A.N.
This story will see a couple more updates before I update Beacons. Simply because its chapters are smaller, while Beacons is a bigger story as well.
Chapter 10- Ghost Ship
Space; Imperial Star Destroyer 'Subjugator'
The command bridge felt colder than usual, but this new chill was not caused by any drop in temperature levels. It was the direct influence of a new presence that had just marched across the walkway towards viewport. A new officer, and the replacement of his predecessor, Commander Warren.
Gaudy cheekbones and shadowed eyes, every fiber of his features were haunting. His every motion indicated the hard drilled discipline of a school that would consider values such as mercy and compassion insignificant and tasteless. The deep blue of his uniform matched the dim hue of the bridge and the reflected darkness of space. His world was a ghostly world, and this was his ghost ship; in his eyes everyone was already dead, but they just didn't realize it yet. And he wanted to do the crew a favor; he wanted to help them realize it.
Where do they find these men?
They appear only in times of darkness, flocking from all corners of the galaxy. They grab the reins of command with fierce determination and display surprising cooperation and sacrifice. They work as if an order on their own, directing soldiers to all the grimmest places of the universe, to the pits of hell, and in return they doom them to a life of aimless servitude and ultimate death.
Captain Faris felt a sickly knot form in his stomach, and with a foul grimace made his way out of the bridge until he knocked into Major Brynn, "Sir?"
The major's eyes read an intense concern, which prevented the captain from composing himself properly without asking, "What's wrong, Major?"
Brynn swallowed a deep breath, "Captain, how's the prisoner? Are you watching her?"
"As you ordered sir." Faris nodded, then noted the major take a quick glance towards the new officer.
"Who's he?"
"The new commander." Faris replied then hastily added, "Sir, what is going on? The ship is separating from the rest of the fleet. We're being told nothing."
Brynn's harsh gaze never left the new officer and for a moment he remained fixated on him, his lips twitched grimly as thoughts filled his mind. What they were was anyone's guess. His pupils finally shifted over to Faris.
"I don't know." He sighed, "We've been given coordinates to jump to. They take us into unknown space. It makes no sense to me. This whole blasted vessel makes no sense to me. Listen to me Captain, you're the last sane person I know in my crew. If you see or hear anything, anything at all, I need you to report it straight to me, am I understood?"
This was him. This was Major Brynn exactly as he remembered! He was bottled in somehow, kept hidden from the entire crew, and at last, at last he's back in command.
Faris felt a sudden tinge of excitement swell in him and he bowed his head with a subtle smirk, "Without hesitation, Major."
Space; Imperial Star Destroyer 'Subjugator'
"I don't know what it is about stormtroopers." Came a young man's cynical voice when he stepped through the slide doors into the dark room, "But they don't like the presence of females on board their ship."
Ahsoka was sat with her back against the glass tube she was sealed in, the two other tubes were empty. She turned her head to the side and saw it was the same captain who had captured her during her attempted escape earlier and asked her funny questions.
"It makes them nervous for some reason." He continued, "Do you know why?"
She stared at him for a moment, wondering if it was a rhetorical question. Stormtroopers? Is that what they called them these days? Are they no longer clones? Or could it have anything to do with the stormy climate on Kamino? Their home planet, if they even do consider it a home. Maybe she's looking too much into it, and the fact of the matter is, these soldiers only serve the purpose of storming the galaxy and spreading evil wherever they went.
She shook her head at last, not even sure what the question meant in the first place. The captain scoffed, "I don't either. I don't even talk to them. No one does."
She sighed tiredly, twitched her lip and burrowed her head between her arms again. The captain didn't hide his agitation at this, "Am I boring you?"
"If you're trying to intimidate me then you're wasting your time." She muffled under her arms then raised her head to face him, "Your master was much better at it."
His expression was neutral, but his eyes pierced hers, "He tortured you."
Ahsoka's white tinged brows lifted; an undertone of sarcasm hidden beneath her tired face, "I'm in a torture chamber."
The unmistakable hint of embarrassment fell over his young features, "Right."
"Does it surprise you?" She asked.
"I just…" He started, but couldn't find the words to finish his sentence. He froze and began staring at her again, with the same piercing brown eyes.
"What?" She interrupted, "You don't think Jedi can be tortured as well?"
He couldn't respond. He was searching for the answers he thought he had, but it seemed even he was surprised by the sudden direction this conversation had taken.
"What a surprise." She looked away at last, "A Republic officer who actually seems to have sympathy for me. Give me a break- I don't need any of it, especially not from you."
"I'm not being sympathetic." He snapped, loud enough to draw her attention back to him, "And this isn't The Republic anymore. I thought you'd know that by now."
She shifted on to her knees and edged closer to him, "If it's not The Republic then what is it!"
"Welcome to The Galactic Empire, young lady." He replied, the subtlety in his voice carrying a surprising amount of weight, "It's been for over a year now."
Ahsoka's vacant gaze fell upon the glass of her tube, her mind going blank, her soft voice repeating again and again, "Empire? Empire? How?"
"Were you really out of contact this entire time?" He asked, but got no reply. Instead, she continued to echo those words. He drew himself closer to her, "What happened to you?"
At last she looked at him, "Did we lose the war? Did The Separatists really win?"
She knew what he saw on her. The moment she asked him that question, he recognized the lost hope in her eyes and through that he understood the years of effort and fighting that were spent on the dream of liberating the entire galaxy from the anarchy that its citizens longed to ward off. And he recognized that she saw the answer in him as well, that somehow she had sensed the response to her question somewhere deep in his heart, that she had noticed the black boots he was wearing, or the threat of death in the masks that filled the corridors of this vessel.
Empire; the word brought chills to her spine. A word that grasped liberty by its throat and throttled it, until its bright dream is drowned in darkness and its soul is shrouded in slavery. A word she never hoped to hear become a reality in her darkest dreams, but its imprints were everywhere. If she didn't already sense it in the Force, then she really was out of touch this entire time.
The Jedi Council was wrong. They were all wrong…and Master was right. She was too young to be a Jedi. She was never ready to take on the Jedi Trials. After all she had done, all she had learned and endured, she was still a youngling- useless; a pathetic child.
And the Jedi Council had paid the price for that mistake. She could've tried harder, she could've foreseen this, she could've done so much, but she didn't- she wasn't strong enough. And that was her greatest fault, ultimately.
She shut her eyes and struggled against the tears, painfully swallowing the wretched defeat.
"Neither side won." He finally said in a hushed tone, "At least that's what we think."
She adjusted herself and sat as she was before, sinking her head beneath her skinny arms, drowning her mind in pain and sorrow, and for the first time, allowing the Darkside energy that had surrounded her since she got here to swallow her; to mock her.
At last, the captain quietly stepped out of the room.
Trivia:
1 Captain Faris answered the question of the timeframe Ahsoka has found herself in. It's been just over a year since the abrupt end of The Clone Wars. A year since the Fall of the Jedi. A year of anarchy.
A.N.
Some very interesting next few chapters are coming your way, so stay tuned. And although I'm not taking exams this year, you'll have to bear with me as I'm still working in a college here. Yes, it affects me too!
Many thanks to the following reviewers:
KittyCaterpiller(I'm sure you all are!), Luke Danger(It's always good to hear from you again!), Jedipadawan123(Thanks!), Evil Tree(Maybe...well, just keep reading, you'll see.), Zedax(Sorry man, life's been very busy), cHr0n0sPh3r3(That will clear up soon), The Once And Future Thing(I hope you're not completely lost to us now!), Thornshadow(Next chapter should come sooner!), hoysterrule123(You're too kind. And yes, it does needs a lot of time.), Imperial Warlord (Thanks man.), CrazySmallLady(Don't worry about me. Just stay tuned, it'll all clear up soon- oh and thanks for dragging your sister into this mess!) and HomeworkHurtsTrees (Glad you enjoyed it so much- yup, you'll find the answers to those questions soon enough.)
Thanks again for all your very kind reviews and relentless patience!