Author's Note: This is... basically the most important moments where Anakin and Obi-Wan met Ahsoka on the battlefield. :D And also... don't expect them to magically work things out. They won't. Dark fic, remember? :')
~ Amina Gila
This would hardly be the stupidest thing Anakin's ever done, but it still feels that way. Honestly. He can feel a much too familiar presence nearby, sending a shiver down his spine. He keeps moving forwards, anyway. It's the fastest way for himself and Obi-Wan to make it to the ship Dooku's on without an outright attack, anyway.
This would hardly be the first time Anakin's had to intentionally get himself captured, and it's only a problem because there's a Sith Lord involved. Last time Anakin encountered him, not counting Tatooine, Anakin lost his arm. So, no, he is not at all looking forwards to this.
He keeps walking, anyway, staring at the rows of droids marching towards him. Earlier, he – on Obi-Wan's orders, of course – dropped his lightsaber somewhere while scouting out. Obi-Wan will find it and hopefully bring it to him. It would've been so much easier if he hid the thing on himself, even if there was a possibility of Dooku finding it. Except, he has nothing to defend himself with except the Force, and he can't make this look easy. No, he won't ever go down without a fight.
Anakin ducks behind a rock when some of the droids start firing at him. Oh, alright, fine. He reaches out with the Force, lifting a few of the droids and crushing them. He steals a fallen blaster before taking off, taking shelter behind nearby structures. At the very least, he's making this a chase.
It lasts a while, a while of running and chasing and hiding, but after dropping a tree on the last remaining droids' heads, he senses Dooku. And... someone else. The presence feels bright and young, though deeply intertwined with the Dark Side much like Dooku's is. Another acolyte of his, probably.
He really, really wishes he had his lightsaber, because he's not stupid enough to even try fighting a Sith with a blaster.
"Dooku," Anakin greets coldly, stepping back. He's in a relatively surrounded space right now, which is good. He'll have to fight with the Force alone, and it's just his luck that Dooku is a well-known expert at telekinesis.
"Skywalker," the Count replies, and a rush of fierce, icy rage rushes through him. Before Anakin can snap something back at him, though, his eyes land on another much smaller figure. An orange Togruta teen, clothed in black. While Anakin hasn't ever seen her before, he knows who she is. Ahsoka Tano. It would be hard for him not to recognize her, given she's the adopted daughter of the Separatist's leader. She has two lightsabers, like Ventress, only hers are a different shape. Oh, of course Dooku trained his so-called daughter into being his own perfect little pet.
"Why am I not even surprised you brought your barely teenage daughter out to a battlefield?" Anakin asks dryly.
"Think I'm not ready?" she snips back, baring her fangs at him.
"Oh, it does seem a bit careless."
"Funny, given your precious Order is sending ten-year-old's to the front lines who have no preparation for battle at all."
It's wrong, and it bothers him to no end, but that never-ending urge to defend the Jedi swells inside him. "You planned and started the war," Anakin fires back.
"Enough talking," interrupts Dooku, igniting his lightsaber.
Anakin starts reaching for his own, only to remember again that he doesn't have it. Someone tell him why he decided to listen to Obi-Wan about that, again? Reacting instinctively, Anakin sends a Force-shove at the two.
Ahsoka is flung back, not managing to block it, but Dooku raises a hand, easily countering it. "What, did you lose your lightsaber?" mocks the Togruta, stalking forwards again.
Anakin raises a hand, throwing a bunch of destroyed droid parts at the two which Dooku easily tosses aside again. "Surrender, Skywalker," he orders, "You are outnumbered."
No, he's not going to back down that easily, even if it's stupid. He levitates one of the rocks he was taking shelter behind next, throwing it the Count. Dooku catches it again, this time throwing it right back at him. He dodges out of the way, as the Force screams a warning.
Lightning leaps from the Sith's hands, striking him. He's thrown to the ground as all of his nerves are electrified, pain burning through every inch of his body. It's as bad as it was back on Geonosis. It finally lets up what was probably a few seconds later, even if it feels like much longer.
"Take him to the ship," he hears Dooku ordering.
Ahsoka moves into his line-of-sight moments later, clamping Force restraints on his wrists. He stands unsteadily, doing his best not to let the effects show as he's led towards the ship.
"So, are you having fun being out on a battlefield like this?" he quips finally.
"A lot actually, fighting your pathetic Order. Though I might be having more if you'd shut up."
"Rude."
"Manners aren't something I give to Jedi."
"Oh, how unfortunate. I can see where you learned that from."
"I hope you find your new accommodations to your liking, because you'll be here for a long time," she snaps back, pushing him inside the prison cell.
"I can walk on my own, thanks for asking," he calls after her.
"Really? It sure didn't look like it!" she shoots back, pushing a button on the wall, the cell door slamming closed behind her, leaving him alone.
Now he has to wait until Obi-Wan shows up to rescue him. Hopefully that'll be before the interrogation droids arrive. Well, he'll try to make an escape, first.
***
The battle on Jabiim has been raging for weeks now, and the Republic forces are losing ground more than anything else. Ahsoka and Ventress are both leading parts of the Separatist forces alongside the locals to fight off the Republic and its sympathizers. Through the darkness of the night, Ahsoka can still make out the figures moving in between the trees. The clones. Trying to infiltrate here when most other forces are currently off fighting elsewhere. Well, that's not going to work as well as they think.
Staying in the shadows out of sight, Ahsoka creeps closer to them. They're moving steadily closer to the building. Time to make her presence known. She pulls herself up the tree nearby tree, then leaps from there across the clearing towards the figures in front, igniting her lightsabers as she falls.
She realizes a moment too late that the one in front is not a clone. Yes, she sensed Skywalker around here, but with his hood up and shielding himself in the Force, she didn't realize he was right there. A Force wave crashes into her, throwing her back. She slams her lightsabers into the ground to stop herself as she skids several feet backwards.
Skywalker immediately ignites his own lightsaber, holding it in front of him as she stands, shifting into her fighting pose. "Now Dooku's even sending his daughter out to battle all on her own?" Skywalker scoffs, as though he's not literally talking right to her.
"What, think I'm not ready for that either, Jedi?" she sneers.
"No, Dooku's parenting skills are quite predictable." A flash of anger runs through at the words. She does not stand for people talking about her master, her father like that.
"Your foolish plan of trying to sneak in here was also pathetically predictable," she shoots back. Well, it wasn't, but this is a fight she'll have to win alone. At least for now.
"That's why all your reinforcements are gone," Skywalker agrees amicably, and then suddenly lunges forwards. She instantly brings up her red blades to block his, pulling back and slashing at him next. He easily parries it, swinging for her in turn. The strength behind the blow forces her back a step.
Ahsoka blocks a few more of his blows, then backflips a short distance away, discreetly reaching down and pushing a button on her comm, summoning the remaining droids she has here to come out and join the fight.
Skywalker comes at her again, and she ducks his next slash, returning it with one of her own. They trade a few more furious blows, and she's slowly forced back onto the defensive. She has to admit she can see now why Dooku told her to avoid him. In a one-on-one fight, he could and would definitely overpower her.
He uses physical force a lot in how he fights, she notices, while she always uses her own agility and small size to her advantage. She's going to have to do that this time too if she has any hope of winning this fight, especially with so many clones surrounding them.
But she doesn't have a chance to even try anything as Skywalker continues raining blows down around her, forcing her to keep retreating. She won't deny the prickle of unease running through her. Where are her droid reinforcements? They should be here any minute, and she's running out of time. Dooku warned her not to take unnecessary risks like this, but she hates running from a fight. No, she won't do that unless she doesn't have any other choice.
Ahsoka swings her lightsabers down to block the Jedi's next attack, but he suddenly twists his own to the side, sending one of her blades flying from her hand. A growl of frustration escapes her, and she Force shoves him, then jumps backwards, reaching out to call her other blade back to her.
He moves faster. A Force wave hits her, which she doesn't have time to counter thanks to being distracted with her other lightsaber, and it sends her flying back into one of the trees. The force of the impact leaves her breathless as she slams into it, then falls to the ground her other lightsaber falling from her hand somewhere along the way.
She immediately moves to get up, jolting to a stop at the blue blade now hovering only inches away from her. No, this was not supposed to happen. She's not about to be captured by some pathetic little group of infiltrating Republic forces when the Separatists have already come this far. She needs to stall for time.
"This was always part of the plan," she insists, "No matter what you do, you're still going to lose this planet, Skyguy." She smirks at the flash of irritation that crosses his face at the nickname.
"A little overconfident, aren't you... Darth Snips?" he shoots back.
She can sense and hear the clanking of the approaching droids moments before the others spot them. "General, we have incoming!" calls the captain. Now. Ahsoka throws up a hand, Force shoving Skywalker back a step and rolls out of the way, jumping to her feet.
Blaster fire tears through the trees, and he whirls around to deflect the blast. She hastily collects her lightsabers, and darts away into the brush, leaving the droids behind to deal with them. She needs to prepare a nasty surprise for them at the base when they get that far, assuming they do.
***
Anakin knows something is about to go wrong. The Separatist forces at the Citadel already know that they're here. It's only a matter of time before droid reinforcements catch up with them.
But at least they already managed to rescue Master Piell, Captain Tarkin, and the other clones here. They run through the halls of the building, heading for the exit point when he suddenly senses it. Several assassin droids appear from around the corner, charging at them. Another group charges at them from the opposite end, and Obi-Wan and the 212th whirl around to deal with them.
And then, a certain familiar Togruta sprints around the corner in front of Anakin, drawing her lightsabers. The Knight moves forwards, swinging his already ignited blade at the first assassin droid which quickly flips out of his way, brandishing a long vibroblade. Rex draws his blasters, opening fire on the Togruta.
Ahsoka spins her lightsabers, easily deflecting the shots right back at him. One of them goes off course, striking assassin droid Anakin is fighting. It gives him the opening he needs, and he slashes his blade up through its arm – the piece of metal and its weapon clattering to the floor as he lops it's head off next.
Ahsoka lunges forwards at the clones, and Anakin instantly moves to intercept her. Their fight is fast and furious. Ahsoka is quick, constantly jumping and dodging attacks, and her twin lightsabers gives her the advantage, but Anakin isn't known as a master duelist for nothing.
The others are handling the droids for now, so he can give his entire focus to fighting off the Togruta. She flips backwards away from him and tries to Force-shove him, but he throws up a Force-shield, and they both go flying. Anakin hits the wall, but quickly catches himself before he falls. The Togruta is slowly starting to sit up a distance away down the hall.
"Go!" he shouts to the clones, and they take off down the hall. Anakin brings up the rear, of course, knowing Ahsoka will be close behind. He won't let her hurt his men.
Anakin and Obi-Wan split the group in half, each going separate ways. Obi-Wan stays behind with Piell to create a diversion while Anakin takes Tarkin – and thereby the other half the information – via the less dangerous route through the fuel lines.
The line is clear, thankfully, but Ahsoka along with another entire droid battalion – or two – are waiting for them at the opening. "Run!" Anakin yells to the clones, swinging his lightsaber in front of him to deflect the blaster shots from the surrounding crab droids. They're the deadliest, by far.
Ahsoka jumps at him with a growl, slashing wildly. He swings his blade to catch hers, standing atop the pipe while the clones try to make it to safety. It should have been easy, but he's not there to cover for them. If the Jedi anticipated Dooku having one of his acolytes here, they might've sent three Jedi instead of two.
Anakin jumps from the pipe to atop one of the approaching crab droids, running it through with his lightsaber. Ahsoka, of course, follows him as he leaps to another. Their blades clash, and after a few slashes, he shoves her lightsabers downwards, slashing across the droid. It's not enough to render it useless, but it's enough to damage it. There are way too many droids, and with Ahsoka here, he won't be able to hold them all off. The fastest and only way is destroying the pipe, and the droids with it.
"Rex!" Anakin yells over his shoulder. "Throw me a charge."
The commander does as he was asked, and Anakin catches it out of the air. He tosses it into the pipe and slams it shut, then jumps clear. Ahsoka follows, blades slamming down towards his head as he lands. Anakin one-handedly blocks her without turning. He shoves her back and ducks to the ground, shielding his head as the explosion goes off. The Togruta sure did time her attack right because he's not quite clear enough to properly shield himself. How petty of her.
Debris from the droids, or the pipeline, he doesn't know which, rain down around them. The force of the explosion was enough to send a tremor the ground, and smoke fills the air. He coughs against it, struggling upright, shoving aside the smaller pieces of debris covering him, including the legs of a crab droid.
Smoke is hanging heavily in the air, but he can make out Ahsoka still pinned under a pile of the debris including the remains of a droid. She seems stunned, for the moment, but once she regains consciousness, she'll be able to free herself. They don't have much time. He feels the tiniest bit bad for her, but she did ask for it.
Anakin takes off running to where the rest of his men are waiting for him. As he approaches, he sees one of them kneeling next to Tarkin, who's lying on the ground, a blaster wound in his chest. Anakin's seen enough injuries to know it's going to be fatal, even if they did have the ability to give him medical treatment right now, which they obviously don't.
"Captain?" Anakin asks urgently, crouching next to him.
"The... information..." he gasps out, barely managing to finish telling it to Anakin before he goes motionless.
Anakin stands up, looking to the others. He'll take the time to grieve the death of his new-found friend later. Right now, they have the battle to focus on, or the man's death will be pointless. "We need to keep moving," he says grimly. They need to get to the landing site, before Ahsoka and more droids join the hunt to track them down again.
When they finally run up to the landing platform, a battle is already raging everywhere. Obi-Wan and Master Piell along with the rest of the clones are trying to fight off the droid forces blocking their escape. Most of them are assassin droids, so it's taking far longer than they have time for.
"Sorry, we're late," Anakin offers as he runs over to Obi-Wan, ducking back against the wall to take cover from the droids.
"How nice of you to join us," Obi-Wan replies, smirking despite the situation.
Rex circles around the others the very edge of the wall, taking a quick look around and quickly jerking back before a blaster bolt can take off his head. "The ship is surrounded," he reports.
Anakin glances around, quickly assessing the situation. "We need to take out those turrets immediately or we'll never be able to take off before reinforcements arrive." That includes Dooku's daughter. They're being hunted, and they can't afford to waste a second. The Force is tensed in the way that it always does before something bad happens, and it's making him anxious. He has no idea if everyone else will make it out alive. All he can do is trust in the Force.
Anakin ducks out from behind the wall, lightsaber spinning as he charges for the turrets. The Jedi masters quickly join him. They cut through droid after droid that's blocking their path. Danger flares through the Force, and Anakin barely has time to look up and spot the approaching assassin droids – they're flying in on speeders – before they start shooting.
Piell jumps onto the speeders and starts destroying them, while Anakin covers for the clones on the ground while they can move to safer cover. Obi-Wan finally reaches the turrets, but not before they fire again. They haven't aimed for the ship yet, thankfully, but that's probably next. That way, they will have no way off-planet.
An explosion rips through the ground, right where a few of the clones are fighting. Anakin lops in half the droid he's fighting and turns to survey the damage; he could swear he felt a few life-presences blinking out of the Force. And – no.
"Rex!" Anakin cries, seeing his commander on the ground. He sprints forwards, dropping to his knees beside him. Panic claws its way into his chest, because he should've been watching out more. This shouldn't have happened, and now –
"Get to the ship!" Obi-Wan calls from somewhere across the battlefield.
"We'll take him," Fives offers, coming forwards with Echo.
Anakin nods in confirmation, struggling to regain composure. There's still a battle to be fought. He raises his lightsaber again, covering for the clones as they make a dash for the shuttle. He can already sense an approaching presence. Ahsoka must have awoken and freed herself, and now she's coming to find them. They need to move, before more droid reinforcements arrive.
Anakin can hear the clanking of more droids approaching. They're practically boxed in now, and if they don't hurry, Ahsoka will find some other way of disabling the ship. He raises his hands, sending a wave through the Force at the gathered assassin droids. As they skid back, Anakin spins around and sprints up the ramp. He darts past the others, scrambling into the pilot's seat and firing up the engine. The ship is lifting off as a certain Togruta comes into view on the landing platform.
***
Of all the planets Ahsoka's been to throughout the war, Umbara is certainly one of the less pleasant ones. It's dark all the time here, and while she can see better in the dark than many other species, she still doesn't appreciate the climate. The plants aren't really the kind for Togrutas either.
Not to mention that working with the traitorous Jedi and exchanging undercover communications hasn't been the most pleasant either. At least he's listening to her instructions from Dooku, she supposes. He's of the belief he'll become Dooku's new apprentice if he sells out the Republic here and wins the battle for the Separatists.
As if that's ever going to happen. Ahsoka knows that no one will ever take her place as Dooku's apprentice. Her master only wants Krell for his usefulness, and as another assassin. After Sidious ordered him to betray Ventress because she was getting too powerful, she'd tried to get revenge on him with several other literally invisible... Jedi? Ahsoka's not even sure what they were. She fought them alongside Dooku when they attacked that night, and all three of them had ended up running.
Then, the Nightsisters sent another pawn of theirs – Savage Oppress – to be Dooku's next assassin, who also ended up trying to kill him. So yes, Dooku's been trying to find another assassin who's not going to promptly betray him for revenge, but Krell is hopelessly delusional if he really thinks that he's ever going to be a true Sith.
Personally, Ahsoka has to admit to being disgusted with the Besalisk, even if he's useful. He's betraying his own for selfish purposes. It's not like he cares that the Republic and the Jedi are wrong. He's doing it for himself. And he doesn't even have a problem with tricking his own men into killing each other when it suits him. Maybe he's useful, but it's still despicable to see people like that. Sith or not, she values loyalty to those who are actually deserving of it.
Personal feelings aside, it's time for her to play her part in the plan she's worked out with Krell now. Any moment now, he's supposed to have ordered his own troops to attack General Kenobi's forces. Now it's time for her part of the plan.
She creeps through the darkness, doing her best to stay concealed by the trees. All the clones have night vision on their helmets, so the darkness won't hide her from them. Blaster bolts are ringing out all around her as, in this part of the battle, the droid and Umbrian forces are actually attacking the 212th.
Finally, she makes out her target in the midst of the chaos. Kenobi moves through the darkness a short distance away from the rest of the clones, blue lightsaber spinning as he deflects blaster bolts.
Ahsoka leaps down through the trees, lightsabers activating as she swings for Kenobi's head. He's totally taken off guard, whirling around to block her blow and nearly getting shot in the process. He Force shoves her back – or tries to, but she already anticipated it, throwing up a Force shield to block it. Both of them are thrown opposite directions as her Force shield falls.
She's on her feet in a flash, charging at him again. The Umbarans and clones on both sides are too busy fighting with each other to pay them any mind. For now, at least. "And here I thought being on this planet couldn't get any more unpleasant," quips Kenobi.
"It's no more a pleasure to see you, Jedi," Ahsoka shoots back, ducking his next slash and swinging for him herself, "I'll make sure you get to enjoy a stay here on Umbara after you're defeated by the Separatists."
"I'll be looking forward to your hospitality," he shoots back, parrying her next few strikes.
Kenobi fights mostly on the defensive, she realizes, and he's waiting for an opportunity to make a move when she slips up. She has no doubts he could defeat her in duel; she needs to drag this out until the time is right.
Flipping through the air, Ahsoka lands on his shoulders, then jumps to the ground behind him and slashes at him again. Kenobi is already spinning to block her, throwing a few strikes of his own at her.
They trade a few more blows before she suddenly senses a flare of danger in the Force. She ducks out of the way as one of the clones open fires on her. Great. She can't deal with them and fight Kenobi at the same time.
She hastily deflects the next few shots from the clones, swinging up her blades to block Kenobi when he swings at her again. Shoving the lightsaber back, she Force jumps up into a nearby tree, then leaps across the tops of them as she retreats from the battle.
Krell should have contacted her by now. So, she'll have to contact him herself and see what he's up to. If the clones seriously managed to take him down, he absolutely deserves whatever happens to him for being that pathetic. One way or another, she's going to make sure the Separatists win this battle.
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