Grand Admiral Thrawn stood in his office, staring out the window, overlooking the vast fields of Lothal. It was a beautiful planet, one Thrawn hoped to return to one day, without a mission. He wished to study the planet. Find out its secrets. Discover its history.
But for now, he had a mission. Capture Ahsoka Tano.
She was coming, he was sure of it. Agent Kallus had played his part well.
Thrawn knew about Kallus' deception. About the shift in his allegiances.
He had studied before coming to Lothal, to determine who this new Fulcrum was.
That was why he had told Kallus every detail of his plan. So he would reveal it to the rebellion.
And lure them into a trap.
When they came, he would capture Tano for the emperor.
And rid himself of the traitorous Kallus.
Night had once again fallen across of Lothal. And in the shadow of night, the rebels planned to strike.
Hera had remained aboard the Ghost with Kaeden offering support, not being a fighter like the rest. They had taken to the skies, moving through the clouds to hide the ship from vision. All they waited for was a signal.
Kallus led Ahsoka, Miara and Rex towards the compound entrance. They couldn't very well just march straight in. That would cause chaos, and severely damage the plan.
Instead, they to waited in the shadows.
"We are ready." Kallus whispered form beside Ahsoka. Ahsoka nodded back.
It was time to begin.
Ahsoka tapped her comm, contacting the other members of the ground team.
"Spectre One, we are in position. Begin diversion."
Kanan's reply was instantaneous. "Copy Fulcrum. We'll try to draw as many guards away as possible."
"May the force be with you." Ahsoka replied, before cutting the comm.
The four only had to wait a few brief seconds, before a monumental explosion erupted from the other side of the imperial compound. In the distance, the sound of imperial walkers toppling over could be heard, as well as the resounding crashes of their impact.
"Sabine does it again." Rex muttered. Ahsoka smirked too. The Mandalorian had been quite insistent that she blow something up. So Ahsoka had let her.
The compound was suddenly filled with the sounds of alarms, as well as the patter of boots, as a legion of Stormtroopers emerged from the front door of the compound.
The troopers headed off in the direction of the explosion, leaving the door unguarded.
"Rookie mistake." Rex snickered.
"Indeed. Now's our chance." Ahsoka replied, sprinting out of the alleyway the four had been hiding in, her companions behind her.
In the distance, the sound of blasters, as well as the occasion explosion could be heard.
The diversion was working.
The four quickly bypassed the door to the compound thanks to Agent Kallus' authorization codes. Inside, the endless corridors were empty, no trooper in sight.
"Guess nobody is home." Miara quipped humorously.
Ahsoka expected there to be one or two guards at the very least, maybe a maintenance worker or something.
But the compound was empty. It seemed to be just the four of them.
That unnerved Ahsoka.
"Which way?" Ahsoka asked. Kallus took point, leading the others down a series of turns.
After a minute or so, they came across the large door to the warehouse where the prototype was stored.
This time, there were no guards in sight.
"Something is not right here commander." Rex stated, sharing the unease that Ahsoka was feeling.
It was then that Kallus' comm rang out.
Miara jumped in surprise when Grand Admiral Thrawn's voice sounded over the comm.
"Agent Kallus, I need to speak to you right away. Come to your quarters."
That was all the admiral had to say. Kallus froze. What was he supposed to do? Stay with the rebels and help them? Or go to Thrawn?
He made his mind up. If he could play this charade for a bit longer, possibly even eliminate Thrawn in the process…
"The code to the door is 4, 7, 2 and then another number that I didn't catch." Kallus turned to head back down the way he came, towards his quarters.
"What about you?" Ahsoka asked, concern on her face. She didn't come to Lothal to find him only to lose him.
"I'll distract Thrawn. Go, get the fighter out of here." Kallus ran off, leaving the other behind.
Ahsoka stared where Kallus had been for a brief second, before turning her attention to the keypad by the door.
On her fourth attempt, she entered the correct code.
The doors slid open, and the three remaining rebels stepped inside.
Before them, was the TIE Defender.
As well as a squad of Deathtroopers.
Kallus made it too his quarters in minutes. He didn't know if Thrawn was inside waiting for him.
If he was, then Kallus would have to move carefully.
If not, then he would lie in wait for the Chiss.
Kallus opened the door, and stepped inside.
The lights were off, and the room undisturbed. Kallus moved slowly towards the light switch.
With a flick, the lights were on.
And Thrawn sat in his chair by his desk, waiting for him.
"Agent Kallus. I'm glad you came. It appears were are under attack."
Kallus moved towards his bed, where his bow rifle lay. He needed to look as if he was preparing to fight the rebels.
"Indeed Admiral. I was about to go and deal with the intruders."
Thrawn watched him, eyes steely. The Chiss sat completely still, not moving whatsoever.
'It would be so easy to kill him.' Kallus thought as he picked up his rifle. He could turn and kill Thrawn right now.
"No need Agent Kallus. For the attack is merely a diversion."
Kallus froze. How did Thrawn know? Had he guessed? Or deduced it somehow?
"Admiral?" Kallus questioned, turning to face Thrawn.
"The attack outside is meant to distract us from the insurgents that have infiltrated this compound. But then you already know about them, don't you Agent Kallus!"
It happened so fast that Kallus did not have time to react. As Thrawn finished his statement, he rose his hand, a blaster equipped in it.
Kallus tried to raise his rifle to respond, but was too slow.
A bright blue blast of energy erupted from Thrawn's weapon, stunning the turncoat imperial.
As Kallus fell to the floor unconscious, Thrawn rose from his seat.
A hail of blaster fire came down upon Ahsoka, Rex and Miara, who scrambled for cover. Ahsoka had her sabers in her hands in an instant, white energy flaring to life and deflecting shots. Rex and Miara took cover behind a crate, firing their own blasters back at the Deathtroopers.
It was clear to anyone that the imperials had to strategically superior possession. Plenty of open space to move too.
The rebels were backed against a now locked door, which had slammed shut behind them.
Ahsoka dodged and weaved, deflecting as much fire as possible. She managed to down one trooper before they repositioned into better cover.
"We're pinned down." Miara called out in alarm.
Ahsoka could very well charge the Deathtroopers, and more than likely cut them to shreds.
But that would leave Rex and Miara exposed.
So she held her ground.
Another trooper fell, courtesy of Rex.
"Nice shot Rex." Ahsoka called back to her long-time friend.
"Thanks commander." Rex replied, shifting his position.
Despite their training, slowly but surely the Deathtroopers fell to the rebels.
And then a shot came from above, on a gangway above the Defender.
"Snipers!" Rex called, shifting his attention to them.
They were slowly being surrounded from all directions, Ahsoka realised.
"Rex, Miara, focus on the ground threat. I'll handle the snipers." Ahsoka ordered.
Rex immediately shifted his focus back to the troopers on the ground, fully trusting his commander.
"What are you going to do?" Miara called out.
Ahsoka deflected another shot back at a trooper, taking another down, before reaching deep into the force.
She embraced herself. Both her lightside and her darkside, tapping into her dormant anger and power that remained since Malachor.
Ahsoka channelled the energy of the force, wrapping around the gangway plank above them, and pulled.
The sound of creaking metal could be heard, before the gangway collapsed, taking the snipers down with it.
The large beam of metal fell directly on top of the other Deathtroopers, crushing some. Others managed to jump out of the way in time, narrowly avoiding death.
The collapse of the beam however disrupted the order of battle, and the troopers broke ranks.
In that instant, Ahsoka attacked.
The Togruta moved at lightning speed, darting around the battlefield, impaling and eviscerating the remaining troopers with her lightsabers.
One trooper tried to make a run for it, fear evident in his voice as he screamed in terror at the sight of Ahsoka slaughtering his friends.
He didn't make it very far however, as the Togruta pulled him towards her with the force, decapitating him as he passed by her.
In a few brief seconds, the battle was over. The troopers lay dead.
Rex stood from his position behind a crate, and slowly moved towards his commander. The tension in her shoulders was palpable. She was breathing heavily. A clear sign of her anger.
"Ahsoka, you ok?" Rex quietly asked.
Ahsoka extinguished her sabers, turning to face Rex, her anger fading.
"Yeah, sorry. Much be that Togruta rage thing again huh?" Ahsoka replied, placing her sabers on her legs.
Rex was about to joke back, when he noticed something.
Rex could have sworn he saw a brief pigment of yellow in Ahsoka's eyes, just for a moment. The clone did a double take. No, her eyes were blue.
But Rex could have sworn he saw yellow, if only for a second.
He didn't have time to worry about it though, as Ahsoka and Miara were already moving towards the Defender.
"Kallus wasn't lying. Look at this thing!" Miara spoke with astonishment.
Ahsoka had to admit, the prototype was impressive. And would definitely cause problems for the rebellion.
"Can you fly it?" Ahsoka asked.
Miara looked over the ship.
"I think so. TIE's are generally designed to be easy to pilot. I figure this one is no different if they plan to mass produce it." Miara replied.
Ahsoka looked over at Rex, who had a peculiar look on his face.
"You good captain?"
Rex watched Ahsoka for a second. Then nodded in reply.
'What was that about?' Ahsoka thought. She'd ask him later.
They had secured the fighter. Now all they had to do was escape with it.
Ahsoka brought her hand to the comm.
"Spectre One, we have secured the fighter."
Ahsoka waited for a response, but none came.
"Spectre One do you read me? Kanan?"
Still no answer.
Ahsoka turned to face Rex, worry on her face. If Kanan and the others had been caught…
Her comm flickered to life, and Ahsoka released a sigh of relief before speaking.
"Kanan, you ok?"
The voice that responded was not Kanan.
"I am not Kanan Jarrus, Ahsoka Tano. I am Grand Admiral Thrawn, and I have something of yours, or more specifically, I have someone!"
Author's Thoughts
Oh look, everything that could have gone wrong, had gone wrong. How are they going to get out of this?
And it would appear that Ahsoka had a slight brush with the darkside in this chapter. What could have caused that I wonder?
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry again for leaving you on another cliffhanger, but it felt like a good place to leave this chapter.
Comment and speculate as usual, I will always get back to you.
Speaking of which:
Mysterious Guest that commented on chapter 8: Sidious will return. At this point he is very much Ahsoka's primary villian, and thus will play an important role in how he story goes down. His appearance will be few, but impactful.
FossilQueen1984: Stopping the TIE Defender is vital to the survivial of the rebellion, so it is paramount that they figure out what to do with it. Kaesoka will be fleshed out slowly over the course of the four part arc, so patience will be required for that. I'm no expert at writing romance, but I wanted to try regardless.