Back in the Game (COMPLETE)

9.16.4

The news disappointed him, but it didn't surprise him. Yoda's lightsaber was still laying on the ground not far from them, as neither of them had bothered to move it or pick it up. For all the Jedi were concerned, Yoda was effectively as dead as all of the other Jedi whose lightsabers were still dropped throughout the Temple. He certainly wasn't trying to help the living. 

The Jedi Master, the last Jedi Master, breathed in, trying to compose himself. Running a hand through his hair, he asked Anakin, "At least tell me you've heard from Ahsoka."

"Once, yesterday," he replied, grateful for the subject change. "She sent a report saying she had Maul in custody and was headed back. That was before the attack though, I haven't seen anything from her since." Opening the file he had created for the 332nd Company, he checked to see where their cruiser was. He expected it to be orbiting Coruscant, probably to assist with the Republic's efforts to obliterate the Jedi.

He didn't expect it to be on a moon out in the middle of nowhere. Not orbiting the moon, on it. The cruiser had crashed. 

Neither of them understood. Anakin quickly opened the last reports the command center had sent the Republic before the crash, although there weren't many. Ahsoka's report from earlier was there, but afterward there was another: one confirming her death.

"No..." Obi-Wan gasped, and he took control of the holotable, expanding the report. It didn't ease his horror any. Rex himself had confirmed that his men had killed Ahsoka, although they were all currently missing in action due to an engine malfunction. None of them had been confirmed dead or alive, but further investigation led to the discovery of how the cruiser had crashed. Maul had escaped custody and destroyed the hyperdrive himself. Other than that, no more information had been sent from that cruiser since last rotation.

Looking to Anakin, Obi-Wan expected to see pain or guilt, or even anger at this point. He wasn't any of those things, though, just confused. Shaking his head a little, Anakin murmured to himself, "That's not right."

He turned to his master. "Ever since the Sister killed Sideous, I've been able to feel Ahsoka more clearly than ever. Sometimes I can sense her emotions, or where she is, or even what's happening around her sometimes. I don't understand it, not completely, but it's some sort of...bond."

"A Force Bond?" Obi-Wan asked, not sure where this was leading, but willing to take any distraction from the disastrous report in front of them. "Anakin, no one in the Jedi Order has reported to have one for decades, even centuries. Are you sure?"

"Not about that," he told him, "but I am sure of this: Ahsoka is still alive. That report isn't telling the truth."

As desperately as he wanted to believe it, Obi-Wan was doubtful. "How? How can you be sure?" 

Anakin gestured to him. "You faked your death, didn't you? Cody reported that you fell off a cliff, the Republic doesn't know that you're alive."

"Well, I did fall off a cliff," he conceded, but he had another question. "Why was she even targeted? Don't they know she's..."

"I don't know," Anakin answered, not needing Obi-Wan to finish the thought. "I don't understand any of this, but I know we need answers."

"If she's alive, then where is she? On that moon?"

"No, Ahsoka wouldn't stay there." Closing his eyes, Anakin focused on Ahsoka. She was very distant, even more so than she usually was. He wasn't going to be able to use their bond to find her, but Anakin was sure that she hadn't forgotten about him. She had to have left something.

So where would she leave it? he asked himself, focusing deeply. Ahsoka must have known that what was happening to her was happening to the Jedi too, so she would know that any communication needed to be hidden somehow. If she expected Anakin to find it, she would have to use something he knew about, but not many other people. That limited the possibilities.