Keep the Faith!

"Keep the Faith!" is a short comic story published in Star Wars: The Clone Wars Comic 6.2.
==Plot summary==
The Jedi Council have sent Anakin Skywalker, Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex, and several clones to the remote mining world of Taronda to settle a trade agreement for raw materials that the Galactic Republic desperately needs. However, the Separatists seemingly have other plans, and both the miners and the Republic forces are now under attack by vulture droids. Skywalker says that the Separatists mean to prevent the Republic from getting needed resources by any means—even if that means destroying the mine and the native miners to do so. Wanting to protect the settlement, he orders Rex to gather the miners together and activate a deflector shield to protect them from the attacks.
Still under fire, Skywalker warns Tano to stay close to him as it is dangerous where they are. Midway through telling him that she can take care of herself, a blaster bolt hits the ground in front of her, shaking the ground and opening a crevice into one of the mineshafts that riddle the planet. Skywalker realizes what happened, but at the same time, Rex calls for his attention, telling them that they have an even bigger problem—the Separatists have launched an assault force, with a landing ship spilling out countless battle droids and AATs. With that in mind, Rex says they have to get the wounded to safety before activating the shield, or there is no way they will survive. Skywalker agrees, saying Tano will have to fend for herself, and Rex turns the deflector shield on.
Rex tells Skywalker that he has already signaled for reinforcements, and the Jedi responds that he hopes Tano will be able to hold out until then—he can feel in the the Force that she is injured. Behind him, Sith assassin Asajj Ventress takes him and Rex by surprise, having appeared on the other side of the shield and replying that she can also sense Ahsoka's pain, and has sent some spider droids after her. Skywalker begins to get heated, shouting a warning at Ventress if she were to hurt Tano, before Rex cuts him off with a hand on his shoulder, saying that Ventress is just trying to lure him outside of the shield to kill him and to have faith in Tano and his lessons to her.
Meanwhile, Tano begins to sit up at the bottom of the mineshaft, smarting from her various injuries, which include a twisted ankle. She has little time to recover, however, as the spider droids are quickly descending on her. She makes quick work of the first to appear, cutting into it with her lightsaber. The second reaches the bottom only to find it seemingly empty when Ahsoka sits up underneath it from where she had covered herself in dirt to hide herself, slicing it in half. With another, she uses her lightsaber to trigger a rockslide, crushing it.
Ventress taunts Anakin to try to get him to step outside of the shield, calling him a coward for remaining there while his Padawan faces certain death. She challenges him to come out and join her and, when it seems he is not going to be baited into it, tells him that she'll just have to deactivate it from where she's standing with the Force. She and Anakin are then locked into a battle of wills over the control lever for the deflector shield generator, with her trying to turn it off and Anakin trying to keep the lever where it is. She snarls at him that she can feel that they are similar, in their desire for battle and revenge, while her protocol droid tries to get her attention. She snaps at it that she needs to maintain her concentration to do her task when it breaks the news to her: the reinforcements Rex called for have appeared, and there is a Republic star destroyer quickly approaching the planet.
Ventress tells Anakin that he has won this time, and the Separatists fall back from the planet. With that, Rex deems that it is safe to finally disable the deflector shield. Anakin says that he will go recover Ahsoka, but she then finally climbs out of the crevice, telling him that that would not be necessary. She tells him that she had said she could take care of herself, though she could use some medical attention. Anakin tells her to clean herself up while she is at it. Flabbergasted, she asks if he wasn't at least a little worried, and he tells her he had nothing to worry about—she has a good teacher.
==Appearances==
==Notes and references==
Category:Star Wars Comic UK comic stories