Ch 2: The Fate of Her Home

STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS

A Skirmish on Geonosis!

A few months after former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano left the Jedi Order, Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker has received a new Padawan, teenage Lena Luce, who is actually Leia Organa from the future. Still tormented by Tano's departure, Anakin reluctantly accepts her.

Their first mission is to discover the whereabouts of a missing Geonosian colony, along with Jedi Master Obi Wan Kenobi and Captain Rex. Their investigation has led them to discover the colony being used for slave labour by the Separatists on Geonosis. During the skirmish within the underground facility, the treacherous chief has set the self-destruction sequence, killing his own people.

Although the lost colony was not saved, General Skywalker has received a drive containing vital information of a Separatist plot that could change the war. At the same time, Leia is troubled by the more brutal tactics of her mentor.

Republic Outpost on Geonosis, 19 BBY

Leia was in one of the corridors of the base, sitting at the window. Skywalker and Kenobi went to report their discovery to the Jedi Council. She wasn't there, but she heard that the Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic was also present via hologram. According to Kenobi, an operative from the Republic Military Intelligence was now on their way to Geonosis.

Right now, Leia was nothing but depressed. She was feeling lonely, but at the same time she did not have the will or strength to talk with Skywalker or his clones. She remembered when they dragged her away from Skywalker when she jumped on him. The 14-year-old even had a small argument with them too. Her silence was disturbed when Obi Wan approached her.

"Are you alright, Lena?" the Jedi master asked. "What? Yeah…Everything is… fine." Leia tried to lie, but sighed, giving up after looking at Kenobi's stern look. "I heard you had a conflict with your master," Kenobi spoke again. 'He is not my master!' Leia wanted to shout in reply, but she controlled her temper. "Yes. When we made to the control room, the Geonosian chief started the self-destruct sequence. To extract information from him, Master Skywalker tortured him."

"How?"

"By choking him, with the Force." Leia answered and Kenobi nodded in acknowledgement. "I jumped on him, and the chief almost escaped, but this clone named Fives shot him."

"I see," Obi Wan spoke. "It's just that's not how the Jedi work!" Leia expressed her view and Kenobi nodded. "I agree, torture is not the way of the Jedi, it is what someone with Darkness inside him would do, and it isn't the first time Anakin used Force choking during the interrogations."

'How come I am not surprised?' Leia thought as Obi Wan continued.

"I know he hasn't told you about himself, and I want him to do that, not me. But I want you to understand, we all have Darkness inside us, Lena, everyone can succumb to it. You, Anakin, even me. You see, Anakin had a harsh childhood. I would say, a horrible one, and this led him to be distracted, attached to the past, and not releasing the pain, anger and hatred he experienced. Not to mention the war is also playing a role in this, but I can assure you that he is selfless, kind and caring. Before that, he choked a Geonosian Separatist leader to extract information on the worms, when a whole cruiser had the worms stowed away. They entered the clones' minds and pursued Ahsok… two young padawans. He tried to interrogate the Geonosian to save both the padawans and the clones."

Leia looked at Kenobi with disbelief. She always believed that Vader was raised to be a monster since childhood, maybe by the Emperor himself. But to hear him have a horrible childhood and a kind and caring personality. To Leia it was still absurd, nothing more. However, Leia hoped that it was true, for it was what Kenobi was telling her now.

"Anyway, I'm here because the operative and his squad of troopers will be arriving soon. We should meet him." Kenobi spoke again and offered his hand. Smiling, Leia gladly took and together they walked to the landing bay of the outpost.

Leia stood slightly behind Anakin, who stood alongside Obi Wan on the left as a Nu-class shuttle landed. Leia felt a chill as three figures came down the gangplank, followed by a small group of clone troopers. Two of them were quite tall and wore the grey uniform of the Republic military, while the third one wore darker clothes. One had auburn hair and was in his mid-forties, the other one had a small amount of black hair and was younger. The third figure, obviously the older of all three, has white hair.

Leia bowed to them alongside the two Jedi generals, though the last thing she wanted to do was to bow to the two monsters in uniform, for she knew who they were. She even fought the urge to vomit as Anakin and one of them shook hands with each other, smiling.

"General Skywalker, it's a pleasant surprise to meet you again," the first figure with the auburn hair and in gray uniform spoke, smiling. Leia began to breathe deeply. She remembered that smile very well, when the laser of the Empire's superweapon fired at Alderaan, her home. He may looked younger than he was during their encounter near her home world, but it was still him. The other one looked almost exactly how he was back then when Leia, as a young senator, saw him on Coruscant. His eyes and arms were replaced with cybernetics, while a mask was covering his face. The only difference was that back then he already had the insignia plaque of a Grand Moff. She didn't know him very well, for she met him only once during the days of the Empire, but back then she already wanted to avoid that man.

"Welcome to Geonosis, Admiral Tarkin." Skywalker spoke in a friendly way. "General Kenobi," Tarkin nodded towards the Jedi master. He then turned to Leia. "And who is this young lady?" he asked. "This is Commander Lena Luce, my new padawan." Anakin answered for Leia. Tarkin looked at the girl as his brow twitched in surprise, though he tried to remain calm and still. Leia wondered why he was also so surprised of Skywalker having a padawan.

"Gentlemen, and lady, may I present you Agent Trachta of the Republic Military Intelligence." Tarkin then turned to the young Republic officer. Leia mentally cried. She knew it. Right in front of her was no other than the future Grand Moff Trachta of the Imperial Center Oversector, Headmaster of the Imperial Academies, and a cyborg. This was too much for Leia. First Vader, now Tarkin and Trachta.

"And one of our greatest minds, chief engineer Bevel Lemelisk." Tarkin introduced the third one. The short, old man chuckled and shook Anakin's hand too.

"By the way, I have brought your former subordinate, as you asked," Tarkin continued his conversation with Anakin. Leia looked puzzled as she saw a clone that had a blue triangle on his helmet. He saluted to Anakin Skywalker, who gave him a wide smile and shook his hand. 'Whoever he was, he is close to him,' Leia thought.

"It's a pleasure to serve you again sir," the clone spoke. "Glad you're back, Dogma." Anakin answered back. The two then shook hands as well. Dogma then looked at Leia. "So, you are General Skywalker's new padawan? Let's see if we can work together." He spoke to her. Leia was about to say something, only for Kenobi to interfere. "If you don't mind, we must prepare for the mission." He stated. "Certainly," Tarkin agreed.

All of them headed towards the control center of the base. Leia was walking behind, looking at both Anakin and Tarkin with disgust and hatred as the two went along discussing something. The last thing she wanted to do right now was to work with both of those bastards that would take everything from her; her family, her home, her people.

"May I warn you, that we are working under the direct orders of the chancellor, and this information is a government secret. Revealing this to anyone will be considered as treason against the Republic." Tarkin warned everyone in the conference room.

"The evidence that General Skywalker got from the underground facility contains information that can turn the tide of war." Tarkin began discussing. "From what Lemelisk understood, the Geonosians were building parts of a superweapon that the Separatists indeed to use against the Republic. However, we have also discovered that there is another facility which is part of this project. The coordinates were from the data General Skywalker gave us."

"Admiral Tarkin, may I interfere?" Lemelisk asked. Tarkin nodded in response.

"Since the second battle of Geonosis, our intelligence have been gathering rumors of the Separatists building a weapon of mass destruction. Though these rumors were not confirmed, they all led to one person, a Separatist leader." Lemelisk spoke. "And where is that leader, and who he is?" Kenobi asked. "He has escaped from Republic custody not that long ago, and we have reasons to believe that he might be here, on Geonosis. It is quite possible that right now he is planning another revolt against the Republic, for Geonosis is his home planet and he was the ruler of it." Tarkin answered instead of Bevel. Anakin and Obi Wan twitched their eyebrows as they immediately guessed whom the admiral was referring to.

"Poggle the Lesser escaped?" Anakin asked. "Sadly, yes, for we had to extract any vital information he has about the enemy." Tarkin answered. "However, with him back on Geonosis, we can not only get him back, but also extract any intel on that superweapon of theirs."

"You want us to capture him?" Kenobi asked. "No, this mission is assigned to Agent Trachta. Your task is to assist him and answer to any of his demands." Tarkin explained as the cyborg stood in silence, with his arms behind his back. 'Like hell we will,' Leia was about to say, but decided not to. "I and Engineer Lemelisk must return to Coruscant. Agent Trachta here will be reporting directly to the chancellor." Tarkin stated and the Jedi generals nodded.

Once Tarkin left, Trachta, Anakin, Obi Wan and Leia went to prepare the forces. Leia sighed in relieve as Tarkin was finally gone. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling as if he would recognize her. Once they left the room, Anakin was approached by Dogma. Leia looked at him and to her surprise, she felt guilt and shame, from a clone.

"General, I…" Dogma stammered. "I wanted to apologize, for what I did on Umbara. I blindly followed orders, from a traitor. I should have realized that he was trying to destroy us, but instead I allowed him to kill off my brothers. First by Umbaran blasters, then by his lightsabers."

Leia was even more shocked when Anakin placed a hand on the clone's shoulder. "It wasn't your fault, Dogma. I should be the one apologizing for leaving you guys with Krell back then. But this does not matter now, Krell is dead, and you are back. Go and rejoin your brothers."

Leia was walking alongside Dogma when they saw Rex, Fives, Jesse, Kix, and Tup approaching them.

"Dogma, is that you?" Kix asked in surprise as Dogma took off his helmet. "Fives, Jesse, Captain." Dogma greeted them. "It is great to have you back, brother." Jesse exclaimed as he gently punched Dogma in the shoulder. "We really missed you, Dogma." Rex confessed to him. "I'm sorry. I was in prison, answering for assisting a traitor. All I know that General Skywalker finally got Admiral Tarkin recruit me back into the army."

"Great thing he did, and Dogma, you did what you taught was right. We all believed that Krell could be trusted, we were all wrong. What matters now is that you're back." Rex stated. Leia was standing, shocked even more about what just happened. First, Skywalker/Vader got a soldier punished apparently for treason back into military service, and now the rest of the clones were hugging him as if they were brothers(!). A lot happened, but Leia still viewed the clones as her enemies and mindless obedient killing machines. To her droids like C-3PO and R2-D2 were more human than the clones in their armor. Still, the girl admitted to herself that the reunion of Dogma and the other clones was quite touching.

"The first wave is on the ground, general. No sign of enemy activity." Cody reported. "Very good. Carry on, commander." Obi Wan acknowledged in response. Dismissed the clone left, while Kenobi turned to Skywalker. "Anakin, get your field pack. We'll scout the… Anakin?"

Anakin didn't respond, looking at Leia, who was looking at Trachta giving orders to the clone troopers as more LAAT/I gunships were landing. "Anakin," Obi Wan's voice made Anakin to look back as his former master's left hand was on his left shoulder. "Uh… oh, sorry, master. You were saying?" he asked, making Kenobi sign.

"This is an important mission. Be mindful of your duties, and your padawan." Kenobi stated. "This is not the first important mission in which I must take care of my duties and my padawan." Anakin replied. "It's just that it is hard working with her. She constantly reminds me of Ahsoka and how I failed her as a mentor. Now, I'm afraid I will fail her too. I can sense anger and hatred within her. Particularly towards me."

"She is a good girl, Anakin. It's just she's hot-headed, but she has a strict moral compass. Yes, she told me about your methods of interrogating and her opinion on it," Kenobi stated as Anakin frowned. "But please understand, she saw that for the first time and is not used to you or to your methods."

"Let's hope she will get used to me," Anakin grumbled.

"And yes, she may have darkness. But let me remind you that you also had darkness within you, and just like your relationship with Luce, it was the same between you and me when you were my padawan. And look, I did not fail you. You have become a Jedi knight, one of the greatest our Order ever had since the formation of it." Kenobi patted on Anakin's shoulder, giving his former padawan a smile. "It's easy to trust in one's abilities, Anakin. It's harder to trust in another's, a lesson that being your master has taught me many times. Give her a chance."

Anakin nodded in response as Appo approached them. "The troops have things well in hand here. Ready to take a look at the enemy position, General Kenobi?"

"Of course, Commander Appo. Anakin, get Lena and Agent Trachta here."

"Yes, master." Anakin answered. He then called Trachta and Leia, who both approached the two Jedi generals. It was decided to use the BARC speeders to get to the location. However, much to Leia's annoyance, Jesse took the last speeder for the recon and Obi Wan offered an idea that she hated.

"Anakin, this is your padawan. It would better if you shared the speeder with her."

"But I don't have a sidecar." Anakin argued. "Well, you don't mind if Lena will hold on to you." Obi Wan stated. Anakin and Leia looked at each other. They could have refused and argued about it, but they knew that they had a mission to complete. Reluctantly, Anakin gave the 14-year-old some space as she climbed on before wrapping her arms around her master. "Hold tight," the young Jedi knight told her. Feeling fear, Leia wrapped around him even tighter and closed her eyes moments before the speeder blasted off from where it was, followed by the other speeders. As they rode across the surface of Geonosis, Anakin and Leia were soon caught up by Trachta. Leia at that time still had her eyes closed, slightly whimpering in fear.

Soon, they arrived at their destination. Leia got out of the speeder with the fear of vomiting. To her surprise, she managed to hold herself, though she was in a state of shock and fear after the crazy ride with Skywalker. Even Han wasn't that bizarre when it came to flying or riding a speeder. Anakin took his pack of equipment and turned to Leia, only to see her pale face.

"Lena, are you alight?" the Jedi knight asked, looking concerned. Leia didn't answer, only shrugged her head in response, both frightened and angry at him. "Listen, I'm sorry about driving that fast. I didn't mean to…" he began explaining himself, putting his prosthetic hand on her left shoulder, but Leia just stepped away from him, making the prosthetic fall from the shoulder. "Don't touch me," she snarled, fighting the urge to cry. She was feeling as if she was a little girl after riding on a roller coaster that led to her being scared and dizzy. With that, she followed Obi Wan and Trachta. Hiding behind large red rocks, the party were observing a spire with battleship cores sit parked alongside it, while companies of battle droids with a few AAT tanks and MTTs standing at the courtyard.

"Our information unfortunately is correct." Trachta spoke, looking at the forces through his cybernetic eyes, while the rest used binoculars. "It's just as we were told. Those troops are heavily dug in, and I'm certain the range of every landmark, on every approach, is programmed into their targeting computers. I don't see any Geonosians though. I assumed they'd have winged sentries on duty."

"They have gotten lax. They've no idea their base has been discovered." Kenobi presumed, as Leia looked at him. "If it's true, then with the ARC troopers getting inside might be easier than anticipated." Trachta stated. "I agree with Agent Trachta." Anakin spoke, making Leia look at him with disdain once again. "You all see the separatists' defenses. A frontal assault would have little chance of success."

"We are to use the clone troops only as a diversion to allow Agent Trachta along with ARC troopers Fives and Jesse and a few troopers to infiltrate the base. They already have the explosives needed in their packs." Obi Wan continued the discussion.

"What?"

Everyone turned their glances at Leia who said that. Anakin's eyebrow twitched, obviously shocked, and frustrated from the girl's boldness to interrupt an adult discussion.

"What was that, Lena?" Anakin asked. "Shouldn't we also go?" Leia asked. "You go where your duty lies, Commander Luce." Trachta calmly responded. "This plan is developed by the Republic High Command before I left Coruscant. It has already been decided." He continued. "Why wasn't I told?" Leia asked, only for Anakin to grab her by the shoulder. "One moment, gentlemen." Anakin told the others as he pulled Leia aside. "You better keep your tongue, little one." He snarled at her. "Why wasn't I told about this mission?" Leia asked again. "First of all, you're not a member of the high command," Anakin began. Leia was about to protest but stopped as she remembered that right now she was just a kid and Jedi padawan, not the Princess of Alderaan and Rebel leader. Before being captured onboard the Tantive IV, and later during the Galactic Civil War, there were some moments when Leia was ridiculed by the members of the Rebel High Command. Initially because of her age, when she was still a teenager, then because of her gender. Thankfully, most members of the Rebel Alliance respected her and saw her as a fighter, leader, and reliable comrade. First it was her parents, then Luke, Wedge, Mon Mothma, and last, but not least, Han.

"Secondly, what would you have done if you had been consulted, Lena?" Anakin asked as he continued. "I would have come up with a different plan. I would have found another way, I…" Leia tried to protest, only for Kenobi to interfere. "It's alright, Lena. I know you want to fight for what is right and fair, but sometimes we must stay where we are most needed. Agent Trachta and his squad are needed inside the facility, we are needed most on the battlefield right now."

Leia wanted to object once again but gave up. She sighed while Anakin looked at Obi Wan annoyed. Still, the three rejoined the others. It was decided that Trachta and his men will be in position by midday. Skywalker assured the cyborg that he and the 501st will give him the opening needed.

"Come, Lena. We have much to do if Agent Trachta's mission is to be successful." Anakin told her.

"Yes, master" Leia spoke as she looked at the base once again.

By midday, the Jedi rode the speeders as their forces, the 501st Legion and the 212th Attack Battalion, are gathered and line up for battle. Leia stood at a distance from Anakin and Obi Wan as they were talking with their commanders, Appo and Cody. She was looking at the spine. Since the debrief, she was not happy with the plan. According to Tarkin, the two Geonosian facilities they had discovered are apparently part of a Separatist project with the aims of creating a superweapon. Of course, she would usually brush it off as a way to find a reason for the Republic, or more precisely Palpatine, to occupy the planet. However, she saw the first facility underground, she saw the Geonosians using their own people, especially children, as labor, and they failed to rescue them. Now, they are planning to do the same thing, with the two future Grand Moffs now taking part in it. Leia's mind was filled with questions. What if there are innocent civilians in that facility too? Why Obi Wan is okay with this mission? If there are children working there, then what they will commit is genocide!

Then something hit her mind, the weapon. In this mission she, Skywalker, and Kenobi, along with Trachta, were answering directly to Governor Tarkin. 'Admiral Tarkin' she corrected herself. Leia thought about it. Not to mention that Bevel Lemelisk was also present during the debriefing. From what she knew, Lemelisk was one of the Empire's chief engineers. Obviously, he had a carrier during the Clone Wars. But that didn't matter, what mattered was that she heard him being usually around Tarkin. This thoughts led Leia to fear the worst in regard to the weapon. The 14-year-old girl looked at the nearby BARC speeder guarded by Dogma, before looking at the Jedi generals. 'To hell with Vader,' she thought, 'Whatever it is inside that spire, it must not be in the hands of Tarkin and Palpatine.'

With that, she ran towards the clone trooper with the blue arrow on his helmet. "Hey, um, Voca right?" she asked, smiling shyly. The clone nodded in response. "General Skywalker has called you."

"The enemy have taken defensive positions. Uh, sir, we'll suffer massive losses if we attack." Appo stated his opinion as he observed the Separatist forces with his binoculars. "Relax, commander. We're not attacking." Anakin assured him. "But have a gunship standing by. I might have to go in."

Just then, they heard someone approaching them. Skywalker and Appo turned around along with Kenobi and Cody and saw a clone trooper heading towards them. Once he arrived and saluted to Anakin. "General, Trooper Voca arrived at your orders, sir." He reported. "Um. That's great, Voca, but I haven't called you." A baffled Anakin answered. "Strange, Commander Luce told me that you requested to meet with me." An equally confused Voca stated. "What? Where is she? Voca, where is Lena?" Anakin asked as he suddenly grabbed the trooper.

Within the spire, a B1 droid commander raced through the corridors passing a marching company of B2 droids until it arrived to the command center. The hologram of the spire and the forces of both sides was displaced in the center, surrounded by various Geonosians and Tactical droids. The commander approached a gathering of Geonosians, with one of them, obviously the leader, had his back facing them.

"My lord, the Republic forces are approaching the facility. I believe they are planning a direct assault." The commander spoke to one of the Geonosians. "Very good, commander. Order your troops to prepare to fight back. Let the cannons and our tanks shell them before they approach the base." The Geonosian leader spoke in Geonosian and turned around. Poggle the Lesser held his cane tight, just as he was holding his rage. Soon, the Republic will pay for their invasion and will think twice before even entering the Geonosian system, he thought.

Outside, the MMT began releasing the battle droids stored inside, while the AAT tanks moved forward to shell the Republic forces along with the LR1K sonic cannons from the spire itself. Little did the Separatists know that the Republic has infiltrated their base. At the same time, Leia was approaching the spire, looking out for the guards and the sonic cannons, which were aiming at the clone army for now, but still, Leia feared of the idea of being a target for these weapons. She saw a droid commander pointing at the enemy, apparently ordering fire to the droid gunner, before entering the spire through the hole apparently used by Trachta and his group to enter.

"Sir, where in." Fives reported to Trachta. The cyborg nodded in agreement. "The generator room has to be at the heart of complex, with the command center nearby according to the planes of spires used as bases during the two previous battles." Trachta spoke. "We shall split into two groups. ARC trooper Jesse will take half of our squad and go set up the bombs at the generator. The rest will follow me to the command center. Once I'll give the signal, we'll head to the point of evacuation, where we will be collected by one of our gunships."

Jesse nodded, taking Dogma and four more troopers, while Fives and Tup along with other four joined Trachta. Little did they know that Leia was spying on them. As they were preparing to split up, Leia was thinking which team to follow. 'I must somehow prevent them from both retrieving the data and destroying the spire.' Leia thought. After some time of thinking, Leia decided to follow Trachta, hoping that she could find the generator.

'It's in the center of the complex,' Leia thought to herself, as she was about to follow Trachta and his unit, only for to hear Geonosian dialogue. Leia swiftly turned around while drawing out her lightsaber as three Geonosians saw her. Using the Force, she pushed one of them to the wall, knocking him out, while another one fired from his sonic blaster. Leia tried to defend herself using her weapon, only to be hit by the blast, as if it went passed through the blade, making her fly to the wall, hitting herself, and falling on to the ground. The Geonosian cried something in his native language, something like 'get her'. Leia looked around, her lightsaber was far from her. She then remembered what Luke did. Her brother once told her about his misadventure with the wampa on Hoth. While being captive, his lightsaber was lying far from his reach, and he used the Force to get it, even though that attracted the beast's attention. Desperate, Leia stretched out her hand. She felt the Force as the lightsaber moved from its place. Due to the Geonosians now being close, she ignited the lightsaber which was in mid air and used the Force to have it slice the two Geonosians in two believing returning to her hand. With that, she continued her chase for Trachta. 'At least I know that one shouldn't attempt to block Geonosian sonic weapons with a lightsaber.' Leia thought.

"Get me that gunship now!" Anakin ordered one of the troopers. "Appo, warn Agent Trachta!" he then ordered the clone commander before getting on the pilot seat of a LAAT/i. As ordered, Appo pressed the com-device on his helmet. "Fives, this is Appo. Can you copy?" he asked. "Fives' here. What is it Appo?" Fives asked in response. "The new padawan has ran away to the spire." Appo answered.

"What?"

"General Skywalker is on his way now." Appo told him. "Okay, copy that." Fives answered in acknowledgement as the gunship rose from the ground.

"This frontal assault of theirs will cause them massive losses." Poggle the Lesser stated as he looked at the hologram. "They are now within the reach of our cannons. Annihilate them."

Just then, Trachta, armed with a DC-17 hand blaster in one hand, and a SE-14 blaster pistol in another, stormed into the command center, shooting down the Geonosians and the droids within it, with the clones covering him. In the end, they all turned their weapons on Poggle.

"So, my lord, it may seem you are prisoner once again." Trachta spoke in his calm, mechanical voice. "I would have easily killed you if not for the orders from the Supreme Chancellor himself. Surrender, and he will grant you pardon once the war will be over."

Poggle instead snarled something in Geonosian. The clones didn't speak Geonosian, but they knew that he didn't want to surrender. Suddenly, Trachta, as if he sensed it, turned in 180 degrees and fired at a Geonosian who was about to attack Leia from behind, crawling on her. Seeing the distracted clones as an opportunity, Poggle the Lesser quickly flew from the floor into the hole on the ceiling before the clones could shoot him down.

"What are you doing here?" Trachta asked the teenage girl in annoyance as Fives grabbed her. "None of your damn business." Leia spat back at the cyborg, trying to free herself from the clone's grasp, but the ARC trooper was holding her tight. "You disobeyed your orders, kid." Tup angrily spoke to Leia for the first time. "Did you know that General Skywalker has set out to find you before the scheduled time to signal him? Because of you we had to speed up to complete the mission in time!"

Just then, Trachta turned about 180 degrees again and shot down a B2 battle droid, which was followed by a company of battle droids. Fives released the girl and drew out his DC-17 blasters and the clones and the cyborg fired at the incoming foes as the mechanical "blast 'em" was heard. "We must extract the data from the mainframe computers!" Trachta yelled as he fired at the droids. Leia immediately ran towards it and opened the apparent folder containing the data. She decided to look at the contents of what seemed to be blueprints. Once she selected it, Leia froze after what was displayed, as if she was brought back to 19 years after her birth. Her fears were justified. Right in front of her, the screen displayed the blueprints of what seemed to be the first version of the Death Star.

Leia cringed in fear once a blaster shot almost hit her. She turned around and saw that Trachta and the clones were concentrated on the fight. She recalled the words spoken to her before she got here; "It is time for you to fix everything. To save the innocent lives lost. To save Alderaan. To save the galaxy. To save your father."

Alderaan. The name of her home planet was in her head. Thinking for a while she immediately began wiping out all the data within the folder. "To save Alderaan" the three words echoed in her head. She didn't even hear Trachta's mechanical voice. "What are you doing?!" he yelled, even though he wasn't looking at her. She continued deleting everything until a mechanical arm grabbed her, pulling her away from the computer. However, Leia stretched out her hand, pressing the button to confirm the delete command. She did it, she actually did it.

"Sir, the Separatists have called reinforcements to the command center, we must leave and rejoin Jesse's group!" Fives cried out to the cyborg. "Alright, let's go!" Trachta answered, before turning to Leia. "We are not over with this, young lady." He spoke in a deadly tone. Leia, suddenly for herself, gulped in fear as she looked at the agent's red cybernetic eyes. The group have raced through the spire's corridors right to the heart of it. They found the generator and the clones led by Jesse.

"Trooper, report your status." Trachta ordered. "We're finishing up, sir. Only a few of bombs left to plant." Jesse answered. "Very good, but I've got bad news. An alarm has been raised and things may not go as planned…"

Suddenly, the party heard a shriek and turned around to see a couple of Geonosians. While Trachta gunned down one of them, the other one rose up and flew away, shrieking, possibly warning the Separatists, as the clones tried to shoot him down. "Blast! An alarm has been raised. Some of us must make sure the bombs were detonated. First, I, Fives and a few will cover the troopers mining the generator. Then, some of the troops must cover our escape if the enemies will approach." Trachta stated.

"Right away sir," Fives replied. "Take your positions men!"

Leia watched as some of the troopers led by Trachta took position and aimed at the passageways from where the enemy forces may possibly approach, while Jesse and his men aimed at the holes on the ceiling, possibly waiting for flying Geonosians. Leia saw the other clones finishing planting their bombs when suddenly shots were fired again.

"Hold your positions!" Trachta ordered as he fired back at the Geonosians. Leia suddenly heard Skywalker's voice from Jesse's com-device. "Jesse, I'm almost there. Just have to deal with the guns firing at me!"

"We got that, general!" Jesse replied. Leia tried to hide from the shots, not noticing a Geonosian aiming his sonic blaster at her. "Kid!" Dogma cried as he pushed the 14-year-old aside and took the shot for himself. "Kix! Dogma is wounded!" Jesse yelled to the clone medic, who swiftly ran towards the injured clone. "Sir, we're done. It's time to evacuate!" one of the clones mining the generator yelled.

"Everyone pull back! We're leaving!" Trachta yelled. Leia, however, stood in confusion as she watched Kix treating Dogma. Did this clone just saved her life? While she was grateful for Dogma, she was surprised that a clone saved her, a Jedi padawan, if recalling the fact that it was the clones that wiped out the Jedi. She returned to reality when Tup grabbed her and pulled her along with him as they were leaving the generator, with Kix and another clone helping Dogma while Fives and a few other clones covered their escape. They arrived to what seemed to be a landing bay of a spire as an LAAT gunship arrived and opened the doors. The party quickly got in, though some of the clones were unlucky and got shot. The gunship quickly flew away. After getting at a safe distance, one of the clones pressed the detonator and Leia shrugged as she heard a thunderous explosion. She looked at the spire as it crumbled, being destroyed along with the battleship cores and the droid army. The gunship landed at the Republic forces shortly. Leia immerged along with Trachta and the clones, followed by Anakin.

"Lena." Anakin called her in a deadly tone. Leia halted and turned around to her Jedi master. She knew she had to be prepared for this, even if the last thing she wanted to do was talking to him. "What were you thinking, Lena?! You almost jeopardized the whole mission!" Anakin scolded her. "Almost. The mission ended with a success." Leia tried to object. "Don't think that you are a smart one here." Anakin snarled, pointing his finger at her, making Leia take a step back. "With you breaking into the base without permission I had to immediately set out for you. I assume the separatists have noticed you and called an alarm."

"And that's not all." Trachta suddenly interfered. "I may not be a snitch, general, but Commander Luce has sabotaged our mission by deleting the data that our team was required to receive, and her actions caused Poggle escape. I had to save her from a Geonosian. Poggle used this distraction to escape."

Anakin looked at the cyborg in shock, Trachta continued explaining. "While I, ARC trooper Fives and other clone troopers had to fight off a group of enemies, Luce has accessed the required files and deleted them. Not to mention that she openly disobeyed our orders and caused clone trooper CT-6922 get himself injured."

"Is that true?"

Leia turned around to see Anakin staring at her with rage. "Lena, is that true?" he asked in a deadly tone. Leia sighed heavily. "Yes, I deleted the files. It's just I… Agent Trachta and the clones… were distracted cause the droids were attacking them. There were too many of them… And I… I was afraid… I thought they would all… die. So… I thought it was right to prevent… the enemy from getting these files." Leia stammered. For years, she was taught to make false impressions of her, portray herself as a young Imperial senator. Now, she tried to do the same with Anakin. She looked at him, hoping that he would buy it.

Anakin crossed his arms, still looking at Leia with rage. The silence was tense, Leia looked at up Anakin with fear, this time she truly feared him. That was until Trachta spoke again. "With respect, General Skywalker, but she sabotaged the mission and disobeyed orders. She must be taken into custody and answer under martial law."

Leia turned to Trachta, looking at the cyborg with disdain, not noticing Anakin looking feared. 'Ahsoka,' the name cried in his head again, 'not again, please.' Anakin quickly decided to take the matters in his own hands.

"No," Anakin argued. "She is a padawan of the Jedi Order and my apprentice. I shall decide the punishment she will undergo and answer for her actions. If you do not consent with these terms, we can discuss this directly with the chancellor."

Trachta's brows twitched in surprise. Surely, he was acquainted with the chancellor and heard that Skywalker also had close connections with Palpatine, but he believed it. "Alright, general. As you wish." Trachta nodded and held out his cybernetic hand, which Anakin shook without hesitation. "Fine lads you have under your command, general." Trachta commented before turning to Fives and Jesse. "ARC troopers Fives and Jesse. For your service to the Republic and courage, I shall have you and the rest of the members of the team awarded with Chancellor's Service Medal."

Anakin smiled as Fives and Jesse saluted while Leia's jaw dropped. From what Bail Organa told her, the Chancellor's Service Medal was a prestigious medal awarded by the Galactic Republic for impressive feats in war. Soon, the Republic forces returned to the Republic outpost. During the whole journey, only Kenobi looked at her with some sympathy, while the rest, Anakin and even the clones, looked at her with disdain, particularly Rex, Fives, Jesse, Tup and Kix. She looked at Trachta and almost gasped. She didn't notice it before, but there was a rear ocular camera on him. That was how he managed to react quickly when enemies were approaching from behind. As the party from Coruscant left the planet, while Dogma was taken to be treated, Leia felt exhausted and was about to return to her chambers for rest, only to be stopped by Anakin.

"Lena, come here." He called her. Sighing, Leia approached him. "Lena, what you have done is reckless and irresponsible. With disobeying orders, you have alerted the Separatists, you have deleted the files, you have allowed a war criminal to escape, and as a result the clones have died for nothing. Because of you, Dogma was injured." Anakin told her. 'As if you care for a clone, or someone at all' Leia thought, but didn't say anything. Since Anakin decided to punish her himself, she feared for the worse, for the memory of Vader torturing her on the Death Star was still fresh.

"Give me your lightsaber," Anakin's voice brought her back to reality. "What?" Leia asked. 'That's it, enough of this,' Anakin mentally snapped. "Your lightsaber, now." He snarled. Leia reluctantly took out her lightsaber and gave it to Skywalker. "Now, first, you will go to Dogma and apologize to him. Then you will go straight to your chambers, you will not talk to anyone, you will not read anything, you will not watch any holograms, but meditate and think about what you have done today. You're grounded. Am I clear?"

Leia tried to object once again but stopped herself. She understood that right now it was best not to anger Anakin even more. "Yes, master." She answered and headed off straight to find the medical branch of the base. Anakin looked at her with annoyance as he was approached by Obi Wan Kenobi. "You're right, she was reckless today." He spoke to Skywalker. "But she did what she thought what was right. Hotheaded like…"

"She is nothing like Ahsoka!" Anakin immediately snarled at Obi Wan. "I actually meant you, Anakin. You were the same when you were my padawan." Obi Wan stated in a mild tone.

Leia entered her chambers. As soon as she locked the door, she sat in the middle and began meditating. Thankfully, she was taught of this technique by Luke and Yoda. Although she didn't like Anakin grounding her, with the question 'who the hell he is to do that, he's not my father?' in her head, Leia agreed that meditating right now was her best way to free herself of anger and frustration. She once again recalled the words spoken to her, "It is time for you to fix everything. To save the innocent lives lost. To save Alderaan. To save the galaxy. To save your father."

For the first time since arriving to the past, Leia smiled. By deleting these Death Star plans she saved Alderaan… and her father. "Do you really think so?" the female voice came out of nowhere. Leia opened her eyes. She looked around, but she was alone, that was until she saw the woman with green hair, glowing

For the first time since arriving to the past, Leia smiled. By deleting these Death Star plans she saved Alderaan… and her father. "Do you really think so?" the female voice came out of nowhere. Leia opened her eyes. She looked around, but she was alone, that was until she saw the woman with green hair, glowing. "What do you mean? By destroying the plans I saved Alderaan and my father, Bail Organa, from death." Leia arrogantly stated. "Yes, you may save Alderaan and Organa, but you didn't save your father." The woman objected. "You mean Vader?" Leia asked before scoffing. "There is no reason to save him, just like Tarkin and others like them."

"Including the clones? Dogma saved your life by getting himself shot in battle, and you didn't even thank him." The woman continued to argue. "He is a future stormtrooper. It's because of him and his so-called 'brothers', Palpatine and Vader destroyed the Jedi." Leia stated. "So, you still see them as obedient animals blindly following the commands of a Sith lord?" the woman asked. "They are." Leia scoffed again.

"Well, who knows." The woman answered back, making Leia looked at her puzzled, but she didn't notice that.

"As for Skywalker…"

"Vader." Leia interrupted her.

"As for Skywalker," the woman ignored her. "You will soon learn that he can be saved, and that you must save him before it's too late."

"It's already late, since he was born." Leia answered, only for the woman disappear before her.

Command Station of Count Dooku, Planet Bakura.

A Sheathipede-class transport shuttle approached the landing bay of the station after passing a massive fleet of Separatist battleships. Poggle the Lesser immerged out of it followed by two commando droids. Inside, he arrived to the doors that have just opened and General Grievous came out followed by two IG-100 Magna guards. As the two Separatist leaders passed each other without greeting, Poggle entered Dooku's office.

The count looked up and saw the Geonosian approaching him. With no word, Poggle took out a device hidden in his coffin. Injecting it into the computer like a drive, Poggle displayed the hologram of the Death Star. "The Republic have discovered our facilities on Geonosis," Poggle spoke in Geonosian, looking directly at the count. "Although they know nothing about our main facilities on Mustafar, the Republic have possibly got their hands on the plans. This will not stop them from making a superweapon of their own."

"I can assure you, the Republic knows nothing," Dooku answered in Galactic Basic. "From what my master told me, the plans were destroyed thanks to the foolishness of the Jedi. Still, you must be careful. You were caught once, and you were lucky that we have finally got you out of Coruscant. You will stay with me and have someone of your trusted assets to overwatch the construction." Poggle nodded in response. "Have patience, duke. With the weapon we are constructing, the whole galaxy will bow before us." Dooku assured the Geonosian.