The Republic gunship soared over a hellish scene.

The planet Chandrila had once been a paradise, with calm oceans, lush forests and extraordinary crystal mountains.

Now all that beauty lay in ruin. The oceans were chaotic, swarming with thousands of battle droids and aquatic assault craft. Great swaths of forest had been burned away to provide staging areas for the droid armies. The crystal mountains had been shattered by devastating orbital bombardment, meant to annihilate the defense emplacements that had been hidden there.

Anakin Skywalker held on to the gunship wall tightly, his new master doing the same.

The gunship swerved around a barrage of turbolaser fire, and Mace Windu shouted to the clone pilot, "Pilot, take us down to the forward command centre."

The clone acknowledged, and the gunship dived low. Anakin tightened his grasp on the wall, and felt a surge of adrenaline rush through him, ignoring the queasy sensation from his belly.

The ship landed hard, and Anakin leapt out of the vessel, hot on Mace's heels as the Jedi Master raced towards the command centre.

They entered the squat building and were instantly saluted by the clone commander in charge of the theater, CC-6454, or as Anakin had nicknamed him, Ponds.

Ponds tapped a holographic display, and a projection of the entire field of battle appeared.

"Generals Windu and Skywalker, we're in a real jam." He gestured at an emplacement lying well behind enemy lines. "This is an artillery and shielding command tower. The Separatists have clustered a dozen long-range turbolaser cannons here that they're using to take down any of our ships that try to land anywhere within a hundred clicks of it. There's also a planetary level shield generator that's providing protection for the entire Separatist front line."

Mace stared at the projection, his expression hard as durasteel, "Then we need to take that emplacement down. Once we have, we can get reinforcements here and finish off the droids in the northern province."

Anakin stepped forward, "I can take the emplacement, Master."

Mace turned to look at him with a soul-searching gaze, "Are you sure that you handle that Skywalker? There are thousands of droids between you and that base."

Anakin shook his head, and pointed at a large waterfall that was a kilometer behind the Republic lines. "This waterfall hides a series of underground tunnels, some scouts from the 501st discovered that it leads here." He pointed at wide, meandering river that snaked a few kilometers east of the emplacement. "I can take a few squads of commandos and sneak behind the enemy lines. Then we can blow the entire emplacement to dust."

Mace looked thoughtful, then nodded. "Very well, Skywalker. Take five squads from the 501st and go destroy that emplacement. I'll stay here with the remainder of our forces and hold off the droids until you can take the guns out and we can get reinforcements."

Anakin smiled, "I won't let you down, master."

Mace's face remained harsh and unreadable, "We will see."

Anakin groaned inwardly, he had been Mace's Padawan for nearly a month, and the Korun Master had proved to be a harsher Master than Obi-Wan had ever been. Mace had given Anakin no time alone, insisting on filling his new apprentice's day with constant drills, exercises and meditation. He could sense Mace's apprehension at letting Anakin go off on his own.

"Thank you Master, and may the Force be with you."

Mace did not return the wish and turned away from Anakin, his mistrust for his new apprentice nearly palpable.

Anakin strode out of the bunker, his right hand grasping his lightsaber, enjoying the feel of the cool metal on his bare flesh.

Captain Rex met him at the entrance, blue-white helmet glinting in the Chandrilan sunlight.

"General Windu has given us an assignment," said Anakin, "Gather all of Torrent Company; we're going behind enemy lines."

"Yes sir," said Rex, and he began barking orders into a comm, calling the 501st back from the front lines.

Obi-Wan could barely see the front lines from the command tower that stretched above the shattered landscape of Chandrila, but he could sense the carnage in the Force.

He stroked his newly shaven chin, and studied his reflection in the viewport. Soon after agreeing to join Dooku, Obi-Wan had shaved off his beard and had cut his hair. Physically, he resembled the man he'd been ten years ago, before he'd ever met Padme or Anakin.

Anakin

Obi-Wan's body shook with anger. Justifiable anger. He had given ten years of his life to Anakin; he'd done his best to fulfill his Master's last request and for what? The boy he'd trained had turned out to be a mass murderer, no better than the Sith Obi-Wan had killed on Naboo.

He took a deep breath, willed his anger away, letting it flow into the Force. Despite Dooku's teachings, Obi-Wan still couldn't find it in him to use the Force in anger. He'd seen what rage had turned Anakin into, and he refused to give into his anger.

Anakin's loss of control wasn't entirely his fault. Padme had corrupted his apprentice with her honeyed words and her deceptive beauty. His hands began to shake again.

Padme was the real villain, the Sith Lord who would wipe out the Republic and make Anakin a Sith. But Anakin could still be saved; he would come back to the light, once Padme Amidala was dead.

That was Dooku's secret plan, to kill Darth Sidious before she could fully execute her dark designs. Once she was dead, Dooku would be able to broker a peace between the Republic and Confederacy. While the Sith Master lived, war would continue, despite Dooku's best attempts to quell the violence. Both the heads of the megacorporation's and the Senate answered to Darth Sidious, and she would perpetuate the war as long as she was alive.

A month had passed since Obi-Wan had agreed to join Dooku, and since then he had been working tirelessly on executing the Count's plan.

"My Lord," a voice spoke in a mechanical undertone.

Obi-Wan turned to the large computer consoles behind him, where a boxy tactical droid monitored the data from the dozens of probe droids that has been released near the battlefield.

"What is it, TX-21?" asked Obi-Wan impatiently, "Have you found the Jedi?"

The droid beeped in affirmation, "Yes sir, the probes have located the Jedi General in charge of the assault."

"Who is it?" he asked hopefully.

"Mace Windu."

A look of triumph came to Obi-Wan's features, "Just as Count Dooku predicted."

He spoke into the comlink on his wrist, "IG-109, ready your troops for combat, I'll be joining you shortly."

He turned back to the droid, "Give me his exact location."

TX-21's eyes flashed and it tapped on its console, "My Lord, the Jedi is ensconced in a command base here." A long mechanical finger indicated a small bunker located just a few kilometers from the advancing droid army. It tapped a few keys, and a full-color hologram of the bunker materialized.

It resembled a squat rectangular box, with powerful communication dishes resting on its surface, and dozens of clone soldiers surrounding it.

Fury reared its head in Obi-Wan's soul at the sight of the soulless beings. Ever since he'd learned of the clone army's true origins and the secret order buried deep within their minds, he'd lost all respect for the soldiers. They were Sith abominations, blindly obedient pawns, bred for one purpose, to wipe out the Jedi. Once again, he let his anger flow away, and focused on the mission at hand.

We must convince as many Jedi as possible of the truth.

Dooku's words rang clearly in his mind, filling him with his purpose.

Obi-Wan tapped his comlink again, "General Durd, I am going behind enemy lines."

"Acknowledged," came the deep-voiced reply.

"Focus on your mission until I return," Obi-Wan continued, "And remember General, the clones can be killed, but you are to take all Jedi alive."

"Understood, my lord."

Obi-Wan cut the call and left the command centre, heading for the launch bays. He had a mission to accomplish.

The Separatist command centre stood out amongst the verdant jungle like a Wookiee at a Jawa swap meet. Turbolasers studded the corners of the steel-grey cube, while droids patrolled the outer walkways. A full battalion was clustered in front of the only entrance, hundreds of B-1 and B-2 battle droids along with a dozen AAT's.

Anakin studied the structure from his vantage point in the thick jungle, his gaze drawn to swiveling turrets.

"That's some serious firepower, General," Rex commented.

Anakin turned to his captain, all but invisible in his dark green armor, hastily repainted for this mission.

"Then I guess it's a good thing we're not going through the front door, isn't it."

A faint shadow of doubt flickered in Rex, but he gave it no voice.

"Waiting for orders, sir."

Anakin just grinned.

Obi-Wan grimaced as the Sheathipede-class shuttle banked over the battle, its Vulture droid escorts clustering around it in a box formation.

Through a viewport he could see the senseless carnage raging below, with battle droids and assault tanks blasting away at clones and automated walkers with abandon.

The Republic forces were giving as good as they got, and the vast plain was littered with dead clones, broken droids and the shattered remains of dozens of war machines.

Obi-Wan felt a wave of disgust at the pointless struggle.

So uncivilized.

The shuttle rocked violently as a SPHA-T blast struck dangerously close, vaporizing a trio of droid escorts.

Not for the first time, Obi-Wan cursed the sluggish shuttle and the Neimoidians who had designed it. The ship was slow, weakly shielded and lacked maneuverability, much like the greedy merchants they were designed to carry.

The vessel rocked again, and Obi-Wan was almost jolted from his seat.

He let out an exasperated sigh, what he wouldn't give for a LAAT/i gunship. His sole experience with the gunships had been brief, but he had been impressed with their speed and firepower.

As another droid starfighter exploded, Obi-Wan began to question whether he would be better off taking one of the STAP's in the rear of the shuttle and trying to make it past the Republic lines alone.

He considered the thought for a few moments, and then glanced around at the six IG-100 Magnaguards that were standing straight, their feet magnet-locked to the deck. He would need their assistance to subdue Mace and bring him to Dooku. Obi-Wan knew he couldn't defeat the venerable Jedi Master on his own, not even with the additional training that Dooku had imparted to him.

He took a deep breath and called on the Force, drawing on the energy to wash away his doubt and fill him with the strength to do what was necessary. But even with the Force filling him with strength, Obi-Wan remained wary of fighting a Jedi whose strength was said to rival Master Yoda himself.

Mace wished Yoda was here.

A pair of spindly battle droids advanced on him, their blasters spewing galvenized beams of crimson energy.

Mace was already deep in the Force's warm embrace, and his violet blade flashed twice, batting the bolts back into the droids, dropping them to the charred surface of the battlefield.

Chaos surrounded Mace, with clones blasting droids to pieces, the experienced members of Lightning Squadron decimating the Separatist ranks.

But even as the clones blasted the last of the B-1's to scrap, a trio of MTT's came lumbering over the horizon, their front-mounted blaster cannons unleashing crimson death on Mace's troops.

"Scatter!" commanded the Jedi Master, and the clones obeyed, throwing themselves out of the line of fire. Not all were successful though, and Mace felt the Force vibrate in anguish as over a dozen clones perished.

Mace gritted his teeth, and sprang aside as a pair of thick blaster bolts pulverized the spot where he'd been standing.

His blood began to boil with a hot fury, and he embraced the fury, taking his anger and using to summon the Force.

The great energy responded, filling Mace with great strength and he charged.

Moving faster than the human eye could follow; Mace dodged the MTT's fire and leapt onto the lead transport's front hatch. Mace had studied the design of the Trade Federation's war machines after Naboo, and he plunged his lightsaber into the transport's egress mechanism. Shoving the blade up to the hilt, he dragged it around in a circle, disabling the MTT's ability to disgorge its troops.

But even as Mace crippled the war machine, the two other transports unleashed their droids in short order. Dozens of super battle droids landed on the scorched earth and began blasting away at the remains of Lightning Squadron with their built-in cannons.

Mace sprang from the MTT and landed gracefully in front of a trio of SBD's, the violet lightsaber moving so fast that two of the machines didn't even get off a single shot.

Even as its comrades were falling to the ground, the last droid rounded on Mace, its cannons blasting away at the Jedi Master.

Mace leapt aside with unnatural speed, and before the droid could turn to follow him, he swept his blade forward, bisecting the machine. As the super battle droid collapsed, Mace spun on his heel and threw his free hand out and Force-shoved a pair of droids that had been trying to draw a bead on him.

As Mace focused on a new set of opponents, he felt a faint reverberation in the Force, and turned to face the horizon, where a battered and smoking Separatist shuttle was quickly approaching his position.

The Force shouted a warning, and Mace shoved his blade behind his back, deflecting a blaster shot back into the droid that had fired it without taking his gaze off the shuttle. He narrowed his Force sense on the ship, and his eyes widened ever so slightly as he recognized a strong Force presence aboard the enemy craft.

The shuttle was shaking constantly now, and an acrid stench had filled the cockpit, forcing Obi-Wan to draw on the Force to flush the smoke from his lungs. The Magnaguards stood motionless, their electrostaffs gripped in duralloy hands.

The deck shook violently and then went still, causing Obi-Wan to realize that they had, in fact, crashed. Scrambling for his crash webbing, Obi-Wan undid the restraints and leapt to his feet, his hand closing on the cold steel hilt on his lightsaber.

He glanced at one of the Magnaguards; a bone-white cape was draped over the machine, distinguishing it from its unclothed brethren.

"IG-109, prepare your men,"

"Yes, my lord," the droid intoned in its deep, metallic voice.

It felt wrong, calling the lifeless droids 'men', but it gave him a sense of comfort. Comfort that he wasn't really commanding soulless machines whose only purpose was to kill.

The Magnaguards snapped to attention as one, their staffs crackling to life. The rear hatch slid open and a fresh cloud of smoke blew into the cabin.

Raising his sleeve against the acrid air, Obi-Wan followed the killer droids out of the ship and into the battle.

Mace flicked his blade twice, batting a droid's shots back into its alloy body, all the while moving swiftly towards the downed shuttle. He sensed a single powerful Force presence and the ghostly echoes of battle droids.

A sextet of skeletal ivory droids emerged from the smoke cloud, double-ended staffs gripped in their alloy hands, electricity crackling from their tips.

Mace raised the violet sword and charged.

The skeleton droids met his charge with startling speed, their staffs sparking with deadly energy.

The droids entered striking distance and swung their weapons at Mace, but the Jedi Master had dropped to one knee and scythed his leg through that of a killer droid, dropping the machine to the ground.

The other droids shoved their weapons toward the fallen Jedi, but Mace called on the Force and leapt away, landing five meters away from the gangly killers.

Moving with mechanical speed, the remaining five droids lunged at the Jedi, but only three made it, as Mace seized the body of their fallen comrade in a telekinetic grip and smashed into the group, knocking two more to the burned ground.

Then the droids were on him, staffs sparking and thrusting, forming a cage of electricity around the Korun Master.

But Mace Windu's bladework was second only to Yoda, , and the violet lightsaber spun and flashed, deflecting blows and knocking aside staffs with such speed that an observer would have thought there were twelve blades instead of one.

The droids forms were some of the most advanced Mace had seen, and he recognized Dooku's hand in their programming. But as skilled as they were, they were still droids, and all droids could be predicted.

Sinking deep into the Force, Mace let it guide his blade and show him the future.

He parried a high thrust to the head from the first droid, leapt over a sweeping blow to the legs from the second, sidestepped a chest lunge from the third and drove his amethyst blade directly into the machine's chest.

The droid's crimson photoreceptors lost their glow and it toppled like a tree.

Mace back flipped away from the two remaining droids, and landed five meters away, his blade held up in a high guard.

The droid's reaction time was instantaneous and they charged for their foe with the single-mindedness of machines.

Mace summoned the Force, drawing the great energy to him, and when the droids were a meter away, he unleashed the strongest Force wave he could muster.

The droids went blown away like leaves in a gale and then Mace was standing alone, in the middle of the battlefield, all of his enemies vanquished.

Save one.

"Come out!" Mace shouted, not bothering to conceal his anger, "I can sense you, Obi-Wan."

His dark eyes narrowed on the cloud of smoke surrounding the broken shuttle, "Show yourself, you coward!"

A familiar figure emerged from the smoke.

Mace hadn't seen the Jedi Knight in months, and he was startled by the physical changes that the Jedi Knight had undergone.

Obi-Wan's beard was gone, and his hair had been trimmed. His outfit was black Chandrilan nanosilk, and for a moment Mace thought he was looking at younger version of Dooku.

A silver lightsaber hung from Obi-Wan's belt, and his blue eyes had an cold hardness to them.

"Master Windu," the Jedi Knight said pleasantly, "I must ask you to surrender."

Mace's eyes narrowed and he raised his humming blade, "Not in this lifetime."

Obi-Wan gave soft sigh and ignited his own azure lightsaber with a snap-hiss.

"Then I suppose we'll have to do this the hard way."

The rogue Knight raised his blade and charged.