Chapter 38 - Kamino
DISCLAIMER: We (unfortunately) do not own Star Wars. :P
Author's Note: Thank you, loldelegate! :)
~ Amina Gila
Ahsoka is not at all surprised that the Separatists are launching an attack on Kamino. It's only strategical, but she is mildly concerned about how well the Republic will be able to keep the damage away from the surface.
It's the first time she's seen Obi-Wan since she left the med bay, and though that makes it harder to talk to Anakin, they still occasionally have comm calls.
But the Republic intercepted a transmission with Grievous and Savage Opress, discussing the upcoming battle, and now, they're on the surface of Kamino together with Master Shaak Ti, overseeing the situation.
"I recommend bringing in the Malevolence," Ahsoka declares to the hologram of the Jedi Council, "If we lose Kamino, the war will be over."
"Caution we must take with these measures," Master Yoda chides, "Misused, this weapon may be."
Ahsoka tries her best not to roll her eyes. Honestly. Every time.
"What better opportunity is there, if not now?" she points out. "If we don't stop them from reaching the surface..."
"I must agree with Ahsoka," Master Plo cuts in, "There will be no better time."
Masters Yoda and Mundi exchange glances. "Very well," Mundi agrees finally, "I will give the order. Meanwhile, secure all weak points on the planet." Ahsoka can only hope this will be enough. This is by far the most crucial battle they've fought so far. It takes some hours for the Malevolence to arrive, and every minute is counting down towards the imminent attack. Everyone can feel the tenseness of it. If they act too late...
Ahsoka takes off to the ship the moment it arrives. Anakin and Obi-Wan have remained on the surface with Master Shaak Ti to oversee the battle and stay as the last line of defense, even though Ahsoka can't help thinking it's stupid. If they hit the Seppies first and hard enough, they'll need no 'last line of defense'. At least not with most of their forces, thank you very much, Obi-Wan. He's obviously spending all his time and effort preparing for a possible mess-up which he can rub in her face, and it's infuriating. They've fought together for years, but he still has absolutely no trust in her.
Admiral Tarkin is on the bridge, and Ahsoka joins him there to oversee the battle. The Malevolence is just starting to move into a defensive position when the Separatists exit hyperspace.
The battle breaks out immediately, and the first group of Separatist ships are hit, though the cannon takes a while to re-charge. Ahsoka should really have seen it coming. She doesn't know why she didn't – it was perfectly obvious. The vulture droids are closing too fast, and they cause minor damage to the area near the cannons before the other weapon systems take them down. More forces exit hyperspace, and that's when Ahsoka starts getting concerned. "Fire at those transports immediately," Tarkin commands.
"The droid fighters attacking us are closer," Ahsoka warns, "If the ship is damaged –"
"Vulture droids stand no chance against this ship," he snaps back, and she barely resists the urge to glare at him. It's the same attitude she despises in the Council, but he gave an order, and she no longer is permitted to argue with it.
It's only moments later that the Malevolence jolts violently.
Ahsoka stumbles, thrown off-balance. "We've suffered damage to our primary weapon capabilities," one of the clones calls. "The ion cannons are down."
Ahsoka closes her eyes and breathes out to resist letting out a scream of rage.
Something on the control-panel flashes. "A transmission from the surface, sir," another calls out.
"Put it through," Ahsoka grits out, hardly resisting the urge to strangle someone. If they make it through... This should never have happened!
A hologram of Obi-Wan appears on the holotable, which only serves to further her rage. "Ahsoka, you're needed on the surface immediately," he commands. "They've made it through and there are forces on the surface."
"Already? But we've taken so many down!" she protests.
"I'm thinking that's what they're planning. The debris is falling onto the planet and their forces are assembling here. Come down here. Now!"
It's an order, one she can't refuse. "I'll be on my way," she agrees, unable to hide the anger in her tone. With her ship damaged, she does not want to deal with Obi-Wan right now. For all she knows, the Council could refuse to have it rebuilt, and more than that, the Republic could lose Kamino. They've never had a tighter situation.
**w**
The Separatists are attacking the clones' home, and Anakin knows what the price of this could be. Not to mention how many lives may be lost. There are clones everywhere here. It's not like the battlefield where they can find somewhere to hide. It also means there'll be more to fight against the droids, though. He can only hope it will be enough.
Enormous aqua droids come out of the water, climbing on top of the facility, some of them plunging their long ends into it, so they can start dropping droids inside the building. So much for the battle being contained in space. It's a good thing they prepared this last defense line.
In moments, everything out here is a blur of flying blaster bolts and spinning lightsabers. He cuts through droid after droid as fast as he can, but they just keep coming. The Separatists were more than prepared for this – they had to be after all, to attempt something like it.
From across the landing platform, Anakin suddenly spots a far too familiar figure. "Master!" he calls warningly, over the commotion, jumping onto a super battle droid and impaling it through the top, before flipping on to the next one.
"I see him," Obi-Wan replies grimly, as Grievous slashes his way through the clones, coming towards them.
The long scar by Anakin's eye is a permanent reminder of the last time he fought Grievous, and – no, he is not looking forward to fighting him again. Someone has to stop him, though.
Ahsoka's fighter finally streaks into view, shooting at the cyborg. He snarls, spinning up his blades in a failing effort to block the blasts. The droids nearby him all instantly turn their fire on her fighter.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan calls, "I need you inside to stop the droids from advancing into the facility. We can handle it out here."
"But Grievous is here!" He's not going to leave his master to fight him alone! Anakin knows well what the cyborg is capable of, and he can't – can't think about losing Obi-Wan to him. The battlefield is always dangerous, and he knows his master is perfectly capable of taking care of himself, but still, when it comes to Grievous...
He gives Anakin a pointed look. "Ahsoka and I will deal with him. The droids stand no real chance of overwhelming the entire facility, unless there are more forces here than we see. They may be after something else. Now go."
Anakin tries to ignore the tiny voice in his mind that whispers Obi-Wan is only doing this because he doesn't trust Anakin to handle the worst of the fighting, because he doesn't think he's... good enough for that yet. He seems to keep coming across like that more and more frequently.
His master has a good point, though. Anakin spins around, sprinting into the facility. Droids are swarming into the halls, and he slashes through all the ones he encounters, making his way to a communication room. The fastest way to figure out what the droids are up to is to see where they're concentrating their attacks.
He's scared for Obi-Wan and Ahsoka who are out there alone with Grievous and thousands of droids, and he should be there with them. They can handle themselves; it's something he's been forced to accept, or he would go crazy with fear for them every day on the battlefield, but the odds right now are... They don't look good. But he needs to focus.
Quickly, he scans over all the monitors in the first control room he can find. They're mostly just going after all the entrances, but then he catches sight of someone else on one of the cameras.
Savage Opress.
He's here?!
Anakin's never fought the assassin personally, but he knows how deadly he is.
Savage is sneaking somewhere through the facility, and the general direction appears to be the DNA room. It makes too much sense. Of course, that's what the Separatists would be after, and they wouldn't bother trying to fight all the way there. The battle is just a diversion.
He has to stop him now. Whatever the reason, it's definitely a good thing Obi-Wan sent him inside. The clones would never be able to handle the assassin alone.
Anakin sprints back through the door, running through the halls as fast as he can, past the fighting clones and younger ones, assembling to fight for the first time. He rounds a corner so fast he doesn't see the young clone in front of him quite in time, and nearly trips right into him –
Her?
The girl has short blonde hair and looks just like the rest of the clones. Well, except for the group of strange looking ones behind her. She looks up at him, eyes wide and curious.
"The droids haven't breached this far yet, sir," one with longer dark hair, who appears to be the leader, informs him.
"I know. Savage is here – he's going after the DNA room," Anakin explains breathlessly. He'll take the time to ponder the very strange group of clones later.
"Savage?" the girl echoes.
"We'll give you backup," the leader replies, and they take off again.
They reach the last hall, right in time to see the yellow and black Zabrak disappearing into the DNA room. Anakin ignites his lightsabers – he can feel the shock and awe of all the clones; is this the first Jedi they've ever met? – as he races after, throwing the door open.
Savage spins around, scowling as he whips out his own blade. The leader clone reacts first, throwing a vibroblade at the assassin, who tosses it right back at him with the Force. He barely ducks in time before it stabs him. Anakin lunges forwards, connecting his lightsabers to form a double bladed one as it clashes with the double-bladed red one.
Countering it with the same kind of style should be easiest. He spins the blade, blocking the assassin's furious swings.
He's fast and brutal, every stroke intended to main or kill. It's like fighting Grievous, except Savage isn't as strong. Anakin ducks away from him, blocking his blow and swinging for him again. Anakin is well trained with lightsaber skills, though – he's the best in his class. He has to deal with this.
Anakin shoves him back with the Force, and the clone with gray hair – why does he have gray hair when he's only like sixteen? – starts shooting at him. One of the shots hits his arm, and he lets out a snarl of fury, blasting them all back with the Force. The female clone joins, and Savage continues furiously deflecting the shots back at them. They duck partly behind the wall to shield themselves from the deflected barrage.
Anakin lunges for Savage again, and they trade a few more blows. He throws everything into the fight, into trying to force the assassin back. The Force whispers a warning, and Anakin ducks aside inactively, as the gray-haired clone fires again, striking the assassin in the arm this time.
Anakin swings for him again anyway, except the Force suddenly tightens around his neck, lifting him off the ground before the assassin throws him back into the assembled clones. Then he spins around, throwing his lightsaber – around the room?
It flies too fast for Anakin to react, cutting through everything in its path around the room, and right through the DNA center.
No.
He flips across the room, going for Savage's head, but it's already too late anyway. Who knows how much he destroyed already? The DNA is gone – unless there's some way they can recover it. Anakin doesn't have time to think about it right now; all he can do is fight.
The larger clone charges up behind Savage as he continues fighting, kicking him hard. Savage swings around, nearly cutting him clean in half, the blaze grazing across his armor. Anakin throws him back with the Force – only to realize a moment later that that was a mistake. He turns around, charging out into the hallway, and it's only through sheer chance that the female clone narrowly misses getting her head cut off as he runs.
"Come on!" Anakin calls, sprinting into the hall and going in pursuit. He's injured, so he can't move as efficiently as before, and that might give them an advantage. They can't let him get away if they have the chance. Far off explosions and blaster shots shake the facility as they run. The damage is getting worse, and Anakin can feel the intensity of death in the air.
He already failed to protect the DNA room. He can't fail to stop Savage's escape too. He's the Chosen One. He's supposed to be better than this. If he can't even defeat a mere assassin, how is he going to destroy the Sith?
They're rapidly gaining ground on the Zabrak, and a couple of the clones start shooting again. It forces Savage to slow down, blocking the bolts, and finally Anakin catches up. He draws the Force around him, letting it fuel his moves as he attacks the Sith in a blur. He's forcing Savage back now – although the assassin is also backing away, trying to escape.
The assassin tries to throw him back with the Force, and Anakin blocks it, but it sends both of them flying. He scrambles to his feet instantly, barely pausing to catch his breath, but Savage is already bolting down the hall again.
They press the chase, but he's still escaping. Maybe he should let him go, and turn his focus back to the droids? They're getting closer to the entrance now, with scattered pieces of droids as well as dead clones lying all over the floor. The clones have been able to stop the droids so far here, but he doesn't know if that's true everywhere. He doesn't have time to consider anything beyond that before the Force suddenly screams a warning.
Anakin throws up his hands, shielding himself, and the female clone who's right near him, with the Force as the wall next to them explodes. There's a flash of light in the hole, and Grievous himself stalks through.
Anakin's stomach drops. Where's Obi-Wan? Or Ahsoka? How is Grievous even here? He already knows that he won't be able to fight him alone, but he needs to do something. He has to be strong enough. "Stay back," Anakin warns the girl, igniting his lightsaber. If nothing else, at least he can keep Grievous from killing them. Whatever the cyborg is up to, he won't let him have it.
**w**
As soon as Obi-Wan sees Anakin disappearing into the facility, he charges at Grievous. Ahsoka's fighter is damaged from the droid's fire, so it won't be of use much longer against him. And he really didn't want Anakin anywhere nearby. He could have been killed last time, and Obi-Wan will never forget the fear of that moment. And especially after what's happened with Ahsoka, he can't lose Anakin. He knows it's a fear he needs to let go of so it doesn't interfere with the mission, but he can't "let it go" like he knows he should be able to. He just can't.
"General Kenobi," Grievous croaks.
"Hello there," he retorts, spinning into his defensive stance, as the cyborg lunges for him. He doesn't have time to think of anything else, as he throws himself into the fight.
Ahsoka leaps from her fighter, cutting through the droids across the area towards him, when another figure climbs from one of the aqua ships. It takes Obi-Wan a moment to recognize who she is, but something about the way the Dark Side swirls around her reminds him very much of the feel of death often left behind an occasional mystery assassin. One they've never been able to identify before.
And it's... Komari. Dooku's former padawan. He never knew her personally, but she was an extended part of his lineage, and she'd left the Order, so it was... a big issue.
And now she's... here.
A Dark Sider, another replacement for Ventress?
A red lightsaber hisses to life in her hands. "What a surprise," she says lightly, as she jumps down from the droid, attacking Ahsoka.
This isn't looking good. They already had their hands more than full with Grievous. They can't simultaneously handle another Dark Sider.
But he knows he's more than grateful that he sent Anakin inside.
All Obi-Wan can do right now, though, is keep from getting himself killed. Hopefully, Ahsoka can handle the other Dark Sider on her own.
He's fought Grievous so many times before, and he notices more and more where the cyborg's strengths and weaknesses lie. He relies on brute force, so defending until he finds an opening works best. Their blades clash into a saberlock, and the cyborg suddenly lifts his foot, catching Obi-Wan by the neck and throwing him a distance away.
Well.
So much for that.
He scrambles to his feet instantly, ignoring the ache in his neck from being grabbed with metal like that, to see the cyborg charging for the facility, slaughtering everyone in his path.
No. He can't let him get inside to where Anakin is, but he'll never be fast enough. Really, what's been the point of this entire invasion? What are the Separatists trying to accomplish?
He throws a quick glance at Ahsoka, to see that she's managing fairly well against the assassin. Not that she'd ever ask for help even if she needed it. He only considers it a moment longer before he goes in pursuit of Grievous.
By the time he gets there, Anakin and Grievous are fighting on the far side of the facility. Clones are gathered around, still shooting at the occasional droid they come across but none of them can risk shooting at the cyborg without risking hitting Anakin.
No, this is what Obi-Wan was trying to avoid! The padawan isn't near strong enough to fight him. Why did he have to be foolish enough to try anyway? It's not as if Anakin doesn't know that, too!
A ship suddenly circles around overhead, and Obi-Wan throws a quick glance up at it to see Komari is in the pilot's seat. Apparently, she escaped from the fight with Ahsoka – unless she injured her. Concern tightens in him, but he doesn't feel any pain from her – she should be okay. Hopefully.
Komari flies down overhead, and Grievous spins to look up at her, something dark and sinister in his eyes as he looks to Obi-Wan for a moment before turning, kicking Anakin back hard – straight over the edge of the platform into the water far below.
For a moment, his own lungs may as well have been full of water, for how it feels like he can't breathe. "Anakin!"
Grievous leaps onto Komari's ship, cackling madly, and even if Obi-Wan had the stray thought that he could try to stop them with the Force, his only focus is on his padawan. He skids to a stop at the edge of the platform, looking over the edge, though he already knows what he'll see down below.
Nothing but water.
"Commander!" Cody calls, joining them near the edge.
No. No. He's – he – they need to get him out now! Obi-Wan is about to start yelling orders, right as a group of unusual looking clones run to the edge.
"Crosshair can get him," one of them says, as the gray-haired clone steps forwards, aiming into the water with his long blaster, and firing a cable down below.
Obi-Wan can only watch, heart hammering, as Crosshair starts pulling Anakin out of the water. He's moving around, which means he's at least partly conscious still. It's a good sign, one that he lets himself feel instantly, because he can't accept that anything that serious could be happening to Anakin. That still doesn't stop his fear as Crosshair finally pulls him to the edge, and Obi-Wan and Cody are the first to get there, immediately pulling him to safety.
He's coughing up water, and the female clone and one of the others – who looks a little more knowledgeable than most if the advanced datapad in his hands is anything to go by – hurry over, immediately, helping to do whatever they can to get the water out of his lungs.
"What's going on?" Ahsoka demands breathlessly, finally running up.
"Grievous threw him into the water, ma'am," Cody answers.
Obi-Wan looks up, glancing over at her. She looks okay, which is one good thing. And Anakin will be alright too. He forces himself to let go of his fear as much as he can as the clones take him away for the medbay. "I saw Komari escaped, too."
"That's who she was?" Ahsoka asks, frowning, and he nods. She lets out a quiet growl of frustration. "At least we know her identity now. I'll assess the damage to the facility."
**w**
Ahsoka felt something happening to Anakin, and it reminds her of that moment on Mortis again when she'd attacked him. She could have lost him now. The guilt over that coils uncomfortable inside of her, even as she tries to force it away.
Why did she do that?! Part of her wants to talk to him again, but they already discussed it. There's little more she can say. At least all of this is over.
The damage to the facility is... extensive. Aside from the countless clones who were killed in the battle, and the massive structural damage, the DNA vials were destroyed. Based on security footage, Savage was in there and destroyed everything when Anakin tried to stop him. He was nearly killed then, too.
The Republic is probably going to be in a panic over the destroyed DNA, although personally, Ahsoka doesn't think the blow is nearly as serious as they might think it is. Not unless they're planning on having the Clone Wars last that long. Like it or not, the clones are a slave army, and she doesn't much like using them, even if there's no other choice right now.
And they don't need any more baby clones. There's no way she's going to let the war last so many more years. It's only a serious inconvenience because now, the Senate will probably care more for that than that the Malevolence was damaged.
"Captain, what's the damage?" Ahsoka demands.
"The main ion cannon was destroyed, and there is minor structural damage," Tarkin replies, sounding less than happy. "It is nothing of serious importance." Something about his attitude always rubs her wrong, even though she can't say why.
"The ship's largest weapon is gone," Ahsoka replies sharply. And he's the one who said they should ignore the attacking vulture droids. "It needs to be repaired immediately."
"I am the overseer of this weapon. Are you doubting my ability to handle that, General Tano?" he asks.
She grits her teeth. "No. But I would like to know when you'll be done with it. Do you have the resources for it? If not, I have people I can contact."
"It will be done as expeditiously as possible," he replies, "When the weapon is needed again, it will be ready."
"We may need to make structural alterations, to make it less easily damaged," she points out, "Some have mentioned that the Separatists have the plans for the ship, and... that is a concern."
"I will have its design considered in the repairs," Tarkin responds, "Further enhancements may improve its function."
A tinge of wariness twists in her. "What do you mean 'enhancements?'"
"This is the ultimate weapon against the Separatists. Nothing is off the table. Additions may improve it."
She raises an eyemarking. "What do you mean? What kind of additions?" This is why she wanted to be in control of it.
"As I said, General Tano, leave this matter to me. I will do my utmost to ensure it will suffer any damage again. I imagine you have many other duties to attend to." That's a very obvious, more polite way of saying 'now get lost.'
Ahsoka still doesn't like the sound of that, but she lets it drop for now. Palpatine thought Tarkin would be good to lead the ship, so she'll trust his judgment. Tarkin is a good military leader, after all, but she doesn't always know what to think of his... methods. They're a little more unorthodox than even things she'll do, and she does not always agree. But whatever this is, it will have to go through the Senate first anyway, right?
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