Zelina leaned against her starfighter in the Jedi hanger, staring at the carbon freezing station that had been set up for the specific stealth rescue mission that she, Anakin, and Obi-Wan were supposed to go on. The details of what they were supposed to be doing zoomed around in her head, and she could help but sigh at the outrageous nature of their so-called plan. She was rather reluctant to be carbon-frozen, but if it was going to get them into an unescapable high security prison designed to hold Jedi who had strayed from the path of the light, then sure, why not? It wasn't like there was a chance something could go wrong and they would never wake up; who cared about that possibility?

Cruiser walked up to her. "Are you all right ma'am?" he asked, standing at attention beside her. Zelina inclined her head to signal 'at ease,' sighing slightly.

"Just thinking about this crazy operation Cruiser. I swear, the further into this war we get, the more suicidal our plans become," she said with a shake of her head.

Cruiser eyed her from behind his helmet. "I'm just saying ma'am, you've been a little...off since that mission with the out-of-date distress signal."

Zelina shrugged. "A lot happened on that mission, and it gave me a lot of stuff to think about Cruiser...stuff that I'm still sorting through. But it did...change me, I guess you could say. Made me more self-aware...and even more aware of others."

"I didn't know that was possible ma'am," Cruiser said evenly, and Zelina laughed.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Captain. I don't work like that," she teased.

"Thought I would give it a try ma'am," Cruiser responded with an amused voice. Zelina clapped him on the back. "Come on, Obi-Wan and Anakin will be here any moment now, and the sooner we get frozen, the quicker we can thaw."

Cruiser sighed. "I'm not looking forward to being frozen in carbonite ma'am. How do we know it will even work?"

"We don't, but from the way Anakin was talking, it should."

"That's comforting."

The two fell into step just behind Anakin and Rex, who were talking lightly about what they were about to go through with.

"I've never been carbon frozen before General," Rex was saying in apparent concern.

"It's the first time for us too," Anakin told him. Zelina patted Cruiser's shoulder.

"Come on, like I said, the sooner we do it, the quicker we can get it over with."

Obi-Wan appeared beside them, staring at the multiple freezing chambers in front of them. "This is your idea? Carbon freezing?"

"Pretty ingenious if you ask me," Zelina commented, watching as Cruiser took up his spot among the other soldiers.

Anakin snickered. "It'll shield us from the lifeform scanners, just like you wanted," Anakin assured him.

"Are we sure this thing is safe? I don't want to end up a wall decoration," Rex quipped while Zelina took up a spot between Anakin and Obi-Wan, shooting Anakin a small smile.

"Try to relax; we'll be unfrozen as soon as we arrive," Obi-Wan told him.

"Relax...right...not like we're about to be frozen under dangerous conditions," Zelina said with a roll of her eyes. The alarms blared, signaling that they were about to be frozen. Her stomach did little flips as she focused on breathing in and out, trying to relax like Obi-Wan had said. Fighting it wasn't going to make it any better; at least it was voluntary and not against her will.

She felt the platform start to lower and closed her eyes, thinking as many soothing thoughts as she could. The freezing process began, and Zelina threw her mind far back before the war, before the Jedi, back to a simple night of just her and Anakin on Tatooine, staring up at the stars and betting who would see the most star systems when they escaped the planet.

Following that train of thought, she hardly even noticed when she went to 'sleep' during the freezing process.

********************************************

When she came to again, the first thing Zelina noticed was how cold and stiff she felt. Thankfully, that was quickly being rectified as she stretched and yawned. Not exactly one of her cheeriest travels, but not the worst either. She looked around the cavern they were in with bleary eyes, waiting for her eyesight to adjust to the darkness while she rubbed her arms for warmth.

"Hey Snips," Anakin's voice said from one carbon slab over.

"Hey Master," Ahsoka's voice responded, and Zelina blinked in surprise, stepping out from her carbon slab to see that her ears did not deceive her; Ahsoka was standing before them even though Anakin had told Zelina that Ahsoka was not going to be coming on this trip.

A look of anger was slowly rising on Anakin's face as Obi-Wan stepped out from his carbon slab to do just as Zelina had just done and confirm he was not wrong in his suspicions.

"I must have carbon sickness, because I could swear that's Ahsoka," Obi-Wan said in surprise.

"You're eyes are fine," Anakin growled. "It's Ahsoka's hearing that needs help."

"I received orders to join the team. I thought you knew," Ahsoka said in an innocent tone of voice.

"From who?" Zelina asked, coming around to face Ahsoka as well.

"I discussed it with Master Plo," Ahsoka said evasively.

"He didn't tell me," Anakin said snappily.

"You were already in carbonite," Ahsoka said, as if that explained everything.

"How convenient," Zelina said sarcastically. "I swear Ani, she gets more like you every day. Tell me, how does karma feel?"

Anakin scowled at her, choosing to ignore the statement as he turned to face Ahsoka again. "I gave you a specific order not to come Ahsoka; and you went over my head!"

"If there's one thing I've learned from you Master, it's that following direct orders isn't always the best way to solve a problem," Ahsoka responded calmly.

"And there's the karma in action," Zelina said with a grin, turning to Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan smiled and shook his head.

"I see Anakin's new teaching method is to do as I say, not as I do," he said with obvious mirth. Zelina snorted while Anakin shot them both glares.

"Laugh it up you two," he snapped.

"You're free to join in any time; you're already here so it's not like he can kick you off the team," Zelina chuckled, putting an arm around Ahsoka's shoulders.

Anakin threw his hands up in the air. "I'm outnumbered. At least one of you are supposed to be on my side!"

"We are on your side Ani...we just find this too amusing and too great of an opportunity to tease you," Zelina said innocently.

"Agreed," Ahsoka said.

Anakin shot Zelina one last look. "You're evil; I hope you realize that."

"I'm flattered," Zelina responded without missing a beat.

*********************************************

Standing on the edge of the cliff just a little ways off from the citadel, Zelina and Cruiser stayed positioned just behind Anakin as he examined the citadel through his macrobinoculars. She could feel the heat coming from the yellow sulfuric river below them, but she didn't mind. Force, she was from Tatooine; it would take more than a little heat to affect her.

"I see the entry point," Anakin informed them, focusing the macrobinoculars.

"You were right; the wind conditions are too strong for jet packs," Cody said behind her. Obi-Wan smirked.

"Yes, we'll have to do it the old fashioned way; with ascension cables and a steel grip."

"I don't think so," Anakin said slowly, and Obi-Wan turned a sharp eye on him.

"What do you mean?"

"Electro-mines," Anakin said simply. "There's nowhere to put a grappling hook at that height, and if we hit one of those the mission is over. They'll know we're here."

Zelina cracked her knuckles eagerly. "Free-climbing it is then. Who else is ready for the completely insane?"

Anakin rolled his eyes. "And you call me crazy."

"Hey, we all need a solution, I simply supplied," Zelina chuckled.

*********************************************

Once they were actually free-climbing the wall, Zelina regretted suggesting such a thing. Sure, she didn't mind a little physical exertion up a mountain every now and then, and it wasn't the first time she had done it, but this was a little more complicated than simple free-climbing. They had to avoid the electric sparks that danced along the rocks at times between the electro-mines they were supposed to be avoiding, and pray that they grabbed onto stable rock so they didn't fall into the sulfuric river below or, Force forbid, activate an electro-mine on the way down and blow the entire mission. She did, however, manage to keep up with Anakin and Obi-Wan near the top, so despite the relentless wind, she could hear it when Obi-Wan shouted down towards them.

"The entry point is just a few more meters."

Zelina glanced behind her at Anakin, sticking her leg out from the rock. "Need a boost Ani? I'm happy to offer one," she said in mock seriousness. Anakin rolled his eyes and pushed her foot away.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I believe I'm good," he said sarcastically.

Movement up above called their attention away from their conversation, looking up in time to catch Obi-Wan pressing himself under the entry point ledge and pressing a finger to his lips. Zelina and Anakin immediately stilled and motioned to stop the troops below them from advancing. They couldn't see what was happening, but they could see the intent look of concentration on Obi-Wan's face as the seconds ticked by. Finally, the elder Jedi hefted himself up onto the ledge and peered over the edge to make sure that the cost was clear.

"They locked the door; it's ray shielded!" Obi-Wan turned and shouted towards them. Concern filled Anakin's features immediately.

"Ray shielded? That wasn't part of the plan!" he fumed.

"I'm sure there will be plenty of things that 'aren't part of the plan' Ani," Zelina commented. "It's just our luck."

"Well it's in the plan now," Obi-Wan responded, sounding rather grouchy.

"How about we discuss this when we're not all dangling over the edge, have any of you thought of that?" Zelina pointed out.

Ahsoka had been climbing during this entire little conversation, and was peering upwards just off to the side. "There's an opening up there," she called out to them.

"We know, the ventilation ducts, but they're far too small for us to gain access; they're even too small for Zee!" Anakin said, practically waving the entire thing off with his words.

"Too small for you maybe, but I think I might be able to fit," Ahsoka said. Zelina frowned, seizing the girl up.

"I think she's right Ani; she's smaller than me, much smaller. I think she will fit," she said. Anakin sighed but nodded at the girl, signaling for Ahsoka to go ahead. Zelina sighed. "And while she's doing that, we can continue scaling this cliff," she called.

It didn't take the Jedi long to scale the little space remaining between the entry point ledge and they turned to help the soldiers up as they reached the ledge one by one. Zelina couldn't help but smirk at the conversation she could hear behind her.

"See I can handle myself after all," Ahsoka was saying in a somewhat snarky tone of voice.

Predictably, Anakin ignored her and went in the hall to scope out what they were dealing with.

Zelina grasped Cruiser's hand after a few soldiers had reached the ledge, hefting him up to safety. "I've got to say it; so far so good Captain. I'm starting to get a little optimistic about this mission, what about you?"

"I'm not celebrating pre-maturely General," Cruiser said. "Call me superstitious, but that tends to not work in our favor."

"I actually agree with you there, Cruiser," Zelina said. Not a moment after she had said that, there was a cry on the other side of the ledge and the two whipped around to see Rex reaching for someone.

"Charger!" he shouted, but it seemed the soldier had already fallen out of reach. The entire group rushed to the edge to see the soldier fall to an unavoidable death on one of the electro-mines. Alarms blared all around them, and Zelina grimaced, looking over at Cruiser.

"You were right, I shouldn't have said anything. Still, it has yet to be my worst mission. Come on," she said, and they both backed away from the ledge.

"Well, they know we're here!" Obi-Wan quipped as the rescue force made their way into the hall. Now that they were found out, they had to move quickly and ahead of whatever opposing forces were about to meet them.

**********************************

"Clear."

At Ahsoka's words, the group rushed forward as silent as possible through the prison's corridors, the Jedi in lead with the Captains and Commander Cody right behind them. Anakin turned towards Rex as they ran. "Take out their surveillance."

The minute the camera was no longer in working order, small, mini laser cannons along the walls opened fire on the rescue group, and three blades sprang to life since Ahsoka was in the rear at the moment and Zelina kept her shoto blade on her hip as they deflected the bolts back at the little laser cannons. Of course, the moment those were out of order, a new threat rose.

"The walls are electrified! Go!" Cody shouted, and immediately they all turned to sprint as fast as they could in the opposite direction to avoid the deadly circle of electricity that was rushing towards them.

"Go, go, go!" Zelina shouted at the soldiers she passed, dragging Cruiser along beside her by the arm. Almost all of them managed to make it around the corner.

Almost.

"Longshot!" Cody exclaimed, staring at the unmoving body that had been tossed the length of the hall when he'd been caught in the electric field.

"We must keep moving," Obi-Wan said grimly. That was the moment she hated the most; having to leave a man behind in the heat of the moment, knowing they couldn't come back for them.

It was one of the hardest parts of battle for her.

******************************************

Zelina had a feeling that they had arrived in the nick of time. When the doors opened and the soldiers opened fire on the droids inside of the prison cell, Zelina could sense the relief rolling off of the Jedi Master inside from out in the hall when she wasn't even open to the Jedi Master's emotions. Once the room had been cleared, the four Jedi all rushed in.

"Secure the entrance," Anakin barked out, coming in with his lightsaber ablaze. Zelina rushed over to the control panel, freeing the Jedi Master from the restraints that held him in the air. Obi-Wan was the one to catch the small Jedi Master while Ahsoka remained on guard duty by the door.

"Master Piell, are you all right?" Obi-Wan asked. Piell was panting lightly, yet he managed to answer with smooth humor.

"Obi-Wan, what took you guys so long?"

Anakin smiled faintly, helping Piell up. "At least your sense of humor is still intact."

"It takes more than they got to break me, young Skywalker," Piell scoffed, accepting the lightsaber that Obi-Wan handed him with a silent nod of thanks.

"So you have the coordinates for the Nexus Route?" Anakin asked. Zelina gave him a droll stare.

"No, Master Plo just said that as a part of the two truths and a lie game we were playing before you came into the briefing room," Zelina said sarcastically, and Anakin rolled his eyes.

"I didn't ask you Zee," he said with a smirk.

"I've got them, all right. Half of them anyway," Master Piell said. "My Captain's got the other half. I erased the computers when we were boarded and had both of us memorize part of the Intel. That way, if somehow I cracked, then the information would be useless to them without the other half."

"Smart," Zelina mused, watching as Piell kicked a droid head out of his way.

"Where's your Captain?" Obi-Wan asked, his brow furrowed in concern.

"Being held with the other officers, I assume," Piell mused.

Anakin sighed. "We're going to need a new plan for getting out."

Zelina smirked. "Our entire lives are just one big improvised play, aren't they Ani? Well...I guess we'll just make it up as we go from here on out. It's worked for us every other time."

Anakin shook his head as she walked out in the hall to tell the others the change of plans. "She's the optimistic, sarcastic one," he told Piell.

"So I see," Piell said in amusement.

*****************************************

"Those look like assassin droids on steroids!"

Zelina was pretty sure that in any other situation, her exclamation would have received at least a snort of amusement, but considering they had just been cornered in the hall by a formidable mini task force, no one laughed. Zelina had both lightsabers ablaze and ready for a fight, immersing herself into the Force as the tense moments ticked by. Finally, the droids opened fire, and their movements seemed to just add credibility to Zelina's exclamation. While their lightsabers hummed in a blur of motion to deflect the blaster bolts, Zelina took note of the unnatural and swift motions of the droids as they flipped and kicked off of the walls and ceiling at a disturbing intensity.

The droids broke through their main line of defense in seconds and started to pummel any opponent they came across with their metal fists. Zelina had to break away from deflecting the blaster bolts at one point to swing around and slice one of the droids in half, freeing Cruiser from the serious beating he had been suffering from just moments previous. Once he was free, she spun to knock another off of Obi-Wan with a powerful Force Push, giving Obi-Wan the opportunity to cut its head off and then slice right through its middle, ensuring that the droid would stay down. Master Piell took out the third droid on their side, and Obi-Wan whipped around to bark out more orders when the other side had dispelled their opponents.

"We need to keep moving," he declared, ushering everyone forward. Zelina didn't even deactivate her shoto blade; who knew what else this place had in store for them?

No sooner had the thought crossed her mind did a sudden high pitched, intense beep sound in the hall, causing Zelina and the others to cover their ears in instinctual protection. A magnet was activated and all of the blasters and lightsabers were called up to the ceiling immediately. To Zelina's horror, Anakin's mechanical arm was also caught in the magnet's pull.

"Anakin!" she called out as he was pulled out to the ceiling. Her horror morphed to a bubbling fury when an electric field was activated, and Anakin's cries of pain came out in bursts through his grit teeth, echoing around the hall. Her hands clenched into fists at her side as she dropped her hands from her ears. Her concern for Anakin was much stronger than any physical pain she could be put in. He went limp, but Zelina could slightly hear his heavy breathing from her spot on the ground before a voice suddenly echoed through the halls.

"You fools! I hope you enjoy the reunion with your fellow Jedi, because you're going to be my guests for a very long time," the voice said as more of the assassin droids on steroids appeared, guns aimed at them. Obi-Wan and Piell both pushed the droids back with the Force, but they droids only budged a few meters before they suddenly stood firmly in place; they were magnetized. Zelina's eyes scanned the magnet up above, trying to figure out a way to get Anakin down from the trap he'd been caught in. Blaster fire started to fly through the hall again, but Zelina hardly paid any attention to it. She knew what was coming a moment before it happened. When Anakin reached for his lightsaber that happened to be just in front of him on the magnet, the electric field was activated again. Zelina's fist clenched in anger when Anakin's screams of pain echoed through the hall once again, and—though she didn't realize it—one of the droids nearest to her suddenly had its head unexplainably crushed and it crumpled to the floor.

Anakin pushed through the pain, managing to grab the lightsaber and slice right through the magnet's control. All of the weapons fell to the floor, as did Anakin, and Zelina rushed to his side. He was still sparking electricity and trembling.

"Are you all right?" Zelina asked him.

"I'm fine," Anakin grit out, forcing himself to stand. Zelina summoned her lightsabers back into her hand, taking several deep breaths to siphon the anger away and into the Force. She didn't need herself blinded by anger right now; there was too much at stake. "Let's get out of here."

Zelina nodded, turning to Cruiser. "Take out that camera," she ordered, nodding towards the camera that had been angled so it could see their entire plight.

"With pleasure," Cruiser said darkly, taking the camera out with a single shot.

"This mission just keeps getting better and better," Zelina muttered to Anakin as they rushed through the halls.

"Focus," Anakin warned.

"I'm focused, I'm focused."

*******************************************

"Quiet," Ahsoka hissed at the troopers as they finally approached the cell that housed the officers. The Jedi crouched by the door, angled for an immediate and effective infiltration the moment the opportunity arose. Anakin activated his lightsaber, and a faint droid voice could be heard on the other side of the door.

"I hear something," the droid inside said. They could clanking footsteps growing closer, and when they came to a stop directly in front of the door Anakin shoved his lightsaber through the door and most likely impaled the droid on the other side.

Anakin retracted his lightsaber and they opened the door, allowing Zelina to swing inside, shoto blade ablaze as she plunged it deep into the second droid. "Hello," she said sweetly before she pulled the blade out of the piece of metal, clipping the weapon to her hip. She turned to the soldiers inside. "You called for a rescue?"

Several of the troopers grinned at the joke, though one that was not a clone remained sitting until Master Piell entered the room. He stood, speaking with a refined voice that sounded almost pleasant. "General!"

"Captain Tarkin," Piell responded, approaching the man while the others filed in behind him.

"I never thought I'd see you again," Tarkin told the diminutive Jedi in apparent relief. "And you brought...friends."

Piell nodded, turning back to the main group. "Tarkin, this is Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and Zelina Du'ahn."

"Now that you've found us, how do you expect to get us out?" Tarkin asked challengingly, his tone taking a frosty edge that caught Zelina by surprise after her first impression. Then again...first impressions weren't always the right impression. As Tarkin spoke, his voice started to rise. "If they've locked this fortress down there's at least ten squads on their way. It's going to be impossible to escape."

"Captain, we specialize in the impossible; otherwise we wouldn't have been the ones sent to rescue you," Zelina said politely.

"We could split up," Obi-Wan suggested. "My team will create a diversion while Anakin and Zelina lead the others away. That way if one of us is captured, the enemy will only have part of the information and not all of it."

Zelina nodded towards Obi-Wan. "He's the sensible plan guy, Anakin's the crazy insane plan guy, and I'm the won't budge last stand plan supplier," she said cheekily, causing Obi-Wan and Anakin to roll their eyes.

Tarkin wasn't smiling. He walked forward, speaking in a cool and—in Zelina's opinion—degrading tone of voice. "General Kenobi, I think it's better if we stick together. A stronger force would have a better chance of protecting the information."

Obi-Wan's lips visibly pursed as he bit back a retort that would obviously had been offensive and would have snapped Tarkin back into place. "Not in this situation," Obi-Wan responded evenly, turning his back on Tarkin to signal the debate was over.

"But surely we'd have more strength in numbers rather than divide us," Tarkin continued to argue to Obi-Wan's retreating back. Piell stepped in at that point though.

"Obi-Wan has a point; I'll go with him, you go with Skywalker and Du'ahn," Piell said, and Zelina had to bite her tongue.

Great, we get stuck-up, the-world-revolves-around-me-because-I'm-a-big-shot-Captain Tarkin, she couldn't help but think bitterly. This should be fun.

*****************************************

The building shook slightly just moments before the Skywalker/Du'ahn team reached their destination, and Zelina shared a secretive smile with Anakin. "I think that's Obi-Wan's distraction," she quipped, and Anakin returned the smile.

"Sounds like it. It's quieter than I would have done it though," he mused, pulling out his hand-held holo-map of the citadel to study it and make sure he was on the right track. Zelina motioned for Rex and Cruiser to organize the men into lookout positions before she studied the map beside him. She put her hand on the wall experimentally.

"It should be right here," she mumbled.

"Let's get to it then," Anakin said, and they both activated their lightsabers to start cutting a hole in wall. In a few short seconds they were done and their small group was gathering around them. "Everybody in," Anakin commanded, stepping back to let Rex and Cruiser push out the metal piece of the wall Zelina and Anakin had just cut out.

"Ahsoka, go scout ahead," Zelina mumbled to the girl as she walked passed her. The girl nodded, jumped through the hole, and then disappeared. Zelina and Anakin stood back, making sure the men al got through first before they took up the rear.

"This is one of the original fortress tunnels," Rex noted, looking around the cavernous walls. "The advantage of old archive data."

"The tunnel's clear!" Ahsoka called from up ahead. Tarkin came even with Zelina and Anakin, looking as if he had just eaten something particularly sour.

"Looks like Obi-Wan's distraction worked; things seem to be going as planned," Anakin said in a slightly upbeat voice. The plan was going better than it usually did.

"It's when things do not go as planned that concerns me. What then?" Tarkin said scathingly, shooting the two of them a dark look that caused Zelina to bristle. She'd met her fair share of anti-Jedi people to know that look when she saw it.

"It's when things don't go as planned that we Jedi are at our best," Anakin responded coolly, just borderline on cold. "Trust me."

He started to walk forward, but Tarkin wasn't finished. "I reserve my trust for those who take action, General Skywalker," Tarkin said in a nastily degrading tone of voice. Zelina opened her mouth to deliver a rather nasty line, but Anakin beat her to it.

"Then let me remind you, Captain, we rescued you back there, and I reserve my trust for those who understand gratitude, Captain Tarkin." Satisfied with Anakin's response, Zelina turned her back on the surly Captain she was taking a swift dislike to and came even with Anakin instead.

"I'm starting to really not like the dear Captain," Zelina said in a low tone of voice. "Can we just leave him here, make the Galaxy a better place?"

Anakin scowled. "As much as I am starting to like that idea, that would be a no. He's got the other half of the co-ordinates, remember?"

Zelina sighed. "Thwarted by a combination of numbers. Who would have guessed?"

"3PO," Anakin said without missing a beat. The two of them shared a small smile and laugh at that. Perhaps this day could get better.