Chapter 30

I returned, after almost three weeks. I took a much needed break from writing for two weeks. I've been reading and interacting a lot with other fanfics and I've been reading several Star Wars novels that I recently bought/got as a present. It has really helped me center myself.

Since last week I've slowly picked up writing again, and I've had a lot more time to think things through now that I don't pressur emyself to throw it out there. I would've like to give you more, but the chapter ended quite well at the point it does now, so it's fine.

That said, I am quite nervous to put a chapter out again. For some reason I feel liek, with the time I took to center myself, some of you will have started to dislike this story? Which is more than fine. You're allowed to have your own opinion, but that does scare me. Please be nice to me, tho. My mental health isn't as steady as I would like it to be :/

reviews:

MalirBly: Yay, thank you! I really did my best on that introduction. Thank goodness that I'm not the only one on this site with lacking drawing skills XD. We just have other talents ;)

NessaRoseFangirl: Thank you so so so much. You have no idea how this review made me feel when I read it. You made my day! I really try to make this story the highest quality I can give, so it's nice when it's appreciated. And yeah, it was nice to take a little break. Reading is also fun for a change :) And I'm doing relatively okay. Could be better, but shit happens. We'll be fine. Thank you for caring tho.

littlesky33by: yeaah, ohh. Shocker, right? And I'm so glad you're sticking around. Your reviews always get me through the week :D

DawnDayrider: I see your point, and I agree with you, but I do have a reason for why she still balances. And I'm planning to bring that out next chapter. It was supposed to be in this one, but I just couldn't make it happen. My planning skills are seriously lacking, sorry.

AND NOW FINALLY ONTO THE CHAPTER!


Ahsoka had expertly avoided her new 'colleagues' since the moment she'd arrived at Fortress Inquisitorius a little over a week ago. She did everything alone, skillfully making sure that her path didn't cross with any of the other Inquisitors. She ate and trained at ungodly hours to have her privacy. And it was working.

But it was also taking quite the strain on Ahsoka. Togruta worked and lived better in groups. It was ingrained in her genetics. But for the last 3 months, Ahsoka had been completely alone. And that was taking its toll, given that she was being mentally and physically 'tortured' in training, for lack of a better word.

The fact that she now trained at night and almost didn't sleep wasn't a big help either.

Yet, Ahsoka would gladly continue to be alone. It was better than training with a group of sadistic, Jedi-hunting maniacs—

Ahsoka paused her thought-process for a minute there. That was quite a hypocritical thing to say, given that she wanted to spend time with Vader, an even bigger sadistic, Jedi-hunting maniac.

But that wasn't the same, Ahsoka told herself. She had a reason for joining up with Vader. She did not have a reason for being here, with the Inquisitors. That was as good an excuse as any.

Was Ahsoka practically disobeying the rules by avoiding everyone and not training like they did? Yes, yes she was. But it's not like the Inquisitors really did anything with that. There was nobody who had the authority to do so. Yeah, the Grand Inquisitor maybe, but she hadn't seen that guy since he dropped her in the building to fend for herself.

Ahsoka didn't much care for it. What were they going to do about her 'misbehavior'? Complain—no, report, they would never complain. They were so obviously above complaining. How dare she even suggest that—to Vader about her? Let them. She could handle Vader. She wanted him to come. But so far, she hadn't seen a sign of him either.

Had Vader just dropped her off here and abandoned her? Because then Ahsoka might as well just return to the rebels. She was not spending the rest of her time in this hellhole.

=O=

So, it was another ungodly hour in said Hellhole, and Ahsoka was just leaving for training. She knows that technically she doesn't have to make herself train, since she's already disobeying every single rule there is in this Fortress. But Ahsoka wanted to. She was surrounded by enemies. She couldn't afford any slip-ups.

Ahsoka made her way through the dark hallways and into the equally dark training room. She knew her way around since she always trained in the dark. It was a great way to maintain her senses in feeling her surroundings and it had the least chance of alerting anyone that she'd been here.

Ahsoka just took her position in the middle of the room, ready to start on some kata's. Suddenly the lights turned on. Ahsoka had to directly gain control of her nerves to not visibly startle. She was immediately focused. Surrounding her, were a group of 10 inquisitors.

It hadn't occurred to Ahsoka that she was so deep in thought that she'd been out of tune with the Force. She should have noticed the other occupants of the room in an instant, but she hadn't. It infuriated her. They weren't meant to be able to get the drop on her. That wasn't part of the 'avoid everyone' plan.

"She finally shows her face. Some of us were starting to think that you were a myth. Something to make us work harder. But here you are. Our 'special' new addition," a Mirialan Inquisitor—Ahsoka didn't bother to know their designation—drawled. Ahsoka stared at the Inquisitor with a blank expression. She'd been taught to show no reaction because that was what these people fed off of.

All ten beings around Ahsoka continued to stare at her—studying her. But the Togruta in front of them did not give anything away. She was composed and stoic. She looked calm, but if only they knew.

On the inside Ahsoka was in turmoil. She hadn't planned on dealing with ten of her new 'colleagues'. Not tonight—not ever actually. Their intentions were very clear; they did not like her. And they wanted her gone. So much so that they are currently working together to make it happen.

Yes, Ahsoka was aware of the constant conflict for power within the Inquisitorius. They all wanted to be the best, which was not unexpected. Ahsoka had learned that their ranks went by number in their names. So, for her to be the Second Sister, meant that she was one of the highest ranking. Without doing anything for it, in their eyes.

It was a Zabrak male that spoke up after the long moment of silent assessment. "Would you just look at her, holding herself so high and mighty. As if nothing can touch her," he said.

A Twi'lek continued on the Zabrak's statement. "But that's not how it works, princess," she spat. "We fight for our place here. And so will you." And with that she activated her lightsaber. And so did all the others.

Ahsoka was illuminated in red, despite the lights being on. Their lightsabers were overwhelming. Every single one of the Inquisitors had the same saber—which Ahsoka had expected, but it was still a strange thing. She'd been given her own lightsabers back, albeit corrupted.

So, if Vader's objective had been to dump her with the Inquisitors, why hadn't she gotten one of those spinning monstrosities? Did Vader really value her that much? Was she worth holding that individuality? She'd gotten a different lightsaber and different style uniform than the others.

It made Ahsoka think that she might actually still be important to Vader. And that gave her a new spark since she'd lost part of it when she'd been dumped here. She still held some sway over his feelings! She could still do this.

But before Ahsoka's thoughts could wander further, she was rudely pulled out of them when the Force screamed at her in warning. She was only just fast enough to pull out her lightsaber, activate it and block a strike that otherwise would have severed her left leg from the rest of her body.

Completely on instinct, Ahsoka pushed the lightsaber away from her body and created distance between her and her opponent. She looked up with wide eyes as they locked on her opponent. It was the Twi'lek that had spoken last. She was smirking at her as she got ready to attack again.

Ahsoka quickly grabbed her shoto and activated that as well. She crossed both blades in front of her to block the next overhead attack the Twi'lek threw her way. With all three sabers directly in front of her face, Ahsoka's vision was bathed in red. It wasn't a good sight. She could hear all the crystals screaming. It was disorienting.

"Interesting lightsabers you have there. Another something 'special', I see," the Twi'lek said. The entire sentence was said with so much venom as the woman started to push harder.

But Ahsoka wasn't going to give into it. She pushed back with all the power she had, making her opponent stumble away. And Ahsoka could stay on the defensive and just let her opponents come at her, or she could end the fights like she'd been trained to do for the last many weeks.

With that in mind, Ahsoka charged after her opponent before she could recover. Lashing out, she swung both her sabers in wide arcs towards the Twi'lek, who had to activate the dual part of her saber to block both strikes. Now it was her opponents turn to stare at Ahsoka with wide eyes. She obviously hadn't expected Ahsoka to jump to the offensive. But it was only for a second. Inquisitors couldn't show weakness.

The Twi'lek tried to swing at Ahsoka, but the Togruta didn't give her any room. Ahsoka pushed forward, overwhelming her opponent with quick strikes and athletic maneuvers.

For the Twi'lek this was highly unexpected. She hadn't expected for the Togruta in front of her to be the more skilled fighter. She'd underestimated her. And before she knew it, something hit her head and her world went black.

Ahsoka stared at the woman on the ground. She'd used the Force to throw some training equipment against her head, effectively knocking the Twi'lek out.

It was clear none of the other occupants in the room had expected this outcome. All of them stood still for a second, staring at Ahsoka. But it only took a small moment for them to snap out of their stupor and back into reality.

The Zabrak and Mirialan recovered first and charged immediately. It was clear they fought together more often because they moved very in sync—feeding off of each other's anger and using it accordingly.

At moments like these Ahsoka was infinitely more grateful for her shoto and the fact that she'd been trained in Jar'Kai by Anakin. And for the first time she could say that she was also thankful for Vader's training. Because both of them had taught her how to deal with this kind of fighting, and therefore Ahsoka was able to parry easily.

Ahsoka deflected each blow expertly. And although it looked franticly chaotic, she was in complete control of the situation. She let her opponents gain ground on her for a little bit, letting them push her back. That way she gave them the idea they were winning, which would likely lead to overconfidence. And that would be their downfall.

Ahsoka had faced many opponents in her life who suffered from overconfidence. Albeit with different skill levels. All of them made the critical fault to underestimate her and overestimate themselves. In the end that always led to them not being able to win.

That didn't mean Ahsoka always won, but at least she always got away. And that was her objective here as well. She didn't need to win. She needed to be able to get away. They wanted to show dominance over her. But Ahsoka didn't feel the need to show dominance over them by besting them.

There was nothing Ahsoka had to prove to these people.

It was once Ahsoka was driven far enough to the corner and the expressions of her opponents started to change towards pride and satisfaction, did she strike. She lunged forward, evading a swing from the Zabrak as she brought her shoto up to clash against his lightsaber, close to the handle. The unexpected move and the force of it send his lightsaber flying out of his hand and across the room.

Ahsoka ducked low to avoid an attack from behind from the Mirialan and threw her right hand out, sending the Zabrak—who was still stunned from losing his lightsaber so easily—flying across the room.

Throwing her body in a spin, Ahsoka stuck her leg out and let the Mirialan trip over it. With a yelp, she fell to the ground. Ahsoka quickly jumped back up and stepped on the Mirialan's lightsaber, disengaging it, and rendering it useless. With her own lightsaber she pointed towards her neck and stared her down. Very inconspicuously she deactivated her shoto and hung it off her belt.

"I never said I deserved to be here or that I was special, but I don't let people bring me down like that. I don't like to think of myself as better than others, but you are no match for me," Ahsoka said towards the Mirialan.

Then Ahsoka turned her gaze back up towards the other 7 Inquisitors in the room. "Anyone else like to try something?" she asked.

Behind her, Ahsoka felt someone approaching fast. She spun around halfway and reached out with the Force. With a strong pull she yanked the lightsaber out of the human's hand and into her own. The human immediately stopped. Ahsoka regarded the saber in her hand as she spun it around slowly.

Without another word, she raised her lightsaber and cut it in half. Sparks flew out of it, but it didn't faze Ahsoka. At this move the human who it had belonged to openly gaped at her.

Ahsoka dramatically opened her hand and let the broken pieces fall to the ground. She looked around the room once more.

"Yes, I didn't think so. Leave me alone," Ahsoka ground out. And with that statement made the disengaged her lightsaber, turned around, gathered her stuff, and left the room. On her way out, nobody stopped her. But she hadn't expected them to.

They had wanted her to prove to them that she held the position of Second Sister. And although she hadn't planned or needed to prove anything, she still ended up doing so and Ahsoka was fairly confident it had worked. The fight had given her a thrill that she hadn't known she'd missed. She knowns Inquisitors would leave her alone after this, at least for the time being.


I finally got to write some more BAMF Ahsoka, which I liked very much. I will try to write the next chapter at an acceptable pace, but I can't promise anything.

I want to thank anyone that has shown support since I shared my struggles last chapter. It means everything to me. So thank you, from the bottom of my heart, and much love to you 3