"Anakin, Lyra, Rex, prepare all forces. We're jumping to hyperspace immediately." Obi Wan raced into the hangar as men ran around to their stations.

"Yes, sir." Rex replied, turning to the men. "Men, with me." He ran out with them.

"Watch it! Watch it! You heard him, lads! Let's go!" Clones scrambled around.

"So, the attack on Mandalore was approved?" Anakin turned to Obi Wan with hope.

"No, it's Coruscant. Grievous has attacked the capitol." Kenobi explained while I sighed at the new battle.

"What about the Chancellor?"  Anakin worried for a mentor of his.

"Shaak Ti has been sent to protect him, but Master Windu has lost contact with her. Not to worry. Our fleet can be there within the hour."

"So that's it? You're going to abandon Bo-Katan and her people?" Ahsoka crossed her arms at how they moved on from another problem.

"Ahsoka, surely you understand this is a pivotal moment in the Clone Wars. The heart of the Republic is under attack." Kenobi explained to her sternly.

"I understand that, as usual, you're playing politics. This is why the people have lost faith in the Jedi. I had too, until I was reminded of what the Order means to people who truly need us." Ahsoka said as I felt her understanding and kept quiet about the subject.

"Right now, people on Coruscant need us."

"No. The Chancellor needs you." Ahsoka countered.

"That's not fair." Kenobi said.

"I'm not trying to be." She snapped back coldly.

"I'll divide the 501st, make a new division under Ahsoka's command." Anakin gave an idea.

"Unfortunately, Ahsoka is no longer a part of the Grand Army of the Republic." Obi Wan reminded the flaw in Anakin's plan.

"I'll go with them," I offered up eagerly.

"Yes, and we'll promote Rex to commander and have him lead the new division with her. Ahsoka can go with them as an adviser. What do you say?" Anakin gave another idea.

"I accept. That is, if Obi-Wan agrees." Ahsoka turned to him for his answer.

"Very well." He told us both with a sigh of defeat. We give him small nods of thanks in return."May the Force be with you." He turned to walk out.

"May the force be with you master" I replied.

"Oh, one other thing: I killed Maul once. Best to capture him. He doesn't seem to stay dead." Obi Wan joked with truth behind his statement.

"Thanks for the support. As always." Ahsoka turned to her former master.

"That's what friends are for. If you're going to face Maul, you'll need these. I took care of them. They're good as new." He opened the box to show her her lightsabers. She smiled, picking them up and igniting them to find the green blades had been replaced to the colour blue. "Maybe a little better." He added with a smirk. "You capture Maul. I'll take care of Grievous. With any luck, this will all be over soon."

"Master Kenobi always said there's no such thing as luck." Ahsoka countered with a smirk while I shrugged knowing that was true about the Jedi master.

"Good thing I taught you otherwise." Anakin said. He moved to walk when she called back to him.

"Anakin! Good luck." He smiled back and left us.

"We will be moving with the siege of Mandalore" I explained to Rex after finding him in the midst of the chaos. "Anakin has split the 501st and you have been promoted to Commander, congratulations" I filled in the trooper as we met up with him by the gunships.

"Are you coming with us?" Rex questioned while Ahsoka smirked beside me, walking onto the ship to give us a moment.

"Yes, I will be helping the siege" I nodded. He nodded back before Kenobi called out his name, stealing his focus. I moved to help Ahsoka prepare the troops while my former Master talked to the new Commander.

"Hurt her and you will have to deal with me" Kenobi threatened Rex upon stepping up to him.

"Yes, sir" Rex saluted with a gulp of nerves before he looked over Kenobi's shoulder to where Ahsoka and I were preparing.

"And take care of her for me" he added, having a bad feeling that something was going to happen.

"Master, Captain, we are ready to go" I announced while joining the pair. Rex seemed tense while Obi Wan seemed oddly calm. "Everything alright?" I raised an eyebrow between the two.

"Yes, Lyra, no need to worry." Kenobi spoke.

"Okay" I smiled. "May the force be with you" I gave a slight bow to my master as if we were saying goodbye.

"May the force be with you"

~~~

"General, I have Prime Minister Almec of Mandalore on the comm." my comm link buzzed.

"Put him through." I ordered.

"What is the meaning of this invasion? The Republic presence here is a direct violation of our treaty." The prime minister spoke as he appeared in hologram form in front of us on the gunship.

"Your time has come, Almec. We know you're Maul's puppet, and we are coming for him." Bo Katan stated with a pointed finger, not giving me a chance to deescalate the situation first.

"Ah-ha! Mistress Bo-Katan, the traitor. I should have known you were behind this incursion. Siding with the Republic will make you an enemy in the eyes of the people." He continued.

"I'm fine with that."

"You're nothing like your sister." Ahsoka noted as the transmission ended.

"Ursa, can you confirm the target's location?" Bo Katan asked one of her people over a hologram.

"I can only confirm that Maul has not left the city. All other attempts to locate him have been blocked. Saxon is already scrambling his defenses." She reported back to us. The ship had rocked, causing us to look around to find out what was happening.

"We've got incoming!" The pilot reported back to us in warning. Jumbling around the back the ship had been steered clear of the incoming shots. The doors opened beside us to show us the ships around being taken down in explosions. Our troopers started to fly out to reach the surface with jet packs.

"What are you waiting for? Get out there!" Bo Katan ordered her people as they flew out with her.

"Sorry, I didn't think to bring you two jetpacks."  Rex turned to Ahsoka and I.

"Don't need one." Ahsoka stated back, looking to me with a mischievous glint in her eyes that I remembered from her time with the Jedi. "Race you to the surface." She saluted, jumping out of the ship eagerly.

"Im off too" I saluted after, following her lead and jumping out to land on a gunship that was below us. Rex looked down while laughing at us and how reckless the Jedi could be. Igniting my double green lightsabers I had swung into a ship, kicking out Mauls people and saving our own.

"My packs broken!" One trooper shouted to me with fear evident.

"I can help," I promised, rushing over to him. I took his pack and found it had been busted in the battle already so I jumped out with him and passed him off to another trooper to take him down to the surface safely.

"Thanks General!" He called after me while I fell to land on top of another gunship. Mauls people had me surrounded, but that didn't stop me as I spun around with my sabers, slicing their weapons and kicking them back in one swift motion.

Joining up with Ahsoka again she had landed beside me and pulled the pilot out as the ship was burning and on its way to crashing.

"Thanks, Commander!" The clone cheered to her as she helped them out. We rode the crashing ship down as it neared the landing pad quickly.

"Ready, Lyra?" She looked to me.

"Always" I smiled back. The two of us flipped off the ship, landing as it exploded behind us. We began to deflect the blasts from the holders of the city, troopers flying in behind us and shooting back at them. The clones and Mandolorians chased them into the city for a full battle.

"Beat you." Ahsoka proudly smirked to the Captain as he landed next to us with his jet pack.

"Some things never change." He claimed.

"Like the fight" I reminded, leading them to the fight again. The city grew into chaos while I watched with sadness over the never ending battles. Soon enough Mauls people started to retreat from the fight, leaving us with a small temporary victory.

~~~

"No sign of Maul yet." Rex reported back to Ahsoka, Bo Katan and I while we watched over the war raging below.

"We can't sustain a long siege. I'll head for the throne room and deal with Almec. You two must find Maul." Bo Katan told us her orders.

"I want you to support Ursa at the docks. We must ensure Maul doesn't escape." Ahsoka told Rex what to do next.

"If he's here. If he's not, then all of this plays right into his hands." Rex tells us with warning.

"Commander Rex, this is CT-0292. I think we have something." A trooper reported to Rex over comm link urgently.

"We'll be right there, Captain." I told the trooper. The three of us rushed to the lower levels to investigate. "Captain Vaughn, what have you got?" I asked once we found the trooper who had reported to us.

"We were cutting off this access point to the Undercity, when we engaged one of the leadership, Gar Saxon. He disappeared through there. Seemed in a hurry." He pointed down a dark tunnel.

"What's down there?" Ahsoka asked, peaking into the darkness.

"A system of tunnels, sewage ports, mainly. Some conduit access pipes."

"Do they lead outside the city?" I asked next.

"Unknown, sir."

"Let's move in." I started, gathering a small group. "Rex, Jesse wait here with the rest" I nodded to them in case we would need back up. We led the men down the tunnels carefully, our lightsabers lighting the path ahead. Looking to Ahsoka I felt as though something was wrong, we both spun around to see a member of Mauls people standing behind us.

"Get down." Ahsoka ordered as they shot a rocket at us. I tried to move it back away with the force but it exploded before I got the chance. The blast went off, sending us falling as blasters fired around us.

"Get up" I helped the Togruta to her feet as we stumbled together.

"Vaughn, wait!" Ahsoka called igniting her lightsabers while he ran with his men into the attack. Following the men there was a trail of dead clones.

"Look out!"

"This way! Hurry."

"Watch it! Watch it!"

"Stop. Stop!" We rounded another corner to hear more clones cry out with pleads for their lives to be spared. Racing into the area we turned off our sabers to find Vaughn had been shot and was now laying on the ground.

"I'm sorry, General, Commander." He looked up at us as I held his hand, him giving his last breath and releasing his grip. Igniting our sabers the two of us stood back to back, the people Maul had corrupted surrounding us in the tunnels that had gathered together.

"I was hoping for Kenobi." Maul stepped into the light as we faced him, ready for a fight "Why are you here?"

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

Question of the day: What did you think of Mauls survival?