A/N: All of you might notice that I changed Master Kayla Amber's name (she's a yellow Twi' Lek Master with Dan Yates as her Padawan) to Lyn Tarkona. I did some research and realized that her previous name was not a traditional Twi' Lek name, so I changed it to keep true to the culture of the Twi' Lek people. If there are any disagreement regarding this change, please write it in the reviews. Thank you.

THIRD PERSON P.O.V.

The ship entered an inevitable spin towards the ground from above the skies of Felucia. With one of its two engines burning, the ship was losing altitude rapidly. As if there weren't enough problems, the enemy ship that fired the crippling shot was still in close pursuit, eager to finish off its prey. The pilots of the damaged ship, Jedi Padawans Ahsoka Tano and Dan Yates tried their best to control the ship. Ahsoka panicked. Whatever she did, it didn't seem to change the out-of-control spin. Her companion, fellow Padawan Dan Yates, shouted at her, "I thought you said you were a great pilot!"

Ahsoka didn't like that tone of voice. Besides, Dan is significantly younger than she is. Shouldn't he respect her? "I didn't say that explicitly, Yates!" She screamed her words so they could be heard amidst the roar of the engines. "Now focus on NOT getting us killed!"

Dan didn't reply. If he did, it would be too discreet for Ahsoka to hear. The human bit his lips, as if he was thinking very hard. The ship continued descending towards the ground at a dangerous angle. Dan pulled the control stick backwards as hard as he can. There was no response. Dan turned to Ahsoka, "It's no use! The ship is too damaged for any kriffing control system to work!"

Ahsoka glared at him, "Dan! Don't use that kind of language! If your master is here to hear what you just said-"

"She would've ignored it and focused on getting us to safety," he interrupted. Dan paid attention to the continuingly dropping altitude. It wouldn't be long until they crash. This is the one thing he hated; being stuck in a very bad situation with someone he didn't know about. There were more things likely to get wrong, since there was little understanding between them. Dan knew that the only way out is to abandon the ship. It was the easy part. The hard part is to make sure that the disintegrating ship wouldn't crash on top of them. The only way is tough, but he's the man for the job, not Ahsoka.

Dan grabbed the parachute and brought it, dragging Ahsoka along behind him. "Hey!" The Togruta screamed. She obviously didn't like being dragged along as if she was a little girl. Dan didn't let her go until they got to the escape hatch. He handed the parachute over to Ahsoka and shouted, "Go ahead, jump down!" He opened the hatch and revealed a huge, sickening space between the ship and the ground. Once Ahsoka had put on the chute, Dan went behind her and pushed her out of the hatch, dropping through the sky below. The Togruta screamed in shock. Her ear-piercing shriek made Dan flinch.

The recently-promoted Jedi returned to the ship's pilot seat. He desperately tried to divert the ship's course from heading on the same way as Ahsoka. He jerked the controls as hard as he can, nearly reaching their breaking point. Not far behind, Dan could feel the enemy closing in, not willing to let his prey walk away. Dan knew that there's a very small chance of him surviving this encounter. Then, he saw the shots aimed at his engine. He's merely moments from exploding to bits. The last two things he found out before the impact were the fact that Ahsoka has already landed safely, and that the hunter is a strong Force user.

AHSOKA'S P.O.V.

I stared in horror as the enemy ship followed Dan throughout the atmosphere. I couldn't believe that he was still in there, steering the ship away from me so I wouldn't be in harm's way. I knew that the controls are already useless by now, and Dan would just be a sitting duck in a shooting gallery.

Within moments, I landed on the ground, safe and sound. I found a shelter and proceeded to watch Dan's struggle against certain doom. Finally, it happened. The enemy fired its last shot at the only functional engine. The strain was too much, and WHAM! The ship exploded into pieces. "NO!" I couldn't bear the thought that someone sacrificed their lives to save mine. It would've been more believable if it was Master Skywalker who saved me. But Dan was simply, more or less, an acquaintance. I've known him for only a few days.

That day, my master and I went inside the Council Room to meet, of course, the whole Council, speaking with a Jedi Master and her Padawan. I looked at this pair closely. The female Twi'lek was wearing a brown robe, similar to my master's. Her clothes aroused my curiosity. Those are supposed to be a male Master's clothes, not a female's. The Jedi Master stared at me in the same curiosity that my eyes gaze with, and said respectfully, "Is this Padawan Tano?"

Grand Master Yoda nodded to her, "Indeed, she is."

Master Windu stared at us all with his usual judging view. Without really paying attention, I sensed just a little spark of hatred in the Twi 'lek Master's eyes. Windu stood up and said, "Master Skywalker, Padawan Tano, meet Master Lyn Tarkona and Padawan Yates."

All four of us nodded respectfully at one another, with me smiling at the supposedly Yates. However, he didn't reply my smile with another, and only gave a nod. His eyes were… cold. It held no feeling whatsoever. I shuddered. His master, Lyn, asked the Council, "Masters, what does this briefing concern?"

Yoda answered without any hesitation, "Go on a mission, all four of you will. Separated into teams, you must be. Not the usual Padawan-Master team, however, it must be. Padawan Tano, go ahead with Padawan Yates, you will, as a distraction for possible enemies. To Felucia, you must go."

Anakin was definitely surprised at Yoda's request when he inquired, "What do you suppose we do next?"

This time, it was Master Plo who spoke up. He was the one who brought me to the Temple, and I am, indeed, very grateful to him. "Skywalker, you and Lyn shall follow from behind. Your mission needs to be as stealthy as possible. While the Padawans are distracting the enemy fighters from their base, you need to need to go in and plant charges in strategic locations to explode the whole area."

Lyn nodded, and despite sensing his strong disagreement, I saw my master nod as well. He said, "As the Council wishes. But may I ask who we are up against?"

Yoda answered with his usual backwards talk, "Fight against the bounty hunters, you will. Captured, the planet has been. Anyone, they will let pass, as long as well paid, the price is. To recapture it, it is our important duty."

The yellow Twi 'lek Master bit her lips. I could feel her doubts on this mission, and her reluctance to let her Padawan go alone. But I could also feel her great faith on his skills. I looked back at Yates. He was neither looking at anyone nor showing any signs of anxiousness. Instead, he was listening intently with his eyes fixed to the ground. I could sort out my master's confusion and anxiousness, as well as Master Tarkona's trust and unwillingness, but I could make out nothing of him. Did his heart truly have no feeling, like his eyes?

The Padawan seemed to have taken notice of my observations, and shot a sharp glare at me. I didn't back down. He knew that I would never give up, so he looked up at his master. Lyn looked back at him, and asked the Council, "When will this mission start?"

Yoda answered, "Few more days, it will be. Patient, you must be, Master Tarkona. Be very careful, all of you must be. Very dangerous, this mission might be. For the worst case scenario, you have to prepare yourselves. If not, dire, the consequences might be."

Hours after that briefing, both of our masters agreed that we need to spend some time knowing each other if we are going to go together on such a dangerous mission. Hell, we might never come back alive or in one piece! They suggested that we should be put in one of our quarters for a full hour, so we might form a closer bond with each other.

When we were stuck in that room, the feeling was very awkward. I tried to start a conversation by greeting, "Hello, Dan."

Yates simply stared at me and replied, "Greetings." Damn it, he's making this very hard.

"Have I ever met you before?" I mentally kicked myself for asking such a foolish question.

Yates changed his normal sitting position to a cross-legged one. He answered formally, "Both of us are raised in the Temple. It is very likely for us to run into each other." Yates closed his eyes, as if trying hard to remember something. He whispered, "But I don't seem to have met you yet."

I sighed. This is going to be a very long hour. "That's true. Yates, could you please drop down the formal-like tone? It's kind of getting into my nerves…" I trailed off, for his eyes shot open in an instant. He stared, narrowing his eyes at me with a slight anger. Guilt-ridden, I looked elsewhere, anywhere but him.

Yates walked up to the door in a hasty-kind of manner. He opened it and to my surprise, revealed a distracted-looking face of my master, just running up to the door. I got up and asked, "Is something wrong, master?"

Anakin quickly pulled Dan and I out of the room while half-shouting, "Yes, there is! There is a change of plan!" I don't like where this is going. "We'll have to go NOW!"