Disclaimer – all original Star Wars characters in this fanfic (excluding my OC's) are the property of Lucasfilm and Disney.
Chapter 29 "The Hunt – part 2"
Wasskah – The Moon of Trandosha, Island Four.
The younglings and Ahsoka returned to their hideout in the hollow tree. During the whole trip, the younglings were very quiet and occasionally would glance at Ahsoka from time to time without a single word. When they finally sat down near the pot with the fire, which already burned out, O-Mer broke the silence and asked worriedly. "Are you a Sith?"
Ahsoka looked at them with a surprised look. "No, why do you ask?"
"That power you used earlier... the lightning, it was a technique the Sith use," pointed out the Cerean. "The Jedi Masters told us that in the Jedi Temple."
"It's a dark side technique yes," Ahsoka admitted. "But Sith aren't the only ones who can use it. Every Force user can do it."
"The dark side will corrupt you!" Jinx said forcefully.
"No, if you use it with respect while remembering the rules of the Force," Ahsoka replied.
"Rules of the Force?" Jinx narrowed his brown eyes. "This is crazy! "
The Twi'lek looked at the young human female and called out. "Kalifa say something about this! We're Jedi, we can't behave like that! We can't kill someone so brutally!"
The girl was silent the whole time and her eyes were glued to the ground, processing everything that happened. She finally took a deep breath and exhaled. "I never felt such relief," she stated. "It's like I had a boulder on my shoulders this whole time and after I killed the Trandoshan... it disappeared. I feel as light as feather now."
"You never did such things before! You never killed a Trandoshan, let alone so violently!" Jinx stated and looked at Ahsoka with a frown. "You did this to her! You used some kind of trick to give her power and you corrupted her with the dark side!"
"I just told her the truth," Ahsoka replied simply, trying to keep the Twi'lek calm. "This power was inside of her the whole time, you all have it."
"This is absurd!" Jinx argued. "We've been on this island for so long that we'd discover this power!"
"The Jedi only use the Force to defend, never attack," Ahsoka stated. "You only used the light side of the Force so far and you never killed anyone out of hatred, because it's not the Jedi way, right?"
"How do you know that?" O-Mer asked.
"Because not so long ago, I was a Jedi Padawan myself," Ahsoka answered with a serious tone, her voice no longer calm but hard. "The Kingdom has shown me the true power of the Force, not inhibited by the Jedi or Sith teachings."
The younglings looked at Ahsoka dumbfounded. Even Kalifa looked at Ahsoka with a surprised expression. "It's a sign," the human suddenly spoke. "Ahsoka your energy, your strength, your wisdom. This is what we'd been lacking... maybe the Force itself sent you to help us."
Ahsoka looked at Kalifa and smiled. "The Force has its own will and only a few in the galaxy know of it," she said.
Kalifa stood up and looked at Jinx and O-Mer. "With Ahsoka at our side, we can defeat the Trandoshans and escape," she said with energy and confidence that surprised the two younglings. "We need to survive, but we can't do it by running away for the rest of our lives."
"But... what about the Jedi teachings?" asked O-Mer. "If we use our emotions and turn to the dark side, the Jedi Order will not welcome us back."
"We won't return to the Jedi Order if we die here!" Kalifa argued. "We need to act!"
"Besides," Ahsoka spoke, drawing the looks of the younglings. "Your inactivity is a bad example of being a Jedi as well."
"What do you mean?" Jinx asked.
"You say that killing the hunters who want you dead is a bad thing but hiding from the same hunters to avoid being revealed for the cost of the lives of other captives, is even worse," Ahsoka replied. "The Twi'lek and the Rodian were captives just like you and needed your help, and you let them die because you didn't want to be spotted by the Trandoshans. Innocent people died because you valued your life more than theirs. That's definitely not the Jedi way and you can't say that you didn't have the power to do anything since Kalifa clearly managed to do quite much on her own."
Jinx and O-Mer looked at each other and without any compelling arguments, they hung their heads in defeat. Silence filled the cave, but Ahsoka stood up and quickly added. "But you can fix your mistakes by defeating the Trandoshans and ensuring that they won't hunt and kill anyone ever again," she looked at the two younglings with a smile. "We can do this and escape."
"So let's say that we do as you say," Jinx stood up along with O-Mer and looked at Ahsoka. "How would we even start?"
Ahsoka grabbed her chin and began to think out loud. "We must take the fight to them. They need to have a base or a compound, right?" she asked.
"Not that we've ever seen," Kalifa replied.
"So, where do they come from?" Ahsoka asked another question.
"We don't know," Kalifa shook her head. "We only witnessed them hunting in their hover pods."
"Hmmm... if we want to go on the offensive, we need to find out where they live," Ahsoka said while making a fist. "The faster we find their base, the faster we can start an attack. Let's start covering the ground. Kalifa are you okay? the young Togruta asked, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Using the dark side is exhausting. You can stay here if you need a rest."
"No, I'm good," assured the youngling. "We wasted enough time doing nothing."
Ahsoka nodded. "Alright, let's go!"
Wasskah – The Moon of Trandosha, Ubrikkian Floating Fortress.
Garnac, his son Dar, and the rest of the hunters stood on the lower deck of the fortress and looked at the two dead bodies of the Trandoshans, which were found by one of the hunters shortly after the younglings left the place of their fight. With their sensitive sense of smell, the scorched body of the Trandoshan was very unpleasant for their noses.
"The younglings did this?" asked Garnac. Many Trandoshan growled and looked at each other, anger clear on their faces, but some couldn't help but feel worried.
The green-skinned Trandoshan who found the bodies hissed and replied. "Yes, I saw them in the distance just before they moved back into the trees. The Togruta was with them."
A Trandoshan with a brownish yellow skin looked at Garnac. "The Togruta is a Jedi?" he asked. "What weapon does such wounds?"
Garnac growled in anger. "The humans who brought us the Togruta failed to mention that she was a Force user, but this will not stop us! We will hunt them down!" the leader stated with a roar. The other Trandoshans roared as well and quickly spread out to the hover pods.
Wasskah – The Moon of Trandosha, Island Four.
Just like in they have planned, the younglings and Ahsoka left their hideout and ventured into the thorn-filled forest, searching for the base of the Trandoshan hunters.
"Should we split up?" asked O-Mer as the group walked through a path free of trees and bushes.
"We could cover more ground that way, but we're stronger in numbers," Ahsoka stated. "Are there places in which you were before? Beach maybe?"
The group stopped and the younglings began to think. "We never actually found anything on the beach and we searched it a few times," said Jinx. "The only thing we can confirm is that we're on an island with no means of escaping. You want us to check again?"
"Well, you obviously have been here longer than me," Ahsoka pointed out with a smirk. "If it was be so easy, you would have found it before I got here."
"True enough," the Twi'lek agreed with a slight smile.
The group suddenly heard blaster shots and roars coming from the sky. They looked up and spotted a large fortress emerging out of the clouds. "I think we found their base," said O-Mer. "That's their fortress!"
Ahsoka observed the large floating platform and nodded. "Well we don't need to look for it anymore," she stated.
Three hover pods with the Trandoshans began to descend on their position. The group was spotted instantly in the open and the lizards began to fire at them. "Run!" Ahsoka ordered. The younglings and the Togruta began to dash towards jungle together, while the hunters pursued them.
At the first opportunity, the group jumped on a branch and began to move from tree to tree. "Head towards the denser trees!" Ahsoka ordered as the energy bolts flew past them, hitting the trees and other greenery.
As the younglings followed the Togruta, one of the bolts hit a branch that Kalifa currently jumped on and it began to break under her. "Kalifa!" Ahsoka cried out but Jinx managed to grab the human by her hand and pull her to safety at the last second. Without time to say anything, the younglings kept moving.
Looking over her shoulder, Ahsoka noticed that the hover pods weren't capable of squeezing through the branches. She could even hear the angry roars of the Trandoshans. "Over there!" she pointed at a large three and the group jumped on the branch hiding behind a wide trunk.
While they hid behind the tree and Ahsoka kept lookout, the younglings took the time to catch their breath, Kalifa looked at Jinx. "Thanks," she said with a smile.
"We're not out of the woods yet," replied the Twi'lek. "I don't remember them being so angry before."
"We killed two members of their group so it's not a surprise," Ahsoka stated peeking around the trunk. "But at least we now know two things, where is their base and how to get there."
"With the hover pods?" guessed O-Mer.
"Yup," confirmed the young Togruta. "We need to get one and fly over to their base, they surely have a communication device that we can use to call for help." Ahsoka turned to face the younglings. "So the plan is simple, get the hover pod, fly over to the platform, take care of the hunters aboard, call for help and wait for transport."
"You make it sound so easy," noticed Jinx. "But there will be many Transohans there with no trees to use as cover against their ranged weapons."
"We can do this!" Ahsoka said confidently. "Don't hesitate and let your emotions give you power! You saw what Kalifa managed to do, you can do that as well!"
Jinx and O-Mer looked at Kalifa, who smiled reassuringly and nodded. So far, the decisions of the young Togruta had done a good job at keeping them alive. If they had split up like O-Mer had suggested, Kalifa would've probably fallen and only the Force knew how that would've turned out. Jinx sighed and nodded along with O-Mer. "Alright, let's do this," he agreed.
The Trandoshans split up in order to cover more ground and find their prey much faster. This was what Ahsoka hoped they would do. She stood on a high branch together with Kalifa and watched carefully as a hover pod with the hunters, who flew around searching for them.
As soon as the pod was below them, Ahsoka gave Kalifa the signal. The youngling jumped down while Ahsoka reached out with the Force and lifted the two Trandoshans into the air. The human landed on the empty hover pod and took over the controls, turning the pod around. The young Togruta lifted the lizards even higher into the air and hurled them downwards. The rocks weren't soft, but if anything, they got a quick death.
Ahsoka jumped down into the hover pod and together with Kalifa, they flew towards Jinx and O-Mer's location to pick them up and head towards the floating fortress.
Wasskah – The Moon of Trandosha, Ubrikkian Floating Fortress.
Three Trandoshans talked to each other at the lower deck, near the railing. When they heard the sound of incoming hover pod, they guessed that the hunters already returned with their prey. They quickly discovered that they were wrong and realized that the younglings and the Togruta hijacked the pod.
Kalifa used the pod's rotary repeating blaster cannon mounted on the front and began to shoot at the lizards. Not being able to react in time, the three Trandoshans were hit by the bolts and killed. "Destroy the other pods!" Ahsoka pointed at the pods which were left unattended.
The youngling did as she was told and began to fire at the airspeeders, which began to explode, but at the same time, alert the other Trandoshans on the platform. All hunters began to run towards the explosion.
The hunters began to shoot at the pod with the younglings and the Togruta, but Kalifa focused the blaster cannon at the Trandoshans, who began to jump away from the stream of red energy bolts.
The numbers were on the Trandoshan's side though. One of the lizards on the upper desk ran up to one of the two rotary repeating blaster cannons, which were attached to the railing and returned fire on the hower pod.
"Look out!" warned O-Mer as the series of bolts began to fly towards them. A few hit the airspeeder, which began to emit smoke. "We need to land!" exclaimed Kalifa.
"Then land on their heads!" ordered Ahsoka. Kalifa did just that and directed the hover pod towards the upper deck. The Trandoshan, who fired at them, jumped away as the younglings and Ahsoka jumped out of the pod at the last minute as it crashed into the cannon.
Knowing that being out in the open would make them vulnerable to blaster fire, the young Togruta needed to act. "Get inside!" Ahsoka pointed at the door and group ran inside the trophy room.
When the doors closed behind them, Ahsoka crushed the control panel with the Force so that they would not open automatically.
"What now?!" Jinx asked after looking around the room. "This is a dead end!"
"Here, their numbers won't matter and we can pick them off one by one," Ahsoka stated and looked up at the pipes and balks near the ceiling. "And I know just how to do it."
Garnac returned to the floating fortress with his son and three other Trandoshans immediately when they were informed about the attack. Before they even reached the fortress, they could see the smoke and bodies of the other Trandoshans. When the two hover pods landed on the lower deck, a brown-skinned Trandoshan ran up to Garnac and hissed. "The younglings and the Togruta attacked us, we lost three of our hunters," he informed.
Dar, the son of Garnac, growled and spoke. "They killed two of our hunting party before they got here, that makes seven in total! They single-handedly killed over the half of our guild!
"Where are they?" Garnac asked with a growl.
"They are in the trophy room," informed the Trandoshan. "The doors are jammed."
"Then pry them open! Garnac growled. "The Togruta is their leader, the younglings were never so bold before. After we kill her, the others will be easy pickings. She'll make a worthy trophy after I've skinned her!"
The footsteps behind the doors warned the group of the incoming Trandoshans. Kalifa, Jinx, and O-Mer stood on the pipes and balks. Sticking closely to the wall, they observed the door, while Ahsoka was hidden below in the shadows and waited for their move.
When a Trandoshan managed to slide a claw between the doors and began to pry them open, Jinx pulled him inside the room with the Force while Kalifa and O-Mer quickly used their telekinetic powers to shut the doors before the other Trandoshans could get inside.
Ahsoka quickly came out of hiding and dashed towards the lizard, shocking him with Force lightning. Her yellow eyes glowed in the dim-lighted room as the lighting illuminated the surrounding area with a blue hue. After a couple seconds of screaming, the Trandoshan was fried.
The strategy was very good. If they could kill the Trandoshans one by one, they would soon eliminate every hunter on this platform. A similar strategy the Togrutas used on Shili while hunting akuls. Her hunting trips with her family really paid off. The only problem was they didn't know how many hunters remained. While this tactic was effective, they knew it wouldn't work forever.
Suddenly, Ahsoka sensed something and smiled widely. She sensed the Force signatures of her mother, Deiven and Anakin. They found her. As proof, she heard the roars of the engines as the ships flew over the platform.
"What am I sensing?" asked Kalifa. The younglings also sensed the foreign Force signatures.
"The members of the Kingdom!" Ahsoka replied happily. "They've come for us!"
"We're saved?" Jinx asked hopefully. Ahsoka looked at him with a bright smile and nodded. The younglings were relieved to hear that, but their lack of focus had its price.
With a loud roar, Garnac and Dar knocked down the doors, which were no longer held telekinetically shut by the younglings. The two Trandoshans, armed with blaster carbines began to fire in all directions. "Take cover!" Ahsoka ordered. They were so close. She would not allow the younglings to die at the very end.
With both her hands, she lifted and pushed the burned body of the Trandoshan with the Force towards the two hunters, who jumped to the sides and stopped shooting for a moment. The younglings used that break and quickly joined Ahsoka. "We won't leave you alone!" stated Kalifa.
The sound of engines was getting louder and after short seconds, a blaster fire was heard as well. The growls of the Trandoshans were heard as well as the lightsaber slashes.
Garnac and Dar got up to their feet and turned around towards the noises. They spotted an adult Togruta, who jumped on the upper deck and began to walk towards them with an ignited lightsaber. Dar aimed and fired at her, but the orange-skinned alien deflected the bolt with her yellow blade at his face. The Trandoshan was killed on the spot, which angered Garnac.
"You killed my son!" he growled with hatred. Controlled by his anger, the Trandoshan dropped the carbine and pulled out a knife from his sheath. With a roar, he lunged at the adult Togruta, but she simply slashed with her lightsaber cutting both the knife and his head.
"Who is she?" O-Mer asked in the same moment as the body of the Trandoshan fell to the floor.
"My mom," Ahsoka replied with a smile, drawing the looks of the younglings. Ahsoka ran up to Zai'shira and smiled. "What took you so long?" she asked teasingly.
Zai'shira smiled at the sight of her daughter and released a deep sigh while shaking her head. "You just love doing this don't you?" she asked turning off her lightsaber and hugged her daughter, who returned the hug.
The two Togrutas and the younglings left the trophy room and jumped down to the lower deck. The Silent Shadow and the RX-A hovered next to the platform and with their autopilots turned on, with the ships secured both Deiven and Anakin jumped down to the lower deck to meet Ahsoka.
The young Firrerreo approached and hugged the young Togruta tightly, who closed her eyes and placed her chin on his shoulder. "I knew that they won't be able to get you," he whispered. Ahsoka only smiled in response.
"It's good to see you safe," Anakin said and quickly teased. "But you look dirty as hell."
Ahsoka pulled away from Deiven and looked at the human. "I'm not afraid to get myself dirty," she replied with a mischievous smile. The young Togruta quickly gestured towards the younglings, who watched the gold-skinned ArchKnight with unconcealed curiosity. "Meet Kalifa, Jinx and O-Mer, they were kidnapped by the Trandoshans during a training mission at the beginning of the clone wars. They were surviving on their own this whole time."
"Impressive," Deiven said and smiled. "I'm assuming they don't know the recent events that transpired in the galaxy." Ahsoka nodded, knowing what the ArchKnight had in mind.
"I'm sure Master Yoda will be glad to see you safe and sound," added the young Firrerreo.
"You know Master Yoda?" asked O-Mer.
"Of course," replied the young Firrerreo. "He's in our Temple on Zulio, we'll take you to him."
"Anywhere besides staying here," said Kalifa.
Zai'shira beckoned the younglings to follow her. While they walked to the Silent Shadow and Anakin boarded the RX-A, Ahsoka grabbed Deiven by the arm before they could join her mother.
"Thank you," she said with a smile.
"Hmmm? What for?" Deiven asked confused. "We would always come to rescue you."
"No, not for that," Ahsoka replied. "When I was here alone, the only thing I had was your training. With your teaching in my mind, I was able to survive and help others to survive as well. I don't know if I would've been able to help all of them as a Jedi Padawan, but I did it as a Knight of the Kingdom. For that I thank you, Master," she bowed her head.
Deiven looked at Ahsoka with a shocked expression. The young Firrerreo smiled, feeling proud and bowed his head as well. "You're welcome," he replied.
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