About You || Anakin Skywalker x OC ||

(39) Rigged

"Loosen my mind from within before it starts to wear and thin."

-Strawberry Guy

"Are you sure this is what you had in mind for your first mission?" I call to Caleb, ducking to the side to dodge a bullet. My sabers flash in a whirl of gold as I spring onto the nearest battle droid, slicing him in half.

"So much better!" Caleb replies, and from the corner of my eye I watch him take down a droid. A pang of guilt and sadness hits me for a moment as I watch him. I had never been in combat like this until just this past year, let alone at twelve. He and Ahsoka were far too young to be doing this kind of thing... and yet here they were, in the middle of a battlefield.

"Just stay close to me ok?" Spinning, I reach Caleb's side, the two of us fighting together in unison.

"Ok." Caleb confirms and a breath of relief escapes me as the two of us continue fighting on. His blue saber contrasted my own. He's an excellent fighter, I have to give him that, but it doesn't stop me from worrying all day and night.

"General, Commander!" I turn to see Helix running towards us, his blaster in hand, "We need to get out of here, the field is rigged to explode!"

"What?!" Panic flares inside of my chest as I reach out with my senses. Sure enough, I can feel the presence of the booms, small ticks emitting from them. Kriff. Kriff. Kriff. Kriff. "Helix, get everyone out of here, once you're on the gun ships, come pick me up and we'll reconn with the command shi, got it?"

"Got it." Helix salutes, turning to run off.

"You need to get out of here as well." I grasp the collar of Caleb's robes, pushing him behind me, "Help Helix, I'll see you in a moment."

"But Master, I can't just leave you." Caleb's voice takes on a hint of desperation and I can feel my heart grow for the boy behind me. However, he needed to get out of here, now.

"Caleb, I need you to make sure no one else gets hurt, you need to go." When he doesn't respond, I turn back to look him directly in his eyes. For a moment, I see the scared little boy he's supposed to be. The one who's meant to be back on Coruscant, training with Master Yoda and worrying about whether or not he can properly meditate. Tears prick at my eyes but I blink them away, "Please Caleb, I'll be fine."

Conflicted, Caleb looks back at the troops before turning to me again, a steady look of determination now shining across his face, "You can count on me Master."

"Good." I smile. And with that, my padawan takes off running, leaving me to return to the battlefield. I weave and twist my way through the metal bodies, slicing and cutting through everything in my path. Flipping back, I arc through the air, landing atop a droid before severing his head, leaping to the nearest one and doing the same.

I continue this pattern, falling into a sort of daze as if my mind wasn't truly there. My duty was to protect my men, my brothers and I were not going to leave until every single one of them was safe.

A clone nearest to me, West, fell, his leg collapsing. My breath caught in my throat and I lunged towards him, rolling to the ground beside him. Grasping his arm, I hauled him up, throwing most of his body weight onto me while still deflecting blaster bullets. My heart sank, at this rate we weren't going to make it.

The droids pushed us further and further back, slowly closing in. My heart beat widely in my chest, gunning into overdrive. With a quick glance behind me, I saw the last of the troops board the ships, my mind clicking into place. I knew what to do.

Deactivating my saber, I shielded West's body with mine, throwing him a bit before using the force to push him all the way to the ships. A sigh of relief passed through my lips as I saw Helix catch him, Caleb beckoning me towards them widely.