It Takes Two to Tango

Anakin Wants Her Alive

She could sense multiple life forms closing in on her position. There wasn't time for her to download a map of the facility, so she hadn't the slightest idea where she was going. There were no clones to the left, she ran to the left. There were no officers to the right, she ran to the right. She glanced up hopefully at the ventilation ducts several times, but there wasn't enough time for her to squeeze into one.

Rounding the corner, she practically ran into a squad of troopers. Nope, not that way. She turned around and kept running.

"Commander Tano, stop!" one of the clones yelled to her. When she kept running, her hit a button to close all the security doors in the hallway.

The doors were closing faster than she could keep up. Running wasn't fast enough, so she had to try a different option. There was a tumbling sequence that she had been particularly good at during her initial training at the Temple. Well, here goes nothing, she thought before jumping into a front walkover and somersault. She barely made it through the last door and fell into a heap on the ground. That was lucky.

Wasting no time, she stood up and continued to run. Commander Fox ran toward her from the left, blasters at the ready. She looked back for a moment and almost tripped over a body. Three dead clones laid in the middle of the intersection, all slashed by lightsabers. This just further confirmed that someone was going out of his or her way to frame her. "Oh no," she said, trying to figure out her next move.

Shots came from behind her. They would certainly catch her if she stayed, so she kept running. She looked back, but no one was following her. Running like this was using all the energy she had. Suddenly, she felt Anakin's presence, giving her hope.

"Ahsoka! It's me, Anakin," he yelled, the echo of the walls amplifying his voice. "Stop running!"

She did as he said, stopping for a few seconds. "You can't help me, Master. Someone is setting me up."

"I believe you, Ahsoka."

She shook her head. "But no one else will." She took off running again.

Once she reached an intersection, she stopped for a moment. Her head swiveled on her shoulders, looking to make sure there was no one coming. Quickly, she jumped up into a vent, pulling her body through. Once she was in, she used the force to put the lid back on. Laying down, she relaxed. Her breathing was heavy, and she couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten. Her stomach growled, but she pushed it to the back of her mind.

After she caught her breath, she wiggled out and dropped to the ground. There was still no sign of anyone near her. Carefully and quietly, she snuck out the front door behind a patrol squadron and hid near the base of a statue. 

But, as always, there was a problem. One of the search dogs stopped, picking up her scent. He sniffed the air and the ground around him, tracing her footsteps. She held her breath, hoping not to be noticed. The dog jumped towards her, startling her. The clone holding its leash turned and walked over to her hiding place. With no where left to hide, she jumped up to the top of the statue using the force. Finding nothing, the clone and the dog were back on their way. 

She breathed a premature sign of relief, for the doors opened and she was spotted. "There she is!" Commander Fox shouted. "Stop her before she gets to her ship!"

The ship. She had almost forgotten. Thanks for the reminder,  she wanted to say, but to do so would have been foolish. All the clones within earshot turned an immediately shot at her. So much for this hiding spot. She ran across the memorial, dodging bullets. It took her a second to realize that they were shooting to kill, meaning that Anakin Skywalker was not directly involved. Yet. 

She jumped off the side of the monument, arms and legs flailing all over the place. Her body hit the ground hard, but there wasn't time to acknowledge the pain. She definitely could've planned that out better. 

The turrets came online and fired at her. She had no difficulty evading the turbo lasers, but her ship was not as fortunate. Seconds before she reached it, the turret destroyed it, sending her flying back. She got up again and shook her head. So much for that plan. 

There weren't many options for her escape. Both her and the clones recognized that. She could surrender herself upfront and hope that Tarkin would show her mercy. She shook her head, knowing it was a terrible idea. Her master would be very disappointed in her if she surrendered. One had to be crazy to try the pipe system. There was little to no cover from the air, and the only way out was down to the lower levels. Tanks couldn't follow her, so she decided to try it. 

She jumped down the stairs and found a walkway on top of a pipe. The troopers hesitated before coming after her, giving her just enough time to get far enough in front that she could afford a second to deflect shots, if it came to that. 

Sure enough, they started shooting stun blasts at her. Anakin had gotten involved. She stopped for a second and looked back, searching for him among her pursuers. He wasn't there, so she kept running. 

The clones split up and were running along the path to her right. They were gaining on her, and their shots were getting closer to actually hitting her. Her lightsabers flew to her hands as they lit up. Each stun blast was absorbed into her green blades, emitting a flash of blue light. 

And so it was for what seemed like an eternity. She ran, was shot at, deflected said shots, and kept running. There was a split second that she thought about her dream from earlier and how similar it was to her current situation. She felt alone and cut off because of who she was in both instances—a fugitive. 

A gunship came in next to her, the side door open. The clones inside shot at her, making her do a series of jumps and flips to evade them. She looked at them for a moment. Their helmets seemed to look different to her in a way she couldn't put her finger on. The eyes were larger and not connected. The helmet itself was shorter and wider, covering only what it needed to. She blinked, and they were the same as always. 

One of the clones shot a rocket at the pipe in front of her. The explosion made her lose her balance, and she was thrown from the platform. She pulled herself up as one of her lightsabers fell into the pipes below. There wasn't time to look for it, so she had to stick with the one she had left. Calling it to her hand, she jumped up and over the pipe, landing in the middle of an intersection. 

She was surrounded on all sides by clones, gunships, and who knows what else. Her master rushed forward to the front and made eye contact with her. He wanted her to come with him. A choice had to be made. She could probably cut a hole through one of the pipes and get to the lower levels. It would be much easier to stay hidden there. There was no telling what could happen if she went with Anakin, so she went for the pipes. Somewhere, somehow, she was going to figure out who framed her. She was not guilty, and she was certainly not going o b punished for the acts of someone else. 

A/N: Hey guys! Happy New Years! Hopefully everyone had fun celebrating last night. I know I sure did XD

FEELS GALORE IN THIS ONE!!! Sorry about that... I just finished the Ahsoka novel yesterday, so I'm in a bit of a feelsy (is that even a word?) mood. It was a good book and gave me several ideas and concepts to use later down the road. 

I'm going to try and get another chapter up tomorrow, but no promises. I haven't practiced my instruments AT ALL over break, so I should probably do that soon. I've been such a lay butt this whole break, to be honest. 

May the force be with you!