Agents of The Clone Wars (Book 1): The Clairvoyant Conspiracy

Dawn of the Malevolence

"Master we just avoided a volatile situation with Shield about following official Shield protocols. And now you ordered me in my personal ship on a secret mission without Shield's knowledge. My Padawan could pick up bad habits from this." Anakin complained

"If I had one credit for everytime you disobeyed orders when you were a Padawan, I'd be as wealthy as Count Dooku and Tony Stark together. Besides this is an urgent matter of search and rescue that's related to the classified mission being lead by myself and Agent Hand at the Hub. This is a sanctioned disobedience of orders Anakin." Obi-Wan replied

"So what you're saying is that it's ok to disobey official Shield protocols when you're a Jedi Master." Anakin joked with a smile

"Are we going to start the search soon? Master Plo Koon is one of the missing Jedi and scanners haven't confirmed that he's dead." Ahsoka insisted

"Ahsoka please. Don't interrupt." Anakin warned

Anakin's airship suffered some tuburlance as it continued up into space and the storage compartment opened with Skye spilling out of it. Skye gave a nervous laugh at Ahsoka and Anakin as they stared at her rising to her feet.

"Are you serious Anakin? You finally have the freedom that comes with a position of authority and you have a stow away. You were explicitly commanded to bring Ahsoka and only Ahsoka with you." Obi Wan chastised

"Technically he didn't know I was coming. I just thought I could help. My laptop is calibrated with specific audio signals that could sort through the debris field that makes up the search area." Skye argued

"Unfortunately Miss Poots the search and rescue aspect of this mission is a formality. What truly matters is the search for the Separatist's secret weapon. That weapon caused a lot of destruction towards our space surveillance aircraft." Chancellor Palpatine said on the holo comm

"Chancellor...I didn't realize you'd be authorized to run this mission sir." Anakin said startled

Chancellor Palpatine an older man that was similar in demeanor to Santa Claus but was tall and skinny with no facial hair gave Anakin a warm smile. Palpatine smoothed relations between Shield and the Jedi over the years and in the process interacted with many Jedi on a personal level. Anakin stood out the most amongst the Jedi Palpatine spent time with despite Anakin still being a student or Padawan from the year 2001 to the year 2011. They formed a friendly bond over the past five years that caused Palpatine to speculate that Anakin was destined for great things. Anakin defeating Loki in single combat two years ago validated Palpatine's confidence in Anakin.

"Wait! Just because there hasn't been any survivors before, doesn't mean there won't be any this time." Ahsoka protested

"Boldly spoken for one so young." Chancellor Palpatine observed

"She is learning from Anakin." Obi Wan replied ruefully

"Excuse my Padawan Chancellor. We will deploy as you have instructed. The search and rescue will be a quick visual check of the debris field and then a scan. After that we will comply with your instructions and assist in tracking down the weapon." Anakin replied

Master Kenobi and Chancellor Palpatine bowed their heads and the transmission ended. Anakin in frustration turned to Ahsoka and Skye.

"Skye why are you violating your superior officer's commands? You aren't officially a Shield Agent and this could prevent you from being elevated to an official Shield Agent. I dont think Ward is going to be happy about that." Anakin warned

"And Ahsoka! As a Padawan you know better to speak out of turn when in the presence of authority." Anakin scolded

"But Master if anyone could survive, Master Plo could. I don't understand why--" Ahsoka started to argue