Chapter 57 – Back on Coruscant
I'm back with two updates. These took a little while to write. And, I have to be honest, the new Iceborne DLC for Monster Hunter World has taken up a lot of my time recently. Great game.
Ahsoka and her sisters have travelled to Coruscant. Her sisters for political reasons and Ahsoka means to talk to Master Yoda for advice on her nightmares. She and Aisha will set out to the Jedi Temple. What could go wrong?
For this chapter I'll be switching between text in Basic and in Togruti, so: "Speech in Basic" and {Speech in Togruti}.
Edits 30-03-2020: I saw that fanfiction didn't like the symbols I used for speech in Togruti, so I had to replace those.
Also, I made a small change to a scene. More on that at the end of the chapter.
Hope you enjoy.
;-
Ahsoka Tano looked out of the large window of the apartment. They had all arrived on Coruscant the day before and had settled into the apartments they had prepared for this journey. Her sisters Marina and Lilo had found new and larger apartments in a complex that was still relatively close to the 500 Republica and the Senate building, but at the same time, they weren't as stupidly expensive.
She had a nice sizable apartment with her sisters Marina, Lilo and Aisha. After giving it some thought, Marina had decided that Rosette would stay on Shili with her father Zolar, aunt Zaa and their grandparents. Marina figured that she would be quite busy with all of the political matters and she didn't want to leave Rosette with a babysitter all that time. She would have a much better time on Shili with their family.
The apartments on their immediate right and left were occupied by two squads of H'Raani M'Kai warriors, a precaution that was already in place, but they had upped it a bit after Ahsoka's warning to Shaden. The rest of their staff and other guards resided at the embassy of Shili on Coruscant.
Standing at the window, she had a clear view of the Senate building and the Jedi Temple some ways further. Aisha and her would head there shortly. She had no idea how it was going to go. Before the war, the Temple was more open to visitors. Now, with the war and the role of the Jedi in it, they had to keep out visitors to safeguard military secrets. With her no longer being a Jedi, she wondered what kind of welcome she would get.
Considering Master Yoda's words when they met on Ilum, she hoped that he would agree to see her. If not, well, then she would insist a little, reminding them of the horrid way she had been treated during the whole bombing incident. If they were still arrogant about that, she would follow Marina's suggestion and make an appointment with them with her title of princess of Shili. In any case, she would get her meeting one way or the other.
She walked away from the window of her room. From what she learned, Lux was on Coruscant as well. She was going to surprise him with her presence soon. During one of his visits, he had given her the key for his own Coruscant apartment. When she had mentioned this earlier, Lilo had given her a few suggestions about ways she could surprise Lux with her presence. She had told Lilo off of course, but she couldn't deny it to herself, some of it did have a nice little ring to it.
She still had mixed feelings about being back on Coruscant, but at least it gave her a chance to see some of her friends again. She would put up with everything else for that.
The only thing that worried her was that odd sense of danger. The sensations hadn't faded at all, but she couldn't place it. Something was getting closer, but she didn't know what it was. She didn't worry too much. They weren't exactly planning any trips to the Coruscant Underworld, so they wouldn't be in risky areas of the planet. Besides that, this was Coruscant, home base of the Republic military and the Jedi Order. It might just be something of her uneasiness to be back on the planet. Or perhaps someone in the Temple would give her trouble. There were people who didn't like her and had really believed that she was responsible for the bombing after all. No matter, she would deal with that if it came. With all that she had learned from Daughter, some upset Padawans or Knights wouldn't be any threat to her at all.
Whatever happened, she would deal with it when it came her way. She glanced at the Temple again and made her way back to the living room.
Aisha was looking excitedly out of the windows in the living room. This was her first time on Coruscant and she was fascinated by what she saw. It was a common reaction of everyone that set foot on Coruscant for the first time.
{Quite a sight, isn't it?} she asked as she walked up next to Aisha.
Aisha nodded. {It's pretty amazing,} she replied. {It's all so much bigger than I thought. Some of these buildings are massive! And it all expands so much further down too. I could see that when we flew over here. It's really something else.}
{Coruscant is a very large world. They've been building up levels for centuries. I doubt that the original soil of the planet is still accessible. If it even still exists,} Ahsoka said. {But the further down you travel, the less the laws of the Republic can be enforced. There are many dangerous lawless areas there. You definitely don't want to go down there.} She briefly thought back to some missions that had seen her in those dangerous areas. {But never mind that, we're not going anywhere near those places. We'll be headed towards the Jedi Temple soon. I really wonder how they're going to greet us.}
{I'm sure it'll be fine, right? That Master Yoda was nice enough when we saw him on Ilum,} she replied.
{I doubt that Master Yoda will be the problem. I'm afraid that some of the others might not be that accommodating…} She paused a moment. {Oh well, guess we'll find out when we get there. Are you ready to go?}
Aisha nodded, eager to see what the Jedi Temple is like. {Yes, let's go!}
Ahsoka smiled, but then thought of something. {Oh, just to be safe, make sure you keep your lightsabers hidden in your bag. I don't know if some Jedi will make a fuss about you having lightsabers, but let's just avoid it if possible.}
{Alright,} Aisha said as she shrugged. She took her lightsabers of her belt and made sure to put them in a little hidden pouch in her bag. {No reason to annoy them, right?}
{These days it takes very little to annoy them unfortunately,} Ahsoka replied as she rolled her eyes. {Let's head out. We'll get things done at the Temple, then look around the planet a bit and later meet Marina and Lilo for dinner.}
Aisha smiled and joined her. Then the two sisters left for the Jedi Temple.
;-
After a brief flight, in what seemed like worse traffic than she remembered, Ahsoka had arrived at the Jedi Temple with Aisha. Some stupid new traffic rules some senators had implemented for increased safety had made their trip a bit longer, but here they were.
She had a lot of mixed emotions about being here again, at the place she had called home for the largest part of her life. The Temple always felt so warm and inviting. She had loved living there with all of the other Jedi. It somehow felt like such a distant memory.
The Temple held a strange air now. It didn't feel like the home she had known anymore. It felt much colder and there was an odd darkness sweeping around. "Has the war really affected the Order this much? That even the Temple is affected by it?" Ahsoka thought, feeling an odd mixture of sadness, disgust, disappointment and sorrow. "The Council must truly be blind if they can't even sense this. Or are they just too close to it to even notice the difference?"
She could hear Aisha's gasp of amazement next to her, so she pushed the thoughts away for now. Perhaps she could bring it up with Master Yoda as well. She smiled at her sister and the two of them began walking closer to the Temple entrance. The place was busy as always. Jedi, clones and civilian Temple workers were going every way possible.
As she was looking around, Ahsoka spotted her old friend Master Plo Koon standing there with a group of younglings. Ahsoka couldn't help but smile a little. The Kel Dorian obviously sensed her presence and turned towards her. Ahsoka gestured for Aisha to follow her and they walked up to the group together.
Plo Koon's expression was unreadable behind his usual mask, but Ahsoka knew him and she could tell that he was smiling. "Ko-To-Yah Littl' Soka, it is good to see you again," he told her. "You look well."
Ahsoka smiled and opened her mouth to reply, but she was cut off by the sound of an explosion. "What the?!" she exclaimed startled. Everyone around her reacted in the same way. She looked around and saw a building in the distance in flames. There was a panicked cry from one of the younglings and they all looked where she pointed. "Oh no…" Ahsoka said in horror at the sight of swarms of vulture droids and droid transports breaching Coruscant's atmosphere.
Alarms started blaring loudly as the sky filled with Separatist ships and troop transports. Even from the distance, the blasts from their cruisers engaging the Republic's defense fleet were clearly visible. The Separatists had launched a full scale invasion of Coruscant!
A warning blared through the Force and she turned to face it. A group of vultures was speeding towards their location. A quick glance showed that they were bombers, obviously intending to reduce this crowd outside the Temple to ashes. Ahsoka frowned. She wasn't having any of that. She concentrated and reached out with the Force. She recalled from the war that these bombers had a heavy design flaw that could cause their casings to crack rather easily. With her increased Force Powers, exploiting this was easier. She reached out and crushed a vital part in the bombs of the lead vulture. Its payload exploded and it resulted in a fiery cluster of blasts. The threat removed, she turned back to Plo Koon.
"Nicely done Ahsoka," Plo Koon said, impressed with her quick action.
"Looks like we chose one hell of a time to visit, didn't we?" Ahsoka replied sarcastically. "Well, at least I know what that sense of danger was now," she thought annoyed.
"You sure did," Plo said in return, before turning his attention to everyone around him. Using the Force, he boosted his voice. "All of you! Get inside the Temple! Make your way to the bunkers and remain there!"
With Plo addressing the crowd, Ahsoka quickly turned to her sister. {Aisha, please go with them. You'll be safe in the Temple,} she told her, casting a wary glance at the approaching swarm of droid transports.
Aisha was still staring in shock at the chaos that had suddenly erupted when Ahsoka's question snapped her attention back to her sister. {But… Why? You're going to fight aren't you? I can help too! We've trained so much!}
Ahsoka kneeled down and gently took hold of Aisha's shoulders. {I know sis, you've become a lot stronger, but I don't want you to risk your life here. This won't be like any training we've done. These droids are armed with live and lethal ammo. They won't hesitate to kill you. I don't want you to get hurt.} She paused a moment. {You've already suffered enough. I don't want you to get in this war. Force knows it has left its scars on me. I don't want that for you. So please, stay in the Temple where it's safe.}
Aisha wanted to protest, but she understood what her sister was talking about and she clearly sensed her worry through their bond. {Will you be alright?} she asked.
Ahsoka gave a comforting smile and nodded. {Don't worry, I'll be fine. This,} she gestured at the unfolding chaos around them, {is sadly like a second nature to me. I'm all too familiar with droids and you know I've gotten much stronger as well. Besides, I'm sure that Shaden has already send a few warriors our way to ensure our safety. I'll be just fine.}
{You better be!} Aisha said with a mock-pout. She gave her a quick hug. {May the Force be with you.} With that, she quickly ran after the crowd of people making their way into the Temple.
Ahsoka stood up again and looked after her a moment, then she turned back to Plo Koon. The Kel Dorian had obviously been watching them. She knew he spoke Togruti as well, so he had heard what they had said. He didn't comment on it right now, but she did wonder what he was thinking.
"No objections to her staying in the Temple bunker for a while, right Master Plo?" she asked him, wincing slightly as a rocket slammed into a nearby building, causing another explosion.
Plo shook his head. "None whatsoever," he quickly replied before they both turned their attention to several approaching droid transports. Around them, multiple Jedi and Temple guards began to gather. They commented their shock and horror at what was going on, but it quickly turned into a widely agreed determination that there was no way that the droids were setting foot inside the Temple.
Plo watched as the transports came under fire from Coruscant's defensive network, but the fire was not successfully destroying all of the transports. "I suspect sabotage," he commented to no one in particular.
Ahsoka lightly nodded in agreement. For such a large invasion force to strike Coruscant of all places so suddenly, something was definitely wrong. The fire from the defense installations was far weaker than it should be. Besides that, this invasion force should have been detected long before it could even reach the planet. It all just reeked of sabotage.
A few of the transports exploded, but there were still four left and they had just begun their landing sequence. "That's a suicide mission. Those droids don't stand a chance," Ahsoka thought to herself. "Then again, looking at the sheer amount of ships and cruisers, they're probably just dumping droids everywhere in an attempt to cause as much damage and chaos as possible."
The transports set down with several loud clangs and instantly opened their doors to allow the droids to start pouring out of them. Ahsoka grabbed one of her lightsabers and ignited it, the cyan blade appearing as she flipped it to her preferred reverse hold. Next to her, Plo ignited his own lightsaber. All around them the other Jedi did the same, resulting in a chorus of humming blades, ready to meet the droids. At Plo's signal, they charged.
It didn't last long. As people have frequently commented during the war, 'One Jedi equals a thousand droids', this fight seemed more like a training session for the Jedi. The droids didn't stand a single chance against the large number of Jedi that met them head on. Now only a pile of scrap remained.
With the immediate threat in the area taken care off, Plo Koon instantly turned his attention back to the large group of Jedi. He instructed the Temple guards to take their defensive positions in and around the Temple and to coordinate with the others fighting there. He told the other Jedi present to gather up into groups and spread out to deal with the droids being dropped all over the place. Their priority now was to take down the droids and protect the people of Coruscant.
The members of the Order all sounded their agreement and took off in different directions, quickly teaming up and doing as instructed. With all of them away, this left Ahsoka alone with Plo Koon.
The Kel Dorian looked at his old foundling. "I am heading towards the Senate building. I fear it will be one of the biggest targets of this assault," he informed her. "While I can't or will ask you to take part in our fight, I would certainly appreciate your help, Ahsoka." With her no longer being a part of the Order, he couldn't just tell her to take up arms against the droids again. Not that he wanted to order her around like that, especially since this is the first time he had seen her in months.
Ahsoka was a little surprised by his words and what she felt from him, but then gave him a little smirk. "Well, my sisters are supposed to be at the Senate building right now, so I was already thinking of heading that way myself. I don't see any harm in traveling together for a bit," she replied lightly. There was a twinge of surprise through the Force at the mention of her sisters, but Plo obviously chose not to comment on it.
Plo nodded and began to call for a transport to take them to the Senate building. It didn't take too long for a transport to pick them up, considering the fact that pretty much every trooper squadron was being mobilized to fight back against the Separatist invasion. They jumped on board the transport and it lifted off immediately. Plo exchanged a brief word of introduction with the troops on board and vouched for her as she technically was a civilian, before he went on to contact his own legion to check their status.
While he was doing that, Ahsoka's own comlink went off. "Thankfully they haven't been able to block communications. At least, not yet," she thought before answering. "Ahsoka," she quickly said.
{Lady Ahsoka, it's Shaden. What is your situation?} the familiar voice of the commander of the royal guard asked.
{Shaden, I'm fine. Currently on board a clone transport with Jedi Master Plo Koon. We're headed towards the Senate building. Aisha is in the Jedi Temple bunkers,} she replied. {What is your status? Where are Marina and Lilo?}
{They are both safe in the bunkers of the Senate building. I myself and a group of us are with them. We'll ensure everyone's safety here. I'll send some of the others out to aid you,} he informed her.
{Glad to hear that, I'm sure there'll be plenty of droids to go around,} she replied with a hint of sarcasm. She then turned her attention to Plo Koon again.
"Attention everyone, we'll soon be setting down just outside the Senate area. Droids are pouring into the area in an attempt to take the Senate building. We'll come out behind one of the newly deployed groups that is currently making its way there, go through them and join the defense force," Plo Koon explained to the group. The soldiers sounded their understanding and readied their weapons.
Ahsoka turned back to her comlink. {Shaden, looks like we're deploying just outside the Senate area. We're going to flank a droid platoon advancing on the Senate plaza and take them out first before joining the rest of the defense force,} she informed him.
There was some muffled talk in Togruti from the comlink before Shaden spoke again. {We have a fix on your location. Cira and her group will make their way to you and join you shortly,} he replied.
{Understood, Ahsoka out.} With that, she ended the connection. She looked at Master Plo again. "Some of my friends will be reinforcing us shortly. They're a group of Togruta clad in green armor, so be on the lookout for them."
"All help is greatly appreciated now," Plo Koon replied. "But are they up to the task of fighting the droid army?"
Ahsoka nodded. "Yes, there's no need to worry about that. They're all part of Shili's royal guard and already have experience in fighting the droids from the messes on Felucia and Kiros," she explained.
Plo nodded. "I remember the reports from the battle of Kiros. I'll be glad to have them on our side," he replied. There was a quick alarm in the transport. "Everyone, prepare yourself, we're approaching our drop off point," he informed everyone on board.
;-
The transport had set down and the clones moved out of it first, setting up a quick defensive position outside. Ahsoka followed them alongside Master Plo Koon. His task complete, the pilot of the transport took off again. He was needed elsewhere and they needed the space clear for the other transports that were headed their way. A few other squadrons of clone troopers would be reinforcing them as well.
While they were waiting for the troops, they were joined by Cira and five other H'raani M'Kai warriors. Ahsoka noticed that Syrena wasn't amongst them. She figured it was for the best. The young warrior was strong, but she didn't have the same amount of experience as the others yet. She doubted that Cira would allow her daughter to risk her life like that. There would be plenty of opportunities for heroics later in life.
After a brief rundown of the current assignment and the target, the group set out to take down the droid platoon. They weren't hard to find, the large group consisted of many standard and super battle droids. Surprisingly, there was a decent sized squad of commando droids in the center of the platoon who seemed to be guarding a few large floating crates. A quick analysis showed that the crates were filled with heavy explosives.
Ahsoka studied the platoon of droids. "No doubt that these droids are planning to use those bombs to breach the Senate building. We can't let that happen," she thought. She looked over at Plo. He seemed to share her thoughts. "We need to get rid of those explosives. We can't let the droids bring them into the Senate plaza. The damage will be a lot worse there."
"Agreed, we'll engage them from behind and get a few troops to flank them from the sides," he replied before turning to the soldiers following them. He quickly assigned teams to move in from different directions to catch the droids in a crossfire. Two H'Raani M'Kai warriors joined a group of clones that began to scale a nearby building. They would lay in wait there. When the opportunity arose, they would use heavy snipers to fire at the crates containing the explosives and blast the droids away.
The attack commenced without any delays. As expected, the droids instantly turned to engage the group attacking them from behind. The commando droids formed a closer defensive square around the explosives they were meant to protect while the other droids all moved to engage the enemy. At Plo's signal, the two teams began their attack from the sides. With the added fire from two new directions, even the commando droids were forced to break formation.
With that, it was over swiftly. At the first opportunity given, multiple heavy bolts slammed into the explosives the droids were carrying and the resulting explosion wiped out most of the platoon. What remained was easily dispatched in the crossfire that had been setup.
After a quick tactical report, everyone grouped up again and they continued towards the Senate Plaza.
;-
Jedi Temple bunker
Jedi Grandmaster Yoda walked through the bunker of the Jedi Temple. The fact that this particular area now saw so much use made him feel rather sorrowful. The war had already done such damage and now it was this close to the Temple, to the home of the Jedi. He shook his head slightly, hoping for some guidance from the Force. The Dark Side clouded almost everything these days and he felt lost in a way that he had never felt before.
This bunker was now filled with the Temple workers, other civilians and many of the younger Jedi. He could only hope that they would be spared the horrors of the war. In his opinion, too many Padawans had already been pushed into the war at a far too young age. A whole generation of Jedi would be scarred by war and violence. He prayed that the Force would not allow too many more to suffer similarly, be the Force remained silent to his call, silenced by the overpowering Darkness.
A slight pulse through the Force shook his out of his thoughts. For once, it was a different feeling. This was a bright little spark of light. Curious, he looked around and spotted a girl he had only seen once before on Ilum. He was surprised to see the young Togruta girl here. Her only link to the Order was her older sister, former Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, and he rather doubted that Ahsoka would ever choose to return to the Order after everything that happened and how she had been treated. He wondered if he should go and speak to the girl.
"…Yes…"
His eyes widened slightly. It was the clearest he had heard the Force's guidance in quite some time. He wondered what it could mean. What could it bring? Him, the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, going to speak to a young girl not part of the Order. He had always lived by the Force's guidance and he certainly would not question such a clear answer, so he made his way towards her.
Aisha Tano was worried. Because of her sister's training, she could now clearly sense the chaos going on outside. She remembered the horrid experience from the battle that robbed her off her father, but this felt so much larger in comparison. Sensing all of this, she understood better why Ahsoka did not want her to get involved in all of it.
But saying that, Ahsoka was in the middle of it. Her sister is strong, she knows that well, but this battle was gigantic. She hoped that Ahsoka stayed safe.
She looked around the room at the many people here. A lot of people were afraid, but the Jedi present were doing their best to keep everyone calm. She did notice that several of these Jedi had casts or bandages on their bodies, which was probably why they weren't fighting outside the Temple. They were already hurt from other battles.
While looking around, she was surprised to suddenly see Master Yoda walking up to her. She figured that the Grandmaster of the Jedi Order would be occupied with other things right now, especially with this battle raging on.
The elder Jedi reached her. "Good day, young Aisha. A surprise, to see you here, it is," he greeted her.
"Hello Master Yoda," she said she nodded her head, a bit unsure of how to reply to the Grandmaster of the entire Jedi Order.
"Brings you here to the Temple, what does?" Master Yoda asked the young girl. He tried to be relaxed with her, but from the Force's guidance just now, he knew that there was something vital she had to share.
Aisha was a bit nervous to talk to the Jedi Grandmaster like this. "Well, our sisters had some political business to see to here on Coruscant, so Ahsoka and I travelled along with them." A sudden thought popped into her mind. Maybe she could help her sister after all. "She wanted to… I mean, we..uhm…"
"Settle down a moment. Need to rush, there is not," Master Yoda said slightly comfortingly. Whatever it was, this was important to her.
"Well, Ahsoka has been having some terrible nightmares," Aisha replied slowly. "It's been happening for a couple of days now. Every time she wakes up terrified in the middle of the night. She doesn't want to talk to me about them, so they have to be really bad." She paused a moment to look at the elder Jedi. "She hoped to be able to talk about them with you. That you might be able to help her figure them out, or maybe help her get rid of them. I really hope you can. Do you think you can help her? I hate feeling those things from her."
Master Yoda mulled over her words a moment. While the Force remained silent to him, it appeared that young Ahsoka was apparently seeing more than she would want to. Was this what the Force wanted him to know? Is this what It wants him to aid with? He wasn't sure what would come of it. Was the young Togruta truly experiencing visions? Or were they merely nightmares? He has always followed the Will of the Force, so he would continue to do so now.
"Young Ahsoka, here with you, she is now?" he asked after a short moment.
Aisha was a little surprised that Master Yoda called her older sister young, but then she figured that, compared to the elder Jedi, everyone was young. "We did come here together, but just as we walked up to a Kel Dorian Jedi outside, this battle erupted and everything turned to chaos," she replied. "Ahsoka wanted me to hide in here. I would be safe here while she's out there fighting. I think she wanted to make sure our sisters were safe as well. They should be in the Senate building now."
"I see," Master Yoda said. He thought he had felt Ahsoka's presence as the battle erupted. It had felt familiar, like the way the young Togruta's presence had always felt, but something about it had been different at the same time. "Certain I am, that alright, she will be," he told the young girl. "Come and see me, you both should, when over, this battle is. See what I can do, I will."
Aisha smiled at that. "Thank you, Master Yoda! I'll tell her when she comes to pick me up," she replied eagerly. She was glad. Ahsoka had been somewhat worried that this could go difficult, but it seemed that Master Yoda would agree to see her to talk about her visions.
Master Yoda chuckled a bit at the happy feelings flowing from the girl, but then he frowned. It felt like the situation outside was becoming more serious. "Need to go now, I must. Feel that needed elsewhere, I am," he gently excused himself.
"Okay, thank you Master Yoda. We'll see you later," Aisha replied. She bowed her head at the elder Grandmaster and he took his leave. She watched him walk away and settled in to wait. She didn't know how much longer this fight would take. That battle where she lost her father had lasted a while and with the battle for Kiros it had been a few days before Ahsoka had been back.
She saw another Jedi, maybe a Padawan, try and engage a group of younglings maybe half her own age in meditation. She figured it was to keep them calm and to distract them from everything happening outside. She decided to do the same herself. Meditating was a unique experience each time. Maybe there was something new the Force could tell her while she waited for her sister.
;-
Senate Plaza
As she moved into the Senate plaza, Ahsoka was shocked at the sight. She could easily picture the many times that she, usually accompanied by Anakin, had walked through or flown over this place for either Jedi or private business. The large area had always been filled with countless people and portable stalls. Many workers, staff and civilians going about their daily lives, buying food or other things at the stalls and whatnot. The place had always been a hive of activity filled with many holo-boards showing all sorts of news and advertisements. This place never really seemed to sleep.
It was a ruin. The place that always saw so many people passing through had been destroyed. The droids had obviously unleashed heavy bombardments on the area, knowing it to be a highly active public zone. Ruined scraps of the holo-boards, stalls and other decorative items of the area were strewn all across the plaza. She hoped that the alarms had sounded in time for people to escape the area before the bombs dropped. She did her best not to think of the worst case scenarios.
Up ahead, a swarm of droids was hammering into the defensive formation around the Senate building. She could see clones dug in behind cover, firing into the droids every chance they got. Numerous lightsabers were also visible amongst the troopers, signaling the presence of multiple Jedi.
Plo Koon was quick to give out orders to his troops, instructing them to join the battle and take out the droids from behind, himself taking position at the front of the group.
Ahsoka signaled the warriors to follow her and they quickly moved through the plaza. They took position within the ruins of what used to be plaza security post. It still gave them decent cover and provided them with a great vantage point on two groups of droids. A vantage point that they didn't hesitate to exploit.
The warriors with her were quick to open fire on the groups of droids, exploiting every weakness and clear shot they could. Ahsoka covered them with her lightsabers and the Force, ensuring that they didn't get hit by return fire or the occasional grenade thrown their way.
With the fire coming at the droids from three different flanks, this group at least was quickly dispatched. Plo and his troops were quick to take advantage of the momentary break and they grouped up with the defense force that had set up around the Senate building.
Ahsoka and the warriors waited for a couple more minutes to provide cover if needed. From their point, a few warriors took a couple additional shots to several droids that were still somewhat functional and twitching, just to be safe. When the clones were all in a good position, they signaled for them to come over as well.
Cira took point as the group of Togruta moved quickly over to the defensive line that the clones had set up. The clones parted and let them through. Cira gave everyone a quick look over, especially Ahsoka, to check that everyone was safe. Fortunately everyone was well, despite the sea of droids that they had just been through.
Ahsoka gave a quick thanks to the warriors for them coming to her aid, but then her attention was drawn towards Master Plo and the other Jedi. She excused herself and moved over to them.
She drew on the Force frowned at the feelings she felt from Master Plo and the other Jedi, not to mention the looks on their faces. "Master Plo? What happened?" she asked cautiously, hoping that nothing too bad had happened. Or that it didn't have anything to do with her presence.
"Ahsoka." Plo Koon paused. "It seems that the Separatists have managed to capture the Chancellor," he informed her.
Her eyes widened. "The Chancellor has been kidnapped?!" she asked in shock. How could that even happen? This was Coruscant. The Senate, especially the office of the Supreme Chancellor should have been one of the most secure places in the Republic. Not to mention that he had his own private, heavily secured bunker. And yet the Separatists had managed to take Palpatine captive? It was very difficult to believe. More than that, it felt wrong. "What happens now?" she asked Plo Koon.
"I honestly don't know, Ahsoka," Plo replied. "I expect them to soon demand our immediate and full surrender. We've already requested reinforcements from any available Republic Forces. We can only hope that they get here in time to help us turn this situation around."
"I see," Ahsoka said slowly. This was not an ideal situation. She had never thought that the Separatists actually had a chance to win this war, but at the moment, they really had a sharp dagger at the Republic's throat.
"It seems that the Separatist troop transports have stopped for now. We will remain alert and see what happens," Plo informed her. "Thank you for all of your help, Ahsoka. But perhaps it's best if you took shelter in the bunkers here as well. You are, technically, a civilian as well. It might spare you some future problems, should this not end well."
Ahsoka paused a bit after those words. She really didn't want to picture just what it meant if the Republic had no other choice but to surrender Coruscant to Dooku and Grievous. Thinking back to what she had seen during the war, in Separatist prison camps and the like, it didn't bode well for anyone.
She sighed. "I understand Master Plo. I'll go and check on my sisters. May the Force be with you," she replied.
"And with you, Litl' Soka," Plo said with a slight bow.
Ahsoka copied his movement, then turned to the warriors with her. They nodded and gestured for her to follow them. Plo informed the defense forces to let them into the building and they moved to the bunkers.
;-
Ahsoka entered the bunker and Cira and her team lead her towards where her sisters were waiting along with the other royal guards. They were standing in a corner area of the bunker with the rest of their staff that had joined them. She briefly wondered if they had even started the political business before this attack started. Shaden spotted her and informed her sisters of her presence. They quickly turned to her.
{Ahsoka! Thank the stars! Are you alright?} Marina asked as they both quickly walked up.
{Where's Aisha? And what's happening out there?} Lilo asked, obviously noticing that only Ahsoka was here.
Ahsoka smiled at her sisters. {I'm fine. And Aisha is safe, don't worry. She took shelter in the bunker of the Jedi Temple. I'll pick her up once this whole mess is over,} she replied. {As to what's going on, the Separatists have launched a full force invasion of Coruscant. Even worse, apparently they've managed to capture the Chancellor.}
Her sisters, and those around them that spoke Togruti, gasped in shock. {They captured the Chancellor of the Republic?} Marina asked horrified.
Ahsoka nodded. {That's what Master Plo told me. I have no idea how they could have pulled it off, but they did it.} She paused a moment. {All we can really do now is wait and see what happens. Plo said that they've already called for any and all available reinforcements, so it's a waiting game now.}
{Then let's hope everything works out alright,} Lilo replied. {Are you sure that Aisha is alright? All communications are being blocked now, so we haven't been able to reach her.}
{Don't worry, she made it into the Temple just fine. It should be just as safe as the Senate building, maybe even a bit safer,} Ahsoka said. {But I'll try to reach her through the Force in a moment. That way I can tell how she's holding up.}
{Please do, I'll feel better when I know how she's doing,} Marina replied.
Ahsoka nodded and they all settled in to wait. It was all they could do now.
;-
That's the end of this chapter.
Our Togruta sisters have unfortunately gotten themselves caught in the invasion of Coruscant by the Separatist alliance. Which means we've crossed into Revenge of the Sith territory. With Ahsoka getting involved in these events, how will it play out for everyone?
I've edited the scene where the group of Jedi deals with the droids that landed at the Temple. First, Ahsoka used her green lightsaber and yellow-green shoto. Now, she uses her cyan lightsaber only. I've decided to change a few things with her blades. Following a few scenes from the Rebels show, I think one change will work nicely with Ahsoka in my story as well.
Next update for these stories will be a dual update as well. With Ahsoka and Barriss both on the same planet, they are bound to run into each other.
I'll also see about updating my Gift of Light story. I have more events planned for it, but I'm not sure if I want to add in a few things before that. It'll be a bit of a time skip and I might want to do some more with Barriss first. I'll have to think about that storyline a bit more.
Until next time.