Chapter Twenty-Three: Confrontation
Vader had obviously revisited the training of the inquisitors, Ahsoka thought to herself as she listened to one of her task agents, a human named Jace, report on his mission to extract a Jedi. None of their usual diversion tactics to lose track of an inquisitor were working, and none of the agents from her task Force that she'd sent to extract the Jedi and possibly take down the Inquisitor had succeeded yet. In fact, she'd lost two agents to this particular inquisitor in the four months they'd been trying to help their Jedi charge get away.
Ahsoka wasn't even surprised. She knew when she let Vader know of her intentions to stop the inquisitors that he wouldn't take such a challenge lying down. So it was no shock that her mission had gotten much harder since. Then there was the fact that he was determined to prove his point to her about being detached from the Jedi just like he was, likely thinking that the harder he made things for her, the more likely she would give up what he no doubt thought was a foolish endeavor.
And perhaps it was foolish. She saved what few Jedi remained now, integrated them into her rebel network, and then what would she do with them when she helped Vader defeat Palpatine and become emperor? Fight another war, this time with a rebellion led by the Jedi she'd let live because they would never allow a Sith to rule the galaxy? Would she be forced to turn her blade against the Jedi when they inevitably came against Vader and her for what some would perceive as a betrayal? Would she be willing to? Would they be right to worry about Vader at the helm of the galaxy? Probably, was the answer to most of those questions.
Ahsoka shook her head. She couldn't worry about hypotheticals that might happen in the future. Hypotheticals she wouldn't even have to bother with if she didn't strengthen her rebellion enough to fight against the forces of Palpatine's Empire that Vader couldn't get on his side. She wasn't sure what Vader's idea of the Empire looked like, but she knew that whatever it was, she'd do everything in her power to curb his darker tendencies. And that started right now by continuing to keep the Jedi out his and his inquisitor's grasp.
"Send me your next coordinates," Ahsoka decided. "I'll deal with that inquisitor next time he tracks you."
The holo of Jace faltered and said, "General?"
Ahsoka could imagine he was certainly surprised. She gave orders and approved missions and even took assignments to get intel and assess situations personally in Imperial spaces too dangerous for her best agents. But she never joined her Jedi task force in finding Jedi and tracking inquisitor movement.
"We've been trying to shake this inquisitor for months. Obviously, he's a tricky one. Asking you to retrieve Jedi and deal with inquisitors is a lot for me to ask of you to begin with. I won't let you continue to endanger yourself for a mission that's obviously so risky," Ahsoka decided as she stood from the seat in a hidden underground conference room in the Alderaan Palace where she conducted rebellion business when she wasn't off-planet. "I'll let you know my ETA and give you specifics about where we'll rendezvous once I've looked at the coordinates. In the meantime, tell the Jedi that the Fulcrum is coming to assist."
She cut the call after that, not wanting to stay connected any longer than she needed to for fear that someone might trace them. Diya had assured and shown her that the calls she made on the underground network she'd set up couldn't be traced back to Alderaan. But conducting any rebellion business on Alderaan at all was too risky as far as Ahsoka was concerned.
She decided to find Luke and Leia before doing any preparation to leave. They were in their room like they usually were in the evenings, playing a game of pretend with their toys spread across the floor. It looked like they were re-enacting one of the clone wars stories that she'd told them and disagreeing about a detail of the story she'd given them.
"You're both wrong," Ahsoka said with a grin. The two instantly paused their bickering, watching as she got down on the floor and rearranged the pieces of their reenactment of their infiltration of the Citadel.
"Oh," Leia said sourly, liking to be wrong as much as her dad used to.
"Told you you were wrong," Luke said smugly.
"Yeah. But, you weren't right either, " Leia said, sticking her tongue out at Luke, who returned the gesture in kind.
Being that this was as good a time as ever, Ahsoka said, "I have to leave for work tonight."
"Can we go?" Luke asked, hopefully.
"No," Ahsoka said flatly.
"Aw man," Luke said, pouting and crossing his arms.
At least he was pouting because he couldn't go, not because she was leaving at all. If Luke and Leia reacted anything like Winter did when her dad had to leave to spend time on Coruscant, Ahsoka wasn't sure she'd ever leave them. That said, she didn't think either particularly liked when she was away, but one thing she picked up through their bond was that they had an unshakeable faith that she'd always be back.
"When I get back," Ahsoka continued, "we'll try to go see your dad."
Their eyes lit up at that, and she sensed their excitement at getting to spend time with the man. Keeping the existence of their father a secret was the one thing she could get them to take seriously. She wasn't sure why. Maybe because it was the only thing she asked them to be serious about. Maybe because they sensed her apprehension about anyone finding out that Anakin Skywalker wasn't as dead as people thought him to be. Or maybe they just saw it as a game that they didn't want to lose, especially as competitive as Leia was and since Luke would never willingly lose anything against his sister.
"Good. I have many important things to tell him," Leia said seriously.
Luke groaned and rolled his eyes, while Ahsoka frowned. She'd have to ask Leia later what exactly it was she wanted to tell Vader about. Although she was sure Vader had an idea that the twins spent some time in the core because they talked about Bail and, especially, Breha all the time, he didn't know for sure where they were hiding. A measure so that if he were ever compromised, the Emperor wouldn't find out where they were hiding. A measure that meant sometimes dissuading the twins from asking Vader certain questions or having certain conversations. Something that Vader saw the necessity of if it meant keeping them safe because while they disagreed on a lot of other things, they agreed that keeping the twins safe was the top priority, hence why Luke and Leia were so excited about the prospect of a visit. Visits with Vader weren't comment.
"Alright," Ahsoka said. "Clean up. Then bedtime."
The coordinates for the Jedi and her field agent came through in the middle of Luke's and Leia's bedtime routine. Bacrana, in the Expansion Region. About a three-day trip. Ahsoka would have to do some research about to come up with a plan of action, but there would be time enough for that on the trip there.
"When will you come back," Luke asked when they were in pajamas, rushing to stand on the stool placed in front of the holo calendar displayed on the wall in the room.
"It's going to take me three days to get there," Ahsoka began, and Luke found the current date and counted three from there. "And after that, it just depends on how quickly things happen."
"What things?" Luke asked.
Things like how long it took for the Inquisitor to ambush them or them to ambush the Inquisitor so Ahsoka could either convince them to join her or kill them. She could arrive on-planet and find the inquisitor had beat her there and quickly engage them, or she'd have to lay out a trap that would either ruin their trace or bring them right to her to deal with.
"Maybe a week," Ahsoka gave.
Luke went into the next week of the same day.
"And then three days to get back, right?" Luke asked, counting three more days.
"Maybe," Ahsoka said, but that didn't stop Luke from marking a little diamond on the day to signal her expected return. "Aunt Breha will tell you if anything changes for certain."
Leia, who was sitting on the bed, shrugged and said, "You'll be back really soon. I saw it."
"And how did you see it?" Ahsoka asked with a raised eye marking.
"The Force, Mama," Leia said with a roll of her eyes as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.
It probably was to her and Luke. Ahsoka had a feeling this was a sign that they'd certainly inherited their father's power of precognition. She'd have to figure out a way to train them to deal with that because the last thing she wanted was them following their dad's footsteps because they let a vision drive them insane.
"Don't be sad, Mama. We'll be fine," Luke said.
Ahsoka checked her shields. She hadn't meant for them to sense her worry through their bond. Then, without bothering with any discretion, she quickly changed the subject and put them to bed.
The only thing she had to retrieve from her room was her lightsaber, and then she went to find Breha, who was just getting to her chambers after a long day.
"Do you think you'll make it back for Winter's birthday? I don't think she'll be happy if her Aunt 'Soka's not part of the celebrations. And then I won't be happy with you," Breha joked, giving Ahsoka a feigned glare.
"Three weeks, right?" Ahsoka asked and Breha nodded in confirmation. "I should be. This job shouldn't take that long. Hopefully."
Breha nodded and hugged Ahsoka, pleading with her to make sure she was careful and saying she'd make sure to tell the cooks to prepared Luke's and Leia's favorite breakfast in the morning. Ahsoka tried not to think of why Breha made a habit of doing that and made her way to one of the Palace's more discreet hangers to get ready to leave. Artoo was already there, having warmed up the ship, and then they were off, leaving Alderaan's atmosphere. Just before they left the atmosphere, Ahsoka felt the combined effort of Luke and Leia reaching out to her.
"We love you, mama," they sent, powerful enough now that she could hear their voices across the bond now in addition to the impression of feelings they usually sent.
"I love you too. Behave for Breha," she sent back and got in return all too innocent waves of reassurance that promised mischief in the future, like racing around on their hoverbikes through the palace.
Ahsoka spent the next three days planning for her extraction and placement of the Jedi. Best case scenario? Ahsoka quietly lost the Inquisitor's trace and was able to place the Jedi with a resistance cell somewhere in the Outer Rim, where they could lie low. Worst case scenario? She ended up having to make a little noise to confront the Inquisitor and probably kill them.
Three and half years fighting the clone wars, and nearly eight years knowing Anakin—regardless of what name he went by now—taught Ahsoka to expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised and grateful if things turned out for the best. So she wasn't surprised when she got to the coordinates on Bacrana and found her agent and the Jedi in the middle of trying to flee from the Inquisitor that found them first. So much for losing the inquisitor…
Without announcing herself, Ahsoka drew her lightsabers to her hand and attacked the inquisitor from behind. He sensed her and blocked the attack, but Ahsoka expected that and flipped backward onto her feet, before going in for another attack.
"Get to my ship," she yelled to her agent and the Jedi, as she ducked an attack for the inquisitor's red blade.
She couldn't see the Jedi's face under hood up, but Ahsoka could tell they hesitated to follow the instruction out of concern for her. Her agent, though, had no such qualms about following the order and guided the Jedi to Ahsoka's ship while Ahsoka distracted the inquisitor. He was some species that Ahsoka wasn't familiar with, having wrinkly grey skin and black eyes with a lot of tone and mass in his physique.
A weakness of all the inquisitors was that even though they were fallen, the ones that were former Jedi still fought like Jedi. That contrast between fighting like a Jedi and fighting more aggressively like a dark side adept made them weaker and more open to mistakes and hesitancy. She didn't have to wait for that opening to take down the inquisitor, but it gave her time to try to get through to the fallen Jedi.
"You don't have to do this," Ahsoka said to the fallen Jedi. "You have a lot of hate and rage in you. I know what that's like."
"You know nothing," he growled in broken Basic, and Ahsoka guessed he was one of those species whose vocal cords and general anatomy didn't take to speaking Basic well.
Ahsoka jumped back out the way, creating space between her and the inquisitor. Then she said, "I do. And I'm not going to tell you that you shouldn't have it, but there's a better way to use it instead of hunting down your former Jedi brothers and sisters. You're upset because they didn't protect you. That they didn't see the Sith coming. That they left you alone. But what do you think the Emperor's going to do with you once there are no more Jedi to kill, and you've outlived your usefulness? What do you think Vader's going to do with you?"
Ahsoka already knew the answer to that. Though Vader was dominant in power over them, the inquisitors were a threat to his place as the Sith apprentice. With no interest in taking any of them as an apprentice himself, his plan was to kill them anyway. He just didn't appreciate Ahsoka trying to do it while they were still somewhat useful to him.
The inquisitor growled, refusing to hear her, and Ahsoka got the opening that she expected. A subtle weakness when using double-bladed sabers and a weakness that dual saber wielders like herself could more easily take advantage of but that could leave her open to attack if she wasn't quick or strong enough.
She parried the inquisitor's angry strike, scissoring the blade in her both her white ones, quickly twisting the blade to the side and using the Force to enhance her strength. The result was that, before the inquisitor could realize what she planned to do, she made him strike himself with the opposite end of his blade, slashing his entire leg off in the process. He cried out and toppled onto his side, his blade falling somewhere next to him.
"You are beaten," Ahsoka said, pointing one of her sabers at him, hyper-aware of where his lightsaber had dropped in case he tried to summon it. "You can stop this, and you can come with me. Or you die."
There was no option. He'd seen her face. And though Diya made a useful decoy, Diya didn't use lightsabers.
The hate and rage in the inquisitor was the only answer she got, and Ahsoka knew that if there was anyone that could turn him from his dark ways, she wasn't the one. Left with no choice, she plunged her lightsaber into his midsection, hoping there was something vital there that would give him an instant death. There was, because it only took a few seconds for his eyes to be overcome with the dullness of death.
Ahsoka extinguished her blades and knelt beside the man, closing his eyes. In another time and place, with the right push, she could have been just like this inquisitor. Then she checked his body for anything that might be useful in tracking down other Inquisitor whereabouts. She found nothing and stood, deciding to leave the lightsaber behind, having no need for its crystals.
She made her way back to her ship and went to the cockpit where her agent was waiting for her with Artoo, the ship's systems already warmed up.
"You won't have any problem being tracked again. At least not by that inquisitor," Ahsoka said to him.
Jace whistled and said, "Diya said if anyone could take out that inquisitor, you could. But I didn't know it would be that quick."
Ahsoka shrugged. "My teacher was pretty intense. Where's the Jedi?"
"In the back," Jace replied. "Me and your astromech will get us out of here."
Ahsoka nodded and made her way to one of two small rooms on the ship she'd chosen to use for this mission. She found the Jedi, hood down, dark hair flowing in loose waves down her back.
"You've been through a great ordeal," Ahsoka said, remembering the reports she'd gotten of this particular case. There had been a lot of near misses with this Jedi. "I just wanted to ensure you were in good health before we discuss your options for further hiding in my network."
The Jedi didn't immediately answer or even turn around. Ahsoka frowned, preparing herself to have to deal with some sort of trauma. Jedi were technically supposed to be able to shake it off, but you just didn't shake off becoming the target of genocide and running for your life for the last five years.
"Are you al—"
The Jedi turned around, and the words die on Ahsoka's tongue. With how constricted her chest felt, she wondered if her heart might give out under the strain of her shock and the immediate conflict that built up in her.
Finally, she found the ability to speak again and said barely above a whisper, "Barriss."
AN: I got a lot of questions about what other Jedi would Ahsoka run into. Well, an ex-padawan who used to be one of her closest friends. Wonder how that will turn out...
Hope you enjoyed. Review Please!
