Back in the Game (COMPLETE)

9.1.4

Ahsoka beckoned the squad forward, and they all crept slowly towards the Jedi. The entire library was full of them and none of them seemed to be conscious. What was more, none of them were radiating their Force signature. Even Madame Jocasta, the librarian, who was notorious for the upkeep of the sacred Jedi holocrons and records, was among the frozen. Many other faces were in the crowd as well, like Aayla Secura and Quinlan Vos. Healers, sentinels, trainers, the nursery caretakers, all of them were here. The only faces Ahsoka didn't see were those of the Jedi Council and Anakin.

She studied Aayla Secura, who happened to be standing closest to her. It looked as if she had just reacted to an adversary when she had been frozen. They were ambushed, then. They probably took down the Masters first, then froze the Knights. Ahsoka reached up and felt around the neck of her top before her fingers found what they were searching for.

Some black market dealers had been experimenting with the idea of a nervous system suppressor. By halting all functions of the nerves, except for those necessary to stay alive, the body froze in whatever position they were in. It was supposed to be very painful, from what Ahsoka had heard as the Inquisitor. Having commanded the Separatist armies was starting to come in handy.

On Aayla's neck was a small metal disk, the suppressor, digging into the Jedi's blue skin. Ahsoka dug her nails under the rim and ripped it off, and Aayla fell to the ground, groaning and shaking.

The troopers and Padawans that had come with Ahsoka ran over to see what had happened and nearly rejoiced when they saw the Jedi moving of her own free will. The Togruta caught her and did her best to steady her shaking body. "It's all right, it's over now." Aayla continued to shudder but leaned on Ahsoka for support as she regained control over her body.

Holding up the disk, she instructed the others, "Search for this on their neck. Pull hard, and get ready to catch them, if you can."

They eagerly set to work, glad to have found a way to get everyone back to normal. The Jedi began falling to the ground, responding to the pain of coming out of suppression. Eventually, they began to rise to their feet and then started asking questions about what in the galaxy had happened, and how they had gotten in the library.

Ahsoka did her best to let the Padawans take care of the questions while she made sure that every Jedi was released and recovered. She checked every aisle, every corner, and every shelf she could find. When she was sure that no one had been missed, she leaped up to a ledge near the ceiling and looked out over the scene.

Those Padawans who's masters were in the room reunited with them, and the older Padawans who had been frozen tried to figure out where their master was. They started racing out of the room and Ahsoka had a feeling it would be useless to try and stop them.

Caleb ran over to her and joined her, kneeling beside the civilian. Ahsoka could tell that he was no less stressed than he had been several minutes ago, but to his credit, he masked it for the time being. "The others are finished with their sweeps," he told her, handing her his comlink.

She took it, starting the conversation. "This is Ahsoka. We've found most of the Knights. They were in the library. Our area is clear."

O-Mer spoke next. "We didn't find anyone. All clear here."

"Same in the training halls," Jinx finished.

Ahsoka released the tension in her muscles. "Temple secure. If someone wants to let the Younglings out of the basement, I'm sure they'd appreciate it. On a separate note, you may want to come to find your master in the library instead."

"What did you mean by 'most of the Knights'?" O-Mer asked. "What about the Council?"

"They're not here," Ahsoka answered reluctantly. "If no one else has found them, then they must be missing somewhere."

Jinx sighed. "Of course not. You don't know this yet, but we got assigned to masters, finally. I'm Master Gallia's apprentice."

"And I'm Master Plo's," O-Mer added. "Our Masters are still missing, and so is Caleb's."

Ahsoka looked at Caleb, who's face was washed with concern and looking at Ahsoka desperately for help. "How are we supposed to find them?" He asked, and she heard the underlying note of panic beginning to rise.

O-Mer answered him. "I don't know, but there's something you guys should see, in the Council room. There's no one here, but..."

"We should see it," Jinx finished.

"Hurry, you guys," O-Mer pleaded, and Ahsoka disconnected. She jumped down to the ground, with Caleb right at her heels. They dashed past the crowd of Jedi, who were beginning to leave the library. Neither of them spoke as they ran to the Council room, fearing the worst.

Jinx had beat them to the chamber. Both he and O-Mer were waiting for them when they burst in, weapons drawn, just in case. It didn't take long to see what had O-Mer so concerned.

Blaster bolts singed the walls and floor, and many of the Council members' chairs were overturned or scuffed. A fight had clearly broken out here, but there were no bodies. The room had a haunting silence and felt more empty than ever.

The three Padawans approached their master's chairs and set them straight, but Ahsoka didn't move. It didn't take long for her to connect the dots. The Knights had been found, but the Jedi Council was missing, along with the Chosen One. That wasn't a coincidence. Something large was at play here. This wasn't a terrorist act, but a Separatist one. They had landed a hit on their home turf. Without the High Council, the Order was crippled and so was the Republic.

Jinx turned to Ahsoka. "If they weren't in the library, then where are they?"

"Prisoner," O-Mer answered, standing up and walking to the window. "They're gone."

"They're not gone," Caleb insisted, "not unless we give up on them. They can't be dead yet, they're stronger than that."

His words were brave, but Ahsoka, who had watched over him for almost a year, could hear the fear in his voice. He was telling the others just as much as he was telling himself. It had to be true, he had to believe it if he was going to make it.

Ahsoka took her bag off of her shoulders for the first time since she had jumped out of the gunship. The Padawans came over to see what she was retrieving, but it didn't take long for them to realize what it was.

She had packed all of the lightsabers of the Changelings into her pack before they had gone to find the little ones. She had ignored it at the time for the sake of the mission, but now that she had time to think it over she realized who the Changelings had chosen to change into. There were eleven of the twelve Council members, and the Chosen One made twelve missing. There had been twelve Changelings. The numbers added up.

Ahsoka lifted all of the lightsabers except for Anakin's into their owner's chair and let them rest there. "The only Jedi who had fakes were the ones who had been kidnapped. That way, there was only one of each of them here at a time."

The Padawans' hearts sank, and Caleb asked her, almost pleading. "So what do we do? How do we get them back?"

Ahsoka sat on her knees. "It's not up to me, Caleb. Now that the Knights have returned, they must decide what to do. I only led this mission because no one else could get outside help from inside and because no one else had a plan to clear the rest of the Temple."

"But we can't let them go, Ahsoka!" He insisted. "They wouldn't let us go!"

Maybe you three, she thought, but I'm not so sure about me. "I'm a civilian, Caleb. I can't lead a rescue mission, but the Jedi can. I doubt they are any less concerned about the Council. They won't abandon them."

Jinx began gathering the lightsabers. "We'll take these to them. They'll know what to do. They'll figure out a plan to get them back."

The three ran out of the door with the lightsabers, but Ahsoka kept Anakin's with her. She stared at it, wondering what had happened that someone could have snuck up on him. If she was being honest, she wasn't that worried about him, at least, not yet. He had been in worse trouble than this before, and she didn't doubt that one way or another, he would get out of this too. All Ahsoka was unsure of was whether she would be a part of it.