The Decision that Changed Everything

The Crash

Thoughts flew through Anakin's head unceasingly, thoughts of fear, thoughts of pain. Where could he go? He couldn't risk anyone else being hurt, but he had to go somewhere. Somewhere remote, where nobody lived. Where it was too dangerous to survive, like Mustafar.

Mustafar, a planet made completely of volcanoes and volcanic rock, devoid of all life and society, where no one was brave enough to go. That was where he could go, there, he could be far away from anyone. Everyone would be safe.

Padmé.

His thoughts turned to his wife, her belly swollen from pregnancy, smiling, her face radiant. If he went to Mustafar, he would never see her again.

That was a risk he would have to take.

***

"We can't just leave him," argued Ahsoka. "I can't leave him. What about Padmé?"

Obi Wan's heart raced. "All we can hope is that Padmé is safe, and taken care of. If Anakin's vision comes true, we'll just have to live with the consequences."

Rex's hands shook as he raced through corridors. Anakin was his friend, too. All of this disaster was affecting him, even with his low empathy programming. Every corpse they passed was another reminder of a fallen brother, not dead, but lost. His whole being was trembling in fear of what he might find, his friends, murdering innocents.

"We still have to find him. He can stop this," Rex finally said.

"But at this point, he's probably already left the surface," Obi Wan argued.

"Then we can go to the temple and get a ship," Ahsoka retorted.

"There won't be any left, they set the temple on fire," Rex pointed out.

"We can still check," Obi Wan said.

***

Anakin's ship sped through space, surrounded by the blue beams of light caused by hyperspace. According to his map, he was almost there, when suddenly he dropped out, his ship stopping completely.

Surrounding him was a barricade of Jedi Cruisers and Clone Carriers, all of them with guns loaded and shields up. Anakin had no time to turn on his shields before he was hit with a barrage of fire, seriously damaging his ship. Anakin did what he could to stabilize the engines, before out of the line of ships came one white Y-wing, its cockpit glass tinted completely black. Anakin could feel him in there, taunting him. Sidious smiled as he shot the finishing blow, causing Anakin's engines to burst into flames, sending him careening through space towards the surface of Mustafar.

There was no way he would make it out of this alive.

***

"There's a ship," shouted Ahsoka, making a break for the ship.

The entire hangar was on fire, the metal plates on the walls were melting, dripping in balls of red iron. Somehow, this shop, among all the others, was able to escape the blaze, and had a strong enough shell to protect itself.

"It's going to be an oven in there," sighed Obi Wan. "Ahsoka, once you're in there, prep the engines."

"Will do, master," she panted as she made her way up the boarding ramp.

"How are we going to find him," Rex asked.

"I had Anakin put a tracking device in his lightsaber, so he'd stop losing it," Obi Wan said. "I can access its location on my comlink." He pulled out the small device, and pulled up the positioning system. "He's on Mustafar," he said as he climbed aboard.

The inside of the ship really was an oven, and it was hard to breathe. Ahsoka's skin burned as she took the controls, steering them out of the hangar. The open door glowed red, and large walls of flames dropped from the burning light fixtures above. Sparks were everywhere, flying over the glass cockpit window like rain on a windshield. The ship burst through the towering flames, a trail of smoke following the ship.

Ground control on the surface immediately began to fire at the small vessel. Green and blue laser fire flew past the ship, and Ahsoka quickly threw the shields up. Obi Wan climbed over the cooked leather seats to the second controls, taking over for Ahsoka, while rex took the assault controls.

Ahsoka's heartbeat pounded in her ears, her every breath burning down her throat. Her skin throbbed with every heartbeat, the seared skin quickly blistering. Tears rushed over her eyes as she stood to get some medicine. The ship moved much too fast to be stable, so she had to pop her new blisters as she clutched the walls and doors on her way to the medical bay. The small room was dimly lit by one lightbulb, with one operation table, and several cabinets full of serums and drugs as well as wrapping tape. She dug through the cabinets, bottles and cases dropping all over the floor, until she found a small vial of burn relief. She slathered most of it on her hands and body, and quickly wrapped herself in medical tape, which made the hot sensation start to dissipate. She took a moment to catch her breath, before taking what was left of the bottle back to the cockpit where Obi Wan and Rex were.

Obi Wan sat completely focused, looking out the window. Rex made circles with his camera, looking out for any outside ships. Ahsoka said nothing, and began to wrap their injuries, doing what she could not to distract them. She had just enough burn relief serum to treat them both, and was satisfied with her work. She watched as the pained expressions on their faces dissipated into concerned frowns.

"There it is," exclaimed Obi Wan.

The surface of Mustafar glowed with red and yellow light, black rock plates crashing into each other on the liquid fire rivers. Volcanic ash rained from the sky, in black plumes.

The atmosphere heated up the ship once again, but not nearly as much as before. Black smoke covered the glass, making it hard to see out. When they finally passed through the ashy clouds, they could see the surface again, and search for Anakin. Large plumes of smoke streamed out of volcanoes, and the molten rivers let out steam that was dangerous to touch. All three of them let a lookout for Anakin, or somewhere he could be, but it was hard since Anakin normally wore black and dark brown.

"There," exclaimed Ahsoka.

Obi Wan looked where Ahsoka was pointing. There was a volcano in the way.

"Where?" He asked.

"Behind that volcano. I can sense him."

Obi Wan steered the ship around the volcano, and there it was, a small Jedi ship, completely destroyed.

"Anakin," he gasped.

Ahsoka raced out of the ship to Anakin's ship, quickly throwing the hatch. A large gash around Anakin's head was the main source of the blood, and other gashes and bones that were surely broken were the reason he was unconscious. But he couldn't be dead, could he?

No, Ahsoka wouldn't let him die. There was no way. She took a hold of his head, looking for any sign of life from her master.

There.

His eyelashes fluttered.

He wasn't dead. At least not yet.

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Story Thanks to Emmaisdafawesomeboss