Night descended like a cool, dark blanket over the planet of Kavarnos. Anakin Skywalker and Atson Pervos squatted behind a large outcropping of rock about fifty feet away from the Separatist’s camp. The darkness and the rock helped conceal the two Jedi as they waited for the right moment to proceed with their battle plan.

Anakin peered around the chunk of rock and gazed across the dry expanse through a pair of electro-binoculars. He zoomed in on the two main guards positioned outside the camp’s West ray-shield wall. Their garb consisted of thick, heavy duty jumpsuits durable for both scalding hot and freezing cold temperatures. Compact metal plates guarded their broad chests, including their muscular arms and legs, protecting them from the most harmful gun rays and laser blasts. Their faces were masked by helmets equipped with lenses to zoom in and focus on objects. In their hands they carried powerful blasters that could pulverize any creature from a hundred feet away.
Anakin retreated back into the shadow of the outcropping again and lowered his binoculars. He turned to Atson and spoke in a barely audible voice.
“We have to be careful,” he whispered, “Those blasters are deadly. There are no more rocks for us to hide behind before we reach the wall, so we will have to move fast and silent.” He peered around the rock again. “The sky is growing darker so it will be hard for them to spot us as we move closer. They won’t have enough time to contact the base before they realize we are upon them. Once we get close enough…” He nodded. “You know what to do.”
Atson nodded in affirmation. She crept around the left side of the rock outcropping as Anakin crept around the right. They separated as they each advanced toward a guard, one on each end of the ray wall.
She pulled her cloak tighter around her body to conceal herself in darkness as she crawled forward. She fingered her lightsaber lovingly as the outline of the guards loomed ahead. To her right, Anakin was just a fleeting shadow as he also crept toward his targeted opponent.
When Atson was ten feet away from her adversary, she increased her speed. Sprinting at a fast pace, she reached the guard in a matter of seconds. The guard gave a cry of alarm and raised his blaster to shoot. Atson was too quick. Emitting a small grunt she sent the guard flying backwards with a Force push. He slammed into the wall behind him, a sizzle filling the air as his armor melted from the impact of the rays. He slumped to the ground, unconscious. A moan sounded from the adjacent guard as Anakin sent him sprawling to the ground with an effortless flick of his wrist.
Atson rolled the guard onto his stomach and attempted to peel the armor off of his body. Once the chest plate was removed, she went to work on the plates covering the arms and legs. She stacked the armor in a neat pile beside her and proceeded to remove the guard’s thick jumpsuit. After the jumpsuit was removed, she slid her own body into the heavy covering.
Anakin imitated Atson’s procedures and also slipped into his guard’s suit. He reached for the metal plates and buckled them onto his arms, chest, and legs.
Atson strapped on the arm and leg armor, and then grabbed the chest plate from the ground. She examined the side that had melted from the ray wall.
“I guess this will have to be sufficient enough,” she muttered as she felt the cooling metal.
Anakin took the helmet off of the limp form at his feet and slipped it on over his own head. “It will perform its job well enough,” His voice came out in a garbled, metallic tone. He reached for his lightsaber and activated it. He gestured toward the man below him and spoke again through his helmet. “They will contact their commander and alert them to our presence if they awaken. We cannot take that risk,” He sighed and nodded at Atson. “You know what we have to do.”
Atson shifted her gaze toward the soldier at her own feet. She bent down and slowly pulled off the helmet covering the guard’s face. She gasped as her eyes glued themselves to the man’s distinct features. He had a dark mop of short, jet black hair. His jaw was cleanly shaven, accentuating his high cheek bones. Dark eyebrows arched in symmetrical lines above his closed eyelids. His nose slanted at just the right angle, and his lips graced the bottom of his face in a perfect, pink shape.
Atson swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. Tears sprang to her eyes. She quickly swiped them away with the back of her hand. She looked up at Anakin. His stern gaze seemed to say, “I know this is hard for you, but it is necessary.” His own lightsaber was poised above the chest of the victim at his feet. He broke his eye contact with her and stared down at the guard. He raised his gleaming weapon above his head and brought it back down, sending the point of the lightsaber into the unconscious man’s heart.
Atson immediately looked away. Before more tears could burst forth, she too raised her shining weapon above her head. She gazed at the guard’s still face once more, and then drove her weapon through his heart.
The Jedi scooped up the dead bodies and hid the carcasses behind the same outcropping that had hid them just moments before. They walked back through the darkness and paused at the long ray wall.
Anakin set a hand on Atson’s shaking shoulder. He bent over and picked up her helmet from the ground, placing it into her limp hands.
“You did the right thing, young padawan,” he whispered into her ear.
She clenched her teeth to stop the trembling in her jaw. She had to be brave. She had to prove that she wasn’t a weakling. She wiped away the rest of her cascading tears, and placed the helmet over her head.
“Now then,” She said in a confident voice, “Let’s go free those Republic captives.”
The older Jedi’s lips curled in a small smile, and he nodded.
As they made their way to the main entrance of the Seperatist’s ray wall, the two disguised companions walked side by side through the darkness of the planet’s night.