Chapter 5: Finding Ahsoka

Vader spent several days with his face buried in his datapad. The Mandalorian security forces were rounding up all the cells of Death Watch, and he was following along on his datapad. They were moving much slower than he would have liked, but nothing he said seemed to spur them to action. He had considered a random killing to send a message but had been told by his master that with Satine still in charge of the planet, he couldn't do that. He implored his master to make the changes needed that would allow him to do the kinds of actions he needed to get the job done.

As the terrorists were brought in, Vader did his best to determine which of them would be the best to interrogate. He compiled a list that he updated and altered constantly. He was in the middle of reviewing it when Satine requested to speak with him. He put his mask on before letting her come in.

"Lord Vader, we have a problem," she said as she walked in to what had once been her suite.

"What is it?"

"We have been able to round up just about every known cell of Death Watch, as you have commanded. However, there is one cell that is causing us problems. Our initial attempt to arrest them was rebuffed. This particular group consists of some very well-trained warriors. Knowing that, we sent our best unit against them, but they still beat them back. Even with the element of surprise, we were unsuccessful. We are planning another attack against them, and frankly, we could use your help."

Vader stood and angrily walked to the door. He had a feeling something like this would happen. Satine called out to him as he walked past her.

"We have another platoon assembled to go after the cell. We just need you to command it."

"I will take care of this with my own unit of clone troopers," Vader said as he stopped and turned around. "I will require one bit of assistance. Have one of your platoon leaders accompany me. I will need him to tell me about this cell."

"Yes, Lord Vader."

...

"So, do you have everything packed?" Beru stood in the doorway of Padme's room, looking around to see what the woman had packed and what she left behind. She had come here with nothing, and both Beru and Owen had been incredibly generous in both giving her some of their items and buying her anything they thought she would enjoy. Their hospitality was too much, but they insisted. In packing, Padme had refrained from taking many of the things they had given or bought her. She felt better leaving things with them. She really only packed a small bag of clothes, and that was just for show to make sure she wouldn't look suspicious by traveling with nothing. She knew that once she made it home, she would want for nothing.

Over the past few days, Padme had agonized over how she was going to leave. Packing was the least of her worries. She was going to have to say good-bye to one of her babies, and she wasn't sure if she could do it. She kept reminding herself it wouldn't be permanent, and she was doing it so they could have their father in his life.

"I think I'm ready," Padme said as she slung the strap of her bag over her shoulder. Beru turned to leave, but Padme told her to stop. "Beru, wait." She walked over and gave the woman a tight embrace before taking her hands in her own as she looked at her warmly.

"I don't know how to express how much I owe you. When I showed up here, pregnant, I didn't know what to expect. I needed to hide and had nowhere else to go. Given everything I told you about Anakin, and the danger you might have faced by taking me in, I wouldn't have blamed you if you turned me away. You didn't hesitate to give me a place here and treat me like family from that moment on. I was lost and dejected over everything that happened. Having to survive for my babies was the only thing that kept me going, and then just barely so. You and Owen made me see there could still be joy in my life. You made me feel there was hope for my children in this galaxy. I know I would not possess the strength to be pursuing Anakin like I am if it were not for you."

It was tough for Beru to hear that she was responsible for giving Padme the feeling of hope she needed in order to leave. She looked down as she felt dejected. "As I said before, I didn't do anything that anyone else wouldn't have done." She tried to pull her hands back from Padme's grip, but she held firm.

"There is one more thing I want to tell you. Last night I explained to you how much I trust you to raise Luke should I fail to return. There is just one more thing I want to say. If you ever tell Luke about me, don't feel you have to make me out to be more than I am. I don't want him to spend his life wondering what his life would be like if he had never lost his mother and father. You and Owen are going to be all he needs. You will be his parents."

"I will do my best to honor your request," Beru replied. Padme embraced Beru one more time before they walked across the hall to the nursery. Beru picked up Leia, while Padme grabbed Luke.

"Why don't you take Leia to Owen and say your good-byes to her. I want a private moment with my son."

Beru fought back a tear as she walked out with Leia. Once Padme was alone with Luke, she sat in the rocking chair with him. She took a moment to remember all the times she had rocked him to sleep in that chair before she started her farewell speech to him.

"This is it. I have to say good-bye to you. For how long, I have no idea. It could be forever, and while that thought scares me to no end, I have to take this chance. I wish it didn't require me to leave you behind, but I am afraid there is no other way."

"Your father-" she sighed as she considered how to explain the situation. "Your father is a good man, but he has forgotten who he is. I need to go and make him remember, so the four of us can be a family again. If I fail, remember that. Remember that there is good in him, no matter what. I don't have much insight into the Force, but something tells me your destiny will be forever intertwined with his. The Force has a plan for you, and it will guide you if you follow it."

As she talked to her son, she pulled him closer until she was pressing him tightly to her chest. Her voice became softer and barely audible. "If I don't make it back, I apologize for missing out on your life. I know you will be strong and independent, just like your father. I have no fear in seeing you be like him."

Padme planted her lips on the top of Luke's head and let them linger there for a long time. When she was done with the kiss, she whispered one last thing to him. "I may not always be here for you, but you will never be alone. The Force will be with you, always." She gave him one more quick kiss before she stood and walked out.

...

The lieutenant assigned to assist Vader was very deferential as Vader peppered him with questions. Vader wanted to know everything he could about this cell they were going after. He wanted to know who they were, and how they had rebuffed the initial attack sent after them. According to the lieutenant, despite their initial defeat, his Mandalorian security forces were able to track the cell as they tried to run. They were feeding him constant updates about the location of this group.

While he was explaining everything to him, Vader was probing him with the Force. He could sense the confidence in him as he explained who was in the cell. However, when he switched to explaining the initial attack against them, all that confidence evaporated. Vader took that as a sign the man was lying. He had an idea why, but he would have to wait to pursue the lead.

Once Vader had all the information he needed, he had his clone troops board two skiffs. He took the lead skiff while he ordered the lieutenant to lead the other one. The lieutenant didn't appear to be happy with the two of them separating, but Vader was in charge, and he couldn't disobey him.

...

Owen said the most perfunctory good-bye to Leia. While he had come to love the girl, he kept his emotions restrained. He was a man of few words, and the two combined to make his good-bye to her rather short.

When he was done, he went out to make sure the speeder and the droids were ready to go. Beru was happy to have a moment alone with the girl. "I know your mother thinks she will be back, but I have a feeling this is going to be the last time I ever see you. Having you here with us has been a blessing that I cannot express in words. If something happens to your mother, I don't know where you will end up, or who will be taking care of you, but I know that you will excel and make something of yourself no matter where you are.

Since you were born, I will admit that I gave your bother more attention than you. It was just that, with your father not around, I figured your brother needed a second mother more than you did." Beru paused as she contemplated what she wanted to say next. "If you do not return, I don't know how I would be able to explain your existence to him. It will pain me that the two of you will not grow up together and may not even know of the other's existence. Despite that, I have a feeling fate will not keep you apart forever. I intend to raise a man that you will be proud to call your brother."

Padme walked in with Luke just as Beru had finished with her good-bye to Leia. Since Beru was sitting down, Padme placed Luke in her free arm before grabbing Leia. She knelt down to say one last thing to Beru. "I want to reiterate, if anything happens to me, I have all the confidence in the world you will do a wonderful job raising Luke."

"And I assure you, I will do everything I can to raise a man you would be proud to call your son."

It was difficult for the two to embrace each other when they were each holding a child, but they managed. When they broke the embrace, they each whispered a final good-bye to the other. They would have said good-bye to the child they were potentially never going to see again, but that was too difficult.

"The speeder is ready to go," Owen said as he came down. "I have the droids on it as well. They don't know they're not coming back at all."

"They'll just have to find that out when we reach the ship," Padme said. "I know Threepio will throw a hissy fit, but he'll accept the new arrangement soon enough." The three of them were thankful to be sharing one final laugh together. They all went outside. Padme put Leia in her seat before getting in the passenger seat. Owen started the speeder. As he drove away, Padme waved back at Beru and Luke. Beru grabbed Luke's hand and had him wave at his mother until she was out of sight.

...

As the two skiffs flew over the city, Vader paid attention to the monitor screen on the vehicle's console. The screen was showing them the updated location of the cell they were tracking. Vader commanded the clone pilot to simply follow the map on the monitor.

Turning his attention away from the monitor, Vader pulled out his commlink to talk to the aide he had brought into his employ. The man was still at the palace, per Vader's orders. He radioed him as he told him he would.

"I need you to make your way to the landing platform." Vader didn't bother starting with any pleasantries. "Once you are up there, find a place to hide that will allow you to spy on my shuttle. There are a lot of crates lying all over the place. Find one that will allow you to see my shuttle, but not allow anyone else to spot you.

"Um, okay." The man seemed both confused and worried, but he would do as Vader told him. After a couple minutes, the man radioed back. "Okay, I'm in position. I'm crouched between two crates that are very close together. I can see your shuttle, but I don't think anyone will be able to spot me very easily." The man paused awaiting more instruction. He was forced to ask some questions when none came. "I'm, uh, not sure what I am supposed to be looking for. Would you be able to tell me?"

"I suspect that your leader, Duchess Satine, is the one hiding my wayward Jedi. I have a feeling that sending me after this last cell of Death Watch is just a ruse that was concocted to get me away from the palace. With the blockade in place, the only way to get off this planet would be to steal my shuttle. I need you to contact me in case you see the Twi'lek Jedi heading for my ship."

"Okay, I will do that." Vader could detect the uncertainty in the man's voice. He knew he was asking a lot of the man. He was asking him to betray his leader and throw his lot in with Vader, who he barely knew. It would be interesting to see what the man eventually chose.

Vader smiled with elation when the communicator beeped to indicate he was being hailed. "Yes," he said as he held it against his mouth.

"I'm looking at the Jedi right now," the aide said. His voice was quivering, as he understood the betrayal he was engaging in. "She's a small Twi'lek, red skin, but white and black talons on her head. And there's something else, Satine is with her. They just had a slicer hack them into the shuttle, and the two of them are boarding it right now."

The man had perfectly described Ahsoka. Vader was surprised Satine was escaping with her. He figured she would have plead ignorance as to the presence of the Jedi. She understood that trying to get a lie like that past Vader would have been futile. It spoke well of her that she knew what she would not have been able to get away with concerning Vader.

Wasting no time, Vader leapt out of his seat and to the top of the nearest skyscraper. He jumped along the roofs of a few more until he was close enough to the presidential palace to see it. He was able to spot the shuttle. He knew it would take them some time to get the shuttle's engine started, but not that much time.

After mapping out a route to the palace, Vader leapt from one rooftop to another, closing the distance to it. He was just about there when he saw the shuttle begin to lift off from the landing platform. As he made his second to last leap, he reached out with the Force to keep the shuttle from leaving. Given that he couldn't give it all his concentration, the shuttle was able to fight against his hold. It continued to ascend, but slowly.

His grip on the shuttle strengthened as Vader made his last leap. When he landed on the platform, he was able to give the shuttle all his concentration. He held it steady as he turned it around so he was facing the cockpit. He could see Ahsoka sitting in the pilot's chair, with Satine sitting next to her.

Ahsoka jumped out through the window of the cockpit. She had to jump in a high arch, giving Vader the time to pull out his lightsaber and await her attack. He stopped paying attention to the shuttle, and the pilotless ship fell to the landing platform. The hard landing destroyed the turbolift thrusters, making it unflyable.

When Ahsoka landed, she made a quick attack at Vader, which he blocked with ease. He countered, trying to do away with her quickly, but she proved very adept at blocking his attacks. He remembered back to the first moment they had met, when he has served as a sparring partner for her lightsaber training. She had been fairly good then but was much improved now.

As they sparred, Vader looked over Ahsoka's shoulder to see Satine running away from the shuttle. Two Mandalorian warriors dressed in full battle armor and wearing jet packs had come to help her escape.

Ahsoka noticed the three people. As she sparred, she did her best to push Vader back and away from them. Vader allowed her to do so, as it played right into the plan he had in place. By letting himself get pushed back, Ahsoka was putting herself in a position where the crates near the turbolift were to her back. When he felt the time was right, he used the Force to levitate one of the crates and send it flying towards Ahsoka. It knocked her on the ground as it flew past, leaving her defenseless for a moment. It was all Vader needed to cut her in two.

With Ahsoka disposed of, Vader looked back to Satine, and saw the two warriors flying off the roof, carrying her between them. When he saw them fly down, he knew they were heading for the hangar that was adjacent to the palace. He leapt from where he was, landing in front of the main door right as it started closing. He made another leap that allowed him to get through the door right before it slammed shut.

The room was packed with Mandalorian warriors and soldiers who all started opening fire on Vader immediately. He had to take out his old Jedi lightsaber in order to block them all. He kept his eye on Satine, who was running towards a door to the side of the hangar. He was willing to let her get out, as he needed her alive. Once she disappeared through the door, he unleashed the full extent of his power.

Vader used the Force to manipulate every ship in the hangar. Each one was sent flying through the air to crush the Mandalorians either against the wall or against the floor. The few that were left were cut down by Vader's lightsaber as he ran around the hangar.

Once the hangar was clear, Vader rushed to the door he had seen Satine disappear through. He sped down the hall, coming across Satine and her two bodyguards before they had a chance to attack. He cut down the two bodyguards before holding his saber against Satine's neck. She stumbled back until her back was against the wall.

"Why don't you just do it and kill me." She was trying to sound strong and defiant, but her cracking voice revealed her true feelings.

"I need you alive. There are some questions I would like to ask you."

All of a sudden, guards appeared at each end of the hallway. Four came from the direction of the hangar, and two came from the direction of the palace. Vadar focused on the four that came from the hangar and turned to talk to them.

"I take it the four of you saw what I did to the soldiers in the hangar. If you don't want to share their fate, I would suggest following my commands. I need two of you to take the Duchess to a jail cell, as she is now under arrest, per my authority. The other two of you need to go back to the hangar and start informing anyone there that this planet and all its forces are under the command of Darth Vader now.

Reaching out with the Force, Vader could feel the fear in them. They looked among themselves, deciding who would do what. Two of them ran back to the hangar as the other two approached Satine. "Come with us," one of them said.

Satine looked to the two guards that had come from the palace. When it was clear they were not going to come to her aide, she reluctantly left with them.

"Go back to the palace and inform everyone I am now in charge." The two guards turned and left without saying anything.

Alone, Vader pulled out his communicator and called the aide. "Lock on to my location and come to me. I need you to take me to the prison. I remember reading that a former prime minister of yours is in a cell there. I am going to need his assistance."

...

The twin suns of Tatooine were both blazing overhead as the Lars speeder made its way across the desert. The intense mid-day heat reminded Padme why she would not be sorry to leave this planet behind. She wondered what her son would think of the climate if he had to grow up here. Would he become acclimated to it, or would he forever hate it like she did?

The journey to the Mos Eisley spaceport was long, giving Padme time to think about what she was doing. In her thoughts, she never doubted her decision to leave and find Anakin. Most of her thoughts were about how she would accomplish that.

Owen had to stop the speeder well before they reached the spaceport itself, as it was surrounded by a large crowd of people and vehicles. While the place was always full of both people and vehicle traffic, it was extra crowded today because of the refugee ship that was leaving.

"I can walk from here," Padme said as she stepped out. "Why don't you help the droids out," she commanded Owen as she started to get Leia out of her seat.

Threepio was able to climb out of the speeder himself, but Artoo had to be untied and pulled on to the ground. Owen got him on the ground right as Padme finished untangling Leia from her seat. The baby was hot and sweaty and trying to climb out of the seat herself.

"Just one second, dear." Padme grabbed the bag of clothes she had packed and slung it over her shoulder before she picked up her daughter. She looked over the droids to see they were ready to go before turning her attention to Owen.

"Do you need any help getting to the ship? I could watch after the droids for you, if you need it."

"No, I should probably head in there alone. It will help my cover as a desperate refugee if the others see me come in alone." She paused as she looked back at the droids. "They shouldn't have any problem following me inside." She took a deep breath as she wasn't quite sure how to say good-bye to him. While he had done a lot for her over the last year, she didn't feel all that personally close to him, certainly not like she did with Beru.

"I'm going to miss you," she said to Owen. "You've done a lot for me and my children, and I really appreciate it. Also, if the worst happens, I trust you entirely with Luke." As Owen had always been a man of few words, he said little to Padme in reply. He simply embraced her before sending her on her way.

Almost immediately upon entering the spaceport, Padme ran into captain Rendar. He stopped in his tracks when he saw her with the baby. "Wow!" he exclaimed. "You're really going all out with this whole refugee thing." He paused as he thought of something. "Where did you get that baby? Did you find the money to buy her from somebody, or did you just steal her? If it's the latter, then you better make sure the whole situation doesn't cause me any trouble. I don't' want an angry mother coming in here looking for their child."

"This baby is one hundred percent mine," Padme said as she did her best to look indignant. "I gave birth to her. I'm not going to cause you any trouble like what you are afraid of. In fact, I would appreciate it if you don't cause me any trouble by accusing me of such crimes as kidnapping."

"Okay," he said in protest as he held up his hands. "I won't be suspicious of anything you do." He looked past her to the two droids behind her. "I can see you're living up to the deal we made. Those droids can be put to work right away. When you get on board the ship, do me a favor and find a man named Gent. Tell them the droids are his, he will put them to work."

"Okay." As the captain walked away Padme waited to see if Threepio would have any questions as to why they were being put to work. "Follow me," she said, thinking she was in the clear.

"If you don't mind me asking, Mistress Padme, why are we being put to work on this ship. I thought we were just going to accompany you?"

"Um, yeah," Padme stammered. "I didn't quite have enough money to afford passage for all of us. I had to offer your services to the captain for the duration of the trip in order to cover all the costs."

"I see." Threepio appeared satisfied with her explanation. She breathed a sigh of relief that she had avoided having to explain to him how he had a new owner for the moment. She knew she couldn't put it off forever. Eventually, they would have to part, but for now, she could pretend she was not losing them.