Fandom The Forsaken Renegades (SW TCW): CLOSED

[Just A Daydreamer]

Padme Amidala | The Anaheim | Senator
Human |Tagging: Anakin |

---

The whole trip had been a nightmare to her too, though not quite to the extent of what Anakin was suffering right now. They had been able to easily stabalize her condition and she was no longer at any risk of death, though the trauma she had suffered under the extended torture of that Dark Force user was significant and would not go away for quite some time, if ever. The pain would eventually fade into memory, but even memories could hurt sometimes. Regardless, she was alive and that was more than she had expected to be. Her consciousness was slowly returning to her after having faded in and out of it for what felt like days, though she knew it couldn't have been that long. And whatever the medical droid had given her -- a properly updated medical droid, this time -- it was helping ease the pain and had finally put her into a pleasant, dreamless sleep for a while, which she was now starting to wake from. Her body felt numb, but in a comfortable way. For a while she just lay there and stared at the ceiling, trying to sort her thoughts out. Her mind felt as if she was still in a dream, a bit hazy, but the more she concentrated the more she found herself able to bring herself back to earth. That did mean she could feel the pain a bit more strongly now, but the drugs continued to numb the majority of it.

Finally she ventured to move her head and winced only slightly at the pain the movement caused, blinking to adjust her sight to the sudden movement. She was alone in a stark white room, white enough to hurt her eyes so she closed them again for a moment, only opening them when she heard a faint mechanical noise in the corner. Apparently, she was not alone. The medical droid was still in the room, keeping a close eye on her and from the looks of it, fixing up another pain medication to inject into her. Right after she had finally gotten most of her senses back to feeling somewhat normal, and she frowned just slightly at the sight.

"Don't," she said weakly, waving the needle away as the droid approached.

"It will help ease the pain," it insisted, coming forward for another attempt but she waved him away again, more stubbornly this time.

She shook her head. "No... not yet. Later, I promise, but I need to know what happened to Anakin." She tried to sit up but the droid pushed her back down, rather forcefully.

"Very well," it said, a rather posh model for a medical droid. "I will wait on the drug, but if you try to get up I will have to use force. Understood?"

Padme was in no conidition to argue or to fight, so she nodded relunctantly. "What news is there of... him? Them all?" She remembered hearing Ahsoka and Obi-Wan, but that could have been hours or even days ago for all she knew and anything could have happened since then. She did, however, remember very clearly what had happened to Anakin and what he had suffered in order to save her and he had been on the brink of death the last she remembered. If the news was bad...

Instead of answering, the droid left the room and she let out a frustrated groan. Again she tried to get up since the droid wasn't there to stop her, but her own weakness let her down this time and the relaxant drug was still in her system, leaving her with limited ability to move. A few minutes later though, the door opened again and it was Obi-Wan who came in. Eagerly she reached for him, desperate to know he was truly there and alive and well and desperate for the news he might bring her, though at the same time scared to know, and he took the hand she offered to him. No one was there to watch them. What harm was there in showing comfort to an old friend? The touch of another human was like a lifeline to her, much more comforting than the cold and lifeless metal she had felt from the droid. Anakin's right hand may have been metal, but it was still different than the touch from any droid. There was life behind it, and even warmth in its own way, and she could feel the love from the gentlest press of his hand and from the tender way his fingers would caress her face. He may have hated the hand but she had grown to love it as she loved the rest of him. Metal or not, it was still Anakin and she could always tell the difference between his hand and the touch of any other metal, no matter how similar, even with her eyes shut. She would have done anything to have him here with her now, for him to tell her himself that he was just fine and it had all been a bad dream.

But Anakin was not here. Still, she was grateful for the comfort that the familiar face of Obi-Wan brought her in this sterile, cold room. He looked worn and a little scraped here and there, but clearly he'd had time to clean up himself. So some time had passed, then. How much? What had she missed?

"Obi-Wan, please--"

He didn't wait for her to finish. He knew what she was going to say and answered her question, though he didn't bother to explain how he knew. He didn't tell her that both he and Ahsoka had seen her hand in his when they found the two of them nearly buried in sand, and he wasn't going to. Neither was Ahsoka. They'd agreed on that in private before he rather forcefully sent her off to rest and clean up, something she was in desperate need of. As was he, but he had other things to attend to first -- namely, Anakin and now Padme, since she had finally awoken.

"Anakin is alive."

She breathed a sigh of relief.

"But... he is not well. So far they have kept hiim in stable enough condition, but we don't know what is going to happen. I don't wish to trouble you, but it is only right that you should know the truth."

Padme sank deeply into her pillows, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall. She couldn't even get up right now to see him. "Thank you, Obi-Wan. Thank you."

He stayed with her then until the droid returned to lull her back to sleep, and she didn't fight it this time. Neither of them spoke after that but his very presence comforted her more than she could express, and it wasn't until she was asleep that he left her to go and rest himself for the first time since they had left for this doomed mission in the first place. To see Padme and Anakin -- oh, Anakin -- like this weighed more deeply on him more than any of the heavy responsiblities that being a General for the Clone Army and a Jedi Master could offer, which was troubling in its own right. The further Anakin seemed to slip from them, the more he found himself desparate to cling on, and that was not the Jedi way.

Today had brought up far more questions than it had answered. Questions that were becoming problems. Questions that desperately needed answers of their own.

 

[AuroraRogersSkywalker]

Count Dooku | Separatist Head of State| Age is only a number| Human
Dooku's Palace, Serenno | Tagging: General Grievous

"Oh, bother."

A frustrated sigh escaped from the lips of the Sith Lord as he stood contemplating the recent transmissions he had been receiving from his droid army on Er'Kit. Technically, Grievous was to deliver the final report. But that didn't mean Count Dooku didn't like to keep an eye on things himself: he had many resources, ranging from hidden cameras on the droids to periodic reports to, of course, energies and disturbances in the Force.

None of the droids could confirm or deny that they actually had the plans. That was Grievous' job, after all, and his report was to come later. However, Dooku had an undeniable feeling that this mission would not turn out as they had hoped. And to say the fact that the plans were missing was bothersome, was a severe understatement. Dooku's only hope was that no one except him and Lord Sidious would fully understand the true weight and power of these plans. An average onlooker would be able to easily understand that the plans were for some sort of battle station, but could they possibly know the scale of it? That the battle station would be the size of a small moon and have the power to destroy entire planets? The Count dearly hoped not.

Even though the actual status of the plans had yet to be confirmed or denied, there were many other things he did know about, mostly relating to the status of the battle. He watched through hidden cameras as the primitive village dwellings collapsed. This was probably for the better, as the village of Aganar was little more than an eyesore, home to low-life mercenary scum.

However, there was something much more curious going on, and all the droids couldn't stop chattering about it.

That, of course, was the appearance of the mysterious "Pantoran Jedi."

The video feed quality was poor, so Dooku couldn't see the figure well enough to confirm his suspicions, but all this seemed like a rather extravagant coincidence.

The loss of his secret apprentice, Amras Von, had been difficult. The creature had been meant to be a weapon, and a powerful one, one that could possibly hedge against any threat of betrayal from Lord Sidious. Dooku had been able to see his potential, but Von had lacked enough vision to see his training through to the end. Perhaps that was Dooku's fault alone, for not properly passing that vision down to him. And now, if this mysterious Force user was indeed him, he was running amuck with what appeared to be a group of ruffian terrorists.

What a waste.

If it was indeed him, what, then, was Dooku to do? The Separatists did want the "Forsaken Renegades" group exterminated, after all, based on all the bothersome trouble they had caused. This group was little more than a distraction in the greater scheme of the war, and needed to be obliterated as quickly as possible. Besides, even if the leader was Amras and Dooku did manage to recapture him, he would have to take great care to make sure Sidious never found out.

Dooku rolled his eyes at himself for allowing himself to get so distracted. Only Grievous' report could confirm or deny any of these suspicions.

Some time passed and much destruction occurred in the meantime. Dooku realized that the Jedi had gotten away, but, that wasn't too surprising considering the irritatingly good luck of Kenobi and Skywalker and the others.

Still no word from Grievous, and Dooku grew impatient. The General was probably stalling, trying to hide bad news. Finally Dooku took it upon himself to pick up the comm and contact Grievous himself.

"You have kept me waiting for a great while, General," he said coldly as the cyborg's grotesque image was displayed to him over the hologram. "I am quite intrigued to hear your report on the mission."

 

[AuroraRogersSkywalker]

Shona Aa'ri | Renegade Co-leader | Twi'Lek | 35
Amras' Ship, space | Tagging: Amras, Tralissk

Shona did understand, though she didn't like his reasoning one bit. To jeopardize the success of the entire group, just to save her life? That was strategically very foolish. She would have gladly died to protect the Renegades' secrecy. Plenty of people in the group were as competent as she was and could easily assume her position of coleader. She was not a Dejarik piece worth saving, at least in her opinion.

But, when she thought about it more carefully, put herself in Amras' shoes- she imagined if she were in his situation, if she had to make the choice between saving him and saving the Renegades' secrecy. And she realized she would easily choose him, and not just because he was the leader. She would save him because he was Amras. Because she loved him like a brother.

With that line of thinking, she realized she couldn't be too furious with him for making this choice. So she finally nodded in understanding, her expression softening. She didn't have to say anything to communicate that she forgave his actions. He would understand.

He mentioned the tracker, and Shona muttered a curse under her breath. It was obvious now that she thought about it- Jedi could sense the presence of other beings, yes, and often had uncannily good intuition, but Amras was right. Skywalker had found them too quickly and a tracker was the only option. At this, she felt rage so hot it nearly consumed her- she was almost shaking from it- not at Skywalker, for he would do what he had to to achieve his mission, but at herself. At the crew. And maybe even at Amras a little bit. How had any of them failed to suspect there was a tracker? Everyone had been busy trying to stay alive, but still, this was a beginner's mistake.

"Rest, Amras. The crew and I will handle it." She gave his hand a squeeze, got up, and dimmed the lights so that he could sleep better.

Then she marched up to the cockpit, where Tralissk and some other crew members were, trying not to let her anger get the best of her. "Everyone, we must conduct a search of the entire ship. Amras suspects, and I agree, that it seems like the Jedi Skywalker has a tracker on our ship. I want everyone scouring every last square inch of this ship until we find it. It is quite possibly because of this tracker that the mission went so wrong today."

 

[Just A Daydreamer]

Ahsoka Tano | The Anaheim | Jedi Padawan
17 | Togruta | Tagging: Bed

Zzz

Z

 

[AuroraRogersSkywalker]

Obi-Wan Kenobi | Jedi Master | Human | 36
Aboard the Republic Cruiser | Tagging: Padmé, Anakin

Ahsoka had finally taken his advice and gone to rest, which was a relief. But, now that she had, Obi-Wan felt that the weight of the entire galaxy was on his shoulders. He had to take care of everyone: make sure the clones were reorganizing themselves properly, insist on Ahsoka getting some rest, stay updated on Padmé's condition and keep her company while she was awake, and try to pry whatever information he could about Anakin from the droids. They hardly ever left his room, and when they did come out, everything they did say was vague. At one point one of the droids revealed that his wounds had been infected- which hardly helped his already-critical situation.

Obi-Wan had gotten some rest himself, which was somewhat refreshing, but it did little to put his anxious mind at ease. Seeing Padmé helped, at least. It was good to know that she seemed to be on a stable route to recovery. Still, the lack of information about Anakin was disturbing, as well as his still-weak presence in the Force.

The worst part was, he knew he still had to be strong if the worst did happen- especially for Ahsoka's sake. Jedi were not supposed to dwell on grief for very long, as death was an inevitable part of life. That all sounded nice in theory. In practice, it was much harder to let go of grief. That had not been an easy journey when Qui-Gon died.

It was quite some time before Obi-Wan got an update from the droids again.

"He is awake now, but very disoriented. You may see him, but we do not recommend you stay long, or allow him to talk to you."

Even though the situation was obviously still quite severe, Obi-Wan exhaled in relief, feeling as though a massive weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He got up to find Ahsoka- even though she was most likely still sleeping, he had promised to give her the soonest update on Anakin. He was sure she was just as anxious as he was to actually see their friend.

Anakin Skywalker | Jedi Knight | Human | 21
Aboard the Republic Cruiser |

The twin suns of Tatooine.

Anakin didn't remember being on Tatooine recently. But then again, he couldn't remember being anywhere else either. He only stared up at the two suns, feeling vaguely that... something... bad... had happened.

But what was it? He didn't really care too much. He just wanted to get out of this blazing heat. Tatooine... such a wretched place.

Some small creatures scurried around. Womp rats, perhaps? But they weren't running around on sandy terrain. They were running around on what appeared to be white tile.

Now, that startled him a bit. That was different. Tatooine wasn't made of white tile. Was it?

Am I dead? he wondered with shock.

Well, the afterlife seemed to be an annoying place. Looked and felt far too much like Tatooine.

But then a second thought, perhaps even more disturbing, came to him. Is Padmé here too? He wasn't sure which was worse- her being here or her not being here. Either way, he hoped to find out, and tried to sit up.

And a lightning blot of pain nearly knocked him unconscious again. Reality was back. He wasn't dead, not quite.

With the pain came some flashes of memory. There was a cliff. A burning speeder. Padmé lying next to him, bleeding.

No, no, no.... what if he had made it out, but she hadn't? Anxiously he glanced around the room but there seemed to be no one there. And now that he was actually trying to understand his surroundings, everything was bright and blurry- except for those blasted Womp rats, they were clear as day.

The pain finally dissipated into a weird numbness, now that he was perfectly still and scarcely daring even to breathe. There were some strange looking tubes connected to his wrist. One of which was dark red in color.

Then, there was finally some activity. A droid rolled quietly into the room and started to describe where they were- in the infirmary aboard the Republic Cruiser Anaheim, headed towards Coruscant. And the droid warned him he might be seeing some "unusual" things over the next couple of hours.

"Some guests are requesting to see you. Their names are Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka Tano. Do you wish to admit them?" the droid asked.

Anakin nodded anxiously. They were alive too? There was a hazy, but impactful, image in his mind of both of them dying in a dark and bloody battle. But he also remembered seeing them alive and well aboard a ship, now that he thought about it more carefully.

All this was confusing and strange. Hopefully Obi-Wan and Ahsoka would be able to help clarify what had actually happened. And perhaps most importantly, maybe they also knew what had happened to Padmé.

 

[Just A Daydreamer]

Ahsoka Tano | The Anaheim | Jedi Padawan
17 | Togruta | Tagging: Obi-Wan

----

Though she was desperately tired, Ahsoka hadn't slept well or for near as long as she needed to. Every so often her body would force her into]an unconscious state, though, leaving her dead to the world and plagued by bad dreams. Most of them involved not having found Anakin, or finding him dead, or being cut down by that faceless Pantoran who had, ironically, actually been their savior in the end. Savior or no savior, she had sensed a lot of darkness surrounding the figure and that was enough to invade her disturbed and stressed out mind. Most of the time, though, she tossed and turned and flopped around without being able to sleep and finally gave up.

Meditation helped. It was hard to concentrate to get into a meditative state but once she was in, Ahsoka was able to calm her mind and focus on what was real, blocking out the dreams, and it helped ground her after everything had happened. It had been a rough day but she would be all right. This wasn't the first mission she had been in with disasterous results and at so young, so she suffered now and then from nightmares and side affects from the things one saw in battle. The trick was learning to control it. She was pretty good at it by now. The one thing that wouldn't go away, no mater how much she tried ot meditate on it, was Anakin and her worry for what might happen to him. She could sense his life force through meditation still but it was weak.

Hold on, she thought, squeezing her eyes tighter shut. I'm not ready to lose you.

A moment later, Ahsoka sensed another life force headed her way and exited her meditation right as there was a knock on the door. She opened it and went out instead of letting him in, not having any intentions of staying in there any longer if she couldn't sleep. This was about as calm and as rested as she was going to get for now.

"How is he?" Obi-Wan looked tired. No doubt he was used to getting this question and she felt bad for asking, now that she had noticed his state, but it was too late now. At least he looked a little better than before. Probably only got the same amount of rest as she did.

"I haven't seen him, I came to get you. I felt you would want to accompany me."

Ahsoka nodded her agreement and her thanks. They didn't speak anymore after that on the way over, both of them preoccupied with their own thoughts -- though she did glance over once to check on Master Kenobi. He was walking with his hands behind his back, his chin tilted slightly downwards, and a frown on his face. That meant he was very concerned and as such, her concern for Anakin went up as well.

They reached the door and were told they had to wait a moment to make sure that Skywalker was ready for them, and a moment later the droid came out and confirmed they could enter, though it once again cautioned them to be quiet and not to stay too long. At least Anakin was in a state where he could make decisions for himself. That was promising... right? She was practically dancing with anticipation before she was able to get in and it took a lot of self control not to dash right over to him and bombard him with all the questions swirling in her mind. Insteaad, she just gave him her most reassuring smile and sat down by his bed.

"Hey Skyguy," she said, and suddenly found that she didn't know what else to add. All the things she wanted to say were wiped from her mind the moment she had the chance to actually say them and were replaced by a great sadness in seeing Anakin like this. Luckily, Obi-Wan took over, smooth as always.

"It's a relief to see you awake, Anakin," he said. His demeanor was calm and collected, even soothing in a way, and Ahsoka marveled at his control. She had seen for herself a moment ago how worried he had been and yet here he was, acting like everything was fine for Anakin's sake. It made her wonder how many times he had done it for them all in the past. "We're all a little exhausted, but we're doing well if that has been any concern of yours. The Senator is also recovering well."

Obi-Wan didn't wait for Anakin to ask. Not about that, not about Padme. This was not the time to worry about the Jedi Rules if Anakin was going to make himself worse by agonizing about the Senator's condition, and it was better to save him the awkwardness of having to ask for now as well. They could talk about his constant reckless desire to throw himself in front of Amidala every chance he got at another time.

 

[PhantomDog]

General Grievous | Supreme Commander of Separatist Droid Armies | Separatist Ship, Er’kit Space | Tagging: Count Dooku, Battle Droids

The doors of the command center aboard the Separatist ship slid open as General Grievous entered the room and headed straight for the viewport window, apparently deep in thought. A heavy silence hung about him as he glared down at the rusty orange planet below, his fingers intertwined together tightly behind his back. Battle droids were furiously working at their stations, trying not to draw his attention to them for any reason. As stupid as they were, even they could tell when he was in one of his particularly bad moods. One wrong move, one foul report, and they would quickly find their head lopped off out of his anger.

Grievous evaluated the information he had gathered down on the surface. The emergence of this mysterious Jedi was curious to him, and one that had made quite the impression on the few survivors he had interrogated. When combined with the nature of the circumstances, there was something about this that didn’t feel right, but maybe it was just the nagging reminder that he had also ultimately failed to retrieve the plans for the Separatist super-weapon. This mission had done nothing for his reputation except damage it further, and he could not allow that. Grievous knew Dooku was waiting for a report, but before doing so, he intended to interrogate the Pantoran prisoner a bit to see what sort of information he could pry from her that might shed some light on the situation.

The Count could wait.

He got halfway across the command deck when a battle droid looked up from communications. “General, you have an incoming transmission from Count Dooku.” He growled to himself. Impatient count. Fine, we’ll do this now.

As Grievous turned towards the holoprojector, a proud, blue figure materialized before him, staring down at him coldly. He coughed harshly as he approached. “Count Dooku,” he greeted as he swept his cloak behind him and gave a slight bow. “I have destroyed the entire village of Aganar on Er’kit,” -there was a hint of satisfaction in his voice as he said that- “along with much of the surrounding area. Nothing was able to withstand the might of my army.” He paused a moment to wheeze. “However, the Jedi managed to escape the trap I had set for them. But only just barely. They were hard-pressed in the midst of my attack, and they never saw it coming.”

 

[PhantomDog]

Tralissk | Renegade | Trandoshan | 34 | Amras’ Ship | Tagging: Shona, Renegades

The blue-streaked landscape of hyperspace stretched all around the ship as it sailed past numerous systems and civilizations with only the quiet humming of the engines to be heard. Tralissk had been staring at it for quite some time now, with his arms folded across his chest, more lost in his thoughts than mesmerized by the environment. After the events on Er'Kit, he was starting to let things soak in more, and it finally registered to him how many, and who, they had actually lost that day. More than half the team had been killed during this mission, making it a heavy toll for what was originally supposed to have been some simple recruiting job.

Supposedly.

That may have been their assignment, but with the unexpected appearance of the Separatists and the Jedi, their goal had become a matter of survival instead. Whatever it was Amras had been off doing had better have been worth it. He certainly pushed his timing a bit out there, but at least he had returned for them at all, considering the way he looked. Tralissk still wasn't quite sure what to make of that stunt Amras pulled with those droids back there. He'd never seen anything quite like it, and to say he was surprised would be an understatement. The scene replayed in his mind a few times, like a holovid recording stuck on replay. At the very least, Amras had protected the team and the ship during their retreat.

He wondered what was going on back with the others. Probably patching up wounds, resting, and recuperating. He could use a bit of that. With the ship on autopilot for the moment, he was able to relax some while sitting there alone in the cockpit. He reached back for his rifle and began to mess around with it, trying to fix the damage, but set it back down after determining he was going to need more tools to repair it.

For once, things seemed oddly quiet. Not that he minded it, and it wasn't all that unexpected, but there was some small detail that usually made the silence less heavy. He listened for a moment. The engines sounded normal. Nothing seemed out of place. Still.....

Maybe, he decided, what was missing was the sound of Rika's voice, as she would frequently talk and crack jokes, trying to lighten moods. She was always eager for a fight. As trigger-happy and irritating as she could be at times, he had thought of her as a decent ally to stand beside, especially in a firefight. Plus, she was the one who had recruited him to the Renegades in the first place.

A foreign thought suddenly appeared that half-startled him- he realized that he actually... cared about what happened to this crew. Not in the everyday sense of daily happenings, but in regards to their ultimate fate. He’d already cared enough about this cause to stick around and fight alongside them, but this realization was new to him. Normally when bounty hunters worked together on a job, if one fell it meant more credits to go around for those who had been successful. But these people weren’t hunters, and there were no credits at stake here. He'd never really cared much before if someone was killed, and for the most part he still didn't, but after spending enough time with this motley crew of renegades, he noticed how much he had actually come to enjoy them. And with that, he also noticed their losses more too.

Now, he wasn’t necessarily grieving them, but he found that they had actually mattered to him, something that was rare and hard-won. While he wasn’t sure yet if he cared enough to put his life on the line for another if the situation ever called for it, this realization certainly made an impact on him.

After some time, a couple of the other Renegades joined him in the cockpit and sat in the back seats. They were quiet for a while, presumably worn from the battle and simply enjoying the view, when one of them decided to strike up a conversation with the other.

"So, how many battle droids did you kill?"

"I don't know. It's hard to keep track of them when they march in droves like they do. It was almost overwhelming."

"I bet I shot more than you."

The one scoffed. "No way."

"I shot at least 57 battle droids out there. Probably."

"Yeah, well, I probably shot down 60. Maybe more." One of the chairs creaked as someone leaned back. "What about you, Tralissk?"

He thought about it for a moment. He didn't really want to join the conversation, but decided to at least indulge them. "More than either of you combined," he nonchalantly replied without even glancing back. Not quite that many, but maybe it would satisfy them enough to quiet them down.

"That's so wizard." They paused. "What about those Jedi? They probably took even more down with their lightsabers."

"Yeah, so? They're Jedi. What do you think they're gonna do? Hide behind some buildings while the Seps attack? They're no cowards."

"I didn't say that. I meant they could probably take down that whole army if they wanted."

"Doubt it. If they could have, they would've, and this war would have been ended a long time ago. Didn't you notice they were having just as hard a time out there as us?"

"Sure. Especially when those tanks started blowing the place up."

"Yep. Good thing Amras arrived when he did."

"Definitely." Their voice got quiet and somber. "Otherwise we might have been killed like the others down there."

Tralissk had had enough of listening to their discussion. Without turning around, he firmly silenced them. "Pipe down, the both of you."

For a few minutes, it seemed to work. No one spoke or made a sound as the ship finally dropped out of hyperspace in the middle of nowhere. The nearest system was only a few parsecs away, but far enough that they could avoid detection for now. Once the ship was at rest, though, they resumed their conversation, this time talking about something they'd seen on the HoloNet recently.

He flicked his tongue in irritation as they continued. Grabbing his rifle, he was about to get up and head to the back when he was interrupted by a stern voice.

Tralissk glanced over his shoulder to see Shona enter, and she didn't look happy. Her heat signature had risen, especially in her face, indicating that she was flushed. Something serious must have come up.

Tralissk's gaze narrowed as he processed what she said. A Jedi had been here? How'd they figure out the ship was worth tracking? Maybe that's what held Amras up for so long; he was probably fighting that Jedi off. It would certainly explain his head injury. He uttered a guttural hiss, thinking about how often Jedi got in the way of things.

The other two in the room nodded obediently at Shona in acknowledgement before leaving to start searching the interior. While the tracker itself would most likely be on the outside, who knows if their uninvited guest had left anything behind inside?

He flicked his tongue and hissed, staring at Shona fixedly with a questioning look once they were alone. "What wasss a Jedi doing on the ship?"

If there was a tracker on board, that could spell bad news for them if they didn't get it off soon; that is, as long as nobody was currently following their position at that moment. Trackers were good for hunting down assets and other prey, but not so great when you're the one being hunted. They'd just have to take their chances and hope nobody was watching for them out here yet.

Sliding back into the pilot's seat, he began making preparations for another jump. They needed to get that tracker removed as soon as possible without drawing too much attention. Knowing Amras, he had probably permanently dealt with that Jedi, but he wouldn't feel at ease until the device had been removed and destroyed.

Calculations set, the ship shuddered momentarily as it once again entered hyperspace. This route wasn't as long as the one before, lasting only a few minutes. They dropped out some distance away from the planet but still within visible range. Sometimes the best hiding spots are right under the enemy's nose, and while it was still risky coming this close to Republic territory here in the Mid Rim with the possibility of a tracker lighting them up on sensors, Tralissk decided Naboo would be a safe enough place for now.

He'd been here a few times before while hunting down assets, so the terrain wasn't completely unfamiliar to him. He knew of some areas that tended to be less civilized and lightly monitored, making for good places to lay low for the time being, and that was exactly what they wanted.

Upon entering the atmosphere and steering clear of any civilizations, Tralissk spotted a clearing among the swampland trees and set the ship down carefully, making sure everything was safe before powering down the engines. He got up and strode to the back, where the others were still searching determinedly.

"We're here."

 

[AuroraRogersSkywalker]

Count Dooku | Separatist Head of State| Age is only a number| Human
Dooku's Palace, Serenno | Tagging: General Grievous

Dooku rolled his eyes visibly. Of course Grievous would take interest in destroying an entire village, but look at all the good that did. So uncivilized. Grievous was a brutal and unrefined creature, an excellent weapon, but Dooku should have known better than to entrust a machete to do a surgery. That was one of the advantages he was supposed to have in Amras- a sophisticated weapon. Someone who could fight brutally while also being strategic.

Grievous didn't even mention the plans- he was stalling. Obviously, he didn't have them or he would have mentioned it right away. "The plans, General." Dooku's voice was cold and sharply articulated. "Will you return to me empty-handed yet again?"

Without even hearing the cyborg general's answer, Dooku's mind was already racing with plans of what to do next. He'd have to find out where those plans went: with the Jedi or with the terrorists. He almost hoped they were with the Renegades, as that could be an opportunity to put an end to this savage group... and, quite possibly, recapture Amras, assuming his intuitions were correct.

"Is there anything of use you produced in this entire mission, General, aside from the barbaric destruction of a primitive village?"

Perhaps Grievous would have more information about the mysterious "Pantoran Jedi" that everyone was talking about. If he wasn't actually a Pantoran but a Chiss, and not a Jedi but a rogue force user... perhaps this miserable mission wouldn't be such a fail after all.

 

[AuroraRogersSkywalker]

Shona Aa'ri | Renegade Co-leader | Twi'Lek | 35
Amras' Ship, Naboo| Tagging: Tralissk, Renegades

Shona was silent at Tralissk's remark about the Jedi being aboard this ship. Truly enough, Amras hadn't breathed a word of it to her. Not that she expected him to provide every relevant detail when his head was so messed up, but still, it did make her wonder how exactly the course of events had went down. She knew Amras and Skywalker had their scuffle, and that was about it. The thought of a Jedi being here in person and laying eyes on what felt like their most private, safe place in the galaxy.... it made her shudder.

She forced the thoughts out of her mind as she helped the crew search the interior of the ship, while impatiently waiting for their descent on Naboo to take place. Naboo, she wasn't too sure about, despite the fact that it was a well populated planet and no one would most likely look there for a group of rogues such as themselves. While it wasn't a Core World, it was one of the most loyal Republic systems, and the very Senator they had captured- and Chancellor Palpatine, one of their biggest enemies alongside Dooku and the Jedi- called this system home. Everything seemed to be giving her the creeps today.

Finally, the ship landed in a secluded, swampy area. Shona was already one of the first people waiting at the door and bolted out when the ship had barely touched the ground. Though today had been a very long day and everyone was exhausted from battle, she still felt restless. Eager to move, to be useful, to do something with her hands.

The others tentatively followed her out; she wasn't sure if Amras would join, but she hoped he wouldn't. He needed to stay where he was and let his crew handle it.

It was one of the other members who soon announced that he had found the tracker. Still unable to contain her rage about the whole thing, Shona stormed up to him and swiped it out of his hand- with gloves, so she wouldn't get her own fingerprints on it.

"This needs to be deactivated, but not destroyed, if possible," she announced. It might be useful to keep it around to analyze- it was a standard Jedi tracker, undoubtedly, but still, it was evidence, and Shona preferred to keep as many clues intact as possible. Destruction was waste, in her view.

She was silent for a moment as she handed it off to another Renegade who volunteered to deactivate it. Once Amras woke up, she would need to talk to him again. It might be wise to take off and leave this planet again, since the Jedi might still have the tracking data that pointed to their landing here. Maybe Naboo was a good choice after all... it could confuse the Jedi, throw them off their scent.

 

[AuroraRogersSkywalker]

Anakin Skywalker | Jedi Knight | Human | 21
Aboard the Republic Cruiser

It took Anakin a good long minute to realize that the colorful blobs that appeared were, in fact, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka. Last he checked, he didn't remember either of them being purple. Or green.

Only the Force gave him any orientation of what was going on, and even that felt faint and distant.

Your eyes can deceive you.... don't trust them... Obi-Wan's familiar advice echoed in his mind.

This is true, he thought to himself, watching numbly as the Womp rats bounced around on the floor and even the ceiling.

Strange things indeed- the medical droids had been right about that. Obi-Wan and the medical droid were currently the Right People. Because they were right about things. But then again, Padmé was right about things too. So there were three Right People, currently.... no, Padmé wasn't here... did that bring it down to two? Only two Right People in the universe and one wasn't even a person? That was just plain depressing.

The blob he recognized as Ahsoka, who was currently green and had yet to prove herself a Right Person... maybe she had in the past but he couldn't recall a single thing she had ever said in this moment... but anyway she sat down near him and was so Blindingly Green she was hard to look at. She greeted him with his old nickname, and to his relief he could understand her just fine. Sounds made sense, but everything just looked colorful and blobbish. It was confusing. And annoying. He tried to smile back at her but it probably looked more like a grimace. Besides, smiling at blinding green blobs wasn't so easy.

Good things happened, though. Obi-Wan, who glowed purple currently, gave him some updates, reassuring ones.

Padmé was going to be all right.

He exhaled deeply in relief, forgetting about the weird shapes and colors and the interesting thoughts his brain brought to the surface. She was going to be all right. And Obi-Wan and Ahsoka claimed to be all right, too. All Right people were better than just plain Right people. It was a shame, Anakin thought, that he was neither.

"Guys... I'm glad...." he winced, but he so terribly wanted to talk to them- "glad you're all right... but you both look....."

He frowned, not finding the words to explain what he was seeing. Hopefully they'd get it. And hopefully Obi-Wan would change to blue or something, as purple wasn't very flattering on him and it reminded Anakin too much of Mace Windu.

 

[Just A Daydreamer]

"It's all right, Anakin," Obi-Wan said quickly in order to try and hush up his former Padawan -- try being the keyword -- but exchanged worried glances with Ahsoka that implied that everything was, in fact, not all right at all. Anakin was behaving a lot more strangely than usual. For her part, Ahsoka shrugged helplessly and shot a suspicious glance at the medical droid even though Anakin's odd behavior was no doubt the fault of the old droid on the ship than it was this one. Still. That one wasn't here to be angry at as it was probably floating around space in little pieces now. As it deserved.

To be fair, Anakin hadn't actually said very much. It was more his mannerisms, slurred speech, and the weird look in his eyes that was making them realize just how off he was and since they knew him very well, the smallest sort of quirk made it obvious to them. For one, he wasn't trying to climb out of bed to go and fight something and that was the most obvious symptom that things were definitely off with Anakin Skywalker.

Turning away from the bed and towards the droid, Ahsoka leaned over and asked in a quiet voice: "Could you tell me exactly what was in the drug that the other medical droid gave to my Master?"

The droid made an offended sound. 'That... that droid! Not a medical droid. Not at all. Not like me. The very idea of calling that thing a medical droid is preposterous and--"

"All right, sorry," Ahsoka said hastily, cutting him off. "Could you just tell me?"

"Symoxin, mostly. It's a common painkilling drug --"

"--Yes, I know what Symoxin is. Can be used to knock out a target in heavier doses too, blah blah, yeah, I got that. What else?"

The droid stared at her for a moment, then continued patiently. "Symoxin, yes, which isn't at all bad on its own. Only I suppose I thought that other pathetic excuse for a droid thought it wasn't enough to kill the pain and added a healthy dose of spice into the treatment it gave your friend."

Ahsoka grimaced. She said nothing else to the droid but sidled up next to Obi-Wan, whispering, "Spice. In the dose."

The Jedi Master's eyebrows went up -- both this time -- and he then sighed, stroking his beard more worriedly than usual. "Oh dear," he said. "Oh dear."

 

[AuroraRogersSkywalker]

Obi-Wan Kenobi | Jedi Master | Human | 36
Anakin Skywalker | Jedi Knight | Human | 21
Jedi Temple, Coruscant

The rest of the trip back to Coruscant was uneventful, and somehow that made Obi-Wan suspicious. Considering as how most everything that could have gone wrong, did, it just felt false and surreal to have a peaceful trip back. Though, he certainly didn't complain.

Anakin was taken to the infirmary in the Jedi Temple, and Padmé was moved to a center closer to her home in the Senate district. Knowing full well how Anakin would react, Obi-Wan never told him this. He and Ahsoka simply kept telling him, whenever he asked, that he would get to see the Senator "soon." They never defined what "soon" meant. Though thankfully, the heavy doses of drugs were making Anakin much more docile and compliant than usual, so usually he would forget he had asked within a minute or two. He really wasn't himself at all-- it was convenient, but a bit depressing.

Finally though, after a day or two, the droids deemed Anakin stable enough to ease up the drugs, and this was when reality hit him again. Hard.

He really didn't remember hardly anything from the past two days, only a few bits and pieces here and there. Ahsoka had been green and Obi-Wan had been purple and that was about all he knew. Most of the bizarre hallucinations he had experienced had faded from his memory, and this was probably for the better.

But with the bad mix of drugs out of his system, he was becoming much more aware of his situation. Of not just one, but three wounds and the massive blood loss that he had somehow survived. Three new scars, though only Padmé would ever see them.

And perhaps even worse, he was neatly trapped here in this stupid, boring room. It was well established in the droids' records that he was not always that pleasant to work with, so as soon as they figured out he was lucid they strapped him down tightly enough that he really couldn't move hardly at all. Maddening. How he longed to break free and accept whatever risks came with his freedom-- but they had him practically a prisoner and Obi-Wan didn't seem to be bothered to do anything about it. He was siding with the droids, the killjoy. And he never gave him straight answers about Padmé, either.

Additionally, Obi-Wan consistently pestered him, asking what he remembered. It took a little bit before Anakin really remembered anything from the actual fight-- he had been trying desperately to block it out of his mind-- and when he did start to remember, he lied. Told Obi-Wan that he didn't remember anything at all. Not being on the gunship with the clones, not looking for Padmé, nothing. Obi-Wan would always just raise a skeptical eyebrow and let the subject drop.

But he was starting to remember things-- horrible things, embarrassing things that he didn't want to talk about.

If there was one thing he remembered quite clearly, it was the fight with that Pantoran Dark Force user, or the first part of it anyway. Anakin recalled how he had assumed he was a simple, sleazy politician. And how wrong he had been. How he had nearly gotten himself and Padmé killed as a result of his arrogance. Padmé was the only person he wanted and needed to talk to. He needed her forgiveness.

Finally, though, Obi-Wan was fed up with the games and at one point, told Anakin bluntly, "I sense you aren't being honest with me and I need you to stop."

"What makes you think that?" Anakin tried to dodge around the question as best he could, though he was starting to get under the impression that it wasn't going to work much longer.

"I know you," Obi-Wan said simply. "I can sense you're hiding things. And you are a terrible liar."

Anakin avoided Obi-Wan's gaze for a minute or so. Then finally he spoke.

"All right, fine. You win. I've been remembering things. But... Obi-Wan, please... I'm not ready. I don't want to talk about it." He winced, the pain of speaking once again catching up to him.

Obi-Wan sighed deeply, but his tone softened considerably. "There's a lot at stake here, Anakin. A lot of people you can help if you just tell us what you remember. When we have the full story, all the facts, we can ensure that there is justice in the Senate. That anyone who is guilty of wrongdoing is punished, and those who aren't go free."

He was right, of course. He usually was. Might as well get this over with.

"I tracked Curth's ship and found him and Padmé a short distance away. I thought he was just a politician, but... no. He was some sort of Dark Force user. Red lightsaber... caught me off guard..."

"And was he, in your knowledge, one of those Renegades we've been hearing so much about?"

"I have no idea."

"Interesting." Obi-Wan looked thoughtfully off into the distance, stroking his beard for a minute. "Thank you. If there's anything else you remember, please let me know immediately, understood? In the meantime-" he stood up- "I have some news for you as well, about Senator Amidala."

Finally! Anakin's heart beat a little faster.

"I have heard that she has been released today."

Anakin exhaled in relief. Maybe he really would see her soon-- as in the foreseeable future, not an arbitrary word Obi-Wan and Ahsoka liked to throw around to stop him from asking questions. "And when are they going to release me, do you think?"

"That, I can't answer. The droids have to deem you stable enough to get off their life support systems. Be patient; you won't be here forever." Obi-Wan smiled faintly and left the room.

Padmé. Please come, Anakin thought, as if he could telepathically send her those thoughts. It would be nice if the Force worked like that. I need to make things right with you. I'm so sorry about all of this... about everything.

 

[Just A Daydreamer]

Heiss Unduli | Mirialan | Separatist Senator | Coruscant Prison Cell|

---

 

[PhantomDog]

General Grievous | Supreme Commander of Separatist Droid Armies | Separatist Ship, Er’Kit Space | Tagging: Count Dooku

“Will you return empty handed yet again?”

Dooku’s remark stung, causing Grievous’ anger to flare up inside him. He clenched his fist behind his back, for a moment almost wanting to imagine Dooku begging for mercy between his tightening claw-like fingers, but he dismissed the idea. As irritating and condescending as Dooku could be at times, he was still necessary leadership for the Separatists, particularly in the political realm. However, the Count’s question clearly revealed that he had had little faith in his general’s ability to succeed with the mission, which irked Grievous immensely.

He glanced downwards for a brief second and then refocused his glare up at the Count before answering, speaking with an edge in his tone that did little to hide his irritation. “Unfortunately, my forces were unable to locate the whereabouts of the Senator and the plans.”

While he hated admitting when his defeats proved Dooku right, he deemed the fault for failure ultimately fell to the battle droids he had to work with. Their incompetence prevented them from finding and apprehending the target in that small village, despite his brilliant strategic planning.

Not that Dooku would ever see it that way.

Although the hologram lacked enough definition to clearly show smaller facial expressions, Grievous observed that the Count’s already stern gaze had noticeably hardened further, which would no doubt soon be followed by him voicing his disappointment in the General’s performance, as usual. I’d like to see you do any better, the cyborg thought bitterly.

However, Dooku seemingly ignored the report as he abruptly switched the focus of the conversation. To be sure, the Count was still obviously displeased, as evidenced by his insult of Grievous’ handiwork with the village, but he appeared to be more concerned about other things. Grievous was fine with that. The less he had to listen to Dooku’s voice, the better.

He straightened himself up a bit and inclined his head. “Indeed, Count. In my searching for the Senator and Jedi following the battle, many witnesses mentioned a rogue Jedi, reportedly a Pantoran. They said he came out of nowhere in a ship and held back my forces single-handedly, seizing the blaster fire of my battle droids.” He paused, before adding, “Some also claimed that he rescued a random gang from the scene as well.” Grievous studied Dooku’s expression, watching for any noticeable reaction. What would he make of this?

Taking a moment to cough, Grievous continued. “One other thing of note. I have captured one of the members of the gang, who was left behind, and I am holding her in a cell for interrogation.”

 

[Just A Daydreamer]

Amras Von | Renegade Leader | Chiss | 23
Amras's Ship, Naboo | Tagging: Shona, Tralissk, Renegades

----

Contrary to what Shona had been hoping for, Amras awoke as the ship landed and began to immediately struggle to rise. Tralissk was an expert flyer and landed the ship with barely a bump to be felt, but Amras was sensitive to the goings-on around him, even so heavily drugged, as he had a close connection not only the crew but the ship itself, having spent so much time in the vessel and meditating on it as well. His lightsaber skills were not honed as well as he should have liked but the Force flowed through him like a river, ever moving with the current and ever alive within him, and thus he was well connected to the world that surrounded him. As he began to rise, the medical droid protested, saying -- and quite correctly, too -- that he was not in a state to move so much and certainly shouldn't be walking around, but Amras threatened to take off its head and that seemed to shut it up sufficiently well for the time being.

Right now the medication was more of a problem than the pain as it was causing him to be very dizzy and he closed his eyes for a moment as he stood, swaying and then catching his balance as he used the Force to clear his mind as he had done earlier in the fight with Skywalker. The consequences of ignoring his injured state and merely surpressing it with the Force had come back to bite him then as it would again; he knew that, but he was not about to just wait and see what was going on when he could go and see for himself. Had they found the tracker? And no doubt the crew was wondering what sort of insane stunt he had managed to pull in order to get them out of a certain death situation. He would tell them the truth, or at least some of it, so they would be prepared for what they would have to face. But it was a risk worth taking. He was sure of it now, though he mourned the losses of his fallen Renegades. Their lives would pay for the freedom of the Galaxy and that was what they had signed up for, after all.

The ones still inside the ship stood aside to make way for him as he walked slowly through its narrow halls. They usually did get out of his way but this time it was... different. There was a look in their eyes that he couldn't quite understand, only that it was different and he wondered exactly why. Was it because of what he had done? Was it because they blamed him for the heavy losses that had happened or their apparent failure of the mission? Were they angry or were they just grateful to be alive? Perhaps both. He hoped he could make them understand but if they did not, well...

Amras shook his head and then winced. He would worry about that if it happened. Not having a plan irritated him but since his last plan didn't go, well, as planned, then maybe just going off of instinct and trusting the Force would be best. Then, when he was well enough, he would look into the future and see what there was to find there -- though even that had to be treated with caution. Creating a self-fulfilling prophecy was not something Amras wanted to ever do; not if it was a bad future, as some of the ones that he saw were.

Most of the crew looked as if they had just come back inside from finding the tracker, which he saw one of them was holding, and that meant they were mostly gathered in the same place. The others seemed to sort of follow him, albeit from a distance, as if waiting for an explanation. Well, he would give it to them.

"You've found the tracker," he said, a hint of weariness in his tone despite all efforts to block it out. "Good. And I assume Shona has already given the order about that, so I will move on." He paused to gather himself with effort, again swaying a little in place and having to regain his balance. "My friends, if you think our mission has failed then I want to assure you that despite all appearances, it has not. We paid for it with many lives but we now hold a key that could help bring both sides down and put an end to the war that tears this Galaxy apart."

Not the key. A key. Amras could not guarantee that this would work for certain, nor was he willing to give up if it didn't. But it brought hope amidst the hardship they had just faced and if they played this right than they could use this to destroy both sides once in for all; to pit them against one another so harshly that neither side will be able to stand in the end. Out of such a fall would emerge chaos and out of that chaos, a final peace.

And as for the stunt he had pulled, the one he was sure they were all wondering about, he chose not to bring it up. Let them ask him instead. Test their bravery, loyalty, and will with a simple question. He had shown his power or at least a hint of it, and it was up to them now to see how they would respond to it; a response he was curious to see. Many things hinged upon this day. The loyalty of the Renegades. The response of the opposing sides: The Separatists and the Republic. The response of the public itself. The death or survival of Skywalker and Amidala, both of whom he suspected survived. And what sort of character would he be played as to the public? He was no Jedi; that was obvious from the red blades. But he was no Sith that had ever been known -- not to any but Dooku, who was currently his biggest concern regarding the success or failure of everything he had attempted. So who was he?

'Perhaps,' Amras thought absently as he waited in the brief silence that followed, 'it was a good time to switch a blade. One red, one blue. Who would he be to them then?'