It's Commander Tano, Not Padawan

Chapter 36

A/N: Sorry for the year delay. I graduate college this December and finish my M.A. this Spring, so it's been a busy time. I've already started working on the last chapter, so expect at least one more after this.

"Artoo, what do you think you're doing here?" Ahsoka demanded. She knew everything was starting too smoothly. "Did Anakin send you?"

His beeps, chirps, and whirls were enough to inform them both that no, of course Anakin didn't send him and that their sneaking around was not exactly subtle.

Ahsoka crossed her arms and pursed her lips at that comment. For one, Artoo had no room to speak on subtly and two, now was really not the time. "What do you want?"

More beeps and whirls asked how they expected to fly anywhere unless they were planning to go sub-light, which, in the middle of war zone and with no pertinent planets near-by, was clearly not going to happen.

"He's not wrong. Think we can trust him with this one? Or should I find a mech that we can wipe afterward?"

Ahsoka didn't know how she had forgotten that y-wings required an astromech to travel in hyperspace. She sighed through her nose. "Of course we can trust him, especially with Anakin's safety. I guess he's coming with."

"Get in, Artoo, we'll explain what's happening during the jump, but, under no circumstances, can you tell anyone - especially Anakin - what we're doing. Do you understand?"

As Artoo used his rockets to maneuver himself into the mech socket, he chirped at her as if she was an unintelligent life form for even suggesting that he'd snitch.

Rex snorted as he unlatched the gunner's cockpit. If there was ever a droid he'd want with him in a time such as this, it was Artoo.

Ahsoka hopped into the pilot's cockpit, quickly checking the y-wings stats and opening the communication line. "Everyone ready? Artoo, set your coordinates to Coruscant, Senate Building landing bay 1C."

Artoo beeped in reply.

"Wait until we get into hyperspace, then we'll explain," she repeated, lifting off and gliding the y-wing into the launch bay.

"Commander Tano to Command, requesting permission for take-off, code JC-189," she called into the command tower.

"Command to Commander Tano, you are cleared for take-off." She watched as the metal expanse retracted into the ship, slowly increasing pressure on the thrusters and refusing to acknowledge the feeling that she was abandoning her men when they would need her most. She would trust Echo just as she trusted Fives.

Rex pulled out the gunner's seat, doing what he could to make himself comfortable (which wasn't much) for the infinitely short flight ahead of them.

After they had made the jump to hyperspace (filled with Artoo's impatient whirlings in the meantime), Ahsoka finally broke her silence.

"Artoo, I was serious about this not leaving the ship. The only people who you can share this information with is Obi-wan, Master Windu, and Kix. Anakin must not know.

He released a series of troubled chirps.

"This is a mission that could end the war, Artoo. We've discovered the mastermind behind all of this - all of the death, the destruction, the clones, the droids. You've been involved in this fight since I was a youngling - since before Rex was born, so you know the number of unanswerable questions. The ones where, even after Dooku revealed himself as a Sith, we still can't connect all the dots like with Tup and Fives.

Artoo's raspberries were sharp with confusion.

"Something wasn't quite right about Tup and Fives, no matter what Anakin said, and Rex and I figured out why. Artoo, the Chancellor lied about Fives. He lied about everything, painting himself to be this - I don't know - fatherly figure to Anakin -