I'm not dead, I swear. I was in a play and the entire last two weeks I had rehearsals until 7! I apologize. Believe it or not, next week is Christmas, so I'll be back the week after. Hey, if the Star Wars Show AND Resistance are taking a break, so can I! Thanks for the positive review last chapter! I really enjoyed writing Han and Luke.
It's been a crazy three weeks. We got a new trailer for Captain Marvel and AVENGERS ENDGAME WHOO! I was sobbing during school with my friends. Also, Thrawn: Treason was announced. I was literally crying because WE'RE GETTING A NEW THRAWN BOOK!
In the middle of this chapter, there is a time skip of about two weeks, because in the next few chapters, there will be (what I feel like is) a lot of cramping of Rebels episodes and the timeline doesn't make sense, so I had to stretch out the time between episodes. Just FYI, guys! This chapter begins exactly where last chapter ended, so if you need a refresher in the three weeks since I last updated, feel free to go back to last chapter.
The songs for this chapter that I basically listened to over and over again are "Jedi Master Aayla Secura" The Clone Wars, "Imperial Inquisition" Rebels Season One. I created a song list for this story, so at some point I'll update it to my profile.
Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by Lucasfilm and Disney.
(Published 12.17.18)
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Trouble With Inquisitors
3 BBY
"Inquisitors?" asked Anakin. "Are they powerful?"
"Not necessarily," explained Ahsoka. "They rule by fear. They come in, they get out. The first Inquisitor didn't really bother me too much, but the Ghost crew was a different story. Kanan defeated the Grand Inquisitor a little bit less than a year ago."
"Kanan killed one of them?" he asked in surprise.
"From what Ezra told me, it was pretty impressive. Then after that, two new Inquisitors came. They're not very skilled, so their lightsabers do the work for them."
"Well, this is a problem," said Anakin.
Ahsoka added, "We also found out that they've been taking young Force-sensitive children to train them to become Inquisitors… or something worse. Luckily, we saved two infants before the Inquisitors could take them back to the Emperor."
"This whole situation reminds me of when Cad Bane captured those Force-sensitive kids back in the Clone Wars," Anakin noted.
"I know. Now that I think about it, Sidious was probably the one who organized that, as well. He's been trying to build an army, and he finally succeeded."
Anakin sighed. "And we let it happen."
Luke got back to his quarters, still hungry, but that was to be expected from a teenager. He felt like he just wanted to sleep.
Suddenly, there was a beep at the holoscreen. He went over and pressed the messages button. A hologram of Leia's face came up, shyly smiling.
"Hey, Luke. I'm sorry about how I stormed off today. I, uh," she stuttered sheepishly. "Look, I just wanted you to know that nothing I said while I was angry has to do with you. I'm very fortunate to have you as a brother. Anyway, I guess I'll see you around. Bye." She smiled and the recording turned off.
Luke decided to give her a recording in response. "Hi, Leia. Ahsoka was telling me a bit about how she's teaching you swordfighting. I would love if you could give me a session at some point. I'll see you soon."
He smiled and began to get washed up. He was lucky to have her as a sister.
Two weeks later, Padmé was packing. She supposed that she wouldn't be needing to stay here in her room most of the time.
After all, Bail had asked her to join his Rebellion, and she had said yes.
Now, officially, she would be fighting for a better cause, not just on the inside, but out there with Anakin and Ahsoka and Obi-Wan. She would be proud to hold a blaster and show the galaxy some justice, something that had evaded them for the past fifteen years. Liberty couldn't have died as quickly as she thought it had. Applause didn't have to be the mark of a new era.
As soon as she walked into the common room on Ahsoka's ship, eyes turned to Padmé and her maroon jumpsuit as she would have worn in the Clone Wars for missions, backpack swung over her shoulder.
"Padmé!" said Anakin, running over to embrace her. "What are you doing here?"
She smiled slyly. "I joined the Rebellion."
Anakin went slack. "You're not joining the Rebellion, Angel."
"I'm not joining the Rebellion," she said, pulling away. "I already did."
Luke stood up and grinned. "Can I join the Rebellion, Dad?"
"What? No!" Anakin sputtered, overwhelmed. "Neither of you are joining the Rebellion. I'm not getting involved in another war."
"This isn't a war," said Luke. "There's only one side - the Empire. What I saw on Lothal, that wasn't war. That was the Empire being unfair to a bunch of people who just want to make a difference in the galaxy. The only advantage that the Ghost crew had was a lot of skill, the element of surprise, and two Jedi. The Empire relies on brute strength. I want to help with this, Dad! I don't want to be cooped up on Tatooine the rest of my life. That's not what I want to be."
There was a silence and Luke looked down, a blush forming on his cheeks.
"Luke," whispered Anakin. "I understand. That's not what we meant for. The Force is telling me that…" He took a deep breath. "We need to join the fight."
"You already have one child who's been fighting," said Padmé. "Can't it be a family ordeal?"
Anakin wrapped his arms around her, sighing. "Sure. Why not? But on one condition - I'm not letting you guys go on any missions I think are too dangerous. Okay?"
"Yes!" Luke said, standing up. "Can Uncle Ben do it too?"
"Nothing can match our glory days, but I'm sure he's up for it," said his father.
"And… you'll teach me to be a Jedi, right?"
A stony look was cemented on Anakin's face. He pulled himself away from Padmé and walked out of the room without saying a word.
"Luke, I - I know that your father is sensitive about the Jedi. I don't even think he considers himself to be a Jedi anymore," Padmé said sadly, walking over to Luke. The boy himself looked resigned. "But if it's really what you want, then you will be a Jedi."
Gathered in the cockpit of a small ship provided for them by Senator Organa, Padmé explained the mission to Anakin, Luke, and Obi-Wan.
"The Empire has set up bases on farming worlds like Felucia, little outposts where they can bring in supplies," she said with that Senator's collective attitude that Anakin had always loved. "Our mission is simple. We get in with the codes, get the shipment of rations, and get out."
"Rations?" Luke blurted out. "We're doing this just to get rations?" Padme gave a hard glare at her son, and he looked down, resigned.
"How did we get the codes?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Bail has agents, Ahsoka being one of them, who find information and codes and copy them for the Rebellion's use," said Padmé. "Anyway, there'll be a small warehouse with the ration crates. We'll land farther away so that they can't trace us back to the ship if we're caught."
"We won't be caught," chuckled Anakin.
Padmé rolled her eyes in amusement. "Let's hope you're as good with a blaster than with a lightsaber. You are not Jedi during this mission. Hopefully, our weapons won't even have to come out. As I said before, we're in and out. Got it?"
"Got it."
They came out of hyperspace and Anakin stood up. The ever-colorful planet of Felucia. A few of the deadliest battles of the Clone Wars had occurred here.
But through all of the flora and fauna, Anakin could see the Empire's effect on the planet. A Gozanti cruiser and a small Imperial cruiser held the lookout post while behind that, a few patches of the planet were charred black. It was an odd ratio, the color and the dullness. Some places were covered with color, while next to that could be a patch of charred plants and crops.
"Hey Obi-Wan, remember when we crashed here and we helped those farmers?" he whispered to his old master.
"How could I forget? Hondo nearly killed you," he chuckled.
"What happened?" said Luke, eagerly awaiting another story.
"Later," Padmé chided.
"State your purpose, Imperial Transport Shuttle 3459," said a voice from the command shuttle in front of Felucia.
Padmé, ever the leader and the only one fully briefed for the mission, spoke into the comlink. "Delivery of farming material and rations from Raada. We're to deliver these to the surface for their re-purpose to Batonn."
There was a slight pause and then the cruiser's officer spoke again. "Do you have your codes?"
"Of course." She tapped in a few numbers, there was another pause, and the cruiser responded.
"All clear, Shuttle 3459. Proceed to Docking Bay 37. You can transfer your supplies to Warehouse 58 from there." The comlink beeped off and Padmé turned around.
"See? Not a problem," she smiled.
"Wow, that was amazing!" said Luke. "Where'd you learn to do that?"
"The hallways of politics," said Padmé pleasantly.
"What's Raada?" asked Anakin, sliding into the pilot's chair.
Padmé reached into her pack for something. "Raada is the moon that Senator Organa's forces found Ahsoka on a while after the Empire was formed. It's been forgotten by the Empire by now, and it used to be a farming community, so no one will bother looking it up."
Obi-Wan smiled. "Good idea."
"We're not docking at Bay 37, are we?" Luke asked. All this lying and cheating was new to him, you couldn't blame him for asking a lot of questions.
"No. We're flying around through the cruisers, and then they don't scan again until we enter the atmosphere. Bail and Ahsoka told me," the ex-senator informed them. "Before they can scan us again, we bring the ship around towards the forest closest to Warehouse 59. Then we can get the food and bring it back to the Rebellion. We'll be in hyperspace before they even realize that they've been stolen from."
The other three nodded, but Luke still had the feeling that there was something odd about this whole thing…
They landed in a lush, colorful Felucian forest. It was unlike anything Luke had ever seen; then again, his experiences had so far been restricted to Tatooine and Lothal. "Woah," he breathed. "This is…"
"I know," said Anakin, putting his arm around Luke's shoulders. "When I came to Felucia, I didn't really have time to take in the scenery, but it's much more peaceful, looking at it now."
Suddenly, Uncle Ben clutched his head and fell to his knees. "Obi-Wan!" Anakin yelped in surprise, and all of then went to help the man to his feet. "What happened?"
"Anakin…" he drifted off, back to full awareness. "I heard blaster shots. Aayla Secura died here. Aayla died here during Order 66."
Padmé put a hand to her mouth in silent dread and Anakin hung his head. "I know that she must have died… but I forgot that she must have been here."
"Aayla Secura?" Luke asked. "Who was she? And what's Order 66?"
Ben and Anakin looked at each other. Anakin said, "Master Aayla was a Jedi during the Clone Wars. She saved my life once. As for Order 66…"
"We will talk about that later," Padmé said viciously, looking unlike Luke had ever seen her. What was this 'Order 66" and why was it such a touchy subject?
"If you want to give her a Jedi funeral, Obi-Wan, you and Anakin can," said Padmé quietly and comfortingly.
"No," the Obi-Wan sighed, and kept walking ahead of the others. "Aayla Secura would want us to finish our mission."
"You're right, old friend," said Anakin. "Let's go."
They arrived at Warehouse 59 a few minutes later. Since it was simply a rations warehouse, it wasn't highly guarded and even Luke could tell that it would be easy to get in.
"All we have to do is dodge the lights and then I can get the door open," whispered Anakin as they ducked behind a crate.
Luke looked at the blasters at all of their sides, then handled his own in his palm. Of course, he had learned how to use a blaster back home, but he had never thought he would actually ever have to use one for anything like this...
"Come on, Luke," Ben urged as the four of them crept towards the warehouse. Getting closer and closer, Luke felt lighter. They were going to get to the rations!
"Halt!"
They all froze in their steps. "Kriff," Luke and Anakin muttered under their breaths in unison.
It was a single stormtrooper. His blaster was at the ready, but he was not in battle position. In fact, it looked as if to Luke, the trooper looked somewhat bored, not motivated in the slightest.
"Can I help you, trooper?" Anakin asked cooly.
"What are you doing here? This is a restricted area, for Imperial use only," he explained.
Padmé jumped into action. "Oh, I'm so sorry! We'll be on our way. Me and my family… well, we're travelers, and I've always wanted to come to Felucia! I study wildlife, but I seem to have gotten lost - "
"There was a ship that failed to report in an hour ago," the stormtrooper said, and Luke knew that under the helmet, he was raising an eyebrow. He approached them again, getting closer to the group. "Do you have any idea who that could be, or where the ship might have gone?"
Anakin joined the fun. "You think that's our ship? Now, sir, we're simple explorers. We don't mean any trouble - "
"Let me see your identifications!"
Uncle Ben walked over to the trooper, much to Luke's surprise, and waved his hand in front of the white helmet. "You don't need to see our identifications."
As if in a daze, the soldier responded, "I don't need to see your identifications."
"We can go about our business."
"You can go about your business."
"You will tell everyone else to stay away from this area."
"I will tell everyone else to stay away from this area."
"Move along."
"Move along. Move along." And with that, the stormtrooper ascended back up a stairway and could be seen telling the other troopers what he had heard.
"You haven't gotten rusty at that," Anakin whispered, and Ben shrugged.
"When can I learn to do that?" Luke asked eagerly as Anakin bent down and began to slice the door open.
"How about, after we get the supplies?" chuckled Ben. The door opened with a hiss. They walked in, then Anakin shut the door again, covering up their traces.
The warehouse was sparsely littered with crates, as if someone didn't want to waste any time organizing them. Padme leaned down to inspect the symbols on one of the crates.
"Yeah, these are rations," she said. Luke looked at the symbol and then recognized the Imperial symbol on the other side. Walking around, he inspected some other crates, eyeing an unfamiliar symbol.
"Hey, what's this one?" he yelled, and Padmé came over while Anakin and Ben began to activate crates to push them to the ship.
Padme's eyes widened. "This… this is the Imperial sign for medical supplies. There are medical supplies in here. Either our intel was wrong, or we're really lucky that they were moving supplies around today."
"Well, load them up, because we're leaving now!" Anakin said. Padmé and Luke activated the crates and pushed them to the door. Anakin opened it…
And Luke was blinded by the shine of headlights.
"Stay where you are! All hostilities will be countered," said a stormtrooper through a loudspeaker. A circle of troopers surrounded them.
"How did they find us?" whispered Padmé with panic. Luke breathed in and out, beginning to panic along with her.
"I'm not sure," said Ben.
Suddenly, a voice began speaking that sent a shiver down Luke's spine. "Well, well, well," said the voice, which sounded female, but it had a metallic sound to it. "Looks like you've been caught red handed."
Anakin and Obi-Wan felt it, too. "Who are you?" said Anakin. The stormtroopers saw this as a threat and moved closer, blasters at the ready.
The woman entered the circle, mask glinting in the shine of the headlights. "I am Seventh Sister," she said with a false sweetness. "And your mind trick didn't seem to work, Jedi."
Ooh, cliffhanger! Again. I do love my cliffhangers. Ani is becoming an overprotective dad (like he wasn't before!) and Luke is learning more about the Jedi. One of my favorite parts was the brief bit about Aayla Secura. I've always loved her as a character and realized that Felucia was where she died and Obi-Wan would probably feel something in the Force because they were friends. And Seventh Sister has arrived! But she won't be around for too long... *coughMalachorcough*
Unfortunately, I still haven't seen The Crimes of Grindelwald or Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse. Tell me whether they're worth seeing! Also, I'd love to hear how you guys feel about Star Wars Resistance right now. Some parts are overly silly, but it's very fun. It's new Star Wars content, so I shall watch!
CloneWarsNerd: Oh yes, I love writing Anakin as an overprotective dad!
Just a Crazy-Man: I'm so glad you love this story!
xxTheTruMan196: Hey there! Glad you think my story's interesting. Just wanted to say that I adore your Shaniverse stories!
I hope everyone has an amazing and blessed holiday season. I'll be back with updates the week after Christmas, when I'm on break.
Happy Holidays, may the Force be with you, and God bless!
-HH