Star Wars: Conflict

Chapter 5

Anakin scrambled to quickly disable the recording and discreetly conceal his activities, although Kenobi already knew.

"Master?" Skywalker stood dumbfounded, fumblingly questioning Kenobi.

Obj-Wan was no fool, nor needed any aptitude to realize what Skywalker had been doing.
"Don't be foolish, Anakin, you can't hide what I already know. You can't be doing this, though, it's only hurting--"

"Obi-Wan, just let me be. I--I don't know what else to do." Anakin bent his head low, facing the cold, steel floor.

One-Wan attempted to heighten Anakin's sorrowful posture, saying,
"How about not doing anything--"

"I can't! I... I can't. Ahsoka means the world to me. I can't let her go." Anakin's head rose, yet in the opposite Manner Obi-Wan had intended.

"But, Anakin" Obi-Wan softly replied, "Ahsoka is gone; she left us--"

"Right after we left her." Anakin replied.

"Yes, but now, she's gone. You can't dwell on your losses. Anakin, You don't have to like what happened with Ahsoka, but you do have to accept it. Realize that there's no way of undoing something you've already experienced." Kenobi attempted to settle Anakin's temper.

"No, that's where you're wrong; Ahsoka isn't a loss; she's still out there; she's alive. And, if you won't do anything about it, then I will." Anakin's temper grew hotter at his old friend.

"Ah, That's not what I mean. I--" Anakin pushed Obi-Wan aside, intentionally bumping his left arm out of the way.

"You don't understand, but I do." Looking back, Anakin opened the door once again, and marched out of the holocron chambers.

Kenobi sighed, shaking his head in disappointment.

"What have I done?" He asked himself, shutting down the lights, and opening the door, in silence. As Kenobi too walked out of the holocron chambers, he somberly nodded towards Jocasta Nu, having returned to her post, thanking her, and went straight to his quarters.

"Get me the ATL battalion." Anakin spoke into his com link, striding off towards a lower hangar bay.

"Copy that, General Skywalker." A small, fizzed voice came from Anakin's wrist. It was Captain Hazard, and elite corp's commanding officer, packed with the upmost array of extraordinary military skills, exclusive to the Captain himself. Hazard led the ATL, otherwise known as 332nd battalion. As an unusual group of clone troopers, the A stood for Ahsoka, T for Tano, and L for Loyalist. These men used to fight in larger battalions of troopers, such as the 501st, the 212th, or the Wolfpack. However, as these men's common interest, Ahsoka Tano, took form, they bounded their new squadron into a loyalist group. These men didn't just know Ahsoka; their lives were either saved or radically changed by the former Jedi apprentice, thus molding their liking of her. Captain Hazard came across Ahsoka during a Republic attack on Vanquor, against a group of Seperstist sympathizers. Ahsoka saved his life, after he was brutally shot by one of the enemy, covering his wound and personally tending to it after fending off the rest of the sympathizers. Hazard has forever since been grateful for Ahsoka's kindness; he now wears his beaten-down helmet with an orange splotch striped down the middle, and two Z-shaped, white markings near the top, representing Ahsoka's face and tattoos as an honorary acknowledgment of the former Padawan's everlasting sympathy. The rest of the 332nd battalion (totaling four clones troopers) wear the same markings, as well, only slightly modified to suit their diverse experiences with Ahsoka, herself.

As soon as the two rendezvoused within one of the temple's hangar bays, Anakin, without thought, regret, or consideration of what Obi-Wan had told him, began to speak his plan to the Clone and his soldiers.

"First, we're going to get her lightsabers. I know where one is, and you'll help me find the other."

Although Hazard's surprise of Anakin's enthusiasm jolted his speech, he nonetheless replied, with a sly smirk, "Sounds good, I--"

"Then, once we find both lightsabers, I'll need you to activate your probe droids to scan the entire planet." Anakin hadn't finished, and had grown frustrated with the Captain's incompetence. However, now, he had finished.

"Yes, sir. I agree on your tactics, full fledged." Captain Hazard said, not questioning nor discussing what the General had said; he, in his own mind, knew it was a good plan.

"I even have a specialized tracking device built into my com link. It's a prototype, meant for both Jedi and Clones, but I'm getting to test it out, first. We can use that to track her down, too." A clone spoke out, randomly ,yet it was precisely needed to convince Anakin into his temptation.

"And, with your tactics and skill, General, we'll have her back in no time!" Another clone said.

Captain Hazard quickly said, attempting to halt the outgoing comments of his comrades, and encourage Anakin's idea, "Personally, sir, I think this is a good plan. A great one, at that."

"Then it is decided." Anakin looked at one of the clones, "Kickback, ready the probes; I want to leave as soon as they're charged up." And as Anakin gave the orders, the men dispersed, one by one, fetching their much needed equipment for this unique mission to bring back their past, and once again live in it. For, as the ATL battalion knew, The Past is more than a grey haze of nothingness; it is a living world of everything.