"Do you have any questions?" Ahsoka looked out at her squadron. They had been on many daring missions before, but no one had ever boarded Darth Vader's ship and left alive. She had grown tired of watching everyone around her die. There was once a time when she was young and looked forward to battle, but now her heart was weary and her feet heavy in her boors. As she looked at the faces of her team, she could not help but see similarities between people she once knew. The names of everyone that had been laid to rest went through her mind.
She never showed this weakness to her team, though. Tall and proud, Ahsoka was the model rebellion leader. The future of the galaxy was riding on this mission to take capture the ship. They hoped to extract information from those aboard about the Emperor's location and specifications of his fleet. With Vader defeated, it would be that much easier to take down his Master and end the oppression.
No one raised any questions, so Ahsoka released them to begin immediate preparations to board. Another team was going to create a distraction that would allow them to sneak on, and from there they would go straight to the command center. As long as they could draw the bulk of the forces away from her team, the plan would have a chance of success.
She gave the word to begin the distraction as she and her team waited in the hanger.
"Excuse me, Commander, but do you really think we can overtake him?" Ahsoka turned to see the newest member of her squadron wringing his hands.
She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I do not doubt that we will. We must have faith in each other." Her comlink beeped. "Commander, it is time. Don't fail us now!"
"We won't, I promise you." She replied. "Hey, kid, we got this." She grinned and hopped in her ship.
"Lion squadron, are you ready?" They all checked in rapidly and fell in behind Ahsoka as she took off into space.
"Fighters incoming on your left!" Zeta said.
"I see them. Do not engage if you do not have to. Evade them and focus on docking."
"Yes, sir!"
"Follow my lead." Ahsoka spun in circles to avoid the fighters and made it next to the Imperial ship.
"I'm hit!" She looked in time to see her friend's ship get hit and explode. The pain she felt through the force when someone died had not become easier to bear, though she had felt it hundreds of times before. Each live was precious to her. She cursed under her breath.
"Press on. Is anyone else hit?"
"No, we are all okay." Aneele replied. "We are right behind you, Commander."
The distraction had worked and they were able to get aboard the ship. This turned out to be the easy part of the battle. They were immediately engaged by dozens of troops from every side. The cruiser was full of security cams that monitored every hallway and alerted the troops when there was an intruder.
"C-12, get those security monitors offline and make sure no alert goes out." He beeped in response and rolled off to do his job.
She sprung forward toward the first wave of soldiers, killing them easily. She cleared the way for her men, but as they reached the first corridor, a scream came from behind the hanger. The Force shook with his death. Ahsoka pressed onwards, but her gaze had become a little more sinister, and her heart a little more closed. The war ha gone on for far too long, far too many people had been robbed of living a true life.
More troopers were around the next corner, but Ahsoka threw a grenade to take care of the bulk of them. Her focus on what was around the corner, however, clouded her vision. A group of 5 elite men jumped from the ceiling. They each put one of her men into a head lock and disposed of them by snapping their necks. The air was knocked from her lungs. Thoughts raced in her head faster than any speeder as she began to cry and scream. In flurry like no other, she killed the 5 troops.
Her com beeped. "Come in, Ahsoka."
It took her a moment to regain her composition. Nothing felt real.
"I'm here. What is it?"
The connection was full of static and her general's voice sounded terrified.
"Ahsoka, you must abandon your mission. Our engines are shot and our shields are offline. Only 2 of our fighters made it back in time. We-"
The transmission cut out there. Another wave of death hit her like a boulder.
Her squadron was the last of her surviving friends. No one was left to fight for or fight beside. The pressure of the imminent defeat made her chest feel like it was being compressed and she realized what she would have to do. Ahsoka would press on toward Vader. With no one to come home to and no one to miss her, she had nothing to lose.
Weeks before the mission she had memorized every path she could take to the control room. The fastest way would be the most heavily guarded, but with the rest of the rebellion troops who had helped with the assault dead, they would soon switch to clean up duty. Using the Force, she moved a grate that led into the ventilation shaft and jumped into it. Hopefully she would be able to do some eavesdropping to figure out how the crew was going to handle everything. Taking Vader by surprise would give her an advantage.
The space was small and felt cold against her skin. Her eyelids were heavy and fighting back tears became harder by the second. Since she had to wait anyway, there could be no harm in crying as long as no one heard her. Perhaps if she got it out now she could be even stronger in the face of evil later. Instinctively, she brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself, rocking back and forth. For years it had always been someone elses turn to die, another's turn to become one with the Force. Her day might have finally come. It was never meant to play out like this. If only the clock would turn back time to when the biggest problems were destroying more rollies or clankers than Skyguy.
The sound of boots and voices interrupted her episode.
"I can't believe any of them think they stand a chance against us." One of them said.
"Wow, they didn't get far, did they?" The other noted.
"Wait a second...these wounds weren't made by a blaster. Stay on high alert, I don't see the body of someone who could have done this." He contacted his chain of command and alerted them to the news.
So much for the element of surprise. She gathered herself before crawling through the shaft a dozen meters. A new idea occurred to her. She could wait for him in his personal chamber. He would never see this coming. No one in history would be crazy enough to break into Darth Vader's room. Though his room was not listed in any of the technical read outs she had acquired of the ship, it seemed like it would be easy enough to find by elimination. She would simply visit the rooms and places on the ship that had not been marked until she discovered it. Her friends deserved a shot at revenge. Even if the attempt killed her, it's the thought that counts.
As she made her way from room to room through the ventilation shafts, she tried to clear her mind. It was not going as well as she would like, though. It seemed that the harder she worked to center herself, the more bad thoughts popped up. The faces and names and stories of those she lost today were especially hard to banish to the back of her head. Responsibility had never been her friend.
She was approaching a room that teemed with the Force, but she was not able to enter the room through the ventilation system. Instead, she would have to jump down into the hallway and break into his room from the outside. There appeared to be no one near by, so Ahsoka jumped quietly into the hall. The door was large and black, but unremarkable otherwise. No latch or knob was apparent near the door. With her hands pressed against the face of the door, she tried to sense the mechanism to open it. It took all her concentration to find it, and just in time, too. Troopers were sweeping this hallway to search for the missing Jedi aboard the ship. She quickly closed the door behind her, and when she turned around she was met with lots of surprises.
Ahsoka was unsure what she had been expecting from this room, but it certainly didn't look like the liar of a cold blooded murderer. The walls, ceiling, floors, bedframe, book shelves, and furniture were all black and minimalist in design. The bed had white sheets and a pillow that stuck out like a sore thumb. It looked to be some kind of tan, scratchy sack. Light came from recessed fixture in the walls and ceiling, and they cast a soft glow upon everything. She decided to check the best first and move around the room from there. Upon closer inspection, she saw that the pillow was torn and very old. When she picked it up, it unraveled into an unusual shape. It looked like...but no! How could it be a Jedi's tunic? What kind of sick monster would sleep on the clothes of someone he had killed? Disgusted, she turned to put it back but saw that she had missed two more clues. Underneath where the pillow had been, she saw two shiny objects. Her hand reached up to touch her lekku.
It was her padawan braid; beside that was a ring.
Her breathe came in staggering bursts, her hand reached out to the wall to keep her steady. Of all the things that could have been here, there were relics of days long past. As her body fell against the wall for support, a button was pressed that revealed a hidden collection of holocron disks. Hundreds of them appeared and she fell to the floor. Though her breath was still raspy and she felt dizzy, Ahsoka took hold of a disc with her shaky hands. She grabbed the one closest to her and plugged it in. It was Padme.
A great and uncontrollable scream overtook her. The pain and shock of what was playing before her clouded her senses to what was happening behind her.
"One of the first lessons I taught you was to pay attention to your surroundings." A mechanical voice said.
"You have taught me nothing but hurt." The words came between sobs. This was not how her final moments were supposed to go. None of this was right. Surely everything around her was a dream and she would awaken in a bed in the Jedi Temple. Surely she was dreaming, or another vision had come to her.
"This is all very real. So real that you're going to be transport to cell block 23-A." He said to her.
"How did you know what I was thinking?" She asked quietly.
"Nothing can break the bond between master and apprentice. That is why we must move quickly if I am to avoid killing you."
She finally twisted her head to look up at him. Though disgusted by what she saw, Ahsoka stared straight ahead.
"What are you saying?"
"I am saying that I can reveal nothing more to you right now. But if you want to live, please put these binders on and follow me. I'll take your lightsaber." He used the force to take it from her before she could react.
"I know you have many questions, I will answer them as I can. I thought you would never return to me."
"I will not allow you to kill anyone else. You have slaughtered so many. You are everything you fought against! You can not be allowed to live." She jumped and somersaulted over him, landing behind him in a defensive stance.
"We don't have much time. We can only talk when he is not listening, and the distraction is almost over. If you do not come quietly now, I will have to use force. Don't make me do that."
She squinted at him in suspicion. "I will not submit to you. If I must fight, I will. Why should I trust" she gestured to his whole body, "this?"
"Ahsoka-"
"No! You are no more than an abomination. I will not join you. I was born a Jedi and I will die a Jedi."
Vader let out a low growl and walked forward slowly. He reached out and touched her forehead with his hand.
"What are you-" She fell to the floor, unconscious. The ability to knock people out with the Force was one of the most useful abilities Darth Vader had learned. He bound her hands carefully and picked her up. He stopped at the door to open a control panel. Causing a power outage would provide enough of a distraction to get her to the cell block without anyone noticing or needing to report her. As long as no one knew she was here, she would be safe. He shuddered to think of what may happen if the Emperor found her. The walk to the cell block was uneventful-the distraction had worked. She began to wake up as he laid her down on the bed in the cell.
"Wait!"
He locked the door as he left and did not respond to her cry.
Ahsoka curled up in the fetal position. She wasn't sure if it was possible to escape the cell, or if she should even try.
"I guess we were always wrong. The Dark side is stronger."
She closed her eyes.
"Master. I'm sorry."