Lost in the Familiar

Chapter 8 - But You'll Never See

That doesn't change how an entire clone company was wiped out under his watch though, without any regret whatsoever. That's not something he forgets, either. They deserve so much better, and Anakin finds himself wondering what would happen to them in his own time. The war is over there. Is it? Or are they still fighting?

Anakin can feel danger prickling in the Force. "I think something's watching us," he whispers, slowly lowering his macrobinoculars

Beside him, Ahsoka inhales sharply. "Probe," she whispers. She can feel it from her montrals, no doubt. They're so useful.

Anakin reaches for his lightsaber, but Qui-Gon is already at it, climbing to his feet. Padme pulls her blaster, rolling over, and fires at it. The shot misses, but it strikes the mountain beside it, forcing it out of hiding. Qui-Gon throws his lightsaber at it, and the droid's pieces fall to a sparking heap on the ground. Anakin approaches it, looking down at its remnants. This is... familiar. It happened before on Tatooine, right after they met. It feels like a lot of this is similar.

"Probe droid," Anakin murmurs as Qui-Gon picks up his lightsaber again. "We've been spotted. Come on, let's go."

"You too," Ahsoka says, grabbing Hera's hand and pulling her along.

They don't take the time to talk until after getting back to the compound. It's hopefully safe here, and if nothing else, they do have cover.

"We're going to need a plan," Padme says as they gather together inside the hold of Lost Familiar. "If we're going to make it into the Capitol, we need a diversion. The Empire needs to think we're attacking something else."

"Hera?" Anakin queries, "You lived here. Do you know of some place?"

"The Imperial refinery in the outskirts," Hera volunteers, "I've been watching their routine."

"What are it's defenses?" Anakin asks.

"Five perimeter cannons, but they are unmanned," Hera replies. "Chopper, pull up the hologram."

He beeps, displaying a hologram of the factory.

"Doesn't look too bad," Anakin says, scanning it over, "We've done worse."

"When I agreed to let you keep me prisoner, I didn't agree to fight the Empire," Ahsoka grumbles, arms crossed.

"It's not the idea of an Empire we're fighting," Anakin replies, "It's what they're doing."

"The Republic was meant to be a democracy," Padme objects, "That's what the galaxy needs."

"I believe anything, or anyone, can be changed into something better," Anakin replies, "No matter who or what they are. It's that the Sith are in control of the Empire, not the Empire itself."

"That's not what we're fighting for," Padme argues, "There's no freedom in an Empire."

"If the galaxy is going to be held together, it needs something far stronger than the Republic."

"Can we focus instead of debating politics?" Asajj gripes, "We can do that in dead space."

"She's right," Qui-Gon agrees, "We can debate this later. We have to focus on finding Hera's parents."

Yeah. It's easy to get distracted. He knows why Padme is still so stuck on democracy, but Anakin lived a life in war. He knows what governments are like. He lived on the worst end of it. He can't pretend he didn't just because people are worried about politicians potentially abusing their power. That's why they need someone in charge who can be trusted to make those decisions.

They can debate this later. He just... doesn't agree with her on a lot of things, but that's maybe because they never really talk. They live on the ship together, but he's been so caught up with taking care of Ahsoka and being around Qui-Gon again, not to mention his strange, slowly growing friendship with Asajj that there just hasn't been time.