When You Come Home

-13-

"Mandalore?" The word stuck in Anakin's throat as he stared at the innocent girl in front of him.

Ahsoka nodded, her smile faltering. "That's what I said!"

"And Cody's okay with that?"

Her smile turned questioning, a frown pulling at her bicoloured eyebrows. "I don't think he has a choice? GAR has commanded his troop to Mandalore, so he goes to Mandalore. That's how the military works."

"I know how the military works," Anakin argued, shrugging on his army vest and tugging on his thick-soled boots, "and I know that the military has no business interfering with neutral territory! The country is neutral for a reason; Duchess Kryze has worked hard to keep it so, especially now that the war has started."

Ahsoka seemed indifferent, stepping to the side to let Anakin exit his tent. "The Sith are getting brazen."

Anakin sighed. "Who am I kidding? You're just a shiny: you wouldn't understand what's going on." He waved down Cody before she could protest. "Good morning, sir!" He saluted, clicking his heels together.

Cody nodded distractedly. "Morning, kid. Sorry for the early wake-up. The orders are urgent, and apparently our battalions are best suited to the job."

Anakin was already shaking his head, falling into step beside the commander. "That can't possibly be right. Mandalore is at least a three day's march from here, and that's assuming our troops are at peak health. We were supposed to take this time to recover our strength and catch up on sleeping and eating. The boys aren't ready to start fighting again."

"And girls," Cody added, nodding to Ahsoka without looking up. "Don't forget your new friend." He stopped in the middle of camp, a piece of paper — the one containing their latest orders — in his hand, and finally looked up. "I don't like it either, but the orders have come straight from Premier Palpatine. If Mandalore has asked for assistance, the Republic isn't going to say no. Who knows, maybe this will be the push Mandalore needs to join the Republic." He started to walk away, but Anakin chased after him.

"That still doesn't address the issue of our battalions being assigned to this." He gestured vaguely at the collection of blues and oranges. "There has to be troops that are closer to Mandalore; we'll never make it in time. Besides," he added, dropping his voice to a hiss, "why do we have to take the 501st with us?"

Cody smirked. "What's wrong, trooper? Are you afraid a girl will beat you on the field?" He chuckled at Anakin's indignant expression, then thrust the paper at him. "Read if you want: I'll warrant you'll see the same orders as I do."

"Ours not to question why," Anakin mumbled, stuffing the paper in his leg pocket.

"Ours just to do and ... survive!" Ahsoka finished brightly.

Anakin gave her a sideways glance. "Get back to your commander, kid," he advised her, though his tone wasn't unkind. "Appo'll be missing you."

At the instruction, her eyes widened, and she scampered off before Appo told her off.

Anakin took a moment to watch her go, shaking his head in fond exasperation when he saw her grab a backpack and fasten in her little cat. Leia – or perhaps he should call her Omega now – would be travelling better than anyone. He turned to find Cody. "We can't ...." But Cody was already gone. Anakin sighed. It was time to ready the men, then. And considering Cody had probably disappeared to his tent to plot the best routes with Appo, that left Anakin in charge. He strapped his belt up another hole and went to find his brothers.

By the time Cody had remerged, Anakin had the troops ready and waiting, strung on a hairpin trigger. The anticipation and tension strained the atmosphere, the urge to jiggle and jostle almost unbearable. Anakin wasn't the only one unhappy about marching on Mandalore.