The Adventures of Babysitting with Ahsoka Tano (COMPLETE)

Part 17

I meant to have this up about nine hours ago, sorry. I fell asleep :/

Obi-Wan and Cody's half of the squad made it back to the gunship before the 501st half did. As they boarded, Obi-Wan asked, "Any trouble on your end?"

"No, we just had farther to go," Anakin explained. "Ahsoka gave us the generator on the other side of the facility."

"A little bit of extra cardio isn't going to kill you," she groaned, grabbing ahold of a strap. She spoke to the pilot through her comlink. "Everyone's here."

The pilot acknowledged the remark and took off, jostling the passengers inside. Ahsoka made contact with the command center next. "Admiral, prepare for an orbital strike. Target the laboratory, but wait to fire until our gunship is clear of the strike zone."

"Understood, Commander," he replied. "I assume we're jumping back to Coruscant afterward?"

She shook her head, even though the admiral couldn't see her. "Negative. Input the coordinates 043, -097, -031."

Obi-Wan stared at her. "Why do I get the feeling you don't have the Council's approval to go after the age ray a second time?"

"Yet," she added, pointing her finger at him. "I don't have the Council's approval to go after the age ray a second time yet, but they may allow it after discussion. If they shut the mission down, we can drop out of hyperspace and change course to Coruscant, but Doctor Podek is already three hours ahead of us. It's probably best if we don't make it four."

"You may be in charge of this mission, Ahsoka, but you need to be mindful of the Council's decision."

She grinned, raising an eye mark. "Doing what the Council says is one thing. How we go about doing it, that's another. The orders for this mission were to secure the age ray and return you to your normal state. Until I've accomplished that task, I'm obligated to act as I see fit to complete the mission."

The troopers around her snickered. At that moment, it was clear that Commander Tano had mastered the art of Skywalkering her way around orders she didn't particularly like. General Kenobi realized it too. "That is definitely your Padawan," he accused General Skywalker, who didn't seem too disturbed by the fact.

"What can I say? I taught her well," Anakin explained, winking at Ahsoka. 

"Commander, the cannons are ready," the admiral updated her. "Orbital strike will commence at the first opportunity. I just want to confirm; you want us to jump to coordinates 043, -097, -031?"

She was sure those were the correct coordinates, but evidently, something had raised an issue. "Yes, is something wrong?"

From the command center, the admiral sent a hologram of the galaxy to Ahsoka's communicator. As he spoke, a dot highlighted the coordinates Grievous had revealed. "Those coordinates lead to empty space. There is no known system there."

"Unfortunately, I think that's exactly what we're looking for," she explained. "Grievous said the age ray is on board a modified destroyer. Empty space is the perfect place to hide a weapon like this until it's operational."

The admiral put together the subtext of her statement. "I take it the age ray was not at the laboratory?"

"No, it wasn't. I'm afraid this mission isn't over," Ahsoka answered, then thought quickly. "Speaking of, can you patch me into Kix?"

"Standby."

A few moments later, Kix's voice rang through the gunship. "Kix here. Talk to me."

Ahsoka sighed before giving her report. "Bad news: the age ray was moved. We're headed to a new set of coordinates to find it, but the generals are still in their teens."