Star Wars: Exercise

Star Wars is a product of the Disney Corporation. This fan-fiction was written for personal amusement.

An excellent rendition of the All-Terrain Personal Transport, a product of the magnificent 3D artistry of Fractalsponge, can be found on Fractalsponge.net.

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As per military and general courtesy, Ahsoka Tano had learned to keep a respectful two paces behind and to the left of her Master and whatever companions he might have with him. Consequently, the past thirty-eight standard months of war had been an education in the control of cadence and poise. The efficient march of a clone commander, Anakin's purposeful stride, Padme's energetic walk, Obi-Wan's measured pace – Ahsoka had mastered them all.

Battlemaster Cin Drallig, Head of Security at the Jedi Temple, was a hard man to follow. Anakin and Rex seemed to have taken Drallig's furious pace in stride, but Ahsoka found herself practically scurrying after the tall, blond-haired Jedi Master with the long mullet as he barrelled down the sunlit halls of the Jedi Temple.

No surprise for the Head of Security of the Jedi Temple.

The past decade had seen a sea change in the security environment at the Temple. Even before the Naboo Crisis, the Temple had been a magnet for anyone and everyone with a bone to pick with the Republic, the Jedi Order, and the state of the galaxy in general. With their numbers, demands, and willingness to use violence multiplying with the deterioration of galactic economic and political stability, and the Clone Wars adding droid commandoes, peer intelligence agencies, and mass unrest on Coruscant (or droid commando raids orchestrated by enemy intelligence agencies during mass unrest on Coruscant) to the threat matrix...

...well, Ahsoka was happy not to have Cin Drallig's job. The Battlemaster was a very, very busy man.

Especially since the Temple Bombing.

"The bombing is a symptom, Skywalker, not the problem."

"Yeah, and the Temple's compartmentalization worked. The blast was limited to the hangar."

"Take a step back and look at the bigger picture, Skywalker. Even with wartime traffic restrictions, Coruscant leaks like a sieve. There are literally millions of unregistered spacecraft entering and exiting the system every day. There's no telling what the Separatists could do, with the right push in the right window. The Jedi Temple is vulnerable to organized, large-scale attack – always has been."

"With all due respect, Master Drallig - contingency plans to recapture the Temple are surely excessive!"

Ahsoka's montrals perked up.

Anakin continued. "The Temple is half a kilometer on a side, and the main building is a third of a kilometer tall. Even with much of the Order on campaign, tens of thousands of Jedi, civilian and military staff, and security personnel are on the grounds at all times. We have five layers of theater and district shielding, overlaid atop the Coruscanti defense grid, which..."

"...and we house all manner of irreplaceable Jedi artifacts, multiple strategic GAR headquarters complexes, and one of the greatest data vaults in the Galaxy. We are the highest of all high value targets." Cin Drallig clenched his teeth. "And what's more, we know how it can be done. We've wargamed dozens of scenarios where the Temple is taken in a shock raid."

Anakin scoffed. "Even an initiate can hold off a droid commando."

"Try thirty thousand Droid Commandoes." Drallig spat. "Backed up by Mandalorian advisors, heavy weapons, guides, a few million angry rioters, and..." his voice hushed. "...turncoats."