AN: This is my first story, and although I do like reviews, I don't really need flames. Also, if you read this tale and dislike it, please give me constructive criticism so I can make it better, or give me nothing at all. I have never seen this type of fanfiction posted so I decided to write it. And for people who have neglected reading the summary, this fanfic is about the character Ahsoka Tano from Star Wars the Clone Wars going back in time to the age of the Old Republic (story based off of the game Star Wars the Old Republic). This story will contain some game spoilers and specifically Ahsoka will be pretty OOC when speaking to other people. R&R- if you do read this. Thank you.

The Cipher and his Slave

Chapter One: Leaving

It felt like it was over for me. The words were like a lightswitch pressed, shutting the light off; a candle poured on by water. The flame was extinguished as I said the words, "I know."

I turned around and walked down the temple's steps, I lost someone else today, again.

As I walked down the durasteel walkways of the Coruscanti Ground Level, I thought about what I'd been through the past few days. My experiences, my troubles, even my hatred. It wasn't the Jedi way, but I wasn't a Jedi, not anymore. Still, I didn't- couldn't -blame them for they'd done to me, as cruel as it was.

Still, what in the name of the Force had I done to deserve this? What did I do? What did I do to anger the Force this badly. It hurt to think about it but I did anyway. The past few days had been hell.

Pain. The day of the bombing.

Suffering. The time I'd walked into the Temple infirmary.

Injustice. When Commander Fox put his pistol up to my head.

Hurt. When my master paced around my prison cell, trying to take everything in.

Heartbreak. When I said, "I know." And left.

Tears started streaming down my cheeks. I walked by an alley, it should've been a nice place to settle down, but it was disgusting. Trash littered almost every part of it. I knew I didn't have much of a choice. I walked into it, picking my way through the junk. Eventually, I found a relatively clean spot and sat down, getting as comfortable as I could against the durasteel wall.

That's when it came. The dominating emotion that I'd been feeling since the trial. It exploded.

Betrayal. When the Temple Sentinels brought in Bariss. That's what I'd felt. It was the epitome of disbelief and betrayal that I'd felt when Anakin walked in with them, a look of pure rage on his face.

Pain.

Suffering.

Injustice.

Hurt.

Heartbreak.

Betrayal.

I couldn't take it anymore, I wanted to curl up in a ball and die. I wanted the pain to stop, to end. It's not like anyone would care all that much. The Temple would forget me, Anakin would find a new Padawan, Master Kenobi would let go, Padmé would be caught up with the senate, and the clones, they'd be okay, sad, but okay. Even Rex. The man that was more loyal than any clone, more unyielding in the face of danger than any Jedi. The man willing to give up his life for others, for me, would let go of the fact that I was never coming back. Never. And if someone somehow did remember me, I would be known to them as the failure, the weakling, the expelled one.

I cried myself to sleep that night, begging the Force to forgive me, to end it all, to wake me from my nightmare.

Morning came around and I woke up, sore from my sleeping arrangements. I didn't feel any better than the day before, worse actually. Both the sky and Coruscant's temperature didn't help either. They matched my feelings precisely. Sad, grey, cold.

All in all a depressing mood and a depressing setting, one perfect for what I was about to do.

The noise of overhead speeder traffic filled my montrals as I walked up to the very edge of the one of the many huge tunnels leading down into the Underworld. It had taken me hours to get there. It was near evening now, but I'd gotten to my destination. The most undesirable place for anyone to be.

I looked over the edge, a true infinite of poverty and despair was waiting for me.

This is what I'd been feeling, ever since last night, ever since my decision. The feeling was worse than helplessness, worse than hopelessness, it was the feeling of total, utterly complete defeat.

I'd never felt it before. I was always feisty and spirited in some way. Cocky, childish, determined. Ready to fight and give it my all. That part of me was gone. I was an empty shell of something that used to be.

It was abrupt, it was meant to keep me from regretting my choice.

I'd jumped, allowing my body to fly to its imminent demise.

The wind rushed past , howling at me as if telling me, no, warning me that I was kriffed. Even abysses have to end somewhere at some point. I never did hit ground, though. I never felt that flash of pain before a sudden death.

What I saw… was a white nothingness. I wondered if the Force had been merciful, if it had given me a painless death.

I was wrong again. This wasn't death or the afterlife. I hadn't become one with the Force like I thought I had. Out of the whiteness came a soft, soothingly monotone voice. It was peaceful, calming, almost like a lullaby. "Are you afraid, young one, insecure, grieving. Well, of course you are, your feelings are radiating off of you. Stormy, turbulent yet dull, all at the same time." The voice was female and it felt almost... good to be around it, like a warm embrace. Something was off about it though, the voice was too kind, something sinister was lurking behind its pure facade. Although this, I was too astounded to fully notice. The first words that I uttered were, "W-where am I?"

The voice answered, "You are in the Void. It is a place… much like Mortis, but different. On Mortis, there is Light, Darkness, and Balance; the Daughter, the Brother, and the Father. In the Void, there is nothing, no peace yet no chaos, no happiness yet no sadness, no hate yet no joy. You have come to the where the Force itself was born."

I shook my head. No, this wasn't real. Just some crazy dream, this just wasn't possible. Maybe I was still asleep in that alley?

What the voice was saying just couldn't happen. But alas, logic took over. You can't dream if you're dead, and I had jumped. The wind against my face was far more tangible than anything in a dream or even a premonition.

Another thought crossed my mind, pushing away the others. It was the fact that I wasn't panicking, or denying what the voice was saying even while my head told me to. I was pliant towards it. I was feeling a certain thing I'd never felt before- docility.

So many new emotions.

"Why am I here?" I asked flatly.

"You are here to change the galaxy's fate. You are here to help trillions upon trillions of sentient beings."

"Um, I think you have the wrong person." I replied with some confusion and slight sarcasm coating my voice. "I'm no hero."

"No, you are not, and that is why you have been brought here. A hero wouldn't be able to do what you are capable of. A man changed the galaxy, without knowing it a few millennia ago. Would you like to see what it lead to, even past the time of the the great Clone Wars?"

Normally, I would've been skeptical, but today obviously wasn't that kind of day. I nodded at the Voice's askance. Wherever it was.

Then I felt a pain flash through my head. I closed my eyes and saw… saw images of the future. The pain and hurt of the galaxy and it's people. The bloodshed and war. A dark, masked man with a red lightsaber.

I gasped. "Wh-what is this." The images disappeared as my eyes flew open.

"What you saw were a series of events starting around a standard year after you jumped into the Coruscant Underworld and ending nearly twenty years later. When the Republic's Clone Army turned on its Jedi generals, was the time your Chancellor, the disguised Lord of the Sith initiated Order 66. When the Jedi younglings died was when your former master turned Sith and lead the march on the Jedi Temple. The hunt for the Jedi was called the Jedi Purge, and the man in the black suit who killed them was your former master, then named Darth Vader,the pe- "

"Shut up!" This was horrid, awful, disgusting. Even the Voice's almost sympathetic way of speaking couldn't placate me.

"Would you like to know who caused this."

"Y-yes, maybe?" I wasn't that certain I wanted to.

"His name was Cipher Nine, of Imperial Intelligence. He lived during the Old Republic era. During the beginning of his hunt for a terrorist leader, he traveled to the planet of Korriban. He met a Sith Lord there and was attacked by her bodyguards for sport. Of course he defeated them, but was left with even less trust for the Empire he served. What he was forced to do before this event and after only cemented his belief that the Sith empire must die. He made decisions that would eventually destroy the Empire, he was killed, but still left his mark. The Republic broke its peace treaty with the Empire and destroyed it, in the end creating this kind of future. If a future like this is to be avoided, you must alter the past." The Voice stated all of this solemnly. "Believe it or not, were the Sith Empire to survive to your present day existence, there would be true balance within the Force."

"How would you alter the past, it's never been done, it can't be done." I said quietly. What the Voice had said made sense, at least now after I'd seen the Order's own corruption. But what it was suggesting wasn't possible. It just kriffing wasn't.

"You forget, the Force is everywhere, in everything, but what has never been taught, to you at least, is that everywhere is a term dealing with things such as time. The Force lives in the present, but it creates the future, and lingers in the past. You will go to the past, change it, or you will be returned to the present and will die the way you had wanted. The choice is yours." The Voice silenced itself.

Thoughts blew through my mind. The future would be horrible if I let things go, but was messing with the past such a good idea? Then again, what did I have to lose. It wasn't like I had a life left in the present. Only a cold durasteel grave. I sighed. Doing this was selfish but it seemed outgoing at the same time. "If you're willing to do this for the galaxy, then I am too." My voice should have been courageous, determined but it came out dully.

The Voice didn't seem to take notice.

"You have made a wise choice, young one, but be wary of your surroundings once you are in Imperial territory. To them, aliens are only meant for use as servants and slaves. You are not a being of power, you are not the Jedi you were, and most of all, you are not an arrogant child." The last part came out venomously. And the Voice was right, I was far too proud as a Padawan. "You are a compliant servant, a quiet, submissive girl, someone meant only to assist. This is only advice, but you should heed these words. Your only goal is to save the galaxy from this horrible future. You must find out how as in the past I am not your guide. I, the verbal embodiment of the Force, am only a spectator. You may look to the Force, but you will never hear from me until you create a new future for the people of your era, therefore, you will hear me in death, your objective completed, or… never again."

Then, the Voice was gone. The whiteness disappeared and was replaced by an inky darkness, the kind visualized during a dreamless sleep. It felt as though hours had passed until finally, the darkness began fading away, revealing a darkened shade of red.

My eyes flew open. I gasped and sputtered as if I'd been holding my breath for a long while. My eyes closed again. The sunlight was intense, wherever I was. Rubbing my eyes to get rid of their burning pain, I tried to sit up. I pushed myself up off the ground and sat down on my knees. I opened my eyes a crack, sunlight still too intense not to squint. What I was looking at was an expanse of orange sand and rock, the Voice's words came back to me-.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a speeder. It whooshed overhead, all in its black and red fury. The speeder didn't continue on it's original course as it passed over me. Instead, it turned around and flew straight back to my location.

"What is that?" I heard a male voice yell as the speeder landed, cutting its engines. The question came from a man wearing red armor. His helmet was unlike any I'd ever seen before.

The pilot stepped out over the side of the vehicle. "I don't know, corporal, but considering that it's an alien, I think it's an escaped slave." This man wasn't wearing a helmet. He wasn't the type of person that needed armor, only respect. His face was severe, hawk like.

A third voice joined them, this one more pleasant. It was a woman. "She is a Togruta. And I doubt that she's a slave, I don't see a collar. The escapees have collars, even if those are deactivated."

"Well then, what the kriff is an alien doing out here, Alara?" Asked the corporal.

"Why don't we go find out." The trio started moving towards me. Only now I noticed the blaster rifles attached to their backs. I struggled to my feet. After my encounter with the Voice in which I'd initially thought was part of a dream, I'd woken up weak and numb. The feeling in my legs was only just returning.

Suddenly, cold, armor plated arms were supporting me. I opened my slitted eyes a little more and saw the trio in front of me. The woman's voice spoke, "Can you walk?"

"Quit helping the alien. It doesn't deserve to-."

The irritable corporal was silenced by the pilot. "Shut it, corporal. It's protocol to help a being unable to function properly. What good is a slave who can't work?"

"Fine, sir, let's help some random alien that should be working on an excavation site."

"Are you asking for a punishment, corporal? I sure as hell can put you on clearing duty, do you want to shoot demented soldiers you once called friends?"

"Sir, corporal, can you two stop bickering. Get the binders from the speeder and find me a datapad. We need to see if this girl's in our database." The two men trudged back to the speeder.

"Now, can you walk?" She asked me.

"I-I think so." I croaked. My throat was so dry. I could barely speak.

"Alright then." She removed something from her belt. My eyes lit up. It was a canteen. "Drink this before those two come back." She handed me the canteen. The water flowing down my throat had never tasted better. I sighed in partial contentment.

"Good, now, I need you to come with me. At the Academy, we'll hand you over to the overseers and they can figure out who you are."

The woman led me back to the speeder where the two men were waiting. One was reading a datapad the other pulling wrist binders from a supply sack.

The woman leaned closer to me and whispered, "Once we reach the Academy, you'll surely be made a slave if you're not one already. If you want a better assignments, be polite and obedient. Anyone who isn't a Sith, you should call sir or ma'am, otherwise, it's master. Make this easier on yourself." The woman stopped whispering as we neared the speeder.

I quietly answered her, realizing what I'd, in a way, signed up for, "Thank you, ma'am."

After snapping binders onto my wrists, the trio stowed me away in the backseat with the woman, and we took off.

The Voice mentioned the planet of Korriban, and from what I knew, it was a Sith stronghold and Academy. And from what the Voice had alluded to was that I would meet this Cipher here- assuming that this was, in fact, Korriban.

That was when the realization came to be that the Force-be-damned planet was a beacon of darkness. The full brunt of that same kriffing darkness smashed through my mental shields.

I grunted, grabbing my head in pain.

"Are you alright?" The woman asked.

As quickly as the pain came, it went. My shallow breaths became steady once again.

"Uh, I-I'm fine, ma'am, just… fine." I sighed as I said it.

Before that one fateful moment, I would've abhorred being a slave. I'd tried it on Zygerria, I wasn't a good actor either.

I wasn't a submissive person in general. But after finally understanding the feeling true defeat, I wasn't like that anymore. I seemed to have lost my spark.

In a way, I felt happy about it. If I'd been sent to the Void as the person I used to be, I wouldn't have been able to keep my mouth shut during the corporal's constant flow of insulting comments.

A small smile snuck its way onto my face. I did still have a few good memories of me and Anakin.

"We'll be arriving at the Academy soon. Are you sure the girl's not in the database?"

The corporal spoke, "Nope. We don't even have Togrutan slaves on Korriban." So we were on Korriban.

"Fine, looks like we have another worker for the mines."

"Sure, like they're gonna put a Togruta to work there. With fine looks like that," The corporal turned his head and looked me over, eyeing those areas in particular, "I bet she'll be a personal slave for one of the Council's Darths."

The two men continued their discussion on who I'd be to the Empire as if both the woman and I weren't there. This was going to be a one Hell of an experience. And not the good kind, I wasn't naive enough to believe otherwise.