Artwork by papayoufr on DeviantArt.

This chapter is cowritten by  -JustADaydreamer-

Anakin was restless as the Republic gunship plunged deeper down towards the surface of the desert planet Er'Kit. There was a disturbance in the Force down there, too vague for him to make out much, but its character was definitely sinister and foreboding.

This disturbance, this feeling of vague dread, was more than just his stress about the mission, though it was certainly a tricky and delicate one. Senator Heiss Unduli, a notorious Separatist, wasn't exactly well liked by either the Senate or the Jedi, but when he announced to the Jedi Council that he had good reason to believe that Senator Amidala's next diplomatic mission was a trap, Anakin was willing to hear him out.

As a matter of fact, he was the only one willing to hear him out.

So typical of the Council, to be so be so blinded by prejudice sometimes that they were willing to risk a Senator's safety just to avoid having to take a Separatist seriously. At least Obi-Wan had come around in the end, figuring that if Anakin was too stubborn to listen to the Council then he might as well have some reliable backup.

There was certainly a high risk of treachery in this situation. Padmé was pretty good at getting out of bad situations, but some situations were too extreme for one person to escape from alone. She had been in all sorts of negotiations with shady-sounding people before, but why did this particular meeting with a Representative Balian Curth feel so much more threatening?

A clone nearby, no doubt picking up on Anakin's tense silence, cracked a joke, something about the nastiness of sand planets. Anakin was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice, but Ahsoka chuckled a little and tilted her head towards him. "Chin up, Skyguy," she said. "The Senator is a tough one."

Anakin snapped out of his reverie and glanced towards Ahsoka. Just a year ago, he found it so easy to have fun, but it was somehow getting harder and harder as the war dragged on. But he tried not to let these thoughts show on his face, and instead cheerfully agreed with her remark. "That she is- she's successfully come out of negotiations with people like Jabba the Hutt before. Hopefully this meeting is real and not a trap... I'm just hoping we'll get to her and everything will be all right."

"It will be, Master," she said with a tone of assurance that she was suddenly not feeling. Truth be told, she had a very bad feeling about this place and more than likely he was feeling it too. The twisted feeling in the pit of her stomach wasn't getting any better.

Her eyes shifted downwards, and then to Anakin again. Trying to read him. Sometimes she could read him like a book but other times it seemed to her as if he was carved from stone; stoic, impassive, and usually deep in thought. The concern was evident, but was there more?

It was pretty obvious to anyone who spent a lot of time around Anakin -- and she did -- that he and the Senator were close friends. It didn't surprise her. Padmé had been there when Master Qui-Gon had discovered Anakin on Tatooine as a boy, and she helped free him and take him back to the Jedi Temple for training. The connection between them was strong, and any decent Jedi could sense it, but Ahsoka still remained ignorant of the full extent of that connection.

Meanwhile, Obi-Wan listened to this conversation in quiet amusement. He didn't join in—he was trying to meditate, prepare himself for whatever was ahead. But he could sense a great deal of stress coming mainly from Anakin and now Ahsoka seemed to be picking up on it. At least the two of them were trying to lightly chat their way through this tense moment; hopefully they could be a source of stability for each other. An unlikely, but good team, those two were. Not too unlike himself and Anakin, he realized.

Just then, that disturbance in the Force intensified rather suddenly, seeming to emerge out of nowhere. Something suspicious was definitely going on. "Do you feel that?" Anakin asked Ahsoka and Obi-Wan, trying to keep his voice steady and disguise his rising nerves. They both nodded.

"I feel it too," Ahsoka said. "It's strong." They were right to come after Padmé then, she believed. Truthfully she had been hesitant about this whole mission at first, but perhaps the Separatist Senator really did want to get rid of the Renegade threat. After all, it was becoming a major problem for both sides of the war.

But there was something that Anakin was pretty sure neither Obi-Wan nor Ahsoka were feeling right now. There was a broad, vague disturbance that they all seemed to be feeling, but there was also a different sort of disturbance in the Force that sent a shiver down his spine. It carried a strong sensation of fear and danger... and it felt a lot like Padmé. She was his wife. He could easily recognize her presence in the Force if it was nearby. A pale look came to his face as he realized she was probably in danger.

And truly enough, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka weren't so close with Padmé that they could sense that exact disturbance, but they could both observe the change in Anakin's countenance. They both thought the same thing: he didn't say anything, so they left him alone. Obi-Wan, especially, knew far too well that Anakin was a terrible liar and if one asked him too many questions about certain topics, he would become awkward and start making up stories that didn't quite make sense.

Instead, Obi-Wan changed the subject to something he knew they were all thinking. "This could be a trap," he noted, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

The others nodded in agreement. "That senator is a Separatist, after all," Ahsoka said, "and we all felt the disturbance in the Force the moment we arrived. What if he didn't tell us something? Something crucial?"

She felt like she already knew the answer, though. We'll be cautious, we don't have a choice. Turning back isn't an option. Or something like that.

"We have put a great deal of faith in this Senator Unduli," Obi-Wan agreed, looking pointedly at Anakin. "Politicians in general are not to be trusted, especially not Separatists, and we did know this from the beginning, which is why we are taking precautions." He gestured to the group of clones standing around in the gunship.

"Hey," Anakin said, crossing his arms defensively, "if all this goes horribly wrong and we all die, don't blame me. It's just that I, unlike the Jedi Council, actually care if someone tells us that Senator Amidala might be in danger—"

"Anakin. I never said I'd blame you if Senator Unduli does, in fact, betray us. Ahsoka and I were well aware of the risks and have joined you quite willingly."

Ahsoka had been opening her mouth to agree with Obi-Wan when the ship lurched and heavy gunfire began shooting past them. "What was that?" She shouted out, retaining her balance as the ship rocked again and began taking great swerves to dodge. "How would they already know we're here? Blasted traitorous Senator!"

Perhaps that was an unfair assessment. Given the planet they were on, it could have been any scummy person who decided to fire at them for fun, but she never trusted Senator Unduli ever since she learned that he was a Republic turncoat, despite his insistence that he only wanted the Separatists and the Republic to work together to get rid of the Renegades. They were a danger to everyone, he had said, and if the two sides could come to together even just long enough to get past this... Bah! Ahsoka had been suspicious of him this whole time and now she was believing herself to have been right to feel that way. At least it was exciting...

"Generals! That other ship appears to be a Separatist gunship," the clone pilot announced from the cockpit.

So much for open-mindedness, then. This would change things. Somehow managing to keep her mouth shut for now, since there would be time to curse the Senator if they all survived this, Ahsoka turned to look at Anakin to see what he would say and suggest on the matter. They hadn't brought enough people to fight a whole bloody army, but someone had to go after Padmé.

Anakin wasn't thinking much nicer thoughts than Ahsoka. Unduli was a Separatist, which automatically put him in the "sleemo" category in his mind. Count Dooku, Nute Gunray, Heiss Undulli, they were all the same.

"Not too surprising," he said to the others in the ship, "but it looks like our only choice is to spring the trap." This time he was able to smirk a bit at Obi-Wan, since the two of them had sprung many traps together during the course of this war.

Turbulence and gunfire made the ship shake violently, but Anakin made his way up to the cockpit to instruct the pilot. "We need to try to land, but we can't risk the Separatists following us to Senator Amidala. Take us in as close as you can. Ahsoka and I can jump out early if you can't land completely."

"Roger that, General," the clone at the cockpit replied, steering the ship through the gunfire. He was doing a good job, but Anakin longed to be manning the controls himself...

Glancing over in Obi-Wan's direction, Anakin fully expected to see a head shake, an eyebrow raise, or some other look of disapproval. He didn't generally seem to like it when Anakin jumped out of moving vehicles. But surprisingly enough, the Jedi Master was nodding, though he looked grim and held tightly onto one of the handlebars. Was Obi-Wan, perhaps, becoming a little more lenient? Or was the war just making everyone desperate for any sort of action?

At any rate, Anakin was glad to be able to get to the meeting himself. He felt a strong need to see Padmé personally, find out for himself that she was all right. It would be a good thing to have Ahsoka by his side as well.

"All right, Snips, you ready for an emergency dismount?" he said with a slight grin. "I think this is about as low to the ground as we'll get. Wait for my signal..." He closed his eyes for a second, using the Force to get a feel for the environment, until after a few seconds he sensed an opening. "Jump!"

No sooner had he said the word and jumped out when a sudden blast to the ship caused it to shake violently. Was that damage to the wing? He was moving too fast to tell the extent of the damage.

Ahsoka was prepared to jump after her Master when the ship took a huge lurch and knocked her off balance, forcing her to step back to keep from falling, and by the time she recovered the ship was falling and they were too far away to jump. She braced for the impact of the ship hitting the ground. A horrible crash sounded and there was a scream from an unfortunate clone in the back.... and then they could see that Separatist battle droids were already pouring out of the other ship.

Ahsoka immediately brought up her comm, contacting Anakin. "Master! We were hit, I can't make it to you. There's too many clankers!"

Already they were badly outnumbered since they hadn't prepared for a full Separatist ambush and now, even if she could make it out of here and up to Anakin, that would leave the clones and Obi-Wan with one less fighter, and one less Jedi at that. A quick glance revealed that they only had about twelve clones ready to fight. It seemed as though one or two hadn't made it out of the crashed gunship.

She ignited her lightsabers, glancing briefly at Obi-Wan. "Afraid you're stuck with me, Master Kenobi," she called out. Anakin could handle himself. Hopefully, he'd hurry so they could get out of here, though she had no idea how exactly they were going to make it off of this planet with their ship so badly damaged. The situation wasn't looking so good already.

Upon receiving Ahsoka's message, Anakin wondered if she, Obi-Wan and the few clone troopers on board would be able to handle what seemed to be a small Separatist army. They were all competent fighters and Anakin trusted them, but they were a small group. He felt rather torn leaving his friends to go after Padmé like this, but someone had to go find her.

A presence in the Force, which had been strong a minute ago, suddenly dissipated into nothing. Anakin realized with dread that someone had been killed aboard the Republic Gunship, and he could see it crash land in the distance. Already he regretted leaving them; they were far outnumbered as it was, and Anakin knew they could have used his help.

He forced himself to keep his mind on his own mission, which was to find Padmé. Back on the Battle of Geonosis at the beginning of the war, Obi-Wan had reminded him how Padmé always pressed on and did her duty, even when she lost people she cared about. Those wise words from his mentor were the only thing that kept him grounded in situations like this.

The meeting between Padmé and this Representative Curth (whoever he was) was located in an office building in a small town, which was some distance away still. After checking his holomap, Anakin confirmed which direction he had to go, and it seemed to match up with a dark, but subtle, disturbance in the Force. Not wanting to waste any time, he took off at a run. Hopefully he could get to Padmé, the love of his life, before anything bad could happen to her.

(Author's Note: Welcome to the first installment of the Forsaken Renegades! Our heroes are already in trouble and it's only the first chapter, mwahaha. Please vote on this chapter and comment and tell us what you think so far! Thanks for reading!)