Anakin didn't know what to think. 

This was the first time Ahsoka's face and headtails were in full view. She beheld the Togurtan beauty and tattoos on her orange skin and her lekku's were vibrantly striped in a blue and white pattern. Shallow horns topped her small head decorated by a simple headdress from which her Padawan chain dangled. 

What Anakin was not expecting were the scars. Numerous marks marred her otherwise flawless skin. Battle scars were not uncommon on soldiers, he himself sported many. The afflictions on Ahsoka were far too many to have been battle wounds, especially for someone so young and inexperienced. 

At first, Anakin thought it could have been clumsiness. But remembering Ahsoka's feat after falling off the edge of the platform changed his mind. 

  Someone can't be abusing her, right? Anakin wondered. He almost dismissed the accusation. Although he was born into slavery until Master Qui-Gon Jinn helped him win his freedom, he wasn't familiar with abuse. Watto was a kinder master than most, and it was unheard of in the Temple. 

Ahsoka quickly flipped her hood back over her montrals and jumped to her feet. Anakin swallowed down his questions. If Ahsoka was in such a situation, they could deal with it later. First, they needed to get off the planet alive. 

He strode to the door with the Padawan at his heels. With their getaway destroyed and with no means of contacting another, perhaps they could find Rex. 

  "Master Skywalker! Stinky is still in a bad way. Our mission's to get him back alive, remember?"

  "So what are you saying? That we leave the men to die?"

  "Doesn't the mission come first?"

  "Answer the question, Snips. This is a man you know. Whatever happened to covering one another's backs?"

Ouch. That hurt, but Ahsoka's comeback never faltered. 

  "Whatever happened, Master Skywalker, to 'command means being prepared to get troops killed'?" Of course she didn't want to leave them, but for now and probably never, she didn't have enough of an emotional tie to the 501st. Anakin was letting his emotions cloud his judgement. Master Krell may have never taught her anything, but Masters such as Plo Koon and Yoda taught her and the other Younglings that much. 

  "Okay, I said that, but 'prepared' doesn't mean leaving them before you've exhausted all the options."

  "If saving Rex means Stinky dies, doesn't that make the death of every trooper we—you lost a senseless waste?"

  "What if the slug dies anyway?"

Ahsoka was surprised Anakin's patience lasted this long. She was pushing her boundaries, and she knew it. Pong Krell would have lashed out at her first sentence, threatening to cut out her sharp tongue with his lightsabers if she didn't stop arguing. But Anakin Skywalker wasn't Pong Krell, was he? She was beginning to realize that most people weren't like him: Skywalker, Kenobi, Rex, the list continues. Ahsoka at least expected him to shout her down, blow up, but he didn't. He must really care about his battalion to try to help her understand instead of shutting her up and forcing her to come along. He defiantly knew how to earn one's respect. 

  "Rex won't thank you for it."

  "Okay, Snips, open your comlink and tell him."

  "What, me?"

  "Yes. Comm Rex and tell him you've made me change my mind, because you've convinced me that that neither he nor his men are important enough to save."

Harsh. Ahsoka winced. Yet, somehow, she could tell that this was Anakin's way of teaching her. 

  "Master..."

  "If you want to  make a tough decision that costs men their lives, you better be prepared to look them in the eye and tell them why. Besides," he continued, "we need Rex to help us find a ship." 

  "Master Skywalker, that's not very convincing."

  "Okay, I'm not leaving him while we still have a chance of getting the Hutt out and the troopers. He wouldn't abandon me. He wouldn't abandon you. That's what holds this army together. Break that unspoken promise, and we might as well surrender."

Ahsoka chewed on that. Krell taught her, indirectly, that doing whatever it takes, no matter how extreme, to follow orders is what wins wars. Apparently, Krell didn't believe, nor did she stop to think, that the loyalty and trust of the men were just as important as the victories. Without teamwork and reliance, victory would be lightyears out of reach. 

Fifty meters into the corridor, R2-D2 sounded a warning. Two Destroyer Droids rolled into the scene and uncoiled, pointing their guns at the two Jedi while protected by a blue shield.

  "Great, rolling death balls," Ahsoka groaned. 

The droids opened fire, pushing the Jedi back past the door. 

  "R2, the door!" Anakin yelled. The faithful little Astromech rolled to the control panel and sealed the thick door between them and their foes. Just before he did, Ahsoka spotted a humanoid calmly approaching them from between the Destroyer Droids. 

  "Who was that?" Ahsoka asked. 

  "It's Ventress," Anakin answered. "At least they're sending the management to kill us now." 

Suddenly, two hot, red lightsabers plunged through the thick metal and began to slowly cut a way through.

  "I think now's a good time for a retreat. Meet me in the jungle."

  Ahsoka gazed over the edge of the platform. "There's a lot of things in the jungle, too, carnivorous and poisonous things... oh, and spider droids."

Two of said droids fired their cannons at the platform; it quaked under their feet. Strange, huge bugs nested underneath the overhanging landing platform scattered.

  "Well... the choice is to have the platform shot out from under us, or stand here and wait for Ventress, or go over the side and meet the spider droids."

  "Can I answer none of the above, Skyguy?" 

From behind him, Rotta was wailing intermittently. From his limited battlefield first-aid training, Anakin recalled that a noisy casualty was less concern than a quiet one. As long as they were screaming, the were conscious and alive. It was the silent and unconscious ones who were in the most trouble. 

  "Carry on complaining, my smelly friend," Anakin muttered over his shoulder.

He locked eyes with Ahsoka for a moment. She was his responsibility. A soldier, yes, but one under his charge. Still young with her whole life ahead of her, not that it was very different with a war stretching further out with each disappointment and struggle after another. Still, she didn't have to be in this situation, waiting for death to finish cutting through the doors or crumble the foundation below them. 

An apology sat on his tongue, but before he could open his mouth, she interrupted. 

  "What's he pointing at?"

  "He's pointing?" 

  "There! Another landing platform."

  Anakin followed her finger till he found the other platform. "With a ship on it."

  "So how are we going to get over there?" 

  After a moment, Anakin asked his droid companion, "R2, can you generate an audio signal that matches a larty's drive profile?" The Astromech beeped in confirmation. 

  "Master Skywalker, just tell me..." Ahsoka asked wearily. 

  "We're calling in one of those insects, and we're going to ride it out of here."

  Ahsoka just nodded gravely. Maybe she was just too tired to make any objections. "Okay. I've done a lot of crazier things today. Why the sound effects?"

  "The insects think it's a mating call. They were all over the larty, remember?" 

  "Can you steer? Provided we can hang on, of course."

  "Force-pull here, Force-push there. As long as we take off. That's my priority."

A bug responded to R2's mating call. It worked up the courage to hover just below the platform. With Rotta on his back, Anakin jumped and landed on the insect's back. It bucked like a wild horse. Anakin struggled to control their ride so that Ahsoka could hop on as well. He failed to notice that Ventress had finally broken through, leaving only an inexperienced Padawan to face the deadly assassin.

Bang! The platform trembled. Ahsoka whirled around to find herself facing Asaj Ventress, Dooku's assassin. The Nightsister twirled her twin lightsabers as Ahsoka switched on her own with a snap hiss.

  "So, Padawan, he's abandoned you." Ventress, grabbed the Astro with the Force and flung him at the feet of her droids. She didn't trust it. "It's a Jedi habit."

The assassin rushed at Ahsoka Tano. Green and red clashed in a shower of sparks. Their eyes locked, but Ventress felt no pity. She didn't care that she was fighting a child. But Skywalker was too fond of his heroic reputation to let a child die in his place. Ventress will draw him out. 

  "Where are you, Skywalker?" she called out. "Or would you rather let a novice do the dirty for you?" 

Forty-five seconds into the duel, the impatient Ventress learned much about her opponent's fighting style; a combination of rapid switches and feints, darting from one side of the battle ground to the other, as if she was trying to exhaust her opponent enough and dart in to deliver the fatal blow. It was very Togrutan. 

Bored with her prey, Ventress twisted Ahsoka's blade out of her hand before slamming her against the platform and holding her there with the Force. 

  "Where is Skywalker?" the assassin growled. She pressed one foot against the Youngling's chest. Ahsoka struggled. The corner of Ventress' lips quirked, enjoying the feeling of crushing her victim's ribs. "Very well. I can wait. I can start loping off body parts, Skywalker. Your call."