Chapter Text
Prologue
Chapter 1: The Third Battle of Christophsis (Ahsoka)
(17 BBY, 5 years into the Clone Wars)
Ahsoka stood at the front of the men as her master spoke to the assembled group. Anakin’s eyes were alight; she knew that her master had no love for the harm a war could cause, but she was one of, if not the best, strategists in the GAR, and she knew it. If there was one thing that she took pride in, it was her ability to win battle after battle for the republic while maintaining one of the lowest casualty rates.
Ahsoka knew that Anakin saw her command as a great responsibility, her instincts demanding she do anything and everything to protect her men, but her master would not have it any other way. It was set into her eyes every time she looked at the clones. The clones were her pack, and she would defend them with her life.
Maybe that is why Obi-Wan has been around more lately. Ahsoka thought Anakin and Obi-Wan were uniquely qualified to work as a team, their strengths and weaknesses in perfect balance in a way that she strived to be.
Anakin was calmly gesturing her way through the battle plan in an efficient manner, updating the field officers on changes in intel. Obi-Wan stood quietly at her side, eyes periodically flickering between the gathered generals, commanders, and marshal commanders participating in the assault and Anakin. He sent sharp looks whenever someone’s attention seemed to be drifting away; one of which was very pointedly stabbing directly at her. Ahsoka flushed, re-focusing on her master.
“-s position has been observed more to the east than we originally expected.” Anakin paused and looked directly at her. There was something in her eyes that she had noticed building lately. Something that got her instincts a bit worked up. Her inner alpha’s urge to comfort her master unexpectedly pushing against her Jedi resolve. She swallowed thickly, trying to convince her alpha that nothing was wrong. Her instincts settled unhappily.
“We will move our field command post here as a result.” Anakin pointed at an area thick with the turquoise spires Christophsis was known for.
“I expect each battalion to coordinate from there, and I expect there to be at least two squads worth of men stationed to defend the main communications hub.” Anakin paused to make sure everyone was paying attention to her.
“I don’t anticipate too much trouble at command, but it is always wise to be careful. Each Jedi will oversee their assigned areas and alternate fighting on the frontline.” That was new.
Anakin may be extra careful with those under her command, but that care did not extend to herself. She was reckless with a purpose and had one of the highest personal injury rates among the generals.
Weirdly, her master had been more careful lately. More focused on training for some reason. Her alpha coiled up again, bristling at the change before resting with an unsettling buzz against her skin. Something was wrong about this.
Ahsoka squinted at her master and wondered if she felt it too. Anakin was now off to the side, whispering with Obi-Wan and Master Windu, her profile reading as resigned but certain. What were they not telling her?
That image stuck in the back of her brain as she spun her sabers around, deflecting the many blaster bolts flying toward her men and her. She wove seamlessly through the droids, leaving destruction in her wake. Anakin had her commanding a few platoons for the last six months or so, something about hands-on leadership practice both in and out of battle. She was proud to say that she had been successful so far, her alpha preening at every little assignment her master gave her.
“Generals, Commanders, General Windu is down,” her comm cracked. She held her breath for a moment. “Taking him to medical.” Her heart stuttered. That wasn't supposed to happen. The battle was supposed to be easy; they had three battalions participating in the assault!
She glanced off to her left toward Windu’s assigned area. Anakin and Obi-Wan were seamlessly splitting the area between themselves. Barely a moment later, Obi-Wan’s voice crackled through.
“Anakin and I will take over his area.”
They really did have a backup for everything. Even as she breathed in relief, her instincts slowly bristled. Something was coming.
Ahsoka returned her focus to the battle, absently feeling out with the force. Nothing. Nothing that wasn't supposed to be there. Then why did her instincts still war with her mind? She deflected another bolt into an oncoming droid. They were steadily, if slowly, gaining ground. Only the sheer number of droids complicating things. The only thing that was different was the extra battalions under their command.
At her appointed time, Ahsoka retreated back to check in with the command post. Suddenly, a malevolence swept across the battlefield.
Before her stood a tall figure shrouded in darkness. Gloved hands held loosely at their side, and face hidden beneath the shadow of their black cloak. In the Force, there was nothing but the menacing aura that spread from an astonishing emptiness. She could not identify anything about this figure. Only that they were not a friend.
In a split second, a saber fell into the figure’s hand and ignited. It was red. Ahsoka snarled. They lunged.
The figure was faster than she expected them to be; they were drowning in fabric after all. She found herself surprised, barely raising her sabers in time to keep her head. Giving her no time to recover or comm for back-up, the figure attacked relentlessly.
Something was still off. After that first strike, the being seemed to be more focused on maneuvering her position than killing or maiming her. Before the implications dawned on her, she felt a spike of panic down her training bond and heard the unique sound of an enraged omega.
In the next second, Anakin was in front of her, Obi-Wan not far behind. It was a trap. She was bait. Kriff.
Before she could say a word, the three warriors were engaged in a battle more fierce than she had ever seen. She could smell Anakin’s rage and panic more than ever before. There was something almost melancholy beneath it.
This battle, however, was far beyond her skill, and Obi-Wan was there to watch Anakin’s back. So, Ahsoka fell back on protocol. It was up to her to lead the army while they were occupied.
She ran back to the fronts.
“Rex! Cody! Command plan 42!” she urgently shouted into her communicator.
The two men immediately moved to reorganize the defence lines. Compensating for the lack of Jedi support and keeping the droids away from the duel. Her comm immediately began to light up more as she was recognised as the current top officer. Redirecting the flow of information from Anakin to her, allowing her master to focus on the fight.
Ahsoka began to balance directing troop instructions and maintaining a presence on the battlefield. She had to place her trust in the Force and in her men. The Clones around her seamlessly moved to surround her the moment her focus was required elsewhere. Flowing around her just like they practiced; forming and breaking ranks in tandem as easily as breathing.
The next two hours were long and sweaty. Every step was fought for and maintained with valiant struggle. The clones rotated through the more difficult areas to maintain strength. Each rotation brought with it concerned determination. They were fighting a tide, but it was not unceasing.
Throughout the chaos, there was a constant sound. The clashing of lightsabers in a duel for the fate of the battle was a steady presence that reminded her that her master was still fighting and had never stopped. It made her insides roll about in a prickly manner.
She was fully aware of Anakin’s capabilities as a warrior and a general, but the feeling that had been growing in her for the past few months swelled alarmingly. Whatever had been building was going to reach its crescendo before the battle ended. She could feel it.
She couldn't afford to focus on it, though. Anakin was trusting her with the safety of the pack. Ahsoka refused to let her down. As low as the 501st’s casualty rate was, it still killed Anakin every time they had to bury another clone. Her master’s distress would leak through the strongest scent blockers as evidence. She refused to add to Anakin’s plate of sorrows. That meant protecting her men and staying alive. Harder than you would think.
The duel was shifting. On one of her small breaks, Ahsoka saw her master land a hit on the stranger. As if this were some kind of cue. They began to flee towards the hangar in the distance. Rage and sorrow seeping into the air, Anakin made an immediate pursuit, Obi-Wan shouting and running after her in distress. The two Jedi battling their way through droids that simply let the figure pass.
It was confusing. Ahsoka had only seen her master like that when Obi-Wan was injured in a duel a few years ago. Rendered blissfully unconscious as Anakin fiercely tore through the opposition and dragged his deadweight to medical. However, the man appeared to be fine, if a bit stressed making sure Anakin didn't get herself killed.
That was when she noticed. The stranger had injured her. The stranger had hurt her, and Anakin was in a protective rage. That was not good.
Ahsoka lost sight of them and was forced to return her focus to her men. She felt lightly distracted as she continued to deflect and shield her men. Eventually falling into a kind of moving meditation focused on defending her people.
But her trance was broken and her skin started to prickle. The air pressure began to change, and a great wind knocked their clothes about, kicking up what little dust layered the ground. A wave of panic and regret burst down her and Anakin’s training bond, shortly followed by a burst of energy rolling across the battlefield, short-circuiting droids and equipment as it went. The battlefield stilled.
It became so quiet that you couldn’t bear to shift or even breathe lest the tension break. Someone to her left moved. The earth shattered.
An overpowering scent of ozone saturated the atmosphere. The very air turned spicy and acidic with static that belonged in a thunderstorm. Then white.
A wall of pressure and light fell upon them, flattening everything and holding them down. Around the men, their equipment was tossed about and crushed. Through some miracle of the Force, she heard no yelps of pain.
The pressure pinned them to the ground, helpless to shield against the sudden roar of sound unlike any heard before. Just like it began, it ended. The only evidence was the destruction and the faint taste of metal in the air. The sky remained as it was before and the force felt… sad.
Ahsoka sat up. Rex grumbled nearby as he righted himself and began helping the men around them stand to pick off the small wave of droids tumbling into the new junkyard. Ahsoka did none of these things.
She couldn't move her gaze away from the origin of the explosion. The very thing that may have helped win the battle. Normally, she would be happy about such a thing, but the bomb came from the hangar. The hangar that her master and Obi-Wan had run into. The hangar that didn’t exist anymore.
Frantically, she reached within herself where she treasured her training bond with the closest thing she had to a mother figure. She found nothing.