a/n: quote from 7.12, Ahsoka (cough spoiler cough). And a few other quotes, mostly from the movies. It's like 9+quotes . As always, you can do a movie/clone wars bingo.
Also, this has another battle scene near the end, so you're warned.
As usually happened when around her Master, something else was going on. Ahsoka had no idea what had him looking over his shoulder physically and in the Force, and now was not the time to figure it out.
The ragtag group had found her, probably thanks to Master Obi-Wan and the fact that it was well known on Mandalore that a horned shadow stalked the Imperials, taking them down one by one. The rumors originally said that she was a crazed Jedi that was eating their bodies, but when the horned shadow was accompanied on missions by troopers the rumors changed to a crazed Jedi raising zombies. The rumors conflated her and Maul, which irked her, but not as much as Master Obi-Wan's mother-hen act.
"Absolutely not." He sliced a hand through the air. "It's too dangerous."
Ahsoka glared at him. "I don't know what you think I've been doing here, but we are way past 'too dangerous' now. I'm not stopping."
"Neither are we, Sir." Dogma stood beside her. "Not until we have the Captain."
Master Obi-Wan huffed angrily, putting a hand over his face. "Why do I feel like I'm talking to a wall?"
"What's your plan?" Padme inquired, approaching their makeshift battle table.
Everything was makeshift. They were located in the same tunnels where Ahsoka first saw Maul. The tunnels were surprisingly clean. Their main downsides were being dim and empty. She could do with more stuff. She and the few troopers she was able to rescue so far had set up a perimeter alarm, and at the center of their zone was a droid capable of removing the chips from the troopers. The setup had worked so far, though Ahsoka almost felt like she was stuck on a ship in hyperspace, always surrounded by gray walls, only leaving in the dead of night to strike at small groups of troopers, tranquilizing one, then running away dragging her companion.
Ahsoka hoped to get all the troopers, unlikely as that was. She knew her Master was right-soon enough Palpatine would send Darth Vader or these "Inquisitors" Master Obi-Wan described, and that soon could happen at any moment. She had left men behind before, led them to their deaths. It wasn't what she'd expected from being a Jedi, and failing her men was the worst pain she had discovered in her short life, but she knew when to pull out. She wouldn't risk everyone she'd saved on a suicide mission, and they didn't have the resources to rescue them all. But there was one trooper that she couldn't leave behind, and the 5 troopers she'd rescued agreed. They all knew what it was to have that one brother you couldn't leave behind, and though she would never share the same camaraderie as them, Ahsoka felt that was close enough. Jedi were forbidden attachments, but she was just a padawan. She had her limits.
"This mission will be trickier than previous ones," Ahsoka started, smoothing out the roughly drawn map. "The only times we've gotten a trooper out was while attacking in these two areas." She pointed to where the Imperials patrolled the spacedocks rather than right by the palace. Dogma had informed her that those locations had important supplies in the warehouses, like the one she'd escaped from, hence the Imperial patrols. "However, Rex has been used almost exclusively for the palace, I'm not sure why."
"Most of us rotate regularly," Jessie inserted. "It's the trouble ones that they keep close, as well as the higher ups. It could be either reason."
"We'll infiltrate the palace through this entrance," Dogma stabbed the map with his finger. "There are only two troopers, but it also has a camera. We take it out, then knock out the troopers. Fox will watch over them, and when we get back we'll transport them and the Captain to the ship."
"Since we don't know the location of the Captain, we'll be in two teams. One will get the droid," Jessie motioned at R2, "to a command console. The other will use the ventilation shafts to head to a central location, so that when we know his location they can head straight for him. The shafts may have security measures, so they'll take a couple ion pulsers in case R2 is unable to get them down. Each team will exfiltrate as soon as they have completed their objective. Thanks to your ship, we'll have enough room for everyone." He nodded to Master Obi-Wan. "The Commander's ship isn't big."
"I'll lead the retrieval team, Dogma and Kano." Ahsoka ran her eyes over the map, but she'd looked at it so much the exercise felt useless. She knew the building as well as she could, foremost from the small time she'd worked inside it, and now from this map drawn from old building blueprints. "Master Obi-Wan, you're heading the droid team, Jesse and Coric."
He considered the map. "I daresay it will be good to have Rex back. What's the backup plan?"
Ahsoka shrugged. "The armory is close to the command console you're headed for. Get some grenades, blow that section as a distraction once you're out. But that's only if we're coming out hot."
Padme gave a quick nod. "What do you need me to do?"
Ahsoka faltered, glancing between the ex-senator and Jedi. More people was good, but this needed to be stealthy. "We need two people ready with the ships. You and Jar Jar will take care of that." Padme nodded acquiesence, looking a little disgruntled at the sinecure.
Jesse drew their attention back. "We only get through this together. We will save three more brothers tonight, and come back when we're stronger to save more. Now get prepped and be ready in 4 standard hours!"
"Sir yes sir!" The troopers minus one, Coric who was on watch, went to look over their weapons silently.
"I'll head back to the ship, take the medical droid with me." Padme moved to exit, but Ahsoka stopped her with a gentle hand.
"You should probably wait half an hour. Right now is when shipments usually come in, so there'll be more Imperials than usual, even at the dock we're using."
"That's good to know." Padme sighed. "I'll check in on the medical droid, then, and hope Jar Jar and C-3PO aren't doing anything crazy."
Ahsoka let her go, hoping the same.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Master Obi-Wan griped, overlooking their meager force.
Ahsoka did too, but she forced herself to roll her eyes. "You always say that, Master."
He ghosted a smile. "You've accomplished something remarkable here, because of your faith in the troopers. I'm proud of you. I've always been proud of you."
Master Obi-Wan placed a hand on her shoulder. "I wish I could have been here sooner, but you've proven quite resourceful. Although I will always be willing to help you, I think this might be your trials. Not just this, but everything lately would be a trial. If we ever find Master Yoda..."
"Really?" Her whole purpose had been to become a Jedi knight. To achieve that after so long was something, right?
He nodded, a weary smile stretched over his face. "Yes."
Ahsoka waited for excitement, but it didn't come. She felt nothing. The words had meaning, but they meant nothing. Her thoughts turned to Rex and the other troopers, and immediately she felt a hopeful desperation ripping from her heart. But becoming a Jedi Knight? Maybe the excitement would come later. She doubted it.
Ahsoka looked away from him. "It won't be the same."
"No." She could hear the hardness in his voice. "It won't."
At the appointed hour they slipped from their crypt. Padme had spirited the medical droid and other supplies back to their ships, and all that remained was the rescue of Rex.
In front of the hidden 5 troopers, 2 Jedi, and droid was the entrance, troopers and camera surveying silently. Jesse lined up a shot on the camera with a mini ion gun, and nodded to her. Coric and Dogma aimed their blasters at the troopers. She counted down, tapping on Jesse's shoulder, and after the last tap she waved her hand and he fired. The sound was covered by the decorative stone she shifted a dozen feet to the troopers' right. The two troopers glanced at each, then at the item, but failed to notice the inoperative camera.
She motioned to Coric and Dogma, and they fired, expanding blue circles hitting the guards. The guards fell.
Ahsoka and Master Obi-Wan dashed forward and caught them. With the help of the free troopers, they carried them to the artful shrubbery they'd been hiding in, and Fox cuffed them. Ahsoka grabbed a code cylinder off one of them, and approached the entrance, the others falling in behind her except for Fox.
"Ready?" she whispered, and with the group's assent she opened the door.
They swiftly filed in. "Can you feel that?" Master Obi-Wan asked as her team set to opening a ventilation shaft while his headed down the hall.
"I do feel...something," Ahsoka ventured, probing the Force with a frown. It did not feel as empty as she would hope, considering the circumstances. "It feels similar to when Maul was here, or when we were on Mortis."
Clang!
She jerked back to their surroundings to see Kano and Dogma gingerly lowering the grate to the ground.
"We got the shaft open, sir," Dogma reported.
"Alright." Ahsoka turned to Master Obi-Wan and forced the looming presence of the Dark side from her mind. "We'll just need to be quick, is all. May the Force be with you!"
"And with you," he replied as she wriggled into the hole, followed by Dogma and Kano.
"Sir, we need to move!"
"Coming."
Ahsoka ignored the droid team and crawled along the passage. Dogma and Kano trailed her, armor clunking dully against the shaft. They crept in silence, and stopped whenever they heard boots passing below.
Most of the journey to the center was a straight shot. At one point the shafts curved around a room rather than going through it, and at another there was a five foot raise. Thankfully, there were no welded grates, alarms, or other security measures in the shafts. Nothing impeded their progress, and they reached their appointed stakeout with ease. With the metal warming below her, Ahsoka agreed with her Master's sentiment: she had a really bad feeling about this.
Dogma and Kano settled into the wait, and Ahsoka was glad for her diminutive size. There was enough room for them. Barely.
Ten minutes passed, as did two patrols below their chosen spot. Ahsoka was avoiding thoughts of wanting to move when the light on her comms flashed. She listened carefully to the corridor below, barely visible through the grate a few feet in front of her. There was no one.
She tapped her comms. "You found him?"
"Affirmative," Jesse's voice came through. "He's been imprisoned for an infraction in 2a."
"Kriff." Better than the barracks or in a meeting, worse than on patrol. Did that mean he was fighting the chip? "We'll head down there. I think we're going to need that distraction."
"Roger that, sir. Do we need to do anything else?"
She began to crawl, and the two troopers followed her. "Negative. We should be able to open the cell on our own. Focus on creating a distraction, then get out."
"Ahsoka," Master Obi-Wan's voice interrupted. "It appears that Darth Vader arrived on this planet today-"
Boots sounded below. Ahsoka hurriedly muted the comms, and the three of them paused.
"Did you hear something?"
"Probably just your stomach. I told you not to eat that soup."
They weren't troopers, but she couldn't tell if they were from the GAR turned Imperial Army, or Mandalorian natives. Probably Mandalorian government officials, she decided, thankful for their disinterest. As soon as their voices and steps faded, Ahsoka proceeded with her two shadows.
This was trickier, as the cells were below the main floor in a cavernous room, floors of them encircling the large room, peering at each other. Who knew how many other prisoners were nearby, and how those prisoners would react?
They reached the junction where it dropped down, and Ahsoka unmuted her comms. "Master? Come in, Master. I had to cut you off and missed the rest of your message."
It took a moment, but Master Obi-Wan spoke again, "Just hurry."
"Roger that." Ahsoka nodded to the troopers. "You heard him."
They positioned themselves. One by one Ahsoka lowered them to the appropriate floor, and held on until they got a grip. She hopped into the dark, the Force slowing her down enough to not dislocate her shoulders when she grabbed the thin, painful edge of the appropriate floor.
"Careful there, Commander." Dogma helped pull her up, worming back at the same time. "The exit's right here. We won't have much time once we bust him out."
"Can you see him from here?" She scooted along the narrow shaft behind him. Up ahead she could hear Kano working on opening the grate.
"Negative."
"Okay." Ahsoka took a breath. The air down here was more moist compared to the palace proper, or maybe that was just her. "We knew it was unlikely we'd be able to take the shafts back. Once we get him, we'll head for the lifts. Kano, you'll be carrying Rex. Dogma will take point. Take out any cameras and people you see. If it's a trooper or a Mandalorian, use stun."
Dogma shifted uneasily, his foot accidentally scraping her hand as he looked back at her. "Sir, I want to save them as much as you do. But they will kill us on sight. They have orders."
"I am not the one who is going to kill them," she stated softly.
Dogma exhaled. "It's like Umbara all over again, except they won't stop..."
He cut himself off. Kano's tinkering plinked through the shaft. Ahsoka could feel shudders from his work through the metal.
Kano paused. "We ready?"
Dogma coughed out a low, "Yes."
Ahsoka shrugged to herself in the cramped quarters. "Ready as we'll ever be."
She was about to see Rex for the first time since Order 66. No matter what happened, how he reacted, she was ready.
The grate popped off, and Kano awkwardly held onto as he dropped to the floor. Dogma followed suit, then Ahsoka. The air was chilly against her skin, and with a slight drift to it that happens in large spaces.
"We have five minutes before their next patrol," Dogma warned. The guards in question were probably by the lifts, if they stuck to routine.
"This way. Act natural." Ahsoka waved and led the way to 2a. They walked on what was essentially a catwalk, a walkway only a few feet wide with cells on one side and a railed off drop on the other. The cells glowed dimly, blue-tinted glass in place of bars, prisoners in place of people. Most of the them were empty. Some of the few prisoners they passed were sleeping at this time, and those that were awake either didn't know or didn't care that she was a fugitive of the regime. Had they noticed the change?
At the end of the row was Rex's cell. He sat on the cot, elbows on knees, hands clasped in front of him, head down. He was still in his armor, scuffs marring the white laminate, his blue captain's designation sticking off his left shoulder. Without looking up, he spoke, "If you think you'll have better luck now, you're wrong."
"I certainly hope I'm not wrong," Ahsoka responded while adopting her usual posture of arms crossed, weight shifted, eyeing Rex.
He stiffened. "Commander?"
"I'm here." She felt tear pricks, but she could not afford that right now. She blinked, and glanced around to make sure they were still alone. With a voice slightly strained, she commanded, "Get him out."
Kano nodded, but as he lay hands on the door Rex made a strangled noise that sounded like "No!"
Rex's trembling left hand rubbed his forehead as though combating a headache even as his right hand grasped uselessly for a blaster. "Good soldiers follow orders," he gritted out, and stilled with murderous eyes on her.
"Dogma!" Ahsoka warned.
"Ready, sir!" Dogma shouldered his weapon and aimed. She kept her hands off her weapons and forward.
Rex stood purposely, closing the distance between himself and the door, keeping himself at a slight crouch. "You two are in violation of Order 66."
"Here we go!" Kano called.
The door popped open. Rex pounced at Ahsoka. She gasped and scrambled back straight into the railing. Rex landed awkwardly and grabbed her leg only to be stunned by Dogma. The railing dug into her back, her heart pounded wildly, and she couldn't get enough air.
She knew this would happen. The fact that he fought the chip for a moment made him an outlier, actually. No one else had. "What have they done," she gasped.
Kano ripped off a glove and felt Rex's neck. "We're good to go. Help me get him up." This jarred Ahsoka back into the moment. Just pretend he's unwell, she told herself. It was the truth, after all. She bent down and grabbed Rex's left arm while Dogma grabbed his right. Together they lifted him and helped Kano position Rex over his shoulder.
Boots echoed again. Dogma quickly took the lead and Ahsoka the tail. They ran and turned the corner for the lifts. Right into the Imperials. It was a pair of Imperial officers, uniforms neat and hands gloved.
"Hey you!"
"Stop!"
Dogma's blaster went off twice, with a third shot aimed at a camera he'd just noticed.
"Turn right!" Ahsoka directed. "But be careful! That wasn't the patrol from the lifts."
"Roger." Dogma flicked the setting on his blaster. They turned into the hall with the lifts. Two troopers were already aiming their blasters down the hallway. Ahsoka leapt over her companions when the troopers shot, reflecting the bolts. Dogma fired off another pair of shots. Kano slogged forward with the Captain still over one shoulder as the troopers fell. He fumbled and pressed the button. Ahsoka and Dogma caught up and looked around, nervous for any others to be drawn by the shots.
"Come on, come on!" Kano muttered, and Ahsoka only barely avoided the mantra herself. No one else came before the lifts opened and they flooded in. She pressed the button for the main floor, and the lift sped upward.
"We're on our way," she prompted through her comms. "How's that distraction coming along?"
"Not good!" Jesse's voice mingled with the unmistakable signs of battle. "We'll meet you at the lifts."
"What?" She stared at her companions. "The armory isn't anywhere near here."
Before they could answer, the lift slowed. They all prepared themselves to dash and shoot as soon as the door opened, Ahsoka in front. The doors opened.
True to Jesse's statement, droid team was there, taking cover in a side hall and pinned down by a bunch of Imperials, troopers and otherwise in the main hall. When Obi-Wan caught sight of them he called out, "Let's go!" and leapt into the mainway to cover their run.
They dashed out of the lift, Dogma taking pot shots and Ahsoka covering the others. Twenty feet, ten feet, then they were at the side hall. "Got them, General!" Jesse yelled, and Obi-Wan retreated. As they ran Ahsoka noticed that sirens had been blaring ever since they reached this floor.
"The distraction?" she panted.
"I think we're doing a great job of that," Obi-Wan huffed from the back of the group.
"It should go off soon," Coric inserted.
They reached a conjunction and headed for their exit. Ahsoka expected blast doors to close off and section them in, but they weren't on a ship. The benefits of being planet-side.
She tapped her comm and held it up to her face. "Padme, we're going to need a pick-up. Meet us at the Kryze Memorial Ground in the garden."
"On my way," Padme answered, and the group picked up their pace. Another bunch of Imperials intercepted them, but they were no match for the desperate Jedi and troopers. Another corner, and their goal sat at the end of their last hallway. With the state of alarm, it was most likely the door had been automatically locked shut again as part of the security measures, and she couldn't remember what happened to the code cylinder. "R2, get that door open!" Ahsoka clipped.
R2 beeped as he zoomed past her.
"Did you know he carries people?" Obi-Wan commented between huffs.
"Getting out of shape, Master?" They reached the door, R2 still in the midst of hacking. She was glad they had a droid who could hack faster than any of them.
"I've been on the same tiny ship for months now," Obi-Wan argued. "There's not much room for exercising."
"We'll make sure you get your exercise, sir," Dogma said. "Need to be up to regs."
A muffled explosion signaled that the charges had finally gone off. The door in front of them slid open and they tumbled out. The light from the building extended 15 feet before it got too dark to see, but through the gardens in front of them was an area perfect for Padme and Jar Jar to land at.
"Fox, move out!" Ahsoka called.
"Yessir. I've got Joc, if someone can get Boro."
"I got him," Coric said, shouldering his gun and lifting his brother from the ground.
They took to the darkness, flitting through bushes, flowers, grass. She wasn't entirely sure what all they stepped on, but this garden was not going to look pretty in the morning, particularly where R2 rolled. They were almost to an area of the gardens that was a large, flat circle of grass surrounded by two rings of trees.
"Incoming combatants, sirs!"
Ahsoka glanced back. Humanoid shadows followed them, gaining now that her group had reached their goal. "Stop at the treeline, we'll hold them off there. As soon as our rides come, you get on. Obi-Wan and I will cover your backs."
"Sir yes sir!"
The trees were stubby things, distinct from the bushes only in that the leaves were bunched higher, leaving foot-wide, rough trunks for them to hide behind. The trees would have to do. The group stopped between the two rows of trees, unwilling to expose their backs in case Padme and Jar Jar arrived after sky-bound Imperial reinforcements. The unconscious troopers were deposited on the ground and leaned up behind trees, their hands cuffed just in case. R2 went into the field, scanner popping out of his dome. Everyone else took cover, peering around the trunks.
The Imperials were backlit by the building, but only dimly. Ahsoka guessed there to be at least six, maybe even ten. Her montrals weren't much help here either, the rush of boots mixing together so she could not distinguish individuals. She squinted, willing her eyes to see more, and noticed that something was different about one of them. Most of the shapes had two distinct legs and arms, but this one was either a different species or wearing non-regulation clothing.
Ahsoka felt a headache coming on, and like she was cold. She stuck a hand out to steady herself, hand awkwardly extending until it reached the tree trunk she could barely see. The tree didn't feel any colder, nor the air. The Dark Side.
"He's here," Obi-Wan stated grimly.
"Who, Master?"
He ignored her question, instead barking out, "Focus fire on the flanks. Leave the middle to me and Ahsoka."
"Yessir!" the troopers chorused, aiming at their foes. When Ahsoka followed their line of sight, she saw the strange figure ignite a lightsaber, a scarlet scratch in the dark. The troopers shot, and battle was joined again. The red lightsaber bounced some of the troopers' shots back.
"With me, Ahsoka," Obi-Wan commanded. She dashed from her tree to his, breaking with every tree. Shots were now coming in from their enemies, blaster bolts illuminating the straight trees around them in unnatural green light. The troopers kept up their own fire, while Obi-Wan and Ahsoka ignited their lightsabers to reflect as many of the blasts as they could.
"What's the plan, Master?"
"We need to take-down the Sith, perhaps bring him in for questioning. Unless he's too dangerous to be left alive." She could see the ghost of Obi-Wan's sleeve rise in the light from their sabers as he reflected another bolt. "You and I will attack him once he's closer. If we can take him, we'll try to bring him alive. If not, we hold him off until the troopers are on the ships."
"Alright Master," Ahsoka gritted as she reflected two more bolts. "You're just doing this because Sith are your speciality."
"I have fought more Sith than you have." Their enemies got closer. She jumped to the side to reflect a bolt headed for the end of their line.
"Thanks sir!"
Ahsoka saluted back her welcome, forgetting that they were in darkness. She tucked and rolled to regain her spot, but the Imperials kept shooting at the end of the line. Her movement had given away how far their line extended, and from the fact Obi-Wan wasn't calling for her, she bet they were concentrating fire on his side as well, keeping the Jedi separate.
She deflected a cascade of bolts, panting.
"Down, sir!"
She ducked, and somebody threw something over her. A bolt from the enemy sizzled over her head in response, and the person cried out. She jumped up and immediately blocked more incoming fire. She heard another trooper moving to help the injured, but she didn't turn around.
The blast made her wish she had, the grenade blinding her in the same moment that it displayed the enemy brilliantly. She closed her eyes, after-images of screaming humans flashing in white and blue. Her stomach turned. She reached out with the Force to detect incoming fire, but none came.
Beep bee whorl!
"The ships are here, sirs!"
Ahsoka shook her head to clear it, the muffled announcement barely making it through her hearing. "Go! Obi-Wan and I will cover you."
The after-images were fading, and the thrum in her montrals was lessening. She side-walked to Obi-Wan's blue lightsaber, keeping an eye towards whatever attackers remained. At first she thought they were all down, bushes the only lumps between them and the palace. There was a red glow. She thought it was something burning from the grenade, but realized it was the lightsaber.
"But they usually turn off," she muttered to herself, in time for its owner to rise.
"Get ready!" Obi-Wan settled into his favored stance, left arm extending forward while his right held his lightsaber parallel to his left arm. Ahsoka held her shoto in front, with her right lightsaber held behind. She crouched.
The figure stood still, eyeing them. Behind her Ahsoka heard the two spacecraft land, and the troopers clambering on. As if sensing the moment slipping away, the figure hefted its lightsaber and charged.
"Together!" Obi-Wan called.
She and Obi-Wan rushed forward, Ahsoka holding her sabers to the side away from her body. When they were within ten feet, she leapt up, bringing both sabers to bear on the figure. He caught her on his red one one-handed, his block forcing her to flip through the air.
She whirled around to see Obi-Wan had engaged right after her. The two bandied strikes and parries. The person was wearing a thick black cloak, gloved hand visible at the base of his lightsaber. He struck a downward slice and Obi-Wan jumped back, arms wide.
Ahsoka barreled back into the fray, swinging her sabers in a coordinated attack. She expected the man to twirl away like Maul had, but instead he reached a hand back and pushed her away with the Force. She stumbled back as Obi-Wan stabbed at the figure, but with a flick of the figure's lightsaber, Obi-Wan's was easily deflected to the side. She faltered to her feet. The figure kicked Obi-Wan in the chest and Obi-Wan fell to the ground. Ahsoka hobbled forward, still disoriented, and activated her lightsabers. The figure swiftly raised his lightsaber in both hands to bring down upon her Master.
"No!" she yelled, and stabbed at the figure's back. He shifted his saber to catch hers. It caught the first, diverting it to a nick in his side, making him grunt, but when he twisted to face her the shoto caught on his right forearm.
Sparks leapt up from his right arm, and she thought the saber would fall, but his left hand held on. She caught a glimpse of a yellow, hate-crazed eye narrowing on her. He swung round at her, and she hand-springed back, burnt leaves sizzling in the wake of her sabers. She stopped fifteen feet away, caught her breath as she looked up.
"Ahsoka, to the ship!" Obi-Wan yelled, back on his feet, lightsaber pointed at the Sith.
The figure startled for a moment, from the shout, from the pain, she didn't know. She bolted forward, and when the figure swung she somersaulted over and kept going. Obi-Wan joined her when she passed him at the trees, the two sprinting side by side over the grass. The troopers were on the ships, with a trooper waiting on each ramp. The ships themselves were hovering, slowly rising into the starlit sky, the doors beacons in the night. Ahsoka gathered her strength and jumped, flying through the air and slamming into the ramp.
Through the rushing air, she heard a strangled cry from below. She turned around to see Obi-Wan on the ground, scrabbling to right himself and get his saber between himself and the Sith. "Master!"
She moved to jump back down, but the trooper caught her arm. "Don't, sir."
He quickly aimed his gun at the figure, firing shots and distracting the Sith until Obi-Wan had his bearings. A bolt was reflected back to them, and Ahsoka snapped her shoto on and up to deflect the shot back down. "Still got one on the ground," the trooper yelled to the front of the ship.
Obi-Wan stood and resumed his stance. "Master, come on!" she yelled. "Leave him!"
Obi-Wan didn't, striking at the Sith, dancing away, slicing. She held her breath, gasping when he stumbled under a heavy blow, holding the strut next to her tighter when he lunged forward and the Sith evaded. "Come on. Come on!"
Obi-Wan was flagging. He retreated, but the figure followed-he couldn't jump up without being attack. Ahsoka watched the battle closely, and the next time Obi-Wan circled close to the ships and glanced up she pushed with the Force, the hardest she'd ever done on an organic.
The figure fell, its hood dislodged. Obi-Wan moved to go to the ship, but hesitated. Ahsoka hesitated too, surprise rocking her core. A human male was pushing himself upright, face unnaturally pale, eyes burning yellow in contrast to the red of his saber.
Lars. Sith.
"No," she thought she heard Obi-Wan cry out. Her mind blanked. She'd seen Lars not that long ago, he'd rescued her not that long ago, he was normal, he was good! But the man below stood proudly, hate roiling off of him. Her rescuer, turned monster.
"It was foretold that we would meet again. But not like this," Lars said. His voice was the same, if a little cold. There were dark lines cracking his face around his eyes.
"Mustafar." Obi-Wan stood still, body tensed.
Lars nodded and raised his sparking limb. "You have a task to perform."
Obi-Wan gaped in response. "Obi-Wan knows him?" the trooper asked.
"Yeah, we both do." Ahsoka returned her hand to the strut. "Wait, do you know him?"
The trooper looked at her, but through his helmet she could only guess his expression. "That's Darth Vader."
"No," ghosted from her lips again. Something was not adding up. Even on the run, she knew of Darth Vader's deeds. Lars wasn't that evil. Was he?
"Master?" A polite voice accompanied by clanks broke the moment. She wrenched her eyes from below to see a golden droid approaching her.
"Stay back," the trooper warned, and Ahsoka's mind took a moment to supply that this was Jesse.
The droid ignored him and started waving down at the battle. "Master? Master, it is you, it is you!"
Ahsoka didn't expect any effect, but when she returned her gaze below, Lars had halted, gazing up at the droid. "3PO?" he rasped.
"Oh Master Ani, you can't leave me here!" the droid 3PO wailed. He tried to shuffle past her, but she and Jesse caught his arms so he didn't fall. "I don't think they like me very much, and I don't like them either! And don't say a word about Jar Jar, Master, you very well know my opinion of him."
"His eyes," Jesse murmured. Ahsoka looked closely, and saw that blazing yellow had shifted to muggy blue. Not quite the color they'd been when last she saw them, but better than yellow. The atmosphere felt lighter too, as though the weight of the Dark side had lifted.
"Go, 3PO." Lars looked down to the side.
"I can still help you!" the droid begged. "The R2 unit has instructed me on the unsavory practices of hacking and hot-wiring. I've learned a great many things, seen so many planets you would like. Let me help you, Master!"
Everyone paused to see how he'd react to the droid's plea, and Ahsoka could have sworn the world itself went silent.
She watched him deliberate, one moment, another. He turned away.
"It is too late for me." Obi-Wan took a step forward, hand raised, but Lars thrust a hand at him. Obi-Wan flew from the ground, slammed against the other ramp. Fox pulled him up before Lars gestured with his hands again and that ramp closed. Another, and Ahsoka's closed.
"We're taking off!" Padme's voice crackled over the ship's comms.
"No!" 3PO pointed a stiff hand at the speaker. "I demand you put me down there at once. My Master needs me!"
The sudden acceleration pushed Ahsoka to the side, the droid and Jesse on top. They righted themselves.
"Sorry about your Master," Jesse said, awkwardly patting the droid on the shoulder.
"Why?" 3PO pulled away from them. "He's a good master. I'm sure he'll realize he needs me soon enough. This isn't like him at all!"
"Maybe you don't know your master as well as you thought you did," Jesse tried. Ahsoka left them to it, careening to the open cabin door where she could see the medical droid hovering over Rex and Joc. She strapped in next to Rex's reclined form, feeling the ship jolt now and again, jostling her thoughts over the encounter from her mind. The only thing that mattered now was Rex. The medical droid administered stimpacs and sedatives to the two troopers before buckling in too. Now was not the time from brain surgery. Ahsoka gazed at the face of her friend, limp on the gurney. Breathing. Alive.
"Soon," she promised him as she laid a hand on his face. "You'll be free soon."