𝕧𝕠𝕚𝕕 | 𝔸. 𝕊𝕂𝕐𝕎𝔸𝕃𝕂𝔼ℝ ₁

» 17

He dropped the blaster and raised his hands. "Thank Theia, another jedi— I am Captain Paz Olek, with the princess."

"Captain Olek? I've been looking for you." She sighed in relief, the blade shrinking down. "I'm Ahsoka Tano—"

He spun around, laying eyes on the padawan. "You're a child— they sent a child to aid us?"

Clipping her weapon to her belt, she then crossed her arms, brows furrowing. "I'm fourteen— not a child. Besides, they only sent Master Kenobi. My master and I chose to come on our own free will."

"That sure does make me feel better." He mumbled. "Who sent you after me?"

"Detective Feera. She say's you've missed a lot."

"Venus—"

"She's still alive." She reassured him. "But the Queen and her sister..."

Olek's heart sank. He suddenly felt sicker than before, as if he needed to throw up— he had nothing to throw up. "A-And Venus?"

"My master is extracting her as we speak." She looked away, guilty for breaking the news to him. "We need to meet at the rendezvous. They'll be calling for us any second... you know how to fly?"

"I..." he decided to push the guilt to the back of his mind, focusing on the task at hand. "Yes, I can fly."

"Good." She moved out of the way and headed for her ship. "I'll send you the coordinates."

The Captain made his way into the ship. There was no possible way this thing could fly. It was barely holding up. This ship was a literally dumpster fire— how fitting.

Because this entire situation was a mess and Olek wasn't sure if he was going to make it out.

»—»«—«

"There." Venus pointed up ahead at the tall building. "That's the penthouse."

The three were ducked down behind a tree line, out of sight from any guards or B-1 battle droids.

Anakin and Rex surveyed the courtyard, hoping to find a weak spot. This task proved to be difficult.

"Security is bulked up, so at least we know he's really up there." Anakin spoke out loud. That much was obvious to the others, yet neither decided to comment on it. "Are there any secret entrances?" He looked back at the princess, a brow quirked.

She looked towards the fountain that sat in the middle of the yard, head shaking. "The only one I know of is sealed off. My father had that fountain built over it." She then looked down to the dirt beneath her. "He was convinced that Chrysós was a safe place, that there was no need for an escape route."

Anakin noticed her sudden change in mood. He felt bad for making her think of yet another loved one's death. "I'm sorry for—"

"Don't." She stopped him. "That bastard deserved what he got."

Before an awkward silence could fill the air, Rex spoke up. "Right there." He pointed towards the dark side of the building. "There's only two clankers guarding that door. We can take them out and get in that way."

"We?" Anakin stood up. "No, the three of us will attract too much attention and besides, if any one of those guards see your face," he pointed at Venus. "it's gameover. I'll go in, get the kid, and we can meet back up."

Venus stood up too, arms crossed. Anakin knew where this was going already.

"That is my baby that we're here for. She won't go quietly with a stranger— I need to be the one to get her—"

"No, you want to go in there to kill your husband." Anakin called her out. He wasn't dumb— he knew there was a reason in which she had grabbed a blaster. He could feel that hate deep within her. He knew that feeling because he had experienced that feeling back on Tatooine when he'd lost his mother.

He looked to his partner, bobbing his head. "Protect the princess and regroup with Ahsoka."

Rex stood and gave a quick nod back to his General, but before he could be on his way, Venus grabbed his shoulder and his attention "Excuse me?"

"Excuse you." He paid no mind to her, yanking his shoulder away. Anakin then left the small group and casually strolled over to the doors, blending in with his guard uniform. He thought that he could maybe just walk in, but the droids stopped him. "Hey, stop right there." One held its hand up. "We're gonna need to see some identification."

"Right." He went to dig in the pouch on his belt, distracting the droids before raising both of his hands and crushing them with the force. With them out of the way, he disappeared inside the building.

Venus had not seen such a thing before. The physical aid of Theia was frightening, but she didn't have the time to dwell on that now.

"Let's get moving." Rex turned around and began to lead the way. "General Skywalker will be in and out in no time." Her lack of response made him glance back, a curse slipping from his lips. "Damnit!"

Instead of following him, the princess had decided to follow the Jedi instead. Rex was able to catch a glimpse of her just before she slipped inside.  He couldn't possibly be that shocked— after all the princess seemed to be just as stubborn as both General Skywalker and Commander Tano. Their disobeying orders was something he was very used to by now.