So this is a story that's been stuck in my head ever since I first read Glompcat's Edge of the World. It's a slight divergence from the original story as it does contain the Leia from that story. If you haven't read Edge of the World I highly recommend you read that before you read this as it does explain Leia's situation and is simply a fantastic read all around. That said enjoy the story, hopefully I'll have the next chapter up next week.
"Come to me." The Force whispered to Ahsoka, at least she thought it was only the Force. A few days ago she had felt something tugging at her presence. At first she had thought it had been the Leia from the other timeline, but it hadn't felt right. It was something else, someone else calling to her. Every night for the last two weeks the voice had come to her, urging her to come find the source. This time she saw something in her dream, a pair of green-brown eyes the green almost glowing around the pupils. Then she saw a frozen planet, and a pair of Talz ambled past carrying what appeared to be a clodhopper. "Awaken!" The voice shouted at her and she woke with a start, jolting Barris as she did which woke her.
"Ahsoka?" Barris asked gently, sitting up.
Ahsoka turned to Barris, "I'm okay, it was just a strange dream. I think."
"What did you see?" Barris asked gently embracing Ahsoka.
"Nothing at first, just a voice calling to me. Then I saw a snow world and a pair of, what I think were Talz. It could have been nothing, but then the voice sounded like it screamed at me. For me to wake up." Ahsoka answered quietly, unaware she wasn't the only one who had received these visions. There were five others who had received the same vision. One of them had actually been in danger, though Ahsoka couldn't possibly have known that yet. She would find out soon, in only a few hours.
Across the Galaxy in the old Republic base on Orto Plutonia a scarred man sat in quiet meditation as a brutal blizzard blazed around the base. Sighing he opened his eyes and stood up, "Well this is still the most annoying planet I could possibly have gotten myself stuck on." The man said clicking his tongue, "Why couldn't it have been Naboo or Yavin IV?" Kicking the communications console in annoyance, the man dropped next to it. Leaning back against the console the man sighed again, "I hope they actually figure out my message, or someone actually answers me."
Back on Coruscant, Ahsoka had given up on trying to sleep and decided to leave the small temple apartment she shared with Barris. Quietly walking out the door, Ahsoka made her way down to the Meditation Gardens. Just outside the Garden she bumped into Master Windu, who was headed the same way, "Master Windu." Ahsoka greeted bowing.
"Knight Tano. What brings you here this late?" Master Windu asked in a tired voice.
"A vision Master, it wouldn't let me rest." Ahsoka answered honestly as she walked alongside the elder Jedi, "It felt like someone was calling to me."
Mace raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing. The two Jedi walked together for a short time, before parting to find their ways to find their own quiet spots to meditate. Ahsoka found her way to her favorite tree that stood over the pond and sat overlooking the pond. She sat crosslegged, watching the fish in the pond, thinking back to the vision. Mostly the planet she had seen, where in the Galaxy could it have possibly been. That it had been a ice planet wasn't particularly helpful, however the appearance of the Talz was a hint, the only hint as far as she knew. Thinking back on all the ice worlds she could remember. She had gone to a few with Anakin in recent years, she couldn't remember any that had Talz as locals. Sighing Ahsoka closed her eyes and took a deep breath, feeling through the Force for the source of the voice. She sat for hours, searching deep through the Force. She found it surprisingly easily, the moment she touched the source she felt a powerful burst of joy that was suppressed and faded quickly.
"Ahsoka?" the voice asked with a strange amount of underlying hope.
"Who are you?" Ahsoka asked, somewhat confused at what she could feel across the strange bond this voice had formed with her. It wasn't light or dark, yet it felt like both and whomever was at the other end of this was knowledgable enough in the Force to communicate long .
"Come find me, follow your old Master." The voice said, for some reason when Ahsoka heard this she could only imagine a smirk behind the words.
"Anakin knows where you are? Why would he know?" Ahsoka asked, probing for more answers. Unfortunately for her, the being at the other end had suddenly decided to stop answering, leaving Ahsoka frustrated and still searching for answers. Unbeknown to Ahsoka the source of the voice had only stopped directing it's energy towards her and moved on to warn the Padawan, Luke Skywalker. The same Luke that the source of the voice had commanded to wake up earlier. Luke was currently on an assignment on Serenno with Obi-Wan, tracking a sec of the Black Sun that had sprung up and was operating out of Count Dooku's old fortress. The two had been resting on their ship, unaware that the criminals had caught wind of them and snuck onboard their ship. Luke was woken up just before the criminals had sliced the lock on the crew quarters of the ship. The fight that followed had been rather one sided, particularly since Obi-Wan had also woken up and helped with the short fight. The two perfectly lived up to the reputation of the Jedi and not a single criminal was killed, though all of them would wake up with aching bodies as well as case of embarrassment from being rendered unconscious by an old man and some short kid.
The two Jedi had placed the four would be killers in their ship's hold. Luke and Obi-Wan had managed to obtain a Republic cruiser for this particular mission, though how they had managed this was anyone's guess. Particularly since the Jedi where now a truly neutral peacekeeping force, I guess, though that description is up for debate. Luke now sat pondering the planet he had seen as he had been for the last few hours. Finally the image of the frozen planet and the Talz just irritated Luke that he decided to ask Obi-Wan. Luke found Obi-Wan brewing a pot of tea, "Master, just before the Black Sun attacked I had vision."
Obi-Wan turned to look at Luke with a raised eyebrow, "Oh? Can you describe it to me?"
"Not all of it, so much happened after I woke up I only vaguely remember seeing an ice planet and a pair of Talz." Luke said bringing down a pair of cups for the tea.
"Talz? Hmm… That sounds like Orto Plutonia, as far as I know no-one has been out there since the Clone Wars." Obi-Wan said calmly pouring tea for both himself and Luke. Obi-Wan placed the tea pot back into it's place on the stove, clicking it into place.
"Master I think someone needs our help, someone stranded on Orto Plutonia." Luke said giving Obi-Wan a strangely pleading look.
"We can investigate, but only after we've completed our task here. Keep your mind in the here and now Luke, we still have a job to do." Obi-Wan said before taking a sip of his tea, still standing.
"Yes master." Luke said sipping his tea and bowing his head slightly.
"Now, we have a prisoner to interrogate." Obi-Wan said striding out the small kitchen area. Luke gulped down his tea and placed the cup back on the counter. He strode quickly after Obi-Wan.
On Coruscant in the apartments of the Supreme Chancellor, Anakin Skywalker paced the lounge puzzling out the same vision that everyone else had had. Though Anakin was trying purely to remember which frozen rock he had seen, in recent years he had ended up on more then his fair share of ice planets, most horrible to spend more then an hour on. Though frankly the true worst ice planet was Hoth, sighing Anakin dropped heavily on the couch. Sensing someone else in the room Anakin looked up to see Leia standing somewhat awkwardly at the kitchen door, holding a handful of blumfruit, she appeared to be chewing on one as well.
"It's too early for a snack isn't it?" Anakin asked the young lady who both was and wasn't his daughter, "I thought you were going to be living with Ahsoka and Barris."
"I couldn't sleep, something kept waking me up." Leia said after swallowing the berry in her mouth.
"You too?" Anakin asked raising an eyebrow. Leia just nodded, quietly sitting across from Anakin. Which saddened him, his Leia would have come to him and told him exactly what was bothering her. "Did you have a vision?"
"No, just a strange dream." Leia answered, shaking her head.
Going on a hunch Anakin decided to ask, "Where you also commanded to wake up?"
"Yes… What do you mean also?" Leia asked looking up at Anakin.
"I was commanded to wake up after seeing a frozen planet." Anakin replied watching Leia's face closely as he did. Her eyes widened in surprise when Anakin mentioned the frozen planet.
"I did too." Leia said. "It looked like Orto Plutonia, I remember hearing a story about a Rebel Cell that hid there for a few years in an old Republic base."
"Orto Plutonia? We were there once during the War, but that was a long time ago." Anakin said shaking his head, "I don't think anyone beyond the Talz go there."
"What if it's someone else from my universe?" Leia asked.
Anakin gave Leia a contemplative look, "Let's go check it out." Anakin grinned at Leia.
"What?" Leia said just before placing another blumfruit into her mouth.
"Let's go see what's on Orto Plutonia, what do you say?" Anakin said excitedly.
"You can do that?" Leia asked incredulously.
"Who's going to stop me?" Anakin said with a wink, leaping to his feet. He grabbed Leia and pulled her to her feet, "Come on!" He practically shouted over his shoulder as he ran towards the elevator, before skidding to a halt and spinning on his heel. He ran back to the bedroom he shared with Padmé and slipped in, leaving Leia standing in the middle of the lounge rather bewildered.
Gently shaking Padmé, Anakin woke her up and softly whispered, "Padmé, I'm going off world for a few days. The Force seems to be guiding me somewhere."
Padmé sleepily looked up at her overexcited husband, "Ani, couldn't you wait until morning?"
"I can't, this call is far too strong. I'm leaving in about ten minutes." Anakin said softly, Padmé reached up and pulled Anakin down giving him a passionate kiss before he left. Anakin ran out the room, grabbing Leia again as he passed her, dragging her with him.
Ahsoka found herself in the temple hanger after meditating in the Meditation Garden for roughly two hours. She stood in front of her ship looking up at it, contemplating her vision.
"Ahsoka!" A familiar voice called from behind her, Ahsoka turned to see Anakin and Leia approaching. Anakin appeared to be dragging Leia, and in somewhat of a rush. Leia looked a bit bewildered and annoyed. Anakin came to a halt in front of Ahsoka, "Snips, what are you doing here?"
"Thinking, I guess." Ahsoka answered, "Shouldn't you be at home this early?"
"I was, but I had a vision that refused to let me sleep." Anakin said shrugging.
"You too?" Ahsoka asked in surprise, "Well that explains a lot."
Anakin raised an eyebrow, but chose to ignore the last part of her, from Anakin's perspective, inane ramblings, "Ice planet, a voice asking you to find them?"
"Yeah, I take it that was what kept you awake?" Ahsoka said.
"Among other things." Anakin's answered waving a hand, "I think the source is on Orto Plutonia."
"The one the Pantorans wanted to control?" Ahsoka asked, frowning.
"That's the one!" Anakin said, "Want to come along?"
"What do you think Skyguy?" Ahsoka asked in a deadpan voice. Anakin just laughed and gestured for Ahsoka to follow him to his private pet project, a HWK-290 freighter. Leia stared up at the ship in some confusion, it looked almost identical to some of the bombers and troop carriers she had seen in the Rebellion. It even had some similar modifications, including what looked like ion cannons on the wings. Anakin lead the two girls onto the freighter, quickly slipping into the pilot's seat, Ahsoka and Leia sat behind him in what appeared to be purely comfort based passenger seats.
"When did you get time to work on this old thing?" Ahsoka asked as she strapped in. Anakin didn't answer for a moment, finishing his preflight checks. Gunning the engine, Anakin expertly flew the sleekly shaped ship out the Temple hanger. Moments later the HWK-290 was leaving the pull of Coruscant's gravity, Anakin set the ship to cruse as the Navicomp finished calculating the their jump.
"I used most of my spare time alone repairing and upgrading this baby. The Azure Angel could outrun any ship you can name." Anakin said grinning back at his traveling companions, "I plan to take her on the Dragon Void Run, once she's up to my standards."
Ahsoka rolled her eyes at her former master's proclamation, Leia simply ignored it, groaning at the prospect of being stuck with her birth father for the entire journey out to Orto Plutonia. Admittedly the presence of Ahsoka did help. From a pouch on her belt Leia could hear her Kyber crystal hum contentedly. Anakin spun back to the controls and slowly pulled back on the back on the hyper space levers. The small freighter lurched slightly as the starts turned into streaks outside the viewport.
The trip to Orto Plutonia was uneventful, so when Anakin brought the Azure Angel in to land outside the old Republic base Leia was ready to do something. Thankfully when they landed it was a clear day with no storm in sight, a few moments later the freighter Luke and Obi-Wan had conned out of the Jedi Council came in for a landing above them. The moment the ship flew overhead Leia felt Luke's presence feeling out for her before sending a feeling of surprise across their bond, he definitely didn't expect her presence or that of their shared biological father.
"Why are they here…" Anakin started to ask before stopping, finally the presence of the one who had called them cross the galaxy was making his presence known. Everyone except Obi-Wan felt an unexplainable bond forced open with the being who had called them. Everyone, with the exception of Leia, threw up mental shields. Slightly panicking at the strangeness of the presence, it didn't feel warm or bright as a Jedi would or as cold and Dark as a Sith, more somewhere dead center between. Leia was left somewhat stunned as the presence almost overwhelmed her. Though it didn't last long, only a few seconds, the presence seemed to realise what it was doing to Leia and stopped receding quickly. Looking around her she found both Ahsoka and Anakin worriedly examining her.
"I'm fine." She said waving them off and getting to her feet, "I need a blaster. I've got an odd feeling about this."
Anakin blinked and opened his mouth to say something, but seemed to decide against it, simply pointing to a small cabinet near the boarding ramp. Leia stumbled to it, shaking her head to try and rid herself of the strange feeling at the base of her skull. Opening the cabinet she found a pair of ELG-3A Diplomat blasters as well as a single DL-44. Leia reached in and took the DL-44 and one of the Diplomat blasters. Sufficiently armed Leia looked around to find both Ahsoka and Anakin wearing thick clothing as a buffer for the frozen weather outside the ship. Anakin held out a set that Leia instantly assumed was meant for the Leia who belonged in this universe. Sighing in frustration Leia accepted the clothing, as much as she didn't want to use anything that may cause someone to mistake her for the other version of herself, there wasn't any other cold weather clothing available. Leia changed as quickly as possible.
Once Leia finished changing she followed Anakin and Ahsoka off the ship, finding Luke and Obi-Wan waiting for them at the base of the Azure Angel's boarding ramp.
"Anakin? I have a few questions regarding that ship, but they can wait until after we've investigated the presence that brought us here." Obi-Wan commented dryly. Luke stood quietly next to Obi-Wan and just stared at Leia. Leia mirrored him, staring at the man who was, but wasn't Luke. Not her Luke at any rate. This Luke had short hair, with a long braid trailing down onto his chest. Several coloured bands decorated the braided hair.
Before either Luke or Leia could say anything Anakin spoke, "What brought you two here?"
"I had a vision." Luke said, his voice still sounding strange to Leia, "Someone or something called me here."
"You too, Obi-Wan?" Ahsoka asked looking at the old Jedi.
Obi-Wan shook his head, "No. It is curious that you also had this vision."
"It's a bit more complicated then that, it wasn't only me. From what I can tell both Leia and Ahsoka had the same vision I did." Anakin said frowning, "A vision that lead us here."
"Curious… I would have said whatever cause this vision was looking for your family, but Ahsoka somewhat throws that theory." Obi-Wan said scratching his beard, he looked at Leia and shook his head, "Adding onto that, this isn't our Leia. Which reminds me, I'm being frightfully rude." Obi-Wan turned to Leia, "Hello again my dear, it is always a pleasure to see you."
"Likewise General Kenobi." Leia said inclining her head towards the Jedi Master.
"I haven't been a general in a long time, my dear." Obi-Wan said with a small smile, "Now, let's see if we can't find the source of that vision, shall we?"
Anakin nodded and the small group made their way into the old Outpost, as they entered they heard a melancholic tune play. The closer to the command hub the got the more powerful the presence of the being who had called them there became. It didn't feel right, nothing like a Jedi, the closest thing they could compare it to would be a Sith, but that wasn't even close to right though. The feeling was strange, the Force felt conflicted and yet at peace. The closer they got to the command room the louder the music got. As they approached the door to the command centre they found a purple light shining out, though they had no idea what the cause could have been, at least until they entered and found a man going through several Lightsaber Kata's. Very specific katas, they appeared to be from form VII, Juyo or at least it appeared to be. The man stopped the moment they entered the room. He was wearing a strange combination of armour and Jedi robes, all the armour was almost purely on his arms and legs. Though long tails extended from under his belt to just below his knees, almost the same as the armour that Anakin once wore. The most noticeable features on his face were the scars that all seemed to lace past or through his eyes. The one over his right eye looked eerily like the one over Anakin's.
"Finally! You took your damn time!" The man said with a grin, said grin vanished when everyone else's lightsaber's ignited. "What, really?" He flicked his blade into a defensive Soresu stance.
"Who are you?" Anakin voiced the thought on everyone's minds.
The man looked at everyone's faces, though he seemed to avoid Ahsoka for a reason no-one could fathom. The light from his lightsaber illuminating his scarred face, "I'm an outsider, someone who never existed here. I…" He was cut off when Leia fired at him, a rather rash choice, even if he battered the blast away with ease. He then reacted on an instinct that seemed deeply ingrained into him and he yanked the blaster from Leia's hand with the Force, cutting the ELG-3A in half. The man sighed the moment the two halves hit the floor, as everyone trained in lightsaber combat leapt forward at the man. "Ah… Shit."
He flipped backward over the control board behind him, barely managing to avoid four lightsaber blades. Clicking his tongue he thrust his hand out towards Luke, using the Force to throw him across the room into a wall, just hard enough to daze him. Leia ran to Luke to make sure he was okay, but the other three continued to go after the man. They charged the man, attacking as a well practiced team. Each member attacking the man from a different angle, however then man seemed to know every move they would use against him. The man seemed to be making sure that the three Jedi couldn't find their respective rhythms within the fight. Using the force to throw objects at Obi-Wan and Ahsoka every time they got close, drawing Anakin away from his friends.
I'd love to hear your thoughts so please review.