In their shared quarters, Ahsoka tossed and turned restlessly in her bunk. Sleep remained elusive despite her exhaustion. As she shifted position again, she noticed Barriss lying perfectly still in her own bed, while Peter dozed peacefully in his makeshift web hammock.
She continued staring at the Mirialan Jedi, who appeared to have her eyes closed, until...
"What? What's wrong?" Barriss asked quietly, sensing her friend's gaze.
"It's too quiet," Ahsoka complained softly. "After all those explosions and blaster fire, this silence is almost deafening."
"You should try to enjoy this hard-earned moment of peace."
"Why are you two still awake?"
Both girls looked up to see Peter was no longer lying in his hammock, though he hadn't moved much.
"Is it because of that movie we just watched?"
"No."
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
Barriss could only look away sheepishly. "That film was... intense."
"I know, right? When I first saw it a few years ago, I couldn't sleep at all that night," Peter said, sitting up and hopping down from his hammock. "Well, since you two obviously can't sleep either..."
"We didn't mean to keep you awake, Peter," Barriss said apologetically.
"Yeah, go back to sleep if you want," Ahsoka added.
"Nah," Peter waved dismissively. "Besides, I need to synthesize some more web fluid anyway."
"Want to grab a midnight snack?" Ahsoka suggested.
"Sure thing," Peter said casually, rubbing his eyes while grabbing a small bag containing vials and chemical components for creating more web fluid.
The three friends headed out and chatted quietly as they walked. They passed through a corridor leading to the clone barracks, where Scythe spotted them from the shadows—though they failed to notice him. After watching them disappear around the corner, Scythe looked back in the direction he'd come from, then opened the barracks door and stepped inside.
...
Ahsoka, Barriss, and Peter sat in the ship's mess hall, their table illuminated by the only active light in the darkened room.
The two girls sat across from each other with Peter between them.
While the Padawans ate their late-night meal, Peter carefully mixed chemicals in a vial, watching as the liquid inside slowly began to solidify.
"I was thinking about what you said earlier, about enjoying peace while it lasts," Ahsoka said after taking a bite. "As a Jedi, I'm not sure I actually know how to do that."
"Probably because you became a Padawan at the worst possible time," Peter observed. "If this war wasn't happening, you'd probably be enjoying more 'peaceful' times with the occasional diplomatic mission or minor conflict to resolve."
"Perhaps," Barriss murmured thoughtfully. "Master Windu always said we are guardians of peace, not soldiers. Once this war ends, our job will be to maintain peace once again."
Peter tilted his head curiously. "But if you're peacekeepers, doesn't that still make you warriors in some capacity?"
"We're trained in combat and know how to fight when necessary," Ahsoka acknowledged.
"But once the war is over, our primary role will be keeping the peace," Barriss said firmly.
"Yes, but what's the real difference between being protectors of peace and being warriors?" Ahsoka asked. "Sometimes I wonder."
"I don't have a clear answer, Ahsoka," Barriss admitted. "Like you, I'm still learning. What does your master tell you about this?"
"Anakin? Oh, well, you might find some of his ideas about the future, uh, somewhat unconventional."
"Really? In what way?"
"Let's just say my master always does whatever he believes needs to be done. I'm honestly not sure how his methods would translate to peacetime."
"Well, peace can only last so long," Peter said matter-of-factly. "Back on Earth, there's always something happening somewhere."
"Why is that?" Barriss asked.
Peter shrugged. "You know how it is. Crime everywhere, maybe a war happening somewhere in the world, maybe not. The occasional world-ending threat." He paused thoughtfully. "Though... when I really think about it, we've been getting a lot more of those lately."
Ahsoka blinked, then found herself laughing unexpectedly. "That sounds like a nightmare."
Peter grinned briefly. "It seems like... I don't really know, but maybe it never truly ends."
Barriss and Ahsoka exchanged a meaningful look. This perspective was completely different from their Jedi teachings.
"What do you mean by that?" Barriss asked as Peter gestured expressively.
"Well, honestly, I'm not entirely sure myself," he said matter-of-factly. "A few weeks ago, I should have been worried about my next chemistry exam in high school. Now I'm somewhere else in the galaxy, light-years away from home."
"That doesn't sound too terrible, does it?"
After a brief pause, Peter showed a wry smile.
"No, it's not terrible at all," he said. "To be honest, it's always been a dream of mine to travel to space and see other planets and civilizations."
Then he gave both girls a warm smile. "Plus, I get to make some amazing new friends."
At this, both Padawans smiled genuinely. Their attention was momentarily drawn to a soft bubbling sound as they glanced at the beaker and saw it was now filled with properly formed webbing.
Peter grinned and began carefully storing his newly created web fluid into cartridges.
"Honestly, Peter, it's one thing to hear you talk about your scientific knowledge, but to actually see it in action..." Barriss trailed off, clearly impressed by his work.
"You should see Mr. Stark's inventions," Peter said, patting the spider emblem on his chest. "He designed this entire suit for me."
Ahsoka hummed with interest, though her thoughts drifted back to an earlier comment from her Earth friend.
"Peter?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you really believe what you said earlier? About there always being more to do after the war ends?"
Peter paused in his web fluid storage, frowning slightly before continuing his work.
"We have to believe that," he said with surprising solemnity. "It's... it's part of our responsibility. It's what we're supposed to do."
Ahsoka and Barriss exchanged puzzled looks. This was certainly different from his usual lighthearted banter.
"Peter," Barriss said slowly, "why do you think it's our responsibility?"
Peter was about to respond when the mess hall doors opened, and he looked back to see several clone troopers entering.
Ahsoka looked up and smiled warmly.
"Scythe, Evening, Edge," Ahsoka greeted them. "Care to join us?"
As Peter watched the approaching clones, he suddenly felt his spider-sense tingling insistently, warning him that something was very wrong. Seriously wrong.
"Uh... guys?" Peter said cautiously. "Something doesn't feel—"
Two of the clones immediately raised their blasters and opened fire on the trio. The teenagers leaped into action, with Barriss and Ahsoka igniting their lightsabers while Peter vaulted high into the air.
"Troopers, stand down!" Ahsoka commanded, deflecting blaster bolts before flipping the table for cover.
"I don't think they're taking volunteers!" Peter shouted from the ceiling, firing web lines at the attacking soldiers.
Peter's webs yanked the blasters from the clones' hands, giving Ahsoka and Barriss the opening they needed to Force-push both attackers against the wall, knocking them unconscious.
As they approached the fallen troopers, Barriss deactivated her lightsaber and secured their weapons in case the clones regained consciousness too quickly.
Suddenly, the doors opened again and two more clones entered with blasters aimed at them. Acting on reflex, Peter fired web shots at both the clones' weapons and the wall beside them, effectively restraining both soldiers.
"Peter, what are you doing?!" Havoc yelled, struggling futilely against his web restraints.
"You tell me," Peter said, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Your brothers just attacked us for no apparent reason."
"What's happening here?" Ahsoka demanded.
Barriss stepped forward to continue the interrogation. "Trap, do you know what happened to those troopers?"
"I have no idea, Commander," Trap responded honestly. "I'm just as confused as you are—"
"Did you coordinate this attack?" Barriss pressed. "Did you order them to try to kill us?"
"No, sir! I absolutely did not!"
"Then what happened? Why are they doing this?"
"We don't know," Havoc told the three teenagers. "We just heard blaster fire and came to investigate."
"Why should we trust you?"
"Look," Trap pointed to his webbed hand. "You've disarmed us completely. We have no intention of harming any of you."
"Though my hand is probably going to be sore for a while," Havoc muttered, causing Peter to wince slightly.
"Sorry about that," Peter said, walking over to the restrained clones and easily pulling the webs away. "But why would they attack us like that?"
"Did you see the way they looked at us?" Ahsoka wondered aloud. "It was really strange."
"Yeah," Peter muttered, looking down at the unconscious clones. "Those were some serious 'kill on sight' expressions."
"Clone troopers don't attack without reason," Barriss stated.
Ahsoka's expression grew troubled. "Before I became his Padawan, my master once dealt with a clone who betrayed him and Obi-Wan. A traitor who had been bought by Asajj Ventress."
"No, this can't be that simple," Barriss said, shaking her head. "At least, it doesn't feel like simple betrayal."
"I'm sorry, Commanders," Trap interjected. "But we should make sure we still have control of this ship."
Barriss nodded and activated the communicator on her wrist. "Bridge, this is Commander Offee. Please respond."
Silence.
"Oh great... this is just like that movie we watched," Peter said with a concerned expression.
That earned him an annoyed flick on the forehead from Ahsoka.
"We need to get up there," Ahsoka announced. "Find out what's going on."
"But what about these two?" Barriss gestured to the unconscious clones. "They could wake up at any moment."
"I've got it covered," Peter said, quickly firing a complex web pattern over the unconscious troopers until they were securely cocooned with only their heads free to breathe.
"Nicely done, Peter," Barriss praised.
"That should hold them for about an hour. Hopefully that's enough time to figure out what's happening."
"Havoc, stay here and keep watch," Trap ordered. "Don't take any unnecessary risks."
"Understood."
As the others prepared to leave, Havoc took up a defensive position to stand guard over their makeshift prison.
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