"Echo!" Fives stood to his feet as we all paused for the fallen trooper.

"Come on, Fives" I pat his shoulder to pull him back to the mission at hand.

"We have to go now!" Kenobi sternly told us all. Reluctantly everyone followed the other Generals as we ran to hide for the meantime. I stayed quiet, running behind Kenobi as I thought deeply over everyone lost on this rescue mission.

"Master Kenobi, what has happened?" Plo Koon asked over holocomm as we ran away.

"I'm afraid we've had a situation with the shuttle." Obi Wan explained simply without detail.

"By 'situation,' he means big explosion." Anakin stepped in to clarify. "We're going to need a rescue."

"It will be done. I'm sending our cruisers now." Plo nodded to us before ending the call. We had reached a cave where we decided to temporarily rest and regroup after the attack.

"We'll need to hold out until the Council sends a ship." Obi Wan started.

"Not a problem. We've beat them once, we'll beat them again." Master Piell sounded confident in our ability's against the Citadel.

"This landscape is almost impossible to cross. How are we going to get to the rendezvous point?" Fives voiced an important question as he joined the group after keeping watch on the entrance.

"That is the trap of the Citadel. It was designed so it would be almost impossible for fugitives to get off the surface, even if they escaped the tower." I explained to everyone, tone dark and saddened.

"Lucky we're not just any fugitives." Anakin smirked with confidence, trying to cheer everyone up and give us hope.

"I hope you're right." Piell said before we started to walk further into the cave.

~~~

"We're clear!" Rex reported as he and Fives went to scout ahead.

"What's our next move?" Ahsoka asked, looking to us for answers.

"We're going to have to fight our way off this rock." Anakin stated strongly with some excitement hidden in his tone.

"Contact the Council, see when they plan to rescue us." Obi Wan told Master Piell.

"I'll handle it." The short man stated.

"Master Piell, it's good to see you alive, my friend." Mace Windu appeared from R2-D2 on hologram.

"Likewise, Master Windu. Our escape route has been compromised and there are several squads of droids closing in on us." Piell explained our situation to the council.

"When can we expect your arrival?" Anakin stepped in to ask the urgent question.

"Master Plo is already en route." Windu told us the status.

"Gunships will arrive to evacuate you and your men, but do not delay, only a small window of opportunity shall we have." Yoda spoke. "Your rendezvous point will be this island." A map showed us where the location was.

"Understood." Piell nodded.

"May the Force be with you." Mace left the call.

"I don't like this" I sighed to Ahsoka and Rex as we stood beside each other.

"Me neither" Rex commented.

"Incoming!" Cody reported, falling back as droids entered the cave and began to shoot at us all. Fives had thrown a thermal detonator towards the entrance, closing it off while Rex helped him stand after the explosion went off and knocked him off his feet.

"No doubt there's more on the way." Obi Wan stated calmly as we all turned off our sabers and prepared to continue.

Running along the edge of the fiery depths below we came to a pause in our path. Droids climbed up the sides and cornered us from behind.

"They're boxing us in!" Ahsoka called out with worry at the situation we had once again found ourselves in.

"Lock in your cables!" Anakin ordered as everyone did so. "Artoo, we need your droids to hold off the enemy as long as possible." He received beeps from the droid in response. "Good. Everybody, follow me!" Tarkin was on Anakin's back as he scaled down the cliff while Kenobi had a clone trooper on his back.

"This is sheer madness!" Tarkin complained. The rest of us waited for our turns as we helped to hold them back.

"Ahsoka, Lyra, let's go!" Cody called out to us as we ran over to the cables and began to scale our way down.

"Keep moving!" Obi wan shouted up at us. We watched as two troopers fell from their cables and hit the ground below. I shook away the thought and continued to focus on getting down. Once everyone reached the bottom the droids had started to shoot down at us. Anakin protected us by deflecting the blaster shots while we all dove into a hole leading to another cave. After a few minutes we had finally found our way out of the tunnel.

"This way" Obi Wan waved us out and onto the lower cliff beside the boiling lava.

"What if your Jedi friends are not there when we arrive?" Tarkin asked with concern.

"Keep moving and you won't have to worry about that, Tarkin." Piell responded as Ahsoka rolled her eyes at the Captains words.

"Why did Master Piell have to share half of the intel with that guy? It's like he's not even grateful we rescued him." Ahsoka said to me and her master.

"Captain Tarkin feels the Jedi should be relieved from the burden of leading the war effort." Anakin said on behalf of Tarkin.

"That's ridiculous." Ahsoka commented as I only shook my head.

"Maybe, but we aren't soldiers, we're peacekeepers. The Jedi code often prevents us from going far enough to achieve victory." Anakin further explained the Captains point of view.

"A rather simple point of view." Obi Wan shrugged, walking past us.

"Either way, he is a good captain." Anakin stated calmly.

"Did you hear that?" I asked as we slowed down to a noise.

"Yes. We're going to have company." Piell claimed, noticing the sound as well.

"We need to keep moving if we are to reach the rendezvous point on time" Kenobi started walking again.

~~~

"Those creatures are gaining." Fives reported from the back as the sound got closer and closer.

"If they've caught our scent, they'll lead the droids right to us." Piell stated his concern.

"We're gonna have to deal with them." Anakin told us all.

"What about using this cave to surprise them?" Ahsoka offered, pointing ahead.

"If we can get them to pass by, we can attack them from behind. But we need a distraction." Piell continued with the idea.

"Leave that to me." Anakin seemed ready but Obi Wan cleared his throat. "And Obi-Wan, of course." Skywalker added.

"Okay, the rest of you, follow me." Piell instructed. Soon the creatures had ran past our hiding spot but once they had passed spider droids crawled up the walls to attack us.

"Keep going! Lyra, Ahsoka and I will take care of the droids." Piell ordered as the rest of our group ran off to help the two Jedi who had created a distraction. Ahsoka, Piell and I stood at the ready, cutting down the droids from all over.

"Master Piell!" I shouted as a creature that was tracking us had tackled him down. Ahsoka jumped over, scaring it off with her sabers as I pushed it back into the lava with the force before it could jump at her next.

"I have to get help." Ahsoka started off but her wrist was caught by Piell. I had knelt beside the master in his last moments.

"No. Don't leave. Listen to me carefully, child. The information, I need you to deliver it back to the Council." He pleaded to us.

"I should find Anakin or Obi-Wan." Ahsoka started. "They need to hear this."

"No. You must listen." He said sternly, looking me in the eyes.

"Yes, master" I nodded to the man as he laid on his death bed.

"Remember this. And see to it that the information I'm about to give you is revealed to no one but the Jedi Council." Master Piell whispered the message into my ear before I looked up and nodded to Ahsoka.

"Let's get him back to the others" I carefully lifted the man over my shoulders and carried him back to where the others had been fighting.

"Oh, no." Obi Wan sighed at the sight of us approaching carrying Master Piell through the fog. They rushed over as we gently sat him in the ground, Anakin assisting us.

"He died honorably." Ahsoka mumbled.

"What about the information?" Anakin worried.

"I have it. He told me just before he died." I stated, looking down at him with a blank expression.

"We don't have much time." Kenobi reminded, standing across from Anakin as Master Piell rested on the edge of the cliff."Let's take this moment to honor him,
then we must move on. He would have wanted us to complete our mission." Obi Wan and Anakin used the force to lower him into the lava below, burning his body in the true Jedi way. We watched him float downstream sadly before going back to work on escaping the citadel.

"Remember, we must keep Captain Tarkin and General Jayko safe as they are the only ones who hold the information" Anakin reminded his men sternly. My shoulders grew tense as the pressure was placed upon me to keep that information safe.

"We've got you, General" Five smiled under his helmet as we started to walk again.

"Thanks, Fives" I nodded to the trooper.

"There's the extraction point." My former Master pointed ahead to the island across the lava. Anakin and Cody shot the cables to get us across, Rex and Tarkin crawling across first.

"Incoming!" Rex pointed after helping Tarkin onto the island.

"Look what I found!" The Sobeck cackled as he watched Ahsoka and Cody crawl across next. We deflected the blasts as our men shot back at the droids.

"Lyra go!" Kenobi ordered. I clipped my lightsabers onto my belt and rushed towards the cables. I was almost over when Sobeck had started speeding over, shooting at me in the process. R2 had come to save the day by covering me with a layer of smoke to prevent me from being seen. Fives had shot the man down onto the island while I scrambled to climb onto the island.

"Rex, protect Lyra!" Anakin ordered his Captain who had rushed to pull me to my feet and keep me close to him.

"Captain!" Ahsoka panicked, watching at Sobeck grabbed ahold of the other part of the message.

"If I can't have the information, it will die with you." He held Tarkin over him, about to drop him into the lava. At those words Rex had grew more protective, knowing I was in great danger as long as Sobeck was still on the island with us. Ahsoka had quickly moved behind him, stabbing him through the chest with her saber, making him drop Tarkin as he fell to the ground with his last breath.

"My thanks, Padawan Tano." Tarkin dusted himself off. "I see you've trained her well." He tells Anakin next as the duo of Masters joined us.

"The rescue ship should be here by now." Obi Wan noted.

"So should the rest of the Separatist army!" Anakin commented back. Just then the gunships arrived through the dark smoke around us.

"I believe you've worn out your welcome." Master Koon commented as he helped us up. Droids surrounded us, shooting with everything they've got while us Jedi worked to deflect them and give our men cover. The ship began to lift off as Anakin and I waited for the last minute to jump up, making sure everyone else had been saved before us.

Bumping into a trooper I had almost fallen back onto the island as the ship shook while flying away.

"I've got you General" Rex had held me tight to prevent from falling, letting me go once the doors had closed to ensure my safety.

"Thank you, Captain" I nodded to him, unaware of his brothers and my fellow Jedi watching the encounter.

"Admiral Coburn, we have the survivors. Recall all fighters." Koon ordered through com link.

"Yes, General." Was the response. With a final shake we had landed on the cruiser in space.

"We're all ready, Admiral." Plo Koon told his admiral.

~~~

"Of Master Piell's loss, we are sorry to hear." Yoda spoke as we exited the gun ship onto the hanger of the temple on Coruscant.

"He will be missed." Windu stated sadly.

"Because of his great sacrifice, we now have the Nexus Route coordinates." Master Koon reminded the bright side of this mission.

"Captain Tarkin and Lyra have each memorized half." Obi Wan explained to the council.

"Debrief them both, we must." Yoda said.

"With all due respect, Master Jedi, I was instructed by Chancellor Palpatine to bring the intel directly to him for debriefing." Tarkin told them.

"I promised Master Piell that I would deliver it only to the Council. And that's what I will do." I told him strongly, staying with my promise.

"Hmm... Personally meet with the Chancellor, I will. Decide what is best to do, we shall." Yoda walked off.

"Master Plo, there's something we want to ask you. Did you assign Ahsoka to the mission?" Anakin stepped up as the others walked away.

"It appears I did." Plo said, giving her a look before walking away with her.

"A job well done, General Skywalker. I wish more Jedi had your military sensibilities." Tarkin shook his hand. "Perhaps I can inform the Chancellor of your valor." He started to walk away.

"I'm not sure what to think of your new ally." Obi Wan told Anakin.

"I do" I muttered from beside them.

"Well, I think we need people like him. This is a war. If we aren't willing to do what it takes to win, we risk losing everything we try to protect." Skywalker stated his view.

"Unfortunately, war tends to distort our point of view. If we sacrifice our code, even for victory, we may lose that which is most important, our honor." Kenobi reminded.

.............................................

Question of the day: What did you think of Piell giving Lyra the coordinates?