Cadet Captured

16. Trial and Tribulation

Rex grabs my arm and begins gently pulling me along with him.

"What's going on?" I ask. Even with his helmet on, I can tell he's not happy.

"Commander Tano," he begins, once we're alone.

"I've heard," I sigh. "They think she's the one who killed the woman behind the bombing of the Jedi Temple."

"It's worse," Rex tells me. "She escaped the prison. She may have even killed three clones to do it."

"No, not Ahsoka," I protest. "She wouldn't do that!"

"I agree," Rex states quickly. "But as long as she's on the run, she looks even more guilty. We're going with General Skywalker and General Koon and two teams of clones to... well, to catch her. General Skywalker wants us to choose who should be on our team."

"She won't be easy to catch," I sigh. "Not when she doesn't want to be found. Ok, I'll round up a few men to help."

"Thank you," Rex says.

I grab our team and lead them to the transport ship where General Skywalker and Rex are already waiting for us. We load up and are off within minutes.

"The lower level police claim to have spotted Commander Tano heading to level 1312," Captain Rex tells us.

"Alright," General Skywalker nods. "Let's bring her home."

We fly down the path to level 1312, where we spot Commander Tano and a woman in bounty hunter's armor. General Skywalker jumps down, but they turn on the ray shield, blocking his path.

"Send out the probes," Skywalker yells up to us, anger in his voice. "I want them found now!"

We are still flying around in the transport when Captain Rex recieves the call from a lower level police officer.

"Calling all units," it says. "Suspicious activity on level 1315."

Our pilot sharply turns the transport around, heading towards the specified level, while General Plo Koon's follows. When we arrive, Wolffe is the one to stun her, silencing her before she could explain. But I saw her eyes. Big, blue, and innocent. But why would the Jedi Council believe me, a clone?

"Explosives," a Wolf Pack clone says, picking one up. "These are the same type of nano-droids used to blow up the Jedi Temple."

"I can't believe it," General Skywalker answers. All evidence points to Commander Tano as guilty.

We load onto the transport, Captain Rex and I gently holding Ahsoka's shoulders, keeping her in place. Meanwhile, Generals Skywalker and Koon are talking with the Jedi Council via comms transmission.

"Captured, she has been?" Master Yoda asks in his foreign dialect.

"Yes," General Koon answers.

"Without incident?" the master questions.

"No," Koon admits. "She was subdued by the clones, and found in possession of explosive nano-droids."

"It still doesn't explain Ventress' involvement. We saw her with Ahsoka," Skywalker states, and I tense at the name. "I think there's more going on than we know."

Ventress. My previous captor. She must have been the woman we saw with Ahsoka earlier, who had worn bounty hunter armor. Her body language had been different than that of the Ventress I had known. Perhaps she had changed. But it would take a lot for me to ever trust her.

"By Ahsoka or against her?" General Mace Windu questions, referencing Skywalker's claim that something bigger is going on.

"That remains to be seen," General Koon sighs.