Allana

It's been few weeks of boring days at Coruscant, I don't like the fact that I haven't been in the field lately, no reason comes to my mind but no one in the High Jedi Council nor my Master has given me any instructions.

  On the other hand, Kenobi, Skywalker and Tano have gone away to Felucia but it has come to the ears of the Council that they're trapped and at the moment the one that's less than busy was me, so, they made me get my troops ready, and this time it wasn't only the Wolves who were excited but me.

  We rushed into our Cruiser to assist them. Once there, we managed to blow a hole in the droid's defences, that's when I rushed to the hangar to get into my fighter. My loyal pilots and some of my best men were in the gunships while others hoped into their own fighters to escort the Gunships to the ground safely and get the Jedi and their men out of there and to protect them in the way back.

"Warthog, protect the Gunships." I ordered. "I will take out the fighters." I did as I said and destroyed three of those nasty vulture droids to clear the way, then another one until we made it through the first wave, afterwards we entered the atmosphere of the planet.

"Ugh, I can't shake these two droids." Said Warthog.

"Come around, I'll try to take them off your tail." I said turning my ship around to assist my pilot as I heard him grunting on the other side of the line.

"General." He said and in that moment I flew past him blasting the first droid that destroyed the second one as its pieces flew away. While I turned my fighter around and made my way to secure the Gunships, I saw how a part of the droid impact the ground quite close to where the remaining troops of Anakin's Legion were.
I amplified the range of my communications to the ones on the ground.

"Sorry about that." I said as soon as they answered the call.

"That was close." Said Anakin.

"Yeah, I know, I know, you're welcome." I shrugged to myself.

"For almost killing me? Lovely, thanks."

"No, for saving your ass, get into the Gunships and let's get out of here."

"Yes ma'am." He said mockingly making a smile appear on my lips before ending the communication as I continued to pilot and destroy the droids that were nearby.

  After they got in, we started to fly away. "Did you get everyone?" I asked through the communicator once I had amplified the range to the Gunships and not only the other fighters.

"We're missing Padawan Tano, we're on our way to get her."

"We'll clear the way for you out there." I said.

"Roger that General."

"Light Squadron lets get going."

"Yes Ma'am."

  The Squad followed my lead out of the system's atmosphere, we destroyed the remaining Separatist fighters and landed back into the Triumphant. We got out the ships and relaxed, that's when the gunships arrived. I spotted they had trooper's helmets and my face painted on them, I smiled, I work with the best troopers, no doubt. That's when I was them walking out.

  "Hey, are you-?" Ahsoka walked away when I approached her to place my hand on her shoulder. "What just happened?" I asked Anakin and Obi-Wan, both of them sighed. "What did you do to her?"

"We did nothing! I just sent her to her quarters here." Anakin said and I frowned.

"Why?"

"Because she was following his teachings. She didn't listen and was about to get overrun by the droids." Obi-Wan said.

"Oh."

"Yeah." Said Ani taking a deep breath. "We argued and I sent her to cool off." I sighed this time.

"Thanks for the rescue by the way." Said Kenobi changing the subject as I walked towards the elevator, invating them to follow me as I placed my hands behind my back.

"Sure, now you know that I'll be right on time to save your skin." They chuckled as we hopped on the elevator and we reached the bridge in no time.

"Ready to go Generals?" My Commander asked with a smirk.

"We are Commander." Said Kenobi. "I have to report to the Council, do you mind if I-?"

"Not at all, take all the time you need." I said and he smiled, so, I smiled back. "We'll be out here if you need us." He nodded and after that, he walked away towards the briefing room. Then, I turned to face the crew. "Let's go back to Coruscant gents, our mission here's done."

"Yes General." Said Flynn and we jumped into hyperspace.

"Wolffe." I looked at him over my shoulder. "Get some rest, and tell the boys to do the same, you all did a great job."

"Thank you General." He nodded and walked away.

"Always so kind to everyone." Whispered Anakin, I smiled.

"You know me." I looked at him and he smiled, he looked tired. "You should get some rest too." He shook his head, still smiling and looked back to the front, the blue lights of the stars that we passed at speed light made his ocean eyes brighter. "Seriously, I can wake you up before we arrive if you'd like."

"I don't think I need it."

"I think you do. Right after we arrive you and Ahsoka are surely going to have a meeting with the Council." He sighed. "Listen." He looked at me again. "You go and sleep, I'll check on her and I'll wake you up later on." I started to walk towards the elevator.

"But I-" He tried to argue behind me.

"Lieutenant, you're in charge until I come back."

"Yes ma'am." He said and I walked in the elevator, Skywalker following close behind.

"I don't need sleep." He said as the doors closed.

"It's not really up for debate darling." He smiled. "If I was in your position you'd carry me all the way to bed and you'd stay there until I fell asleep even if I didn't want to." He laughed and placed himself before me, then, he kissed me, I smiled into the kiss as usual. It's been weeks without sharing a kiss that tastes like mint, or inhaling the coffee and wood aroma he possesses. When we were out of breath we broke the kiss, and right on time, the doors opened seconds after we separated from each other. "Go to the room and save yourself the embarrassment of me carrying you." He made a salut.

"Yes General." He smiled and walked to the other spare room that we have here while I directed myself to the one I gave to Ahsoka after we spent a while coming and going in missions. I reached the door and knocked three times.

  "Come in." She said and the door whooshed open.

"Hey kid." I spoke swiftly as I walked in.

"Master, hey." Snips was laying down, she was probably looking at the ceiling before she looked at me, her voice sounded sad, tired. "I thought you were someone else."

"I bet." She smiled as I walked in and the door closed behind me. "May I?" I asked pointing at the edge of the bed, she nodded and I sat down while she incorporated and placed her back against the wall. "What happened out there?"

"I-" She sighed. "I got caught up in my success, I wasn't completely aware of my surroundings. I forgot what you always say, and I let down Master Skywalker, probably Master Kenobi too and when we get to the Council they all will be disappointed too." She looked at the ceiling again.

"Look." I said after a while. "If it helps, I believe that you learn from mistakes, we all do and they're not disappointed Ahsoka, they were just...worried, trust me."

"I'm sure that's not what Masters Windu and Yoda will think." I giggled.

"Maybe they're tougher than the rest of us when it's about giving a lesson but that doesn't mean that they didn't have their downs throughout their path." Her bright eyes met mine. "We all have to fall to get back up and continue walking Snips, and even if you didn't do what they'd expect you to...I'm sure you did a great job." I smiled and she looked at me to smile back.

"Thank you Master." I nodded.

"Get some rest okay? I'll wake you up five minutes before landing." I stood up and walked to the door, then, I walked out.

"Thanks Smarty." She said with a smile before the doors closed. I never thought I'd be the one to say those words anytime soon, I smiled to myself as I remembered how Master Gallia would tell me that after long days when I was Ahsoka's age.

  I walked away from there and made my way to the other room. When the door opened, I found Anakin peacefully sleeping, I smiled even more. I walked up to him as the door closed behind me. Once I reached his side I bent down and brushed a hair off his forehead and kissed his cheek, then, I walked away to make my way back to the bridge.

  Few hours went by and when there were five minutes for us to arrive at the huge hangar where we keep the cruisers, I made my way towards the Master and his Padawan's rooms to wake them up.

  When we landed and walked outside the fresh breeze of the Capital Planet hit our faces, it was dark, we arrived at night. Then, we made our way to the Jedi Temple, where —as I had thought— the Council was already waiting for Anakin and Ahsoka.

[...]

  I stayed at my quarters at the Temple last night. It's been a while since I stayed here, rather being at my apartment. I had to keep up the appearances so, I stayed.

  When I woke up I walked to the small window that's in the small simple room. The ships were flying in all directions with order, the sunlight made them shine, it seemed like a peaceful day in the Capital. I stretched and heard how my communicator started to beep, so, I walked up to the nightstand where it was.

"Naberrie here." I said placing the dark grey armour on the brown gloves and placed them on.

"Hey, can you join us at the Communication Center?" Said Anakin.

"Sure, I'll be there in no time." I answered and finished the communication. I walked to the bathroom, brushed my teeth and placed my hair on a braid, then, I placed it over my head making it look like a crown, pinning it behind my ear, some locks were loose framing my face. I walked to the door of the room and used the Force to pull my lightsaber towards me before I walked out.

  In five minutes I reached the room where Adi, Yoda, Anakin and Obi-Wan were. I walked in slowly, my Master was the one to spot me first.

"Hey." I greeted her in a whisper. "What have I missed?"

"I just arrived too." We smiled at each other.

"The setback at Felucia has affected our efforts in the whole sector." Said Obi-Wan as I crossed my arms. "It'll take weeks before we can-" He was cut off by Master Yoda's groans, Adi and I exchanged looks, frowning, then, Anakin's eyes met mine, confusion in them too.

"Master Yoda, what is it?" Ani asked.

"A disturbance in the Force." He said. "Intruders there will be in this Temple." We all exchanged looks again, worry filling us up.

"I'll look for them." I proposed.

"I'll help you." Said Anakin and I nodded.

"I need to have a word with you before you go." Said Master Gallia looking at me.

"I'll wait for you outside." Said Skywalker and I nodded. "Master Gallia." She nodded and smiled at him as we walked to the corner of the room.

  "What is it?" I asked my Master once we were sure to have a little bit of more privacy.

"I've been offered a seat in the Council." I smiled.

"What? Adi that's great." She smiled back.

"It is."

"I'm proud of you my Master." Her smiled turned tender.

"Likewise my Padawan, tough you won't be my Padawan like that anymore." She placed her hand on her waist and the other one on my shoulder.

"Well, I'm already a Jedi Knight, I've learned all that you've taught me."

"You still have a long way to go."

"Meh, maybe." We chuckled. "Is that...a new lightsaber?"

"Yeah, I lost the other one on a battle while you were in Naboo."

"Huh, new colour?"

"Apparently blue."

"Cool." I saw Ani pocking his head and making a hand movement, I nodded. "Gotta go." She nodded too. "Those are great news, you have to accept."

"I will, I just wanted to tell you." I walked up to the entrance.

"Congratulations Master." She nodded with a smile. After I smiled back, I walked out.

  "Congratulations for what?" Asked Anakin.

"She's got a seat in the Council."

"That's great."

"That's what I said." He chuckled as we walked through the large hallways. "By the way, what did they tell Ahsoka?"

"To stay away from the battlefield, she's with Madame Jocasta doing guard duty as we speak." He sighed. "Though I think that won't last long." I chuckled, then, I sighed too.

  "Now, where do we start looking for these intruders? What could they be after?"

"I don't know, I don't think they've come to hijack star-fighters." He paused. "What can they get here they can't get anywhere else?"

"Information? Perhaps the Jedi transmitter codes?"

"Every piece of troop information in one place."

"That's all in the east tower."

"The east tower communications center, I'll head there right away."

"I'll check the perimeter defences from the central security station." He nodded and we began running in opposite ways.

[...]

  I was in the security station, checking everything and suddenly the screens flashed on and off, I frowned.

"What was that?" I asked the droid that was to my left.

"The system is just recycling ma'am." He answered, that's when Anakin's hologram appeared.

"Lans, I'm in the tower, no intruders, but something just happened, all the scanners were behaving strangely for a moment."

"Yeah, something happened to the system down here too, I don't think that's a coincidence." In that moment, Master Yoda walked in the room where I was.

"Arrived, the intruders have." I crossed my arms.

"But if they're not in the tower, what are they after?" I asked.

"The Communication Center, perhaps their target is." Answered the green Jedi Master.

"They must be in the Central Ventilation System." Ani said looking at me, I uncrossed my arms.

"I'll check." I clicked some buttons and the plans of the Temple appeared before my eyes. "You're right, there's been a disturbance, it's near the top of the south tower."

"I'll meet you up there." I nodded and his hologram disappeared.

"On high alert, place the Temple." Ordered Yoda and I nodded, clicking the button that would alert every Jedi Knight and Padawan that there's danger in the place that many of them consider a home.

[...]

  "What took you so long?" He asked with a quite raspy voice, I smiled as the wind moved the locks of hair that framed my face and some of his light brown hair. He was reclining his back on one of the columns, arms crossed, he looked attractive as usual.

"You try running all the way from the very opposite side of the Temple, here as every single Jedi is moving around and the kids get scared." I answered approaching him as he chuckled.

"Yeah...guess all the races didn't help you out that much."

"Very funny." He shrugged.

"Anyways." He turned around once I had reached his side. "Looks like this is where they broke in." He said as my eyes met the big round gate opened, I sighed.

"Well, fortunately, we'll have less problems to get there." I pointed out with a smile that he returned as I used the Force to activate the sensors of the control panel that's to my right. The holographic window deactivated and we quickly walked into the large ventilation duct.

  We grabbed the ascension-drop cables that we always carry —just in case— from our belts and stuck them to the metallic ceiling with no effort, then, we began our descent quickly. Soon enough our feet hit the ground gracefully and we looked at the multiple vents that lead to any point in the Temple.

"Great." Said Anakin as we undo the knots that tied the belts to the cables. "Which way do you think they went?"

"The Communication Center is this way." I said pointing to the one that's behind him. "We better hurry if we want to catch them." He nodded and we rushed through the vent, sliding down at a steady pace. As soon as we reached the next corridor we started walking again. After we walked for abut five minutes, we reached a crossway, Anakin looked to his right and left quickly.

"I don't think they came this way." He said.

"And you say it now?" I complained arching an eyebrow.

"I just thought about it." He shrugged as I turned my communicator on.

"Masters." I spoke through the line that directly went to the Communication Center, where everyone was. "Are you picking any other life signs in this quadrant?"

"Deep in the Temple, the intruders are." Said Yoda and Ani and I exchanged looks again frowning.

"How are they managing to stay out of our way?" Asked Skywalker.

"Is it possible they're receiving help?" Asked Obi-Wan.

"From inside." Said Yoda again. "Yes, possible, it is."

  "Great." I said this time as I frowned more and met his oceanic eyes again, ending the communication. "Any ideas of where to go now?"

"Master Yoda said they're 'deep in the Temple', so, we have to get to the opposite side, go through a way where we'd get to the very center of this place."

"Guide the way." He smirked and we started to walk back from where we came. We walked through the same way and climbed up, jumping until we reached the center of the vent system again, then, we went through the literal opposite from where we were.

  Later on, we slid down another vent once more and reached an opened hatch, we looked at each other, then, Anakin took a look in. "Looks like you were right." He smiled, as we walked in, the communicators made their characteristic electronic cheerp.

"Master Skywalker." Said Ahsoka, we stopped walking to listen carefully. "I've captured the imposter disguised as a Jedi, she says the intruder's in the Holocron Vault." We looked at each other with a frown once again.

"A Holocron is useless without a Jedi to open it." I commented.
"What are they up to?"

"They must be trying to gain access to the Communication Center from the Vault." Anakin said.

"We better hurry." He nodded and we resumed our walk with a steady pace. As we walked, we heard a rumbling boom that made us to almost fall down as some smoke made its way to where we were, right below us.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"I am, you?"

"Good." He said as we walked up to the opened hatch that's below our feet, then, we jumped in, he did it first and I followed. We looked around in silence, that's when my eyes met a hole made in the right side of the vent.

"Quick." I said. "The Center." We got into the hole and slid down once again towards the place where the intruders had gone.
We reached the hatch that would give access to the Center and I saw a shadow, so, I placed my hand over Ani's chest, indicating him to stop.

  "Oh...hey, guys." Said a droid, but we didn't have a visual of it just his shadow. "I was just...testing the access hatch, works great." A high pitch beep echoed.

"Bomb!" Said Windu.

"Bomb?" Asked the droid. "Is there something going to blow up here?" The droid hit the wall behind him, the hatch closed.

"Oh no." I said and he grabbed my hand making me run behind him just to pull me and place himself behind me.

"No, no, no, no!" Yelled the little droid, then he screamed and blew up, the expansive wave of the explosion made Anakin loose his balance, taking me down with him, his body covering me, protecting me. After a minute, he groaned as he stood and helped me stand.

"Sorry about that." He said with a smile as he placed a loose curly lock of hair behind my ear.

"No worries." I told him returning the smile. "Come on." I added and we rushed back to the Communication Center. He kicked the hatches and we walked in again, the Jedi Knights placing their hands over their weapons.

"It's us." Anakin said standing up. "It's us." I stood up too.

"Great, they're not here." I commented brushing off the dust from my clothes.

"Are you okay?" Asked Obi-Wan.

"We're fine." Answered his Padawan sighing. "We couldn't find them, we're sorry Masters."

"Not to worry." Said Adi. "Right now everyone's head is cloudy."

"She's right." Said Kenobi crossing his arms, thinking. Then, I frowned and started to follow our previous steps in my head trying to figure out what have we missed, that's when I realised.

"Fuck." I said under my breath.

"Language young lady." Said my Master but I ignored her.

"Oh no, no, no." I started to walk towards the door.

"What is it?" Asked Adi with a worried frown on her face.

"The hole on the wall...it was a diversion." I said and Anakin and I looked at each other, then, we ran outside with our Masters following behind. That's when Security was called at the Holocron Vault and I mentally slapped myself, how could we have missed it?

  We reached the Vault like a shot. When I walked in, I couldn't help a whistle from leaving my lips. I was amazed by the place, I've never been here, it's only accessible for those Jedi Knights that are in the Council. The blue glimmer of the Holocrons filled the place making everything look like the caves where you can find the Kyber Crystals. Master Yoda made his way in front of us.

"Our war operations, it was never about." He said when our eyes met the empty spot on a wall. I crossed my arms.

"Come on changeling." Said Snips behind us. "We have a new home for you." I sighed.

"What would someone want with a Holocron?" I asked once Anakin was standing beside me.

"I don't know." He answered as walked outside with our minds even more clouded.

  "Wait." Said the changeling turning around to face. Ahsoka didn't let go of her handcuffs. "Bolla Ropal." She said and I uncrossed my arms letting them fall on my sides.

"What did you say?" Asked Windu.

"Bolla Ropal, that's who Bane's next target is, some...Jedi." She repeated. I think this would be the first time that a bounty hunter of her kind has been useful to us.

"What's wrong?" Asked Anakin before I could. "Who's Bolla Ropal?"

"He is the keeper of the Kyber Crystal." Said Mace behind us, making us look at him. "The date on which can only be ready by Holocrons."

"What's on the Crystal?" Asked Ahsoka before anyone that's on the room could ask as well.

"A list of every known Force-Sensitive child in the Galaxy, the future Younglings...the future of the Jedi Order."

"We have to warn him." I said as my eyes met Skywalker's and Kenobi's.

"That's going to be hard to do, he's out of contact, somewhere in the Devaron system."

"Seek him out, you must." Master Yoda commented.

"Ahsoka and I will set out immediately." Anakin said as I grabbed the changeling's arm.

"If Bane is still here on Coruscant." I looked at Kenobi and he nodded. "We'll find him."