Summary for part 2

Times are dire: Ahsoka has been framed for the Temple bombing and the Council will not let Obi-Wan participate in the deliberation regarding Ahsoka's fate because he is too involved. But what is he to do when he realizes his Padawan is going to be cast out of the Order and given to Tarkin for a military trial in order to appease the Senate? Not sitting down and letting things happen, that's what.

Notes

Disclaimer: the typos and various mistakes are all mine.

Thanks Fey, you were, as always, invaluable.

Initially, there were supposed to be two other parts before this but I doubt I will ever get around to writing them. So we skip straight to the end!

A small warning beforehand so as not to cause any amount of frustration: I have chosen to take some liberties with the timeline, so The Lawless has yet to happen, just saying ;)

Deep in trance in a secluded area of the Room of a Thousand Fountains reserved to the Councilors, Obi-Wan was attempting to reassure his Padawan.

The Council would not allow her to remain locked in prison for much longer, he was certain of it. He had been forbidden from attending the meeting, due to an obvious conflict of interests on his part, but the deliberations would start soon and should not last too long. In the meantime, he could only do his best to send Ahsoka warm feelings of faith, reassurance, and affection through their bond, smothered as it was by the Force-suppressing collar he knew she had been forced to wear since her arrest.

His intense concentration was broken by a clawed hand landing on his shoulder and another wrapping around his mouth. A familiar flash in the Force made him abort his movement to throw off his assailant. Plo was crouched down behind him, his Force presence back to being so concealed Obi-Wan was unable to sense him. Dread filled Obi-Wan as he gently removed the hand from his mouth and turned, signalling he understood the need for discretion. If Plo took so many precautions, then he could not be the bearer of good news.

Obi-Wan cloaked his own Force presence with a layer of calm to hide his growing apprehension and simulate a light meditation, and hoped no one had felt his earlier surprise.

"The meeting has yet to start but I have asked around : all but Shaak and I are set on casting her out of the Order and unlikely to change their minds," Plo whispered and for a moment, Obi-Wan forgot how to breathe.

It couldn't be. Everyone knew she was innocent.

"Can you buy us time? Insist the vote has to be taken unanimously and not through majority even though we both know you will not win this argument? Anakin is looking into a way to clear her."

He had been frantic about finding a way, any way, to free his 'little sister' from this trap. The two had always gotten along, and their bond had only grown during the time Anakin had taken over as her Master while Obi-Wan was posing as Rako Hardeen. In many ways, he was as much her Master as Obi-Wan was. Obi-Wan had been careful not to do anything that could impact her since her arrest, so it had felt natural when Anakin had thrown all his strength into investigating this unprecedented attack on the Temple.

"I will stall them as much as I can, but unless your former Apprentice is on his way back with the true culprit, he will be too late."

Obi-Wan grimaced and finally asked the question that had been burning his lips for what seemed like an eternity: "Is it because of me?"

Was it because he had betrayed the people's trust by pretending to be dead that everyone was willing to use Ahsoka as a scapegoat? That they believed she could want to destroy her home? Because he had tainted her by association? Was this mission also the reason why the Council was willing to sacrifice her? Because while he had agreed to deceive the world at large, he had not followed the orders to keep the most important people in his life in the dark?

Plo stilled, "it is not your fault Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan's hands went to his mouth. So it was because of him. Whether this was Mace and Yoda's way of ensuring that the next time, he wouldn't risk jeopardizing a mission due to his inability to rise above his attachment issues, or because people assumed Ahsoka was capable of the worst because of her Master's actions, or even a combination of both, it was too late to prevent this sort of damage. Even coming forward and claiming responsibility wouldn't spare her.

Plo squeezed his shoulder gently and slipped him two painfully familiar cylindrical objects.

"I need to go back. Know that whatever you do, I will support you to the best of my abilities."

With a whisper of cloak kissing the grass, he was gone, as though he had never been there in the first place.

Time suspended itself for Obi-Wan as he stayed motionless on his knees, stuck in the position he had been left in.

This couldn't be happening. He couldn't lose her. She was his Padawan. He had to protect her. Even more important: she was innocent and everyone, at least in the Temple, knew it. Why someone was trying to frame her, he didn't know, but he would not let the Council fail her. Enough was enough. He could stomach many things for the sake of the War and the Republic, but he would not hand her over to that sadist Tarkin and let a sham military trial end the precious life of his young Apprentice.

The Order had already failed Anakin. Several times.

Though he liked to deny it, he knew it had also failed him. Several times.

He would not let it fail Ahsoka too.

.

He looked down at his shaking hand and saw it rest on the door of his quarters. He hadn't even realized he had left the Room of a Thousand Fountains.

Palming it open, he stood in the frame listlessly, taking it all in. It used to be his and Qui-Gon's. Then it had been him and Anakin living here. After he had been Knighted, Anakin had never truly moved out and into the quarters he had been assigned, even after Ahsoka had agreed to become Obi-Wan's Padawan. It showed in the way both of their belongings could be found mixed together all throughout their shared flat. Obi-Wan forced a painful swallow down his constricted throat. He needed to warn Anakin. Had his investigations been successful yet?

But no, one look at his comm showed him no new message was waiting for him. Not from Anakin. But not from the Council either.

Yet.

Newfound energy filled him. Without giving himself time to hesitate, he rushed through the quarters, picking a slim, easily concealable travel bag, and filled it with the necessities, trying not to forget anything. Spare credits he and Quinlan had accumulated during some missions and had conveniently forgotten to give back just in case. Some make-up they had already used during a mission to alter Ahsoka's tell tale white diamond shaped markings. Ration bars in case they couldn't leave the planet and had to hide in the lower levels.

He was nearly out the door when he remembered. He dropped his Jedi Order issued commlink on a shelf and went to that small nook hidden behind the kitchen counter to retrieve the one Anakin had spent months tinkering with to make it completely safe and untraceable.

He would need it.

Activating it for the first time since that fateful mission when he had felt baked into a corner by his fellow Councilors and had had to somehow keep in touch with Ani and 'Soka, he typed two letters Anakin would recognize as the last time Obi-Wan had deliberately gone against a Council decision: "RH." He flagged it as an emergency and hit 'send'.

Obi-Wan took one last look around him, adjusted the strap of the bag to make sure it was secure and concealed beneath his cloak, and exited his quarters.

He navigated his way through the maze that was the Temple, breathing slow and controlled, his pace an unhurried stroll. His steps led him to the Temple's hangar. He secured himself a planetary transport exited the Temple.

Once he was deep inside Coruscant's ever busy roads, a safe distance away from the Temple, he took out his comm again.

"Dex, I need a favour."

.

Obi-Wan stopped the Temple issued speeder at the steps of Coruscant's high security prison. Stealth was of no use to him here, but speed was. His presence would be known soon enough though no one was actively looking for him yet.

He looked at the building apprehensively. He had never thought he would take part in a second break out from it. He could still call this hare brained, sorry excuse of a plan off. He could go back to the Temple and trust the Council to take the right decision.

Except Plo would not have gone behind their fellow Councilors' backs had he not believed the situation was dire. And though he was not a Senior member, Obi-Wan had sat on the High Council for long enough to realize the war was slowly eating the Order's autonomy away. If the Republic wanted Ahsoka's head, they would have to bow to its wishes.

'We come to serve.' The customary Jedi greeting had never felt more tragic to him.

Obi-Wan cleared the first six layers of security swiftly and easily. He was a high ranked, well known, and widely respected Jedi General, a permanent member of the High Council, one half of The Team. Anakin and Ahsoka's unwavering support had prevented the public from fully turning against him when he had come back after faking his death to infiltrate Moralo Eval's team as Rako Hardeen and Ahsoka's arrest hadn't begun tarnishing what was left of his reputation yet.

The seventh and final security check was another story and Obi-Wan's inner clock told him his window of opportunity to reach his Apprentice and hightail out of here was becoming dangerously small.

"I cannot let you in. The prisoner is in confinement. No one can see her."

"As per the bill 5246-45GF, High Generals who are affiliated with the Jedi Order are allowed to interrogate inmates, no matter which security clearance is required. Surely you know this?" Obi-Wan said with affected patience if condescendingly, drumming his his fingers on the counter.

Confidence was the key. Confidence was always the key. Even when lying to the face of people who could easily call off his bluff. Especially when they could call off his bluff. Show no weakness and pretend everything is alright and you will be able to talk your way out of nearly everything. It was one the first pieces of advice Qui-Gon had given him regarding how to get out of trouble and it had rarely failed him ever since.

"The bill 52…" the clone trailed off, blinking owlishly. "I need an authorization from a Jedi High General," the guard eventually answered.

Obi-Wan raised a mocking eyebrow and made a show of pointing to himself. The clone grimaced.

"Another High General. You cannot authorize yourself, you are too close to the girl. I'm sure it's not legal."

On another day, he would have appreciated the clone's dedication to doing what was right. But not today. Today he would have preferred if the clone could have been susceptible to bribery.

"I don't need another's authorization. I am here to interrogate the Padawan so the Council can reach a decision regarding her."

"Come back another day. You can ask the girl why she tried to blow you up later. Or better yet, wait for her trial like everyone else and–"

Obi-Wan tuned the guard out and cast a discreet glance around himself. They were alone and the ill placed security cameras would only get his back. Plus, he knew for a fact they could only register images and not sounds. Things should not appear too abnormal should people be monitoring the room.

"You will let me through."

Lesson from Qui-Gon Jinn number two, if affected confidence didn't work and the need was pressing, proving yourself mentally stronger than the person in front of you could save you a lot of time.

"I will let you through. Sign here."

Obi-Wan took the holopad the clone clumsily pushed towards him on the counter and signed his name with a flourish. He sighed. This was his last official document as a Jedi and he had to coerce someone into accepting it.

He had a bad feeling about this.

The clone took the pad back and fumbled with a drawer. He pulled out a small case with unsteady hands. Obi-Wan inwardly winced, he might have put more force into the compulsion than necessary.

"No weapons authorized past this point. Not even for a Jedi."

"No need, I have already left my lightsaber at the first security check."

"No need, no weapon." This time, the clone's words were slurred, almost unrecognisable.

"Open the door, now," Obi-Wan ordered. As much as it pained him to weight down on another's mind so much, he could not afford to lose more time.

The guard opened the door and let Obi-Wan through. Over the noise of the door closing behind him, Obi-Wan heard the dull thud of a head hitting a desk and held back a wince. This definitely was not his best job to date, and it had just cost him most time for the escape.

He let his eyes roam around the control room. Four guards, all of them clones. One was coming up to him while the other three were still focused on their monitors. None of them had their helmets on.

Easy.

The moment the first clone reached him, Obi-Wan sprung into action. He grabbed the clone by the throat, placed his index and forefinger near the back of his neck and pressed on the pressure point. In less than three seconds, the clone's eyes rolled to the back of his head and he slumped into Obi-Wan's arms who sidestepped him, letting him drop unceremoniously on the ground. He aimed a wide Force push at the other three, making them hit the wall and knocking them unconscious before they had time to draw their weapons or call for reinforcements.

Without giving himself time to regret the harm he was inflicting on them – they were innocent and doing their jobs, they didn't deserve this – he kneeled next to the clone at his feet and took his cell and door keycards before hurrying to the monitors. In no time, he had located the path to Ahsoka's cell and he was running towards it. Alarm could be given any moment now.

While he was opening the last security door before the cells with his nicked pass, he sent a questioning pulse down the nearly faded link he had with his former Padawan. Neither of them had ever had the heart to fully severe it, even though it was part of the Knighting ceremony. At the time, he had told himself it was because it helped them coordinate their actions better on the battlefield. Now, he spared a thought to wonder if it simply hadn't been because he was refusing to let him go the way a true Jedi would have been able to. Though it did not matter anymore, did it? Neither he nor his current Padawan would be considered members of the Order for much longer.

A hurried and chaotic but positive pulse came back to him when he skid to a stop near a nondescript celldoor.

He swiped the key in front of the lockpad and the door opened with a hiss.

"Master Obi-Wan?" Ahsoka stammered, trying to get up, but her restraints stopped her short, halfway between a seated and an upright position. Her relieved smile didn't last long when she took notice of his slightly winded breath and lack of escort.

Though he wished he had the time to do more, Obi-Wan only gave her a cursory once over, thumb carefully brushing over a bruise on her right cheekbone, before igniting his lightsaber and motioning for her to hold her wrists in front of her. Security had been heightened since his break out with Moralo Eval and Cad Bane. Or perhaps it was the novelty of having a Jedi prisoner that had made the staff unwilling to take any chance. As it was, in addition to the Force-suppressing collar she was wearing, Ahsoka's wrists and ankles had been bound which only left her with a small margin of movements.

"'Soka. We're getting out."

He ran his hands over the collar, finding no easy weakness in it. Unwilling to bring his lightsaber anywhere near her throat, he decided to spare a few precious seconds to unlock it. At the beginning of his first term as a Councilor, he had had the opportunity to examine several of those collars and had thought knowing how to force them open without a key could be a useful skill to have. This forethought was likely to be their saving grace today.

Giving her little time to stretch her sore muscles, he reached to his belt and gave her back her lightsabers.

"Minimal power," he said, adjusting the settings of his own lightsaber. He nodded grimly when her mouth opened in horror as the truth of the situation began downing on her. "I don't want us to kill anyone by accident."

"The Council thinks I'm guilty?" she asked in a faint voice, fumbling with the power settings of her weapons.

"Not all of them and perhaps none. They could be bowing to the pressure the Senate has been putting on them. It wouldn't be the first time we sacrificed good Jedi for the sake of the Republic."

He tugged on her arm to make her move. He saw her discreetly wipe a tear from her cheek before her eyes hardened and she grasped her lightsabers more firmly.

His brave Padawan.

They hurried back the way he came as stealthily as they could, before going down a route familiar to Obi-Wan. Who knew escaping from that prison once could have been useful. Those places had more ways out than one would guess at first glance.

.

They were only one level under the exit Obi-Wan planned to use when they ran into a clone. Obi-Wan launched himself at him and threw him on the ground, wrestling his blaster out of his hands and placing a foot on his chest to keep him down. He checked the weapon was set to stun before firing at the other man before he could get his bearings back.

One corridor and two corners later, they were spotted by a group of five clones. A shared glance had them were retracing their steps back, unwilling to engage in a confrontation if they could avoid it.

Alarms started blazing and the retractable safety doors in the corridor they were in started closing. Both of them broke into a Force enhanced run, jumping through the series of increasingly smaller openings by the skin of their teeth until they had cleared them all and had reached another section of the prison.

Unfortunately, they did not get long to catch their breath. Three clones were approaching. The Jedi ignited their lightsabers and deflected the incoming stunning bolts back to their owners. They made to go to the right when they heard the sound of pounding footsteps coming in their direction. Turning the other way, they retreated around a corner to the left, intent on letting the clone pass them by, when they heard him activate his comm.

"Suspects have shot three clones. Code red. If you see the targets, shoot to kill."

Ahsoka's eyes widened and she tugged onto Obi-Wan to increase their pace when a familiar and very welcome voice came, accompanied by new footsteps.

"Belay that order Commander Fox."

"They've attacked troopers!"

"They?"

Blessed be Anakin's unparalleled ability to convincingly feign confusion and ignorance. With a nod in Ahsoka's direction, they retreated until they stood under an air conduct. Ahsoka kept watch while Obi-Wan set on dismantling the grid.

"A Jedi came to break her out. He usurped your order of mission from High General Koon and pretended he was here to interrogate the prisoner."

"That's impossible!" came Anakin's shocked answer.

With a loud noise that made both Ahsoka and Obi-Wan wince, the durasteel gate finally gave way.

Ahsoka jumped into the opening first, quickly followed by Obi-Wan.

"Ahsoka!" Anakin called out, his voice indicating he had not moved from his spot. "It's me, Anakin. Stop running little sister."

"You can't help me Anakin," Ahsoka shouted back to hide the grating noise of Obi-Wan placing the grid back in place. "Someone is setting me up."

"I believe you Ahsoka. Come back, the investigation will prove your innocence. You know the GAR is conscientious when it comes to their trials."

Obi-Wan released a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding and pulled Ahsoka closer to him. This was at the same time good and bad news. Good because it was the sort of veiled message he had hoped Anakin would give him. Bad because it also told them the Order had settled on offering his Padawan to Tarkin to appease the Senate.

They started crawling away from him and heard his ever fainter voice give out orders.

"Keep searching until we find them. Rex, call security, we need to search the entire base until they are both safely under lock. Now!"

.

After far more detours and skirmishes than both Obi-Wan and Ahsoka would have liked, they reached the hall leading to the prison's docking bay.

They were advancing carefully, keeping to the walls, before they climbed on one of the statues that framed the gigantic double doors that led to the small open air hangar reserved to the military. It was the best they had come up with to avoid being spotted or scented by those awful beasts that had been let out to track down Ahsoka's scent.

"How are we going to get out?" Ahsoka whispered.

"Anakin should have let the ignition chip in his speeder for us."

"So the next time the doors open, we make a run for it?"

"You have a better plan, my young Apprentice?"

Ahsoka groaned and went back to looking down at the door from her vantage point, higher up than Obi-Wan on the head of one of the statues that towered over the door to their freedom.

They didn't have to wait long. With a loud groan, the doors opened to let through two dozens of clones. Plastering themselves to the wall the statue was resting against to keep to the shadows, they waited for the doors to start closing again before they jumped through the opening, using the Force to cushion their collision to the ground. They rolled out of the way of the doors and used the momentum to run as fast as they could towards the speeder conveniently placed only a hundreds meters away from them.

Unfortunately, they were spotted and had to resort to evasive moves to avoid being blasted out of existence by the prison's defensive canons. The clones manoeuvering them successfully guessed their destination and blasted Anakin's speeder to pieces, prompting a despairing moan from Ahsoka that Obi-Wan was tempted to emulate.

Their exit route having disappeared, they veered towards a more secluded area of the base and to their relief, the canons stopped firing at them. Anakin's work, no doubt. The respite allowed them to reach the prison's sewer and they climbed on the pipes' walkways.

Their respite was short lived. Low altitude assault transports coupled with the clones' efficiency proved too much for them and they found themselves boxed in.

Losing no time, Ahsoka jumped over the railing and swung herself under the walkway. She stabilized herself on the curved surface of the pipe she had landed on and created an opening inside it. Obi-Wan shielded her from the incoming bolts from their pursuers while she let herself fall into the newly made hole.

Anakin's transport reached the other ones already positioned around them and Obi-Wan caught his barely there tilt of the head to the right before he followed his Padawan in the drains.

They ran in the direction Anakin had given them, drawing on their energy reserves and using the Force to soothe their burning muscles. They didn't dare diverting from it, choosing instead to trust Anakin would be able to misdirect the clones long enough for them to reach whatever he had arranged for them to make their escape.

They stopped short when the pipes abruptly gave way to a pit leading to the lower levels of Coruscant and shared an apprehensive glance. Of course Anakin would have thought this was a viable escape route. He loved this sort of acrobatics.

If they timed it well, they should be able to jump on the roof of one of the transporters they could see moving several hundred of meters below them though the landing was bound to be painful.

Their train of thoughts was cut short by a silvery flash. A sleek convertible speeder came to a stop at the mouth of the pipe, hood retracted.

"Quinlan!" Ahsoka exclaimed joyfully as she jumped into the seat at the back while Obi-Wan climbed in the front passenger's seat.

Quinlan drew the roof of the speeder Obi-Wan heavily suspected had been borrowed from a certain Senator over their heads before taking a nosedive towards the lower levels.

How Obi-Wan had managed to surround himself with people who lost all sense of self preservation when it came to piloting was beyond him. He couldn't decide if he wouldn't have preferred his first interpretation of Anakin's escape plan, though it would have been slower.

Swallowing against the bile rising in his throat from the reckless manoeuvers his friend kept pulling to avoid hitting a vehicle or a building, cutting through all the airlines they crossed, Obi-Wan managed to orient him towards their destination.

.

Quinlan left them with an ignition chip in front of a hangar in one of Coruscant's poorest docking bays, but not before promising that he and Anakin would not rest until Ahsoka's name had been cleared and that they would make sure the 212th would be well cared for.

Thanks to an entrance code provided by Dex, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka made their way through the hangar until they reached the small nondescript spaceship that was waiting for them.

The pair wasted no time in changing into the clothes Obi-Wan had asked Dex to procure for them along with the ship. While Ahsoka was applying the make-up to change the patterns of her white markings, Obi-Wan shaved his beard. He hadn't been seen without it for so long it should be enough to pass a cursory face check.

Both of them ready, they settled into the piloting seats and were granted the clearance to leave the docking bay.

They reached the outer edge of Coruscant's atmosphere with little trouble but encountered a holdup in their instructions to reach their hyperlane.

Roadblocks were starting to be set in place.

"There!" Ahsoka exclaimed.

Pulling an Anakin, Obi-Wan pulled out of the waiting line that was steadily growing longer behind them and followed Ahsoka's direction to the gate on the edge of the platform that was being opened. Obi-Wan pulled the small freighter to a halt in the waiting spot, cutting the trajectory of several ships on the way.

"Ship identification and itinerary," came the automated voice.

Obi-Wan swiftly forwarded the documents Dex had gotten them, and Ben and Ashla Tanobi got directed to hyperlane number 4, set to make the jump to hyperspeed down the Daragon Trail in ten minutes.

Said minutes dragged on in an excruciating silence, during which Obi-Wan tinkered with the ship's astronavigator to change the coordinates he had shown the sky controllers under Ahsoka's watchful eyes. It wasn't much, just a few parsecs less than where they had been cleared to go, though those parsecs would make all the difference.

A ship before them made the jump and Obi-Wan advanced by one spot, waiting for the red light of the gate to turn into green. One more ship to go and they would be able to leave.

A small security ship went level to the one before them and clones boarded it for an additional check up.

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka shared a grimace. Obi-Wan's hands closed around the ship's controls while Ahsoka bent down to reach the hyperspace lever.

The clones got off the freighter before them and the ship's terminal beeped, signaling an incoming communication.

At about the same time, green light flooded the gate. The freighter began going through it but its inertia made it slower than the small ship Dex had gotten Obi-Wan.

They dove under the freighter and pulled up right before its nose, the nose of their ship entering the gate before the freighter could and locking it out as the gate flickered back to red.

Alarms flared all around them as Obi-Wan put the ship in position on the hyperlane tracks and Ahsoka pushed the lever upwards.

As the stars around them turned into white and blue streaks flashing on the ship's windshield, Obi-Wan engaged the ship's autopilot and sagged in his seat to wipe sweat off his brow.

"Prison break number two was successful. Let us hope there will be no need for a third one, I am starting to run out of ideas to get out of there."

He turned to face Ahsoka whose hand was still clenched on the lever and he gently unwrapped her fingers from it.

She turned to him, her eyes full of uncertainty.

"I take it we're not going to Phindar anymore?"

Obi-Wan allowed himself a faint smile.

"Though I do have some contacts there, we were never going to go to Phindar. We are going to seek asylum on Mandalore."

End notes

Thank you for reading. If you have the time, I would love to know what you thought of this.