Life Of War

Chapter 75

"Come on, let's get inside!" Rex called to us as we all jumped out of the speeder and rushed into the base.

"The suspect has killed three clones. Code red. If you see the target, shoot to kill." Fox ordered his men. Anakin, Rex and I ran around the corner to find three dead clones and Commander Fox standing over them.

"Delay that order, commander fox." Anakin instructed.

"She's killed troopers." Fox argued against Anakin's orders.

"I know Commander Tano. She would never do something like this." Rex argued back.

"These are definitely lightsaber cuts" I noted, inspecting the dead clones before us.

"Then who did?" Fox voiced the important question to Rex's statement.

"Quiet!" Anakin shoved back both men and stepped through. "Ahsoka! It's me, anakin. Stop running." Anakin called out through the echo of the halls, hoping she would hear his plea.

"You can't help me, master. Someone's setting me up." She replied and I could hear the hurt in her tone.

"I believe you, Ahsoka." Anakin told her.

"But no one else will." She replied again.

"Keep searching until we find her. Rex, call security. Tell them we need to search the entire base. Now!" Anakin ran off again in search of his Padawan.

"General Skywalker has just issued an all-points bulletin on Commander Ahsoka Tano. She's killed three clones and should be considered armed and dangerous." Rex reported to the troopers over the comm channel. I shot him a look of sadness for our friend before we had rushed off together to find Anakin and help find Ahsoka.

~~~

"All right, don't lose her. We'll be right there." Fox spoke into his com link as Anakin, Rex and I had joined them in the hanger.

"What's going on?" Anakin asked from behind, startling the clone painted in red. "We've found her. She's heading towards the industrial pipeline." Fox reported the situation to us.

"Set weapons to stun. I want her alive!" Anakin led them into the fight that would surely arise within the next few moments. "Do not shoot to kill. Do not shoot to kill!" Anakin ordered sternly as we ran in the rain, watching the gunships take off in her direction.

"Try to box her in. Don't let her escape. Tell me what you see, oddball." I ordered the 212th pilot who I had served with before.

"She's moving west along the central viaduct." Oddball reported back after a few moments. "All right, we got her now." They opened the doors and clones shot at her from there, attempting to stun her. The padawan managed to deflect back or dodge every shot taken towards her. She was cornered when we arrived, but the look of pure fear in her eyes when she looked at us already told us that she wasn't staying long enough to get caught.

"Ahsoka!" Anakin called as she jumped up and away once more, cutting a hole in the pipes and climbing inside to escape.

Troopers had flooded into the pipelines to search for her while Anakin and I followed, rushing to get to her before the troopers did. He had shut his eyes momentarily and we both felt her through the force. I gave him a nod as he ran off to find her, letting him know I would hold off the clones.

"This way boys!" I called out, faking them out as I led them away from her.

"General skywalker, where are you?" Rex called out once his brothers had ran off on a wild goose chase.

"This way" I moved swiftly past Rex, leading him towards the duo. Just as we rounded the corner Ahsoka sent us both a look of worry, jumping back out of the pipeline into the lower levels of the planet. I pushed past Anakin, looking over the edge to see she had safely landed on a transport below, sighing as I knew she was safe for now.