The schematics on the datapad did not do the T-6 shuttle justice. It was a marvel on engineering that much Ahsoka could see. Anakin had taught enough that she knew when a ship was not only good, but special. Every aspect of it acted as if it was new, fresh off the factory line.
Ahsoka was now almost certain that Anakin would be jealous if he found out. She would have to make sure to be around to see his face.
Still, the ship wasn't hers. Palpatine had lent it to her for this mission. Thus she assumed she would have to give it back afterwards.
As it stood, that was currently the only downside to this mission so far. She really like the ship, despite having only flown it for a few moments.
Pulling up out of the atmosphere of Coruscant, Ahsoka began to plot her course through hyperspace to the coordinates she had been given by the Chancellor. If the Separatists were really up to something on Myrkr, she had to find out.
Moments later, the hyperdrive was calibrated, and the coordinates locked. Reaching across the dashboard of the T-6 shuttle, Ahsoka proceeded to pull down the lever that would activate the hyperdrive.
Through the cockpit of the shuttle, Ahsoka witnessed the blackness of space flooded with lines of blue, before she felt the ship lurch and jump into hyperspace.
It would take the shuttle several hours to get anywhere close to Myrkr, even though hyperspace, leaving Ahsoka with plenty of time to check out the new ship, as well as scavenge anything on it for use on this mission. Perhaps if she was lucky she would find a weapon of sorts. Anything was better than going in unarmed.
Shifting through various containers and cupboards, Ahsoka ended up finding very little in the way of helpful supplies. A few packs of field rations were stored in the cupboards. Not exactly the most tasty of foods, but they could prove useful.
The third container she checked did have something useful in however. A small backpack that she could wear during her mission. It would be useful in carrying anything she needed with her.
Heading back to the cupboards from before, Ahsoka extracted several of the packs of field rations, placing them into the backpack she had discovered, before slinging it over her shoulder to test the weight. She couldn't afford to be over encumbered on a mission such as this.
Continuing her scavenger hunt, Ahsoka proceeded to find little else in the way of useful material for her mission. She stumbled across various pieces of junk, including a wrench, a spare power cell that was virtually depleted, and several scraps of metal that evidently used to be something. What, Ahsoka was unsure.
Still, she packed them in case. If worse came to pass, she would have to improvise with whatever materials she could find, even if it was scrap metal.
By the time the console in the cockpit beeped aloud, signalling the imminent drop out of hyperspace, Ahsoka had completed her second search for items. Despite her rigorous search, she still hadn't found a weapon on any kind, and she very much doubted that a wrench would do anything against anyone or thing she encountered.
Sighing in frustration, Ahsoka returned to the cockpit, removing her newly acquired backpack and placing it in the co-pilot seat before taking her own place behind the joystick of the T-6 shuttle.
Watching out of the cockpit window, Ahsoka waited for the sudden deceleration of the ship. Moments later, it occurred.
The shuttle shuddered slightly as all ships did when dropping out of hyperspace, the twirling vortex of blue light giving way to the dark black reality of space. As the ship returned to normal speed, Ahsoka tugged on the controls, pulling the shuttle into a slower speed so that she could analyze the situation.
Visibly she could see no other ships nearby, a fact that was clarified by the scanner the ship possessed moments later. That allowed Ahsoka a small amount of breathing room. No ships meant no trouble.
Still, that didn't completely mean she was safe. For all she knew the Separatists were listening out for her with a scanner of her own.
With that thought in mind, Ahsoka shifted her gaze towards another lever on the dashboard of the shuttle, one that would not usually be on such vessels.
From what she had been told about the ship, as well as the rather perplexing manual that Chancellor Palpatine had left for her on board the ship, that lever operated the stealth drive. If all went according to plan, all she would have to do was pull the lever and then both she and the ship would be completely invisible, both to radar and physical sight.
Taking a deep breath in anticipation, Ahsoka reached across and grasped the lever in her hand lightly.
"Here we go." Ahsoka spoke aloud to no one. On a mission such as this she would be alone. Usually that would have been detrimental to a Togruta, as they preferred to live in communities.
But Ahsoka had been away from Togruta culture for far too long. She no longer cared or was bothered by isolation from others.
Part of her wondered if she should even still call herself a Togruta. She had spent far more time in the company of humans and other species that she had ever her own.
Brushing off the thoughts, Ahsoka pulled the lever down, resulting in an echoing sound reverberating around the ship.
Ahsoka assumed that meant the stealth drive was working.
She guessed there was really only one way to find out.
Glancing back out of the cockpit window, Ahsoka eyes were drawn to the planet that was now before her. From orbit, Myrkr was a mix of greens and browns in colour, each mixing with the other and contrasting, as well as blending in with itself in the process. She had down some research on the planet before leaving, but found little that would suggest exactly why the Separatists would be building a bioweapon here of all places, assuming they even were in the first place.
Furthermore, from orbit there was no sign of any Separatist involvement. No damage to the planet's surface, or no sign of conflict were present. If there really were Separatists here, that meant that they were most likely hiding somewhere within the dense forests of Myrkr.
Still, she hadn't come this far just to leave now. She had to search at very least.
Turning back to the scanner on the dashboard, Ahsoka altered the parameters of the search, focusing it on the planet below. She knew how the Separatists built their bases, and what to look for. If there was anything, she would find it.
Several minutes of unsuccessful scanning passed, and Ahsoka was no closer to finding anything that represented a hidden Separatist lab.
Perhaps the Chancellor's intel had been wrong, and she had been sent on a wild goose chase as her first mission. That would be just her luck!
Or perhaps she wasn't looking close enough. Doctor Vindi's lab on Naboo had been underground after all, but that had been to conceal it from the Naboo people themselves. There was no one to hide a lab from on Myrkr aside from maybe a few colonists.
Sighing, Ahsoka continued the search, desperation and frustration beginning to flood her mind. She had never been a very patient person. That had always been her biggest flaw as a padawan.
Another twenty minutes later and Ahsoka was on the verge of giving up entirely and calling the Chancellor to tell him she had found nothing, when the scanner picked something up.
There, deep within the foliage of a dense forest was a small blip, one that upon closer inspection bored similarities to other Separatists buildings that had been found before on places such as Geonosis or Raxus.
Allowing a smirk to come to her face, Ahsoka released a pleased sound at finding something that supported the suspicion of the Chancellor. There were Separatists on Myrkr.
Now all Ahsoka had to do was find out exactly what was going on.
Gripping the joystick controls in her hands, Ahsoka powered up the engines of the shuttle, and began to pilot the ship towards the planet.
It was time to test the stealth drive.
The entry into the atmosphere had been surprising smooth for a shuttle of this size, not that Ahsoka was complaining. She was used to more rough entries, ones that were usually accompanied with lots of shaking and rumbling, and the occasion possible crash.
Then again, she was used to the way Anakin Skywalker piloted, which more often than not was the route of such problems to begin with.
Stopping herself from laughing at her own joke at her former master's expense, Ahsoka redirected her attention back to the task at hand. The forest before her was dense, with little space for moving, either on foot or in a ship. Finding a place to land would be next to impossible in the trees before her.
To make matters worse, her scan of the Separatist lab indicated that it was deep inside of the forest, with only a single open space above it that acted as a landing zone no doubt. Ahsoka supposed that she could land her ship right there under the cover of the stealth drive, but that would be a monumental risk in itself. She had no idea if the drive lasted once the ship was offline, and even if it did there was no guarantee that someone wouldn't stumble across the ship by pure accident. She wouldn't put it past the battledroids to be the ones to do such a thing.
So, despite the fact that it would make the mission far more annoying and tedious, Ahsoka relented and found a small gap amongst the trees a fair distance away from the location of the Separatist base. Settling the shuttle down gently, Ahsoka allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief at having arrived unscathed. Clearly she had not been detected by anyone, meaning that the stealth drive was doing its job.
Now all she had to do was make it to the Separatist base.
Standing from her seat Ahsoka reached across to pick up her new backpack, slinging it over her shoulders and resting it comfortably against her back, her rear lekku only just coming into contact with the top of the bag in the process. That was good. The last thing she needed was her lekku constantly rubbing against something. It would be irritating to no end if it was.
Stepping down the ramp of the T-6 shuttle, Ahsoka found herself surrounded by the dense lush forests of Myrkr. Her sinuses were flooded with a variety of smells, ranging from sweet ones to dank ones, all of which originated from the plant life around her.
Her other senses were also flooded in a matter of moments. The rustling of various trees in the wind, as well as the quiet sounds of what Ahsoka could only assume were animals also reached her montrals. Movement echoed all around her, discreet, yet obvious in a way that you only knew it was there if you knew already. Anyone going in blind would be completely overwhelmed and lost.
Not for the first time in her life, Ahsoka thanked her connection to the force. Despite walking away from the order, the force would always be a part of her, as much as lekku and montrals were a part of her biology. There was no losing it, thus she would use it to her own advantage to guide her through the forest.
She knew the rough direction of the Separatist base. It was just a case of getting there through the various aspects of foliage around her.
Taking another deep breathe to inhale the thick air around her, Ahsoka set off deeper in the forest.
The trek through the forest was arduous. Ahsoka had lost count the number of times she had gotten caught up in thick vines wrapping around her arms and legs. Each time she pulled herself free, only to find herself tangled up again a few minutes later.
And despite the distance she thought she had traveled, she seemed no closer to the Separatist base.
The humid air around her also made for a rather uncomfortable journey. Sweat pulsated from her exposed skin, a thin layer of the substance coating her, making the journey even more uncomfortable.
It was times like these that she wished she had some sort of cloak with her. At least that would have helped just a little bit, even if it made her hotter.
Reaching a hand up to her forehead, she wiped away another layer of sweat before continuing, moving through a series of vines and leaves.
Movement caught her eye in that moment, as a pair of small lizard like creatures scurried across the floor and down into what looked like a burrow of some kind. It wasn't the first piece of wildlife she had seen so far, and most certainly wouldn't be the last. Still, they paid her no mind, and thus she left them to their own devices. The last thing they would want was a Togruta interfering in their daily life.
After all, she was a member of a predator species. Maybe they were just running away from her in fear of getting eaten?
Ahsoka allowed a brief smile to come to her face at her own thoughts. With no one else around to talk to she had taken to finding ways to amuse herself. If that meant laughing at her own jokes, so be it.
Continuing forward, Ahsoka found herself heading deeper and deeper into the foliage around her. Another half an hour passed by, her journey seemingly leading nowhere. By now she was certain that she was lost.
"Common Ahsoka, there's gotta be something here." She spoke aloud to no one, now desperate to find something that resembled a hidden Separatist lab.
Taking another few steps forward, Ahsoka pushed through another set of vines, and still found nothing but more trees.
Sighing aloud she collapsed onto a nearby fallen log, removing her backpack and extracting one of the ration packs she had picked up earlier. All this walking was making her hungry.
As she slowly devoured the ration pack, which was made up of some sort of organic paste, a sound caught her attention.
Sounds had be prevalent within the forest since she had entered it. Mostly native life and the trees moving in the breeze above the canopies. But this sound was different. It was almost as if it was being aimed directly at her montrals, the equivalent of shouting in someone's ear.
Listening closely, Ahsoka identified that it belonged to an animal of some kind. Looking up, she found the source of the sound. Above her, perched on a vine was a small avian creature, one that possessed an iridescent green and white sheen to it. The bird seemed to notice her too, as it locked eyes with her and hooted again. That was the sound that Ahsoka had heard earlier. The hooting of this strange creature.
Shrugging her shoulders, Ahsoka returned to finishing off her ration pack when the avian hooted again.
"What? What do you want?" Ahsoka called up at the creature, hopping to either silence it or scare it away. The last thing she wanted was some strange creature watching her. It made her uneasy.
But rather than turn and flee as Ahsoka had hoped, the creature remained still, hooting again as if responding to her.
Grumbling under her breath, Ahsoka stood from the log, placing her backpack on her shoulder with the intention of leaving, when the creature took flight.
The avian flew down past her head, hooting all the while.
Ahsoka was no expert on animals, but it almost felt like the creature wanted to be followed.
With no better idea in her head, Ahsoka moved to pursue, pushing through various vines in the process. Ahead of her the creature continued to hoot, circling above her as if waiting for Ahsoka to catch up.
"If you're luring me to your lair to eat me I'm not going to be too happy with you!" Ahsoka called up at the creature in mock jest. What surprised Ahsoka was that the creature released a series of short sharp high pitched hoots in response, almost as if it was laughing at her!
Shaking her head with an amused smile, Ahsoka continued to push through the forest, climbing over fallen trunks of trees and pushing through endless vines and leaves until…
An opening presented itself within the forest, and there, right in the middle of the opening was the familiar architecture of a Separatist base, down in what looked like a small ravine devoid of trees.
A perfect hiding place for a secret Separatist lab!
Author's thoughts
So I know it's been a while since an update, and I'm sorry, but everything that could have gone wrong did.
To put it simply... my laptop died, and thus I was unable to access the internet. Luckily I had a copy of this story on a USB, so I can now continue my work on my brand new desktop computer that I invested in. Hooray.
The only issue is that I now lack microsoft word to write with, which was my preferred program, and am not going to be spending over £100 anytime soon for it. Thus, for the time being I will be using google docs, so there might be one or two format changes. Sorry again.
Anyway, this chapter is a bit more adventurous and sets things into motion. I wanted to capture the alone feeling that Ahsoka would be experiencing on the mission. She is used to having Anakin or the clones by her side. This time round it's just her.
But it also seems that someone is watching over her hey? I wonder who that could be?
So yeah, hopefully I will be back to writing now. Guess we'll find out.
Next time round, Ahsoka must infiltrate the facility. I wonder what lies in store?
As usual, comment and speculate at will. Speaking of which:
Jaco2553alpha: This story is an entirely new AU with no connection to my rebels AU. I wanted to work with a fresh plate. Hope that makes sense.
Jayson-Master of Storm: Glad the long talking chapters don't bore you. There will be more to come. (seriously, I'm planning a chapter that is essentially just Skyguy and Snips watching crappy holonet shows together and insulting them and such)
Ahsoka is capable of stealth when Anakin is not around. When he is, he himself blows the cover in a couple of seconds. That being said, Ahsoka's acting skills could use some work. (cough cough, Zygerria arc)
SLE's fave guest: I did consider doing a 'Palpy is not evil' story, but I think it's more fun with the situational irony of us knowing his true identity, but everyone else being oblivious to it.
Glad you liked the reference to forces of destiny. I like the shorts myself, but I know most people hate them. They are fun for what they are.
Again with the 'Darth Snips' jokes huh? I wonder how true it will be this time round huh? ;)
As for the bioweapon, mine has no relation to that one then. I will see how long it takes people to figure out what it is. :)
jojobinks01: No, in this verse there is only one Palpatine, just as in canon.
Mysterious Guest one: Glad you liked the gifting of a new ship. Palpy really is a kind man huh?
As for what weapons Ahsoka will use... guess you'll have to wait and see.