Across the Stars

Chapter 24

"IT'S MY FAULT!" Ahsoka screamed into her Master's chest. "I wasn't fast enough I wasn't strong enough I wasn't..."

"Stop."

Through their new and tenuous bond Anakin sent a wave of calm rooting Ahsoka back to where she was, bringing her away from the chaos of the battlefield.

"Breathe, Snips. In and out."

A few minutes later, Ahsoka had regained control of her mind and body and Anakin stepped away, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Count the people you save Ahsoka."

"Yes master." Ahsoka whispered, realizing that the bond was still there, and her master hadn't rejected her even with her weakness.

"And don't forget to breathe Snips. Otherwise Kix is going to have to haul you around the battlefield. And we can't have that."

 *** 

"So far you have failed to impress me." Grievous snarled as he prowled through the storage bay, searching for Ahsoka.

Had it been stupid to lead the General of the Separatist Army away from the rest of her support into this confined dark place?

Yes, absolutely.

Was Anakin going to kill her?

Well, that would depend on if she survived this.

But with Rex's voice ringing in her ears that there was only two of her squad left to carry out the mission, was it worth it?

There was no question.

Ahsoka tried to make herself as small as possible next to the crate she was hiding in but was dismayed when Grievous suddenly appeared behind the corner. It was hard to register his presence in the force when he was so tangled with droid.

Grievous snarled and hoisted Ahsoka in the air by the throat. Gasping for air Ahsoka clawed at the metal fist but found her efforts were gaining her no room. Slapping one palm, face down, on the cold unforgiving metal of Grievous' forearm she was overcome with a vision in the force, she was not the only one that had been tortured this way, others had died in this unforgiving grip. Stars danced at the edge of Ahsoka's blurry vision, and she knew she had mere seconds before the loss of oxygen would cause her to pass out, and that was if Grievous didn't end up snapping her neck.

"Razor..." Ahsoka's head snapped up at the sound of a clone's voice...no...that was Rex's voice. Looking over Grievous' shoulder she could make out the hazy form of a forest with a smoking ship in the near distance. Grievous stood holding a clone she didn't recognize by his throat in almost the exact same position she was in now.

Rex was wearing his pauldron, but his armor was completely white, he looked bedraggled and worn, and he held a woman in his arms who appeared to be unconscious. Ahsoka couldn't help but feel she recognized the hair spilling over Rex's shoulder, but it was too dark to be sure. With dismay Ahsoka saw the clone in Grievous' grasp give up the fight and whispered as a tear ran down his cheek: "Run."

Grievous made quick work of the clone and turned to follow Rex, but fast as lightning Rex pulled out one of his side blasters and shot Grievous in the hinge between his torso and his legs, causing him to fall to the ground with a scream of pain.

Suddenly Grievous' grip on Ahsoka lessened ever so slightly, giving her room to breathe, and pulling her away from the vision. He clearly wanted her alive for this next part.

"My spy droid, R3, has trapped you precious master. When I'm finished with you, he's next."

Ahsoka managed to give Grievous a glare and squeak out between gasps, "You're wrong. He's gone by now, and he's going to blow up your precious spy station."

Though Grievous had no mouth, Ahsoka could have sworn she saw him smile. "Not this time." With that he ignited Ahsoka's own lightsaber and brought it close to her throat. Intending to kill her with her own blade.

As it came ever closer Ahsoka realized his mistake. The lightsaber was hers and would respond to its master in a way that it never would for Grievous, she just needed to make a small adjustment to its trajectory.

As she moved her hand to grip her lightsaber the world around her changed and she was back in the forest from earlier, but her hand was Rex's gripping a blaster, their eyes stinging with tears as they took aim at Grievous' chest plate, wanting with everything in them to take revenge for their fallen brother.

But a soft whimper pulled their gaze away from Grievous momentarily and it fell on the woman in their arms, and they knew that they saving her was the most important thing right now, and that meant the shot had to make it so they could get away, not try and spend the time and effort needed killing Grievous.

Looking back at Grievous they pulled their aim away from his chest, and towards his legs.

Her lightsaber cut through Grievous' writs joint, mere inches away from it's intended target. A howl of pain seared through Ahsoka's ears as the hand holding her finally mercifully let go.

Taking immediate flight Ahsoka launched herself towards the rack of cargo next to her and as it fell, she leapt up towards the vent in the ceiling, turning back only briefly to recall her lightsaber into her hand before crawling as fast as she could away from Grievous and away from the small cargo bay.

As Ahsoka finally got farther away the words of the captain rang in her ears.

"In my book, experience outranks everything."

Ahsoka was really going to have to ask where that experience had come from, because it had just saved Ahsoka's life just as much as it had saved Rex's and that woman...

Wait...she knew who Rex was carrying.

Shira.

Rex and Shira were going to have a lot of explaining to do.