Anakin gradually realized he was trapped beneath a considerable amount of debris. Miraculously, he wasn't seriously injured—only bruised and battered—so he focused his connection to the Force to clear the rubble from his body.
Seeing a collapsed wall separating him from his team, he rushed toward it.
"Rex? Fives? Echo? Rhodes? Anyone?"
"General, we're holding position," Rex replied tersely as blaster fire echoed from the other side. "Good to hear you're alive."
"Anakin!" Pietro shouted, running up the wall to avoid metallic projectiles being hurled at him. "Hurry up and catch that blue-skinned psychopath and save your Padawan. We need to evacuate now!"
Anakin pounded on the wall with his fists, knowing this wasn't the time for lengthy discussion. He tried to reach out through the Force to connect with his apprentice.
Unfortunately, the violent structural damage prevented him from establishing contact.
"General Skywalker," Admiral Yularen's voice crackled through his wrist communicator. "We're detecting massive power surges throughout the frigate. If you're still aboard, evacuate immediately. You must abort the mission."
Anakin responded to the Republic Admiral, "I don't have the holocron or the memory crystal, and Ahsoka has been captured."
"The frigate is suffering catastrophic damage."
"Maintain safe distance, Admiral, and await my signal for extraction."
Anakin sprinted in the direction Ahsoka had pursued Bane.
Aboard the Resolute, Yularen barely concealed his frustration with the situation, muttering, "Of all the Jedi in the Order, why did I have to be assigned to Skywalker?"
Aboard the Separatist cruiser, Bane observed as the young Togruta regained consciousness, Ahsoka immediately testing her restraints after realizing her predicament.
Ahsoka tugged at her electrified shackles, only to receive a painful shock.
"Ah, ah, ah. I wouldn't recommend that," Bane advised the bound Padawan. "These restraints are specifically designed for Force-users."
Ahsoka ignored Bane's warning and continued struggling.
"The more you resist, the tighter they become."
The sound of explosions echoed through their location, indicating that the frigate was becoming increasingly unstable.
"Enjoy your last moments, you bastard. This dying ship will take us both down."
Cad Bane simply snorted dismissively. "Trust me, little one, we have plenty of time. The bond between a Jedi Master and his Padawan runs deep."
"Which means my Master is already coming for me."
Bane grinned with malicious intent. "Let's see if we can encourage him to arrive faster." Bane activated a control on his wrist device, causing Ahsoka to cry out in agony.
Anakin raced down the corridor and halted at a checkpoint guarded by three B1 battle droids.
Inside the chamber, Bane watched as Ahsoka struggled to remain conscious.
"Uh, sir? There's a Jedi approaching and he appears quite agitated," a B1 reported nervously.
The droid was immediately silenced by a lightsaber stroke.
Bane nodded and activated a ray shield, separating himself from Ahsoka. "Your Master has arrived."
Ahsoka attempted to rush toward Bane, but the energy barrier repelled her. As she collapsed to her knees, the door opened to reveal Anakin.
"You have nowhere to run, Bane," Anakin declared, scanning Ahsoka to assess her condition. Seeing her restrained behind the ray shield with obvious signs of torture, the Jedi's expression darkened with rage.
Bane, flanked by two B2 super battle droids, turned to face him.
"Ah, the famous Jedi Knight," Bane said, raising his wrist device to display a control switch. "If I activate this mechanism, the external airlock will open and she'll be jettisoned into space. Do you honestly believe you can eliminate me and then rescue her before she's pulled into the vacuum? That's a particularly unpleasant way to perish."
Anakin's concern intensified at the thought of losing his apprentice. Ahsoka looked toward Anakin before hanging her head in shame.
"Besides, isn't negotiation supposed to be the Jedi specialty?" Bane asked mockingly, while the two super battle droids stepped forward menacingly.
Realizing he had no alternative, Anakin deactivated his lightsaber and met Bane's gaze directly. "What do you want?"
"This holocron contains the intelligence I was contracted to obtain," Bane explained, displaying the artifact. "I cannot access it, but you can. The previous Jedi who possessed it was foolish enough to refuse cooperation, and you witnessed his fate. I trust you won't repeat his error."
Anakin looked toward Ahsoka, who could only offer him a pained expression.
"We're running out of time," Bane said more aggressively. "Decide quickly, Jedi! Or she dies."
His finger hovered over the airlock control.
Anakin closed his eyes in anguish, accepting the mission's failure.
"No, Master, don't!" Ahsoka protested.
"I can't let you die, Ahsoka," Anakin whispered, tossing his lightsaber toward Bane.
"How touching," Bane scoffed.
Meanwhile, Rex and War Machine, along with their team, were preparing to evacuate as the ship continued shaking more violently, indicating imminent structural collapse.
Retreat proved challenging as the deranged bounty hunter Durge remained determined to hunt them all down.
"This creature is completely unhinged," Spider-Man observed as he wall-crawled to avoid the rampaging Gen'Dai. Spider-Man flipped through the air and fired his remaining web cartridge, creating a massive net that completely blocked Durge's advance.
"Keep moving!" Rex commanded. "The hangar bay should be just ahead."
They advanced and discovered battle droids surrounding a Separatist starfighter.
"That's our ticket out of here," Fives declared.
"Clones!" a B1 shouted in alarm.
The droids were eliminated within seconds, with Pietro hurling the last one into a bulkhead, shattering it completely.
"Excellent work, Pietro," War Machine praised, before Durge's roaring voice drew their attention again.
"Hey, stay down!" War Machine shouted at the Gen'Dai.
He launched another missile, followed by several micro-missiles, all targeting Durge.
After the thunderous explosion, Durge vanished from sight.
The clones and Avengers exhaled in relief, and Rex contacted Anakin.
"General Skywalker, we're ready for immediate extraction. What's your status?"
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