Zelina glanced around at the other soldiers as they all shimmied along the edge of the ledge, all avoiding looking down to the unpleasant sulfuric death that would meet them if they should misstep and fall. Anakin was in the back, Ahsoka was in the front, and Zelina was in a middle position, having to suffer through Tarkin's negative aura. The longer she was around the man, the less she liked the Captain.

"R2, are you and your battle droids ready to go?" Anakin asked from the back of the group. Zelina glanced his way a few times, hoping that part of the plan would work. Three was beeping that Zelina could faintly hear from her position in the middle of the group, signaling R2's response. "All right, get the ship fired up and we'll meet you at the pipeline exit after you've picked up Obi-Wan; assuming he's still on schedule."

Zelina snickered as Anakin cut the transmission. "How do you know we're not the ones that are running behind?"

Anakin rolled his eyes. "Please; if anything, we're ahead of schedule."

"I'm just saying," Zelina said with a chuckle. "Keep your eyes open for probe droids; they might send one down here just to be safe, and we don't want them to cross paths with us."

"You just keep your focus on your position, and I'll handle my position, okay Zee?"

"Someone's touchy today," Zelina grumbled under her breath.

"Could you please stop talking? I'm getting tired of all the unnecessary chatter," Tarkin said snidely from just in front of her. Zelina glared at the Captain's back while Cruiser chuckled softly behind her. She thumbed her lightsaber handle.

It would be so easy just to push him over the edge or something...say he tripped...gah, why does he have to be the one carrying the other half of the coordinates?

Hopefully this torturous mission would be over sooner rather than later.

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

The group continued on through the cavern in silence, and Zelina kept both hands resting on her lightsabers just in case. The entire situation had her on edge, and she felt like they were being followed. As they came to a turn, Zelina risked a glance back towards Anakin.

He wasn't there.

She almost panicked, but she felt a wave of reassurance through the Force from a presence she recognized as Anakin. Where was—

She heard a familiar snap-hiss sound from where they had just come through and saw Anakin drop down from above, slicing a probe droid in half before it could turn all the way around the corner and see their party. Anakin shot her a look, one corner of his mouth twitching upwards.

"I told you I'd focus on my position. Stop worrying so much Zee," he said with that half-smirk of his. Zelina rolled her eyes dramatically in response.

"I am beginning to admire the design of this fortress; it's rather formidable to evade," Tarkin said from just in front of Zelina.

"How can you admire such a horrible place?" Ahsoka asked from up ahead, surprised.

"You reveal your short-sightedness; this ordeal only demonstrates how effective facilities like the Citadel are. Pity it ended up in Separatist hands and not ours," Tarkin finished with a shake of his head. Anakin pushed forward from the end of the line to the front, coming to walk even with Tarkin.

"He has a point," Anakin said to Ahsoka in passing. Zelina decided just to keep her comment to herself.

Zelina actually had to agree with both of them. Facilities like this were horrible, but there were several criminals Zelina could think of that needed to be put in a place like this where they didn't have a chance of escape. It was a rather nasty dilemma.

"All right Snips; I need you to lead the group. I'll catch up," Anakin said. "Zelina, you take my spot at the rear of the group."

"Wait...where are you going?" Ahsoka asked him curiously.

"Obi-Wan's not here, so someone has to cover our tracks," Anakin responded easily.

Ahsoka smirked at his retreating back. "I guess it's a good thing I came after all," she said smartly. Zelina chuckled.

"Come on Little Miss Know It All, to the front," Zelina laughed, pushing her forward.

"Hey, who are you calling little?" Ahsoka snapped back playfully.

"You, young Padawan Snips. I believe you had an order?" Zelina teased.

Ahsoka grumbled indiscernibly under her breath, which only caused Zelina to laugh a little more.

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

"I am concerned that the Jedi have elected this...child to lead the group," Tarkin said with a sniffle, like he'd smelled something particularly foul.

Probably finally smelled his own foul stench, Zelina thought bitterly before she plastered on a smile and came even with Tarkin.

"She's extremely effective Captain, you have no need to worry. She's lead a few solo missions by now, and if something does show up that she can't handle, I'm still here to keep things under control," Zelina assured him, her eyes trained forward on Ahsoka up ahead.

Rex decided to throw in his two credit's worth as well. "I've served with her many times, and I trust her Captain."

Ahsoka turned the corner up ahead, and her muttered words echoed ominously towards them. "Uh-oh..." When Zelina reached her, Ahsoka turned to her with a worried look. "Dead end."

Zelina smirked. "You weren't assigned to this mission at all, were you Ahsoka? You just snuck aboard when no one was looking."

"What does that have to do with—"

"Because if you had been assigned, you would have been briefed, and if you had been briefed, you would have known to blow the wall," Zelina said with a smirk. She turned around to face their small party. "Cruiser, bring those charges up here."

"On it, General," Cruiser said, snapping to attention. He and Echo rushed past them, setting the charges strategically along the wall. While they set the charges, Rex peered around the corner to make sure that there was no one coming up on their rear.

A few moments of awkward silence, Rex suddenly shouted a warning. "Look out!"

A second later, blaster fire filled the cavern. Zelina and Ahsoka both activated their lightsabers, rushing to the back of the group to stop the super battle droids that were headed towards them. "Any time now boys!" Zelina called back. Anakin dropped down from above, cutting through the three super battle droids easily. Up ahead, those assassin droids on steroids were making a return, this time equipped with shields.

"When is that wall going to be blown?" Anakin barked. He was answered by the sound of the wall finally being blown to bits, and Zelina grinned.

"Now," she said simply. She turned to the men. "Everybody, through the wall, go!"

Cruiser appeared around the corner, two thermal detonators in hand, and Zelina's eyes widened. "Get down!" he shouted, and everyone did accordingly, flattening themselves on the ground as Cruiser tossed the detonators behind the line of assassin droids just before they exploded, sending metal bits of droids and chunks of rock flying in all different directions. Anakin was the first on his feet, hauling Zelina and Ahsoka with him as they all rushed for the wall half of their team had already made their way through.

"There's probably more coming, so we need to go as fast as we can," Anakin said sternly, making sure that everyone got on their feet and through the hole.

"This mission keeps getting better by the minute," Zelina muttered under her breath, helping Cruiser and Rex over a sharp ledge towards the other side.

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

"This pipe leads to the top of the ridge, where R2 will pick us up and get us out of here," Anakin declared as Ahsoka knelt down on a large pipe that went straight up, likely able to hold three people across with how wide it was.

"That's assuming something hasn't gone wrong," Zelina quipped. "Have we heard anything from R2 or Obi-Wan?"

"No, not for a while," Anakin admitted. "They might just be in need of radio silence right now."

"Or something went wrong," Zelina quipped. Anakin shot her a look. "Hey, I'm just keeping it realistic, especially with our luck."

"The hatch is up there," Anakin said out loud for everyone to hear before he jumped and hefted himself up onto the walkway towards the large hatch, swinging the door open wide. Zelina started helping everyone get up onto the walkway with him. "Everybody in."

"Don't use your lights; make sure your weapons are locked," Zelina called as everyone filed forward. She was doing her best to ignore the smell. "The smallest electronic pulse will ignite the tube," she warned.

"I hope someone tells the droids that," Tarkin said sourly as he stepped inside. Zelina couldn't help but snicker a little at that, looking up at Anakin.

"He's such a pleasure to work with," she said sarcastically. Anakin simply rolled his eyes.

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

Ahsoka continued to act as their scout as the group finally leveled out, and she nimbly rushed ahead to make sure everything was clear while the rest of the group stayed together and kept at a normal, steady pace. Anakin, Zelina, and Tarkin were all gathered towards the front of the group, trying to ward off the smell in their own ways. Zelina had been tempted to pull off her tabard and wrap it around the bottom half of her face, but had settled to copying Anakin and just covered her nose with her hand.

Tarkin sighed impatiently. "How much longer are we going to wander through a tunnel in the dark?"

"Until we reach the exit, obviously," Zelina responded immediately. Tarkin's expression soured.

"I didn't ask for your attitude, General."

"You don't have to be such a hotshuh," Zelina said, purposely saying nuisance in Huttese so that Tarkin wouldn't understand. Anakin fixed her with a look and Zelina shrugged, pushing forward a little just in case Tarkin did happen to understand some extent of Huttese.

It appeared he didn't, as Zelina noticed a momentary light of confusion in his eyes before it was snuffed out by Tarkin's annoyance. "I do not approve of such a girl being a General in this army. It's a wonder she's made it this long."

Zelina bristled, but Tarkin had hit a nerve with Anakin, who rounded on the captain almost immediately. "Zelina is one of the best Generals in the Jedi Order, and has a higher success rate than most of the Generals in this army. She's saved countless lives, including my own and the Chancellor's, and on multiple occasions has done it with the minimal casualties. She's not just some girl, she's a strong woman with many different skills that makes her an invaluable asset to this war, and you would do well to remember that she is one of the people here to get you out of the Citadel in one piece, and one of the few that can do so successfully. That's why she's on this mission in the first place," Anakin said sharply, jabbing a finger at Tarkin's chest to emphasize his point. Tarkin's gaze hardened, and he looked like he was about to snap right back when Ahsoka's voice interrupted the growing argument.

"I think I've found the way out," she called. Anakin turned away from Tarkin with a scowl, officially dis-enchanted by the captain.

"Lead the way then," Zelina said smoothly, glancing back at the men. They shifted restlessly, obviously eager to get out of the foul smelling tube, like her.

"Come on," Ahsoka said, leading the way forward until they came to another hatch a few paces down, situated on the ceiling of the tube. Ahsoka stretched upwards, opening the hatch and peeking out above to see if the coast was clear.

"What do you see, Snips?" Anakin asked, standing beside Zelina just below Ahsoka. Ahsoka hefted the hatch all the way off.

"The coast is clear."

"Any sign of Obi-Wan and the shuttle?" Anakin asked.

"No, I don't see him or R2 anywhere," Ahsoka called down. Zelina lightly punched Anakin's arm.

"Told you," she said with a smirk. Anakin shushed her, though he was smiling just a little.

There was the sound of a lightsaber activating up above, and the next second a droid arm fell from above, landing on the metal railing beside Tarkin. Zelina cast her gaze towards the hatch. "I think we have company," Zelina mused.

"We've got to go!" Ahsoka called down, her blade moving swiftly to deflect the blaster bolts that were flying towards her from something above.

"There could be a whole battalion of droids out there!" Tarkin exclaimed.

"Better than hiding in a fuel line," Anakin responded with a bite to his voice, already making his way up with Zelina to the surface. Zelina's blades were both activated before she even reached the surface, which was a good thing since it didn't take long for the droids outside to start firing at her too. The three Jedi and the hatch acted as a shield while the men and Tarkin climbed out of the fuel line and slid to the ground below, making their way to the shuttle with as much speed as humanly possible. Once the group was clear of the line, Ahsoka, then Zelina, then Anakin all slid down to the ground behind them, taking up a rear guard as they rushed away from the fuel line and the droids towards the cover that the rest of the group had found. Of course, they ended up with Tarkin.

"The plan's been compromised! The shuttle's not coming!" Tarkin shouted over all the noise.

"Throw me a charge!" Anakin shouted, blatantly ignoring Tarkin. Rex reached into his pack and tossed one towards him, which Anakin promptly activated before he momentarily rolled out from behind their cover and tossed as hard as he could. A few seconds later the fuel line exploded in a huge fireball, with chunks of pipe and droid flying everywhere, some of it still on fire. Everyone stayed huddled for a few moment, hands over their heads until most of the smoke had managed to clear. They jumped about a foot in the air when a demolished spider droid landed with a thud just a few meters away from them.

"Let's go; time for plan B," Anakin said cheerily.

"Why am I not surprised?" Zelina said in amusement.

"There's a plan B?" Tarkin asked skeptically.

"There's always a backup plan," Anakin said easily.

"Especially with us," Zelina muttered under her breath, though she wasn't sure if anyone heard her.

"We'll meet R2 at Obi-Wan's position," Anakin said, kicking a droid part out of his way as he started towards the general direction the shuttle should be. If it was even still there.

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

Not surprisingly, they found Obi-Wan and R2's group in the middle of some very heavy fire at the airfield, with both groups collectively taking cover just mere meters away from the shuttle, unable to reach it. Their group rushed forward, with Ahsoka, Anakin, Zelina, and Tarkin all rushing towards Obi-Wan and Piell's location while the men all spread out to join the other soldiers at varying positions.

"Sorry I'm late," Anakin apologized as he crouched beside Obi-Wan.

"We ran into some difficulties, but it appears there weren't nearly as many difficulties for us as there was for you," Zelina quipped, peering around the corner at the droids and turrets that were mercilessly opening fire on them.

"How nice of you to join us," Obi-Wan said sarcastically.

"The ship is surrounded!" Ahsoka called out in a rather grouchy voice. Zelina snickered.

"I think that part is a given Ahsoka, they're not going to make it easy for us to escape."

"We need to launch a full forward assault and take that vessel," Tarkin said in a voice full of unwavering authority.

"We may have a bigger problem," Obi-Wan said sharply. "Those turrets. If we don't take them out they will use them to destroy the shuttle and prevent our escape."

"Which is precisely why we should get aboard that shuttle and use the weapons systems to decimate those droids!" Tarkin snapped back.

"Whatever we're going to do, we better do it fast," Anakin said grouchily, standing up.

There were way too many high ranking officers here for cooperation; that much was obvious to Zelina. They'd have to compromise. "Why don't we do both? Anakin, Piell, and Ahsoka will focus on taking out the turrets, while Tarkin, Obi-Wan, and I can take back the shuttle, that way we make progress on both fronts," Zelina said firmly, peeking out at the forces that were firing at them once again.

More droids came in from the sky, forcing the group to separate. Hopefully they would take her advice, but then again, this group was full of hard-headed people. She saw Anakin and Piell jump towards the droids in the air as she hurried across open range to reach Obi-Wan, grabbing his elbow. "We've got to take out those droids by the shuttle, come on!"

They both rushed forward, coming around from different directions, dodging the blaster bolts as they advanced on the droids that were gathered around the droids. Zelina's heart was pounding in her ears as she prayed to the Force she wouldn't get shot, jumping on the rather large spider droid by the landing ramp and plunging her lightsaber into its domed head before she was forced to jump off and out of the way from some rather heavy fire. She rolled behind some assassin droids, cutting off their legs with a clean swipe of her violet blade and cutting off their heads with a swipe of her green blade. She deactivated the green blade, hooking it to her belt and snatching one of the cursed shield they had to deflect the blaster bolts raining down on her. She saw Obi-Wan having some difficulty off to her side.

"Obi-Wan!" she called, tossing another shield towards him. He accepted it gratefully, and the two continued to plow onwards like gladiators. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw an assassin droid break away from the group and jump up towards one of the turrets. She reached out in the Force, trying to find Anakin.

"Ani!" she bellowed. "The turret!"

Anakin and Piell swooped out of nowhere from the sky, allowing Zelina to focus again on dodging blaster bolts and cutting down droids. An explosion a few seconds later, though, called her attention back tot eh turret. Anakin and Piell had been shot down. They were fine, but the droid was aiming the turret at the unguarded shuttle and she wasn't sure anyone was close enough to stop it in time.

"Get back!" she shouted, pushing an assassin droid off of her and backing up immediately. Off to her side, she saw a trooper rushing towards the shuttle, shield in hand.

"Echo, look out!" Rex all but screamed. Zelina tossed her shield aside, rushing forward with all her Jedi speed and crossing right into the line of fire of the turret towards Echo.

"Zelina!" Anakin screamed.

The turret fired.

Zelina jumped towards Echo.

And a blazing pain ripped up her back, causing her to fall into black nothingness before she could even figure out what had just happened.