You know what, I'm not even going to bother with saying this chapter is short. THIS BOOK IS SO HARD FOR ME TO MAKE LONG CHAPTERS!!!!

Well, if any of you fellow readers follow my book New Identity, at least I made that chapter long as a bit of compensation. I think I'm going to update A Ripple in Time next? I'm not sure. To be honest, this is really the only book I have high hopes for out of all of the ones I'm writing at the moment.

Days in the shadows were grim, bleak, and mostly aggravatingly frustrating, but it was finally time for a certain organization to step out of the dark. Of course, secrecy was still a vital key to success, but the group sure did enjoy being able to stretch their muscles and finally put their hard-earned talent to use. In their base, nothing came without work and pain.

Although, for anybody else that wasn't a part of their beliefs and practices, no pity was given to them. In fact, quite the opposite.

They were the Jedi murderers.

To say they took pride in their work was an understatement. With each passing mission and each passing success, they were coming closer to accomplishing their goal. If their former director would've been alive to see their progress, they were sure that he would be greatly pleased.

However, due to a certain Togruta that every single member of their organization had grown to hate with a fiery passion because of her defeating their late director. If she was still alive, there would be a line of people that's only wish was to run their weapon through her heart, but, unfortunately for them, she had died in the Battle of Exegol.

A small sense of vengeance flooded their minds though as they thought of their plan that was unfolding. They would take away the very thing that the kriffing Togruta valued the most in her life: the Jedi. So far, they had taken down about 25 of the painfully oblivious Light Side users without a single drop of evidence left behind. Although, despite this, there was something that caused the previously confident and slightly cocky organization members to falter and inwardly tremble in anxiety.

Someone was on to them. Someone had known that they would attack the four Jedi that were stationed on the planet of Utupau. Someone had saved the younger female of the bunch on that same planet. Not even their highest ranking commander, who would soon serve in the opened position of director, could fathom any reason about how their mystery opponent had been informed of their plan of action. Then, to top it all off, there had been murmurs and quiet gossiping about just how strong their newfound enemy was. None of the organization knew how much of the story was real and how much of it was dramatically emphasized, but they all braced themselves for the more daring and bold versions of the partially-failed mission.

Though, admittedly, the most baffled and nervous soldier of the entire field was the highest-ranking officer himself. Some of the commanders that he supervised had brushed off the incident as pure coincidence, but he had that gut feeling that he was positive was fueled by the Force itself that this was much more than that. The more he inwardly pondered and questioned every angle about the situation, the more questions he gained, and the more the intensity of the pounding of his head increased. He knew it was quite literally impossible for there to be a leak in the organization. The method of processing that their members went through made sure that there was not a single traitor in the mix to be found. So, if the information wasn't spread by the soldiers, then by what?

Several of the specialists that happened to be walking past his office in their usual formation were quite startled when they heard loud banging and frustrated shouts emitting from his room. However, the majority of them had already grown accustomed to this occurrence so they quickly wrote it off as him having an anger-filled outbreak and wrecking any portable object in his vicinity. To be quite honest, there were even several of the specialists that began to wonder if he was growing more and more psychotically insane.

After wiping away their thoughts, the members would resume their routine and scurry off to whatever area of their headquarters that they were commanded to assume work at. The environment of the base was overall in much higher spirits as the missions began taking off. Everyone was aware of the feeling of confinement that the specialists had been forced to feel the past several decades, but they were finally breaking free. The shadows were no longer their home. Soon enough, their work would be complete and they would be able to take control of the galaxy in ease.

The only variable that might possibly stand in their way was the unidentified threat that appeared at Utupau, but faith was quickly flooding into their minds that they would easily dispose of the nuisance. Of course, it was only one against thousands. How well could a singular warrior actually hold up to odds like that?

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"What now?" Anakin moaned as he begrudgingly steered their frigate back around and began setting the hyperspace coordinates for Coruscant. Both of the Jedi Masters had silently agreed that it was quite literally impossible for them to continue any further in their expedition. He gave R6 a scornful glare, and he could've sworn that the astromech smirked right back at him, but he eventually revved the engines up and prepared for hyperspace.

"If we hit another kriffing dead end I swear I'll..." Anakin threatened in a low voice to nobody in particular. Obi-Wan found amusement in this and tried his dear best to stifle a chuckle that was bubbling up in his throat, but he quickly choked it down as he reminded himself of what happens when you truly get on Anakin's nerves. Well, to say in the least, it was an experience that Obi-Wan didn't truly care to go through again.

"We'll find something," the man's former master assured him with a pat on the shoulder. However, both of them knew that this might very well be a dead lie. As of right now, they hadn't gotten any closer to figuring out who stole Ahsoka's lightsabers, who the Gifter was, and who the people that were assassinating the randomly-stationed Jedi were.

"I have a feeling that they're all related," Anakin suddenly spoke up without further explanation about what he was thinking about. In truth, added words weren't needed. Both of the Jedi Masters were aware of the fact that they were both thinking about the very same topics.

"And what makes you so sure?" Obi-Wan asked as he stared out of the cruiser's windshield at the scenery that was painted by the act of going through hyperspace.

"I'm don't really know," Anakin admitted sheepishly as he joined his former master in staring off into the abyss. "But I somehow know that they are connected to each other. Perhaps guidance of the Force."

Obi-Wan honestly didn't take Anakin's word with as much weight as he used to. The longer that time wears on without Ahsoka, the more certain the Jedi Master was that Anakin was going mentally unstable and delusional. Perhaps if those exact words would've come out of Anakin's mouth about a month ago Obi-Wan would've taken his words to heart, but that just couldn't be the case at the moment.

"Do you think that Ahsoka's lightsabers are in the hand of the Light Side or the Dark?" Anakin curiously asked as he peeled his attention away from the multicolored streaks that could be seen through the window and placed it on the Jedi Master.

"I don't know," Obi-Wan sighed. "Your guess is as good as mine. Although I have to admit, a Jedi or something of the sort stealing one of the most admired war heroes of the entire Temple doesn't sound right. I would place my money on a Sith of sorts."

"You never brought up the idea of Ahsoka secretly taking them back," Anakin pointed out in confusion, referencing back to the conversation that they had been having earlier. Obi-Wan couldn't help but wince at the mention of this.

Here we go again, Obi-Wan thought to himself in dread, but much to his relied, Anakin dropped the topic.

"So what should we do with this useless bucket of rusty scraps?" Anakin asked, gesturing to R6. Furious with what he had just called her, the astromech was sure to quickly wheel herself over there and give Anakin her own two cents, which was the equivalent of a slightly painful shot of electricity.

"Alright, alright, geez," Anakin grumbled as he tenderly rubbed the spot that he had been zapped. "Stubborn bucket of metal screws."

R6 could've been happier at his word choice, but she chose to pick her battles and slowly return to her original position several feet away from the Jedi. If that stupid Jedi Master dared to make one more remark about her in a not-so-positive demeanor, she would be sure to make him regret it.

"It seems that you and Ahsoka's astromech have got along quite wonderfully," Obi-Wan commented with a small laugh. "You always were the one for making friends."

"Can it," Anakin demanded with a roll of his eyes. "As though you're any better. I bet you were the loner of your youngling classes."

"You wish," Obi-Wan fired back with a smirk. "I was always Mr. Popularity, but I suppose you wouldn't understand anything about that."

Anakin opened his mouth to continue their playful banter, but he eventually had to close it as he couldn't come up with a witty enough remark. Instead, he settled for a scowl and consistent glare.

"We've got ourselves spread too thin," Obi-Wan suddenly interjected into the silence. "We can't figure out everything at once. We need to pick what we're going to investigate first."

Anakin hesitated, but eventually made up his mind and replied to Obi-Wan's thought. "We'll figure out who the Gifter is. I always loved a good mystery."

"Anakin," Obi-Wan facepalmed. "These are literally all mysteries."

"So?" Anakin defended. "This is the most mysterious-est of all the mysteries."

Obi-Wan couldn't hold back his moan of annoyance and buried his head in his hands. "Where did I go wrong? When did I ever sign up to be partnered with the most childish Jedi Master ever?"

Lmao, Grammarly gave me a hard time about Anakin's phrase. No matter how many times I insisted that I meant what I wrote, it kept demanding that I change it. Oh well -_(o.O)_-