Chapter 12

This is the longest chapter I've written so far and I'm very proud of it. How did it happen? Well, I had a plan for Ahsoka and she just decided to do everything differently. I guess that happens.

I just wanted to say, I've been enjoying everything about TCW season 7. The Bad Batch, Ahsoka's Walkabouts. Everything. But seeing that TV Spot yesterday for The Siege of Mandalore... I have never been this hyped before in my life and I wish it was friday already.

review:

Re Gan Hak: Thank you so much! Reviews like this really do make my day. I'm glad you like it so far :)


The Grand Inquisitor was getting frustrated. The Fourth Sister had failed to check in at the given time. It had been 24 standard hours now. That meant only one thing; she had failed. Something must've taken her out. The Inquisitor's bet was on the Jedi she'd been sent to eradicate. The last update placed her on Corellia. That's where the Fourth Sister was headed before everything went dark on her end.

The Grand Inquisitor called upon Sixth Brother. The assignment would go to him, then. If he also wouldn't succeed, he would assign the task to himself. They could not disappoint Lord Vader like this. The disappearance of Fourth Sister had to remain a secret; for now.

The Sixth Brother reported in not long after. "You have an assignment?" he asked harshly. Yeah, the Inquisitors didn't get along. Big shock.

"Yes, indeed. Several weeks ago, Fourth Sister was sent after a Jedi. She's failed to check in. I think you and I both know what happened to her. And even if I'm wrong in that, I'm not giving her more time. She's done. The job is yours now. Find this Jedi and do what you must. There were no specifications."

"Description?" the Sixth Brother asked curtly.

"Togruta. Young adult. Two blue lightsabers. Part of a rebel group. Last tracked on Corellia. Start there. Now."

And with that the Sixth Brother left. He better come back more results than the failure that was the Fourth Sister. If she wasn't dead, he was going to make sure she would be. Failure is unacceptable.

=O=

The team had been flying for days now. They had refueled on Nal Hutta but other than that they had not set down on any planet. The objective was to try and remain as untraceable as possible. They'd even flown in circles to throw any Imperial off their scent.

Their time on Nal Hutta was stressful. There were bounty hunters everywhere. Ahsoka made sure to throw on the cloak she thankfully still had on the ship. The place wasn't only full of bounty hunters, but also Imperial stormtroopers. Ahsoka made sure to keep her head down. She didn't want them ratting her out to an Inquisitor, or worse.

Deo and Jax had left the ship for supplies while Lorey handled the refueling. It all seemed to go just fine. Lorey had handed off the credits for the fuel and they were now just waiting on Jax and Deo. But the way they arrived back at the ship did not bode well for them.

The both om them came running at the ship, and fast. At least they both carried supplies, was all Ahsoka thought. It was nothing new to be running away. Stormtroopers followed the men not long after.

"We need to leave! Now!" Jax screamed at them as they got closer. Ahsoka didn't waste time and made her way to the cockpit. She started up the engines and waited for the signal to take off. That came not long after she'd taken the pilot seat. "Close the ramp! Take off now!" Lorey demanded as she opened the door to the cockpit. Ahsoka obliged immediately and lifted the shuttle off the ground. Behind her she heard the ramp doors of the shuttle closing.

Then the radars started to beep furiously. Ahsoka looked at them and they showed several targets following them. TIEs.

"We have TIE fighters incoming! Someone get behind the gun!" Ahsoka demanded to the team. One of them must've heard her because not long after they were shooting back. Thank the Force for the fact they equipped the shuttle with weapons not long ago. They hit several targets before Ahsoka gave the good news.

"Coordinates are set, jumping to lightspeed now." And with that she pulled the lever. The stars stretched beyond them and within seconds they were engulfed by the familiar blue hue of hyperspace. Ahsoka let out a relieved sigh. She turned the pilot seat around towards her team.

"How did they find us so quickly? I thought we evaded them?" she asked.

Jax and Deo shared a look which could only mean trouble.

"They didn't," Deo spoke up. "Mister impatient here decided it would be better not to pay for the supplies so we could get out of here. He thought it was a masterplan. Of course it wasn't. We got caught and had to run away. That's how we got them on our tails."

Lorey sighed in frustration. "How could you?! We're running from the Empire. The whole idea in that is that we keep our heads down and do nothing to get their attention. Nothing. So how come you decided this was a good idea?" She stared at Jax.

"Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time. I'm sorry. I should've thought it through. It got us in danger and that shouldn't have happened. I take full responsibility. What chore would you have me do?" Jax asked, his head slightly downwards.

Lorey turned to Ahsoka. "Any work on the shuttle that needs to be done the next time we land?"

"We've sustained some damage from the onslaught of TIEs we just encountered. That could be patched up. I'm sure Jax could fix that just fine. Should be within your skillset." Ahsoka smirked at Jax.

Jax gave her a foul look in return but accepted the punishment. Now it was only the question of where to put the ship down next. They pulled up the Holomap.

"We can't stay in space forever. Not anymore. We have to find a new place to hide out," Lorey said as she traced the map. "We can't go to Kessel. The spice mines are not a place you want to mess with and if you end up there… Well, it's hard to get anyone out of there. A mission for another day."

"Kashyyyk is out of the question. We can't lay low on a Wookiee world. Besides, it's still heavily under the Empire's control," Dara stated, pointing at the next system on their route from Nal Hutta.

"Kijimi is not an option right now. We got intel that they've been invaded by the Empire not long ago. We would only attract unwanted attention," Thea said.

"So, what is this next planet on the map?" Jax asked.

"That's Lothal. Not much is known about the system. It has an Imperial factory – the Empire is slowly taking over every bit of their industry it can – but other than that it appears to not be that important," Deo replied.

Ahsoka and Lorey shared a look. That sounded like a good place to hide and blend in as workers. Ahsoka was the one to speak up. "So that's where we're going. We'll check it out. If it's nothing good, we'll move on, but we can't afford to stay floating in space like this. We'll likely run into a Star Destroyer that way. That's something we need to avoid at all costs."

The others nodded. It was decided then. Ahsoka reset the navi computer to the Lothal system. The rest of the way they talked strategies. What to do when they reach the planet. Who would take on what role? Those were all things that needed to be discussed again. They'd spoken about it before, only lightly. But now that they were really heading for a new planet, it had to be clear. Last time Dara was the one to get involved with the crowds. This time it would be Deo. Ahsoka was to stay with the shuttle at all times. They could not risk another run-in with an Inquisitor so it would be best for her not to go to any public places. They had no idea how tight the Imperial control would be on Lothal.

What the rest was going to do, was loosely interpreted. They would switch roles. Who would get the supplies? Who would accompany Deo? Everything was up for rotation. Ahsoka understood she wasn't to be included in that, she really did, but she wished it was different. She wanted to get out there. She wasn't one to stay cooped up in the shuttle. When it was a Venator, sure, but a small shuttle? No thank you. Sadly enough she didn't have a choice. She was a risk and she had to act accordingly.

=O=

They landed on Lothal at one of the bigger cities, but it was quite obvious the Empire had a lot of control here due to its entire industry being taken over. At least they didn't appear to care about the normal folks that much. That made it easier to slip by undetected. At first sight it became obvious that beings of all species lived here. That made it easier to blend in.

All Ahsoka's teammates carefully left the shuttle to explore. Ahsoka stayed behind, of course. She kept an eye on everything from the shuttle, checked everyone that walked by but saw nothing suspicious. Despite the occasional stormtrooper of course.

Luckily for her was the fact that the others had already paid for the docking of their ship at the docking station, so none of the stormtroopers went up towards their shuttle. She was sure her information had been shared among their ranks. Didn't mean they would recognize her, though. Stormtroopers appeared to be quite stupid. Ahsoka would never understand why they traded the clone army in for this incompetent 'army'. But she shouldn't complain. She was against the Empire, so it made it easier for her. By all means, continue training incompetent soldiers.

It felt like hours for Ahsoka, but then her team returned. They'd brought supplies for her to keep herself busy. They filled her in on everything they'd encountered.

"It's a good place to lay low. The planet houses many different people who came here to work in the factories. It would be our ultimate cover to get in there. We could do some serious damage like that as well. If we can disrupt their manufacturing process, would be great," Deo reported.

"Stormtroopers do checks on identities and supplies that everyone has. I can tell you that it would be too dangerous to let you out of here. If they check, it would be very easy for them to take you in. We can't have that," Lorey told Ahsoka. She nodded. It was expected.

So, everyone got to work on their new temporary home. Ahsoka made the shuttle into her personal space. She wanted to make it livelier than just the empty shuttle they were used to. It wasn't the Jedi way to decorate ones living quarters, but her master and her never really cared. His room was littered with his stuff, everywhere. She'd just stolen this habit, she guessed.

Ahsoka made a little meditation space for herself. Nobody protested, thankfully. A little later she decided to make use of it. She'd somehow gotten nostalgic and wanted to know about Anakin. She pulled out her lightsabers – the only thing she had left of him, really – and laid them out in front of her. She closed her eyes and focused on the artifacts, trying to get some connection going without giving herself away. She wanted to know what he was up to. Where he was. Was he looking for her? Or, well, her… the Jedi the Empire was currently hunting, since they didn't know who she was.

But just like last time, the Force told her nothing. She opened her eyes again and sighed in frustration. Lorey approached her.

"You seem like you could use some company. What's bothering you?"

Ahsoka sighed again. She knew what Lorey was doing. Trying to get her to talk about her feelings.

"I was trying to meditate. To form a connection to something of my old life. It didn't work, just like last time."

Lorey didn't comment on her failure to connect to what she was looking for. Instead she pried further. "What were you trying to connect with?"

No reason to hide it now. What hurt could it do, telling this story. As long as she didn't speak of all the details it would be no problem.

"It's a who, actually. My master. Anakin Skywalker. He was my best friend, he felt like my older brother. He taught me everything I know."

Lorey nodded in understanding. "Wanna tell me about him? You seem like you need to."

Ahsoka smiled. "He was the most powerful Jedi I knew. The Chosen One, according to the Council. Which meant he was stronger in the Force than anyone else, apparently. He wasn't like any other Jedi either. He didn't really care all that much about their rules. That made us both into troublemakers, I guess. But we had fun. I cared about him, a lot. And I hope he cared about me as well. I guess I'll never really know."

Ahsoka let out a chuckle when the next thought entered her mind. "At first he hated me. He thought I would slow him down," Ahsoka huffed. "Little did he know he would be running after me a lot. He wanted to send me back. I must've proven myself, because before I knew it, we were friends.

To the outside world he was The Hero With No Fear, but that wasn't all he was. He was compassionate, would do anything for the ones he cared about. It's only thanks to him I wasn't found guilty in my trial and executed. When I left the Jedi, it was the right thing, but no one will ever know how hard it was to walk away from him. He ran after me when I walked away. He almost begged me not to leave the Order. Not to leave him, but I couldn't stay. I had silently hoped he would've followed me. I knew he wanted to leave the Order as well, deep within his heart. But he didn't. I can't blame him. The Jedi were his life just as much as it used to be mine."

Ahsoka took a deep breath. She was getting slightly emotional talking about all this with someone. She hadn't been able to really talk about her relationship with Anakin since she'd left the Order. Obi-Wan didn't count. That wasn't a happy conversation in any way.

Lorey continued to nod in understanding through everything Ahsoka said. Of course she'd heard of the famous Hero With No Fear. She'd never heard his story like this, though. "Did you ever see him again after you left?"

"Once. The last military operation I ever did for the Republic. The Siege of Mandalore. I needed Republic support for that, so I contacted the only one I knew who could help me. I had access to Anakin's subspace frequency. They helped me by giving me the recources I needed. Sadly enough Anakin couldn't come with me. He had to be the hero and save the Chancellor. He did give me my lightsabers to help. The only thing I have left of him. That was the last time I saw him before the Republic fell and the Jedi were murdered."

Ahsoka closed her eyes. Lorey put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Do you know what happened to him?" she asked. Ahsoka hesitated but shook her head. It's better if no one ever knew what he'd become.

"A small part of me hopes he's out there somewhere, but I'm afraid he's gone. I have to accept that, I guess." It wasn't a lie. She had to accept that Anakin had fallen and was, in a sense, gone. Her only hope would be that he was still in there, in the head of that monster, but the chances of that were slim at best. In a sense it was even selfish to think that. If some part of him was still in there, it was trapped inside a dark, twisted mind. She wouldn't wish that upon his conscience.

At Ahsoka's last words Lorey moved to give her a hug. Ahsoka accepted the sign of affection. She didn't know if she needed the comforting, but it was welcome nonetheless. And then suddenly the Force flared around her. Without warning she sunk deep within her mind. And then she felt something. It was cold, dark. She felt hatred, pain. It was some sort of presence. It felt caged somehow. She was afraid to reach out and was so glad she didn't when she realized what it was. Anakin!

Ahsoka jolted back to reality with a gasp. In her action she threw Lorey away from her. The other girl fell back. Ahsoka breathed heavily. Lorey immediately made her way back to her side.

"Ahsoka! Are you okay? What just happened? Are we in danger?"

It was logical for Lorey to think that, Ahsoka thought. The Force had told Ahsoka when there was danger and she acted the same way when that happened. But that wasn't it this time. She shook her head.

"No, no. I- I felt something. Just the Force telling me something. It's not important. Don't worry about it."

"It's clearly not nothing, Ahsoka. You seem very distraught."

And yeah, Lorey had a point. She was distraught. She'd made her first connection with Anakin- no, Vader. That was not Anakin. He did not feel like that. Anakin had always felt like a bright, warm sun. This, this was so cold it hurt. She was afraid of the overwhelming dark presence that had just entered her mind.

Ahsoka snapped at Lorey. "I said don't worry about it! Leave me alone!" And with that she pushed Lorey back with the Force. Not hard, no, but enough for her to be two meters away from her now.

Lorey looked at her with wide eyes but obliged. "Alright. I'm sorry I asked. I hope you figure this out," was all she said before leaving Ahsoka alone completely.

But Ahsoka hadn't even heard any of it. All she could think about was what had just happened. She'd felt him. She'd connected with him. But had he felt her too? Did she give herself away? She didn't even do anything! The Force did!

Ahsoka curled in on herself and softly cried into her knees. Of course she knew what Anakin had become. That fact was already obvious, but to feel it. To be in that mindset… That asked a certain amount of acceptance she hadn't been able to give yet. In truth, she hadn't accepted any of this at all. Her mind had unconsciously kept denying that he could be like that. He was part of her family. Family doesn't do such a thing. He could never!

But the evidence had just presented itself, there in her mind. And it was obviously Vader. The Force told her so. Her master had gone completely dark. So, so dark. He was truly gone.

More tears kept falling from Ahsoka's eyes. She sobbed uncontrollably and closed herself off from the Force. She needed time for herself now. She needed to heal, how dramatic that might sound.


I'm so, so sorry Ahsoka. But it's her own fault. I did not have this planned for her, but she just went this way anyway.