Ahsoka: The Chronicles Of Jem II
Chapter 1
The Jedi are all but extinct. The Empire is now in its third year of its uprising. The galaxy felt dark and lost. The war itself had come to a halt, but not for the better. The few who survived order 66 would face a new challenge.
Ahsoka peeked through the leaves of a zyfat tree that she used to hide herself. She slowly lifted the leaves away from the hole she basically lived in. She crawled out of her hole and brushed herself off. She glanced around her to make sure the cost was clear to begin her daily routine of scouting for whatever she could find for food. She knew she could go into town to potentially smuggle some if she absolutely needed to. She remembered her old boyfriend Nyx Okami and the few things that he taught her despite the fact that she didn't agree with his methods, but this would be to keep herself alive, she thought. She began heading in the direction of Sen Baron which was the closest town to her living hole checking her shoulder the for the first few steps. Then she stopped, she figured there would still be some imperial troops looking for a 20 year old Togruta in the area. From where she stood, she was close enough to hear the storm troopers harassing the towns people. It pained her to hear it as she could never ignore someone in need of help. She needed to do something but she felt powerless with the loss of her lightsabers. She looked up at the sky and thought about Anakin and Barriss and how that whole incident played out. She had thought about that almost everyday since she walked away from the order. She shook her head to get herself refocused on finding food. It had been almost two days since she had a good meal, she was already thin enough.
She walked up to the large body of water that was at the halfway point between the hole and Sen Baron. She bent down and cupped a handful of water and drank some. Then she splashed her face with the hope that it would put her mind at ease and give her a bit of a reality check. 'This is even worse than the living conditions on lever 1313.' She thought. Her energy was almost depleted. She stood up with her head held high and determined to get what she needed to get herself back in shape. The planet Minska didn't offer much for pay but the people who lived there weren't bound by much tax, at least for the moment. The Empire didn't have much say in matters on Minska since there was a different order of things here, the only problem with this order of law; it was weaker than the Empire and would be overruled sooner rather than later. Ahsoka pondered that for a moment and just wondered how long she would be able to keep herself hidden. She was still standing by the lake as she began to hear storm troopers getting closer to her. Her heart began beating faster. She could tell they were heading her way. Before she knew it they were right in front of her.
"There! Is that her?" One asked pointing in her direction. She didn't hear anyone answer, only a blaster shot in her direction. It missed her and she quickly turned the other direction to run back towards her hiding hole. A few more shots fired at her. They were on speeders but due to the amount of large trees in this area, they couldn't move too fast. Which was good because neither could Ahsoka. She ducked behind a tree and prepared herself for the worst. As a trooper was about to pass by her position she was able to use the force to push him off his speeder bike. She jumped onto it while it was in motion and was able to turn it to the other direction before it was able to slam into a tree. She was heading straight towards the other troopers and she began firing at them. She hit two of them but missed the third and fourth. She knew the terrain of this area well enough that she could drive a lot faster. She sped on past the remaining troopers who at this point were trying to get turned around to finish the chase. She dodged tree after tree; she took a glance behind her and didn't see any troopers at the time. She kept on driving and shortly they found her again, shooting at her left and right.
"Ha!" Ahsoka chuckled; "Just another typical day for Ahsoka Tano!" She stated to herself sarcastically. She slowed the bike down a little as to let the troopers catch up to her. She had a plan. This time her bike was going to smack into a tree.
The troopers were gaining on her and she slowed down even more. "Just a little closer fellas." She said to herself slowing the bike down even more. She saw a tree dead ahead and she was preparing to leap off of the bike. As she approached the tree the troopers started firing at her again. Then she jumped up off of the bike and grabbed a tree branch and swung herself into the tree and was sitting on the branch when she saw her bike crash with a fair explosion into another tree, all this happening as the troopers passed her bikes explosion. It sent them flying off of their bikes. One bike hit another tree but the other bike managed to come to a complete stop. The trooper was laying a few feet away and Ahsoka managed to hop on that bike and take off through the forest leaving both troopers behind her. "Great! Now they are blocking my way back home." She mentioned to herself. But at least now she could make it to town and hopefully there weren't any troopers still town.
She came out of the forest and onto the main road that lead right into Sen Baron. She pulled up behind a building as not to be detected. She walked into an ally way to scout for troopers. There weren't any but she saw her face stuck to every power station and pole in town. She knew that even though the Empire had little power in this system, she knew the people were smart enough to know what the Empire would pay for a wanted Togruta; or anyone really. She looked around the ally for anything she could use to disguise herself. She resorted to rolling around in a mud put in order to take most of the interest off of her. Her montrels still could give her away so she was extra careful to get them as disguised as she could. She walked out from the ally way which was in between a mechanic shop and a rough cantina that she dared not go in.
As she walked through town, she heard all sorts of unpleasant noises from the droids, ships and inhabitants doing whatever it is they did. She walked up to a stand that had some of the better food that there was to offer but she didn't have any money.
"Well!" Yelled a crusty voice from a native from inside the stand. "Ya gonna get any food or not!" The voice yelled again.
It startled her at first, then she walked up closer to the stand. "Oh, um, yes; I'll take two of these and three of these." Ahsoka said pointing at a few items on the menu list.
The native put the items on the counter and held out his hand for his money. Ahsoka froze. She was never getting past this guy. He was watching her with all that his one good eye could. Ahsoka looked up at him with a little bit of fear in her eyes.
"You don't have any money do you?" he said with anger in his voice.
Ahsoka shrugged, "Um…" pretty soon she was interrupted by a loud ship landing at a dock along the town square. Ahsoka looked behind her to make sure it wasn't more imperials, which it wasn't and so she ignored the ship for the time being.
"For goodness sake! What's it gonna take to keep those guys from coming back here?" the clerk asked in a low grumbly voice as he walked away from the front counter and went out the side door to confront the people on the ship that just landed.
Ahsoka quickly scooped up the rations and ran to hide behind a bank which was right next to the food stand. She immediately began eating what she had. It wasn't nearly enough to get her the energy she needed to escape more storm troopers, or even deal with the natives of the town. She could hear the clerk from the stand yelling at the guys on the ship.
"Hey! What did we tell ya would happen to ya if ya came back here?" The clerk yelled shaking his fist.
A guy about 24 years of age walked off the ship. "Ahh Mr. Chavo, its always good to see ya my friend. But last time I checked, you owed me for getting your old speeder out of that bog pit." The guy said as he gave a half grin smile and the clerk. "I'll tell ya what, you let me trade the game I caught and I'll forget that payment you owe me, deal?"
The clerk looked up at the man and turned around and went back to his stand. He didn't even bat his eye at the fact that Ahsoka had stolen the food.
It had been awhile since Ahsoka saw a human, aside from the storm troopers. And the thought of eating freshly caught game just made her more hungry. So she slowly approached the ship. She was not the first in line. A few Minskins beat her to it. She could hear the man speaking to the Minskins in front of her but she couldn't make out what he was saying. She knew this guy had to be a trader of some kind but she had nothing to trade. But she was desperate at this moment. She finally made her way to the front of the line.
"Well hello there!" The man said.
"I only have this one snare stick to trade." Ahsoka said as she held her last bit of food up to the man.
The man walked towards her a little more. "Is that so?" He said as he took the food out of Ahsoka's muddy hand. He looked it over a few times then spoke. "Now what would I want with a muddy snare stick?" He asked knowing she had nothing else.
Ahsoka looked down at the ground realizing the low she sunk to. "I haven't eaten in three days. If you were a decent person…" She stopped and realized what she was about to say. "Not there are any decent persons around Sen Baron." She remarked.
"Heh heh." He chuckled lightheartedly. "You got that right little lady." He agreed. "But still, say I wasn't a decent person, why would I give you my hard earned kills for a lousy snare stick?" He asked trying to get her to grovel to him.
She looked up at him and narrowed her eyes. "Buddy, you have no idea what I've been through do you." Ahsoka explained.
He put his hand gently on her cheek and looked at a power box next to his ship that had a picture of Ahsoka's face on it. "Oh, I can only imagine what you've been through." He stated as he wiped some of the mud off her face. "Togruta! You're the one they're after!" He declared quietly.
Ahsoka pushed him back into the ship and shushed him. She was hoping that with him out hunting, he might not know. "Please, don't make a big scene about it. I promise I'm not guilty of any crimes." She assured him.
"Oh please, I have no interest in collecting on a bounty. I'm a hunter." He stated but he wasn't looking at her.
Soon enough she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her. They held her so tight she could barely breath. And she certainly couldn't move her arms. The man stood to his feet. "Okay Borra, let her go, I don't think she's a threat to us. Or at least she better not be." He said looking at her intently.
Borra released her and she gasped for air. "What was that for?" She asked angrily.
"Sorry, sometimes he knows not what he does." The man said referring to Borra.
Borra was a species known as Grophi from the world of Kindoo. Borra was about 6' tall with pale white skin, bald head, red eyes, and muscles.
"Surely you've dealt with Graphis before eh miss?" said the man.
"I've never had the pleasure." Ahsoka said still coughing after Borra nearly crushed her.
"Heh, and you say you've been through a lot." The man said sarcastically. "Borra, seal up the ship and let's get back." The man demanded.
"Now, I don't know you and you don't know me." The man pulled a blaster on her but had no intention of shooting her. He sat down in a bolted down chair. "So, Togruta, let's talk. You want me to save your skin for a snare stick you better tell me just why the Empire is out looking for you."
"I never said I needed saving!" Ahsoka said with frustration.
Borra started lightly laughing.
"What's he laughing at? I'm serious!" Ahsoka stated.
The man got up out of the chair and walked over to her. "Hun, I can see your ribs and you were covered in mud, I have a hard time believing that you were living anywhere near the life of luxury."
Ahsoka sat quietly for a moment. The man was staring down at her and she sat on the floor. Then she finally muttered to herself, "I used to live a life of luxury."
"Well we all did before this Empire stuff started didn't we." He looked over to Borra.
"Can…I…. please have some food? I promise I will explain myself to you after I get some food." Ahsoka assured him. This was the first time she'd been vulnerable in years.
The man nodded to Borra. And then he went to fire up the engines. "Borra will fix you something." He said as he headed toward the cock pit.
Ahsoka got up and followed him. "Wait a minute! What exactly is your name?" She asked him.
He stopped and turned towards her. "It's Jem Baxel. Now please, go sit in there so I can keep an eye on you. I don't want to end up another murder story for this mysterious Togruta." He grinned and pointed back into the comfort quarters. And he fired up the ship and they began to take off.
Ahsoka was sitting at a table in the comfort quarters of the ship when Borra finally brought her some cooked game. She sat up and began eating. Soon after, Jem walked in and sat in the seat across from her. "So!" he said. "Let's hear that story." He demanded.
At first she was very hesitant. "You're not affiliated with the Empire are you?" she asked him trying to stall as long as she could. She wasn't sure how he would take her telling him about the whole Jedi thing.
"Trust me hun, I'm my own person and am completely opposite the Empire. Infact I'm in a small group of people who are working to fight back against them. Well, sort of, I hunt for this group." He was baffled that she was able to get him to tell her his story instead of her telling him hers. "Now Togruta, yours, let's here it!" Jem demanded.
"If you hunt for this group, why were you trading away your game to the people in Sen Baron?" Ahsoka asked.
"For money that our group needs for supplies." He stated brashly. "Come on now lady."
Ahsoka looked at her food. She had no idea how much the Empire would pay if he did decide to turn her in for being a Jedi. "I…I…I wa…" she took a deep breath. "I was a Jedi during the extent of the war." She couldn't believe she let it out.
"Yeah that's what I thought. You're nothing but a criminal. I ought to turn you in to the Empire for lying to us. I try to do a kind thing for you and you lie to me." Jem angrily stood to his feet and walked over to the table removing the food from the table and he started walking out to the disposal.
"Hey! I wasn't done with that!" She remarked.
"You are now." He fired back. He came back to the quarters. Borra we're dropping her off at the next system."
Ahsoka quickly piped up, "Wait! I'm serious! I really was a Jedi until…" She stopped and thought about Barriss; "Until a fellow padawan and my best friend framed me for bombing the temple." She said sadly.
Jem was beginning to believe her based on the look on her face. "Seriously? Where are your lightsabers? How did you survive the execute order? Can you use the force?" The amount of questions he could have had was endless but he stopped there.
She looked up at him with her eyes watery. She began to explain about what happened to her lightsabers and how she survived the order during the Siege of Mandalor. "To the rest of the universe, I didn't survive the execute order. I along with my clone captain faked our deaths. At least I hope his death is still faked, I haven't seen him since."
She flashed back as she told him the story about her and Rex on Mandalor.
"Commander, execute order 66!" Emperor Palpatine declared.
The clone commander that was assigned to Ahsoka and her captain Rex replied to Palpatine. "It will be done sir." With that, he alerted the rest of the clones that were assigned to Ahsoka and they all turned to face her and held their blasters on her.
"Sorry Miss Tano; you are now a trader to the Republic." One clone said.
Ahsoka was prepared to use the force as best as she could to block the fire since she still didn't have lightsabers. But Rex jumped in front of Ahsoka.
"Stand down soldier!" He demanded.
"Sorry sir. I have orders from the Emperor himself. If you won't comply, then you will also go with her."
"Look fellas, you can do whatever you want to me, but you won't dare touch her." Rex stated.
Ahsoka put her hand on Rex's shoulder. "Come on Rex, we have to get out of here." She warned. And they both turned to run the other direction. The other clones started firing on them both. Ahsoka hopped onto a speeder bike that was being used during the siege and picked Rex hopped on the back and they took off. The other clones also had speeder bikes and they did follow them. They were firing on them but missing them with every shot.
"Any ideas on how we are going to escape from them?" Rex asked.
Ahsoka looked from side to side while guiding the bike. "Umm, don't worry, Ive always got something in mind." She assured him. "I hope." She steered the bike and was heading for a thick tree line. "On the count of three!" She declared.
"On the count of three what?" Rex asked.
"You'll see!" She shouted. "Three…two…one." And she did a backflip off the bike and grabbed Rex and pulled him off of the bike. They both bounced and landed in the snow and rolled a few times. Then a few yards away, they saw the bike crash into a tree and explode. "Now, we make ourselves scarce." She said as they took off running.
They ran for several minutes, until the sound of laser fire from the other speeder bikes were no longer in ear shot. They both stopped to catch their breath.
"To the rest of the world, we are now dead." Rex told Ahsoka.
"As long as we don't get caught." She responded. "We must make our deaths look more official once we get off of Mandalor."
Then Ahsoka flashed back into the current time.
Jem sat back in his seat and was absolutely stunned. "Wow, that's a lot to take in. I hope your clone captain is still alive somewhere." Jem said with the most sincerity.
Ahsoka looked up at him with her eyes a little watery and managed to push out a smile towards him. "I like to believe he is still out there somewhere. I'm just not sure where to find him, or even where to begin looking."
Jem stood up and looked down at her and smiled at her. "That's a lot for someone your age to go through in such a short amount of time." He said to her as he began to walk out of the living quarters.
"Wait! How do you know about order 66?" Ahsoka asked Jem.
Jem turned around and sat back down. "Well, let's just say I was close to a young Jedi padawan not much older than you. She actually helped me acquire this vessel here. She unfortunately was killed by her master's clone troopers when the order was issued. My crew and I tried to keep them from killing her, it's actually how my brother, Corry, died as well." Jem told her. This was certainly a moment that the two shared and had in common. The Jedi meant something to both of them and they both lost the Jedi in painful ways.
The two of them sat in quiet for a moment, then Jem stood up and headed for the cockpit to talk to Borra who was flying the ship.
"We got ourselves a Jedi!" Jem mentioned to him with a bit of sympathy.
Borra just looked at him like he was crazy.
"Hey keep your eyes on the stars, you know our autopilot doesn't work anymore." Jem stated.
Shortly after their conversation two imperial star destroyers appeared right behind them. The ship shook as the star destroyers pulled out of light speed right above them. Ahsoka balanced herself.
"What could they want with us?" Jem asked Borra. And Borra just shrugged his shoulders. "It was a rhetorical question goofball."
Ahsoka burst into the cockpit; "It's the Empire!"
Jem turned to look at her. "Yeah, we're aware of that, we can't exactly let them know you're here." Jem stated.
"Well, how fast can this thing go?" Ahsoka asked.
"Not very. We'll have to hope they don't scan us, afterall this is not an imperial ship at all." Jem said. "Give me a second, I have to get our cannon assembled." Jem stated as he walked out of the cockpit.
"What! You're going to try and fight two star destroyers!" Ahsoka chimed in.
"Well we can't exactly cover you with mud and hope they don't recognize you." Jem said sarcastically.
Ahsoka looked around her at the filthiness of the ship. "Well actually;" she stopped, mocking the ship.
"Hey, don't go mocking this ship. This is a hunting vessel and besides, all of this mess over here, is all Borra's." Jem mentioned as he walked over to the underside compartment.
Ahsoka glared at Jem and rolled her eyes. "Sure." She hopped into the copilots seat and began giving Borra orders on how to maneuver around the star destroyers. "Nose dive!" she declared. As she gave order, Borra followed. Much to their surprise the destroyers started firing at the ship. They had no idea why the Empire would fire at a random hunting vessel. Ahsoka could sense the laser fire and was able to guide Borra side to side, up and down even the speed of the ship. Ahsoka instructed Borra to turn and face the imperial ships. "GO FOR IT!" She called as the large ships closed in on them. And Borra gave the ship all he could give it. And they quickly sped through in between the ships. "Borra! Can you activate light speed?"
Borra grunted at her to pull the stabilizer lever down but she couldn't understand his grunting. Ahsoka just looked around confused and then back at Borra and she shrugged her shoulders.
"What? I don't understand."
Borra grunted and pointed at the stabilizer lever and he was getting impatient.
Ahsoka realized what he was trying to tell her. "Ahh I see now. Got it buddy!" she pulled the lever and off they went into light speed.
Shortly after, Jem came into the cockpit with the canon parts that needed to be assembled. "I need a wrench Borra, where did you leave it last?" soon he stopped when he realized they were in light speed. He looked at Borra and the glanced at Ahsoka who was still sitting in the co pilot seat. "Hey now what's going on here? Borra, take us out of light speed!" Jem demanded. He glared at Ahsoka and his eyes indicated he wanted an explanation. But she said nothing. "So, we out ran them then?" Jem said affirming.
"Well, we're not dead or in the hands of the Empire so I'd say, yep, we're good for now." Ahsoka declared sarcastically.
"Borra, give us a minute." Jem suggested. Borra got up and left the controls in Jem's hands for the moment. Jem sat down in the pilot position next to Ahsoka and she got up to go back out to the quarters to finish her food. "Hey! That must have been some impressive flying for me to not notice. How did you do that?" Jem asked her.
As she was walking away she smiled and said; "Oh, I'm a better pilot then you I guess." And with that she exited the cockpit. Jem smiled and shook his head.