Hey Folks, Grubkiller here.
Here's the latest part.
Hope you enjoy.
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Raada, farming moon, under Imperial occupation.
On the Imperial colony of the agri-world of Raada, celebrations were underway.
A new future was being ushered in.
An age of peace and order under the rule of Emperor Palpatine.
Bright, shiny, and hopeful.
To celebrate this momentous occasion, hundreds of Imperial citizens gathered in the streets of Raada's largest settlement - which were adorned with the red, white, and black banners of the Empire - to watch brave Stormtroopers from the local garrison march through the streets underneath a shower of confetti and flowers, and the roar of the applauding citizens.
On a medium-sized stage off to the side of the street, a man wearing opulent silk robes was giving a speech before the citizens and the Imperial garrison, which stood at attention as the man, who turned out to be the mayor, gave his speech, in front of a large holographic portrait of Emperor Palpatine.
"Loyal citizens of the Empire, after three long terrible years, we have been saved from the forces of hatred and division, by our benevolent ruler, Emperor Palpatine. Under the Empire's New Order, our most cherished beliefs have been safeguarded. By bringing the entire galaxy under one law, one language, and the enlightened guidance of one individual, the corruption that plagued the Republic in its later years has been abolished. The path towards peace and prosperity are always difficult to achieve. But with our grand star fleets and out brave Stormtroopers, and the bravery of our vigilant citizenry, our path is all but assured. The New Order of peace has triumphed over anarchists, murderers, and the shadowy secrecy of shameful magicians. The direction of our course is clear. Our glorious Emperor will lead the Empire to glories beyond imagining. We have been tested, but we have emerged stronger. We move forward as one people: the Imperial citizens of the first Galactic Empire. We will prevail. This is but the beginning of an era of peace that shall last for ten thousand years."
When the speech was transmitted across the town, people erupted into a tidal wave of cheers and applause before the Imperil Anthem, 'Glory to the Empire', was played on the loud speakers across town, and the Imperial parade continued.
But beneath this bright, shiny, and hopeful facade, lay something far more sinister and cruel.
Since declaring the Republic an Empire, and arguably before that, Palpatine has promoted the doctrines of hatred, speciesism, and tyranny. Much of his opposition in the Senate has been forced into silence, either through violence or coercion. He has launched a massive military buildup and begun constructing incredibly destructive starships, space stations, and weapons. Under Palpatine's rule, thousands of former CIS worlds have been enslaved or ravaged, dissidents murdered, and industries nationalized. All for the soul purpose of feeding his massive war machine, and for the protection and preservation of one thing, and one thing only: himself.
He is even rumored to be using Dark Side enforcers to lead his armies and crush all uprisings in the Outer Rim, as well as hound the remaining Jedi Knights, murdering the last of this noble sect to ensure that he will never be challenged.
But that is all about to change.
The battle against tyranny is one that is fought with every fiber of one's being.
For if a single light remains, the darkness cannot win.
Many disenfranchised people across the galaxy have secretly begun to take up arms across the galaxy, even on Raada, as many farmers have had their property taken away by the Empire to be worked on by slave labor and grow a certain crop used in nutritional supplements, and be picked by oppressive slave labor.
An underground movement was growing on the small moon, led by a mysterious young Togruta girl who trained them how to fight a guerrilla war, and even helped to smuggle food, water, ammo, weapons, and medical supplies into the nearby caves. They were going to attack certain Imperial targets, but first they needed to wait for the girl to give them a signal.
When asked what the signal was, she merely responded with: "You'll know it when you see it."
On the outskirts of the main Imperial settlement, at the edge of the woods, a squad of ten elite Imperial troopers, wearing black armor with red accents, walked across a grass field that separated the main settlement from the woods.
They were being led by a tall and broad-shouldered humanoid, with unnatural-looking gray skin, piercing ice-blue eyes, and scar-like uniform markings on his cheeks, nose, and chin. He wore black and grey body armour and carried a double-bladed spinning lightsaber. He also wore a helmet with a blast shield that could be lowered to protect his face.
They weren't just here to put down a rebel cell. They were here because they were told of a force-sensitive who was leading this uprising. The idea of killing another Jedi was something that the Sixth Bother was overjoyed by, sick of constantly going after force-sensitive babies, which annoyed him to no end.
As he and the Inquisitor troopers walked closer to the tree-line on the edge of the woods, the Sixth Brother stopped. In response, the lead trooper held his fist up, signaling the rest of his men to halt. They all formed a perimeter and trained their weapons on the tree-line, which was dark, considering the dark overcast clouds and the sun disappearing over the horizon.
The lead trooper walked up to the Sixth brother. "What is it, sir?"
Sixth Brother craned his neck in the direction of the woods. "Hm, I sense something. Yes. Whoever we're looking for is in the woods. Spread out, and track her down."
The lead trooper nodded before he turned his head over his shoulder and gave another hand signal, telling his men to fan out and move forward. They slowly walked into the woods, keeping their rifles and heavy blasters trained and continued to scan the trees from side to side, looking for anything suspicious.
Distant animal noises and the constant rustling of the trees dancing in the light wind made the clones look everywhere, making their trigger finger itchy as their nerves tensed up.
Eventually, they came across a clearing in the middle of the darkening woods.
When they entered it, they saw an orange Togruta with white face markings, presumably in her late teens considering the tips of her blue and white striped head tails hung just below her breasts. She was wearing a tight, dark gray leotard, which was unzipped all the way, revealing her toned stomach and supple cleavage. She also wore a similar colored skirt which hugged her hips quite nicely, and no leggings. Her boots and armlets were dark gray, and tan, and had artwork on them, such as ocean waves and even a monkey... of all things. She was sitting on a rock. Her eyes were closed and she faced the Inquisitor troopers.
"There." One of the troopers called out.
Weapons were powered up after a series and clicks and hisses, and the troopers all advanced, surrounding the girl who sat on the rock, keeping their weapons on her at all times.
When the troopers recognized who she was, according to Imperial records, they came to the realization that she was the force-sensitive behind this recent uprising. This all prompted one of the troopers to say: "Commander Tano, you have to come with us."
But Ahsoka Tano, who kept her eyes closed as she kneeled on the rock and continued meditating, merely smiled before responding with: "You'll have to ask my friends first"
The confused trooper were taken aback by her response, before they started to here a series of loud snarling and growling noises. They looked around and trained their weapons on the dark tree-line, before they saw glowing eyes that stared at them angrily from multiple directions.
The troopers were terrified.
One lowered his weapon before he uttered what all his brothers were thinking.
"Oh Scray!"
Back in the field outside of the woods, the Sixth Brother and three of his troopers stayed behind, waiting around for the rest of the squad to report in with an update on the search. That's when they heard a torrent of blaster fire rip through the air, and echo out across the forest.
The startled Imperials looked off in the distance, before they saw stray laster bolts fly up into the air, and the blood-curtling screams of dying troopers far off in the distance. And they could've sworn that they also heard growling and snarling, as the squad had stumbled across some kind of creature.
And then the noises stopped.
No blaster fire.
No screams.
No snarling.
Just the quiet wind, the rustling tree branches, and the chirping and buzzing of birds and insects.
The Inquisitor and the troopers looked at each other, and trained their weapons on the tree-line, jus in time to see a lone trooper running out of the forest. At first, the troopers let their guard down when they saw their comrade.
But something was off. Where were the others? Where was his weapon? Why was he clutching his side? And most importantly, what the Hell just happened?
Those questions were immediately answered when a pack of large white wolves burst out of the tree-line and charged straight after the Imperials. The injured, screaming trooper was caught in the lead wolf's mouth, and shaken from side to side like he was a chew toy. And then his screaming stopped before he was tossed aside. But what was peculiar about this wolf was that it had a rider.
And it was none other than Ahsoka Tano.
The inquisitor smiled and drew his circular lightsaber, just as his remaining men tried to fight off the wolves, only to be cut down and mauled to death.
As his men were killed, the Sixth Brother slashed from side to side, killing two giant wolves in quick succession, before using a personal-cloaking device to slip into his surroundings.
As the lead wolf carrying Ahsoka came to a halt, seemingly at her wish, the other wolves stopped and went back into the forest. Ahsoka then dismounted her wolf and walked forward, stopping about twenty feet short of where the Sixth Brother once stood.
She walked through the grassy-field, senses alert and ready for anything. Every part of her was like an energy coil, wound tight and ready for action.
She didn't have to wait very long.
"Jedi!" A harsh voice rang out. It seemed to come from every direction at once. Ahsoka cast out with her senses, search for the source.
"You have something I want," she said. It would be easier if she could get the gray creature to keep talking.
"Oh yes, the poor little rebel peasants," said the creature. Ahsoka narrowed in on his location. "So hopeful that their Jedi friend would come for them. I had to explain to them that the Jedi don't have friends. They're heartless and cold, and that you would abandon them."
"I don't know who taught you about the Jedi," Ahsoka said. "But they seem to have left out a few things. You should ask for better lessons."
"I told them that you weren't a real Jedi," the creature said. There! Ahsoka had him. Now she just had to wait for the right moment. "I told them that you were probably so scared of me that you were twelve systems away and never coming back. I'm actually happy to be wrong."
She felt him jump off the trunk of a fallen tree behind her and turned. She could no more identify his species in person than she could from his picture. He was taller than she was, even with the height she'd added in the past year, and very broadly built. He was very strong, and with the body armor he wore, he was a formidable opponent. He was still wearing his helmet, and his face shield was up, as though he needed to see her clearly while they fought.
'That was another difference in our training', Ahsoka thought. She could fight completely blind if she had to. Although, blind and without lightsabers might be pushing it.
She focused her attention on his chest, where movement began. She felt the Force flowing through her as his lightsaber flared to life again. She could hear its hum, a dark counterpoint to the song of her own crystals from her old sabers.
Ahsoka cleared her mind of all distractions.
The Sixth Brother struck, and Ahsoka deflected his blows before they fell. She read his feeling through the Force that connected them, and she tracked the movement of his shoulders, elbows, and wrists, pushing them away so that they always missed their targets. Furious, he doubled his efforts, striking for her head and chest.
What the Inquisitor lacked in finesse, he made up for in brute strength. He pushed Ahsoka back, toward the line of trees on the edge of the woods, and she let him, still taking the measure as a fighter. When she reached the nearest root of the tree behind her, she jumped off of it, using the Force to propel herself in an elegant flip over his head. She easily avoided the frantic swing of his lightsaber as she flew over him, then landed in a crouch on the other side, ready to continue.
"Impressive," he said.
"You're easily impressed," she said. "I'm only just getting started."
She felt more people behind her and realized that someone in the Imperial compound had gotten wind of the fact that the Inquisitor's unit hadn't checked in for a while, and sent another squad to see what was going on.
A wall of Stormtroopers, all wearing the Phase-II clone armor, were lined up behind her, all pointing their blasters at her, with the Inquisitor in front of her.
Well, at least the garrison hasn't grown much since she was last here. She force dashed to the side, and ran into the woods, out of their line of fire, and the Sixth Brother followed her.
He held his lightsaber aloft, and it began to spin. The effect was interesting - a deadly circle of light instead of a blade - but Ahsoka wasn't intimidated by it. The Inquisitor's entire strategy relied on overpowering his opponent. She had other options.
"What are you?" She asked. "Who made you like this?"
"I serve the Empre," he said.
"You certainly have a sense for drama," Ahsoka said.
She reached out for him again, this time for his hands and fingers, and for the balance of weight borne by his hips and knees. She felt something awaken in her, every combat lesson Anakin had ever taught. She remembered how to stand and how to hold the blades. She pushed her opponent's fingers too far apart and overturned his balance. She remembered, and she could make him forget. He staggered back, surprised at her power over him even at arm's length, but not yet overcome.
"I have a sense for power," he said. "And you do not have enough to resist me for much longer, weaponless as you are."
That was where he was wrong. She wasn't weaponless. No Jedi ever was.
The Sixth Brother toward her, close enough for her to touch. His spinning lightsaber held off attacks from the sides, but was vulnerable from the front and in the center. Just as she'd reached for her first crystal on Ilum all those years ago, Ahsoka stretched out a hand.
Sensing her intent at the last moment, the Inquisitor tried to disconnect his weapon to fight her with two blades instead of one, but it was spinning too quickly for him to do it. Ahsoka's hand landed almost gently on the cylindrical metal, and the Force was with her. The hilt cracked at her touch.
A sharp whine reached Ahsoka's montrals, the dark and light song of the crystals struggling for balance. She realized she needed to jump back even farther. She must have nicked the power connection that channeled the crystals inside the Sixth Brother's hilt, and now it was overloading. If he didn't deactivate it soon, it was going to explode.
Before she could even consider shouting a warning, the red lightsaber burst into a mess of noise and light. Bright spots pricked at her eyes, and then all was quiet. The creature wasn't going to bother her, or anyone else, anymore.
He lay in the field, his face a burned mess, the shell of his lightsaber still clutched in his hands. If he'd been able to fight her with his face shield down, he might have survived the blast.
She wondered who had trained him if there were others. Someone had twisted the potential good in this creature and turned him to the dark side. Someone had made like this. Someone, Ahsoka knew, who was still out there and who must be prevented from finding other force-senstive children, if she could manage it. She reached down and closed his helmet, covering the ruin of his face. It was the only compassion she could show him. She had work to do.
Kneeling beside her fallen foe, Ahsoka sifted through the wreckage of his lightsaber hilt. The crystals that had powered the weapon were no longer contained by metal, but their song had not dimmed. She held them in one hand, almost shaking as the familiarity of them coursed through her, while the other hand retrieved the half-finished hilts she carried with her.
These lightsaber hilts she constructed wouldn't have the decorative handles she preferred, and her grip would be affected until she had time to truly finish them. She was missing a few key components, parts that had to be specifically made, but the Inquisitor's ruined hilt was before her. Quickly, she picked through the wreckage again, this time paying closer attention to the inner workings of the weapon, and smiled when she found what she needed. They would do for now.
Ahsoka could hear the Imperials from earlier approaching. Her duel had made them hesitate, but now they were on high alert. She pushed aside her sense of urgency, even though she was in a hurry. Meditation came easily, as if she were sitting in the safety of the Jedi Temple itself, instead of a dark forest with her enemies closing in. Her mind's eye sorted the preassembled components and those she had just retrieved into order, locking each into place with the others. When Ahsoka opened her hands, she was not surprised to find that two lightsabers, rough and unfinished, were waiting.
They would need more work, but they were hers.
When she turned them on in the dark, they shone the brightest white.
A squad of stormtrooper continued to push into the forest, with their weapons raised.
They eventually found the bodies of their fallen comrades, who were mauled in ways they couldn't begin to describe. The lead trooper gave a hand signal to his men, telling them to spread out and push deeper into the forest, with their flashlights activated, lighting up the forest wherever their weapons were aimed.
And then, they found the corpse of the Sixth Brother, with a Jedi woman standing over him triumphantly before assuming a fighting stance.
"She killed the Inquisitor!" One exclaimed.
"Blast her!"
The troopers all opened fire, sending a torrent of red blaster fire down range. But the Togruta woman merely raised her white blades and started deflecting blaster bolts back at the stormtroopers.
Soon, half of the troopers were downed by their own blaster fire, and when that happened, the Togruta raised her hands and force pushed the rest of them to the ground.
As the groaning troopers struggled to get up, the Togrutan woman sat on her knees, deactivated her lightsabers, and closed her eyes as she began to reach out with the force. When the troopers got back up, and raised their rifles again, they were terrified to here the howling of massive wolves that charged out of the forest.
"What the Hell's going on?!" One trooper exclaimed as the wolves darted straight towards the squad.
As troopers were trampled, bitten, or pounced to death, one wolf headed straight towards Ahsoka, who still sat in her kneeling position. At the last moment, when it seemed like she was going to be run down, she jumped up into the air, and flipped back over the wolf, landing on its saddled back. She then took the reigns in one hand, and her main saber in the other, and then pointed her blade in the direction of the settlement.
In response to her unspoken command, the wolves charged into the grassy field under the cover of darkness, heading straight for the Imperial settlement.
Main Settlement, Imperial Checkpoint 3-27.
The main road, that was used to carry raw materials and food stuffs between the spaceport and the rest of the moon, was heavily guarded by an Imperial AT-DP (All Terrain Defense Pod), a pair of Imperial Troop Transports.
Several stormtroopers also patrolled the highway, further away from the settlement, covered by the three vehicles and a series of E-WEB turrets and sniper towers, which covered the terrain from several angles.
As the Imperial Stormtroopers walked up and down the highway, they were oblivious to the fact that a dozen armed partisans were hugging the side of the highway, just out of sight.
One of them used his micro-binoculars to scan the defenses and observe from afar.
"Looks like they've dug in for a serious fight." The leader, Vartan, said.
"Must've been something you said." One of his men said.
"Oh yeah, it had nothing to do with us bombing the admin building, or sabotaging their walkers." Vartan said, alluding to the initial - premature - uprising.
"Look, Vartan, we've been sitting here staring at the main entrance for days. Are we going in, or are we going to keep counting the amount of times they take a leak?"
"Can we even trust that Togruta? How do we know she'll even keep her end of the bargain?" Another partisan asked while sharpening his vibro-blade.
Vartan put the binos down and looked at his followers. "Look, I don't like waiting anymore than you do. But that girl clearly has experience in fighting, so I'm going to follow her judgment. So we wait for the signal." He said as he looked back through his binos to get one last look at the main entrance.
One partisan who was eating a ration stick crinkled up the wrapper and tossed it aside before clutching his rifle again. "What exactly is the signal, Vartan?"
"I don't know," Vartan said as he continued to observe the Imperial defenses. "But the tail-head said that we'd know it when we saw it."
That's when he saw the tall grass rustling in the distance. At first, he ignored it. But then he saw blaster fire and heard the screams of panicked stormtroopers off in the distance.
"What was that?"
"I think you boys might want to take a look at this."
The five partisans who were on the side of the highway with Vartan peaked over the top of the large divider and looked to see a pack of large wolves charging out of nowhere. As stormtroopers were being torn apart, and started fleeing in several directions, Vartan and his men noticed the lead wolf carrying a Togruta woman with a glowing white object of some kind.
They then saw her swing the object through several stormtroopers, slashing them apart and even decapitating them.
As the Imperial checkpoint was thrown into disarray by wolves, the AT-DP turned to respond to this new and began to fire. A pair of wolves were blasted apart. But the third wolf carrying the woman, who Vartan recognized as Ahsoka, began to dodge blaster fire as if it knew exactly where the walked was going to fire next. When the wolf passed by, Ahsoka jumped off and slashed her white lightsabers through the walker's legs as it tried to stomp on her. When the walker was without feet, she threw her sabers up through it's head, cutting it cleanly in half.
When the walked finally toppled over in pieces, Ahsoka stood and observed the carnage, all under the watchful, dumbfounded eyes of Vartan and his men.
"I think we just saw the signal." One of his men said.
Before Vartan could say anything in agreement, the network of sniper towers and E-WEB emplacements began to fire on Ahsoka from the walls and buildings that surrounded the occupied settlement.
Ahsoka used her lightsabers to deflect much of the blaster fire, and even began to used the force to throw discarded thermal detonators at the emplacements, with great efficiency.
But it was still too much for her to handle alone.
Vartan vaulted over the divider that separated the highway from the grass fields, and then turned to his men. "That Jedi needs our help. Come on. Let's get to work."
The rest of his men vaulted over the top and began to follow Vartan down the highway. Soon enough, more partisans began to reveal themselves, coming out of the tall grass to charge at the settlement.
Snipers began to pick off the Imperial gunners, and the Raadan militiamen began to fire their small-arms blasters at the stormtroopers when they were in range. When they were close enough, they began to lob homemade incendiary grenades at the guard towers, burning them to a crisp, and causing desperate Imperial Army troopers to jump several stories in a vain attempt to escape the inferno.
When the coast was clear, and partisans began to mop up, Vartan ran up to Ahsoka. "That was quite an entrance you made there, ma'am." He said.
"Thanks, and nice save back there." She complimented.
He nodded.
"So, now what?" He asked as he looked at the locked security gate.
Ahsoka cracked her knuckles before she stood in front of the gate. She then put her hands together to summon a ball of energy, which she then unleashed on the gate in a powerful force push, which blasted the gate down.
"I want you to rally your allies and help empty out the prison. I'll take a team and attack the main administration building." She said as she walked into the settlement.
"What do you want there?" He asked.
She stopped and looked up at the comms antenna that jutted up from the roof of the building in question. Then she looked over her shoulder and smiled. "I'm gonna make a call, and maybe rescue someone close."
As her men started to seize the settlement block by block, Ahsoka found another side street that went in the direction she wanted and followed it back toward the compound. She was the Imperials' only target now. She was going to need all the cover she could get. In her hands, her lightsabers were a reassuring weight. Her fight had given her back the focus she had lost. She wasn't even breathing hard. This was something she could do.
She didn't bother with taunts or banter. She had nothing to say to these people. She took the wall with a single flying leap and landed in the middle of the compound, much to the surprise of the stormtroopers on duty there. They began to fire, and she began to work her way toward the front door, easily deflecting their blaster bolts.
It took her only a few seconds to get there, her approach heralded by explosions and blaster fire, and then a few seconds more to cut the door open. Once she was in the corridor, she pushed the Force behind her, knocking everyone who pursued her off their feet. Ahead, she saw uniformed officers readying themselves to defend the inside of the compound. Apparently, all the stormtroopers were outside. She hoped they were too busy to think of calling in a Star Destroyer.
Ahsoka fought her way through the corridors, using her lightsabers to deflect blaster bolts and the Force to push her attackers out of the way. The cells were in the back of the building, she knew, and she wanted to waste as little time as she could getting to them.
Finally, she reached the prison hallway. There was a master door switch, which she activated, and the cell doors all opened. She checked to make sure there weren't any ray shields and then went down the hall.
"Jenna?" she called out. "Are you here?"
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Imperial Garrison, just outside main settlement.
In the large Imperial base just outside of Raada's largest settlement, activity was buzzing as military personnel scrambled to respond to the uprising happening literally next door.
Army troopers manned the perimeter. Vehicles were powered up and prepared to march out to the town, while a squadron of TIE fighters were scrambled to establish control of the airspace.
In the main HQ, an Imperial officer, Major Pilar, was overseeing the counter-insurgency operation from is command post in the base's main office building.
"Lieutenant, give me a situation update." The major commanded.
The younger officer tapped a few keys on the holo-table, showing him a blue holographic display of the main settlement. Areas that were under insurgent assault flashed red.
"Sir, the rebels are attacking key targets across the town." These areas that flashed red included the town's stormtrooper barracks, a supply depot, a motor pool, the main gates, and even the prisons, where political dissidents were being held. "They're attempting to cripple our hold on the town."
"What happened to the Emperor's agents?" Pilar asked, referring to the Inquisitor and his troopers, who were here to hunt down a supposed Jedi.
"We lost all contact with our personnel out in the forest. We fear that they are lost."
Major Pilar looked closely at the map and noticed that the administration building at the center of town had not been attacked yet.
"Get me in contact with the Governor, immediately."
"I'm sorry, sir. The Governor isn't responding to our comms. And we're getting reports that suggest his personal shuttle has just taken off moments ago."
Pilar leaned on the table and shook his head. He would deal with that coward later. "Well then get me in contact with someone over there."
The young officer then patched Pilar in with a Stormtrooper NCO who was still outside the building in the main courtyard based on his locator beacon.
"Sergeant," Pilar demanded. "What the Hell is going on over there?"
"Sir, the parti-fffffzzzzzz-ave overrun our pos-fffzzz-ions. They're being led by a Je-ffffzzzz. It's just tearing right through us!"
"Say again trooper. You're breaking up."
"AAAHHHH!"
Then the feed cut to static.
"Sir, we've tapped into the security cameras in the admin building. Getting visuals now, Major."
The younger officer tapped a few more keys, which connected them to a holo-cam that showed the inside of the administration building. Imperial delegates and local politicians were fleeing everywhere, carrying personal belonging with them as fast as they could. Some personnel were carrying carts of sensitive data that was meant to be destroyed. As all of this was happening, Stormtroopers were barricading the front entrance to the building, while also setting up defensive positions in the main lobby.
Then two beams of light stabbed through the door, and quickly slashed an 'X' in the door, causing the troopers to noticeably tense up.
And then the door was blasted inward, as if the wind blasted it, and several troopers tried to jump out of the way. But it was too late for two of the troopers, as they were hit by flying debris.
Then, Major Pilar watched as the video came to life with the visuals of battle. Dozens of blaster bolts flew towards the open door, and many of them flew right back as they bounced off of the figure's glow sticks, killing the very troopers that fired them.
Rebels began to pour in, taking heavy casualties from blaster fire from the upper balconies. Stormtroopers wearing Phase-II clone armor tried their best to hold the line, but the mysterious Togrutan was tearing through the Imperial troopers. A pair of Imperial Riot Troopers tried to use their electro-staffs to subdue the girl.
They swung at her head and at her legs, but she dodged, jumped over, or crouched under each strike, and she slashed back with brutal efficiency, causing limbs and armor plates to fly everywhere.
And just as the Togrutan stood victorious, and rebels began to move upstairs to the admin building's upper floor, the video feed cut to static.
"Major, we've lost the connection."
"No matter, reverse the video and hold at 38.5."
On the major's command, the video began to reverse to when the Togruta teen stood triumphantly in the lobby of the admin building surrounded by charging rebels and smoldering Imperial corpses.
She was carrying two familiar items.
Not glow sticks.
Not energy staffs.
But lightsabers.
She wasn't just any ordinary woman. She was a Jedi. A living breathing Jedi, who managed to escape the Emperor's purge, and has now emerged from hiding to unleash her fury on the Empire. Fury in which Pilar now found himself on the receiving end.
He stood there in fear for what seemed like an eternity, and cold sweat began to collect on his forehead and in his collar.
"Sir, what are your orders?" One of the officers asked, nervously.
Pilar snapped out of his trance and looked around to see that everyone in the room was staring at him.
"Mobilize the entire garrison. I want all armored units to head into town and march on the administration building. We'll take this settlement back block-by-block, and crush this pathetic little resistance movement."
The Imperial personnel within the facility began to scramble to their stations, and Pilar walked over to windows overlooking the base grounds, and the columns of smoke off in the distance. A small TIE fighter patrol screeched overhead, and artillery units were set up to cover the armored unit's march on the city.
It was time to meet offense with offense.
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Prison section.
In her cell, Jenna Zan Arbor's head snapped up and she scrambled to her feet. It was still difficult to balance with her broken arm, thanks to the Inquisitor's interrogation methods, but the sound of Ahsoka's voice encouraged her. She walked forward.
A few hapless prisoners had emerged from their cells, blocking Jenna's view down the corridor. She heard Ahsoka shouting orders at them to get out, to get to Selda's cantina as soon as they could, and she followed the crowd toward her friend.
At last, Jenna was face to face with Ahsoka. She knew her hair was a disaster, she was covered in dirt, her head wound looked terrible, and her arm was still sore from the injections - but she was on her feet. Ahsoka looked different: powerful, focused, completely beyond Jenna's comprehension. Ahsoka wielded a pair of bright white lightsabers, and even though it was Jenna's first time seeing them, she couldn't imagine Ahsoka without them in her hands. Despite the circumstances, she smiled.
"Jenna!" Ahsoka shouted, and ran to help her move faster.
"Darling!" Jenna ran toward her, but stopped short of throwing her arms - both good and bruised - around Ahsoka's shoulder. She knew that lightsabers were not to be trifled with. She could almost feel the power pouring out of Ahsoka anyway.
It was amazing.
Intoxicating
"I could kiss you."
Ahsoka smirked, then deactivated her lightsabers and attached them to her belt. With one arm free, she supported Jenna and laid her on the cot in her cell. She then leapt onto the bed. Her body crashed into the pale woman on it and she hugged it, kissed it, hugged it tighter..
Jenna felt warm – beautifully, wonderfully warm. Ahsoka brought her lips up, pushed them against Jenna's and kissed her lover deep and passionately. Tears were blurring her vision, streaming down her cheeks and drenching Jenna's. Ahsoka didn't care. She ran her hands through the long golden hair and across the soft pale cheeks and kissed the helpless blonde even more passionately.
"I'm dead!", she exclaimed briefly, then kissed Jenna again, "Or insane!"
Jenna never got to reply for already, the hungry orange lips were muffling her again, pressing her head strongly into the pillow beneath them.
"Or both! I don't care."
She pressed Jenna close to her chest, buried her head in her neck and cried, kissed the pale skin and cried some more.
"Careful, darling", the overwhelmed Jenna teased, "Don't kill me now."
Ahsoka laughed, although she was crying, and kissed Jenna once more.
"I thought I lost you!"
"No", Arkee answered, "Very nearly, but no."
Her lover grinned.
"You thought you lost me and your fear that it might be true prevented you from reaching out and sensing the truth."
Jenna brushed a hand across Ahsoka's wet cheek.
"Still, I would have died if it weren't for you and your new friends."
"Yeah. They - they offered me your location in exchange for my services."
Ahsoka looked back out the door, and heard from the front of the building, the battle to take this building and the surrounding settlement. The Raadan Resistance were pushing the Imperials out of the city. But more would come.
"It sounds like they're having fun outside." Ahsoka said, getting up to place her lekku on the cell door, listening to the battle.
"Pity, because all the fun should be happening right here." Jenna said.
Ahsoka looked back at her lover beneath her, blushing.
"Naughty girl," Jenna cursed. "You really need to get your mind out of the gutter
She extended one of her hands over Ahsoka and slowly, her body lifted off the ground and hovered up.
"Are ... are you sure about this?"
One side of the blanket Jenna was covered in rose and Ahsoka's limp body levitated onto the bed and slid under the blanket, right on top of Jenna, then the sheet fell back down.
Ahsoka's eyes widened. She felt the heat rush to her face and looked away. "You still like to see me embarrassed", she mumbled.
"And you still look so cute when you are."
"But ...", Jenna whispered, "… just you wait until I've regained the strength in my hips and I'll make sure to find a suitable … reward for a naughty girl like you."
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Well folks, that was the latest chapter. Sorry that it's been a while. Busy busy busy.
Hope you enjoyed.
Parts of this novel were inspired by E.K. Johnston's fantastic Ahsoka novel.
Hope you stick around for the rest of the story.
Until next time, this is Grubkiller, over and out.