The troopers were
joking with each other, each one pulling a canine joke of some kind
as they clung to the straps of the landing shuttle under the watchful
gazes of their Jedi.

It amused Obi-Wan
to see how well they had taken to the wolf dynamic though if he was
honest, perhaps vode weren’t so different from a werewolf all that
much considering they adhered to a social construct, obeyed their
‘alpha’ and fought in teams as if they already were pack before they had become werewolves.

Anakin sent him a
small, amused look, having caught onto the train of thought and
Obi-Wan gave a small shrug in return with a small smile.

“So there’s a
downed Separatist shuttle here right?” Anakin questioned with a
hum, his voice silencing the troopers as they turned their attention
on the Jedi instead with attentive eyes. Obi-Wan was willing to bet
his beard oil that even the pilot was listening with his sharpened
ears.

“Indeed. One of
their shuttles were reported downed by an observation satellite, so
far none has come for it nor has it left and therefor we have a
chance to capture information from the ship if the data cores are
still whole.” Obi-Wan explained for everyone’s benefit.

There was a scatter
of understanding growls around him, Obi-Wan smiling as he was not
intimidated by his wolves.

“We’ll be
landing in five minutes Generals! I can see the crash even, its gored
a harsh lined through the dirt and ripped up all the trees.”
Longshot called out.

“Hold on
everyone.” Anakin said in good humor.

There was some
scattered laughing as everyone clung to the straps, the landing going
neater than they expected as they were able to disembark with minimal
turbulence.

Eyeing the still
smoking ship in the darkness of the planets night, Obi-Wan called
back. “Longshot, turn on the floodlights so we can see something
here.”

With the lights on
the troopers set up a perimeter with Rex leading them while Obi-Wan,
Anakin and Cody made their way into the Separatist shuttle. Both Jedi
pretended not to notice Cody giving the command droid a swift kick
with a small growl as they made their way to the cockpit.

Things were
actually going smoothly for once…

And that was the
first sign that something was going to go utterly wrong.

As they discovered
when they left the ship when there was a shocked cry and then the
sound of blaster fire outside.

A pale, snarling
creature that moved on its hands and feet was attacking the vode,
almost gracefully avoiding the blasts while desperately clawing at
them with long, sharp nails and fanged mouth to seemingly get their
helmets off. It was utterly hairless, its skin almost waxy looking
from the little light they had on it with utterly black eye that bore
no sign of pupils at all and all it was wearing was tattered yellowed
rags that barely hung onto the emaciated frame of the being.

Obi-Wan knew
exactly what it was, his heart sinking like a stone even as his saber
lit up in the night.

At the sound
however the creature gave a howl, its head jerking in Anakin and
Obi-Wan’s direction to give an enraged hiss before it fled into the
darkness with nary a sound as all the vode who weren’t injured from
the sudden ambush shot after it.

“What even
karking was that?” Longshot cursed breathlessly, holding his most
likely sprained looking arm to his chest as they all stared the way
the pale creature had fled.

It was Obi-Wan who
caught his eyes, the way his his mate tense body shifted every few
seconds, the wildness caught in the others eyes and the utter panic
etching along their bond every few second that itched along their
bond that Obi-Wan couldn’t quite contain.

“Obi-Wan?” He
whispered, alerting their men to Obi-Wan’s unease.

The Jedi master
opened his mouth before closing it again, swallowing heavily.

Approaching slowly,
wary of drawing the creatures attention again, Anakin settled his
hand on his mate shoulder and rubbed with his thumb slowly. “Mate?”
He questioned a tad softer.

Obi-Wan swallowed
again before he finally managed to rasp out what was wrong. “Feral
vampire. That… that was a feral… vampire.” He wheezed out.
“That’s what I could become.”

Anakin’s head
snapped the way the creature, the vampire had run off to, eyes
wide before turning and placing both hands on Obi-Wan’s shoulder,
forcing him to focus on the blond. “But it will never be you.” He
stressed the words carefully even as the troopers shifted around,
circling to make a protective barrier around them without orders.

“It could. If I
go fera-”

Anakin cut in
sharply, not letting his distressed mate finish. “But it never will
be, because you have me and you have the troopers and the Order. We
are never going to let you go hungry or alone. I’ll never leave
your side, what that was? That was a creature driven to extreme
hunger, loneliness and than insanity it looks like.” He rubbed at
Obi-Wan’s shoulders, pressing their foreheads together with their
breaths mingling.

Obi-Wan was still
staring at him hesitantly.

“That will never
be you Obi-Wan.” Anakin reiterated quietly. “This person must
have crashed on planet ages ago. Its barren, only animals and jungle,
nothing to feed on properly really as we know animals can’t really
feed you. That’s what happened to him, starved to insanity and only
barely hanging on now. And I’ll never let that happen to
you. I’ll always come looking for you and won’t stop until I find
you, one way or the other.” He added.

He could feel the
tense muscles slowly relaxing under his hands though, Obi-Wan
managing to dredge up a weak smile before he sighed a bit and wrapped
his arms around Anakin, pressing his forehead into his shoulder
instead to hide away. “Well when you say it like that.” He said,
voice muffled against fabric.

“I do say it like
that.” Anakin hummed, wrapping his arms around Obi-Wan in turn
while lifting his eyes to meet Cody and Rex’s eyes.

And then he nodded
his head towards where the feral vampire had gone, the order unvoiced
as both clone werewolves caught it.

First chance anyone
had, put the feral one out of its misery.

There could be no
hope for rescuing and rehabilitation, the least they could do is give
it mercy to rest easily and not dredge around this forsaken planet
until it starved to death on animal blood, who knew how long it had
already lived on the planet prior to them landing to investigate the
downed Separatist shuttle.

They nodded in
return, a few of the vode discreetly adding sniper scopes to their
blasters.

The troopers were
joking with each other, each one pulling a canine joke of some kind
as they clung to the straps of the landing shuttle under the watchful
gazes of their Jedi.

It amused Obi-Wan
to see how well they had taken to the wolf dynamic though if he was
honest, perhaps vode weren’t so different from a werewolf all that
much considering they adhered to a social construct, obeyed their
‘alpha’ and fought in teams as if they already were pack before they had become werewolves.

Anakin sent him a
small, amused look, having caught onto the train of thought and
Obi-Wan gave a small shrug in return with a small smile.

“So there’s a
downed Separatist shuttle here right?” Anakin questioned with a
hum, his voice silencing the troopers as they turned their attention
on the Jedi instead with attentive eyes. Obi-Wan was willing to bet
his beard oil that even the pilot was listening with his sharpened
ears.

“Indeed. One of
their shuttles were reported downed by an observation satellite, so
far none has come for it nor has it left and therefor we have a
chance to capture information from the ship if the data cores are
still whole.” Obi-Wan explained for everyone’s benefit.

There was a scatter
of understanding growls around him, Obi-Wan smiling as he was not
intimidated by his wolves.

“We’ll be
landing in five minutes Generals! I can see the crash even, its gored
a harsh lined through the dirt and ripped up all the trees.”
Longshot called out.

“Hold on
everyone.” Anakin said in good humor.

There was some
scattered laughing as everyone clung to the straps, the landing going
neater than they expected as they were able to disembark with minimal
turbulence.

Eyeing the still
smoking ship in the darkness of the planets night, Obi-Wan called
back. “Longshot, turn on the floodlights so we can see something
here.”

With the lights on
the troopers set up a perimeter with Rex leading them while Obi-Wan,
Anakin and Cody made their way into the Separatist shuttle. Both Jedi
pretended not to notice Cody giving the command droid a swift kick
with a small growl as they made their way to the cockpit.

Things were
actually going smoothly for once…

And that was the
first sign that something was going to go utterly wrong.

As they discovered
when they left the ship when there was a shocked cry and then the
sound of blaster fire outside.

A pale, snarling
creature that moved on its hands and feet was attacking the vode,
almost gracefully avoiding the blasts while desperately clawing at
them with long, sharp nails and fanged mouth to seemingly get their
helmets off. It was utterly hairless, its skin almost waxy looking
from the little light they had on it with utterly black eye that bore
no sign of pupils at all and all it was wearing was tattered yellowed
rags that barely hung onto the emaciated frame of the being.

Obi-Wan knew
exactly what it was, his heart sinking like a stone even as his saber
lit up in the night.

At the sound
however the creature gave a howl, its head jerking in Anakin and
Obi-Wan’s direction to give an enraged hiss before it fled into the
darkness with nary a sound as all the vode who weren’t injured from
the sudden ambush shot after it.

“What even
karking was that?” Longshot cursed breathlessly, holding his most
likely sprained looking arm to his chest as they all stared the way
the pale creature had fled.

It was Obi-Wan who
caught his eyes, the way his his mate tense body shifted every few
seconds, the wildness caught in the others eyes and the utter panic
etching along their bond every few second that itched along their
bond that Obi-Wan couldn’t quite contain.

“Obi-Wan?” He
whispered, alerting their men to Obi-Wan’s unease.

The Jedi master
opened his mouth before closing it again, swallowing heavily.

Approaching slowly,
wary of drawing the creatures attention again, Anakin settled his
hand on his mate shoulder and rubbed with his thumb slowly. “Mate?”
He questioned a tad softer.

Obi-Wan swallowed
again before he finally managed to rasp out what was wrong. “Feral
vampire. That… that was a feral… vampire.” He wheezed out.
“That’s what I could become.”

Anakin’s head
snapped the way the creature, the vampire had run off to, eyes
wide before turning and placing both hands on Obi-Wan’s shoulder,
forcing him to focus on the blond. “But it will never be you.” He
stressed the words carefully even as the troopers shifted around,
circling to make a protective barrier around them without orders.

“It could. If I
go fera-”

Anakin cut in
sharply, not letting his distressed mate finish. “But it never will
be, because you have me and you have the troopers and the Order. We
are never going to let you go hungry or alone. I’ll never leave
your side, what that was? That was a creature driven to extreme
hunger, loneliness and than insanity it looks like.” He rubbed at
Obi-Wan’s shoulders, pressing their foreheads together with their
breaths mingling.

Obi-Wan was still
staring at him hesitantly.

“That will never
be you Obi-Wan.” Anakin reiterated quietly. “This person must
have crashed on planet ages ago. Its barren, only animals and jungle,
nothing to feed on properly really as we know animals can’t really
feed you. That’s what happened to him, starved to insanity and only
barely hanging on now. And I’ll never let that happen to
you. I’ll always come looking for you and won’t stop until I find
you, one way or the other.” He added.

He could feel the
tense muscles slowly relaxing under his hands though, Obi-Wan
managing to dredge up a weak smile before he sighed a bit and wrapped
his arms around Anakin, pressing his forehead into his shoulder
instead to hide away. “Well when you say it like that.” He said,
voice muffled against fabric.

“I do say it like
that.” Anakin hummed, wrapping his arms around Obi-Wan in turn
while lifting his eyes to meet Cody and Rex’s eyes.

And then he nodded
his head towards where the feral vampire had gone, the order unvoiced
as both clone werewolves caught it.

First chance anyone
had, put the feral one out of its misery.

There could be no
hope for rescuing and rehabilitation, the least they could do is give
it mercy to rest easily and not dredge around this forsaken planet
until it starved to death on animal blood, who knew how long it had
already lived on the planet prior to them landing to investigate the
downed Separatist shuttle.

They nodded in
return, a few of the vode discreetly adding sniper scopes to their
blasters.