Anabeth: Darkness Rising

Chapter 7 - Retaking Anaxes

Anakin, Ahsoka, Mace, Obi-Wan and Ana had already spent almost four months on Anaxes. However, the Republic's grip on the planet continued to slip away rapidly. They may have been five Jedi, but they had more than double that amount of active battlefronts. All of them were almost constantly caught up on the field, making calls to Satine and Padmè increasingly rare.

Additionally, they all started to grow tired of being stuck on the planet, so they took turns accompanying the resupply runs to the cruisers in orbit. Today, it was Ana's and Obi-Wan's turn to go, while Anakin, Ahsoka and Mace stayed on the planet, overseeing a mission which included Rex, Cody and Kix infiltrating the sepratist cyber center with a special clone unit called the Bad Batch.

They weren't even half way done yet, when Windu called, asking Obi-Wan to come back to the planet already as he wanted his opinion on another plan Anakin had made to go to Skako Minor with Ahsoka, Rex and the Bad Batch . So Obi-Wan left Ana in charge of the resupplying while he went back to the base.

"How is it looking, Trip?" Ana asked the Captain as she entered the hanger. "Very good, Commander. General Kenobi just left for the surface and the men are loading the gunships on scedule. We should be able to return to the planet in a few hours" the clone informed her. "Great. I'll be on the bridge if you need me, I have to finalize a few things with Admiral Kilian" she excused herself, hurrying off back in the direction she came from.

When Ana reached the bridge Kilian immediately knew what she had come for, guiding her over into the next room where he took a data chip out of one of the terminals and handed it to her. The Sepratist had been monitoring many of their latest transmission, forcing the Jedi to switch to manual data transfers a few weeks ago. This chip included latest battle reports and secret troup movements, as well as blueprints for new technology they were considering putting to use on Anaxes.

"Thank you" Ana thanked the admiral, handing him her own data chip to give to the Jedi Council in return. "My pleasure" he replied, securing the chip as Ana tucked the other one safely into the pocket on her belt. After that she once again left the bridge to sit down and work on a report she still needed to finish.

Ana finally headed down to the surface again several hours later. Anakin and Ahsoka were already gone by then and Ana couldn't help but feel slightly jealous about the fact that they had finally been allowed to leave this rather unpleasent planet. As the clones started unloading the supplies, Ana headed straight up to the command center where Obi-Wan and Mace were already awaiting her and the data chip she had brought.

Ana was in for what was probably the two most boring days on Anaxes, as she went through battle strategies and sorted through the data on the chip with the two remaining Jedi Masters, waiting for Anakin and Ahsoka to return. When they finally did, they brought with them another clone named Echo, who had been used by the Sepratists to anticipate their strategies.

"We have more than a dozen active battlefronts on Anaxes, and we are losing nearly every one. But, if Admiral Trench can no longer anticipate out moves, we now have the opportunity to retake the planet" Mace opened the strategy briefing they had called. "I can improve your chances" Echo marched up to them. "Eh, excuse me, Generals" Rex excused himself, taking Echo aside to talk to him.

"If the trooper has a plan, I'd like to hear it" Windu decided, letting Echo present his plan to them. "And you are certain that if we get you onboard that ship, that you can convince Trench's army to do what you want?" Windu made sure the plan would work. "Absolutely. Unfortunately, I've been doing this for a while, but this time I can help bring about a Republic victory instead of a defeat" Echo replied surely, convincing everyone to agree to the plan.

It wasn't long before Anakin and Ahsoka headed up to the Sepratist command ship with Rex, Echo and the Bad Batch, while Ana, Obi-Wan and Windu went to retake the assembly complex. Their gunships hovered above the building as all three ignited their lightsabers and leapt out of the ships, closely followed by the clones who quickly fell behind as they had to use jet packs.