Author's Note: Earlier today, I watched the episode of the Mandalorian season 2 with Ahsoka in it. I liked most of it, but there were a few things that bothered me. I'm going to talk spoilers for that episode in this author's note, but not the rest of the chapter.
Are you ready?
OK.
The fact that Ahsoka thinks attachments lead to the Dark Side is dumb. She left the order; she should know how dumb their rules were. And I hate how she says, "I've seen it before." First of all, how would she know Anakin's attachment to Padme had anything to do with his fall to the Dark Side? Second of all, Anakin was not turned because he had attachments; he was turned because he couldn't talk to the Jedi about those attachments. Third of all, people need human connections with other people to not be miserable so why are we acting like there's any argument to be made for this foolishness?! And why would they have Ahsoka of ALL people say something so in tune with the dogmatic views of the Jedi order when she made such a big deal about not being a Jedi anymore?! THIS WAS A MISTAKE!
Let's just say that the Ahsoka from the Star Wars: The Unending timeline does not share that opinion. In fact, I'm not going to make any effort to make this Ahsoka consistent with what happened in that episode.
Wait. I just realized that the Mandalorian called her a Jedi and she didn't deny it. Do you think she considers herself a Jedi again?
As for her look, uuuummm. Her montrals don't look that great. The blue stripes aren't shaped as well and I think they're kind of faded. Also, the tops of her montrals are shorter than they used to be in Rebels. Though, her makeup is pretty good. They were right to make her eyes blue for the sake of consistency, but I just wish they looked more natural.
I can't really complain about the casting choice. She did a good job, it's just hard to accept a voice so different from Ashley's.
But other than that, the episode was pretty good.
Luke can barely walk. But he makes it to the door and opens it using the imperial cylinder he snuck off of that officer. Luke finds it strange that there are no guards posted outside the door. He thought he'd have to deal with at least two immediately. Luke realizes the reason is because the Emperor doesn't want anyone to overhear him talking about the Dark Side. The Emperor still doesn't want anyone to know he's a Sith lord.
"Halt!" says a stormtrooper who happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Fortunately for Luke, there's only one. Luke slowly waves his hand from left. "You have caught me. You are very vigilant."
"I have caught you. I am very vigilant," says the stormtrooper, not realizing what Luke is doing with his mind.
"You will take me back to my cell."
"I will take you back to your cell."
"My cell is that way."
"Your cell is that way," the stormtrooper says, pointing in a direction completely different from the way Luke came. "Come with me."
Luke walks in front of the Stormtrooper with his hands behind his back, pretending his wrists are bound. The few people that see Luke walking around are fooled into thinking the stormtrooper has him under control. In no time, they find windows.
Luke can tell from the grand buildings and lanes of flying speeders which planet this is. "Coruscant," Luke whispers. "So that's where we are." They keep walking as Luke studies the environment, figuring out exactly where this is. "Got it." Luke knows where he is. Now he just hast to plan his escape. Luke sees that the military has a strong presence in this city. AT-ATs stand near the building. Tie fighters patrol the skies. Stormtroopers keep a close watch on the citizens. Star destroyers hover above motionlessly. This city wasn't inhabited by this much of a prominent military presence before. Luke pieces together what they're doing here pretty quickly. With the Death Star destroyed, the Emperor wants to keep a tight grip on Coruscant more than any other planet; because this is where the politicians are. The Emperor wants to show some power and make sure no one considers a change of leadership. The only confusing thing is that the Death Star was destroyed just yesterday. Luke tells the stormtrooper, "You have set up your military force very quickly."
"We knew what we were doing. The Empire was ready for this. They talked us through protocols a long time ago in case we needed to keep the city under control."
"So it's just this city that you have locked down," Luke says. If Luke wasn't sure if he knew exactly which city he was in before, he is now. But escaping is going to be tricky with all this security. Getting himself out of the building would be hard, but comparatively the easy part. If he could get to the door, he would be met by the legions of infantry right outside. On top of that, Luke is aching from the torture. And he's alone. And there probably aren't any other prisoners in a place like this to work with. And he doesn't have his lightsaber. And the Emperor is still armed and able. Luke needs help. If he could send out a transmission, he could get a hold of the Rebel Alliance and tell them where to find the Emperor. But there's little hope of doing that now. The only reason the Emperor is not currently torturing Luke is because he is using the nearest equipment that could be used for sending transmissions. At the least, Luke can find that equipment in case he needs to use it later. Luke tricks the stormtrooper into showing him the way to the equipment. When they're close enough, Luke tells him, "I know the way back to my cell from here."
"You know the way back to your cell from here."
"You've done well. There is no need to inform anyone that you caught me escaping."
"I've done well. There's no need to inform anyone that I caught you escaping."
Luke comes a little closer, without being seen, to the room where the Emperor is communicating with Admiral Valum. The door is open and he can hear them talking.
"He told you that I sent him?" asks the Emperor.
"Yes, my lord."
"He lies. Darth Vader has betrayed the Empire."
Luke's eyes pop wide open. Did he hear that right? The idea of his father turning away from the Emperor feels too good to be true. Luke listens even harder than before, hoping to find confirmation of this wonderful concept.
"Betrayed the Empire?" Admiral Valum asks, astonished.
The Emperor explains, "The last I heard of Vader, he left the forest moon of Endor without informing me. I believe that Vader has gone to join Luke Skywalker."
Luke puts a hand over his gaping mouth. If this is true, it changes everything.
The Emperor says, "I will have someone send reinforcements to deal with Vader. But I must return to Luke Skywalker soon."
That means Luke hast to get back to the torture room soon or else the Emperor will know he's up to something.
Luke is careful not to be seen as he makes his way back. He returns to the room, wishing he didn't have to. He gets back in the torture chair and, using the force, he pushes the button with the cylinder to clamp the restraints back on.
Since it worked the first time, Luke hides the cylinder under the console. Hopefully it will come in handy next time he gets a chance to stretch his legs. All in all, this reconnaissance mission went alright. He may not be close to escaping, but he knows more than he had earlier. He knows what city he's in, he knows where to contact someone, and he knows that his father is no longer aligned with the Empire.
Luke doesn't even know what he should be feeling. Should he be doubtful that it's true? Should he be happy that it is? Or should he feel guilty that he didn't come to him. He had thought Vader might be beyond hope, but he was wrong. He could have spoken with him. They might have fought the Emperor together. Luke can't stop wondering what could have happened if he'd went to Vader.
Suddenly, Luke hears voices in his mind.
"Luke, help me take this mask off."
"But you'll die."
"Nothing can stop that now."
Luke's mind is spinning, trying to figure out what that was. Perhaps it was a vision of what might have happened. Those voices were brief, but it sounded like Vader and Luke were on the same side. Would Vader have died if Luke confronted him and turned him to the light? Luke is certain now that he could joined with Vader in the light. But he is not sure if Vader has truly turned to the light. Luke isn't sure if things will end up better or worse because he did not go to him.
The doors open and the Emperor returns. "I sense you feel conflicted."
Sure. He can know that much. Luke just won't let the Emperor know what he's conflicted about.
Beside the Post-Separatist Holding Facility is a star destroyer. It seems a little derivative when you see it with all the dreadnaughts. But the stormtroopers need something none-separatist to fly around in.
Ahsoka plants a bomb on a reactor. That was the last bomb she needed to place on the star destroyer. She just needs everyone to get on board and push the button. That's the plan, anyway. Ahsoka was the one to come up with the idea. When she told it to Vader, he instantly agreed to it. And yet, Ahsoka couldn't help but notice that Vader had mixed feelings about it. Ahsoka can guess why without being told. She can see Vader has some sympathy for those tricked into following the Emperor. Ahsoka views it as a good, if not ironic, sign. The old Vader wouldn't have cared how many stormtroopers died on any given star destroyer. That actually gave Ahsoka something to think about. A cycle ago, Ahsoka wouldn't have cared either; now she's also wondering how many of the stormtroopers really deserve death. Sure there are plenty of people in the Empire that are pure evil. But many of the officials working for the Empire had previously worked for the Republic. Maybe some of them just . . . think they still are.
Not that Ahsoka is going to deactivate any of the bombs. As Ahsoka sneaks her way out, she thinks about how Vader didn't object to the plan despite him not liking it. It appears that Vader thinks Ahsoka knows better than him. Ahsoka wishes she could be flattered, but she had been hoping to have the old Anakin back. The old Anakin never would have thought she knew better than him.
Ahsoka makes it outside easily enough. There is not many stormtroopers on board the star destroyer; just a few dozen to load in equipment. It looks like they're preparing to evacuate the facility, but something doesn't seem right.
Ahsoka gets in her speeder and pushes a button on her comlink. "Anakin, I just finished up. I'm heading to the hiding place we talked about."
"Well done, Ahsoka," Vader says, focusing on her accomplishment rather than his mixed feeling about the plan itself.
"Thanks. How are things on your end?"
"Admiral Valum claims to do as I command, but he is braver than I expected and was resistant to my orders. It is possible he intends to deceive me."
"Now that you mentioned it, I've seen people loading equipment onto their star destroyer, but there's not that many of them and they're not going very fast. For a facility this size, I figured there would be hundreds of them moving as fast as they can."
"Then it is as I suspected. Valum has no intention of evacuating."
"Well, what would Darth Vader do if a subornment ignored an order and lied about doing it?" Ahsoka realizes too late what she was asking.
"The old Darth Vader would choke him to death and promote a yes-man to his position. Our plan already demands that none of them survive. Is this course of action acceptable in your mind?"
All Ahsoka can say is, "Um . . ." Vader has a point. They're planning to blow them up anyway. Why not just choke him out? Ahsoka wishes it were that simple. She tells him, getting a little emotional, but not angry, "Anakin, I just don't want you to fall back into old habits. When we start working with the Rebellion, you can't be doing the same thing to rebels."
"I know," Vader says, not upset with her for thinking that needed to be said.
"Can you just intimidate him?"
"I have already attempted to by choking him to a non-lethal degree. He will not break so easily. But I may have a solution. Valum does not fear me, but the others will. I will demand that they restrain him and I will conduct the evacuation personally."
A troubling thought occurs to Ahsoka. "If this guy is brave enough to refuse your orders after that, you think he might be brave enough to contact the Emperor?"
"If he has, we must prepare for the worst."
"What does 'the worst' look like? Let's say, what if the Emperor knows what we're doing; what will he do?"
"He will have Valum alert his staff, but make sure they pretend to know nothing. The Emperor will not count on stormtroopers to carry out my demise. He would send inquisitors; as many as are available. I trust you are familiar with inquisitors?"
"They're kind of like Sith, but they aren't as powerful. They use those double-sided, spinney lightsabers and they're usually sent to hunt Jedi."
"Do you know how they became inquisitors?" Vader inquires.
"I assumed they just sign up like anyone else in the Empire."
"Nothing could be further from the truth," Vader says with a heavy heart.
"What do you mean?"
"The inquisitors were Jedi. They were still young when the Emperor ordered the extermination of the Jedi and their masters died. They were tortured and brainwashed until they submitted to the Empire."
"That's horrible!" Ahsoka breathes. She never knew that until now. The inquisitors she met never seemed like they were anything other than loyal to the Empire. Whatever brainwashing methods were used had to have been very effective. Ahsoka even wonders if the same thing could have happened to her if she wasn't so lucky.
Changing the subject, Vader says, "I will discover what Valum knows and contact you again. For now, remain close to the facility. If the staff become hostile, I will require your intervention."
"You got it." It warms Ahsoka's heart to have Vader ask her to come rescue him.
The pointless wandering starts with Vader asking a stormtrooper where he can find Valum. The sormtrooper doesn't know, so Vader orders him to produce someone who might. The stormtrooper brings him to an officer who claims to have an idea where Valum should be, but when they get there, Valum isn't. The officer gives Vader the name of someone else who "might" know where Valum is, but by then Vader can see what's going on here. Valum has told everyone to send Vader around in circles while he hides.
"Enough!" Vader demands. "I know you can lead me to Valum. Take me to him now."
"I assure you that if I knew where he was, I would show you."
"If you have such an interest in cooperating with me, why have you not used your comlink to learn his location?"
"Valum doesn't use a comlink," says the officer, fear shaking his voice.
Vader knows he's lying. He also knows the officer is afraid of him. In order for the officer to lie to his face, there hast to be someone he fears even more than Darth Vader. There is only one person who fits that description and it isn't Valum. The Emperor must have given orders to treat Vader this way. Mission accomplished; Vader had set out to learn what Valum knows and he knows everything.
Vader tells the officer as if he hasn't figured it out, "I will find someone more competent to aid me."
Vader walks away and, as soon as he is alone, he uses his complink to contact Ahsoka. "Valum has contacted the Emperor. He knows of my betrayal."
"Are they attacking you?!" Ahsoka asks worriedly.
"Not yet. They are pretending to be unaware for now. They're plan is to stall me until the inquisitors arrive."
"Okay, so we're in for the worst."
"I will need you to be near to me. I will obtain restraints and meet with you. We will act as if you are my prisoner. They will know we are allies, but will not confront us for fear of revealing their knowledge."
"Hang on," Ahsoka says, her head spinning. "Let me get this straight. They are pretending they don't know you betrayed them and you're pretending you don't know they're pretending to not know you betrayed them. The plan is for me to pretend to be your prisoner and they will pretend they don't know we're pretending while we pretend we don't know that they know we're pretending."
"That is the plan," Vader confirms.
"I literally don't know what I just said, but I heard something about me putting on restraints and telling people you captured me. But wait, the Emperor doesn't know about me yet. Shouldn't we keep me a secret until the inquisitors get here for a tactical advantage?"
"You will still remain a wildcard after you have been seen. They will be unaware of your connection to the force or your skills with a lightsaber."
"What will they think I am?" Ahsoka asks.
"You will pose as a programmer."
Ahsoka needed a moment for it to click. "OH! They know you want the droids to fight for the Rebellion, so they'll think I'm only here to reprogram the droids. Let's do it."
Vader and Ahsoka walk through the halls of the Post-Separatist Holding Facility. Many of the imperials can guess that they are working together, but they dare not let on that they know; just as Vader planned. An officer approaches, accompanied by several stormtroopers, and says, "Lord Vader, allow me to take this prisoner to our-"
Vader cuts her off, saying insistently, "This prisoner is not to leave my side." Vader squeezes Ahsoka's arm a little tighter, but not tight enough to hurt her. In this way, he is trying to tell Ahsoka, "Don't worry; I won't let them take you."
Ahsoka wasn't worried, but Vader's strong yet gentle grip has a noteworthy effect on her. She's not scared, but she loves how much he wants to protect her, how much he cares about her.
"She is a programmer I found outside the facility," Vader lies. It's not very convincing, but it he only needs the officer to not call him out on it.
"She calls herself a programmer? A programmer wearing that?" the officer dubiously asks, looking, with much jealousy, at Ahsoka's cleavage.
"What about it?" Ahsoka asks scornfully. "You got a problem with the way I dress, lady?"
Vader prepares himself to perform the art of telling an obvious lie designed to make someone believe a different lie. "As unexpected as it was that I found her, this may yield an opportunity. Her skills may be used to benefit the Empire."
"How so?" asks the jealous officer.
"If you could lead us to a control panel for the battle droids, she may be able to make a few improvements; that is, once she has been properly conditioned to do my bidding."
Playing along with Vader, Ahsoka says, "Listen, you don't have to hurt me! I didn't sign up for sneaking into this place with Darth Vader hanging around! I'll do whatever you want!"
Vader tells the officer, "It would seem we can proceed directly to her usefulness to us."
"Let me make sure I understand," says the officer worriedly. "You wish to bring a programmer to the control terminal so she can make adjustments to the battle droids?"
Ahsoka struggles not to laugh at the officer. Just as Vader planned, the officer thinks he wants Ahsoka to reprogram the droids to fight for the Rebellion . . . even though she doesn't know how to do that.
Vader stares at the officer and asks coldly, "Is there a problem?"
Ahsoka thinks to herself, "Don't laugh! Don't laugh! Don't laugh!"
The officer says nervously, "I . . . think I should run this by Admiral Valum."
"Yes, I believe you should send someone to inform Valum."
"Send someone?"
"And while your messenger tracks down the ever-elusive admiral who apparently uses no comlink, you can lead us to the control terminal. Surely an officer such as yourself knows the location?"
The officer is apprehensive, but she struggles to find a way out of this. "I . . . would-"
"Officer, I would hate to find a replacement for your position on such short notice," Vader says as a calm threat. "Especially since you've come so close to the end of your responsibilities at this facility."
The officer swallows hard and shakes with fear, knowing what he's saying. She whispers something to a stormtrooper; what to tell Valum, no doubt. She then says to Vader in defeat, "Come with me."
As the officer leads them away, Ahsoka finds a moment when everyone else is out of earshot and whispers to Vader, "That was so smooth."
Author's Note: I've realized that I recommended my other story, Disney Princesses: Extermination, but I never told you much about it. In DPE, the Enchantress from Beauty and the Beast wants to kill every royal in the world, starting with the Disney Princesses. There's actions scenes with a bunch of beasts which there are different kinds of. I put a ton of thought into what the princesses have been doing since the events of their movies and how the aftermath of those stories have effected them. A big theme in the story is balancing freedom with safety. The Enchantress is basically an anarchist who wants complete freedom while the royals are trying to maintain safety for their people. There are so many different things I played around with in terms of these characters existing in the same universe. There's things like Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather knowing the Enchantress from before the war, there's an explanation for how Mulan can meet with the European princesses so often despite living so far away, it deals with the fact that Merida escaped a forced marriage while Phillip and Aurora are still in an arranged engagement, there's a chapter where Anna has a conversation with Jaq and Gus from Cinderella where they sort of compare the mice to the spirits from the Enchanted Forest. There's a lot of stuff like that.
Disney Princesses: Extermination. Go check it out. It's really good.
Thank you for reading. Please follow and review.
(This next part was added in later.)
I have a YouTube Channel now. I review fictional couples, talking about how well they're written, how good their chemistry is and the story of how they get together. You'll be able to find me by typing into the search bar –
Couple Reviews by MVPKnight
