She walks through the lowest streets of Coruscant that are as alien to her as the Unknown Regions. She is nestled in the seediest level of the planet's underbelly. Stripped of its luster and wealth, Coruscant is a seething beast, populated by the desperate and the fallen. No one here wants to be here, save for the odd bounty hunter or fugitive. Each soul radiates an individual pain, and all the suffering and resentment and occasional abject fear is overwhelming to Ahsoka, who never had a reason to learn to tune it out. This, in addition to the more physical nausea that comes from constantly breathing in the multi-species variety of body odors is almost enough to make her take a taxi up to the Jedi Temple and beg for the knighthood she refused.
Of course, even if Ahsoka did swallow her pride and crawl back to the Jedi, there's still the possibility that they may see her previous defiance as the dark side's taint on her, and banish her for good. That chance seems just as likely as a scenario in which they welcome her back with open arms… but either way, she is done with the Order. Still, Ahsoka considers herself a Jedi, and she was a student of the so-called Chosen One, so she lifts her chin and projects an air of confidence that allows her to wade through the crowds without fear of attack. She feels untouchable. She feels lost. She feels alone.
Ahsoka has not spoken to Anakin since she left. She sometimes thinks she can feel him through the force, a blot of familiar darkness in the very peripherals of her senses. She worries for him, even though she knows he has his Padme and his Obi-Wan to help him. She has not spoken to Obi-Wan either, or Plo Koon. In fact, she hasn't seen a single Jedi, or a single Sith. Even her one-time partner Ventress hasn't appeared since their last encounter.
She notices him before she sees him. He burns bright in the force, especially amidst the beaten and the half-drugged surrounding them. She sees him the same moment she realizes she is in danger. For a brief moment he is unfamiliar- a red alien covered in tattoos. Then she looks into his malice-filled eyes, and the pieces add up in a split second.
Those marks that resemble Sith tattoos signify him as a Nightbrother, and he is both Nightbrother and Sith. He is Darth Maul of Dathomir, the apprentice from Obi-Wan's stories. The Sith meets her gaze, and a mixture of recognition and bloodlust surge through his force aura. It is somewhat telling that he does not even both to conceal his force signature from her- is she truly regarded as so minor a threat?
He strides towards her, and Ahsoka comes to another realization. Maul has been hunting her, and now he intends to kill her. She does not know why she was targeted, but she has little time to ponder that question. She draws a lightsaber- not hers, but an antique she managed to discover in a mid level pawn shop- and activates the blue blade.
Those on the street alert enough to recognize her lightsaber as a Jedi weapon scatter, and those not alert enough are nevertheless swept along with the crowd. Before a minute has passed, she is alone with a Sith who means to murder her.
But she is Ahsoka Tano, apprentice to Anakin Skywalker, and she resolves to fight. In her empty hand, she takes a long vibroknife from its sheath on her hip and takes up a defensive stance that treats the vibroknife as a shoto. She feels a brief moment of confidence, and then Maul activates his own weapons, and her confidence dissipates like moisture under Tattooines suns. He wields a Sith blade in one hand and an old Jedi-weapon-turned-Mandolorian-trophy in the other.
He attacks like an akk-dog released from its chain, but there is also a dangerous fluidity in his movements that comes from a lifetime of practice. She holds her own for the first few exchanges, and their weapons collide with angry, electric sizzlings. In the end, she is no match for him, and she only manages to get in a few more parries before he knocks her to the ground. Her weapons fly out of her grip, and with a gesture Maul shoves them down the street- too far for Ahsoka to see them, let alone recall them.
The crimson Sith blade makes a slow descent to her neck.
"Wait!" Ahsoka gasps, frantically trying to think of something to say. "I know you! You are Maul!"
To describe the Zabrak as unimpressed would be generous, but his lightsaber halts. The blood-hued blade hovers above her throat, and Ahsoka steels herself. "You… you were the Sith apprentice that… that came back. You conquered Mandalore… but Obi-Wan-" she flinches as the Sith snarls in response to the name, but continues "-he said you had taken your brother as an apprentice. But there are only ever two… and Dooku and the second Sith already occupy the positions of both master and apprentice- don't they?"
The Zabrak examines her, and his expression of cool calculation is somehow more disturbing than his previous vicious rage. "I was cast out," he says slowly, and though his voice remains chillingly calm, his eyes flare with yellow anger. "But now… my old master has need of my services. Sidious wants you dead, Padawan- you are not the only one."
"I'm not a Padawan," she tells him, "I was cast out, too." She pauses, and then makes her final gambit- but it is a powerful gambit, for nothing motivates a Sith more than revenge. "Discarded, as you were. I'll probably be replaced, just like you were replaced by Dooku. The Jedi were willing to sentence me to death… and I'm sure once your tasks are done, this master of yours will have little use for a cyborg assassin such as yourself." She hesitates, and then concludes, "or… you could have your revenge on the man that tossed you aside like you were nothing- and killed your brother." That last bit was the riskiest- like the rest of the Jedi, Ahsoka is not quite sure what befell Savage Opress, except that he was killed by a lightsaber and no Jedi dealt the final blow. But it does seem to add up.
Maul stares at her, and the anger in his eyes has turned to pure hate. Then he shifts his gaze- up towards the distant gleaming towers of the Senate and the Temple, and she realizes it is not directed at her. He looks down at her again, and with draws his blade, but keeps her pinned on the street. "And what do you want?" he asks, almost slyly, "revenge against the Jedi that left you to die?"
Despite her lingering resentment with the Order, Ahsoka does not want revenge against them, but she knows it would probably be best if Maul believes she does. So she summons every drop of fury within her- fury with Barris, who betrayed her; fury with the council, who allowed her to be fed to Tarkin and the Senate to suit their need for a scapegoat; fury with Plo Koon and Kenobi who simply didn't try hard enough to save her- and she takes that fury and lets it seep into her force signature as she lies and says, "yes, I want revenge with the Jedi. And I also want revenge against the Sith." That last bit was at least partially true- she will be more than glad to aid Maul if it means riding the galaxy of the Sith who have been eroding the core of the Republic.
Maul seems pleased with her answer. "I can sense great potential in you; you could make a valuable ally." He moves away from her and reaches out with the force, retrieving both her lightsaber and her vibroknife. He hands them to her, and Ahsoka takes them warily. As she moves to stand, Maul tells her, "I could teach you much, you could become truly powerful if you so desired."
"I am not a replacement for your brother," Ahsoka snaps, suddenly livid, "and I will never be your apprentice." Her anger cools, and she wonders if she has gone too far, but Maul seems only mildly amused.
"You aren't Savage," he agrees. "Though perhaps you will become my apprentice. But that is… irrelevant now."
Indeed it was irrelevant, and they do not discuss it for a long time. In fact, they say almost nothing to each other for almost a week. But after six days, everything has changed- the final plans of the Sith have been put into motion.
Ahsoka is not immediately aware of this. All she knows is that Coruscant is suddenly, briefly, a warzone, and in the resulting mayhem the Chancellor is abducted. Not coincidentally, this is also the day that Maul reveals the identity of the second Sith.
Her first reaction is one of shock. Her second reaction is closer to panic.
"I have to alert the council!" she yells at Maul. "I have to do something. They need to know."
In the few days Ahsoka has known the Sith, she has seen him exhibit few emotions save for rage and an air of menacing patience. Now he regards her with something that is almost pity. "You think they don't already know?" he asks her. "You think they don't at least suspect?" He appears curious. "You have seen him. Didn't you ever suspect, or were you really that foolish?"
His off-handed insult doesn't sting as much as the knowledge that she really didn't suspect. To her, Palpatine was every bit the noble, grandfatherly figure he presented himself to be. Perhaps she thought him a bit standoffish at times, warm to Anakin but cool to others… even vaguely sinister… but certainly not a Sith. The very idea is ludicrous, but somehow… everything seems to make perfect sense.
Maul reads her answer to his question in her horrified expression, and does her the small mercy of only smiling a little. "You really are that naïve, aren't you?" he wonders with a mocking disbelief. "Jedi fool, are you really that blind?"
"Perhaps I was blind," Ahsoka says numbly, "but now I think my vision is finally clear."
He asks, still taunting, "And what do you see?"
"The end of the Jedi Order," Ahsoka replies, and Maul bares his teeth in a feral grin. She continues, "This whole war has been orchestrated from the start, and we are all doomed, aren't we? We have fallen so far…."
Maul's smile disappears. "The Jedi have fallen," he growls, "and so have you- because they kicked you into the dirt. But unlike the Jedi who will be erased from history… you can rise again. As I will."
She is not sure she believes him. She feels everything she once believed collapsing over her, and wonders whether she'll ever be able to crawl back up.
Order 66 comes and Ahsoka has been expecting it. Maul has prepared her for this day; he has told her exactly how it will take place. Ahsoka watches from within the dark confines of an abandoned apartment as newsfeeds outside report Palpatine's propaganda, show images of the 'treacherous' Jedi being cut down by their clone troopers. She wonders if she knows any of the clones by name, she wonders if she has ever laughed with any of them, fought alongside any of them. She really can't tell- clad in their white armor they might as well be the same man. Ahsoka wonders if Jango Fett would be pleased to see his descendants avenge him in such a manner.
Maul vanishes for several hours, and when Ahsoka sees him again he smells of smoke and ash and he gives off the primal joy of a rancor sated from a kill. Ahsoka knows he has witnessed the burning Temple; she is too numb to feel much about that fact except vague gratitude that he doesn't mention it.
It is a week later before she really feels something at all.
He is unmasked and searching, and even without speaking to him she recognizes him as Rex. Surprise and dawning horror rush through her body, and she is frozen for a good minute. She does not run, she is rooted to her place. He is alone at least; she doesn't sense any other clone presences for miles around.
He does not have the aid of the force, but he is a trained soldier and he is cloned from the legendary Jango Fett, and it is not long before he notices her.
She takes out her vibroknife and eyes him warily. "Rex," she greets coldly. She waits for him to response, and her grip on the vibroknife grows tighter and tighter until her knuckles are a pale orange.
"Ahsoka," he replies finally, and his voice is so warm that she blinks back tears. He looks at her weapon and then meets her gaze. "I would never hurt you, Ahsoka," he tells her. "You know that. You know me." He opens his arms and she falls into him, grateful beyond measure to finally have some sense of stability, relieved to have someone besides a sadist to ground her in reality.
She wraps her arms more tightly around his wonderfully familiar form at the same moment his head tumbles from his neck.
She is more surprised by her rage then by the fact that it is Maul who holds the darksaber that decapitated Rex. She draws her lightsaber and attacks him wildly, unthinkingly. She screams that he is a monster and a killer, and when her throat is hoarse he throws her back with a violent telekinetic shove. She lands hard against the ground, and Maul is beside her before she regains her balance.
"You are a fool, Jedi," he says venomously, and unlike all the other times he has called her that, there is no more mockery in his tone. Ahsoka has never seen the Sith more deadly serious. "Look!"
And Ahsoka follows his gaze, and she sees the slender knife that rests in Rex's hand. Her denials catch in her throat, and she swallows hard.
Maul examines her. "Don't you see?" he asks, disgusted. "He meant to kill you."
"I see," Ahsoka tells him, and her voice cracks just a little with both sorrow and anger at this new betrayal.
"But you didn't because you were weak," Maul informs her matter-of-factly. "But I have offered to train you. I can make you strong."
A bit of her old fire creeps back into Ahsoka's words when she returns, "what, make me into a merciless Sith?"
"There is no mercy," Maul spits out bitterly. "Mercy is a delusion for the weak. That trooper would have showed you no mercy."
Ahsoka is not entirely in agreement with him, she never is, but she is shaken by the betrayal of one of her closest friends and so she says with complete honesty, "Fine. Teach me your Sith powers. Make me stronger." Strangely, Maul does not appear quite as pleased as she thought he might. That almost-pity is back, but it is quickly overwhelmed by satisfaction. Ahsoka knows he feels she made the right choice.
It is five whole years before Maul decides they are both strong enough to hope to defeat the ruling Sith. In this time Ahsoka has matured into a dangerous, ruthless woman, while he has mostly remained as she remembers he has always been. The Zabrak rarely calls her by her name anymore, just 'apprentice'. She doesn't really care; but she doesn't think of him as a master, though she does consider him a teacher of sorts. She still thinks of herself as a Jedi, and to his credit he has only half-heartedly tried to banish her of that illusion.
Their plan is relatively straightforward. Ahsoka has embedded herself within the ranks of the growing Rebellion, and she uses her contacts to arrange an 'accident' in the Senate that leaves the Emperor temporarily isolated.
They take advantage of the brief window of time they have to see their plan to fruition and confront the Emperor alone. He laughs at both of them as they circle him, lightsabers drawn. The Emperor reminds Maul how he was so easily beaten before, and he reminds Ahsoka that she is still a disgraced Padawan and nothing more.
That is when the next part of their plan takes effect, and a bomb causes the ceiling of the rotunda to collapse above the Emperor, burying him in the rubble. When he frees himself from the debris he shines with a dark, palpable hatred, but it is not quite enough to make up for his injuries.
Ahsoka is the first to engage the Emperor, but Maul is the one to slice through Palpatine's neck with the onyx blade of Pre Vizsla's favored weapon.
When they fight Vader next, they are not allowed the luxury of fancy explosions and secret Rebel aid. But they are still victorious. Ahsoka ends her old masters wretched, twisted life and thinks to herself Maul was wrong. Mercy is not just for the weak.
They become the new rulers of the Galactic Empire. She is Empress now, and she decides she likes how that sounds.
When she surveys the millions of humans and aliens gathered in Imperial Center to celebrate the new regime- after all, a former Jedi like Ahsoka is not difficult for Imperial propagandists to present as a liberator- Ahsoka finally realizes that she is not a Jedi anymore. She has not been a Jedi for a very long time.
She tells her master- Darth Maul, Emperor of thousands of systems- this, and then says to him, "the Jedi have fallen, master. As have the old Sith. But like you once said, we have risen." She lets out a little laugh, and then smiles, a genuinely happy expression. "We can change the galaxy."
He scrutinizes Ahsoka in the same piercing way he used to observe her when she was younger and he says nothing. But there is no more pity in his gaze, he looks very pleased… and very proud.