Chapter 56 - The Bombing

Author's Note: *evil cackling intensifies*

~ Amina Gila

"It will be tight," Ahsoka is saying, as she, Rex, and Anakin stand gathered near a holomap of the Separatist positions on Cato Neimoidia. "But we'll have to make it. We don't have time to find a way around that blockade."

It's definitely going to be hard, Rex knows, just from looking at the positions. They're going to lose a lot of people, but that... is normal. It's war. That doesn't mean there isn't a part of him constantly wondering who's next, or when he will be. It's why he tries not to hang onto to any of his brothers, because he knows inevitably, they'll all be gone.

"The fighting will be... heavy," Anakin objects, slightly uncertain. He crosses his arms, something about his posture indicating that he's expecting a negative reaction. Rex has... noticed that. "We're going to lose a lot of people needlessly."

But Anakin has always been different, and he's always worried about how many will be lost. It's not that Ahsoka isn't, but she always puts the mission first. Rex... always did too, because that's what he was supposed to do, no matter how he sometimes questioned it. He just doesn't always understand the point of the war, and seeing Anakin advocating for them is... It's touching in a way he never understood. (He admittedly feels bad for Cody, for losing Anakin, but he's glad the Commander is here.)

"It is unfortunate," Ahsoka agrees, "But we don't have much choice right now. We're running out of time."

"There has to be some other way," Anakin insists, "I think if we went in this way..." He gestures to the map.

"It would work," Rex concurs. They'd save far more people.

The General presses her lips together, studying it. "Perhaps, but we may risk losing the position entirely if we do that. I would have called in more forces, but none were available. We'll have to go in now."

Anakin still looks reluctant. "But we're going to risk many men."

"I know." She sighs, "But like I said, we don't have much choice right now. We need to move out."

Rex knows she has a point, even if he still wishes they'd go with Anakin's plan. He's just glad that their argument didn't get any more escalated than this. He only hopes he won't have to worry about that more in the future.

**w**

Anakin still isn't happy with Ahsoka's plan as they take off into the space battle on Cato Neimoidia. They're already losing so many people as he flies in between the vulture droids, shooting them down as fast as he can. But the droids are still swarming everywhere.

This path might be faster, but is it worth it? There will always be losses, but he doesn't always see why there has to be so many. He didn't expect Ahsoka to listen to him, any more than Obi-Wan ever did, but that doesn't mean he didn't... hope.

But right now, he needs to focus on the fight. Ahsoka is flying near him, as they try to break through the defenses.

Anakin shoots down a few more droids in front of them, except then something explodes, releasing buzz droids everywhere.

Great.

Anakin jerks his fighter upwards purely on instinct, managing to avoid the flying menaces, but one glance down at Ahsoka's ship shows she wasn't nearly as fortunate.

"These things are all over me," Ahsoka calls, irritably, "What about you, Anakin?"

"I'm all clear," he answers.

"What?" she yelps, "Why do you always have it easy?"

He would've laughed it not for the tension, because if her fighter crashes – "I just moved faster," he tells her, snippily, "Hey, I could try shooting them off."

"What? No way! You'll blow off my wing."

He sees her lash out, shoving the ones off her wings with the Force, but the fighter is already slowing down, trailing smoke. "I'll be careful," he promises, starting to circle around.

There's a strange noise on the other end, and then something staticky. "Ahsoka?" he calls, cautiously.

No answer.

Fear twists sharply inside of him. "Arseven, what's the status?"

The droid whistles. She's unconscious, and buzz droids on the bottom are shutting down the controls.

Oh.

Oh no. This is bad.

"Hang in there," Anakin says, moving to stand, "Artoo, land this fighter."

The droid beeps in confirmation, and Anakin pushes open the top of his fighter, wind whipping wildly around his face as they streak for a cliff right up ahead. He leaps from the fighter, landing unsteadily on Ahsoka's wing. Scrambling to keep himself steady, he shoves her fighter open, yanking her out and leaping clear, landing unceremoniously on the side of the cliff, dangerously close to the edge.

But at least Ahsoka's safe. His heart is still pounding as he pushes himself upright, moving to his master's side. She's not awake, and he glances up, watching the explosions overhead.

They're winning, yes, but he can't help wondering how many of the clones he knows will be gone, when they do the count after the battle. If he were still up there... Not that it was a choice anyone could make.

The Togruta finally stirs, blinking as she reaches up, gingerly touching the side of her montrals. "What... What's going on? Where am I? Where's my fighter?"

"You crashed," Anakin replies, cheerfully, "I pulled you out."

She blinks. "... Oh."

"Your fighter was decimated," he answers, lightly, "I would've had to shoot off the wings to save it." He gives her a hand when she stands unsteadily, pausing to look up at the sky.

"You were right," Ahsoka offers, after a moment, laying a hand on his shoulder.

Anakin blinks, totally caught off-guard. What? She just... what?

"We should've gone in the other way," she repeats, "But it's too late to call off the attack now. Come on."

She's just moving off in search of another more operable fighter when they get an incoming call, from... Master Yoda?

"Return to the Jedi Temple quickly, you must," he replies, expression unusually grave, "You and your padawan."

"Why? We're a little occupied at the moment," she objects.

"The reason we need you, important it is. Bombed the Temple hangar someone has. Your assistance to find the terrorist, we need."

Anakin gapes.

Someone – what?!

"We'll be there immediately," Ahsoka replies, grimly.

"How could someone have bombed the Temple?!" Anakin asks incredulously, once the connection breaks. It's literally unthinkable. It's their home, the one place they always knew would be safe. Yes, a bounty hunter broke into it once, but that was different. This is actual damage to the Temple, and people are probably dead, and – He doesn't know what to think of this. At all.

For a moment, he can't help remembering his vision on Mortis, of the Jedi and clones dead in the halls of the Temple. Does this have anything to do with it?

She shakes her head. "I don't know."

"The Separatists only got droids onto Coruscant once. They couldn't arrange something like this."

"If it was the Separatists."

He frowns. "Who else would it have been?"

"Could be a Republic terrorist," she points out, "Protesting the war. We'll have to see when we get back, but I can't imagine how someone could have gotten into the Temple to do it, unless they knew someone who worked there."

The words send a chill through him. It's true, and that's what scares him so much. Why someone would attack the Jedi, even if they disagreed with them, he doesn't understand, but...

It makes too much sense. And if someone was already willing to go this far, and was able to, and he doesn't want to know what this will mean for future.

**w**

The bombing looks even worse than Ahsoka expected by the time they get back. It's still smoking, glaringly obvious against the Coruscant skyline, and she feels Anakin's flare of horror next to her, as they fly in to land.

They head to the Council chamber first to hear the report. And the first thing she notices instantly is that Mundi is nowhere to be seen. His seat is temporarily empty.

Apparently, the odd glances her and Anakin were shooting the chair of the new Master of the Order were obvious enough.

"He was in the hangar when it happened," Obi-Wan explains, gravely, "He was caught in the explosion."

What?

That's... It's the second time –

"How serious?" she asks.

"He'll make it, but the injuries are severe."

That... is not good. She can't help wondering if that was intentional on someone's part, because this is the second time the Order has nearly lost the Master of the Order, since the start of the war. That was completely unheard of before. Yes, it's war but still.

She needs to find answers. And thankfully, that's not something they need to fight over this time.

The Council wants her to personally lead the investigation, both because she wasn't present when it happened so she's less likely to be biased towards or against anyone, and because her Underworld contacts are much greater than their own, and could be helpful in locating the terrorist's identity.

It's about time they admitted the usefulness of what she's been doing. Not that she'll say so right now.

The entire area of the hangar is blackened and destroyed when she goes to take a look at it for the first time. The perimeter is closed off, but they're let in to look around.

Nano droids were used in the bombing, and all they know is one Temple worker had them in his body,and they blew up. If he knew, it's unknown, but it gives them something to work with.

Ahsoka sends Anakin to talk to all the injured workers right in the vicinity to see if they saw anything, before going to search for any other witnesses.

The first she finds is Ferus – he was apparently passing by when it happened. "Ahsoka?" Ferus asks, surprised, "It's good to see you here. It's still hard to believe what happened."

"I know." She still in shock, too. For all her quarrels with the Order, that doesn't mean she's not shaken – even if she can almost understand why someone would be upset enough with them to do this simply because they aren't doing nearly enough to end the war. Even so, doing something like this to make such a point – assuming that was the point – is an entirely different story. Having the ability to do so in the first place is even more disturbing. She can't shake the feeling this goes far deeper than she's seeing right now.

"You were near the hangar when it happened? Did you... notice anything suspicious?"

"Something wasn't right while I was there," he answers, slowly. "I knew something would happen, but I didn't realize... this. I never imagined so many Jedi would be lost."

She nods. That was expected. "Did you see anything else?"

"Nothing that would help. I wasn't paying attention to the people around." He gives her an apologetic look. "There were some Temple workers. I saw Mundi going into the hangar. That's all I remember."

That he's talking somewhat shortly isn't a shock. He lost Kalifa, then he saw the Temple get bombed. She'd be surprised if he wasn't. "Alright," she replies, feeling a brief flare of disappointment. Not everyone would've seen something helpful, though. "Let me know if you remember anything else. Or just... think of something that might help."

He nods, as she slips away.

Even as she goes, to continue the investigation elsewhere, Ahsoka can't shake the lingering feeling that this is far deeper than she thought. And that she's missing something obvious but doesn't know what.

**w**

At least they found a suspect: Letta. She tried to flee when they searched her house, which Anakin knows could be suspicious but given the circumstances, she also could've just been scared. They'll have to wait until she's questioned further.

But first, he's... here to attend the funeral. How many more of these will he up at before the war is over? Before then, they were almost unheard of.

"One with the Force, they are," Yoda murmurs, pacing in front of the coffins, "And our job it is to remember that we will, in time, also pass on. Luminous beings we are, but temporary vessels, our bodies are, and we shall all find ourselves here in time. A moment of silence, I ask, to remember, and to move on."

Anakin's gaze trails across the others gathered – countless Jedi and some Senators including the Chancellor – before he turns to Barriss, who's standing next to him.

"You were close with one of them?" Anakin asks her, quietly.

Barriss nods, her grief obvious even if she's keeping it well-hidden. Still, he thinks she's being more open about it than she was when her master died, and that's a good sign. He knows that... talking about things help. Many of the other Jedi just prefer to pretend they've let it go, even when he can sometimes see very clearly that's untrue. "Tutso Mara. We trained together. He taught me how to hold my lightsaber correctly."

"I'm sorry," he offers. Not that it will change anything.

She nods, and they fall quiet as Yoda continues speaking. "Live for the living Jedi, we must. Live through us forever, they will."

He knows there's little other consolation that can be given. The only thing they can do is do justice to their memories and try to find the bomber.

He trails along after Barriss a little ways, once the funeral is let out. Kalifa just died, and they're all losing so much. It's not easy for anyone.

"You're involved in the investigation?" Barriss asks as they walk.

"Yeah. Haven't found much, but I'll be going to talk to Letta soon, to see if she recognizes any of a list of suspects we've collected." It's doubtful, but even if she won't talk, he'll still be able to get indications from the Force on how she reacts emotionally.

"If there's anything I can do to help, I would like to," she replies, "It's... disturbing to know someone could have done this, much less would want to."

"Yeah," Anakin agrees quietly, and while he thinks disturbing is a severe understatement to what it is, he genuinely cannot think of a better term. "I'll tell you. Ahsoka, too. I want this dealt with as much as you." Maybe not quite, because he – he's seen more as home than this Temple and the Order, because he has his mother, unlike Barriss, but still.

**w**

Letta is sitting in the far corner of her cell when Anakin enters. He can sense a strange amount of fear from her – and given that she's probably going to be executed it's not surprising, but he thinks there's something more.

"Can you help me?" she asks, glancing around furtively.

Anakin frowns. "What?"

"I – There is more going on than you realize. It wasn't my idea to feed the nano droids to Jackar."

"Why are you saying this now?"

"Because my life is in danger." She looks desperate now. "The person behind this will get to me, if I can't tell you this."

"What?" he presses, "What's the truth?"

"A Jedi. A Jedi showed me how to make the bomb, how to get it into the Temple."

He freezes, dread pooling inside him. There were whispers, but no one dared consider it might be true. It was unthinkable. But she's not lying. He can tell that much. "Why would a Jedi want that?" he demands.

"There are some citizens of the Republic, like myself, who believe the Jedi Order is not what it used to be. The Jedi have become warmongers. They've become military weapons and they're killing when they should be keeping the peace." Anakin knows that, too. There are even Jedi who agree with it, though they all understand and accept that there is nothing else they can do.

"Who? You need to tell me."

She hesitates. "I will, if you'll protect me. If they find out –"

"It will be classified," Anakin promises, "No one will know you said this, outside of the Council."

Letta wavers for a moment. "It's –"

He feels the sudden shift in the Force, right as she's lifted in the air in a Force-choke. But there's no one here, and –

Unless there's someone in the vents. He could run to warn the clones, but he'd never get there in time. It would be too late. He reaches out with the Force instead, trying to break the grip, but it's not nearly fast enough.

Whoever it is obviously sensed it and immediately snaps her neck. Letta collapses to the floor, motionless.

Anakin darts to her side instantly, even if he already knows. She's... dead.

The door opens behind him, Fox and several others entering. "Someone used the Force against her," Anakin explains, urgently. "If you search the facility, you might be able to find them. They have to still be close by –"

"She's dead, sir," reports one of the other clones, checking for any vital signs.

The clones all raise their blasters... at him?

Wait –

"Can't say I blame you, sir, but all the same, you're under arrest," Fox says.

"It wasn't me," Anakin protests, frantically, though he knows how much it probably looked like it. He was the one in here, after all. "At least check the facility and see if you find anyone."

"We will," Fox replies, but Anakin knows that won't be enough for him to get out of here, unless they catch the other person.

Great.

Exactly what he didn't want to get tangled up in when he's trying to investigate.

**w**

Of all the things Ahsoka expected to interrupt her investigation, it's definitely not a call that her padawan's been arrested for murder. Because, apparently, someone actually believes that Anakin would've killed Letta instead of trying to get answers from her.

Yes, the evidence looks suspicious. They apparently searched the facility and didn't see any other Force users there which doesn't make sense to her, but still – Ahsoka isn't stupid enough to believe that. Something more is happening.

Although honestly, given what Letta did, Ahsoka frankly couldn't blame him if he had, though just... not the way it happened.

She takes off to the prison immediately to talk to him.

"I'm sorry, General," Fox replies, standing firm, "But no one is allowed to see him."

"What?" she repeats, incredulously, "But he's my padawan. I'm his guardian." Legally, that's how it works. He can't deny her this.

"I understand, but I have direct orders from Admiral Krennic." He's risen in ranks after Tarkin died, filling in his roles in some places.

Maybe it would be better if Tarkin were still alive, though. She might be able to reason with him. for all she knows. Though given his attitude sometimes, he might've been stubborn about it. She wouldn't know. She's tempted to take it to Palpatine, but... it's probably not that serious. Yet.

"Fine," she replies, curtly, turning to stride out. She'll just have to look into getting him released as soon as possible for this. The regulations will be probably be stricter because they're dealing with treason here, but it shouldn't be too hard to get him cleared.

Or so she can hope.

She can't shake the feeling that this is only the beginning of their problems, and what that's going to mean, she doesn't know. She doesn't like it. At all.

**w**

Sometimes, Obi-Wan finds dealing with all these regulations downright frustrating. He'd go to see Anakin himself, if he knew it wouldn't be refused. They apparently aren't letting anyone else speak with him right now. He still can't believe that Anakin was accused of murder,but that isn't what concerns him most of all.

Just as standard protocol, his quarters – along with Ahsoka's – were searched for anything suspicious, and they found nano droids stashed away in a disposal unit.

The exact same type of nano droids used in the bombing of the Temple.

And they can't refuse to give the Senate updates on the investigation until they've reached a conclusion, so they were forced to turn over that information, no matter how unbelievable it was – and even if Obi-Wan made it very obvious that he's suspecting foul play.

"Anakin would never be involved in something like that," he says, firmly. Maybe he's changed, probably grown darker under Ahsoka's questionable teachings, but there's no way he would do that.

"I doubt it as well," Plo murmurs.

"But the evidence must have gotten there somehow," Kolar points out.

"Knight Tano has led Padawan Skywalker into her... questionable actions in the past," Shaak Ti points out, "We do not know if this happened again."

They're questioning Ahsoka.

That's –

He wants to deny it instantly, because despite everything, he can't believe that... she'd do that, but he does need to be objective. "It may not be impossible," Obi-Wan muses, "But even so, I don't believe Anakin could know anything about it. He would have put the pieces together of whatever she helped him do, and he would come forward with it, no matter what his attachment to her may be."

"I don't see Knight Tano being this sloppy, if it were her," Fisto agrees.

"She is always good at concealing those things," Obi-Wan concurs. That's what makes it so unlikely. Aside from that he doesn't want to believe she would do something like that, even if she's... only growing steadily darker. "It doesn't seem likely."

They don't have much longer to debate the point before they get an incoming call from Admiral Krennic.

"After deliberation of the evidence presented, the Senate has decided that all further investigations of this matter will be taken over by the Republic directly," he informs them, "The Jedi are to remain out of it."

The words aren't entirely unexpected, even if Obi-Wan's first instinct is to argue. "We have already come far in the investigation," he objects. Without Mundi here, he's the one doing most of the speaking to the those outside.

"To be blunt, if there is a chance the perpetrator is a Jedi, you are no longer an unbiased party," he replies shortly. There's a certain arrogance to everything he says that rubs Obi-Wan the wrong way, not that he'll show it outwardly no matter how much he might want to.

And Krennic does have a point, even if he doesn't appreciate the Council itself being questioned like this.

"I spoke to Padawan Skywalker, and he admitted that Letta mentioned a Jedi was involved. Even if it were not him, one of you evidently did participate in the bombing, and the Senate does not want risk of any bias or coverups."

He talked to Anakin? Obi-Wan's tempted to ask if he could talk to him, too, but... that would not be an appropriate request right now. He'll probably be refused, regardless.

"Very well. If we discover anything further, we will present all evidence to the Republic," he replies.

And now, they're going to have to tell Ahsoka to call off her own investigation, something Obi-Wan does not want to. They have to find evidence to prove Anakin's innocence and who's really behind it. Although, if she... is involved in something questionable, then maybe it's better.

The Republic wants to know who's behind it, too. They shouldn't have any biases. Even if he's tempted to do some searching himself, for now he'll... just have to wait and see.

**w**

Ahsoka isn't all that surprised when Barriss drops by not long later.

"I heard about Anakin's arrest," she says – which also is unsurprising. The news must be all over by now. It wasn't as though anyone was trying to keep it quiet. "I want to know if there's a way I can help with the investigation. I cannot believe Anakin would do something like this."

Ahsoka resists her urge to punch something. "No," she agrees, "Obviously not. If Anakin had questions about something, he would've gone to us. Or someone. Not gone on a random murder spree."

"Exactly," Barriss agrees firmly. She's changed, Ahsoka notices. She's a little more... passionate in some ways. "Anakin always encouraged me to open up to him, even if I didn't think it was the Jedi way. He would never do this. He cares about people. Sometimes almost too much."

Truer words have never been spoken.

Ahsoka huffs. "I could use your help," she admits, "I'm tracking leads in the Underworld."

"Is there some place I should investigate?" Barriss queries.

"Not yet," Ahsoka says, "I'm working on it. You can go over the information I have. It's not much, but it's something to work with."

"Let me know as soon as you can," she requests, and Ahsoka nods. At least someone is offering to help. She doesn't care if the Republic says she's not allowed to continue the investigation. She's going to do it anyway and take the evidence right to them.

**w**

Sidious never expected this to happen, but he'll use it to his advantage, as he does everything. He doesn't know who's doing it, but he'll find a way to push it far enough that Anakin will be implicated, and then, he'll step in before it's too late.

Anakin has been avoiding him for a long time now, and finally, he has a way to – hopefully– reverse that.

Final Notes: If you want to join our Discord to receive updates or just hang out, here's the invite link, and please delete the spaces! :) discord . gg / nqSxuz2

You can find us on tumblr at fanfictasia (which is our more serious blog which does have controversial posts on it; I won't be offended if you choose to block it, promise), and disastertriowriting (which is our fun blog with crack posts or incorrect SW quotes; we also advertise our SW gift exchanges on there)

And! We have a YT channel for tributes! Please delete the spaces in the link. :D youtube channel / UC_g1M5rSCxJUzQCRS29B6pA

Finally, if you're interested, you can submit a SW gift fic request via the following form (delete the spaces): forms . gle / rmXWtRomMMaULuPa6

NEW: We've just opened a SW Anakin-clones fic request form as well. :) (delete the spaces): forms . gle / SC5gBdwhXpTNJidr7