Back in the Game (COMPLETE)

9.1.2

Wheeler was still in the lobby with Ahsoka's blaster held to the Changeling. "Has he moved?" she asked, and the Pantorian shook her head.

"He's out cold. How are you planning to get him...wherever you're taking him?"

In response, Ahsoka took her blaster back, holstered it, and used the Force to lift the Changeling up and towards the door. Wheeler's eyes went wide, since Ahsoka refrained from using the Force in front of her colleagues. She watched as Ahsoka left. "I'll be back eventually. Keep an eye out," she bade Wheeler, and she shut the front door.

Just like Ahsoka had suspected, a Jedi speeder was parked just outside the shop, resting on the shaft platform by the back door. Ahsoka settled the Changeling in the backseat, checked the fuel levels, and started the ignition. She set her bag aside and shifted the speeder into gear and made her way up the shaft.

After merging with upgoing traffic, Ahsoka activated the communication console on the dash. She contacted the Republic Center for Military Operations. She knew that clones were stationed there regularly, and if she was going to flush the Changelings out of the Temple she wasn't going to be able to do it alone. Well, she probably could, but now wasn't the time for unnecessary recklessness, not when the Jedi Order was at stake. Especially the Younglings.

Despite any misgivings about the Jedi, she knew that Coruscant depended on them for protection as well as most of the Republic. If the Order fell, all hell would break loose. Civilians would go into a system-wide panic, and the Separatists were sure to jump on the opportunity. For the sake of everyone on the planet, and probably in the Republic Alliance, the Jedi Order needed to endure. Ahsoka might not have trusted them, but she wasn't selfish enough to put her history in front of the entire population. All she had to do was alert the clones and they would be able to handle the situation. She would go too, at the very least, to make sure that Caleb and the Younglings were okay, and then she would go home. Hypothetically.

Ahsoka wasn't too worried about Anakin. Whatever mess he had gotten himself into, he was probably capable of getting himself out of. That's if he even was involved in the mess. For all she knew, Anakin could be off-world on a mission.

Her call went through, and a clone she didn't recognize appeared above her dash. The clone was about to go through the usual protocol greeting, but when he saw the Togruta, he froze. "Uhh...yes? Are, are you authorized to be piloting a government speeder?"

"No," she answered truthfully, "but I had no other way to contact you. I have proof that the Jedi Order has been infiltrated by Changelings. The fate of the lives in the Temple are at stake, and according to the Guidelines for Emergency Protocols handbook, this qualifies as a planet-wide emergency. I am flying the speeder I am in to your building at the moment, and when I arrive, I would like to speak with the commander on duty. My name is Ahsoka Tano."

The clone, clearly taken aback by her reply, got to work immediately. Normally, civilians who hijacked government communication lines were reported and tracked down, but this person knew too much information to be joking around. "How long before you land, Ahsoka Tano?" It was right then that the clone trooper realized who he was talking to. He stared at the caller, who certainly looked like the Jedi Gone Rogue, while she answered.

"About fifteen minutes away," she guessed. "You should also know that I will be arriving with weapons. If you need me to surrender them at the hangar, I am willing to do so."

The soldier nodded. "Noted. We will prepare for your arrival, ah, Miss Tano."

Ahsoka ended the call and continued flying up, thinking through what she wanted to say when she got there. She didn't know exactly how the clone troopers would respond to her appearance, especially after a year and three months after she had left, but she hoped that they could put their duty before their memory just like she was. As the speeder exited the shaft and raced off towards the Military building, Ahsoka mentally prepared herself for any reaction she might receive.