Star Wars: From the Clone Wars to Starfaring Heroes

Chapter 159, Page 161 - Fearless Hero? (Second Update)
Ahsoka had to admit that this was one of the few moments that gave her a much-needed boost during the long negotiations.

Of course, she understood that every word exchanged at the table concerned the fate of billions of lives.

From the moment Anakin convinced Master Adi Gallia to allow them to accompany him, he kept emphasizing this point in her ear.

Even so... why do those words that determine the future of countless people still sound so long and dull?

Senator Bontri even claimed it was a "more relaxed and casual meeting"!
Ahsoka felt his knees starting to ache, and his muscles were stiff from standing.

She simply couldn't imagine how agonizing a truly "formal" negotiation would be.

"What would the Speaker say at a time like this?"

Senator Bana Brim frowned slightly, steer the conversation back to reality.

“I think the answer will be revealed soon,” Obi-Wan Kenobi said, his arms still crossed over his chest.

At that moment, a tiny blue holographic figure was projected from the communicator Anakin had left behind. Due to the distance, the sound was muffled.

A clear, deliberate cough, like a pebble thrown into calm water, instantly drew everyone's attention back to the center of the negotiating table.

Mina Bontri slowly picked up her glass, took a small sip, and savored it, letting the brief silence spread through the stone hall.

She gently set down the wine glass, the bottom of which made a crisp "ting" sound as it touched the stone table, leaving a faint trace of the deep purple liquid on her lips.

"Can we continue?" She raised her eyelids, her eyebrows slightly raised.

“I apologize for interrupting the meeting,” Padme Amidala adjusted his posture in his seat, straightening his back, ready for the second round of exchanges.

Representative Bontri smiled slightly, but his eyes remained sharp. "We hope that our revised proposal will better meet your expectations."

“Third point!” Representative Tereker Bremark pushed his data board to the center of the table with a crisp and forceful motion, even pushing aside several plates of snacks. “The Republic must guarantee absolute freedom of navigation for the citizens, ships, and property of Confederation member states within its occupied star systems. These citizens must be able to fully utilize all port facilities under the Republic’s control without hindrance. Any management regulations must be reasonable and uniformly applied, and must not create unnecessary obstacles to normal navigation.”

The moment the words were spoken, the delegation from the Republic almost erupted in uproar.

Several delegates were so excited they almost jumped out of their seats, and heated debates erupted as they discussed the revised clause.

Is it worse than demanding the return of territory, or is it barely acceptable?

“I still don’t understand,” Ahsoka muttered in confusion, his little face scrunched up.

It's like knowing something important is happening, but being completely unable to grasp the key points; all those complex words go in one ear and out the other.

Scout looked at her with a deep sense of empathy.

The commotion subsided only after Senator Bell Organa raised his hand to signal for quiet and picked up the data panel to examine it closely.

He put down the data panel, raised his head, and said with a calm gaze: "In exchange, we propose a counter-proposal: the Confederation must repatriate all detained citizens of the Republic, whether they are on trial or have been convicted, to their home planet or a territory under Republic control."

“The relevant costs will be borne by the Republic,” Senator Bontri immediately added.

“...The expenses will be borne by the Republic,” Senator Organa breathed a soft sigh of relief, which was taken as tacit agreement.

“Good!” Mina Bontri’s face instantly lit up with a genuine smile, as if the clouds had parted and the sun had come out. “Then, let’s get started on drafting the official text of the armistice agreement.”

"Wait!" A male senator from the Republic, whom Asoka didn't recognize, slammed his hand on the table, his voice booming. "What about the war reparations? Are we just going to let it go like this?"

“The issues of reparations, territorial annexation, and cession,” Procon’s calm voice rang out at the opportune moment, carrying a reassuring quality, “should be left for detailed discussion in a final comprehensive peace treaty after initial peace has been established. What we have reached at this moment is merely an agreement to cease fighting, not a final solution to end the war.”

“Asoka,” Obi-Wan leaned down slightly and whispered to Ahsoka, “would you please go and find Anakin? He’s been gone for quite a while.”

Ahsoka immediately bowed slightly, secretly relieved to finally have a chance to stretch his legs, which had been aching from standing for so long: "Yes, Master Kenobi."

Ahsoka ignored the envious look from Scout behind him, quietly backed away, and left the tense negotiating table area.

She hurried through the magnificent stone hall, searching for her master.

Soon, she found Anakin in an inconspicuous corner at the far end.

With his back to the noisy hall, he stood like a statue blending into the shadows, listening intently to the sounds emanating from the holographic projector in his hand.

However, as Ahsoka approached, a chill instantly enveloped her.

The space around Anakin seemed to freeze.

The Force surged and tightened violently around him, filling him with suffocating pressure.

Anakin seemed unable to fully control this outpouring; his intense emotions, like an unblockable signal, constantly assaulted the Force perception of those around him. Ahsoka knew that in front of the clone soldiers, Anakin always presented himself as an indestructible and impenetrable Jedi general, and would never allow such fluctuations to surface.

"Master?" she called out cautiously.

"You must immediately withdraw our delegation from Ondron!" came a voice that Ahsoka had heard on the holographic network from the holographic projector.

It is Supreme Speaker Palpatine.

But this voice was completely different from the one she remembered—the speaker who always spoke with composure and even a comforting power, assuring the people of the Republic that "everything will be alright."

At this moment, the speaker's voice was filled with barely concealed tension, panic, and urgency.

Just then, a muffled and distant explosion rang out, causing the holographic scan screen to shake violently, and the speaker's image disappeared instantly.

"...Speaker!" a distant voice cried out, "The satellite array is falling!"

"Where is Admiral Horner?!" The Speaker's image reappeared, his hands gripping the table in front of him tightly, his voice hoarse as he shouted.

"The homeland defense fleet has been destroyed, Speaker!" Another figure squeezed into the frame. Ahsoka recognized it as Jedi Master Adi Gallia. Her voice was urgent and heavy. "Admiral Horner has lost contact! They are destroying all our communications satellites!"

Speaker Palpatine clutched his chest in pain, swaying as if he were about to collapse. Master Gallia immediately stepped forward to support him.

"Our shield...!" he gasped, his voice broken, "The shield...!"

"The planetary shield has been activated immediately, Speaker," Master Gallia said quickly into the communicator while supporting the Speaker. "Skywalker? Is that you? Thank the Force, we've finally made contact! Our satellites are under heavy attack, and Coruscant's external communications are about to be completely cut off. It seems the attack we've been fearing has happened, but the attack point isn't the front line we predicted; it's Coruscant itself! You must evacuate the delegation members safely immediately…!"

The holographic image flickered violently a few times before disappearing completely amidst a blinding blue speckle.

Anakin stared silently at the holographic projector in his hand, now lifeless and without signal, for what seemed like an eternity before slowly tucking it into the folds of his cloak.

He let out a heavy sigh.

"...Master?" Asoka's voice was filled with unease.

“You know,” Anakin’s voice was low and weary, “this is the second time the Speaker has personally contacted me to order the emergency evacuation of our personnel from the separatist-controlled planet.”

When was your first time?

"Jabim".

The name struck Ahsoka's memory like a bolt of lightning.

Clone Wars veteran Apo once mentioned Jabim, describing it in a low voice as one of the most brutal and darkest battles the Jedi Order had ever experienced in the early days of the Clone Wars.

“Eighteen Jedi Knights perished there,” Anakin said, his gaze piercing through time. “Only nine survived, all of them apprentices, and all of them had lost their masters. Obi-Wan Kenobi was also missing at the time… We were prepared to risk our lives to buy time for the troops’ evacuation, but then the Chancellor contacted me and ordered me to lead the remaining apprentices to evacuate.”

He lowered his head, his gaze falling on Ahsoka, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

“At that time, I didn’t consider them friends, but now… I wish I had called them that back then. I left and never saw those apprentices again.”

“I am a coward, and deep down I am even glad that I survived. I deserve to be condemned as a coward.”

"But the Battle of Jabim was one of the key battles in the early stages of the war, and the HoloNet urgently needed a 'victory' story for publicity."

"So they molded me into a hero, the 'fearless hero,' the one who single-handedly held off the separatist offensive and rescued the Republic's troops from the hellish battlefield."

Ahsoka felt something inside him collapse.

"You...you survived..."

“Because I have ‘friends’ at the highest level,” Anakin’s voice was bitter. “My entire so-called reputation is built on a huge lie. Heroes? The real heroes are those eight orphaned apprentices who sacrificed themselves in the mud and rain, who delayed the enemy with their lives.”

Tai possesses a powerful Force perception, allowing him to easily read our thoughts;
Mark, he was the only one among us who was considered for the official Jedi title, an honor he would have deserved if he had come back alive;
Aubrey, whom Master Windu had intended to personally mentor, was said to be destined for the Jedi Council.

and I?
I survived only because I was 'friends' with the Speaker.

Anakin gave a self-deprecating, bitter smile, then unsheathed the lightsaber from his waist.

"Master?" Ahsoka looked at him in horror. "What are you going to do?"

“Go and persuade them,” Anakin replied with unusual calmness and an unwavering determination.

(End of this chapter)