Murphy's law

-Even if you don't feel the pain, the pain is still there. Only the naïve or the arrogant ignore it.

Ahsoka, Weiss and Rex were in the strategic coordination center, achieving nothing. Time was passing and the delegation had not reached any decision with Jabba. All they could do was simply stare at the galaxy map and try to understand what Big Sister spent hours and hours looking at, sometimes, even quite animatedly shouting and cursing at it when she thought she was alone.

"And... she actually understands this thing when she looks at it?" inquired Ahsoka, which to her was just an incomprehensible mess of hundreds of markers that moved, theoretically showing the position of each of the Venators and Acclamators being operated by the Grand Army of the Republic.

"Yeah, look, each one of these markings indicates a Venator, then this marking is an Acclamator, the one represents a detected Lucrehulk and-" said Rex explaining from afar.

Ahsoka was about to touch the map when Weiss harshly smacked her hand away. She quickly withdrew it, rubbing the afflicted spot.

"Do not touch the map!" Weiss reprimanded. "It's attached to all the GAR vessels. Its main function is to give orders and manage all the Republic fleets at once. So don't ever try to touch that map again. You could inadvertently give the order to send a whole legion to nowhere, and they would think it was an order from the Supreme Commander!"

Ahsoka, still rubbing her hand, glared at him.

"No need to be so touchy about it. You could have explained it first, Angry."

Weiss glared through his helmet at the padawan. The nickname disgusted him, and the child before him was on his last nerve. In a huff, he left the room, leaving Rex and Ahsoka to themselves. Rex watched as Weiss left and then turned towards Ahsoka who was unaware of how she had insulted Weiss.

"Giving a name or nickname to a clone has great meaning to us. Don't give nicknames to a clone unless you have a lot of trust with him. Weiss is a very, very calm person really, if he wasn't he might have given your hand more than that little love tap. There are some who are not quite as…. understanding as him."

Ahsoka nodded slowly, realizing that even though she had been interacting with the clones for a while now, she had never really understood them.

"In that case why don't you fill me in on clone culture? It's not like we have anything else to do." Ahsoka asked. She had spent these last few days with Captain Rex and his master Anakin Skywalker. She had a certain trust with those two even though Anakin still didn't like her nickname for him, Skyguy.

The door slid open with a clank followed by all clones present saluting, causing their visitor to have a little giggle.

"At ease." ordered Hestia with a smile.

The clones went back to their work, and she approached Ahsoka.

"That wouldn't be a good idea, Rex. If a clone knows something, it's keeping a secret, right Rex?" Hestia said with a smile that promised much pain if he kept talking.

"Yeah, right." Rex conceded, donning his helmet and leaving the room with a salute, leaving Ahsoka alone with Hestia who had entered the room in a floating chair that had been provided for her to continue her activities.

Ahsoka noticed as Hestia started craning her neck in search of something.

"Where is Big Sister? She told me she had a bad feeling about the time the negotiations were taking. She should be here by now. And she's never late."

Ahsoka looked around, looking for CC-0001 distinctive armor.

"That's strange, something must have happened, Commander Tano, head to Big Sister's and room to investigate what happened."

Ahsoka, now a bit frustrated, swallowed her pride and nodded, leaving the room soon after.

She traveled through the long corridors of the Maelstrom thinking about the strange CC-0001. Her master, Skyguy, liked her, but she still didn't talk much, and when she did talk to someone who wasn't a clone, she was quite overbearing. It was almost like she played favorites with clones and non-clones.

Although it did make a sort of sense, a lot of the time you subconsciously treat your own better than others.

Ahsoka, who had found a new hobby, continued to walk through the endless corridors of the Maelstrom until she reached CC-0001's room.

Ahsoka rapped lightly on the door;however, no one answered the knock. She knocked once more to the same response. She sighed and opened the door only to find Anakin waking up and . . .

. . . with the Supreme Commander dead asleep on top of him, alone in her body glove that did not leave much to the imagination.

At the sudden sound of the door opening, Anakin turned to see Ahsoka shocked into silence and riveted to the spot.

Anakin slowly picked up CC-0001 with his arms, placing her comfortably on the bed and covered her in a blanket. After double checking his work, he carefully crept towards the door and the shocked Ahsoka who had yet to recover from her discovery.

Anakin sealed the door behind him and started walking, saying silent as the grave. Ahsoka had to move quickly to catch up to him. Once she did, she grabbed his hand to pull him to a stop.

"Um, may I ask?" She cautiously questioned.

Anakin gave Ahsoka a harsh look, but to her surprise instead of reprimanding her, he put his hand on Ahsoka's montrals, and began to stroke it gently.

"Why did you come looking for 0001?" He said with a forced levity, though Ahsoka gave the subject change no mind, for now.

"Supreme Commander Hestia was looking for CC-0001 because they had some kind of important meeting."

Anakin eyed the door, before turning quickly, resting his arms behind his back.

"She needs to rest, we'll tell Hestia that she was asleep and we couldn't wake her."

Ahsoka, who took one last look at 0001's room, the scene still fresh on her mind, simply nodded and began to follow Anakin.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hestia looked at the Jedi, looking confused, as Anakin reported how CC-0001 was asleep.

"It's strange that she is sleeping so deeply at a time like this; though I don't think I've ever seen her rest. She's almost always awake."

Anakin didn't miss the opportunity to make a comment, ignoring the fact that Hestia was not yet done speaking.

"That's why I think it's best to let her sleep. She's always awake. I think she deserves a rest. Besides, right now we're not in danger, so there's no need to bother her. Weren't you trained for this?"

Hestia rubbed her chin in idle though as she considered everything Anakin had said. She was one of the mere three sisters that were trained for this task, to lead the Grand Army of the Republic. The problem was that the war had started before the clone army or even most of the sisters were ready. So Big Sister has been having to deal with the work of four sisters for months now...

"Well then we'll let her sleep. She needs it. You can leave, I'll take care of commanding everything from here. If I need your presence, I'll call you."

They both nodded before leaving. Hestia elevated her hover chair and carefully studied the galaxy map; there was no need to take control of the situation or give special orders. The situation was under control.

Reviewing the reports that streamed in, she read one that caught his interest.

"CIS Supreme General Grievous has not been seen for the last week."

Hestia carefully looked over the map, spotting the last location where Grievous was detected.

"Voice command. Show hyperlane transit time."

The map changed to one that showed all the routes and their travel time.

"Considering the CIS frontline and Grievous' last location, analyze his potential routes."

Quickly from the last point where Grievous was seen, his possible avenues were traced through all known hypervias. They showed a worrying picture.

"According to this, Grievous could very well be on Tatooine at any moment. Could this be what Big Sister was worried about?"

A clone attendant approached, saluting Hestia. She gently waved her hand, prompting him to lower his salute.

"Prepare the fleet for combat, ma'am?"

It wasn't until now that she realized that she had been speaking aloud all this time, flushing a little, she nodded her head.

"Have all the vessels prepare for possible combat with a separatist fleet, I want Domino squad to stay behind and guard Big Sister's room, just in case of the worst case scenario."

The clone nodded and Hestia looked at the map again, the highlighted routes made her suspicious.

Could the separatists be in full retreat? Why didn't Big Sister intercept them? Does she see something I'm not? Hestia thought to herself now.

But nevertheless, she ordered several legions to initiate an offensive towards the separatist capital.

"With this, we will force Grievous to show himself."

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ahsoka followed Anakin out of the Coordination Center. Abandoning the thought of delving any deeper into what was happening between Anakin and CC-0001.

"What are we going to do Skyguy?" Ahsoka said, in an attempt to change the atmosphere.

Reaching a relatively empty area of the Hangar, Anakin ignited his lightsaber, turning towards Ahsoka.

"So far you have learned how to deal with droids and the odd thug with a blaster. And at your current level when you have to fight someone who out-classes you... You would fail. The only way to protect yourself and others is with force, pure and simple… now try to kill me."

Ahsoka paused, thinking about what Anakin said.

"Too late, you must always be moving, always taking the initiative, and always keeping that momentum!"

Anakin pushed her with the force, slamming her into a metal beam, and even though he was intentionally slowing himself, he still caught Ahsoka off guard.

"The enemies like General Grievous won't hesitate to kill you. They will take every opportunity to take your life, and we will not make it easy for them. Now come at me, like your life depends on it"

Anakin smirked then, attempting to rile her up.

Ahsoka recovered from the blow with a flip and a kick into a dead sprint, igniting her lightsaber as she charged Anakin, aiming to strike at his arm. But Anakin easily parried her with an almost contemptuous flick of his wrist. Pushing her back, Anakin took the opportunity to turn around and force kicked Ahsoka in her side, flinging her to the left, smashing her into a nearby LAAT.

"Your enemies won't play fair. Someone who wants to kill you will try to kill you in any way possible, using anything and everything as a weapon. Case in point is the body, now stop focusing on my weapon, and on me instead."

Ahsoka stood up, frustrated that Anakin had defeated her so easily. The ease in which he was handling her was galling. She would have to redouble her efforts.

Taking advantage of her speed, she ran towards him once more. This time trying to mimic the same force kick technique he had used to send her flying. However before impact Anakin caught her ankle with his hand. With his firm grip and the help of the force, he sent her flying right back into the LAAT.

"You are too predictable, if you try something like that on a real opponent…. You'll die."

Ahsoka stood up again, trying and failing to keep her cool.

"I am not trying to humiliate you. This is for your own good. Believe me when I say you would very much rather find this out with me, than the enemy."

Ahsoka used the force on Anakin to try to grab his lightsaber; however, Anakin held the lightsaber in his right hand and smiled slightly.

"Nice try, but you are not yet skilled enough in the force to try something like that one me."

With a smile, Anakin prepared himself, looking at the eyes of his padawan.

"My turn."

Anakin then began to run at Ahsoka, who was startled by his surprising speed. Se tried to guard, but the hard blow from Anakin's lightsaber sent her flying again.

In a slow movement, Anakin brought his lightsaber to her neck.

"Dead, you have much to learn, and I have much to teach. Once you are no longer a Padawan, we can have a proper duel if you want. Just to see who the best actually is."

Ahsoka was somewhat unsettled by how contemptuously he had defeated her. She had thought he would have to try to defeat her… Not this. She wasn't going to let this stand…

With an effort of will she brought her saber back towards her.

"Round two Skyguy?"

Anakin smiled, laughing.

"That's the attitude. I had wondered at first, but now there's no doubt. You're the right padawan for me."

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hestia was studying the map, checking, and double checking that all was well on front. Her work was interrupted when she received a holo-communication. Upon answering, she was met with a clone on the move and under fire. A grazing shot sent the clone tumbling and the communicator flying. However the clone managed to retrieve it as he scrambled for cover.

"MA'AM, WE"VE BEEN AMBUSHED! SEPARATIST DROIDS HAVE ATTACKED US DURING NEGOTIATIONS! THE HUTTS HAVE ALLIED THEMSELVES WITH THE SEPARATISTS, WE REQUEST IMMEDIATE EVAC!"

Hestia, confirmed their request and cut the communication, and began to organize the troops like a well oiled machine.

"I want all 501st to disembark on Tatooine right now. The Hutts have allied with the CIS. All vessels prepare for combat."

The steady murmur of the coordination center increased tenfold, turning the once quiet room into a cacophony of shouting, alarms, and semi-organized chaos.

She opened a communication with Domino Squad with fresh orders.

"We need Big Sister now. Wake her up."

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Echo repeated Hestia's orders to his brothers, and received a smack on the head from Hevy.

"We heard her already. We don't need you repeating it."

Hevy gave a tentative knock to Big Sister's door, but heard no response. Which was surprising, with all the readiness alarms going off, it was a wonder she was still resting.

"I'm opening the door." Fives called, approaching it and entering, quickly spotting Big Sister still asleep upon the bed.

"Damn, I guess she really did need the rest..." Commented Droidbait, which went ignored by Fives as he ran up to her and started checking her vitals. For a moment, he had thought she was dead; her pulse was so weak.

"What's wrong with her?" Hevy questioned, from behind Fives, who was still attempting to wake her up.

Echo took her in his arms in a bridal carry and simply started walking.

"Let's go quick, we need to get the sick bay. Whatever is wrong with her, the doctors will know better than us."

Domino squad gave way to Echo,who began a rapid pace down the corridors towards the sick bay.

"But I don't understand, how could this have happened?" Droidbait questioned as he kept pace just behind Echo.

"I have no fucking idea Droidbait, the hopefully the doctors will know." Answered Fives.

They soon arrived at the sick bay, and placed her carefully upon the gurney. Fives then draped a blanket over her form to cover her modesty, as medical droids began to buzz about.

"I'll take it from here, you'll just be in the way here." Commanded the head doc, which was a clone. The bodyguards looked at each other, unsure whether to stay or not.

"Out I said!" He repeated, and Domino squad finally took that as their cue to leave.

"Where is she?" Demanded Hestia via holo-com. The clones looked amongst themselves seemingly trying to decide who should be the bearer of bad news, but eventually Hevy sighed and answered.

"We left her in the sick bay. Upon entering Big Sister's room, we were unable to wake her up no matter what we tried. Though we were able to confirm that she was still alive, albeit with low vitals..."

"Damn it." Was heard from the other end of the comm. "I expect updates on her condition as soon as you know more".

And with that the communicator cut out.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was a total disaster.

What were the chances of the Hutts infiltrating a bounty hunter onto the Maelstrom who would then poison Big Sister? To have the leader of the entire Grand Army of the Republic out of commission at this crucial juncture…

It was beyond simple coincidence.

"I want a map of the fighting on Tatooine."

A hologram of the area around Jabba's palace appeared, where Hutt Clan fighters were fighting Republic soldiers with the 501st landing in LAATs nearby to support.

Hestia began nervously tapping the side of her grav-chair.

"This is a declaration of war. I want confirmation if the Senate is in session right now."

One of the clones working the console began to work rapidly, then asked for confirmation.

"Yes, do you wish to open direct communications with the Senate?"

Hestia nodded, and settled into the chair.

"Communication established in three, two, one."

Before her appeared a grand assembly of the Republic senate.

"Dear Senators, I am Hestia, second in command of the Grand Army of the Republic. I have to report that the Hutts have allied themselves with the Separatists. Less than an hour ago, Separatist droids attacked a clone diplomatic delegation. At the same time, troops of the Hutt Cartel have engaged our forces on the planet of Tatooine.

Simultaneously, aboard the Maelstrom orbiting Tatooine, the Supreme Commander Republic army was hospitalized for an unknown condition. However, the doctors confirmed that it is serious. It is my belief that she was somehow poisoned by the Hutts."

She watched as the Senate began to shout all at once; there was so much noise that she couldn't make out any words at all amongst the noise. However, with the guidance Chancellor Palpatine, the Senate eventually quieted.

"Is this report accurate?"

Hestia nodded as she pulled up the recordings when a shout could be heard in the Coordination Room.

"NON-REPUBLIC SHIPS ENTERING FROM HYPERSPACE!"

A moment later, a dozen Separatist frigates appeared, led by a large battleship.

The coordination room quickly became disorganized as dozens of voices began speaking at once, trying to relay all the data they were receiving.

"We haven't seen a Separatist warship of this type and size before."

The Grand Chancellor then recalled Hestia's attention, asking "What is happening?"

Hestia looked at all the information presented to her on the screen, dumbfounded.

"We are now under attack by a Separatist fleet. The only logical conclusion is that the Hutts have taken the side of the Separatists."

"ENERGY LEVELS OF THEIR FLAGSHIP SPIKING! TAKE EVASIVE MANEUVERS! BRACE FOR IMPACT!" Multiple commands were rapidly shouted over the ships comms. Even the Senate could hear the bellowed order of the admiral.

"This is a declaration of war by the Hutts, I repeat, this is-."

And their ship was struck by a blast from a heavy Ion cannon.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For a brief moment, the entire Senate went dead silent as communications were cut off. Everyone knew that chances were that everyone they had just seen aboard the Maelstrom class were now dead.

The Umbaran senator, amidst the silence, spoke up.

"IF THE HUTTS WANT A WAR, WE SHALL GIVE ONE TO THEM!" He shouted with fire in his eyes. Hesitant at first, the senate clamored and began to chant for war with the Hutts. There was no room for debate or negotiation. The Hutts were to be exterminated.

However, Padme and the other pacifists did not believe that the Hutts had betrayed them. It just did not seem to make sense to her, and seemed… out of character for the cartel. However, their voices were drowned out in the Senate, who only cared for vengeance and blood.

The Grand Chancellor of the Republic then stood up, silencing everyone.

"To all senators, the Hutts have attacked our peaceful fleets that merely wished to resupply and not to seek conflict, betraying our trust and the well understood diplomacy of the Republic. "

The Grand Chancellor sighed for a moment, falling silent to allow his words to sink into the minds of the senators.

"Not only that, but they coordinated with the separatists to attack us. Upon these facts, I put to a vote... The start of a Special Military Operation to destroy the Hutt criminal empire."

All the senators began to vote, and Palpatine watched as the votes for or against came in, and after a few minutes the results were in..

"With 25,458 votes for, and 4,542 against, the Republic will begin a special military operation against the Hutts!"

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In the Jedi Council chamber, the council members looked to one another, with long or thoughtful faces.

"After being cut off from communications with Supreme Commander CC-0001, it falls to us to make the strategic decisions of the war." Mace Windu proclaimed with a satisfied air about him. However Yoda quickly showed patience and temper.

"Temporarily." said Yoda.

Shaak Ti, appearing via a holo-comm, seemed thoughtful before speaking up.

"The prudent thing to do would be to send the 104th Legion with Plo Koon and the 44th Legion in Ryloth as reinforcements."

All the Jedi nodded slowly, weighing the measure of such a plan internally.

"It will take three days to arrive," mentioned Ki Adi Mundi. "They will have to survive on their own for that time."

At those words, silence fell for a time, only interrupted as masters began to leave and as holo-comms cut off, considering the matter handled.

The few that remained gave each other tired and weary looks before one spoke.

"May the force be with them."

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anakin watched from Tatooine as the Maelstrom was hit by some kind of large energy field, his heart seemed to stop for a second, but not seeing any signs that the ship was damaged helped him relax after a moment.

They had rescued all the clones that were fighting on Tatooine, and they could begin to retreat from the battlefield. However, Anakin had decided to take a detour and moved to enter Jabba's Palace.

"General, we are to retreat through HyperSpace, we have thirty minutes to evacuate."

Anakin, stepping through the door and pushing aside the rubble with the help of the force, entered the palace.

"What is the status of the Supreme Commander?" he asked instead of answering, however Rex shook his head.

"The Maelstrom has been disabled and boarding parties have been identified. It is believed that they are targeting the Maelstrom in particular, likely for propaganda or even prisoners and intel. They have ordered an evacuation, sir." Rex said. The news frustrated Anakin, who began to accelerate their pace, with Ahsoka close at his side, coldly killing any guards he encountered along the way.

"I'll deal with Jabba, and then we'll retreat." Anakin ordered with a furious glint in his eyes.

Soon they reached Jabba's suite; however there were hundreds of guards between them and Jabba, Anakin had no time for this. With an effort of will he strangled the enemies before him, before a shocked Ahsoka. He began to advance, uncaring for the dying squeals of mercenaries that had blocked his path

Upon entering the lair of his quarry, Anakin rushed forward, cutting off Jabba's attempt to escape.

"A clean death is more than you deserve, slaving scum."

With a flash, he had removed Jabba's overripe head from his body. Before he could take further revenge upon Jabba's corpse, a phrase came to mind.

"Rationalism." He said in a low growl, before aborting his strike.

"What I've done is right because he's a criminal. He ruined the lives of millions if not billions of sentients. I have done the galaxy a service, a monster will always remain a monster."

Ahsoka was in awe and fear of Anakin at how quickly he had dispatched their foes. In a matter of moments, he had cleared all of Jabba's would-be defenders from their advance, leaving Jabba no time to escape.

Rex called from behind then, reminding them that they were on a tight schedule.

Anakin and Ahsoka began to sprint for the exit, leaving naught but corpses in their wake.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The last LAAT left with Anakin, Ahsoka, and Rex aboard. After a tense ascent through the atmosphere, they landed aboard a surviving Venator, which promptly jumped into hyperspace once they were accounted for.

Anakin advanced towards the bridge, a deep scowl resting on his face. The 501st Legion that were aboard began to form into little groups, trading whispers. Ahsoka noticed this and assumed that it had to do with the abandonment of the Maelstrom.

Anakin entered the command room and approached Wulf Yularen, the urge to strangle him assaulted Anakin, but he controlled himself with deep breaths.

Admiral Yuralen was his ally, supposedly.

"Why did we abandon the Maelstrom, Yularen?" Anakin interrogated him.

Yuralen turned to face him.

"Faced with the loss of communications, the admirals have decided that the wisest decision was to withdraw from the battle. The Maelstrom Class is capable of boarding and siege warfare. It can, in optimal conditions, be defended for more than 6 months if the defenders hold. Also the Jedi have ordered reinforcements to be sent, so we will wait for them to move in and recapture Maelstrom. They have also ordered you to await reinforcements."

Anakin stared at Yurallen. He understood that Yurallen was right, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He walked out of the ship's bridge, a palpable feeling of rage radiated off of him. Upon exiting, he saw Rex and Ahsoka talking amongst themselves.

"Ahsoka, with me." He commanded, not deigning to wait for her response.

Ahsoka gave a quick nod to Rex and ran after Anakin.

"What's wrong?" She asked as she chased.

Anakin continued walking, his anger boiling deep within. All of the traumas of the past were in the forefront of his mind, he was finding it harder and harder to keep his rage in check.

"Nothing, just a lesson. A lesson that will serve you all your life: when you are given orders and you know they are wrong. Ignore them."

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

While the tense conversation between Anakin and Yurallen was taking place, Rex was waiting for Anakin to make his leave of the bridge when Ahsoka quietly approached him. She seemed to want to speak privately. He obliged, drifting away, so they would not be disturbed.

"I overheard one of the conversations of a group of clones. They said something about a revolution. Should I be worried?"

Rex immediately panicked, but he was unable to respond before Anakin left the bridge, ordering Ahsoka to follow him, leaving Ahsoka chasing behind him.

Rex watched them depart as he thought about how to resolve the situation.

The clones of the 501st were, to put it simply, less clone than the rest of their brothers. According to some, they were more free, and they didn't have the same biases and mentality as the rest. So they were never really associated with the revolution or all the fanaticism around the sisters that some legions had developed. However, the fact that his own legion spoke of revolution, likely spurred forth by the fact they had left the Maelstrom and the Sisters behind, was alarming. Though a decision that strategically made sense, it had lit the flame of discontent, and if his brothers were to coordinate to mutiny...

Rex headed somewhere private, where no one would see or hear him. Pulling out his holocommunicator and calling the only one of the sisters working alongside Hestia and Big Sister.

"What's going on Rex?" Asked Aphrodite, the one in charge of all communications for the Republic Army. It was her work that allowed for such effective coordination of the armies and fleets. However, she also had the power to cut communications, even between ships coming from miles away.

"I need your help, I want you to disable communications between clones of every venator in the fleet I'm in."

Aphrodite looked at him suspiciously through the hologram, nodding softly, but you could tell she was suspicious.

"I've lost communication from the Maelstrom, from what little I can tell, it's been destroyed. What's going on there?"

Rex, frustrated both by the situation and the urgency, took a breath and began to explain the situation.

"The Maelstrom has been disabled by a separatist weapon, the important thing is that apparently our brothers are planning to start a mutiny for abandoning the Maelstrom ship."

Aphrodite kept looking at him, still suspicious.

"You know, even though Big Sister trusts you completely, that doesn't mean the rest of the sisters do."

Rex was running out of time. The clones were perfectly capable of organizing between fleets and were surely doing so right now. He had to cut communications between ships and negotiate with the legion of each Venator to prevent mutiny.

"Intercept communications between any of the Venators and judge for yourself."

Aphrodite adjusted something on her helmet and began to busy herself with something undisplayed, then stopped for about a few moments and then began adjusting something else, this repeated about five times.

"I will Interrupt the communications, just stop this from happening. And next time address me properly." Aphrodite said, before cutting the communication. Rex's heart was racing, and with a weary sigh, he put the communicator away, before speeding off to deal with the situation.

Mutiny could not happen, not here and not now.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weiss, staring determinedly as droid assault craft breached the Maelstrom's armor in the main hangar. Weiss organized the defense as best he could after the ship was hit by the ion cannon. The enemy's objective was likely to gather intel and to take the Supreme Commander as a captive.

There were no strangers on the ship anymore. They were all just brothers and two sisters. Although calling them sisters was humiliating. To Weiss, the sisters were the closest thing to gods the clones had.

"Still no news of Big Sister's whereabouts?" He questioned.

"We've located her bodyguards. It appears that Big Sister is in medical right now."

Weiss approached a clone captain, "What happened to her, brother?"

He received a mere shake of the head in response.

"I just know that a lot of medics are taking care of her."

Weiss tapped a box with his foot to release his frustration. "Understood. Get to your position."

Weiss returned to his previous position, watching as the first droids were deployed, the first clanker's taking their steps on the Maelstrom.

It was time.

"NOT ONLY IS BIG SISTER HERE, BUT HESTIA TOO, WE HAVE TWO SISTERS ON THIS SHIP, AND OUR ONE JOB IS TO KEEP THEM SAFE. SO BROTHERS, FIGHT, DESTROY THOSE DAMN CLANKERS, SHOOT THEM UNTIL YOU RUN OUT OF AMMO, WHEN YOU RUN OUT OF AMMO USE YOUR FISTS, WHEN YOUR FISTS ARE NO MORE THAN STUMPS, USE YOUR LEGS! I DON'T CARE YOU IF YOU HAVE TO BITE THE CLANKERS TO DEATH! JUST! DON'T! STOP! FIGHTING!"

Weiss bellowed, uncaring of the pain in his throat. The message had to get through to all his brothers. Whatever happened, they had to win. They could not lose.

"GLORY TO THE CLONES, GLORY TO THE SISTERS!" shouted Weiss. His brothers took up the chant as they began firing at the droids advancing on their positions.

Weiss pulled out his twin pistols and began firing into the mass of droids, joining the rain storm of blaster fire.

However, the droid army, uncaring to this bravado, slowly pushed past their fallen. Wave after wave of droids continued to advance. Through skill, firepower, and their improvised barricades, the clones managed to hold the hangar for hours.

Eventually, over the course of the never ending assault, the clones were pushed back and overwhelmed, retreating to further fall-back lines.But for each wave of droids, there were two more close behind. And now, the enemy's volume of fire was no less than that of the clones. The raging firefight was gradually brought into the inner decks of the Maelstrom.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The screech of metal against metal rang through the hangar, an oppressive figure taller than a full grown clone, walked over the mounded wreckage of destroyed battle droids. Methodically heading towards the clones' defensive line, without pause and yet without haste.

The figure noticed the cooling corpses of clones in the trenches, far fewer than the droids, but that was to be expected.

A quiet moan could be heard, a clone of the 203rd legion had survived but could not be brought back with his brothers to the new defensive line. The figure approached the wounded clone, he used his foot to lay him face up.

Their eyes met.

"Tell me, where is your Supreme Commander?"

The clone looked at him and laughed. For what else could he do when he has clearly lost his mind? After all, monsters do not exist.

But if they did…

"For our future." He intoned before activating an explosive. However, the monstrous figure kicked the dying clone away and the explosive with him.

"To this day, no clone has willingly surrendered." Noted the monster before resuming its leisurely path, its feet casually crushing clone corpses with a crunch as it walked by.

The metal brute then threw away its cloak as it entered the hallway, igniting a lightsaber in each hand as it traveled down the hallway stepping onto the bodies of clones and droids alike, following the sound of battle.

Captain Fran was firing his Z-6 rotary blaster into the mass of B-1's entering the mess hall. He and his men had been separated from the rest in the evacuation and were organizing a staggered defense in the mess hall.

"For the clones! For the sisters!" Fran shouted, firing at any droid that entered his sights. However the droids slowly stopped firing. In the confusion, many of the clones found themselves stopping as well. A chill filled the silent air. What is happening?

With slow methodical clanks, a monster appeared, its lightsabers bared.

"General Grievous." Fran said, his voice low and heart thumping.

Grievous then walked slowly towards the clones, each step echoing over the silent mess hall. They had all heard the stories, what happened to the clones and Jedi who had the misfortune to meet him.

However, Fran regained his courage, and knowing the consequence of his actions, pulled the trigger.

"THOUGH WE ALL DIE HERE, OUR SACRIFICE IS TO SAVE THE SISTERS! OUR DEATHS ARE INSIGNIFICANT COMPARED TO THEM! FOR THE CLONES, GLORY TO THE SISTERS!" He shouted, with all the power his voice was capable of. Bolstering the courage in his men, who again began to fire at the enemy before them.

In a dazzling display of light, Grievous spun his lightsabers, creating an almost impenetrable shield, and began to rapidly advance on Captain Fran, leaving a melted trail as the lightsabers barely clipped the floors.

Fran however would not go quietly, with a heave, he threw his weapon into Grievous' path, attempting to create an opening. Taking his chance, he then threw his whole body into Grievous' way in a grapple.

Grievous thrust his blade into the Captain's belly with a violent twist.

However.

"For the clones!" Fran revealed the thermal detonators primed and ready to go.

An explosion rocked the hall sending man and droid alike sprawling. A moment passes and from the smoking crater, Grievous appears. In a contemptuous motion, he tosses a mangled robotic arm away, the only evidence left of Captain Fran's desperate gambit.

"These clones are fanatical in combat. I must be more careful in the future." General Grievous spoke idly to himself. Before leaving the mess hall, he turned for a second to look at the burned corpse of Captain Fran, almost seeing a smiling face through that helmet.

"If I had this army, I would have conquered the galaxy by now." He said, leaving and returning to his goal of searching for the Supreme Clone Commander.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ares walked through the corridors of the Maelstrom. He arrived a scant few minutes before the ion cannon had done its work. And ever since then, he had been coordinating with a captain of the 203rd he had found. They were in charge of defending the sick bay from the droids.

"Any news, Captain Trot?" He inquired

"Communications are back up, though mine seem garbled." Trot said.

"There, try that." Ares said after guiding him through correcting the issue.

"This is Captain Trot to Commander Weiss, do you read me?" Tested the captain. Trot stopped suddenly, going as rigid as a board.

"Could you repeat that, over? It sounded like you said-"

Between one instant and the next captain Trot was a bloody smear on the floor, and in his place, stood a metal monstrosity. Without hesitation, Ares readied his beskar spear and parried a wild cut from the monster.

The sound of blaster fire could be heard. It would appear that this was an ambush.

"Impressive."

The monster separated from Ares and began to probe Ares' defenses. Ares defended himself quite ably however, as each attempt was obstructed by quick economical movements.

Ares received a powerful blow and locked blades, Grievous' blade inched dangerously close before stilling a hair's breadth from the trooper's helm. With inhuman dexterity, Grievous' leg shot up between them and drove Ares to the floor.

Ares felt the iron tang of blood in his mouth. He cared little however, being more than preoccupied with not dying. He activated the flamethrower mounted into his armor, using the heat to drive Grievous back.

Taking advantage of the break in their duel, Ares utilized his jetpack to retreat, but Ares had underestimated Grievous' agility, as the general gave chase through the hall. Ares tried to retaliate with a few pot shots during the high speed chase but was unable to get a clear bead on the cyborg.

Ares was forced back as Grievous came upon him with a mighty leap, going for his spear, he was just able to guide the blow away from his vitals earning a fresh burning gash to his side and a ruined jetpack for his troubles.

Ares pulled a thermal detonator from his belt, throwing it between the cyborgs' feet. Grievous rolled away, getting clear from the explosive before it could do its grisly work.

Taking the opportunity, Ares removed the now busted jetpack from his back.

However Grievous did not press the attack, instead conversing with a nearby commander droid before refocusing upon Ares.

"You've outlasted the average clone, that is commendable." Grievous stated, Ares cared not, focusing only on his opponent. With a grunt, Ares removes his helmet from his head, allowing his blood to seep from his wounds and onto his armor to pool on the cold floor below.

Ares took a brief moment to look around and see that half of his fellow clones had already fallen.

General Grievous turned back towards the droid commander, who apparently carried a comm unit as the general soon accepted a communication from none other than Count Dooku himself.

"There has been an adjustment of the plan. I need you for another mission. The capital is being threatened by a clone offensive"

General Grievous nodded, "Understood Count Dooku."

The call cut out and the monster looked back at Ares, knowing full well that the ARC trooper had only survived to this point because his other arm had been destroyed in his carelessness. Still he had held out far longer than several Jedi he faced.

"Whatever happens, that clone is to live. He is a great warrior. It has been too long since I have had the pleasure of fighting a more or less competent opponent." He said, turning and disappearing from sight. Ares tensely held his spear in his right hand and his blaster pistol in his left. He had been prepared to sacrifice himself a mere moments before. Ares sighed in relief that the monster was gone.

He now knew true fear..

The droids followed Grievous out, unaware just how close they were to capturing the Supreme Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic.

Ares, relieved that he had not only saved his life, but also Big Sister, almost fell to his knees. Using his spear to hold himself upright, he was in for an extended stay in the sick bay if he were to guess.

Coughing up blood was typically a bad sign after all.

The sheer strength exerted by the monster with his arm was more than enough to crack bone.

"The man needs a medic stat!" shouted a clone, as everything finally faded to black for Ares .He did his job, big sister was safe.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As Grievous walked towards his ship, he contemplated how statistically speaking, this attack would likely be a failure now. That they had managed so much during this strike was only due to his personal presence… Now that he was forced to go to defend the capital, this attack had an 89% chance of failure.

The sound of two lightsabers igniting behind him did not interrupt him from his journey.

"You Jedi lack an understanding of stealth, once again you are useless."

He heard as the Jedi moved to attack him, but he merely rotated his body around, parrying both blades with his own.

"Cease your distractions, statistically speaking you are but mere flies and I have more important things to do."

Grievous knew that the lack of an arm was a huge strategic disadvantage, but he also knew that they were still no match for him.

The Jedi and his padawan split up, flanking him. Grievous analyzed the situation and came to the conclusion that they were indeed not a threat.

"You have chosen death then. Pathetic"

They attacked Grievous with simultaneous strikes; however Grievous would be taking the initiative for this fight, striking at the weak link,

The Padawan

Ahsoka was forced to abort her strike to defend herself from the whirlwind assault.

Seeing an opening, Anakin moved to strike the general from behind. In an uncanny display of strength and dexterity the cyborg spun around and lifted Ahsoka with his leg, putting her between him and Anakin's assault. The strength Grievous exerted on his captive was enough to crack bone. It was too much for the young Togruta, as she dropped her blade.

Truly the best way to force a Jedi to act…

Anakin and Grievous separated again, staring each other down. With deliberate slowness Grievous began to crush his captive beneath his heel. Ahsoka screamed in agony as she was slowly being crushed to death beneath the cyborg.

Is to harm those they cherish.

In a fury, Anakin summoned Ahsoka's blade and charged. Despite being unable to use his full mobility, Grievous was more than able to fend off his opponents unfocused assault.

It was a battle against the clock, Ahsoka needed medical attention, or the consequences could be grim. Anakin and Grievous had shared more than fifty exchanges in mere moments. However, Anakin was making no headway, and was slowly falling into Grievous' trap. As time went on Anakin's desperation and anger only grew leading to more and more mistakes.

Mistakes that Grievous ruthlessly capitalized on.

The battle was suddenly forced to an end when a blaster bolt hit Grievous' undamaged arm, ending the stalemate. A lone mortally wounded sniper, fueled by his hatred of the monster before him, fired a barrage of shots at the fearsome cyborg from his elevated position in the hangar.

Grievous knew that this battle was already lost due to another unforeseen variable. The only logical course of action was to retreat.

He threw the padawan at Anakin, who managed to catch his charge. Grievous then took the opportunity to escape, dodging the sniper's shots. Now that Grievous knew of that particular he was no threat.

"Commando droids, initiate combat protocols."

Ten commando droids poured out from Grievous' ship. They then began to fire upon Anakin, who was forced to protect young Ahsoka from the blistering fire.

Once there was a break in their fire Anakin took his chance, with an effort of will he gripped them droids in the might of the force, crumpling them instantly.

By the time Anakin had dealt with the command droids however…

Grievous had already escaped.

—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hours had passed since Grievous' escape, in that time Weiss managed to recover much of the ship though they were still struggling to recover the hangar as the waves of droids kept coming in.

Elsewhere, the screams and the crying of the wounded and the dying was a constant companion within the sick bay. But Anakin cared not as he sat waiting in the officers section of the sick bay, waiting on news of Ahsoka and CC-0001.

In the middle of the chaos was Ahsoka, submerged in Bacta and CC-0001 was on a stretcher, connected to a dozen different miraculous devices that confounded him.

He was just thankful they were still alive.

"Don't worry General Skywalker, Commander Tano will recover quickly, but any later we would be having a very different discussion." Informed a clone medic that may have been trying to reassure Anakin.

Anakin was not reassured

"What happened to CC-0001? The last time I saw her she was fine." Anakin questioned, angry and worried that he had missed some sign, some hint as to what had happened, that he could have prevented this mess somehow.

"As you likely know humans need seven hours of quality sleep minimum per rotation, yet according to what I have reviewed her schedule the average time that the Supreme Commander slept on a standard rotation face was two hours. She apparently supplemented her body with the use of natural and unnatural chemicals to keep her working. This developed into a self-destructive habit for her that plus general stress and extreme work overload... There is no precedent for this."

Anakin lifted his head looking directly at the medic for the first time.

"In what way?"

The doctor stared at Big Sister for a second , then lowered his voice.

"She should be dead, medically speaking no human could have gone through that situation and come out alive. Yet she lived."

The medic returned to his duties, leaving Anakin alone once more.

Anakin's mind was a whirl, a dozen thoughts after another came and went again from moment to moment. The firm conclusion that Anakin could make was…

None of this made any sense.

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rex was resting in his quarters, In a mere twenty four hours they would be reinforcing the Maelstrom. However, he was exhausted for another reason.

"I underestimated how fanatical the 203rd could be…"

Dealing with the 501st was easy, dealing with the 203rd had been much more difficult. The members 203rd that did not stay on the Maelstrom and were split into the Venators and Acclamators were about to start a mutiny when Rex got in contact. It was a long hours of quiet and not so quiet discussion away from the prying ears of the Admirals. Admirals that would be best if they were not privy to clone business.

However, after many hours of long debate he had finally managed to calm things down.

Captain Rex, clone diplomat.

As funny as that thought was, he would much prefer not being put in that situation ever again.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anakin was shocked by a sound of thunder, the world he awoke to was uncanny in its differences, how things could be so similar yet so very different. The fire, the blood, the sickly sweet smell of rotting meat, and the most familiar of all.

The bodies of the fallen.

He found himself laid out in a primitive house with a charred roof that was half way through to caving in. Before him stood a group of figures amidst a discussion, one looked like a small blond girl with blue eyes, she was shouting something and pointing deeper in the city they were in. Suddenly she kicked a man in the stomach, before forcing the man to take up his weapon and fire into the distance. Watching the bright projectile, Anakin saw as it decimated a group of civilians. In the moments that followed the whole city was covered in explosions.

Before lone what once was a city in the midst of a battle, looked the very image of hell on earth.

And amidst it all the only this Anakin felt was cold, all of the anger, rage and sadness he knew he should be feeling was muted, almost nonexistent.

None of the felt real

He watched as the soldier used an unfamiliar device to fly to him, amidst her flight the young leader of the group suddenly locked eyes with him. She looked oddly similar if childish version of CC-0001.

Then she spoke.

"Deus lo vult"

Then Anakin woke up confused in a cold sweat..

Everything seemed right, he was sleeping in his quarters, he could sense that CC-0001 was still in the sick bay, in the charge of the medical droids. He began to relax once more, a few rotations had passed since the Maelstrom class had been rescued. It was now being repaired in dry dock, but the crew on the other hand… It was a disaster, more than 80% of the crew and soldiers of the Maelstrom were now dead.

Anakin looked at the comms on his wrist seeing more than 20 attempts of communication from Obi Wan Kenobi.

"The Jedi Council probably wants something from me."

With that thought, Anakin got out of bed, out of place, a piece of unknown material with something strange written on it.

Picking it up, Anakin looked at it and read it aloud.

"Deus lo vult"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ahsoka was writing a personal journal on a holo pad. It was more of a personal project than anything else.

She thought of what to call it, the gears of her mind turning mulled over the odd behavior of the clones, before finally settling on a title.

The clones are hiding something.

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