Part 9 – New Friend – Part 2

The two of them proceeded to the Council Chamber elevator, where Vekkif raised the question, "Is it wise to interrupt the Council," he asked as they approached the spire elevator.

"I think you mean is it appropriate," Bruce asked as they approached the elevator, "No, it's not. But it might be necessary if I'm right."

As they rounded the corner, Bruce and Vekkif were greeted by Anakin who was just coming off the elevator, "There you two are," he said, "You ok?"

"Yea, we're fine," Bruce said.

"I felt your suffering, and left the meeting," Anakin said, "What happened?"

"I've had a vision," Bruce said, "I think I know who's behind this. And I think I know where Ashoka is."

"Ashoka," Anakin asked, "We haven't heard from her since we lost the signal from the Tribunal."

"If I'm right, we can find her, the 332nd, and discover who's behind this at once," Bruce said.

"If you're right that can only mean one thing," Anakin said, "And we'll need help if you are."

"They'll need more than medical," Bruce said, "Are Cody's forces still on Utapau?"

"I will find out," Anakin said as he walked back onto the elevator, "Meet us in the garage, and we'll depart as soon as we are able."

"Yes, master," Bruce said.

"It's a little weird, isn't it," Vekkif asked as they walked toward the garage, "We come under attack, start getting pushed back across the front, and then you have a vision that might lead us to the culprit?"

Bruce stopped, "Yea," he said, "It is. Is it weird to say I still don't understand the Force?"

"You and me both," Vekkif said, "Either way, it came in useful during the time we needed it."

"Let's hope it will continue to be," Bruce said.

Council Chambers…

"Right now, my troopers are holding the line on the planet," Master Mundi said, "We can hold the line for a while, but how much longer is going to be a problem."

"And what of Master Tapal," Master Allie asked.

"The contributions of him and his troopers have been immense," Master Mundi said, "But right now, it seems that these new reinforcements of droids have railed them against us. Unless we get extra support, we might be overrun."

"We can organize a relief effort," Master Windu said before Anakin stepped off the elevator.

"Master Skywalker, welcome back," Master Plo Koon said, "Is your padawan alright?"

"Yes," Anakin said, "He says he believes he knows where to find Padawan Tano."

"The Tribunal," Master Kenobi asked as everyone in the room collectively gained a look of dreed, "That means…"

"It could," Anakin said as he looked over at Obi-Wan, "Is Cody on Coruscant?"

"He's waiting for further orders," Obi-Wan said, "We could leave as soon as possible."

"Go," Master Yoda said as he pointed toward the elevator.

Anakin and Obi-Wan walked over to the elevator, and as they were on their way down, Obi-Wan raised the question, "Did Padawan Kirkwood say what he saw?"

"No," Anakin said, "But let's hope he's incorrect."

"You and me both," Obi-Wan said.

When the elevator arrived at the base level, they proceeded to the garage where Bruce and Vekkif were waiting by the entrance.

"You didn't go in," Anakin asked.

"We were waiting for you," Bruce said.

"Well, in we go," Obi-Wan said as they walked into the garage.

"There one big enough for the four of us," Bruce asked.

"Right over here," Anakin said as he pointed to a four-seat speeder that had two body-mounted rear-facing thrusters, and a pair of struts that flowed out of the body about two feet in front of the front itself for stability.

"Nice," Bruce said.

"Masters get front seat," Anakin said as he took the driver's seat.

"Those are the rules," Obi-Wan said as he sat next to Anakin.

Bruce and Vekkif looked at each other and shrugged before climbing over the side into the back seats.

"Nice seats," Bruce said.

Having not been in a speeder before going back who knows how long, and coming to his new galaxy, getting used to speeder travel is still a hard thing for Bruce.

When the speeder rose, the feeling of takeoff, and then the acceleration was a foreign feeling to him.

"How crowded is the staging area," Bruce asked.

"When we get to the staging area, Cody shouldn't be too hard to find," Obi-Wan said, "When news of the onslaught came, he and his men have been waiting for their deployment orders."

The staging area was only a very short trip from the temple, as Anakin circled the area where many of the troops, most of them shinies waiting to be deployed.

Among them, they saw Cody with some of his troops waiting for orders, he apparently heard the speeder approaching because he looked up, blocking out the sun with his eyes not only so he could see them, but also because he could then salute Obi-Wan as Anakin guided the shuttle toward the landing pad.

The Commander approached the landing pad, along with several of his men, and a few of the newly minted Clones.

Bruce noticed a freshly healed mark covered with two bandages on many of the 7th Sky Corps troopers' heads.

"General Kenobi," Cody said as they approached, "General Skywalker."

"Commander," Anakin said as they approached, "Good to see you again."

"You as well, sir," Cody said before noticing Bruce and Vekkif, "New Padawans I see."

"Yes," Obi-Wan said as he turned his attention to the two Cody hadn't met, "Commander, this is my new Padawan, Vekkif Idrunni."

Anakin turned toward Bruce, "And this is my new Padawan, Bruce Kirkwood," he said.

"Pleasure," Cody said as he shook their hands, "What are our orders, General?"

"We think we know where the Tribunal is," Obi-Wan said, "And with the massive Separatist push across the front, we might also find out who's behind this."

"We know what that means," Cody said before turning to his troops, "Men! Let's move!"

The clones grabbed their weapons and helmets and scrambled to their transports.

"Do we know exactly where we're going," Vekkif asked.

"The Tribunal was on its way back to Coruscant from Mandalore," Obi-Wan said as they climbed aboard the LAAT waiting for them, and then clasped his hand on Bruce's shoulder, "And our young Padawan here had a vision. Combine the two, it shouldn't be too hard to track the ship down."

After climbing into the LAAT, "It's weird, isn't it," Cody said as he pointed at Obi-Wan, "You kill Grievous, the war's technically over, and here they come at us again."

"Like roaches," Anakin said as the LAAT's engines powered up, and the transport slowly rose above the floor.

"In a word," Cody said.

The LAAT rising off a platform was a lot harsher than a standard speeder because it was meant to transport soldiers rather than civilians and was more of a vertical take-off and landing craft rather than one built for comfort and speed.

It was harsh because when you're sitting in a speeder, you at least have a seat, an LAAT had some overhead grips. The inertial compensators helped keep everyone on their feet when the pilot guided the LAAT toward space.

The ride to the Vigilance was relatively quiet, and when they passed through the atmospheric shield and landed, Admiral Block was waiting for them in the hanger.

"General Kenobi, General Skywalker," he said as they stepped off the ship.

"Admiral," Obi-Wan said.

"We heading to the new front lines," Admiral Block asked.

"Not at the moment," Obi-Wan said, "We have a rescue mission to undertake."

"Where are we going," Admiral Block asked.

"That's what we're going to find out," Obi-Wan said.

The trip to the bridge was a short one, but once they were there, the holo map was waiting for them, "Ok," Anakin said as they gathered around the map, "Where do we begin?"

"Why not where we last heard from young Ashoka," Obi-Wan asked as he focused the map on Mandalore.

"When did the Tribunal's transponder signal stop operating," Vekkif asked.

"On the way back to Coruscant," Admiral Block said as he zoomed the map outwards which showed the path the Tribunal would have taken back, "Around here is where she dropped off the radar," the map stopped in what appeared to be open space.

"Were there any characteristics about the planet you saw that could help," Cody asked.

"Besides where they landed was covered in snow," Bruce asked.

"Was the entire planet covered," Anakin asked.

"I don't believe so," Bruce said as he tapped on his forehead, trying to focus on the image of the planet, "I believe it could be a moon," he focused, "Yes, it was a moon. The main planet was very gray, very rocky."

"If you saw her, then it must have a breathable atmosphere," Anakin said.

"That does narrow it down a bit," Admiral Block said as he zoomed in on a series of solar systems, "She might be somewhere in this area."

"It'd take weeks to search the entire system," Obi-Wan said.

"We could send a few probe droids," Bruce said, "That'd help narrow it further."

"They'd take about the same time we would take to get there," Admiral Block said, "And I'd rather find the Tribunal sooner rather than later."

"Once we get there, I should be able to tell if Ashoka is close," Anakin said.

"He should," Bruce said.

"We should get underway then," Admiral Block said.

"Go right ahead, Admiral," Obi-Wan said.

"Helmsman," Admiral Block said as he walked to the front of the bridge, "Lay in a course for the most-outlying system surrounding Mandalore."

"Yes, Admiral," the helmsman said as he laid in a course for the closest system.

"You think we'll find them," Vekkif asked.

"I don't know," Bruce said, "I'm going off what my vision showed me."

"The future is always in motion," Obi-Wan said, "Who knows if they ended up on the same planet?"

"We should know soon enough," Bruce said.

"Let's hope very soon," Obi-Wan said.

I'd extend this a little bit more, but I honestly don't know where to take this chapter, so what do you say we end it here?