Harsh Truths

-A man chooses, a slave obeys… but now the slave thinks he choose…

Anakin, along with Ahsoka Tano, entered the Jedi Council chambers, they had been called for reasons unknown to them but were apparently of some import.

Yoda looked to both Jedi and nodded, the war had been going better than expected however they soon noticed that the number of Jedi losses was unsustainable. Fearing sabotage they committed several secret investigations by Mace Windu and Ki Adi Mundi but all that they had discovered was that they were all due to combat losses to Separatists. This level of Jedi attrition was without precedent in the modern history of the Jedi, the last victim being Pong Krell.

"Come here for a mission, you have."

Anakin merely nodded, waiting for the details. It had now been five months since the start of the war, and offensives on both sides had stalled. There are many reasons as to the causes not the least of which being the supreme commander in a coma, and the disappearance of the 12th Sector Army during its assault on the Separatist capitol.

Officially at least.

In actuality the 12th sector army is believed to have been killed in action during the assault and they merely lack enough evidence to say for certain.

"Promised a war book for Jedi CC-0001 did. Write it, she did, before falling into her coma. On a mission to recover it, you will be sent."

Anakin nodded, he had heard of such a book.

"I will enter the Flagship of the GAR, the Maelstrom in two days. That should be when they finish the last of the repairs." Anakin stated. He knew where CC-0001 kept her archives, so this should be almost a literal walk in a park.

As Anakin and Ahsoka left the Jedi Council however, they were met by a none too pleased Obi-wan.

"Over fifty calls." He said, clearly upset by being ignored by Anakin these past few weeks. Anakin put on a smile and chuckled, sheepishly before deflecting.

"I'll explain later, it's been many months since we've seen each other, why don't we go for a drink?"

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, and Anakin patted him on the back.

"My treat this time." Tempted Anakin.

Obi-Wan sighed and led them away; he knew a good place to drink on Coruscant and had been known to go there from time to time, usually after dealing with another from his once Padawan.

"I thought you said you'd never have a Padawan?" he inquired, turning his gaze to the young Togruta following on Anakin's right. Anakin turned and smiled at his Padawan, proud of how far she came in these few months.

"She's like me but smaller, orange and bald."

Obi-Wan laughed, and shook Ahsoka's hand.

"I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin's former master."

She smiled, returning the gesture."Master Pong Krell told me about you, nice to meet you! I'm Ahsoka Tano."

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tacky cantina music was playing, while lights danced around the stage. Here many were drinking and making merry. Obi-Wan was happy to see that there were still a few open tables.

"Ahsoka, would you please go and grab a seat for three."

Ahsoka nodded, before taking off, dodging bar gores left and right. Anakin tried to walk over to order but then Obi-Wan stopped him with a gesture.

"Now explain to me what happened that made you ignore me for weeks. Do you know how worried you made me?" Interrogated Obi-wan, not unreasonably.

Anakin bit his lower lip, thinking back to his mother's death, how Padme left him a pitiful mess, the battle of Tatooine and how CC-0001 was in a coma.

"My mother was killed.. She did not have an easy death." He said truthfully, but only partially so. It was the only safe topic he could speak of.

Obi-Wan was surprised, finally understanding Anakin's reasons.

"I'm so sorry to hear that Anakin. And now I've ruined this evening. We'll talk later when it's just the two of us. For now, come on, and no you're not paying for a thing."

Anakin raised his hand to stop him, overtaking Obi-Wan.

"Go catch up with Ahsoka, you want your usual?"

Obi-Wan looked Anakin in the eyes, stunned by how his ex-padawan has taken his mother's death, though he supposed that Anakin has had time to grieve.

Still though…

"Yes, the usual." Obi-wan agreed.

Anakin nodded and headed to the bar and waited for the bartender to approach him.

"What'll it be sir?" said the Alien, whose species Anakin didn't recognize, it was a large galaxy after all.

"A glass of the strongest you have, a Hoth beer and a tropical cocktail."

The alien nodded, quickly pulling out a big jug, filling it with beer and setting it on the table, then he placed down a glass which he filled with 2 cubes of ice and a black liquid that reminded Anakin of starless space. He then went into the back of the bar, before returning a few moments later with a glass of an orange liquid with several exotic fruits placed in the drink.

"That'll be thirty one credits' ' He stated in a gruff baritone, Anakin quickly placed the money on the counter and left.

After a quick search he found his master and Padawan in an animated conversation, curious he listened in.

"And then he lifted over two hundred of Jabba's soldiers and killed them, I've never seen anyone as amazing with the Force as Skyguy!" Ahsoka recounted, certainly excited.

Anakin arrived bearing drinks and a smile, giving Ahsoka her cocktail and Obi-Wan his drink, keeping the Hoth beer for himself.

"Sharing stories?" Anakin asked, Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and looked reproachfully at Anakin.

"You know we follow the Jedi code for a reason, yes?" he asked, clearly offended by what Ahsoka had shared.

"Sorry, I must have missed that day." Teased Anakin, he raised his glass to his old master.

"A toast?" Inquired Anakin, Obi-Wan raised his drink and with a smile said.

"To the troublesome Padawan of my troublesome Padawan."

Ahsoka and Anakin laughed, clinking their drinks, before enjoying the spirits. However Ahsoka was surprised when she took a sip of her own.

"I can have alcohol?"

Obi-Wan, feeling his blood run cold, looked at Anakin asking for an explanation.

"She's seen death, I've seen her cut through sentients with her lightsaber like butter, old enough to kill, old enough to drink in my opinion" Anakin said gruffly before returning to his drink. Ahsoka looked at him surprised, and a bit touched. She also quite enjoyed her drink. It was surprisingly sweet despite the taste of alcohol.

"Do be careful and drink in moderation. It would be quite embarrassing if a Padawan such as yourself became reliant on drink."

Anakin would not let such a statement slide, retaliating with a needle of this own.

"He speaks from experience, he drinks the most of all the Jedi I know."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and laughed.

"And whose fault is it if I drink so much I wonder?"

—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Obi-Wan and Anakin were in Anakin's room, looking out over the Coruscant skyline. Ahsoka was in her own quarters already fast asleep.

"Tell me what happened." Obi-Wan stated not unkindly, showing no signs of any drunkenness. A skill that has surprisingly served him well over the years.

"When we were on Tatooine and I asked permission to visit and if possible rescue my mother, I had dreams months ago that something had happened to her but following the Jedi code I stuck to my mission to protect the senator..."

Obi Wan noticed how Anakin seemed saddened at the mention of Senator Padme, but he did not interrupt and simply stood listening.

"When I found her she was long dead, she had been tortured and killed by the sand people."

Anakin, even in this moment of emotional weakness, would never confess what he did in that village, unlike 0001 he knew his former master would never understand.

"I'm sorry to hear that Anakin" Obi-Wan said, he couldn't say much more, nor did he think it would do any good to aggravate the wound.

A silence filled the room, the war had affected both of them but more so Anakin. But now Obi-Wan saw that it might not just be the war that caused this change in him.

While Obi-Wan pondered, Anakin gathered enough courage to confess to one of his greatest sins.

"I was in a relationship with Padme."

Obi-Wan knew, of course he knew those two were in a relationship. Even still, he was so surprised that Anakin had offered this confession. It was out of character for him.

"Was. I take it, it is in the past now?" Obi-Wan noted, not wanting to press but wanting to know the pertinent information.

Anakin bit his tongue in frustration, he didn't want to admit it but he was feeling resentful towards Padme, not hateful but resentful and hurt.

"Yes."

Obi-Wan walked over to Anakin and put his arm around his shoulder in a quick hug.

"Look, Anakin, we all make mistakes...I once made a mistake like that too. It was with a Mandalorian, hair as golden as the sun and eyes as blue as the clear sky. I understand what it's like to be in love but I'm glad you got past that, and that you trusted me to hear it."

Anakin, who was surprised by his master's confession, returned the hug.

"Thank you for trusting me, Obi-Wan."

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anakin looked at the still figure that was CC-0001 lying on a gurney, surrounded by an array of medical equipment that he would only begin to guess at its use. No one knew when she was going to wake up, if she even was… and the uncertainty was eating at him..

He punched the wall in frustration, breathing deep, letting the dull throb of his fist bring him back to the moment..

"Damn it! All of these machines, what good are they if they never fix her."

He had lamented about this a hundred times already, but there was nothing else to be done. He could do nothing but stew in here in impotent rage. There was no enemy to fight, no one to even blame. In the end it was all her fault but he didn't have the courage to blame her either, her efforts to lead the war proved efficient until she could take it no more.

Anakin then moved even closer to CC-0001, stroking her hair.

"I will do anything to see you awake once more..".

With that he left, passing the ten clones that made up her guard detail. Five of which were from the Coruscant guard and the rest were Domino Squad. Anakin was grateful that the room was soundproofed, things might have gotten awkward otherwise.

With that last though he began the trip back to his quarters.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anakin was surrounded by a white light, it went on as far as the eye could see, seemingly infinite. Up, down, left, right, all was the same sterile white, with no way to get his bearings.

"Do you want her to wake up again?" A voice asked, deep and regal, but no matter where Anakin searched he could not find the origin of the voice.

"You're talking about CC-0001?" Anakin asked, trying to make some sense of the situation.

"Indeed." said the voice.

"ARE YOU THE BASTARD WHO DID THAT TO HER?" Anakin roared, all that rage coming to the forefront once more. It would seem he had found the one responsible.

"You humans are self-destructive enough without my intervention, she did that to herself, as usual I don't need to do anything for her to bring doom upon herself."

Anakin reached for his lightsaber but found naught but air.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Anakin shouted, his anger only rising in the face of the entity.

"Another one like her... I advise you not to incur my wrath or she will never be awakened from her slumber."

Anakin forced himself to calm down but his heart was racing. If the speaker had been in front of him, nothing would stop him from his goal.

"I've come to offer you a deal, you can see your destiny and future and try to change it, or I can give you twelve tasks to complete to awaken her."

Anakin thought deeply about what the entity proposed. And quickly came to a conclusion, the future was in constant flux, every little action butterflies causing infinite changes, so what was the point of knowing a future? Surely he would be a Jedi master, no matter what he did or did not do, the future would change either so slightly or radically. Knowing your fate was probably worthless. Even if that wasn't the case, it was worth less than her life, one of the few people who cared about him and actually understood him. He had more fingers on one hand than people he could trust.

"Give me these twelve tasks."

If the entity could smile it likely would right now, one that promised cruelty.

"The task I have for you is quite simple. You must find a secret from each Supreme Commander, twelve in total." Said the entity. Anakin, who quickly understood the task, shouted with great arrogance.

"I know many secrets of 0001!"

The entity's laughter echoes throughout this realm of white.

"A worthy try, but I didn't ask for any secrets of CC-0001, but of her sisters."

That didn;t make sense, not counting CC-0001 there were only eleven other Supreme Commanders, all of which to his knowledge were on Kamino, except for Hestia who was currently waiting for the Maelstrom to be repaired.

"Explain yourself!"

However there was no explanation, and instead he woke up sweating from his bed. Getting up he saw his whole bed was drenched from his sweat.

Before he could begin to clean the mess, he noticed a small note on his nightstand that read,'Deus lo vult'.

He balled it up and threw it as far away as he could.

"Damn it."

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anakin and Ahsoka returned to the Maelstrom the day the repairs were finished. They met Hestia floating down one of the corridors with her hover-chair, accompanied by Lion and several 41st legion clones.

"Good morning," He greeted. Once Hestia spotted them a wide smile bloomed on her face.

"Good morning to you too, what brings you here?" She returned,.

"A mission of ours, nothing serious, but I would also like to discuss something with you in private when we are done with our mission." Anakin said. Hestia nodded and turned to Lion.

"Please add it to today's schedule, we need to prepare the Maelstrom to leave for Kamino and reinstitute the command of the GAR".

Lion nodded, quietly working a holo-tablet..

With that, the two groups separated.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anakin and Ahsoka entered CC-0001's room,it looked completely untouched since that fateful evening.

Ahsoka began to look around, before stopping on the bed, remembering the scene where she found her master and the Supreme Commander.

"Master, about that time…"

"Not now, come here." Anakin deflected, taking CC-0001's computer and placing it on top of a small table she used for writing.

Opening it, Anakin was greeted with a request to enter a password.

"Well that's going to be a problem." Noted Anakin, who hadn't quite thought this part through, however Ahsoka pushed him aside and sat in the chair.

"Leave it to me, this laptop is older than you and I know a few tricks, it doesn't even take an Astromech to get into these old things."

'"Hey I'm not that old." Anakin complained, walking away from her and starting to explore the room. It was a large, if spartan room, a shelf with her weapons and armor between the desk and her bed, a large table with a caff machine and some more normal knick-knacks on it and lastly a double bed with a number of compartments built into it..

Anakin had never actually seen the contents of these compartments before, so he continued his search there.

He opened the first shelf, seeing clean body suits, some towels, a blaster hidden under the towels, and nothing else of interest.

Anakin then moved to the second compartment, opening it he found dozens of different plastic bottles, curiously he picked one up randomly and read what it said in the text.

'Suicide pills, use only in case of risk of capture'. It read.

Shocked by this discovery Anakin put the bottle aside and began to read the rest of the bottles.

'Brain stimulants, body stimulants, abortion pills, anti-sleeping pills.'

Anakin held these disgusting products in a white knuckle grip, the small containers straining under the pressure. However Ahsoka distracted him from the morbid discovery.

"I'm in!" She cheered

Anakin hastily stowed the abortion and suicide pill bottles in his pocket and walked over to the computer, peering over Ahsoka's head.

"Look through her files, the war book has to be somewhere in them." He comanded.

Ahsoka began her search, looking at different documents until she came to one that looked promising.

She opened it and began to read.

"It's over three hundred pages, small script too." she notes, while Anakin read the title.

"Art of War in the Galaxy."

"Read the first few pages, if that's what we're looking for, we'll download it and go."

Ahsoka nodded, starting to read the document. The first few pages were an index with all the chapters.

"Managing your human resources, cooperation between clones and Jedi, calculus of war, commanding the terrain, managing logistics, alternative strategies to frontal assault."

They continued reading the titles until Anakin nodded, it was definitely a book meant for the Jedi.

"Download and transfer it to your tablet."

Ahsoka moved swiftly, connecting a cable between her tablet and the computer, transferring the relevant files. Soon however her curiosity got the better of her, and she soon began to delve deeper into the computer's database, mouthing her discoveries in a low tone.

"Advanced warfare, strategy and tactics, Clones and their equipment, Kaminoan orders, Cause to be decommissioned, GAR orders, political manual, manipulation manual, seduction manual."

Anakin could feel a cold rage come upon him as he read this new vile revelation.

"This is all from the Kaminoans?" Anakin asked, Ahsoka entered the first document, seeing that it had the seal of the Kaminoan government, it was true for all of the documents.

All the documents were from the Kaminoan government for 0001.

Anakin could not believe his eyes. Was this the life of 0001? Because every time he thought he saw the end of the dark road 0001 that was 0001's life, he found another even more vile path just beyond it

It never ended.

Ahsoka grimaced, her eyes unblinking as she read. She opened the search function and typed 'cause for decommission'. The program's intelligence soon identified over 1492 mentions of the word.

"Download all files from this computer." Ordered Anakin.

Ahsoka looked at him and then nodded, starting to download everything. Ahsoka unplugged the cable and returned the device back to its resting place. Anakin however looked at the two bottles in his pocket, abortion and suicide. What plans did they have for CC-0001?

"Are you done?" Anakin asked Ahsoka, she nodded and they made their way out of the Maelstrom. However, Anakin stopped when he saw a trash chute. He pulled both bottles out of his pocket and took a deep look at them. In an effort of will he crushed them with the Force, leaving them behind to be forgotten in the trash.

"I should have cut their throats when I had the chance." He muttered darkly, before returning to his padawan.

—-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anakin stood before the Jedi Council, meeting the eyes of its members until Mace Windu began to speak.

"If you have accomplished your mission, give us the document." he said, with an undercurrent of contempt in his voice, though whether it was because of Anakin's presence of the subject, he would never know.

Ahsoka looked at Anakin quizzically, waiting to see if Anakin would allow her to share all the files or just the book.

The Jedi Council had always despised him, always humiliated him, and most important of all, never trusted him. It was such a situation that he found more camaraderie with Admirals than with his fellow Jedi.

'They do not deserve my full cooperation,' Anakin decided, looking at Ahsoka he gave her a small nod of his head that Ahsoka understood perfectly.

Tapping her tablet she sent the file to Mace Windu, who quickly displayed the book in a holographic projection in the center of the Jedi Council. Anakin and Ahsoka stepped away so they could read it properly.

The entire Jedi Council and the two guests began to read the book to themselves as text scrolled. However Anakin could not help but chuckle as he read what was a clear humor at the council's expense. Apparently CC-0001 felt the need to explain the war as if it was directed at children and there was a clear note of irony.

Of course, as the topics progressed she used a more advanced vocabulary and clearly explained complex terms and tactics, though the patronizing tone was still there.

"You may go." Mace Windu grunted, with a grimace. Anakin nodded and left the room.

"Well, without a mission, how would you like a holiday on Kamino? I have some things to do there."

Anakin bore a look of determination. Whatever contact he had made last night was his only real hope that didn't depend on mere chance.

He would see this through.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With uneasy breathing, Boss watched the droids pass them by aboard Malevolence's inner mag-rail.

"We haven't been detected." He said calmly and turned to look at his group, they boarded the Malevolence when it assaulted the Maelstrom and since then they were on radio silence so as not to be detected by the Separatists.

The other three Delta Squad members nodded slowly and watched.

"So it's true, over a hundred thousand brothers are trapped in Felucia." Breathed Scorch.

With the Malevolence leaving the battlefield, Delta Squad assumed Big Sister won the battle, however their new location was in orbit over Felucia. Using the separatist frigates as a shield, the Malevolence knocked out dozens of Venators that were in Felucia's atmosphere.

Later they decided to gather intelligence to try to piece together what happened. That force was organizing to attack towards the separatist capital. However it was ambushed by the separatists and the venators that fell to Felucia had now organized mega fortresses around the venators.

"We must warn the Supreme Commander that they are still alive." Fixer said quickly.

Sev gave a slow, halting laugh.

"If we send a signal all of the Malevolence will be looking to kill us." He balked.

He quickly readied the sniper rifle and smiled under his helm.

"When do we send the message?"

Boss looked at the time on his wrist and thought about the real chances of the information even getting through.

"We're still in range of the jammers, we have to wait for the Malevolence to get out of range to resupply themselves and then we'll send the message."

They all nodded and sat down.

"Anyone play that game Big Sister made?"

They all looked at Sev who pulled from one of his pockets a slash of cards.

"She says it's called Uno and you make up the rules."

Fixer sighed and went to keep an eye out for any droids approaching.

"I'll keep watch." he said, taking a look out of cover.

"I guess we will have many rotations still, before we can get out of here." Fixer said, voice distant and weary.

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