start looking for them?" The Temple isn't exactly a small place, and there's far too many places to hide. For a skilled bounty hunter or operative of some kind, infiltrating it would not be difficult.

"If they're after information... it would be something they can't get anywhere else," Obi-Wan muses, "Such as the Jedi transmitter codes."

It makes sense. Too much sense. Though whoever it is must be awfully desperate to try something so daring. What surprises her is the efforts to which this person has gone. It's quite frankly impressive, and she might appreciate it if not for the circumstances. It's truly a pity the bounty hunter in question is working for the Separatists, because he would be a great ally to the Republic. He's both daring and smart. To most people, such a job would be suicide. It likely will be, anyway.

"That's in the east tower communication center," Ahsoka frowns. "I'll head there immediately."

Obi-Wan nods. "I'll monitor the perimeter defenses from the central security system."

She spins around, and takes off down the hall. There's not a moment to waste. She gets to the tower safely, and everything looks fine... at least it does, until the scanners suddenly flicker. It's like a power dip, but that doesn't happen on Coruscant, especially not in the Temple. Ahsoka contacts Obi-Wan immediately with the strange report; apparently, it's happened everywhere.

Behind Obi-Wan, Yoda moves into view on the tiny hologram. "Arrived, the intruders have," he reports. But, where are they? Maybe they're not heading for where they thought after all, but she isn't sure what they do want, then.

"But if they are not in the tower, what are they after?" Obi-Wan frowns.

"The communications center, perhaps their target is."

Regardless of where they're going, though, she knows what the safest way to sneak around in the Temple is. "They might be in the central ventilation system."

Obi-Wan agrees with her surprisingly and checks the system, to discover a disturbance in the south tower. She was right after all. "I'll meet you there," Ahsoka replies before the line breaks, and takes off again. The Temple goes on high alert as she runs.

They reach the south tower almost simultaneously and enter the same place the bounty hunter had. Obi-Wan is leading as they climb through the ventilation system, but Ahsoka hovers a distance behind, reaching out with all her senses – both physical and in the Force. Something catches her attention at the opposite end of the hall.

"Hurry," he calls, noticing she paused.

"No, wait," Ahsoka hisses. "I think I sense something. That way."

Obi-Wan pauses at that, and Ahsoka creeps silently down the hall, right in time to see someone vanishing around the nearest corner. She sprints after, and the figure comes into view again. This time she does get a good look at him, as he flies literally down the hall.

Cad Bane.

Of course, they would send someone like him to infiltrate the Temple. But he isn't in here alone, Yoda had said; he's receiving help from inside. Well, once they have Bane, it shouldn't be hard to locate the other. There's no question of who's behind it.

She reaches out with the Force as they run, throwing the bounty hunter into the wall. He instantly whips out his blasters, shooting at her as they run forwards. Ahsoka activates one of her blades in a flash, deflecting the shots away, one of them hitting one of his jet boots before he can try to take off again.

Moments later, both her and Obi-Wan have their lightsabers leveled at his neck. "Well, that went better than expected," she quips.

"What are you after?" Obi-Wan demands.

"Like I'll tell you, Jedi," Bane scoffs.

"We'll see," Ahsoka shoots backs, baring her fangs, "Come on, we should take him somewhere other than the vents for questioning, and we still need to figure out who his accomplices are."

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