Clone Wars Chronicles: Volume 2

Chapter 10: In a Cell

Anakin was rather tired of always being the one to get captured. Why was everyone so interested in him, anyway?

Oh, right. He was the chosen one. Sometimes, he wished he wasn't. Maybe then he, Ahsoka, and his men wouldn't have to deal with so much bantha-

A loud clang brought him out of his thoughts, which was probably for the best. He was alone in his cell, and it was very likely that someone was coming to retrieve him.

Lucky me.

Only, it wasn't pirates who came into his cell. A man entered, close to his age. He wasn't fully human, with faint white markings on his face and red skin. His eyes were a bright purple and his hair was black. This had to be Jolon, famed crime lord and cousin of Jett.

They did share an uncanny resemblance, despite the fact that Jolon was part human.

"You must be the great Anakin Skywalker," Jolon said.

"That's me," Anakin replied, keeping his tone light. Maybe he could find out some information about this kid. "How can I help you?"

"Oh, there's nothing you need to do, other than sit nice and quiet in your little cell," Jolon said, matching his tone. However, Anakin could hear the mocking edge to it. "You'll see where we're going soon enough."

"You're a crime boss, right? I'm assuming you're doing this for money." He kept his face uninterested.

"Who doesn't love a good paycheck? Besides, it's about time this war got somewhere. You and the Seppies have been neck and neck for years. Doesn't it get boring, never gaining any ground?"

Anakin hated to admit that Jolon had a point. At times, this war did seem endless.

"A shame for my little cousin, though," Jolon continued. "He's so driven by his desire for revenge, but he's wavering. All thanks to your padawan."

Anakin frowned, not caring that his emotions were showing. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm sure you remember Jett. And as I expected, you obviously haven't forgiven him. Well, it seems he's been charmed by Ahsoka Tano more than he would like to admit. And now his loyalty to me and his cause are vanishing."

"And why are you telling me this?"

"Because, though Ahsoka was the one who changed his mind, you are surely the one who taught her how. So really, it's your fault my cousin is now a lost cause."

Anakin snorted. "Ahsoka makes her own decisions. If I had my way, she would've forgotten about him a long time ago."

Jolon wasn't convinced. "Well, whether you think so or not, you do ultimately have some impact on her thoughts and decisions."

"You do not know Ahsoka," Anakin replied, almost laughing.

"Perhaps you are the one who doesn't know her as well as you thought."

Back at the camp, Syne and the others were stopped by a very confused Cody. "What's going on?" the clone commander asked.

"Skywalker, Tano, and Rex have been captured," Syne explained quickly.

"We need to leave now," General Kenobi said.

"But, sir, what about the storm?" Cody reminded him.

"We don't have a choice, Cody. If we don't leave now, we could lose them forever." This behavior wasn't very like Kenobi, from what Syne had heard. He supposed having his padawan and grand padawan taken would motivate the general to do something this dangerous. Or he'd seen Skywalker in action one too many times.

"I don't know if any of the ships can make it through the snow," Cody said weakly. The commander had to want to save them as much as Kenobi. Rex had been taken as well, someone Cody was very close to, and Syne knew he cared about Skywalker and Ahsoka too.

"Have the battleships come to the surface," Kenobi replied. "They should be big enough to fight through the storm. From a closer distance, our smaller ships will be able to reach them."

"Yes, sir." Syne could hear the hope in Cody's voice, despite his hesitance.

"What should we do?" Syne asked the general.

"We can't risk attacking the Separatist ship with them inside. Instead, we'll distract them by stationing the Negotiator and Resolute in their line of sight. Cody, me, and you four will take a smaller ship and sneak in from behind."

"This sounds like a risky plan," Edge said. Syne shot him a look, but General Kenobi chuckled.

"I'm afraid my padawan's strategies have begun to rub off on me, Edge."

"I'll work on contacting them right away," Cody said. "What should I do if the signal doesn't make it through?"

"We should hope it doesn't come to that, Cody."

Jett was quite possibly making the biggest mistake of his life, but at this point, he didn't care. After much thinking, he'd decided that Ahsoka had a point about his parents and his quest for revenge.

Would they really want this?

Right away, Jett knew the answer was no. His parents were good people. They'd respected the Jedi.

So Jett would respect their memory and do the right thing. He was far beyond the point of deserving forgiveness, but this would be his weak attempt to redeem himself.

That was how he'd found himself standing in front of Ahsoka's cell. He lifted his hand to the control panel, freezing when he heard footsteps from the other end of the hall.

He forced his arm to his side and stepped away as Jolon rounded the corner, eyebrows raised when he saw his cousin. "What are you doing here?" the crime lord asked.

"I was thinking I could get more information from Tano," Jett lied quickly, not breaking eye contact with Jolon. If he did, he knew he was a goner.

"How are you going to get her to talk?" Jolon asked, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.

Inwardly wincing, Jett replied, "I believe she still cares about me. I can use this to our advantage while questioning her."

Jolon laughed. "I like where your head's at, cousin, but I don't think that's gonna work."

"Why not?"

"Remember what I told you earlier? She's a Jedi, one you tried to kill. She doesn't care about you any more than her clone friend, who's in her cell too. I doubt either of them trusts you."

Seeing Jett's determined gaze, Jolon sighed. "Fine, do what you want, little cousin. Don't come crying to me if it doesn't work. But I guess there's no harm in it. The more information we get from them, the more Dooku'll pay us."

Jolon gave him a two-fingered salute and walked back down the hall, looking bored.

Jett stared after him with wide eyes, not quite believing it had worked. Jolon had always known when he lied, even when they were small children.

If Jolon had only been pretending to believe him, Jett knew he had limited time to set his plan into action. With a deep breath, he pressed the control panel to open the cell and prepared himself for the conversation that would follow.