Abernaa twisted as she fought to free herself, looking around into a leering face. Although she couldn't tell what humanoid species it belonged to, the expression told her everything she needed to know. The face was gleeful, with a twist to the expression she'd last seen while visiting a prison with her master. There was also a severe case of halitosis to contend with.

Almost without thinking about it, she performed a series of strikes she'd first learnt as a youngling. A knee strike to the groin, to distract her opponent. A headbutt, thanks to a loosened grip, hammering her forehead into the bridge of her attacker's nose. A balled fist to the outside of the elbow of the arm around her neck. Then she used her bent leg, driving it into her attacker's stomach, pushing her backwards and away with all the strength she could muster. It wasn't pretty, but it worked. She went one way, while her attacker, bent over in agony and wheezing for breath, went the other.

Grabbing up Luke and Leia, she drew further upon the Force, using it to lift herself and the twins up and away. It wasn't the best option, but it beat finding herself cornered on the ground with only alleyway detritus for cover. Three stories up, she dropped onto a balcony, suddenly aware of how much adrenaline was flowing though her body. Glancing around, she took stock of the situation. The balcony was uncomfortably wide, although, looking down, Ahsoka realised it was wide enough to complicate an assault attempt. Inside, she could see what could only be a family of humans, two adults and three children, staring out at her in disbelief. The Force told her just how scared she was, so she put her cargo (hooting with glee) down and smiled.

The door was slammed open, and the father came storming out with a kitchen knife in his hand.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "Why have you got children with you, Jedi?" His tone was one Abernaa had encountered a handful of times before. He was hostile to her for being a Jedi around anyone's children, never mind his own.

"I'm on the lam frum the slaver gang a few blocks away." Abernaa replied, going straight for honesty. "The children is Jedi younglings, and we was visitin' the zoo when we got snatched."

"How did they snatch a Jedi?" he asked, clearly not convinced in the slightly.

"I didn't have enough time to react." Abernaa admitted. "By the time I knew they was there, I 'ad three riot guns aimed at me while me lightsaber were still in me boot. And still is."

"That I can believe." The man said, lowering the knife cautiously. "From what I've seen." He didn't elaborate.

"Cin I use yer holocomm?" Abernaa asked. "The buggers confiscated mine, an' I'd sorta like ter let me Master know what's goin' on."

"I can't let you inside." He said, moving to block the door. "I can't help you." Abernaa couldn't help noticing the way his eyes flickered to his daughter, a red-headed girl of about four. "I'm sorry."

"I ain't goin' to take yer daughter." She replied, as gently as possible, kneeling down to try and make herself less threatening. "The Jedi don't do stuff like that no more."

"How… how did you know she was Force Sensitive?" he demanded.

"I din't." Abernaa replied. "But I saw the way you was lookin' at 'er, an' 'ow scared you were, an' I put two an' two tergether."

Without a word, she was suddenly hustled inside.

"They'll be searching for you." The man said, as Abernaa bent down to fiddle with her boot, and extracted a one-foot silver cylinder from it.

"I should be able to stop 'em." She said. "Where's yer holocomm?"

She was handed a portable device that was several years out of date, and immediately turned it on, before tapping in her master's comm-code without hesitation.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Ahsoka was quartering the district when she suddenly heard her commlink go off, playing the tone for a completely unknown number.

"Who is this?" She asked without preamble, after putting her speeder into autopilot and accepting the call.

"Erm… Hi Master." Abernaa said, from the other end. "We're sorta in a tiny bit of a pickle at the moment."

"Where are you?" Ahsoka asked. Knowing her padawan's version of basic, 'a tiny bit of a pickle' might mean anything from 'I've just been pulled over for gravity assisted speeding' to 'Ten super battle droids are about to break down the door I'm hiding behind.'

"We're…" Abernaa stopped being clearly audible. "In the undercity. Erm… the coordinates what the unit is showin' are 28-3-3, 92-2-8, if that 'elps, Master."

Ahsoka didn't waste any time, and threw her speeder into a dive, opening the throttle. Using the Force, she pulled shut her canopy. Normally, she enjoyed the air flowing around her montrals, but given what she was about to do, that was a bad idea. Especially with a Nexu cub sitting on the passenger seat, secured to the crash harness.

"I'm on my way." She said, before closing the connection.

"Vee-Bee, call Skyguy." She said, enunciating clearly, once the connection had reset.

A few moments later, she was connected.

"Skyguy, lift for 28-3-3, 92-2-8." Ahsoka said without preamble. "And bring friends."

"I'll be there, Snipsy." Anakin replied, the jovial nickname failing to disguise the razor tone of his voice. The last time she'd heard that tone… she remembered an exploding mirror and Anakin nearly killing Obi-Wan.

The call was ended before she could say anything else. With a precautionary glance at the tell-tales on her canopy, Ahsoka put her foot down. Four hundred kilometres per hour was cruising velocity for her airspeeder. She heard a whine, and then most of the sound surrounding her disappeared in a brief white cone as her airspeeder punched straight through the sound barrier. With her padawan and children potentially about to be attacked, going supersonic might enough to make the difference between life and death for all three.

Shaking her head grimly, Ahsoka focused on the flight ahead of her. Some of the flying would require precision rarely found outside of the Jedi Order, she thought, as she hurtled into a transit tunnel, sonic boom trailing behind her.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Anakin didn't even pause. "Master, we have a lead." He announced, standing up from his desk and extending his hand, as Obi-Wan looked over from the easy chair he'd dropped into. His lightsaber came floating into his extended hand, along with his speeder keys. Anakin didn't slow down after that, heading straight for the speeder hangar that was conveniently provided for the apartment he'd been assigned. His airspeeder, a sleek, red Kauti model, was sitting on its landing skids, next to several projects.

Next to it, there was another craft waiting, a LAAT/i, painted in the colours of the Jedi Auxiliary, one of the few clone units left in the republic military. The craft had been heavily modified, sacrificing its wings and turrets to more easily fit into the tight canyons of Coruscanti architecture.

Vaulting into the pilot's seat, he waited for Obi-Wan, then hauled shut the canopy.

"We're breaking the speed limit, then." Obi-Wan observed.

"A little, Master." Anakin said, dialling up the inertial compensator, then kicking in the repulsorlift. Once the speeder was clear of the floor, and pointed through the door, Anakin red-lined the throttle without preamble. No slaving piece of scum was taking his children away from him and putting them through what he'd been through. Behind him, the Larty took off as well. His response time was going to be limited by the top speed of the gunship, but, fortunately, their destination was within twenty minutes of the temple, even at that speed.

Beside him, Obi-Wan just clung on for dear life.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

After putting down the commlink, Abernaa looked around, assessing the situation they were in. Despite her bravado, she had no intention of charging head-on into a group of armed criminals without back-up. Even for a Jedi, that was an excellent way to get shot in the back in an urban conflict. Being able to deflect and avoid blaster fire counted for little at extremely close ranges.

"'Ave yer got a blaster?" She asked. A small cupboard was opened in reply, revealing three DC-15 carbines, and half-a dozen powerpacks. A glance and a nod gave her permission to handle the weapons, which showed her that there was a powerpack already loaded into each of the weapons. She also winced. If a group of fairly average civilians had three military carbines… what a slaving gang would have in their armoury didn't bear thinking about.

Then she sized up the furniture. There were two or three heavy tables with thick metal tops. Tipping them over, she used them to form a perimeter, one defending the door, one defending the entrance from the balcony, and one in the entrance to the single bedroom of the flat. She also took down the curtains and draped them over the bedroom doorway, to provide shrapnel protection for anyone inside.

Then she took Luke and Leia aside. "You two, git in there, an' protect them kids. Git them ter lie down in the baffroom." Taking each of their training sabers in turn, Abernaa solemnly adjusted a dial contained within the chassis of the saber, turning them from little more than toys to lethal weapons.

They nodded, as the three civilian children were hurried through the door. Leaving a pair of younglings in charge of anything was a risk, but at least they knew how to follow orders. An' wiv their sabers at full power, they's the last line of defence fer them kids. Although I bleedin' 'ope they don't find out 'bout that, at their age.

There wasn't time for anything else. A pounding on the door told the togruta that they'd run out of time. Sprinting over to her improvised barricade, she picked up her carbine, tucked it against her shoulder, and waited. Even with Jedi patience and meditation, her hands were shaking as the pounding turned into shoulder charges, but she held her fire. It'd been a quarter of an hour since she called her master.

Thirty seconds later, the door came off its hinges, and she opened fire. She wasn't aiming, particularly. She just pointed the carbine at the centre of the door, and fired a figure of eight through it, without even seeing what she was engaging.

Then the corridor was clear, except for three humanoids who hadn't got out of the way in time. They were lying on the floor, unmistakably still.

She almost relaxed, before the Force urged her to get her head down, and blaster fire spattered into the table. A brief glance showed her that each flat had a short hallway outside of it, and that blaster muzzles, and in some cases heads, were visible around them. Her opponents had cover. She had cover. She had all six spare power packs, which she knew meant six hundred shots, plus the hundred or less that her carbine had started with. Aiming the weapon over the improvised barricade, she started stuttering short, irregular bursts down the corridor.

Training for this sort of fighting hadn't been something Jedi were taught, prior to the clone wars. Now, every Jedi got basic tactical training from former ARC Troopers. She also knew how vulnerable her position was. If they rushed her, they'd probably be able to overrun her.

It would only be a matter of time before they overwhelmed her, regardless of their tactics. Given the size of Coruscant, she could be hours away from assistance.

A head peeked out a little too much, and she took her shot, punching a blaster bolt through the rodian's skull, then ducking down, avoiding a barrage of fire aimed at where her head had just been. Popping up at the opposite end of the table, she fired a short burst, killing or disabling another two of the slavers before they managed to shift their fire. She felt a scorch on her right montral as she pulled her head back down, before poking her weapon back over the barricade and stuttering half a dozen short bursts of fire down the corridor. She could feel her master getting closer, but she was still too far away to intervene.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Through her bond with her padawan, Ahsoka could feel the adrenaline that was pumping through her. She could also sense resolve, controlled fear and determination. That her padawan was fighting for her life was a straightforward deduction.

And that meant Ahsoka had run out of time.

Leaving the traffic lanes, she hit a button on her console.

"Track mode disengaged." The speeder's verbobrain informed her. "Response mode engaged." Almost instantly, Ahsoka could feel the difference in the way the control column reacted to her. Then she went off-road, speeding through the undercity at better than four hundred kilometres per hour. Only a Jedi or a podracing pilot would have the reflexes for the flying she was doing, with metres to spare, and travelling through spaces that weren't designed for speeder traffic, never mind high-speed flight.

It was enough to take her back to her days as a padawan, and some of the death-defying combat flying she and Anakin had done. A feral grin broke out, and she pushed harder, knowing that she needed to reach her destination within minutes.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

It was perhaps two minutes before Abernaa's opponents figured out that she was at least as good a shot as any of them. Unfortunately, it drove them to change their tactics, rather than withdraw. From around several of the corners, canisters rolled out into the corridor, and started to spew thick red smoke. Even with her montrals, Abernaa couldn't clearly perceive what was going on until another canister clanked against her barricade, spewing a white cloud. Before she was aware what was going on, her eyes began to fill with tears, and she began coughing, barely able to change power packs for the third time in the firefight.

Bleedin' 'ell. She thought. Them bastids 'as tear gas. Drawing on the Force, she began to try and detoxify herself, but the number of different processes left her barely able to focus on holding her blaster. Swearing, she pushed her barricade forwards to cause more of an obstruction, and then crawled backwards, barely able to avoid the fire that was crackling through the doorway. A loud thud told her someone had tripped over the table, so she fired a long burst, holding the carbine in one hand, barely able to control the weapon's direction.

Then a mask was pulled over her head from behind, and she took a deep breath of clear air, allowing her to get ahead of the chemicals attacking her eyes and nose. Looking around, she saw that the two adult humans were already wearing gas masks.

"They're good for smog." The man, who'd been the one who fitted her with the mask stated.

With her body back under her control, Abernaa tucked down behind the small flat's kitchenette counter. Although it didn't allow her to protect the entrance directly, it gave her a clear line of fire as the first cluster of masked thugs poured through, firing indiscriminately at hip height. Her return fire was immediate and intense.

Centre mass, burst… shift…. Centre mass… burst… shift… she went through the cycle half a dozen time before her opponents managed to figure out where the lethally precise shooting was coming from, dropping the first group to the floor. The second group were instants behind, and she switched tactics. In the heavy smoke, her opponents suddenly saw a blue blade appear, and then she went on the offensive, lunging forwards. Her lightsaber formed complex hieroglyphs in the air as she batted away some of the blaster fire and flowed around the rest like water.

Her first swing connected with a heavy-set human, half-bisecting him on the way to his heart. Stepping away and around, she slashed downwards, burning through the skull of a weequay. A twist of her hips cleared a volley of blaster fire, and she responded by continuing her spin. Her saber carved through the legs of another gangster, before she flowed under a vibroblade. Her saber came across at waist height and rose across and through her opponent's chest, carving through stomach, heart and shoulders. Then the flat was clear, and she turned to face the doorway, sinking into the Force, and allowing it to guide her.

Her soresu was possibly her strongest form. Unlike a lot of padawans, her lightsaber training had come from multiple Jedi. Djem So, from Anakin Skywalker. Ataru, from her own master. And Soresu, from Obi-Wan Kenobi, sometimes referred to as The Master of Soresu.

As the blasters sung from the corridor outside, her hands moved without thought, deflecting and blocking blaster fire. It scattered everywhere in front of her, scorching into the ceiling, walls and floor. Her saber sent as much as possible out of the doorway, as well, back into her attackers, opening temporary holes in their line.

She kept them at bay for three minutes.

Then, finally, she lost concentration for an instant. In that instant, a bolt slammed into her thigh, and she dropped to the floor, unable to stand on her wounded leg. She didn't hold in the shout of pain.

There was no need to.

She knew what was about to happen.

The tears running down her face were from pain, and the realisation that she was dead. Unable to walk, in the open, and without a blaster, she was completely defenceless. She tried to call on the Force to drag herself away, but it was the far side of an agonising barrier.

And then she heard what she thought was the most beautiful sound in the world. A loud, rich, stuttering thrum, followed by the immediate sound of blaster fire, as the ceiling strobed with blue light. A pair of legs suddenly appeared in her field of vision, and she faded out, giving in to unconsciousness as the adrenaline faded.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Anakin, Obi-Wan and the clones had made visual contact with their destination as soon as they turned the corner. Even in the undercity of Coruscant, very few apartments looked like they contained a fireworks display. Anakin could feel fear and determination rippling out of the flat.

And then, when they were perhaps two hundred metres away, the blaster fire stopped. The determination was replaced with fear. He pulled up, barely missing the balcony above him, and allowed the LAAT to take point.

Then he felt the cockpit open, and the speeder lurched as Obi-Wan dropped over the side, onto the roof of the LAAT.

I thought you hated it when I do stuff like that, Master. Anakin sent over their bond.

You were usually showing off, Anakin. I'm doing this to save my Great-grand-padawan. Obi-Wan shot back. Shai would murder me if I let her get killed.

Don't do anything I wouldn't, Master. Anakin replied, just before his master dropped off the roof of the transport, and onto the balcony, flanked by a squadron of ARC Troopers. There was a short stutter of fire, and then the clones charged forwards, moving with the grace and lethality of veteran soldiers. Obi-Wan moved forwards as well, stopping inside the flat, as Anakin brought his speeder in to land on the balcony.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Ahsoka punched her console and swore when she looked at the path ahead of her. There was one continuous building, which, according to her navigation console, spanned half a kilometre in either direction, and rose five into the air. She was perhaps three hundred metres short of her destination.

Her padawan's presence remained strong through their bond, as she frustratedly landed her airspeeder in a suitable location, making sure that the Jedi insignia in the rear (shatterproof) window was on show. It wouldn't stop vandalism, but it might make a vandal think twice.

Then Abernaa's presence spiked in her mind, sending agony flashing through their bond, and she set off in a sprint, using her commlink to guide her through a web of passages. She could feel other familiar presences as well. Anakin and Obi-Wan were almost on top of her, which she took as a very good sign.

Around a corner, five goons, wearing basic armour and carrying carbines, took aim at her.

Big mistake. She thought, drawing both her lightsabers and taking a flying, force assisted leap. She landed, crouched, amongst them, and went to work, slicing through their legs without rising from her landing. Then she charged into the building, lightsabers drawn. The stairwell was half-full of armed men, many of whom made the mistake of aiming at her.

She didn't kill most of them. Her sabers flashed, taking off arms and legs, along with a couple of heads, never allowing her momentum to drop for a second. Her attacks were one, continual flowing movement, never slowing for an instant as she fought her way up the stairs. Even the slight weakness in her legs, a permanent reminder of her attempted assassination by Palpatine's agents, didn't slow her down. It took her fifteen seconds to reach the top of the stairs and step out into a corridor full of a mixture of slavers and clones, along with two Jedi. Most of the slavers had surrendered, and were being secured, while a couple were cut down when they continued to resist.

Looking around, Ahsoka's instinct sent her running to her padawan's side. The younger togruta was sprawled on the floor, a scorched hole in her leggings attesting to the cause of her injuries. The flat they were in was a fairly typical one bedroom flat, with an open-plan layout. What wasn't typical was the fact that every vertical surface was pocked-marked from blaster fire, there were no intact windows, and that there were clear barricades around the room.

When she got there, Abernaa's eyes slowly opened, and she stared up at her master, her pupils small inside forest green irises. Her breathing was rapid, with short, choppy breaths shaking her body. She just gathered up her padawan in her arms and held her close.

"Am I goin' ter die, Master?" she asked, softly.

A glance at the wound told Ahsoka everything she needed to know.

"You're not going anywhere, Abernaa." She said, as a clone medic began work. "Except hospital, of course. Master Alliee is waiting for you to arrive." She turned away and raised her voice. "Skyguy! Can you get Abernaa to the temple medcenter?"

Anakin turned around and bent over the two togruta briefly. "I'll get her there, Snips." He said, calmly.

As Abernaa was hauled to her feet by a pair of clones, Ahsoka crossed to an undamaged door, barricaded by a metal table, and covered by a loose curtain. Clearing them away, she found the rest of the occupants of the flat, a male human in his forties, a red-headed woman of a similar age, and a trio of unfamiliar children, all with red hair.

Standing solemnly in front of them were Luke and Leia, training sabers drawn, but not ignited. They lunged forwards, wrapping their arms around Ahsoka's legs and waist. She could see the tracks of tears running down their faces and realised just what sort of situation they'd just ben exposed to. They'd been meters from a firefight in which… she remembered the number of bodies outside, and winced, before scooping them up off the floor, and just holding them. Once they were in her arms, they just broke down, clinging on for dear life.

Ahsoka just carried them through, holding them against herself, before being stopped by a hand on her shoulder.

Turning around, she found herself looking into the face of a somewhat rough looking man with dark hair and a scruffy beard, but with a surprisingly green pair of eyes.

"Master Jedi…" he said, nervously. "My daughter felt everything as well." Looking around, Ahsoka saw a four-year-old in her mother's arms, sobbing inconsolably. She reached out with the Force and picked up something else: the child was clearly Force-Sensitive.

"What's her name?" Ahsoka asked.

"Mara." He replied. "Mara Jade."

Then Obi-Wan stepped through the door and took the child, reaching out gently with the Force, soothing her memories in a way that resonated with her own childhood. A moment later, she gently smoothed over her own children's memories with the Force, taking the edges off of all the sensations that they'd experienced during the fighting. They'd need support later, but it was something. With the youngling now clinging to Obi-Wan, she decided that a bit of grandstanding was acceptable. It took the form of jumping off of the balcony, using the Force to slow her descent below ankle-jarring levels.

Obi-Wan followed her, muttering about impressionable padawans picking up bad habits. It was an old joke, and made her grin as well, cutting through the grim emotions, as she carried her children back to her air car.

When they got there, Ahsoka opened the canopy. Immediately, the Nexu began bouncing, recognising what it saw as its humans. Ahsoka moved it into the rear of the passenger compartment, before securing all three younglings for the flight to the Jedi Temple. They'd sort out the paperwork later.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

When Abernaa came to, the pain had completely stopped. Instead, her thigh was itching where she'd taken a blaster bolt. She was also wearing a hospital gown, and otherwise curled up in bed. It wasn't long before her master arrived.

"You know, I thought you were more sensible than me." Ahsoka said. "We'd have found you eventually, so why'd you break out?"

"I wanted ter protect Luke an' Leia." Abernaa replied. "An' that meant gettin' them outta sumwhere they coulda bin dragged outta at any time."

"You did it." Ahsoka said. "You managed to make me look sane, at your age."

Then there were children, a small nexu, and party food, for both carnivores and omnivores.

"We also found their base." Ahsoka said, quietly, afterwards. "The clones stormed it, and rescued everyone they were holding, with Skyguy's help."

Abernaa grinned, before snuggling up in her blankets, like they were camping on Shili, and going to sleep.

Again, sorry about the rather large wait. This was yet another case of study induced writing interruption. I've taken the decision that this will currently be the last chapter of this story.