Chapter six already.
This chapter is about some different reactions from several people regarding Ahsoka's decision to leave. Note: this takes place before my other story!
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Chapter six – Tales of Coruscant
Anakin Skywalker was walking down the streets of the lower levels of Coruscant. The morning sun was burning above him. His eyes were hurting from the sun's rays. Sleep had pretty much avoided him all night. He had tried to relax, but his thoughts had been filled with all kinds of horrifying scenario's. Ahsoka was out there somewhere on her own, without her weapons, without anything. The wide galaxy is such a dangerous place, even for grown men. Ahsoka was just a young girl, sure she'd been trained as a Jedi. But now she was all alone. His worrying had given him the worst nightmares. So he'd decided to stay awake.
He would've preferred to stay with Padmé, but she had a meeting with a few other senators and it would have been difficult to explain his presence there.
Anakin had ordered captain Rex and several squadrons of the 501'st to investigate the abandoned factory where Ahsoka had been captured. He had hoped to find some kind of clue as to why Barriss had turned on the Order. He wanted to find an explanation as to why Barriss had decided to, of all people, frame Ahsoka. Everything just didn't add up. He had been on assignments with Barriss before, her goal was to become a healer, not a terrorist.
The things Ventress had told him spooked through his head. She had been right, no matter how strange it felt to admit it. The Council, the Republic, He himself, everyone had abandoned Ahsoka. It infuriated him that he had almost been too late to save her. But he had been able to help her. He'd come through for her. But now, thanks to the Council, she was gone.
The combination of his deep thinking and the lack of sleep was giving him a headache, so he just moved on to the factory, trying desperately to clear his head.
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Padmé was sitting in her office at the Senate, reading through some of her files. It was difficult to concentrate. Anakin's words were still fresh in her memory. Ahsoka's decision had been really unexpected and difficult to understand. But, after considering her position and everything that had happened to her, everything the Council had done to her, her decision to leave had made sense. She had been thrown into the war at the age of fourteen. Children like that shouldn't have to be in such a terrible war. Despite her age, she had never complained. She always did her best to protect others.
Padmé sighed and put her documents to the side. She rested her head in her hands. Ahsoka had always faithfully served the Republic and the Jedi Council without question. And yet they had almost immediately assumed she was guilty. They had expelled her without giving her a chance to tell her side of the story. She was just handed over to the Republic court to be sentenced to death. The whole trial was just ridiculous. Why would the Court and admiral Tarkin have been so driven to try and execute a sixteen year old girl? Has this war truly affected the Republic in such a horrifying way?
"Excuse me, miss Padmé? Your guests have arrived." C-3PO informed her. Padmé snapped up out of her thoughts "Oh yes, thank you 3PO. Please send them in." 3PO gave a little bow before replying: "At once, milady." And he went to the entrance hall. A short moment later Senator Bail Organa, Senator Riyo Chuchi and Senator Mothma. "Good morning Senators." Padmé said as she stood up to greet her guests. "Good morning, Padmé" Bail replied, "You look a little distracted. Is everything alright?". Bail asked as he and the others took their seats. Padmé gave him a soft smile, "I'm fine Bail, it's just that… I received some disturbing news yesterday." "What happened Padmé?" Senator Chuchi asked her with concern. Padmé sighed, "you know what's happened with Ahsoka these past few days, right?" The expression on Chuchi's face quickly turned to sadness. "yes, I still can't believe that they actually thought she was capable of such cruelty. After all she's done for the Republic." Chuchi looked up at Padmé. "Did something happen to her? I take it that she was allowed to return to the Order after her name was cleared?" Chuchi asked hopefully. "Yes, the Council had told her that she could return to the Jedi Order as a Jedi Knight, but… Ahsoka felt that she couldn't trust the Council anymore, of herself for that matter. So… She left…" Padmé said sadly. The shock was clearly visible on the faces of her fellow senators. "She left?" Mon Mothma asked dumbfounded. Padmé simply nodded. "Do you know where she is now?" Bail asked. "No," Padmé replied shaking her hand. "I spoke with master Skywalker yesterday, he has no idea where she went." "Unbelievable, poor Ahsoka" Chuchi said softly. "I just hope she's alright." Padmé replied trying to sound a bit optimistic. "Don't worry, Ahsoka knows how to take care of herself. According to Anakin she just needs to find her own answers now. She'll be back someday." The others nodded. Chuchi looked out the window, "Good luck Ahsoka, stay safe". They sat in silence for a moment before returning to politics.
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Anakin arrived on the site of the factory. He looked around for a moment. Clone troopers were patrolling the area, making sure no-one was getting in or out without being noticed. Numerous other troopers were searching the factory. He continued on towards the small control post the soldiers had set up. A number of troopers saluted him and he nodded back, trying to hide the fatigue from his face. Two familiar clone troopers came to him as he approached the command post.
"General Skywalker." They both saluted. "At ease Rex, Fives." Anakin replied. "How goes the investigation?" he asked the two soldiers. Rex and Fives looked at each other for a moment. "Well, sir, to be honest. Things have gotten even more confusing." Rex informed Anakin. "How so?" he asked, slightly confused and frustrated by the development. "Uhm… We were able to track the nano droids to a group of criminals. They were listed on the criminal database as black-market weapon suppliers, large time and dangerous crooks." Fives answered. Anakin nodded and signaled for him to continue. "We were able to track them to a location here on the planet. So we took a few squadrons to investigate their hideout. But, when we got there…" Fives stopped talking. Anakin could sense his nervousness and obvious anger at what had happened on the scene. Anakin knew he wouldn't like the answer. Rex continued were Fives left of: "When we got to their hideout there was nothing left but ashes. The entire place had been burned to the ground. The investigation revealed a number of corpses that were identified as the gang. The fire wasn't an accident. Someone tried to cover his tracks and eliminated the weapon suppliers. The trail hit a dead end." Rex sighed in frustration. He too, wanted to get his hands on the person responsible for all of this. He'd seen Ahsoka and Barriss together before. Their friendship had been so incredibly strong. Recent events just didn't add up.
Rex looked around a bit before asking: "Eh, general? Where's… Commander Tano? She, she was restored her rank and everything? Wasn't she?" Anakin looked down before replying. "She left, Rex. She left." Both clones looked at each other in utter confusion. "She left…? Ahsoka?" Fives managed to utter out. Anakin nodded. "What the Council did to her has really torn her apart. They barely apologized to her and they tried to hide their own stupidity and ignorance by saying how this whole situation was actually her 'great trial'. It's despicable. They wronged her, severely. She felt she couldn't rust the Council anymore, so she declined their offer to be reinstated into the Order as a Knight, and… And she left…" Anakin sighed in frustration. "I… I just… can't believe this." Rex stuttered out. "Ahsoka… leaving the Order…" He shook his head in anger and disappointment with the Jedi Council. What had Ahsoka ever done to them? Why didn't they trust her? He remembered the chase that followed after she had escaped from jail. They had been given to order to shoot and kill her on sight. He couldn't believe that they'd actually had been given such a disgusting command. He'd shouted to other troopers to hold fire and not to harm her. He remembered seeing her after she was captured. She had not looked very good. Then, shortly afterwards, the Council had expelled her and the Republic court had almost sentenced her to death. He had been relieved to hear that she had been cleared of all charges, but devastated when he heard who was really behind it all. Barriss Offee, her best friend. And now, Ahsoka was gone…
A few other members of the 501'st had gathered around after they heard what had happened. All of them were shocked by the news. They had been around longer than most troopers and they all had fought besides Ahsoka for months, some even for years. They had seen her grow up from a small, overcurious and exited kid to a strong and wise young woman.
Every trooper had taken of his helmet and stood in attention as a sign of respect and to honor their lost comrade, the sister of the 501'st.
Captain Rex looked back up and moved to General Skywalker. "Sir, during our search of the area we… we found something else as well." He said with a sorrowful voice. "What did you find Rex?" Anakin asked in a similar tone of voice. Rex moved over to the portable command post and pressed a button, revealing a hidden storage compartment. He took something out of it and returned to Anakin. "We found it on the lowest level of the factory. I had meant to give it back to her when I saw her again, but…" Rex said depressed and held up his hand. Anakin looked at the all too familiar cylinder shaped object that was resting in Rex' hand. Ahsoka's lightsaber. Anakin took it and held it in his hands. Images of her racing around the battlefield, lightsabers flashing and them sparring and training together rushed through his mind. "Thank you Rex," he said quietly, "One way or the other, I'll make sure she gets this back." Rex nodded and went back to his investigation of the area. The rest of the troopers followed soon, still talking to each other about how messed up this entire situation had been.
Anakin stared at Ahsoka's lightsaber for a little while. After that he tucked it in his robes, making sure it was save and that he couldn't lose it. Then he got up and returned to the Temple.
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Jedi Master Plo Koon was sitting in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, staring at an old photo. It was a picture that had been taken of him and Ahsoka the day he had brought her to the Jedi Temple. He could still see the cheery, young girl who wanted to be a Jedi Knight. Now, having to see her leave with such sadness in her eyes broke his heart. She was such a kind-hearted person with nearly unlimited potential. But now, the actions of the Council had driven her away.
"Plo, are you alright?" A voice behind him asked. He turned slightly to see to Togrutan Jedi Master Shaak Ti. "Shaak, no. Not entirely." He replied in his deep voice. Despite his mask hiding his face Shaak Ti was able to sense the hurt he felt. She sat down next to him. "This turn of events is something none of us could have expected." She said sadly. "I'm afraid that young miss Offee may have been right with some of her accusations. This war has changed us, and not in a good way. But have we really lost our way this much?" She shook her head, her lekku gently waving from side to side. "Our Order is built on trust. So why did we lose trust in one of our own so easily?" she sighed. "The tragedies of this war cloud everything around us." Plo Koon replied. "We are becoming blinded by the horrors that surround us. I can only pray that this war ends soon so that we can begin to rebuild both the galaxy and our Order. Then, perhaps, Ahsoka will return to us some day." Shaak Ti turned to him. "Maybe she will or she might not. Though I am confident that we will hear from her again." She looked up and smiled. "I had high hopes for young Ahsoka when I first met her in the youngling classes. I could sense that she had a great destiny in front of her. It was my desire to see her grow up into a strong and wise Master and that she might one day replace me on the Jedi Council. However, it could also be possible that her destiny lies elsewhere. It is not for us to know and we cannot force her to stay here if she doesn't want to." She turned back to Master Plo and her face lost the smile. "But you are right, we have to change things in the Order. Otherwise we will not come out of this war the right way. We are supposed to be peacekeepers, but over these past few years we have become more like warriors. We need to put an end to this war and find a way to return to our old traditions. Not rushing padawans into battle and leading massive armies into war. We have a long way ahead of us for redemption. But we will find it. The Force will guide us, in that I have no doubt." Master Plo turned to face her and smiled under his mask. "Your wisdom serves us both well, Shaak. We will find a way, we have to. Until then, we will continue to do our best to protect the citizens of the Republic. "
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Katooni and her friends were following a class in control of the Force. Numerous other younglings from a few different clans were there as well. Because of the war the number of Masters available to teach was rather low. Most of them were out fighting somewhere on a distant planet.
They were given a standard exercise: to levitate a tablet in front of them. The entire class was silent as each youngling concentrated on the Force, following the instructions of the Twi'lek Master Aayla Secura.
Katooni and her friends sat in the back of the room. Everything was going well, but Katooni soon found her thoughts clouded and her concentration began to slip. Master Secura instructed to to bring the tablet forward. She followed the instruction, but accidently placed too much force to it and the tablet flew straight into the back of Petro's head, who was sitting in front of her. "Ouch!" he yelled and his tablet dropped to the ground, right on Gungi's foot. This caused him to roar loudly in pain. This caused the rest of the younglings to lose their concentration and shortly after tablets were clattering to the ground throughout the room. "ugh, Katooni, what did you do that for?" Petro asked her as he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry Petro, Gungi. I didn't mean too…" She stopped as Master Secura walked up beside them. Katooni gulped nervously.
"Initiate Katooni, is something wrong? Your concentration seems very off today. You're usually calmer than this." The Twi'lek Jedi asked her. "Uhm…, well Master, you see… I eh…" She started nervously. Everyone looked at her and some other younglings were whispering to each other. Aayla moved a bit closer to her, "What's wrong Katooni?". Katooni collected her thoughts a bit before replying. "I was just thinking about what I saw a few days ago. It really confused me and now it's just really bothering me." Katooni explained to the Master. Aayla signaled for her to continue. Katooni nodded and went on. "It was just after padawan Tano was cleared of all charges. I was walking through the Temple halls on my way to the Archives when I saw her heading towards the exit. She had such a… I don't know how to describe it… Such a broken look on her face. Shortly after I saw Master Skywalker running after her." Katooni said in a slightly confused tone. "I don't know what happened, but I haven't seen padawan Tano since that happened. It just really confused me." Katooni finished as she looked at Master Secura who had a look of regret on her face. "Now that you mention it, I haven't seen her either." Petro said as he looked at his friends. "Have any of you?" All he got as a response were heads shaking a clear no. Katooni looked at her friends and turned back to the Twi'lek Jedi. "Master Secura, do you know what happened?" she asked the older Jedi.
Aayla sighed as she stood up and went to the front of the class. "Yes Katooni, I do know what happened. And I am certainly not proud of the way we, the Council, have handled this whole situation." She said, a trace of regret hearable in her voice. "What do you mean master? Ganodi asked her. "I'm afraid that Ahsoka Tano has left the Jedi Order." Aayla responded in a sad voice. The entire class of younglings were shocked by the news. Petro spoke up: "She left? But… Why? She's one of the strongest padawans there is." Aayla merely sighed and tried to explain. "Her trust in the Council had been severely damaged by the way she was treated. After that she didn't feel that she could return to us. So, she left." The younglings all looked at each other, confusion, shock and surprise visible on their faces. They started debating with each other over what they had just heard.
Aayla motioned for the class to be silent. "Please everyone, settle down. I understand this is hard to take. Believe me, I was shocked as well when I heard the news. But this was Ahsoka's decision, and we can't change it." She said somberly. "Class dismissed. I'll leave you all to think about this." She said as she left the room. The rest of the younglings followed shortly after.
Katooni and her friends left the classroom and walked through the halls, unable to believe that Ahsoka had really left. She had been such an example to them and now she was gone. "Do you think she'll ever come back?" Zatt asked the group. "I don't know Zatt, I hope so." They walked in silence towards their clan's quarters.
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And that's the end of this chapter. I know, no Ahsoka and Lux. I just wanted to try and write something from a few different perspectives this time.
We'll see more of Lux and Ahsoka next chapter.
I recently read something rather annoying. Season 6 of the Clone Wars had been cancelled? "the episodes already produced are referred to as 'bonus content'" So what, Disney takes over and cancels one of the better shows on TV? …How incredibly frustrating.
So what, we can buy several episodes as bonus content when they release the dvd's? that is just bullsh*t. I saw an episode bundle here in a media store, half a season for 30 euro's! that is just too expensive, the prices they charge are ridiculous. sigh I'll just try to find them online somewhere when they're released (if they will be released that is…)
I just hope that they reconsider and actually make a season six. They're already going to make like, three new Star Wars movies, so why don't they finish this series?
Oh well, no matter what they do. We can still enjoy a whole load of stories here on Fanfiction. (several stories on here are better than some episodes of the Clone Wars if you ask me)
Until next time.