Chapter Text
Stars streaked past in a dazzling array. Blue, teal, and azul combined to make the beautiful display that Anakin had come to know as hyperspace. It was weird, Anakin mused, how much larger the bridge seemed. Logically, he knew that the bridge had stayed the same size and that it was him whose size changed, but a small part of him couldn’t help but be intimidated by the seemingly larger space. Sure, he had been on the bridge since he had been de-aged, but he had been preoccupied with panicking over the whole situation to take notice of his surroundings. His one saving grace in all of this was that he’s still taller than Obi-Wan.
It was nice how quiet the bridge was. Only the occasional clatter of the troops moving and running calculations broke up the heavy whirring that encompassed the ship whilst in hyperspace. As Anakin stood, observing the bridge, he noted the designs of orange mixed with the blue of the newly formed 713th battalion. It was fitting, he supposed, how well the golden yellow of the 212th and the deep blue of the 501st complimented each other in color, much like how the two previously separate groups complement each other in skills and tempers.
“Sir, we are exiting hyperspace now,” a trooper to his left informed him. Anakin turned and nodded to the trooper before turning his attention back out to the space in front of him The shapes shortened and soon he was met with the familiar black of space, broken up by multitudes of stars and a large dusty yellow planet ahead of them. Unfortunately, Anakin could only see bits and pieces of the planet ahead of them due to the large Separatist blockade surrounding the planet.
“Sir, Attack Group Alpha has left the fleet. Landing party one on standby.”
Anakin nodded. Surprisingly the time away from their Jedi had only made the 713th more fond of their Generals to the point where they refused to let him, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka land on an active battle zone at the same time. It was endearing but Anakin could see it quickly becoming rather frustrating. Thankfully the attack group did their job and the go-ahead was given for landing party one to leave the safety of the formation. The group that had just left was being led by Obi-Wan.
Anakin watched as attack group beta entered the fray, Ahsoka’s landing party following not long after.
“How’s it goin’?” Anakin asked Obi-Wan.
“Quite well. We’re just passing through most of the dogfighting and are nearing the upper atmosphere,” the Jedi Master responded.
“I’m-” Ahsoka started before a brief burst of pain was sent over the bond. “I’m fine, just tousled. We just entered the dog fight.”
“Anakin, shouldn’t you be on your gunship?” Obi-Wan pointedly asked.
“How-? Nevermind. I’ll see you guys on the surface.”
Taking one last look over the progress reports and finding them satisfactory, Anakin turned and left the bridge, rushing down to the hangers. Quickly spotting Rex, he slid up beside the man.
“You ready to have us back, Rex?”
“You know it, sir.”
Anakin smiled, having missed the company of his friend while at the Temple. The Two stepped into a gunship with a number of others and reached up to grab the handles. It strained Anakin a bit more than he would like to hold on, but he soon had a firm grip and the blast doors were closing as they took off.
Anakin could feel as they neared the heavy fighting, not from any noise, or status updates, but the cry of pain the force let out every time a life was unjustly silenced. Anakin closed his eyes in an effort to block out the guilt and grief that crept into his heart.
“Sir?” Rex asked, concern palpable in his body language.
“I’m fine Rex,” Anakin brushed off. Rex looked unconvinced but let the matter drop.
“We’re breaking atmo!” the pilot called back to them, and the whole cabin braced.
After some jots and rigorous jiggles, the flight evened out as they neared the surface.
“How you doin’ Skyguy,” Ahsoka questioned.
“Doin’ great Snips, how about you?”
“We’ve almost landed.”
“Cody and I are setting up camp. Don’t dally, we have lots to do.”
“Dally?”
“Who says dally anymore?”
Obi-Wan sent the equivalent of a mental eye roll.
“Old man, you gotta-” Anakin cut himself off as he felt himself get jerked violently. “ Etchuta!”
“What?”
“Anakin?”
“Anakin!”
Anakin closed himself off from the bond so he could focus on the impending crash. “Status update!” Anakin barked over the blaring alarms.
“We’ve been hit sir, trying to find a safe place to land.”
There was silence– as silent as a gunship with fifteen nervous humans and blaring alarms in a war zone could be– and then the pilot cursed in Mando’a. “Sir, I can’t find anywhere good. I’m not sure if we’re going to make it. We’re going in too hot!”
Anakin growled. “Not on my watch. Rex steady me.”
Taking his hand off of the support, Anakin crouched down, placing both hands on the metal floor. Reaching out with his force presence, Anakin got a sense of a ship and then carefully tried to slow the ship down. Nothing. Scowling, Anakin tried again. Still nothing. He could sense the plant life and small critters getting closer. Not good. The presences of his troopers trying not to panic flooded his senses. They thought they were going to die. They were preparing themselves for death because they didn't trust him to get them out of this mess; he wasn't good enough to save them. His men were going to die because he wasn't enough. Wasn't powerful enough . Just like he wasn’t powerful enough to save—
“ Anakin FOCUS!” Obi-Wan yelled down their bond, strong enough to snap Anakin out of the feedback loop .
Anakin closed his eyes and took a deep breath, ignoring the panicked shouts as the pilot read off how close they were to the ground. Inhale. Exhale. HOLD. Anakin felt as the life surrounding them slowed before he was jerked forward into Rex. A tangle of limbs formed towards the nose of the ship.
“Everyone alright?” Anakin groaned as he extracted himself from the nearby troopers.
“I think so, sir. Just scrapes and bruises.”
Anakin smiled. “Well, that’s better than dead. Let’s get out of here boys before we find ourselves some more trouble.”
The majority of troops went to open the blast doors while Anakin and another trooper helped the pilots down from their seats. After the two men had their feet underneath them, looking worse for wear but otherwise alright, a trooper called, “General, we can’t get the blast doors open, They’ve been jammed shut!”
“I got this,” Anakin confidently said, his blood still buzzing with the Force. Carefully balancing himself on the sloped floor, Anakin called the cosmic power to himself and pushed . The door flew open, landing a few feet from the ship. Anakin stood atop the gunship, looking out into the fields in front of them and the many enemy aircraft that flew about.
“Well, boys,” he said, calling back to the troopers emerging into the sunlight next to him, “It looks like we have our work cut out for us.”