Chapter 60 - Code Seventeen

Ahsoka was an excellent Second Lieutenant. Working under the General to organize and lead the rebellion, nothing escaped her notice. That's what they'd say at her funeral. Ahsoka rubbed her temples again, to find no relief from the splitting headache. It was a good thing to say at a funeral, even if it was untrue.

It all started with a report from the Intelligence Service that passed her desk. A discovery was made suggesting an Imperial Superweapon. This led to a team being sent to Jedha and a prisoner was freed from an imperial labor camp to accompany this mission. All of that was decided by people under her command and she didn't see reason to overrule anyone.

The report that came over next was about the "Death-Star," An Imperial weapon that could destroy an entire planet, should they choose to do so. 'With a Di'kut like Palpatine in charge, of course they'll choose to do so.' This caused a lot of anxiety in the Alliance command, and was the cause of at least a third of her headache.

Ultimately, they decided not to act on the information. Before now, the Alliance had only been involved in smaller skirmishes with the Empire. If they attacked now, they'd be declaring all out war, and that would have far reaching effects for them all.

Their debate was pointless, however, as a bunch of soldiers felt differently. They went against orders and attacked the Empire world of Scarif, anyway. 'They do call them Rebels!' It led to a whole platoon of dead soldiers. Men and Women who had served their Universe Valiantly. Ahsoka was only half way through writing the letters to the family members of the dead. This was the cause of another third of her headache.

The last third came later, after her former Master, Anakin Skywalker called. Of course he'd heard about Scarif already. Half the universe had, and he somehow knew to ask about if his daughter had been there. Her answer at the time had been no. Like she would send the daughter of a friend into an incursion on an Imperial world. Then General Organa got a message from the Bothan Institute that his daughter hadn't shown up to her lessons. This led to a mad scramble for any information that led to the missing Princess and her escort team. No one expected the answer to come flying in on the Rogue Shadow.

Captain Juno Eclipse had the stolen plans for the Death Star onboard, and the last known whereabouts of the Princess and her crew. Though Galen Merek claimed that Luke had gone after them to save, at least, his sister, Ahsoka couldn't be confident. She had seen the security imperial prisoners were kept under. Especially if they were expected to have rebel ties. It was too much to expect one boy to break through. All this and the guilt due to the fact that she may have lied to her best friend was the reason she was nursing the worst headache in history.

She almost didn't hear the loudspeaker that went off overhead. "Code Seventeen. Unidentified Aircraft Approaching. All to your stations."

Ahsoka got up as the message was repeating. "Code Seventeen. Rot, that's not what I need now!"


"They dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the system, and seem to be headed straight for us. They've been unresponsive to all comms. It's a Corellian YT Thirteen hundred-F Light Freighter. It hasn't armed it's cannons yet. They have deflector shields and a Durasteel shell for defenses." Reported the man at the command center. His eyes nervously went back and forth between Ahsoka and Bail. He seemed unaccustomed to having so many high ranking personnel on base at one time.

"Doesn't sound like an enemy invasion then." Ahsoka looked to Bail for confirmation.

"No. Order our men to stand down and have the ground teams on high alert for when they land," Bail ordered.

Ahsoka nodded. That felt like the right thing to do. It was then that she noticed her headache was gone. She hadn't taken any medicine to stop it. She leaned over to whisper to Bail. "It's all going to be alright. I feel good about this."

Bail's look of worry didn't crack. "I hope you're right."


"Uh oh! Looks like we have company out there." Han Solo said to his companion in the cockpit as they landed.

"Yes, It's a code seventeen. Unidentified Aircraft." Leia explained.

"What do you think they'll do?" Han asked.

"That depends on the commander's decision. They haven't tried to shoot us down, though," Leia answered.

This got the pilot's attention. "They could've decided to shoot us down! When were you gonna tell me about this?" Leia replied with a quick shrug. She turned to leave the cockpit. "Hey Princess," Han summoned her back. "It was nice seeing you again. I was worried when… You know."

"Yeah, well, you know I could talk to a few people. If you want to stay and help the rebellion for a while." Her voice lilted with the unasked question.

Han winced. "Yeah, I have a job."

"Oh, okay." Leia tried to hide the hurt from her voice.

"It's just that…" Han tried, but Leia cut him off.

"No. You have a job. Go make your money." Leia waved at him dismissively, and walked out.

"The cargo isn't mine." Han finished in an empty compartment. He sighed, as he threw his head down in frustration.


"We've arrived." Leia announced to the ship. "But we have no way to inform them that we are friendly. Han says his comm is busted."

Obi-Wan elbowed Anakin, who shrugged. "It was the quickest way to deactivate the tracker."

"Yeah, and the base seems to be on code seventeen. A ground crew has surrounded us, and they are armed." Leia specified for those present without military experience. I.E. her brother.

"Okay, Yoda, Anakin, and I will go out first." Obi-Wan spoke next. "The rest of you wait until we've met the leadership here."

Leia was preparing a debate in the back of her throat, when her Captain, Donael, spoke up.

"No. I'm a captain. They'll recognize me. And even if they don't, I know the security codes."

Obi-Wan and Anakin both nodded.

'Well, that was easier than I expected.' Leia thought.


Ahsoka watched from behind a security camera as the ship opened its doors and a Duros man walked out with his arms raised. As he said something to the soldiers who surrounded him, Ahsoka squinted at the small holo.

"Is that…?" She didn't have a chance to finish her sentence.

A man in uniform walked in to finish it for her. "Captain Donael of the White Forty Seventh Infantry. His codes match up, Sir… Ma'am."

Bail took in a tense breath. "The Princess… Where is Mara?"

"He says she's onboard, sir."

Bail exhaled and all the weight of the world seemed to leave his shoulders. Ahsoka picked up the mic. "Stand down. I repeat, stand down."

Ahsoka and Bail ran down to the Hangar to where the ship's passengers were walking off.

"Mara!" the father shouted from across the hangar when his daughter walked off. The princess ran to Bail and was enveloped in a hug. "Your mother and I were so worried. Never do that again."

"Leia!" Ahsoka ran up to the girl. "How did you get away? The last word we had…" Her voice trailed off as she saw who came out next.

It was her former Master, Anakin Skywalker. And with him followed Obi-Wan Kenobi, of course. But also with them was the little green grandmaster she'd had so many arguments with, that she doubted he'd ever leave Tatooine. Ahsoka looked back at Leia and noticed she now wore a padawan braid of beads.

Leia clutched at them, noticing the attention they now brought.

"They suit you," Ahsoka whispered to the girl. "I'd be sorry to lose you, but it suits you."

"Oh, I'm not leaving the rebellion." Leia smiled and laughed at the look of surprise she was given. "Master said we would join together. Did Juno come in? Did you get the plans?"

"Uh… Yes, she and Galen are on base now. And the plans are being examined as we speak." Ahsoka looked up to see Anakin, who was standing close enough to hear their conversation.

"Yes, I've seen some of the station's plans when we were onboard…," he said.

"Onboard!?" Ahsoka's eyes opened wide.

"We pulled a little, impromptu prison break and sabotage on them before we came here." Anakin confessed.

"Skywalker style, of course." Obi-Wan put his hand on Anakin's back.

"Really! How much of their base is still standing?" Ahsoka teased.

"They should be able to restore their tractor beam in another four to five hours. Like I said, I saw some of the floorplans while I was there. If I could see what you have, I could help your team find its weaknesses."

"Of course…" Ahsoka waved to attract a man in uniform. "This is Anakin Skywalker. Please escort him to the tech room to see the plans."

"Eye, eye. Master Skywalker…" He motioned with his hand for Anakin to follow him.


Luke and Leia barely walked down to the base's refectory before they were attacked again. The assault came in the form of hugs. "Oh, Luke, Leia. I was so worried. When I got here I found out you were walking into an empire armada! If I'd have known that, I never would've let you go alone. Everyone here was assuming you'd both be captured at best.

"Yeah. Things didn't exactly go as planned, but…" Luke trailed off when Galen cocked his head to the side.

"Master Skywalker's here?... Droyk! He is here. I'm in trouble now." Galen groaned.

"That's one of the first things that didn't go according to plan. I already got the lecture on the way here." Luke confessed.

"Awe, I'm sure it's not that bad." Juno gave Galen a pitying look, then rubbed his shoulders. "I'll speak up for you if it helps."


Above the refectory in the base was a room with a one way window that looked down into the cafeteria. In that room a young princess stood staring down at those below.

Winter walked up behind her and said, "Ah, your cute Jedi boy."

Mara blushed and turned to look accusingly at her sister. "He's not my anything."

Winter looked smug. "We'll see about that. Who's he with? Is she competition?"

"No, that's Leia. She's his sister, and she's been on my personal guard for the last year."

"The one that does the switch with you. I'd like to meet her. Those other two look like a pair already, given that body language." Winter pointed.

"Yes. That's Juno Eclipse. She brought the file here we picked up from Scarif. And he's a friend of theirs from Tatooine. I don't know his name." Mara turned back to her sister.

"That was reckless of you, you know. Your parents were so worried when they found out where you were."

Mara winced. "Yeah, I know. I regretted it immediately. I was just so-ooooo curious, I had to check it out. You know no one tells us stuff."

"That might be changing. I spoke to Lieutenant Tano and she agreed to give me some assignments. Nothing too extreme yet, but I am an official agent of the rebellion now."

"That is so cool!" Mara wowed. "You have to tell me Everything!"


Hello,

This chapter is a short one. I thought I'd wait to do the part with the plans later. It's bound to be long.

I'm not very good at writing romance, so I decided to have Galen and Juno bond a bit while they were waiting for news. That way I can focus on the canon pairings. Han's not gone yet.