Chapter 9
Bail did not immediately say where Ahsoka would be going. Instead, he called a meeting with her team. The anticipation didn't do Ahsoka any good. She wasn't one to sit tight and wait, so for her it felt like ages until every single one of the team had gathered in the meeting room. She tried to keep her calm, though.
Ahsoka looked around the room and found that the others were also anxious to learn what this mission was about. It had to be time sensitive and important for it to disturb their week off.
"I have an important mission for you," Bail started once he had everyone's attention. "Over the past two weeks the Outer Rim has been terrorized by many kidnappings. It's mostly focused on nonhumans. We had no leads as to where they went or who did it. Nothing, until yesterday. A young Twi'lek hid away when her village was raided and was saved by one of ours. She described the assailants and we concluded that it was the Zygerrians."
Ahsoka stiffened. Zygerria. She did not have good memories about that place or the people. She should've expected she'd encounter them someday, being in the slave rescue business and all. But she'd always kept the silent hope that she wouldn't have to.
Lorey noticed that Ahsoka tensed up at the mention of the Zygerrians. "Ahsoka? Are you okay?" she asked her.
Ahsoka snapped out of her trance and turned towards Lorey. "Yeah, fine. Just… don't have good memories regarding the Zygerrians."
"You have encountered them before?" Bail asked. Ahsoka nodded. The attention was now completely directed towards her. Ahsoka decided to just address Bail.
"The Jedi had a mission there, once. The people of Kiros were abducted by the Zygerrians back in the Clone Wars. Master Kenobi, Master Skywalker, Captain Rex and I were sent to infiltrate the planet to figure out where they took all the Togruta. It didn't really go according to plan. We were captured and I was put in a cage. It was a horrible experience."
Nobody said anything. Ahsoka understood why. It was again a difficult experience she'd gone through that she had to tell these people. At this rate they might think she was just some kriffed up person. Which, to be fair, wouldn't be far from the truth at all.
"We're sorry to hear that Ahsoka. I do hope your personal experience will not hinder you too much on this mission," Bail said to her.
"Don't worry sir, this only drives me to fix this problem even more," Ahsoka stated, determination evident in her voice.
"I'm glad to hear that. Now, let's go over the details…" Bail said as he started to explain everything they needed to do. Ahsoka listened, but nothing really got through. She was going into flashback mode. The darkness she remembered in Anakin back during their previous mission to Zygerria. It was hard to think that the darkness he now harnessed fulltime was already there, back then.
Ahsoka needed to keep herself from thinking too much about it and focusing back on the briefing. This was important stuff.
=O=
During the briefing they'd gathered as much information as they could. It was obvious the Zygerrians were doing this for the Empire. Just like they'd done it back then for the Separatists. Or Palpatine, come to think of it. He was behind everything of course.
Ahsoka also learned that the Prime Minister back then was now ruler of the planet. Since the queen died the last time she was there. That also was not a good sign. But then again, nothing they learned was a good sign.
They'd also come up with a plan, which was good news at least. The team was going to infiltrate the capital to learn as much intel as they could about where the slaves were kept. Then they would move to the facilities and free them.
If you think this sounded too easy to pull off, then you are probably right and Ahsoka agrees with you. It sounded exactly like the plan they had in the past. And that failed as well. But Ahsoka had voiced her complaints and they were ignored, so whatever. Let's just do this. How bad could it be?
They all gathered in the shuttle and took off immediately. Ahsoka stayed quiet the whole flight. She had a bad feeling about this mission. It didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the team, but they decided to leave her to it. They'd already fought with her during the briefing about the plan. It would be better not to provoke her again.
Yes, Ahsoka had fought this strategy during the briefing. She had not been quiet. She tried to make everyone see reason on this, but as stated before, she was ignored. They apparently didn't agree with her, the only one who'd been to this planet before. That did not go over well with her.
And maybe called them a few colorful names. But you can't prove anything. There's no record of that.
=O=
They arrived several hours later. And they were in luck. There was an auction going on currently, so a lot of foreign people were on the planet. That helped in the fact that they wouldn't be seen as obvious outsiders. They would just simply look like fellow buyers.
Ahsoka scoffed at their luck, but she wasn't one to throw it away. It was useful to sweep the city unnoticed. So that's exactly what they did. They split up in three groups and inspected every part of the city, except the palace. They would rendezvous at the slave pits.
Ahsoka had explicitly ordered not to get too close to it. It was easier to get caught there; she'd said. And also, the fact that the current 'king' had seen her in the past. He might recognize her and then she was kriffed for sure. But she didn't say that out loud to the others.
So that's where they were, sweeping the streets and only the streets. They'd each given each other a level of the city.
Ahsoka tried to keep her attention focused on observation but failed miserably. Her mind was constantly going back to the past. To Anakin. To Obi-Wan. To Rex… She'd walked these streets with them, ready to save her people. Now they were all split up. Anakin with the Empire, Obi-Wan in exile and Rex was who knows where.
Ahsoka sighed and scolded herself. She had no idea where they were or what they'd seen. She needed to keep her focus. A distraction could compromise this whole mission. She looked over at Lorey. She needed to know if anything special had come by yet.
"You see anything yet?" she asked.
Lorey shook her head. "No, but you should know that if you had been looking. Where were you in that head of yours?" she asked.
Ahsoka looked down. Busted. "I was just thinking. About the last time I was here. Sorry."
Lorey smiled sympathetically at her. "It's okay, I understand. You're just lucky I'm with you and can observe for two."
"Indeed I am. Thank you Lorey," Ahsoka said a she smiled back. They continued walking.
=O=
Ahsoka and Lorey were the first to reach the slave pits. They stayed there a little longer and waited for the others. Two wasn't enough to infiltrate this place. Luckily for them the others arrived not long after Lorey and Ahsoka did.
"Cover me," Ahsoka said. She didn't need to say more. Everyone moved into position. Ahsoka slowly crept closer to the pits. She wrapped her cloak a little tighter around her. She used the Force to project a 'nothing to see here' message to bystanders.
She got to the first pit and looked inside, and indeed, several of the people they'd been looking for were inside. She checked several other pits to find the same result. They were all here. Which meant they were going to be sold. Which meant imperials were going to be here. Or they already were.
Ahsoka made her way back to the edge and motioned for the others to regroup. They did so a few streets away.
"They're all here. Which means they will be sold. The only one I can think of would be the Empire. And that means we're about to have company. We'll have to be careful. We can't risk getting caught here. This time the entire planet will be our enemy."
The others nodded. "Okay, here's what we'll do. The auction will take place in a few hours. We'll keep watch on the city and find entry and exit points. We'll have to move the shuttle in for the abducted people and our escape route must be clear. When the auction starts, we'll be there. We'll stay put for a little while. We need to know everyone who's there and what our best options are. Only then can we start our rescue and escape. It'll get messy, but that was the risk. Are we ready?" Lorey asked.
Everyone made noises of agreement. "That's settled. We'll split up again and sweep the city. Again. This time for our escape. Cornan and Thea, I want you to look for a way to get the shuttle in. the rest of us will look for escape routes. Are we clear?"
Again, everyone nodded. "let's move," Lorey said. And they did.
=O=
Two hours had passed and honestly, Ahsoka was getting bored. They'd found several exit points over an hour ago and they still had a whole hour to kill. Ahsoka decided to ask Lorey about Jordan, the guy she was supposed to ask out.
"So, since we have nothing to do for another hour I have to ask. How did it go with Jordan?" Ahsoka asked with a smirk.
Lorey looked at her with disbelieve. "Really? You're asking about this now? That's not the time Ahsoka," Lorey hissed.
Ahsoka's smirk only grew. "It's exactly the time for something like this. We have nothing left to do and we need to blend in. being on our guard every second will only make us look suspicious. So, tell me. What happened? Did he say yes?"
Lorey sighed but had to agree that Ahsoka had a point. They should be more normal. "Okay, so. I tried to ask him, but… well… then we got called away."
"You didn't ask?! Lorey, you had plenty of time! What happened?"
"I got distracted by other things that needed my attention. Mission things."
"Banthashit. You were afraid. I can't believe it. You're amazing Lorey. He would've said yes. Next time, I'll go with you," Ahsoka said with a big smile.
Lorey hung her head in defeat. "Alright, but only if we find someone for you as well. You need to learn how to date. For sure. If only so you won't be so invested in my dating life."
Ahsoka didn't hesitate to agree. It would never work anyway. She was taught not to act on feelings of love so she would manage.
=O=
Before they knew it, the hour had passed, and they were at the arena. It slowly filled up with so many people. The three groups each entered on opposite sides and made sure to spot each other.
They'd had contact not long ago about all the exit points the separate groups had found, so everyone knew where to go. They'd made sure it was clear for everyone, so there would be no complications on that part.
Dara was the first to spot the imperials. To be fair, they weren't that hard to miss. Everything about them screamed 'I have a high status within the Empire. Respect me'. It disgusted Ahsoka.
None of them were familiar to her this time, so that was good. She kept her eye on them the whole time, though. They were the biggest enemy here. But certainly not the only one. The Zygerrians were still very much important. They could not underestimate any of them.
Force, Ahsoka hated not having backup of the army. They were truly alone this time. They waited in position for the auction to start.
Several more minutes and the king entered his special place. Ahsoka sensed him. She felt uneasy. She kept her head down. Try not to pull attention to yourself, Ahsoka. You're doing great thus far.
The king addressed the people. "Welcome. It's good to have all of you here to celebrate our return to the glorious world that is the slave trade. We welcome our new allies. The Galactic Empire."
The rest of the speech fell on deaf montrals to Ahsoka. She had to keep herself from showing any sign of obvious disgust. There were guards everywhere.
And then all the slaves were suddenly being led into the arena. Ahsoka looked confused, which made the team confused. This was not how it worked. They weren't supposed to be there, all at once. This changed things.
"What's happening?" Lorey whispered.
"They're all here. That's not how it normally works. I don't know what's going on," Ahsoka said back.
They exchanged worried glances. Were the Zygerrians doing things differently? Had they changed traditions? Were they aware of the fact that they were here?
Lorey used her comm to inform the others. They agreed they would still proceed according to the plan they had come up with. Nothing changed. In fact, this just made it easier.
Ahsoka didn't know if she believed that. "I have a bad feeling about this," she whispered to herself.
I rewrote this chapter about six times. It didn't agree with me. The only thing I was sure about was the fact that the mission would be omnious. Let's see how it'll turn out in the next chapter.
Everyone wash your hands and self isolate please. Stay safe!
