Star Wars the Clone Wars: The Third Generation Meets the Past

The Citadel (Pt. 3)

As Obi-Wan led Cody, Master Piell and the 212th clones down the hallway luring away the battle droids, Anakin, Rey, Ahsoka, Tarkin, Rex, Fives, and the other clone from the 501st ran down the opposite hallway.

Back at the cell, the commander and a few droids find out that Tarkin and the imprisoned clones have escaped and the commander is undone. "They've escaped, sir," said a droid that had previously searched the prison cell. The commander yelled in frustration. "Captain, show this droid what happens when we use that word," he ordered a droid. The droid, who was obviously the captain, then shot the droid that said the prisoners escaped.

Then two more battle droids ran to meet the commander and said, "Sir they've been spotted running down the hall. They're headed towards the upper levels." "Trying to steal a transport. Seal the landing platform. And send all battalions to their positions. Bring 'em back alive," the commander ordered.

Obi-Wan and his team continued running down the halls trying to lure away the droids. Cody and his troops had been placing metal devices along the walls the were remote control activated. "Hey!" a droid called after them as they ran down one of the corridors. Obi-Wan and his team stopped at the end of the hallway where they could either go left or right. He told them to go left and turned around to face the droids at the opposite end of the hall they had just come from. He narrowed his eyes and smirked as he pressed a button on his comm link which activated the bombs that Cody and the clones had placed earlier. As the hallways exploded, Obi-Wan ran into the left hall that he told his team to go through.

Meanwhile, Anakin's team was quietly sneaking down an empty corridor. When they came to a stop in the hall, Rey and Ahsoka scouted ahead to look around corners to see if droids were approaching, while Rex, Fives and the other clone watched everyone else's backs by keeping an eye on the way they came. Anakin took out his holoprojector that showed the layout of the citadel. After checking to see that they were in the right place, he put away the holoprojector and returned his focus to a durasteel wall. He used his lightsaber to cut a hole into it and said to his team, "Everybody in." Fives and the other clone trooper pushed against the circle in the wall that Anakin has just cut until it fell out and revealed a cavern with cliffs leading into lava below. They all crawled out and stepped onto the rocky cliff.

Ahsoka ran off down the tunnel. "This is one of the original fortress tunnels," Fives said through his helmet. "The advantage of old archive data," the other clone trooper chuckled. "The tunnel's clear," Ahsoka shouted from the other side of the tunnel. "Looks like Obi-Wan's distraction worked. It seems things are going as planned," Anakin stated. "It's when things do not go as planned that concerns me. What then?" Tarkin said. "It's when things don't go as planned when we Jedi are at our best. Trust me," Anakin assured Tarkin sternly. "I reserve my trust for people who take action, General Skywalker," Tarkin shot back. "Then let me remind you again, since you clearly didn't get the first time Rey said it, we rescued you back there. And I reserve my trust for people that understand gratitude, Captain Tarkin. Now for the last time, move out," Anakin retorted.

"Well, you are still the second best person I know that can cook up a good diversion," Rey complimented. Anakin arched his eyebrow at her. "Who was the first, because that means I've got some competition?" he questioned. "Well, the first would be my friend, Poe Dameron," she replied. Anakin nodded slowly and said, "Define friend?" Rey rolled her eyes and scoffed. She walked away to catch up with Ahsoka without another word. "Smooth, General," Rex sighed. "Yeah, a real ladies' man," Fives added with a laugh. "What? What I say? Seriously, what I say, what I do?" Anakin asked.

They all continued down the tunnel to catch up with the girls, but not before picking up the circle of what used to be part of the wall and putting it back where it was, before they cut through it.

Tarkin seems to be questioning the Jedi at every turn. Will tensions rise between Tarkin, Ahsoka, Rey, and Anakin before they can successfully escape the planet? Only time will tell.