Destiny (Star Wars)

Chapter 2

For a moment, they hung there in silence. Then Ahsoka said, "well, it looks like Artoo got the elevator working."

The humour didn't last long, because the door Ahsoka was currently perched above opened. Ahsoka could just see the feet of two battle droids. Luckily, they didn't see her above them. Unluckily, they spotted Anakin right away.

"Hands up, Jedi!" One mechanized voice order, the other uttering "roger, roger."

Ahsoka vaguely wondered how Anakin was supposed to raise his hands, since they were already clinging to the bottom of the door. The thought didn't consume her mind for very long, and she quickly put her hands on the top of the door and swung down, kicking out her feet. The droids flew backwards, the Force serving as Ahsoka's ally and adding momentum to their flight so that when they hit the wall, they smashed into unfixable pieces.

Ahsoka landed nimbly on her feet, and then turned back to the door. "Thanks, Snips," Anakin said from below her. "But now we've got another problem." He jerked his head down, motioning to the rapidly approaching elevator.

"Get ready," he warned and Ahsoka calculated for a moment how get back onto the elevator safely.

At the precise moment, Ahsoka launched herself forward and up, clinging to the opposite wall once more before jumping up again. At the same time, Anakin flipped upwards. Before either of them could arc downwards, the elevator raced up through the shaft and caught them. Ahsoka and Anakin dropped back through the hole in the elevator to join Obi-Wan.

Startled, Obi-Wan raised his lightsaber but deactivated it just as quickly when he recognized them, "oh, it's you two."

"What happened?" Ahsoka asked.

"Yeah, what was all that about?" Anakin echoed.

"Well, Artoo has been—"

Ahsoka interrupted. "hey!"

"No loose wire jokes," Anakin said, sharing Ahsoka's thoughts. "He's doing the best he can."

"Did I say anything?" Obi-Wan protested.

"You were about to," Ahsoka grumbled while Anakin said, "he's trying!"

"I didn't say anything!" Obi-Wan insisted.

Ahsoka smiled. Artoo-Detoo was the quirkiest astromech they had, but there was no doubt about his capability. He always got the job done. He had saved all of their lives on more than one occasion, and Ahsoka couldn't have been more comfortable with the little blue and white droid as their backup.

That was just one of the many reasons she loved being a Jedi.

The elevator came to a calmer stop than it had before. The doors slid open and Ahsoka followed Obi-Wan and Anakin into the main room of the General's quarters. Ahsoka's hands were poised at her sides, ready to grab her lightsabers. She could feel the Dark Side. It was strong on General Grievous's ship.

The walked to the end of the room, spotting Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. Obi-Wan reached him first and bowed, "Chancellor."

"I don't like this," Ahsoka breathed, glancing around cautiously.

"Are you alright?" Anakin asked the Chancellor, ignoring Ahsoka's comment. Through the Force, however, Ahsoka could tell that he felt uneasy as well.

Palpatine didn't offer any sort of greeting, looking very distressed. He said quietly, as if afraid to be speak the truth, "Count Dooku."

Ahsoka turned. At the end of the room, on a balcony above the elevator they had entered from, another set of doors opened. Two super battle droids walked out, immediately followed by the sinister Count Dooku. Ahsoka knew that he was the presence of the Dark Side she had sensed.