Chapter 5: The Hard Truth

It has been two months since Anthony, Lorenc, and Chris had arrived on Coruscant. Two months of rigurass training. Chris and Lorenc proved that they could hold their own in combat training and they both have a good shot, but have yet to have seen the battlefield. The clone members of the 501st tease the two teens but ultimately have accepted them into the clone brotherhood. They have also become good friends with two clones in particular, Echo and Fives, who have trained them with the supervision of Captain Rex.

Anthony's training was very different from his friends and even though he knew everything there was to being a Jedi, he still needed to be trained like the rest. He first had to acquire a lightsaber, the weapon of the Jedi. Not being called far, he had found a crystal in the Jedi Temple. He had felt the calling the day after he had arrived. His lightsaber had a blue blade and dark chrome hilt. The design of the hilt was inspired by both his master's lightsaber and Ahsoka's lightsabers. Once he had his lightsaber his training had begun, being passed around between three teachers. Anakin, his master, had taught him how to adjust the forms to make it easier to cut down battle droids. Anthony had gotten comfortable to form 5, the same one Anakin used. Anakin had taken a liking to his new Padawan and over the past few two months they were able to form the Master and Apprentice bond. This bond allowed them to connect with each other through the force and even telepathically talk to each other. Anakin was happy that he had this bond with both of his Padawans. He knew that in the future they would use it to mess with Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan had taught Anthony the art of meditation. The lessons were to help Anthony learn how to clear his mind of distractions. Obi-Wan grew quite fond of him, as Anthony reminded him of Anakin but wiser in his actions and words.

Anthony's third teacher was Ahsoka. She taught him the art of lightsaber combat. They both enjoyed the sparring lessons she gave him each day. She was impressed with his skills with a lightsaber and how swift he was when using it. Ahsoka had trained her whole life as a Jedi, so she was surprised and a little upset when he was able to become evenly matched with her by the end of the second month. But being his roommate and teacher she had the opportunity to get to know the boy better. Her jealousy towards him had faded and was replaced with friendship. Over the past two months he had become one of her best friends and likewise for him. Ahsoka also became friends with Lorenc and Chris as well. Now it seemed that their training was about to be put to the test, as the three comrades were getting their first mission.

"We have recently lost contact with one of our medical facilities." stated Master Windu, "It is an older station. Pre-clone wars."

"Older station it may be, useful still it is." explained Master Yoda in his backwards talk.

"However, The Chancellor believes we have no use for it. So your mission is to salvage the supplies." continued Master Windu, "You three will be accompanied by Padawan Tano and Captain Rex."

"Do we know why we have lost contact?" asked Anthony, intrigued about the mission.

"Yah, was it the separatists?" added Lorenc who thought this would be his chance to see some action. He was let down when he learned the objective.

"Not likely." answered Obi-Wan, "It is pirate space and no separatist ships have been seen in that area."

Lorenc looked down at the floor, disappointed with the answer. Chris just chuckled and patted his armored back. "You'll see some action soon, bud."

"You will leave tomorrow morning." said Master Plo, as he shut off the holotable.

The Jedi masters all began to leave. Anakin and Rex were left with the Comrades and Ahsoka in the room.

"I am putting Snips in charge." Anakin said to his new Padawan and his friends, "Now get some sleep. You don't want to fail your first mission?"

"Come on boys, let's get back to the barracks." commanded Rex to the young troopers. They followed as commanded but only after they said goodnight to Anthony.

Once the door closed signaling that they were gone Anthony spoke up, "Master, do you think I'm ready?"

Anakin pondered for a moment but answered with another question. "I don't know? What do you think, Snips?" He gave her a look that said it was ok to tease his older padawan.

"Oh jeez Master." she said sarcastically, "Well for starters he is sloppy with his movement. Master Obi-Wan says that he doesn't focus and don't get me started on what Bariss thinks of him."

Anthony turned to her in shock. His was everything that was needed to make Anakin and her laugh.

"We're only kidding, Ant." said Anakin as he put a reassuring hand on his young Padawan's shoulder.

"Yah you will do fine, Sleemo." said Ahsoka as she playfully punched his arm.

"In all fairness though, trust in the force and it will guide you." stated Anakin as he smiled at his padawan, "Now off to bed, the both of you."

Anthony just smiled at his master as he and Ahsoka left the meeting room. Never in a thousand did he think that all of this would ever happen to him. Having Anakin Skywalker as his Master, having Ahsoka as one of his best friends. Some nights he feels that it is all going to end when he wakes up, but waking up in his room that he shared with Ahsoka made him realize that this is his reality now.

Ahsoka and Anthony got to their room and each got in their respective beds. Their room was larger than what most padawans got, but was the right amount of space for the two of them. Though one of them had to lock themselves in the refresher when the other had to do something private. Saying their goodnights they both fell asleep excited for the mission.

Late in the night Ahsoka awoke to a noise. Searching for the source she found that it was her roommate. Anthony was tossing and turning in his bed. He was mumbling something that she couldn't make out, but she still deduced that he was having a nightmare. Getting up from her bed, she went to the side of his bed to try and wake him up. Now that she was closer she heard what he was saying.

"No." he mumbled.

"Ant, wake up you are having a nightmare." said Ahsoka as she shook him trying to wake him up. But he continued to mumble louder and louder.

"I'M SORRY!" he yelled as he jerked up. He looked around trying to get a sense of his surroundings. His eyes fell on the face of his friend, the one he secretly loved. He put his face in his hands hiding his fear and shame from her. She gently rubbed his back trying to comfort him.

"You want to talk about it?" she asked. He picked his head up to look at her. She saw the fear in his eyes.

"I saw them. All of them. Their faces. So cold." answered Anthony but his sentences were broken up. She could tell he was still clearly shaken from what he saw.

"Who did you see?" she asked, trying to help her friend.

"My friends." he responded quietly. He rubbed his eyes out of dreariness. Though when he closed them he saw their faces again. All of his friends... gone.

Ahsoka felt sorry for him though she didn't really understand what had happened. She knew that he carried the weight of losing his friends by himself. She tried to have Chris and Lorenc have him talk to them about it, but he would never open up. She moved on the small bed to sit next to him. Her arm went over his shoulder still trying to comfort him.

"I know this is a touchy subject for you, but you can always talk to me about it." she said. Ahsoka figured he would shut her out like he did to his friends. So she was surprised when he started to speak.

"It's my fault, Ahsoka. If I didn't go on that ship, they would still be here." he whispered as tears started to form in his eyes.

Through the force she felt his suffering. She felt the need to help her friend one way or another.

"I don't have much experience with personal loss, but you have to look on the bright side of things. They are one with the force now and will always be with you." she responded.

"Yah bright side of things." he said with sarcasm. He got up from the bed and started to raise his voice as he continued, "Where is the bright side of losing my family, my friends! Where is the bright side of me knowing I took friends away from their families! Where is the bright side of me knowing that those families will never see their sons again!"

He got up from the bed and headed to the door. He was about to leave when he looked back at Ahsoka. She wasn't in tears but still shocked by his outburst and was upset that she really had no way to help her friend. Sighing, he came back to the bed to sit next to her.

"I'm sorry about that. It's just that I am haunted by them." Anthony stated, "I don't think we'll fall back asleep anytime soon."

She nodded in response as she looked at the time. It was only 23:00 and at this time the clones would still be up.

"You want to see what the guys are up to?" she asked.

"No, cause then we will never get to sleep." he responded. He knew all too well that the clones can get out of control at night. He remembers the first time he went out with the clones. It was to celebrate Chris and Lorenc's acceptance into the 501st. He can't remember much of the night after the alcohol came out. Though he does remember being helped by Ahsoka to their room.

"How about a walk then?" asked Ahsoka.

"That would be nice." said Anthony with a weak smile.

The two got up from the bed and headed out of the room to roam the Temple. The walk somehow ended up bringing them to the meditation garden as if the force had brought them here. Despite the never sleeping city of Coruscant, the moons of the planet found their way to shine in the garden. Ahsoka thought it would be a good idea to meditate on the mission and the dream. Kneeling next to each other, calming their breath, and clearing their minds, they began.

Meditation came natural for Ahsoka, as years of training had taught her the art. However her close friend didn't find it as easy as she did. For Anthony, he understood it completely but always found it boring. Though not wanting to disappoint Obi-Wan's teachings and distract Ahsoka, he accepted the fact that it may be the best option for him at the moment.

Most Jedi find peace in meditation. Others find the answers they are looking for. Anthony didn't know what he found in meditation. Since he was actually trying he felt himself being disconnected from the world and being dragged into the living force. He felt every living being on Coruscant. But he closed them out of his mind and isolated only him and Ahsoka in the garden. Sensing only Ahsoka's presence made Anthony dwell upon his feelings for her. He had learned to keep his feelings deep down inside of him. He of course flirted with her a lot when they first met. She would just brush it off and tell him to focus on the task at hand. Now he does it once and awhile but only to be returned with an equal flirtatious remark of her own. It became an ongoing joke between the two of them, part of their banter they had. The way he acted reminded him of Ezra Briger and how he was to Sabine Wren.

Anthony was fully aware that Ahsoka never fell in love with anyone. He knew that she had a crush on Lux Bonteri, but with what was yet to come, he knew the crush would end. Taking a glance at Ahsoka only made him smile and blush. This caught the attention of Ahsoka.

"You found peace?" she asked with her eyes closed, still kneeling.

"What?" responded Anthony.

"Your signature, it's...happy." she explained.

"Oh, yah. I guess?" he said.

"I guess?" repeated Ahsoka.

"Well I don't think I will ever be at peace. I was just thinking how much they would have loved this." he lied. He didn't want to confess now. They only knew each other for 2 months. Well she did at least.

She smiled at her friend, not detecting the lie. "At least you made peace for the time being. Maybe one day you can get around to telling me about them."

Anthony only responded by slightly smiling to the ground. He now wondered what it would be like if they all were there. Ahsoka was right; he had made peace at this moment. 'Maybe meditating isn't so pointless after all?' he thought.

"It's late. We should head back to bed." stated Ahsoka. Her words startled Anthony as he was lost in thought of what might have been.

"Right." he responded, still distracted by only thoughts.

The two walked back to their room without saying a word. Neither of them were tired. Meditation had that weird effect on Jedi. As Ahsoka climbed into her bed Anthony glanced at the time. It read 03:00. It only felt like a few minutes but both of them had meditated for four hours.

The sun rose early on Coruscant, not at all like on earth, which Anthony was still not used to. However he decided to sleep what's left of the night. Climbing back into bed, he closed his eyes. Hoping that the nightmares were over, but he knew that was not the case.

Ahsoka was never a morning person, but years of experience had told her it was best to get up early. See that the sun was rising, she prepared for the mission. She only giggled at the site of Anthony, who was still asleep and snoring quite loudly. Her first mission was a battlefield, his was only a supply run. But she remembered Master Yoda had said that Jedi don't seek adventure or excitement.

Walking over to Anthony's bed, she gently shook him to wake him up. This was part of their morning routine as roommates. Each day they did the same thing. It was so coordinated that it looked like a dance.

"Wake up, Sleemo. Today is your big day." said Ahsoka, calling him by the nickname that she gave him.

"Morning, Headtails." groaned Anthony as he slowly sat up. "I see that you are ready."

"You know I love the mornings." she said sarcastically as she headed for the door. "I will finalize everything for today. I will meet you in the hangar."

Anthony had used the refresher and had gotten dressed in a matter of minutes. He used the force to cheat a little at some daily life tasks, like turning on the faucet, which quickened his time. He was about to head out, when his Master opened the door.

"Master!" said Anthony.

"I'm glad I caught you before you left." said Anakin with a smile.

"It's about the mission isn't it?" asked Anthony sensing that Anakin had something on his mind.

"I just want you to be careful, ok." said Anakin sternly, "I just have a bad feeling about this."

"You worry too much, Master." joked Anthony, "I'll be fine. And besides, if something does go wrong, Ahsoka will be there to help."

"That's what I'm afraid of." chuckled Anakin, "Ahsoka always finds trouble."

"She got it from somewhere." teased Anthony. He laughed at Anakin's remark to his tease.

"Call me if anything goes wrong." said Anakin as he began to let his Padawan leave. "I'll be in the sector, so it won't take me long to get to you."

"If you keep this worryness up, you make a fine Obi-Wan in no time." teased Anthony again, as he exited his room, heading toward the temple hangar.

"Station in site, Commander." said the pilot to Ahsoka as their ship came out of hyperspace.

Captain Rex was instructing Lorenc and Chris on the objective and what select supplies they wanted to grab. Anthony looked at his two friends. Never in a million years did he think his friends would be wearing the infamous 501st armor. He saw them tease each other and Rex only laughed at his new brothers. Anthony only wished he could have shared this moment with the rest of his friends as the nightmare from last night came to haunt him again. Sensing the subtle shift in the force Ahsoka put her hand on Anthony's shoulder.

"Hey, you alright?" she asked.

Anthony shook his head to get the nightmarish thoughts out of his head. "Yah I'm fine. Let's just get this mission over with." he said.

Ahsoka was not convinced but only nodded her head as the ship landed in the station's hangar. The pilot lowered the ramp of the ship and let out the team for the mission. Rex pulled out a holo-map of the station's schematics.

"Alright we will split up into two teams. The shinies will go with Commander Tano and take the east side of the station. I will go with you Commander, and take the west side." commanded Rex, now putting the holo-map in his pocket.

They all nodded in agreement and set off to the opposite sides of the medical station.

The station's power was shut down and the hallways were as black as night. Each Jedi ignited their lightsabers to give some light to their trooper companions.

For Rex and Anthony the start of their search was quiet. Not finding anything within the first five minutes, Rex started up a conversation with the newly elected commander.

"So, General Skywalker has another student." said Rex, not really knowing what to say to the Padawan.

"Yah. I'm surprised the council allowed it. I thought it was against the code." answered Anthony, fully aware that Rex never asked a question in the first place. Anthony also sensed that there was some discomfort in Rex.

Rex sighed and figured that this would be better than anytime to get rid of his unwanted guilt.

"Commander, I would like to apologize for my behavior when we first met." apologized Rex.

"I know you were only doing your duty." said Anthony with a smile, "If it makes you feel better, I forgive you."

"Thank you, Sir." responded Rex. Though there was still something else Rex wanted to talk about and Anthony could still sense it.

"Something on your mind, Captain?" asked Anthony, letting the clone speak freely about his thoughts.

"Sir, I still fully don't understand you and your friends."

"What do you mean by that?" asked Anthony as he opened a door with the force to see if there were the supplies inside. Shining his lightsaber in the room only told them that it was empty.

"I mean, Sir, if you and your friends have the 'secrets to our galaxy', then why are you not in a command center or with the Jedi council telling them how to end this war?" asked Rex as they moved on down the hallway.

"To answer your question, Rex, the Jedi council thought that if I told the future something worse could happen. So instead of just sending my friends and I away, they put us to work." answered Anthony, "And frankly I would rather be in action than be in a command center."

You and me both, Commander." laughed Rex, as they turned down another hallway.

Ahsoka, Chris, and Lorenc were having the same luck with finding the supplies. Only finding empty room after empty room. Lorenc and Chris quietly talk amongst themselves as they searched. Ahsoka heard them but was too focused on the objective to pay attention to what they were saying. She only listened when they acknowledged her.

"So, Commander. What do you think of our friend?" asked Lorenc.

"Yah, is he as much of an idiot as he was back home?" added Chris, wanting to know something completely different than what Lorenc was looking for.

"Well, to be honest," started Ahsoka, "He can be an idiot sometimes, but most of the time he is quite wise and eager to learn. He is kind as well. I think he represents what all Jedi should be."

The trio turned left when they came to an intersection. One way was blocked with empty crates.

"And Lorenc please get your head out of the stars." complained Ahsoka, "I would never let him do something like that."

Chris only laughed has he jabbed Lorenc in the ribs. Ahsoka smiling at the little teasing, she decided to have some more fun.

"Do mind if I ask you boys a question?" she asked as she turned around and stopped them.

"Yes, commander." the two young troopers said in unison.

"What is up with his freakishly small hands? I mean like for someone his height I thought his hands would be bigger." she asked with a smile.

Both Lorenc and Chris burst out in laughter. Anthony's small hands had been a joke in the group for some time now. The comrades always enjoyed teasing him about them.

"We have no idea, Commander." answered Chris, with Lorenc still dying of laughter next to him.

Ahsoka just smiled at their enjoyment of her little joke, but her smile faded when they heard clunk behind them. They all turned in the direction of the noise. Ahsoka had ignited her second lightsaber and stood in her battle stance. Chris and Lorenc raised their blaster rifles to aid their jedi commander.

Ahsoka gave some hand signals that told her troopers to follow her and stay quiet. They slowly moved closer to the source of the noise. As they got closer they heard what sounded like several metal footsteps. Ahsoka knew the noise all too well, the sound of battle droids. She deactivated her lightsabers and told Lorenc and Chris to hang back.

Using the force Ahsoka crept up to the source of the noise. A single door at the end of the hallway with the boxes. Peering through she saw at least a hundred droids, building something. Unfortunately it was too incomplete for her to figure what they were building or why they were here. Seeing enough she backed from the door. She kept her eyes on the door so she wasn't paying attention to where she was going and tripped over a crate.

Seizing up at the noise she made in clumsiness, she knew that the whole station heard that. Five B1-battle droids came out of the door, blasters at the ready, to discover what made the noise. Ahsoka force pushed them to the ground as she got up. The commotion caused more droids to look over and fire at Ahsoka. Chris and Lorenc quickly returned fire to cover Ahsoka's retreat from the battle droids that seemed to be pouring endlessly out of the door.

"We need to move now!" yelled Ahsoka as she ignited her lightsaber to block an incoming blaster bolt. Lorenc and Chris fired a few more shots and then turned to run down the hallway they just came from. Ahsoka right behind them commed Rex.

"Rex, we found out why we lost the station." said Ahsoka, "The separatists. They're here and we've met them."

"Where are you?" asked Rex through the com.

"Making our way back to the ship." she answered.

"Right. We'll be there." he responded ending the communication.

Blaster fire whizzed past their heads. The three of the turned around to take out a few of the droids chasing them. Chris and Lorenc fire back as Ahsoka blocked bolts back at the droids. Taking out a few of them they turned back to running.

"Is this the action you were looking for?" Chris sarcastically asked Lorenc, clearly frustrated that Lorenc jinxed them.

Anthony and Rex were already on their way back to the ship when they ran into some problems of their own. As they came around a corner they ran into a squad of commando droids. Anthony ignited his blue lightsaber and cut one of them down. The others flipped backwards and began to fire on the clone and the Jedi. Blocking their shots Anthony and Rex dove to cover behind one of the crates in the hallway. The droids mimicked their actions and found their own cover.

"Great now what?" complained Anthony. Even though he was a Jedi, he wasn't a match for three commando droids.

"You pull. I'll shoot." commanded Rex.

"Got it." said Anthony as he used the force to pull the first droid out from its cover. Rex took the opportunity and shot it right in the head.

Using the force again, Anthony pulled the second one out from its cover. Followed my Rex with a well aimed shot. The third droid however was smarter than his metal brothers and ran away before Anthony could stop him with the force.

"Let it go." stated Rex, as Anthony started to chase after it, "We need to get back to the ship."

The Jedi responded with a nod as he and Rex continued to make their way toward the ship they came in on.

Ahsoka, Lorenc, and Chris had been cut off from the shuttle. They had been trapped, pinched by two squads of battle droids. They were holding their own but ultimately out gunned. The droids seemed to be endless.

"This is not looking good." said Chris as fired from his crouched position.

Just as he finished his sentence the droids ceased fire. A hooded figure was moving through the crowd of droids in front of Chris. Ahsoka had her back to them as she was focused on the second squad of droids. Regardless she didn't need to see the figure to know who it was.

"Uh, commander, we have a problem." stated Lorenc as the figure emerged from the pack of battle droids and removed her cloak.

Ahsoka turned to face Count Dooku's assassin, Asajj Ventress. The droids started to fall back, leaving only Ahsoka, Ventress, and the two young soldiers.

"Get to the ship." ordered Ahsoka as she gritted her teeth. "I will deal with this, Assassin."

"We're not going to leave you." argued Chris.

"That's an order. Now go!" she commanded, ending the argument. She waited until she heard the footsteps turn the corner to speak to Ventress. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same thing myself." responded Ventress as she slowly walked in a circle around Ahsoka.

"Why do you want this station?" asked Ashoka. She knew that she wasn't going to get an answer, but she was buying time for her friends to escape.

"Where's Skywalker? You two seem inseparable." Ventress was toying with Ahsoka.

"Well it looks like you'll have to have to deal with me for now." responded Ahsoka as she ignited her lightsabers.

"Very well." sighed Ventress as she too ignited her red lightsabers, "I guess you will do."

Ventress stopped circling Ahsoka and lunged at her, making the first move. Their blades clashed as the sound echoed through the hallways. The two force users slashed back and forth at each other. With each swing of a lightsaber it was met with a block from another. Ahsoka was good but Ventress had more training and the dark side. She knew she could never beat Ventress, even Obi-Wan and Anakin had a hard time killing this assasin. Ahsoka's plan was to stall her long enough for Rex and the others to escape.

Rex and Anthony had made it back to the ship. No one had returned yet, so they stood guard waiting for their friends to return safely. Suddenly Chris and Lorenc came rushing into the hangar. Anthony was happy to see his friends safe but that emotion quickly turned to concern when he didn't see Ahsoka with them.

"Where's Ahsoka?" he asked as his friends ran up to him.

"We didn't want to leave but-" started Lorenc.

"But what?" interrupted Anthony fearing the most.

"She is facing Ventress alone." finished Lorenc.

Anthony looked down thinking of his plan of action to help Ahsoka and to escape.

"Ant, we're not just leaving her, right?" asked Chris, wanting to know Anthony's plan.

"No we're not." said Anthony.

He now turned to Rex. "Rex, contact Anakin. He is close and we may need his help. You two," he turned to Chris and Lorenc, "We aren't going to let the droids have this station and we got a bag full of explosives of the ship."

"I think we get the idea, Ant." agreed Chris.

"Wait, what are you going to do? asked Lorenc.

"I'm going to help Ahsoka." called Anthony as he had already taken off in the direction Chris and Lorenc had come from.

"You can't beat me, Padawan." stated Ventress and she circled Ahsoka.

"I won't let you win." sternly said Ahsoka as she carefully watched the assassin.

Suddenly Ventress raised her lightsabers and crashed then down on Ahsoka's. Their blades were locked in a battle of color. The red and green blades didn't budge, yet their contact made the colors dance around the blades.

"Your master will not be here to save you." heckled Ventress with their blades still locked.

"Though I can at least help." called Anthony as he arrived at the battle.

"No, get back." cried Ahsoka as she tried to force push him away.

In doing so she had distracted herself from Ventress. Ventress took this opportunity and force pushed Ahsoka into the nearby wall, knocking her out.

"And who might you be?" asked Ventress.

Anthony didn't answer her. He only reached down and ignited his lightsaber.

"Ah, another Padawan." said Ventress as his actions were all the answer she needed. "This will be easy."

"Oh please, how many times have you lost to my master and his master." replied Anthony as he raised his lightsaber.

"So your Skywalker's. Ashame, I would have liked you to have been Kenobi's." Ventress paid no attention to his heckle.

Ventress made the first move, jabbing at him. Anthony quickly dodged the first one and blocked the second. Going on the offensive, Anthony swung his lightsaber only to be met by two red blades.

"You lasted longer than I expected. I'm impressed." Ventress said as her blades were locked with his one.

Ventress pushes her blades down, making Anthony stubble back, which allowed her to return to the offensive. She struck at him furiously. Her swings were fast but sloppy and Anthony had blocked her attacks. She managed to get one slash past his block before he could force push her back. It had cut through his Jedi attire and hit him on the right side of his chest.

"You can't defeat me, boy." claimed the assassin as she gestured to her hit. "What's your endgame?"

Suddenly the station began to shake violently and the emergency systems came online.

"It was to distract you long enough." said Anthony as they heard an explosion in the distance. "The station will be a butch of scrap soon. So I suggest you get out of here."

"This is not over." growled Ventress as she ran towards her escape with more pieces of the station blowing up.

Anthony deactivated his lightsaber and immediately brought his hand to his painful wound. 'Worry about this later.' he thought. He removed his hand to see it hovered in blood, 'I got to get Ahsoka outta here.'

He made his way over to the unconscious Ahsoka and painfully picked her up into his arms. The pain from his wound had increased but he knew that if he didn't hurry they would both die. He reached the hangar to find a small squad of battle droids, led by the commando droid from earlier, fighting Rex, Lorenc, and Chris.

"Look, it's Anthony." cried Chris to Rex over the blaster fire.

Rex turned in the direction Chris was looking and commanded, "Give him cover fire! We need to get out of here!"

As the three laid down cover, Anthony moved his way toward the ship. The main battle droid function is to win at any cost and with the station blowing up the commando droid will follow its primary function. It noticed Anthony was slow, due to the injured Ahsoka in his arms and his own wound. With the droid's main coding kicking in, the commando droid got up from its cover and fired at the Padawan. It shot three times before it was shut down by a shot to the head from Lorenc. Unfortunately, Lorenc wasn't quick enough. One of the shots had struck Anthony in the left leg and he had fallen to the ground in pain, dropping Ahsoka.

Get them! I'll cover you!" ordered Rex.

Chris and Lorenc ran down the ramp and dragged both Anthony and Ahsoka back to it. Rex closed the ramp door and gave the pilot the all clear to launch. Laying on the hull floor, Anthony grinded his teeth in pain. His right side now covered in blood and his leg burning in pain from the blaster shot.

"This will help you." said Rex as he stuck a stim pack into Anthony's arm.

"I should have went after that stupid droid." groaned Anthony as he coughed out a laugh.

"Don't speak. You need to rest, Commander." said Rex in a calming voice.

Anthony began to close his eyes as he heard Chris say that Anakin just came out of hyperspace. Smiling that Anakin has made it he finally allowed himself to pass out from the pain.

Ahsoka jerked upright in her infirmary bed to find Anakin's hand on her shoulder.

"Whoa. Easy there, Snips." said Anakin as he gently pushed her back down, "You have a concussion."

"What happened?" she asked as she laid her head down on the pillow, "All I remember is fighting Ventress and Anthony showing up. Wait, where is he?"

Anakin nodded his head to Ahsoka's right. She looked over and saw Anthony sleeping. He had bandages wrapped around his chest, a bacta patch on his leg, and IVs in his arm.

Seeing Ahsoka's worried look, Anakin reassured her that he would be fine. He began to relay what Captain Rex had told him on what Anthony had done. Ahsoka was shocked at the story and wondered if it was true or just Rex hyping it up. Regardless she was grateful for her friend's compassion to her. She owed him her life.

Anakin explained that the both of them would be getting a leave of duty to recover from their injuries. Ahsoka wasn't happy about that. She wanted to get right back into the swing of things but she realized Anthony would take a lot longer to heal from his wounds. So she decided to accept the terms to take care of him until he was better.