Strange World • New World by TruView

FanFiction Author's Note: This is the latest arc in the series which began with the grand opus, 'Ahsoka Tano ~ Hard Goodbyes'. That slightly altered version of 'The Wrong Jedi (S5E20)' unleashed a universal cornucopia of unforeseen events allowing us to explore new possibilities in the realm of Star Wars. 'Darkside Ascendant (Anakin)' quickly followed, giving us a bit more insight into the inner turmoil of a fallen Jedi. And now, we top it off with the 'Ashoka vs Anakin (AvA)' arc beginning with...

Star Wars I — JEDI IMPERATIVE

[a memory flashback of some two and half decades ago on assignment somewhere in the Mid-Rim]

The Kel Dor nodded reassuringly to his padawan down below in the enclosure. He could do little more than watch as he himself had been prohibited from offering any tangible assistance, bound as he was. These were thick cords made of organic material; a likely combination of tree roots, long vines, and overgrown Fiddlehead plant fronds tied together in an intricate knot lathered with a special kind of resin to keep them from fraying. Young Ahsoka looked up at him in clear distress.

"Master, I'm not so sure this is a good idea." She called out regarding the two approaching wampas with growing trepidation.

When Plo Koon began to respond, he was rudely shoved in the chest by the coarse muddy end of a wooden staff by one of the elders standing nearby. It left a smudge on the cream colored interior of his temple robes and he knew immediately that he should not speak further. He sighed anxiously half-regretting that he'd already committed to following the local customs in order to expedite a mutually beneficial working relation; in the great majority of cases, this course of action had always served him best. Maybe this was not going to be one of those times. He speculated. Instead of worrying about it anymore, he settled upon trusting in the Force and on the training of his young charge to ultimately outwit the abominable snow men. Eventually, his worries had all subsided the more he witnessed his padawan's penchant for wriggling free out of tight places.

From Ahsoka's point of view down in the pit, things had suddenly become a lot more interesting. Initially, the sensations were overwhelming threatening to smothering her in abject fear but she fought to reign in those runaway emotions by quickly thinking back to just before she was placed inside these surroundings. Master Plo informed her that he was going to participate in a ritual usually reserved for neighboring warrior clansman who sought to lead alongside their own headmen in an upcoming battle.

"They will choose me, seeing as you are only a child," Ahsoka heard him say.

"What should I do in the meantime, Master." She asked.

"First…" He began to say taking a knee in front of her so they were both at eye level.

"Don't panic?!" She broke in excitedly as if she were a contestant at game show. Plo Koon smiled.

"That's right. Don't panic." His congratulatory tone elicited an easy smile from the girl.

"And then?" She interrupted for the second time with even more alacrity, her soprano voice rising an octave.

"Imagine yourself in my place, breath, and then allow the Force to inform your thoughts and actions." His voice was so comforting.

But it was she, and not Master Plo Koon who was chosen to square off with two of the galaxy's most fearsome creatures, transplants from the Hoth system. This decision felt more like spite for the Jedi than friendly formality. Or maybe a number of them were offended by the presence of a child warrior in their company who supposedly could match even the best among them and decided to put that claim to the test. Her mind was a whirl of fantastic speculations. Even so, this was definitely overkill she thought. Wampas?! These things got even bigger than wookies! Admittedly, she could not always make heads or tails of where her Master's thinking would lead them but in the end, it had always proven to be the most sound and feasible of plans; besides, a Jedi's life was never promised to be an easy existence especially in the business of brokering peace. And Master Plo, being the expert that he was, put him in high demand… right up there with Master Kenobi.

"Remember Ahsoka," MasterPlo Koon once told her, "the Jedi Imperative is to always protect and safeguard life, even unto death. This is the one defining characteristic of all true born Jedi, gray or not. Sometimes, it will compel us to partake in events that can seem counterintuitive at the outset. And we will pursue them so long as they do not threaten to take us so far outside the boundaries of our code of ethics."

Young Ahsoka didn't completely understand what all those big words meant, but they certainly sounded pretty important.

From her studies back on Coruscant, she knew that wampas did not do well outside anything that wasn't near freezing. On tropical planets such as this, they lived only about half as long regardless of how well they were fed and taken care of. Calling upon the Force, Ahsoka sought for it to impart any actionable intelligence about these exotic specimens and it complied. For instance, she knew that the one on the left was much older than its younger counterpart and was therefore slightly less mobile. The irony was that this fact made it twice as deadly given that it could no longer rely entirely on physical stamina alone. Eager for it's next kill, it often grew frustrated bordering on homicidal mania if success had been too long delayed; and if that wasn't enough, it was still at least a quarter percent bigger than the other one. Bottom line: It was very much the greater threat!

The other one however, only suffered the loss of an eye but this was a welcome handicap because that meant it lacked an accuracy in calculating for depth perception severely compromising it's winning chances. She'd try and focus on that one first.

The object of this rite of passage was to remove a lock of fur from each of the white-horned wampas. Easy enough! Ahsoka thought but because they were Jedi, a few of the locals insisted on an added layer of complexity: Not only would they have to acquire a lock of fur, it would have to be black fur and not the white that covered most of it's body. The black patches were more difficult to reach as they were near the head and mouth regions. In any case, Ahsoka proved to be an amazing spectacle of Jedi skill and prowess, even with the stipulation of not killing any of the animals.

The act that won over their host however, wasn't that she had succeeded, but that she had risked her life to save one of theirs. After she handed over the patches of fur, one of the younger members of their tribe had gotten too close to the edges of the enclosure and fallen in, she shielded him with her own body holding up her two light sabers managing only keep the younger one at bay. In a rage, the older one rushed in to flatten both Ahsoka and the youngling she was guarding until Master Plo held it motionless by extending an arm. This gave his padawan enough time to grab the boy and Force leap to safety.

[Trifecta Space of the New Alliance in the cislunar orbit of the planet Dagobah, Present day]

Ahsoka stood at one end of the long walkway aboard the only space station that stood sentry over Dagobah. An hour before, a short meeting had taken place. It was one she and a few other Masters had convened for the purpose of quietly elevating a handful of padawans to full-knighthood. Subsequently, she took the liberty of sharing secret communiques from two fellow-member civilizations of the Alliance –one, a planet, and the other, a Space habitat– both now gone, lost to a waning but vengeful Republic-Empire. The faces of at least three of those Masters suggested they thought that sharing such news at these ceremonies was ill-advised. However Ahsoka invited them to share their disagreements openly, but only one did. Ahsoka's response was simple:

"The point you make is a good one Master. However, these are turbulent times and each of these Knights, must understand how desperately the galaxy needs them. Bad news is a part the… We are not always allowed to…" She broke off again lost in thought and ultimately recalled histories of similar occasions of becoming a Jedi, even though her own knighthood was no party. Still, Ahsoka felt guilty about failing to bequeath a legacy without all the fanfare it was due. There was indeed great wisdom in what this Master importuned.

"The universe is rife with bad news. There will always be some (bad) news somewhere. Believe it or not, Master Tano, our job as peacekeepers is never going to be complete, but there must be some down time for celebration, otherwise... what are we fighting for?" Said the Master.

She nodded soberly and with a heaviness of heart continued on, "I had wanted to share with you all some extra bit of news, but I suppose it can wait. The Master is right, tonight is yours. Your new assignments can also wait and will be here when you get back… in three days. Now, get outta here and visit friends and family. We'll see you in three days." There was a genuine warmth in her voice but there was also a hint of sadness too. The newly-minted knights whooped and hollered in celebratory fashion over their accomplishments. Ahsoka turned and noticed the three Masters whose opinions differed and regarded them with humility and honest appreciation. She nodded.

[Yoda appears behind Ahsoka in the long hallway, as she's coming out of a meditative state]

Her eyes opened but she still felt groggy and tired. She was eager for sleep but danger was afoot, two systems away. She craned her neck wanting so desperately to pull herself out of this morning sickness. She hadn't eaten at all and she instinctively rubbed her belly.

"Greetings, Master Yoda." She did not need to turn around to know he was there.

"Ahsoka, to see you before you left I wanted. Yeesssssss."

"How can I be of service master?"

"Nonsense. To wish you well before you set off I wanted."

"So, you remember?" She finally turned facing the little green pointy-eared Master, whose chin dipped a single time.

"Of course you do," Ahsoka smiled. "Master, I want to thank you for all you have done. You've inspired me and you've allowed yourself to be inspired by me. You more than anyone are the epitome of Knighthood. There is a chance I may not return, but I must go. Anakin has turned to the Darkside and threatens the peace we've worked so hard to maintain. I must stop him. I will stop him."

"Understand, I do. May the Force be with you."

[On the Borders of Republic space, a personal TIE fighter receives an encoded message]

The interior of the cockpit is almost completely black save for the light emitted from the various read-out screens and controls. A gloved hand reaches down to adjust the reception of an incoming message that has not yet attenuated. It's encoded frequency is strangely familiar to him, but it's a very old one. And he doesn't recall the exact combinatorial procedures or mechanisms of how to decipher it. So, he breaths deeply, closes his eyes, and allows the Force to move through him. His fingers depress buttons and turn knobs all to uncoil hash algorithms in a vigorous effort to untangle the web in which this embedded message is nested. After a brief moment, he hears an encouraging sound from the computer that signifies success. He opens his eyes and discovers that its an audio file waiting to be played. He doesn't hesitate. He instantly recognizes the voice.

Audio file Message: Greetings Master Skywalker, I once said that if you were to ever fall to the Darkside, I'd come after you. So you getting this message at this time, is no accident. I have your flight plan. I'll be seeing you soon.

Anakin scoffed at the bravado of his former padawan realizing just how much she actually had changed. He punched in a few codes to signal the rest of his fleet and found that he could not. He tried again and again to no avail. He ran the diagnostics program in his light speed capable TIE fighter but neither could it ascertain the reason why it was unable to ping the rest of his fleet. So he smiled reveling the puzzle that this was, knowing he'd figure it out eventually but more importantly, that he'd meet her challenge head on.

It's a shame she's so eager to die, but maybe this is what she wants. Bad for her. Anakin lamented.

He fired up his sub-light engines and soon rocketed off into a tunnel of gleaming white light.

"See you soon, Ahsoka." He whispered.