This chapter went through more rewrites than anything I've ever written before. I don't know what was wrong with me or why my writing skills decided to just fuck off for a month, but trust me, the first four versions of this were bad. Hair-pullingly, alcoholism-inducingly bad. I'm still not thrilled with the final product, but at a certain point, as an author, you just have to step away and admit it's as good as you're going to get it. After working on this chapter for almost two whole months, it doesn't matter how well polished it is, I'm still going to hate its breathing guts.

On a more positive note, I believe email alerts are once again working. Who knows how long that happy state of affairs will continue, but I intend to enjoy it while it lasts. Hopefully we're all done with IT issues for the year, but I won't hold my breath.

As always, please donate whatever you can afford to the people of Ukraine, to help them stay alive while they fight off Russia's invasion. Winter is rapidly approaching, and they will need all the support we can give them.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Chapter 58

Asajj had underestimated how long it would take to get through the maze of Corellia's industrial district unseen. The Jedi had anticipated her attempt to sneak through, or else he was simply careful with his security. Either way, he had placed his sentries well. Added to the inane complexity of the alleys and rooftops, and the sun was a fading memory by the time she reached the power plant. The commando droids were, unsurprisingly, nowhere to be found. She'd heard the echoes of their battle minutes ago. The clones must have spotted them and called in reinforcements. Irritating, but at least the droids would keep the clones occupied while she worked. In that, they had served their purpose.

The power plant was an enormous, multi-tiered dome of duracrete, festooned all over with gantries and wires and all manner of flotsam she assumed was involved in distributing the power onto the planetary grid. She wasn't an engineer, and she wasn't about to stop and appreciate the ingenuity of the plant. Soon, it would be a smoking crater, and she would be on her way to her next mission.

By rote, she activated a short-range signal jammer as soon as she was inside the plant perimeter. It would keep any security in the plant from sending or receiving external communications. The plant itself was all but abandoned. Only a skeleton crew of droids remained to oversee operations.

Except… no. As she slipped through a service hatch into the building itself, she sensed something. This place wasn't empty. There was someone still here. Not some engineer, though, oh no. The presence she sensed was no ordinary being. The power, the sickening Light that made her eyes water, the stench of self-righteousness. Only one thing in the galaxy could turn her stomach like this. There was a Jedi here. Her lips curled into a smile. A moment ago, this had been a routine mission; one of dozens her master had sent her on. Just business, really. Now, it was pleasure.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Flashback

Anakin closed his eyes and let all the tension slide from his muscles as slender, nimble fingers carded through his hair. Padmé's fingers. Padmé's warmth pressed against his back as they lay beside each other in her bed. Padmé's soothing presence caressing his senses. No amount of meditation could anchor him in a moment like her mere presence. For a few blissful seconds there was no war, no looming catastrophe, no Republic to defend, and no Padawan to teach. There was him and there was her, and they were enough.

It had been a long and complicated couple of weeks since the Council had Knighted him. With their deployment imminent, he'd spent most of his time working with Ahsoka. She was a gifted girl with abilities far beyond most Padawans her age, but they were heading into war and he wasn't about to take chances with her life. He'd spent a fortnight running her through a punishing course of combat training, pushing her to her limits every day. It had been tough, even brutal, but the results spoke for themselves. Her skills had grown in leaps and bounds.

Of course, Ahsoka hadn't been his only focus. Every spare bit of time he and Padmé had found, they'd spent with each other. They were both eager to get in as much time together as they could before the war separated them, possibly for months. Ahsoka, who never missed a chance to earn her nickname, was relentless in her teasing, but he didn't care. He was with Padmé. The future he'd scarcely let himself even dream of for years had come to pass, and no amount of teasing from his smart-lipped Padawan would dim his joy.

The fingers paused in their ministrations and Padmé's voice, low and drowsy, murmured in his ear. "You should grow your hair out."

"Really?" He snorted at the unexpected comment. Anyone who thought Padmé was an unflappable monument to poise and eloquence had never spoken to her when she was sleepy.

"Mmhm. You'd look good with long hair. Dashing and sexy."

He smirked and pulled her fingers to his lips, kissing them one at a time. "From what we just did, I thought you already found me dashing and sexy."

She chuckled. "Oh, I do. So just think what we'll do when you grow your hair out. Hmm?"

She punctuated her words with a less-than-gentle bite on his ear. He gasped and shivered as lightning crawled down his spine. Suddenly, he was very aware of her heartbeat against his back and her breath against his neck. With a quick motion, he turned and captured her lips with his. She leaned into the kiss and pressed herself against him. Her body molded to his until every available bit of their skin was touching.

Neither of them deepened the kiss, despite the intimacy of the moment. Or, perhaps, because of the intimacy of the moment. Despite how often they'd had sex the last two weeks, there was more to their relationship than carnal pleasure. It was in moments like this, when he took simple joy in being close to her, that he confirmed what he'd suspected for years. As he pulled away and looked at her face, still suffused with afterglow, he felt compelled to say it out loud.

"I love you."

It was strange how much meaning and power such small words could hold. Whether shouted from a mountaintop or whispered in private, the words echoed all the same. It wasn't the first time either of them had said it, but it was the first time they'd said it outside the throes of passion. It felt weightier now. More real.

Padmé's eyes widened. Her breath caught in her throat. As attuned as he'd become to her in the last weeks, he felt her emotions spike. There was shock, then happiness, then fear, then a complicated whirl of feelings too fast and tangled up for him to decipher. It ended with a warm, all-encompassing glow, however, and a smile spread across her face.

"I love you, too," she whispered, and he discovered there were, in fact, new and dizzying heights of happiness to achieve. Then her smile faded, and a small frown marred her face. "This is terrible timing. You ship out tomorrow."

He sighed at the cold dose of reality and stroked her cheek. "I know, but it's not like we'll be apart forever, and I wanted to say it before I left. I love you."

"I love you, too," she repeated. "So promise me you won't die. Promise I'll see you again."

It would be foolish to say yes. He was going into war, and there were no guarantees. Older, wiser Jedi than him had already fallen to the Separatists, and more would in the days to come. It was an unfair promise for her to ask or for him to give.

"I promise."

Love wasn't fair. They were the easiest words he'd ever said.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

Anakin roused himself from his trance as a rush of memories hit his mind. Not old memories like he'd been meditating on, but new ones. Memories he hadn't lived. Another of his Kage Bunshin had dispelled. Anakin grimaced at the sudden influx of information. He didn't know how Naruto put up with it. For a moment, it felt like his skull was a size too small for his brain.

The memories themselves were welcome, even if the discomfort of their arrival was not. The battle was going well.

That wasn't a surprise. He'd never have left his men without him or Rex present in normal circumstances, but there were only 1000 droids or so. They didn't have any weapons heavier than mortars. Meanwhile, he had half again their numbers, a dozen heavy cannons, and three AT-TEs. They had a ridiculous advantage over the droids. Appo could run a battle like that in his sleep, and he had a dozen Kage Bunshin present to give advice, provide jutsu support, and keep him apprised of the situation. More importantly, though, they gave the appearance of him being with his men outside.

It wasn't easy, though. His instincts pushed him to go to his troops and lead from the front, but that was what the Separatists wanted him to do. This droid attack couldn't be a more obvious diversion if it came with a bevy of Zeltron strippers. It was so blatant, he'd almost second guessed himself. But the blockade in orbit hadn't left Grievous with a lot of options. Even leaving aside the tactical situation, he could sense the deception at work. It wormed through the Force like a fungus, scratching at his mind, and it centered on the power plant. It made sense. This wasn't the only power plant on Corellia, of course, or even the biggest, but it was the most important for the planet's industrial output. If the Separatists destroyed it, they would cripple the Republic's ship production and repair capacity. Many of the parts for their capital ships, along with most of their smaller frigates and shuttles, came from Corellia. Its shipyards also provided essential repair and retrofit services for damaged and aging vessels. Beyond that, Corellia was an economic powerhouse for the Republic. Without its industrial sector, the financial burden would be a body blow all its own. People would starve. So he'd left his Kage Bunshin behind and slipped into the power plant, ready to deal with whatever force Grievous sent his way. After all, what better way to deal with a trap than turn it on the trappers?

Naruto had taught him how to make shadow clones years ago, and he fancied himself pretty good at the jutsu. Not as good as his little brother, though. He doubted anyone would ever match his brother's mastery of shadow clones. Naruto could make the things like mushrooms made spores. Once, he would have been jealous of his little brother's prowess. Once, he had been jealous. But years of growth and a friendship that had crossed into a bond of family had long since turned those feelings into pride at his brother's accomplishments.

A flash of phantom pain across his back shook him from his musings. His eyes shot open. That had come from the bond. Ahsoka was in pain. He delved into his own mind, looking for the point where his Padawan's spirit touched his own. The link was still narrow and unfocused, especially at this distance, but he could get a general idea of what she was feeling. Pain, stress, fierce concentration, and just a tinge of embarrassment. Whatever she was doing, she was fighting, and she'd been hurt. He tried to get a better sense of what had happened, but their bond was too new.

Nevertheless, he knew all he needed. His Padawan was in pain. In danger. His legs moved without thought and he was halfway out of the building before his brain caught up with his instincts.

'The power plant. If Ahsoka's fighting, then someone's definitely trying to get at the power plant.'

He skidded to a stop. His sense of duty and his instincts to keep Ahsoka safe pulled at him from opposite directions. As Ahsoka's master, he was responsible for her wellbeing. In a perfect world, that would come before all else, but it wasn't a perfect world, and he couldn't just abandon the power plant. If it fell, then the clones' sacrifice in the blockade would mean nothing. But… Ahsoka was in pain.

He clenched his teeth so tight his jaw ached. The answer was obvious, but no less painful for it. Ahsoka wasn't some helpless little girl. She was a Jedi Padawan, a commander in the GAR, and most importantly, she had volunteered to be here. She knew the danger she'd be facing and, as much as he wished otherwise, he didn't have the right to take that choice away from her. Besides, Rex was with her. He'd watch her back. Meanwhile, Anakin had to stay put and-

The Force turned cold. Danger. He was in danger. Something was trying to kill him and it would succeed if he didn't move!

He let the Force guide his muscles and jumped straight up as high as he could. Just in time, too. As his feet left the ground, the walkway he'd been standing on exploded. On instinct, he fashioned the Force into a shield, but not fast enough. Heat kicked at his legs and pain bloomed from his feet to his waist as bits of shrapnel tore into his flesh. The force of the blast flung him dozens of meters into the walkway above. He slammed against the metal grating. Hard. His head cracked against a support strut with a sound like a bell. Lights flashed across his vision and he tasted metal on his tongue.

It felt as if Jawas were trying to crack open his skull for salvage, but he somehow found the wherewithal to stick himself to the underside of the catwalk. He hung there, panting, as his blood dripped into the fire below. Smoke from the explosion made his eyes water. He coughed and nearly passed out when the movement jostled his head. His focus slipped and with it his chakra control. Gravity tried to have its way with him, but he caught himself by his fingertips at the last moment. His fingers protested at suddenly bearing his entire body weight, but the fire in his legs took precedence. He couldn't see the damage from his position, but it didn't feel-

More danger. From above, this time. Again, he didn't bother to confirm it with his eyes. The Force would not, could not, steer him wrong. He released the flow of chakra to his fingers and dropped. Above him, he heard the hum of a lightsaber and a frustrated howl, but of more immediate concern was the twisted heap of burning metal rising to meet him. Fortunately, his brother was about to save his life.

He raised the robotic arm Naruto had made for him and pointed the palm at another of the many catwalks that crisscrossed the inside of the power plant. At his mental command, a compartment opened in the hand and a grapnel line shot out. It aimed true, and he felt the tug as the launcher's internal winch pulled him away from the fire. The flames licked his legs for a moment, but then he was through them, trailing smoke and blood but otherwise no worse for wear. He vaulted onto the catwalk… and promptly fell on his face when his legs collapsed under him.

"Gnnngh." He rolled over and gave his legs a proper once over. It wasn't a pretty sight. They were, broadly speaking, intact, but the shrapnel had left dozens of small nicks and several larger cuts from the soles of his feet all the way up to his hips. He was just fortunate none of the pieces had hit an artery. Or his groin, for that matter. Most of the damage was superficial, but a hundred nicks still added up. He couldn't even take the time to shed his ruined pants so he could use a bacta spray. Not while the mysterious, bomb happy assassin was still around.

For the third time in half as many minutes, he felt the Force cry its warning. Images flashed in his mind of his body tumbling to the distant floor, a smoking stump where his head should be. If he'd had more time, he might have felt annoyed at the incessant premonitions, but it was hard to feel irritated at someone trying to kill you until they stopped. Movement flickered above him. His hand found his lightsaber just in time and he moved the blade to where the Force told him it needed to go. Brilliant blue met twin columns of raging scarlet with a sound like nearby lightning. The mixed glow of the lightsabers illuminated a familiar face. Bald, ashen gray, with tattoos and a twisted look of hatred, as if the woman above him would just as soon tear out his throat with her teeth as trisect him with her swords. That same hatred curdled the Force around them now she wasn't trying to hide.

"Ventress," he growled. They'd learned her name from intelligence intercepts a month ago, but she'd been a thorn in the Republic's side since before the war began. In many ways, her actions on Nar Shaddaa had led to the war in the first place. There wasn't a doubt in his mind Dooku had been behind that, just as the man was behind everything else.

"Anakin Skywalker. When my master gave me this mission, I thought it was a waste of my skills. But it seems the Force is with me today. Now, do me a favor and die quickly, so I can leave this miserable world and celebrate."

She leaned forward to leverage her strength and drive his own blade through his neck. Anakin held no illusions about his physical strength. With the Force on his side he could arm wrestle a Wookie. Despite that, he was in an awkward position with only one hand on his lightsaber, and Ventress was no weakling. It took every ounce of his strength to heave her back, and even then, she only stumbled a meter away. With a snarl, she pounced for him again, but this time he had just enough time to send a Force push her way. With the pain from his legs and the haste of not wanting to lose his head, it was as sloppy and weak an effort as he'd given since he was 13. Rather than flying to crash into the far wall, Ventress just slid back and dug her lightsabers into the grating to slow down. Still, it was enough. He wrapped the Force around his legs and siphoned away the pain. He was about as useless with Healing as Obi-Wan was with engineering, but with the pain reduced to a manageable level he could, at least, stand. His legs felt wobbly and his head swam with distant, but not wholly absent, agony, but he was standing.

"Give up, Jedi," Ventress hissed. "You're weak. Injured. Lay down your blade and I will grant you a merciful death."

Anakin just spat a glob of bloody phlegm at her feet. That was all the response her prattling merited. She jerked back as if he'd slapped her across the face, and her eyes burned with an orange light. A shriek tore from her lips, and she charged forward, blades swinging wildly.

Rage made her sloppy, but it also made her strong. Her blows hit with far greater force than her frame should have allowed, and with his legs barely functional, he was hard-pressed to meet them head on. Worse, even with fury sapping her technique, Ventress was still a superb swordswoman. He recognized Dooku's style in her precise, savage thrusts and fast cuts. She was nowhere close to her master's level, but even at his best, she'd have pushed him. As it was, he was fighting just to stay alive. One of her swords came close enough to singe his tunic sleeve. Another scored a smoking gouge in his cuirass. Without the armor, it would have taken him at the collarbone. He sucked in a sharp breath at the near miss.

'I can't keep this up for long. She'll win a sword fight.' Fortunately, Obi-Wan had taught him more ways to defeat an opponent than just cutting them to pieces. Despite what his former master might assume, just because Anakin typically found his lightsaber a more expedient weapon didn't mean he'd ignored his other lessons.

"What'll Dooku do to you when you tell him you failed here?" He asked between ragged breaths. Stars, but the blood loss made it hard to focus. If this kept up much longer, he was going to faint. "He doesn't strike me as very forgiving. How long do you think he'll keep a failed assassin around?"

She snorted. "Fool. Does it look as if I've failed? I'm going to take your head, and then I'll destroy this power station. It doesn't matter if Grievous fumbles away our conquest here. You've already lost!"

She pressed her attack with renewed vigor, and he cursed. That hadn't gone as well as he'd hoped. He stumbled backwards on legs that grew weaker by the second. Being the student of Obi-Wan had given him an extensive education in defensive saber tactics, but it hadn't changed his innate preference for going in the offense. His instincts told him to drive forward, to smash through his enemy's feeble defenses and flatten her beneath his strength. Unfortunately, his legs told him he should consider himself lucky to still be standing, and right now, they had the majority vote.

With his mobility shot, even Soresu wasn't enough to keep him alive as Ventress danced around him. She was smart enough not to stay still for him to bring his greater power to bear. Instead, she darted about like a stinging insect, taking advantage of his injuries to flank him. He blocked a stab at his face, then a slash at his legs, and used the Force to stop a stab from behind at his kidneys. Ventress was relentless, though, and the longer their fight lasted, the further things tipped in her favor. His vision dimmed, and his breath came in ragged gasps. Even with the Force, the pain in his legs was overwhelming. Finally, he made a mistake. Ventress feinted left and he fell for it. He raised his saber to block a blow that never came. Instead, a kick caught him in his right knee and he went down. He glanced up in time to see a red blade headed for his neck too fast for him to bring his sword around.

The Force hummed, then screamed, then shrieked in warning, but no amount of desperation could force his legs to move faster. He could see his death coming as clear as a Tatooine sunrise. That red blade would take his head from his shoulders. He would break his promise to Padmé.

"Hyaaah!"

A familiar battle cry echoed through the chamber and an orange and blue blur slammed into Ventress. On impact, the blur resolved into Ahsoka, who'd somehow slammed a rasengan into Ventress' side. The jutsu was sloppy, leaking chakra from a dozen flaws in the outer shell, and nowhere near strong enough to kill, but it was still a proper rasengan. He wasn't sure what surprised him more, her showing up, or her somehow managing a technique that had been giving her trouble for weeks. Pride in his Padawan filled him even as the sense of her flooded their bond. She was a contained explosion of worry and pain, but mostly of the sheer, hardheaded determination that so defined both her and Naruto. He'd never been so happy to see her.

The rasengan destabilized and burst with a muted thunderclap. Ventress screamed once and went spinning off the walkway, her robes torn. Ahsoka skidded back a few meters, but kept her footing.

"Master! Are you alright?" She rushed over and pulled him to his feet. He clenched his jaw so she couldn't see how much it hurt to stand.

"I'll be okay. Nice timing." It was only then he spotted the state of her armor and robes. Namely, the large bloodstain all down her back and the sloppy wound dressing between her shoulders. He took a closer look and noticed the sickly tan cast of her skin and the dull gray of her stripes. Her face was cast in a strained grimace and she was obviously in agony. His heart lurched. All thoughts of his own pain fled as he took his Padawan by her bony shoulders.

"What happened?! Snips, you're-"

"It's fine. Just a cut." She nodded towards where Ventress had gone flying. "Don't we have a bog witch to fight?"

He pursed his lips. She wasn't a very good liar. Even an idiot could tell her wound was more than a simple cut. Unfortunately, she was also right about Ventress. They couldn't just leave the assassin to do as she wanted, especially since what she wanted was to cut off his head. He'd had enough bits cut off him for a lifetime.

As if the mere thought of her was a summons, Ventress' foul Force presence looked closer again. His and Ahsoka's gazes snapped around in unison as a pale figure vaulted over the railing. Ventress looked a little worse for wear from Ahsoka's attack. Her robes were torn all along one side, exposing mangled skin already turning purple. A trickle of blood leaked out of one corner of her mouth, and it was obvious each breath pained her. The injuries didn't make her seem less dangerous, though. No, this wasn't a weakened opponent. This was a wounded animal, a predator turned even more vicious from the pain. Ahsoka took a step forward, but he pulled her back.

"Stay here," he told her as he moved to put himself between Ahsoka and the bald assassin.

She snorted, because of course she did. "Fuck that, master. I'm helping."

He wanted to laugh. He wanted to cry. Why did she have to be so… so stubborn? So defiant. So brilliantly perfect. It drove him mad and made his heart burst with pride.

"A child? The great Anakin Skywalker had to be saved by a child?" Ventress' mocking tones cut through his thoughts. "Is this your Padawan, Jedi? I wonder if my master will mount her head next to yours."

Something… dangerous stirred deep in his soul at that. Something dark and hot and deadly. She'd intended her words to prick him, to drive him into a rage. Well, it had worked. And she was going to regret it. This creature would not lay one finger on his Padawan.

Ahsoka scoffed. "What a bitch. Can we kick her ass now?"

"Go for it," he growled. Nothing existed for him anymore except Ahsoka, Ventress, and the blade he intended to ram through her heart. Fire roared in his mind. The next thing he knew, he was raining blows down on a pair of crossed red lightsabers. He didn't remember crossing the distance between them, or reigniting his lightsaber. He just knew there was a threat to someone he loved, and he had to eliminate it.

Ahsoka must have made some bunshin, because four identical copies of her rushed and jumped at Ventress. Only their bond let him know the real one as she snuck around him and tried to flank their opponent. Unfortunately, even two on one, the assassin was still a deadly opponent. She neatly disengaged from Anakin's furious assault, using the same move Dooku had on Geonosis to send him tumbling, dodged the first two illusory attacks, and then plainly noticed her opponents cast no shadows. Her yellow eyes narrowed before she spun out of the way of Ahsoka's stab and knocked her off balance with a kick. Anakin had to lean backwards to avoid taking his Padawan's lightsaber in the gut. It seemed both master and student enjoyed turning his allies' blades against him.

Ventress cackled as they untangled themselves. "Pathetic. Truly pathetic. Are there no Jedi worthy of my skill? Even two of you are no match for me."

"How about forty of us?" Ahsoka called out. "Unlike you, I wasn't dumb enough to come here without backup. My men will be done scrapping your tinnies by now. They'll be here any minute. You should probably surrender before we really kick your ass."

Anakin grinned and made a note to look the other way the next time Jesse tried to sneak her a few packs of jerky. If Rex was on the way, then they didn't need to defeat Ventress. They just had to delay her long enough for the clones to back them up. He wasn't yet familiar enough with Rex's presence to sense his location, but he knew his captain's love of efficiency. The man wouldn't take more than a few minutes to reach them. Still, Obi-Wan would expect him to make some effort to end this peacefully.

"It's over," he said. "You lost before you ever came here. Put down your weapons and you'll get a fair trial. No one else has to get hurt today."

Ventress answered by throwing one of her lightsabers at his face and trying to impale Ahsoka with the other. He batted the incoming blade aside in time to see Ahsoka somersault between Ventress' legs and pop up behind her with a pained grimace. Ventress lost no time in recalling her blade and pressing the attack once more.

Her fury seethed in the Force, strong enough to burn against his mental shields. It was as if the air itself grew toxic from the strength of her rage. Her eyes bled from pale gray to sickly yellow. At the same time, the precise sword style that had testified to her master's identity devolved into raw savagery. Blows came at his head, his limbs, his torso, without pattern or purpose beyond an animalistic bloodlust. It was less like facing a fellow warrior and more like weathering a storm.

This wasn't the first time he'd faced a berserker, though, and Obi-Wan had taught him how to manage such a fight. He focused on Soresu, his former master's favored style, and took the brunt of Ventress' aggression onto himself. Her feral style left her open more than once, but he didn't take the opportunities. Instead, he let her batter against his defenses to her heart's content. Alone, he wouldn't have lasted long playing against his strengths like that, but he wasn't alone. Ahsoka was with him.

With Ventress spending her time and energy trying to cut him in half, she was free to act, and act she did. She darted in and out like a Fire wasp, and aimed quick thrusts at Ventress' exposed back. The blows didn't land, of course. Ventress wasn't so far gone as she neglected to watch her back. They cost her time, however. Each one she had to block was a moment for Anakin to catch a breath, an instant for him to recover some strength, reset his stance, and prepare to weather the next gale. Ahsoka might not have much experience, but she was more than sharp enough to come up with a good plan.

If Ventress spent the time to properly engage Ahsoka, she'd wind up with him at her back, a far deadlier proposition than his Padawan. However, if she ignored the girl, she'd wind up with her spine severed before she could blink. So she was stuck, her attention flipping from one of them to the other, unable to overwhelm them both, and too lost in the furor of the Dark side to think of a different solution. It was a conundrum, and one he was perfectly happy to keep her in until Rex arrived. With his Padawan backing him up, he could keep this up more than long enough for the clones to reach them. Then, Ahsoka made a mistake.

It happened fast; faster than Anakin would have believed possible. He felt her impatience building as the thrill of the fight took hold. Through their bond, he could feel her predator's instincts driving her forward, pushing her to go further, to claim victory. He tried to send patience through the link, but it was too late. Buoyed by their success so far, Ahsoka took a moment to mold chakra. Five identical copies of her shimmered into view behind Ventress. They jumped about, swapping places until even Anakin couldn't have said which one was the real girl without their bond. Then, as one, they attacked.

Ventress' eyes went wide when she caught sight of the six doppelgängers rushing towards her exposed back. With a sudden burst of power, she shoved him back. His legs weren't up to the task of maintaining his balance, and he tripped and went down. As he struggled to stand, all he could do was watch as Ahsoka overplayed her hand. Two of her bunshin made feints at Ventress' flanks, while another two bounced from railing to railing, taking swipes at her head. The last one, in a move she had no doubt picked up from Naruto, ran straight in and screamed in Ventress' face. Meanwhile, the real Ahsoka slipped out of the shadows she'd hidden in and made straight for Ventress' back.

It was a marvelous distraction, and against an ordinary opponent, it might have worked. Against someone of Ventress' caliber, it didn't have a prayer. Ahsoka rushed in, blade at the ready, and Anakin could see the exact moment Ventress sensed the incoming danger. She reacted with a speed his Padawan couldn't hope to match yet. One hand darted out and seized an orange wrist, while the other held a crimson blade to his Padawan's throat. Anakin froze. Even his heart seemed to stop. The bunshin immediately wavered and faded away.

"Sneaky little mouse," Ventress hissed. "Not this time."

Ahsoka grunted and pulled against the hand holding her wrist, but Ventress didn't budge. Anakin could only stand helpless and frozen, not even daring to breathe.

"This isn't the first time you've been here, is it? Held by a superior opponent, realizing your best just isn't good enough, knowing you and your friends are going to die?" Ahsoka's eyes went wide as Ventress crooned her poison. Anakin could feel the memories stirring within her, of the horrors she'd seen on Rago. He tried to send her comfort and strength. She reached out over the link, plainly frightened, but just as plainly determined not to let something like that happen again. Never again.

'Master? She's in my head. She's in my head!'

He heard her voice in his mind, desperate and terrified. It was the first time either of them had sent actual words over the bond. Such progress was a precious, sacred thing, and he refused to let himself disgrace it with failure. He just refused to. All he needed-

"Surrender, assassin! We have you surrounded."

A familiar voice interrupted the tense silence, and dozens of lights flared to life, all trained on Ventress. Alongside each light, there was a DC-15 blaster rifle, and holding each rifle was a clone. Their white and blue armor was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Footsteps echoed off the walls as more and more of them took up positions around the power plant. At their front, cool and calm as a mountain lake, stood his captain. Rex had arrived.

"There's no way out of this," he said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Let the commander go and throw down your weapons."

In the face of at least thirty heavily armed clone troopers, all of whom had obviously itchy trigger fingers, Ventress threw back her head and laughed. Anakin had heard more pleasant sounds from dying Eopies.

"Clones?" She sneered at him. "This is your great hope? A handful of your toy soldiers won't stop me, Jedi!"

Her gaze flicked from Ahsoka to Rex and then back. A sadistic smile twisted her face into a thing of nightmares.

"Oh, this one is fond of you, little Padawan. And you of him. He wants to keep you safe. He may look calm, but on the inside he's terrified. Desperate. Just. Like. You. Not to worry. You won't be alive to see me take his head. Or your master's."

Anakin could feel Ahsoka's panic grow as Ventress continued rooting around her mind. With time and space to meditate, he might have cast the assassin out, but as it was, all he could do was offer reassurance and try not to crush his lightsaber in his grip out of anger.

'It's okay. Be calm. I've got a plan, Snips,' he sent her. To his surprise, it was true. There was nothing like lethal danger to get the gears turning, and right now, he probably could have calculated a hyper-jump in his head. 'Get ready to move.'

Ventress was oblivious to their back and forth, and continued her cruel words. She was drinking in the suffering they caused. "Do you think your Master will Fall when I kill you? I'm told losing a Padawan is supposed to be agonizing. I've never killed a Padawan in front of their Master before. Thank you for being the first."

She tightened her grip on her saber, and Anakin made his move. He sent a wordless warning to Ahsoka, and he felt her chakra pulse. Ventress must have felt it too, because she made a quick, jerky slash with her blade. Ahsoka's head rolled forward, and then kept rolling right off her shoulders. It hit the ground with a dull thump before it burst into smoke.

Ventress froze, and Anakin didn't need his brother's powers to know she was dumbfounded. The first time he'd seen Naruto pull off a move like that it had left him speechless. He wished he could have taken a holo of the moment she realized she'd fallen for a trick.

The moment the Kage Bunshin dispelled, he molded his own chakra. Ventress must have sensed the strange twisting of the Force, because she turned just in time to see him exhale a torrent of fire at her. At the same time, the clones opened fire. The dim chamber turned bright as noon on Tatooine as the two meter wide stream of white-hot fire bloomed outward and mixed with the hundreds of blue blaster bolts that scorched the air. The heat stung even him, protected though he was from his own jutsu. He lost sight of Ventress amidst the swirling flames, but he didn't feel the tearing sensation of someone dying painfully in front of him. Instead, he felt her presence suddenly vanish, like smoke blown on the wind. Sure enough, when he let his jutsu die down, there was nothing to see but molten, glowing metal. A patch of the catwalk was just gone, slagged from the inferno. The surrounding metal was full of holes from the clones' fire. It was a minor miracle the whole thing hadn't snapped from the strain. Of Ventress, there was no sign. No charred corpse, no pile of ash, nothing.

Rex, blessing from the Force that he was, didn't miss a beat. "She's running. First squad, find her egress point and pursue. The rest of you secure the perimeter. Don't let her get away. Coordinate with-"

"Belay that," he called out. Rex stiffened, and he could read the shock in his body language. "She'll cut through you like butter. Secure the building and set up comm checks every minute." He hesitated, but there was nothing for it. "Let her go. We won. That'll have to do for now."

The thought of letting an enemy, especially one who'd hurt his Padawan, walk free made him nauseous. He wanted to make Ventress pay for her crimes. He wanted to break her. Rex and his men would need back-up to take her down, however, and he wasn't in any shape to go looking for a fight.

Rex obviously came to the same conclusion, because he snapped off a crisp salute. "We'll get her next time, sir." Then he turned to his men and started implementing Anakin's orders.

"Wow. When did you make the Kage Bunshin?" Ahsoka dropped from wherever his clone had been when it swapped with her. Her question was the sort of sass he'd have expected from her, but the tone was off. She sounded distant. Distracted.

"While Ventress was running her mouth," he answered. "Are you okay?"

She nodded dismissively, but he caught the edge of her inner turmoil before she hid it from him completely. "Ahsoka…"

Ahsoka sighed and wrapped her arms around her torso with a shiver. "She- I could feel her. In my head. She was in my head and I couldn't stop her."

He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed lightly. After a moment, she let out a breath and relaxed. Slightly. It wasn't much, but he'd take it for now.

"You did really well, Snips." He tried to make his voice as earnest and reassuring as possible. At the same time, he lowered his shields so she could feel the truth of his words. "You saved my life, not to mention the power plant. Without you, all of this would have been for nothing. I'm proud of you."

Rather than smiling at the praise as she might have once, she frowned and chewed on her lip. "I messed up. It's my fault she got away. If I hadn't gotten cocky and tried that trick with the bunshin, she wouldn't have-"

"I'm proud of you," he repeated. When she wouldn't meet his eyes, he knelt down to meet hers. The motion set his legs on fire, but the pain of watching her beat herself up for no reason was worse. "So what if you messed up? Everyone messes up. I have more often than I can count. Ask Obi-Wan if you're ever bored; he loves telling people about some of my goofs. What matters is how you learn from your mistakes. Okay?"

He waited silently for her to process what he'd said. Inside, though, he suddenly felt a tremendous sense of kinship and gratitude towards his old master. More than that, he felt a great swell of both sorrow and pride for his Padawan. 'How can I ask her to fight a war? She's just a kid. She should be studying in the Temple where it's safe.'

Of course, he hadn't asked Ahsoka to fight in the war. She'd volunteered, and young or not, she'd known what she was getting herself into. At times, he wondered if anyone truly understood how much braver she was than him. He wondered if he even understood it.

She kept chewing her lip for another few seconds before she nodded. The fire he was used to seeing in her eyes rekindled and she nodded firmly. "Okay."

He gave her his best smile and squeezed her shoulders. "Good. We've done our part. Now it's just up to Naruto to do his. Let's go find Kix so he can patch us up. I'm bleeding all over the place, and that cut on your back looks nasty."

"Yeah. Han did his best, but I don't think he's ever used a bacta dressing before."

Anakin opened his mouth and shut it again, nonplussed. A dozen questions swarmed his mind. Blood loss must have taken a greater toll on his mental clarity than he'd thought, though, because the one that came out was, "What the kriff is a Han?"

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

General Grievous stalked through the hallways of the Malevolence, searching for any sign of his prey. The Jedi was on his ship, but where? It was a large vessel; too large to search on foot, yet search he did. He wasn't worried the Jedi would elude him. Killing their kind was his purpose. His entire reason for being. And he was very, very good at it. One thing he had learned about hunting Jedi was that they could never stay quiet for long. Sooner or later, this Uzumaki would make a move, and then he would have him.

A constant stream of calls came through his comm. Droids reported seeing the Jedi sprinting through a maintenance shaft near the cargo hold, or smashing terminals near mag-train control, or fighting security patrols in a dozen different corridors across five decks. He ignored them all. This Jedi was clever. Cleverer than most. Too clever for a bunch of B1s to spot him unless he willed it. Distractions like that might work on simple droids, but not on him. Grievous was a hunter. Now, all he needed was the right scent.

"General! We're getting reports of a group of clones assaulting our forces on deck 14, sector 9."

There! He growled and snatched his commlink from his waist. "What direction are they heading?"

There was a pause, no doubt while the idiotic B1 tried to figure it out. Not for the first or the thousandth time, Grievous wanted to howl in frustration at the sheer incompetence of his soldiers. Eventually, though, the droid found a spark of processing power.

"Umm… it looks like they're heading along corridor 638- Bravo. Wait, that means they're heading to the bridge! Oh, no!"

"Silence, fool," he snapped. "Get me the tactical droid."

There was another pause, and then he heard the tactical droid's deeper tones. "Yes, general?"

"Seal the bridge," he ordered. "Then transfer all primary and secondary controls to me. If the clones make it to you, destroy the bridge controls and depressurization the entire section."

"Yes, sir. You should know, the battle is not-"

Grievous cut the transmission off mid-sentence. The battle outside was meaningless. It had been ever since Uzumaki arrived and destroyed his superweapon. Perhaps Ventress would succeed in her mission. Perhaps not. For him, all that mattered was the chance to kill another Jedi. That was worth any battle. Any sacrifice.

The computer on his wrist beeped to signal the transfer of controls. He would have bared his teeth in anticipation if he still had teeth. Or lips. Or a mouth. As it was, he contented himself with an eager growl. He had the scent, and he had the makings of a trap. Now, the hunt truly began.

"Should we move to intercept the clones before they reach the bridge?" One of his MagnaGuard escorts asked.

Grievous shook his head. "No. Uzumaki isn't heading for the bridge. That is merely a distraction. But I know his true target now. He wants this ship, and there is only one other way to seize control of it. He is going for the engines, and we are going to be waiting for him."

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

As I mentioned above, parts of this chapter went through upwards of six rewrites. Specifically, the fight with Ventress after Ahsoka arrives. Initially, it was much longer, and turned into a disorienting mess, with the clones playing no real part in spite of the set up I'd given them. While I love a good, long action scene as much as all of you, this wasn't the place for it. Ventress will have her time to shine, but not yet. For now, this was just a prelude to what's about to go down on the Malevolence.

I wish I could promise a speedier turnaround for the next chapter, but this one took so long I wound up burning through my buffer. As such, I'm probably going to take a little while and write an extra chapter or two to start building that back up. I usually like to maintain a 3-5 chapter buffer between what I post and what I'm actually working on, but I've been letting that slide lately. I'll do my best to get you your next fix of CJWO as soon as I can. Until then, enjoy life.