Ahsoka, Rex, the Mandalorians, and the new division of the fleet, hastily named the 332nd Company, had been transferred to a different cruiser so Anakin and Obi-Wan could get to Coruscant with the rest of the 501st and 212th. Once the ship was on its way to Mandalore, Ahsoka followed Rex and Bo-Katan to the command center. They weren't far from Mandalore, and they needed to plan out their strategy.
Bo-Katan uploaded the schematics of the capital city, pinpointing which entrances they had the best chances of using and where Maul and Barriss were likely to be. As an advisor, she let Rex speak for the troopers, but she offered her input when he asked for it, which was often. Not that Rex needed it, Ahsoka knew, but he refused to let her disappear into the background.
They were working out the last few details when the doors opened behind them and a certain arc trooper walked in. Ahsoka smiled when he took off his helmet and she saw his tattooed face. "Lieutenant," she greeted him, pausing in the conversation at hand.
"Commanders, my Lady," he said, holding his helmet at his side. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
Bo-Katan watched as Rex assured him he hadn't. "We were almost done, Jesse. You're fine."
Grinning at his brother, he told him, "I came up to offer my congratulations for the promotion, Commander. It's about time."
"I told you," Ahsoka jabbed, nudging him with an elbow. "It suits you."
"So you're co-commanding now?" He asked the two of them, making an assumption.
Ahsoka answered before Rex could say otherwise. "I don't have a rank this mission, I'm just here as an advisor." She could feel Rex looking at her, but she held firm to Anakin's decision.
Jesse didn't look convinced. "I mean, I know that's what we're supposed to say, but..."
"See? It's not just me, Commander," he added, making Ahsoka groan slightly. I love you to death, but come on guys.
"I just hope it won't get confusing on the battlefield," Bo-Katan mentioned, putting her two cents in. She was amused by the situation, honestly, but there was that one issue. "Although I suppose the two of you can tell who we're talking to most of the time."
Rex and Jesse looked at each other, and each of them seemed to have the same idea at the same time. "Well, I suppose there is that," Jesse said mischievously, trying not to smile and give his thinking away. "We're going to have to call you something different."
"Alright then," Rex conceded, and for a second, foolishly, she thought that maybe he would give in to her. Right up until he said, "Don't worry, General, it won't be a problem."
"Gener-what? No!" She burst out, but Rex was grinning like the pain in the neck he was.
Jesse was already speed-walking out of the command center. "I'll let the other know!" He called over his shoulder, and the others could hear him snickering as he left.
"Jesse!" Ahsoka called, trying to bring him back, but it was no use, he was already gone. She quickly whipped around to face Rex. "Seriously? Commander was one thing, but this-!"
Rex just shrugged, picking his helmet off of the holotable. "Well, if you already don't officially have a rank, it's not going to hurt anybody. Not any of us, at least."
She was this close to socking Rex in the jaw, but that was until he added, "Besides, in my book, experience outranks everything."
As much as she wanted to, Ahsoka had no response for him. Rex grinned, knowing he had won this round and walked out of the same doors Jesse had. He needed to prepare the troops anyway.
Sighing, Ahsoka turned back to Bo-Katan, who had watched the whole episode play out without trying to hide her smile. "Please don't feel obligated to do the same," she told her, entirely unwilling to force anyone else to follow Rex and Jesse's thought process.
Instead, though, Bo-Katan crossed her arms and asked, "How long have you known these clones?"
"Ever since I began fighting in the Clone War, four and a half years ago," she answered, remembering the first time she had walked onto a battlefield. "It'll be five years in a few months, actually."
"But you haven't been with them for those whole five years?" She confirmed, rounding the time frame up.
Ahsoka shook her head, trying to remember. "I went with them on a mission to Lokori about four months ago. That's been the only time I've seen most of them since I left the Jedi Order."
Looking at the door the clones had walked out of, Bo-Katan noted, "That kind of loyalty isn't just given, it's earned. If they want to call you general, I'd say it's their right to do so."
"Oh, you too?" She groaned but hid a smile. "It's more loyalty than I deserve, I know. I don't always feel like I've earned it."
Certain memories flashed in Ahsoka's mind, including a few from the Sister. That's why it took her a few moments to realize that Bo-Katan was staring at her, giving her a real smile. "What?"
"I've figured it out," she announced, making to leave the room. "I know why you left the Jedi."
"And why is that?" She asked, crossing her arms. She hadn't said anything on the topic, so she really didn't have any idea what to expect as an answer.
Like the clones, Bo-Katan made sure to not give Ahsoka a chance to have the last word. "You're too good for them," she declared, right before the doors cut her off from Ahsoka. For once, though, Ahsoka was glad she wasn't able to respond because she had no idea what she would have said.
That hadn't been why she had left at all. She didn't trust them, not completely anyway, but she had never harbored enough pride to think that she was better than them. The Order certainly didn't share Bo-Katan's opinion, and Ahsoka was sure that if she divulged more about the Sister's history with the Jedi they would all but cut her off from them.
Ahsoka wasn't ashamed of the Sister, nor of the Dark Side. She kept it in balance with the Light and neither of them used it to hurt people, not anymore. Unfortunately, in order to gain Sideous's trust the Sister had been forced to do unspeakable things, ones both of them had buried deep down inside and hid from everyone, Jedi or otherwise. While the two of them recognized that they were separate entities, Ahsoka couldn't use that as an excuse for what happened. Ahsoka was responsible for the Sister's existence and still held herself accountable for the decisions she made because she had most of Ahsoka's beliefs, morals, and ethics. Whether she had done it or not, she had agreed with the Sister that the things she did were necessary to reach their final goal and Ahsoka hated that. She hated that she had condoned the pain she had inflicted.
Maybe that's enough, the Sister told her, and Ahsoka could tell that internally she was grinning. Maybe knowing that what we did was wrong and that it never should have been done is sufficient.
How? Ahsoka wondered, staring at her reflection in the glass top of the holotable. It doesn't change the past.
But it won't happen in the future. That was our promise to each other, that we would learn, the Sister reminded her. We know it was wrong, and that's more than the Sith can say. Tyrannus, Barriss, and probably Maul too, they wouldn't feel any remorse or regret for making someone else suffer for them. Even the Jedi don't always own up to their actions the way you have.
That doesn't make me better than them, Ahsoka argued.
No, it doesn't make me better than them. You, on the other hand, I think Bo-Katan might be right about.
It seemed that the only person who didn't believe in Ahsoka was Ahsoka herself. Every other person on this cruiser trusted her, enough to call her General and enough to follow her to their death. She looked up, reactivating the projection of Sundari. Their faith sparked some kind of confidence in herself. If she was worth believing in to them, then who was she to say otherwise? Ahsoka trusted their judgment just as much as she trusted hers, if not more. If they decided to follow her, then she had to trust them with that too.
Not long after, the Venator-class ship exited out of hyperspace, and gunships started descending on Mandalore alongside fighters that had rallied behind Bo-Katan. She was with Ahsoka and Rex in one of the Republic gunships, and not long after they entered the atmosphere, the pilot of the ship notified Rex. "Commander, I have Prime Minister Almec of Mandalore on the comm."
"Put him through," Rex ordered, and the projector in the back activated.
"What is the meaning of this invasion?" Almec demanded, glaring at the leaders in the ship. "The Republic presence here is a direct violation of our treaty!"
She wasn't fazed, though, not even slightly. "Your time has come, Almec. We know you're Maul's puppet, and we are coming for him."
Almec looked at who had issued the threat. "Ah-ha! Mistress Bo-Katan, the traitor. I should have known you were behind this incursion. Siding with the Republic will make you an enemy in the eyes of the people.
"I'm fine with that," Bo-Katan assured him and ended the transmission. She turned away from the projector, but Ahsoka saw the look on her face.
"You're nothing like your sister," she remarked, remembering the few times she had worked with Dutchess Satine.
Bo-Katan didn't say anything in response but instead activated her comlink. A few moments later, another Mandalorian appeared above her wrist, who Ahsoka suspected was one of Bo-Katan's allies. If she remembered correctly, this was the countess of Clan Wren. "Ursa, can you confirm the target's location?"
The answer she gave wasn't exactly reassuring. "I can only confirm that Maul has not left the city. All other attempts to locate him have been blocked. Saxon is already scrambling his defenses," she reported.
"What about Barriss Offee?" Ahsoka asked, concerned. "Is she with Maul?"
"No one has seen Maul's protegee for two weeks," Ursa replied, not recognizing the speaker but assuming they were with Bo-Katan. "When Almec's forces retrieved Maul, Offee was not with him. I don't think she's even in the city."
That unsettled Ahsoka even more. "That should make this attack easier," Rex noted, but he knew that meant more for them to do in the long run.
"Why would Barriss separate from him?" she wondered, but she never got an answer. The ship jostled, and the pilot activated the speaker in the back.
"We've got incoming!"
"I was hoping for Kenobi," a deep voice confessed from the same direction as heavy, metal steps. "Why are you here?
She didn't respond, aware that she didn't have a good chance of beating both Maul and his soldiers. Ahsoka needed backup and she needed to call for it. Adjusting her lightsabers, she remained silent.
"Ahsoka...Tano, is it?" Maul asked, walking out of the pipe he was standing in. "I don't think we've met yet."
"It wouldn't have helped you any," she assured him. "I know you."
"Yes, I imagine we have several mutual friends," he assumed, beginning to pace around her.
Ahsoka spun her lightsabers again as if she usually did that when making conversation with her opponents. "I wouldn't put it that way."
Maul started talking again, and while he did, she moved her hands together enough to hide that she was activating her comlink. As soon as he got her signal, Rex would know what to do. "Of course not, not with your way of thinking. I was certain that Kenobi would have come himself. Perhaps bring his loyal foal. Skywalker, is it?"
Well, that was news to her. Maul had been expecting for the Jedi to come, although Ahsoka hardly thought she fit his bill. "Master Kenobi had a more important engagement," she informed him, keeping her lightsabers up.
"Indeed," Maul snarled, pausing in his steps. "I wonder what that 'engagement' was..."
She didn't feel the need to tell him. Better to let him ramble for as long as he would. Ahsoka was in no rush.
"Why you?" he asked, turning around, observing this...girl that had been sent to fight him. "Why did Kenobi send you?"
"Why don't you surrender, and then we can both go and ask him?" she responded, even though she knew full well why she had been sent. She needed more time.
The Sith scoffed at her, continuing his pacing. "My surrendering, well, I suppose that would get me closer to him, but I think not. I'm not foolish enough to yield to the controlling interest in the galaxy. At least, the current controlling interest."
Ahsoka caught his underlying drift. "So who will be in the future? You?"
"I wish, but no," Maul admitted, a fierce scowl taking over his expression. "The apprentice of Darth...Sideous."
She would have loved to know more about what the blazes Maul was talking about, but Rex and the other troopers had found her. They took Maul's forces by surprise, taking down as many of the soldiers as they could, and Maul activated his lightsaber to hold down Ahsoka. She deflected his strokes, keeping him focused on her instead of the troopers.
For some reason, Maul didn't try to kill her. "Not yet," he muttered, and he pushed her back. He reached out and lifted Rex up in the air, throwing him into Ahsoka before retreating. His forces followed their leader. When she saw what was happening, Ahsoka jumped back onto her feet.
"Come on!" she told the troopers, and they ran into the tunnels, splitting into two groups. Half of her men followed Rex while the rest stayed behind her. After a bit of searching, they caught some movement happening at the end of the pipe. She darted after them, brandishing her lightsabers in case she found Maul or his soldiers, but all that greeted her was Rex and the rest of the clones.
"We've lost them," Ahsoka declared, looking around at her men. Not all was lost, though. They had some information to go off of now.