Her grip on the ledge weakened, the strain of the ongoing duel with Sidious now taking its toll on her.
She tried to reach into the force, to amplify her own power and muster a force enhanced jump back up.
But she was tired, and her body hurt.
Her fingers continued to slip.
Until they did.
Ahsoka could no longer hold on, the weight of her own body letting her down.
And then she found herself plummeting downwards, into the seemingly bottomless pit below, one that ran into the heart of the battle station.
She fell a few feet, and closed her eyes, accepting her fate.
And then, she stopped falling.
Opening her eyes in surprise, Ahsoka gasped as she realized she was being suspended by something.
Or someone.
Through the force, she could tell someone had their grip on her.
And they were pulling her back up.
She couldn't tell who it was through the force, and she had yet to gain vision of the person, considering she had fallen down the hole.
Presumably it was one of her team, come to rescue her whilst the others fended off Sidious.
But then again, they had all also been hit by Sidious assault. No doubt they were also out of action of a bit.
So if it wasn't them, then who was it?
For a brief dark moment, Ahsoka thought that maybe it was Sidious himself. After all, he wanted her as his apprentice. He wouldn't just let her plummet to her death like that.
Not that he cared about her of course, Ahsoka was no fool. To him, she was a tool that could be used, until a better one came along. He wouldn't dispose of her yet. So maybe he was the one to save her.
'That would be his greatest mistake.' She thought with dark humour.
As she continued to be pulled up, her first glimpse of her saviour came into view.
One hand was outstretched, and it was clawed, the biology of it not representing a human's or even a Zabrak's.
Instead, it looked a lot like a hand that would belong to a Terrelian Jango Jumper.
As she was brought back above the ledge, Ahsoka finally saw her saviour.
The Eighth Brother stood on shaky legs, his stump cradled close to his chest, and his other still attached hand held out to her.
He had been the one to pull her up!
'What is he up to now?' Ahsoka thought, completely confused. One minute he was Sidious' loyal attack dog, the next he was out to kill both him and Ahsoka, or let them kill each other.
And now he was saving her from certain death!
The Inquisitor made a sharp motion with his hand, pulling Ahsoka back across the railings and onto stable ground. The Togruta landed with a roll, her gaze moving back to lock with the now swaying Inquisitor.
"Don't think this means I like you Tano!" The Eighth Brother snarled, before gesturing to the floor by her feet.
Glancing down, she spotted the Inquisitor's lightsaber resting, waiting to be picked back up.
During the impact of Sidious' attack, she had lost her grip on her own weapons, the two hilts flying off in some random direction, one that Ahsoka was unsure about. For all she knew they were lost.
So for now, she had to make do with the Inquisitor's weapon. After all, he was offering it to her.
Reaching down, she gripped the hilt in the centre, testing the weight of the weapon in her hand. It was heavier than hers, and the grip didn't quite fit her hand the way she liked, but she could fight with it.
Looking back up at the Inquisitor, she began to speak, before the Terrelian slumped over onto the floor out cold. Through the force she could feel him. He was still alive, just unconscious.
And right now she could do nothing to help him. Instead, she turned and began to move towards a sound of blades clashing.
Climbing back up the stairs, Ahsoka gained sight of Sidious duelling both Obi-Wan and Maul, the two arch enemies working in tandem to defeat the Sith Master, much like she and Maul had done to Vader on Malachor.
Advancing towards the ongoing duel, Ahsoka spotted Kanan moving to join in, his own blue blade coming upwards in a vertical swing, clashing briefly against Sidious' remaining blade, before being pushed back via a force push.
Sidious then turned his attention to Maul, his single red blade moving with rapid speed, deflecting strikes from Maul's double ended one.
Obi-Wan then seized his opportunity, attempting to strike Sidious in the back, only for the Sith Master to unleash a stream of force lightning with his free hand, forcing Obi-Wan to deflect that with his lightsaber, rather than attack Sidious directly.
And all the while, Sidious continued to parry Maul's strikes, despite Maul's skill.
Reaching the threshold of the duel, Ahsoka gripped the Eighth Brother's saber in her hand and ignited one end of the blade. Crimson light suddenly bathed her from the darksider's weapon, and Sidious turned to notice this, pushing Maul back in the process.
"That colour suits you my dear. Are you ready to become my apprentice now?"
Ahsoka's response was to charge.
"Hera, we've made it to the crystal, and made contact with Professor Erso. We're going to activate the weapon and cause the crystal to destabilize. The resulting explosive should take out the station. Is everything ready on your end?" Rex spoke into his comm whilst Galen Erso began to prep the firing sequence.
A few seconds of static came over the comm in response, before Hera began to reply.
"Copy that Rex. Everything is ready on this end. The Ghost is waiting back in the hanger bay where you left Zeb and Kallus. They are already on board with their Wookies allies. Once you set the crystal to destabilize, get back here as fast as you can. No messing around, understood. We won't have much time." Hera's voice was authoritarive, yet full of concern at the same time.
"Understood Hera. You'll see us soon. Rex out."
And with that, Rex cut the comm link, turning his attention back to Erso and his work.
The professor moved around various consoles, priming sequences and powering up others. Various lights began to shine green on separate consoles, clear indications of the systems coming online.
Moments later, only one console was left not active.
The central one.
Erso approached it with trepidation, and then began to run his fingers across the interface.
"This should do it." Erso spoke, before he pressed one last icon on the display.
Rex waited with baited breath, glancing up at the synthetic crystal before him, expecting to see something.
But then a loud beep emerged from Erso' console, one that was clearly negative.
And then Erso yelled.
"What! Authority of Director Orson Krennic required! Password needed! Dammit it Krennic!"
"What's wrong?" Ezra spoke up, coming to the side of Erso to look at the console.
"Krennic locked down the firing sequence with a password. I can't fire to weapon if I can't guess the password. Orson always did have to have the last laugh." Erso replied, both in admiration and annoyance for Krennic's schemes.
Rex watched as Erso began to input random guessed for passwords. Each one came up as negative.
"Try his date of birth or something." Ezra suggested.
"Tried that." Erso replied.
"Planet of birth?" Sabine suggested from behind them. Rex wasn't surprised that a Mandalorian would suggest such a thing.
Erso's fingers went across the console for a moment, before replying.
"Not that either."
"What about names of loved ones?" Gregor spoke out from beside Rex, earning a laugh from Erso in response.
"Krennic? Loved ones? Krennic didn't have any loved ones expect for himself!"
"Try one, two, three, four. I always use that!" Hondo then boomed out in his usual bombastic manner, earning a chuckle from Ezra in the process.
"Not even Krennic is stupid enough to do that!" Erso replied, trying the suggestion nonetheless.
As expected it came across as negative.
"We are going to be here forever!" Gregor muttered under his breath.
Erso continued to work, trying out a few more suggestions from the team, such as the name of Krennic's ship, as well as the name of the battle station.
And then Hondo spoke again.
"I know! Try something like 'Orson Krennic is the best!' I use that one too sometimes."
To Rex, it seemed to entire of the team groaned at Hondo's suggestion. Frankly Rex agreed. How stupid could you be to have such a vainglorious password?
Erso groaned aloud at Hondo's suggestion also, trying his own guessed again, each coming across as negative.
"Try what Hondo said." Ezra spoke up then with humour, to which Erso responded with a scandalized look.
"Seriously?" The professor replied, mortification in his tone.
Ezra shrugged his shoulders in response. "Why not? You never know."
Erso sighed dramatically at the situation, before deciding to humour the Weequay pirate.
"'Orson Krennic is the best.' There, now to see it be horribly wrong." Erso spoke sarcastically, before pressing the confirmation button.
The console waited a few seconds, before pinging.
Rex couldn't believe his eyes, and clearly none of the others could either.
This time round, the console didn't flash red as it had done.
It flashed green, accepting the password.
No one spoke for a moment. Instead, they just all took in what had just happened.
And then Erso spoke.
"Unbelievable."
"Ha ha! I was right. Hondo, the master hacker. I should get a medal for this!"
It was somewhat surreal, having a red lightsaber in her hand. She had wielded green before, and then white after Raada.
But red was a colour typically associated with the Sith. The Inquisitor had no doubt corrupted the crystals within his saber himself.
In fact, there was a good chance that the crystals used to belong to him before the fall of the Jedi order. If the rumours about the Inquisitor's being former Jedi were true, then where else would he have gotten the crystals?
Still, right now she could not dwell on that thought. Her attention was solely on Darth Sidious.
Pivoting on her heel, Ahsoka sent a flurry of strikes at the Sith Master, each of which he deflected, and one which he redirected, allowing himself to launch a counteroffensive.
In response, Ahsoka gripped the Eighth Brother's saber harder in her hand, igniting the other end of the blade.
Ahsoka had rarely if ever trained in the art of double bladed combat, but right now she had other plans, and a theory to test.
Priming the rotation feature on the weapon, Ahsoka held out the spinning blade before her, creating a seemingly impenetrable wall of red plasma.
Seemingly impenetrable to most that was. If Sidious really wanted to break through it to kill her, he would.
And if he didn't, then he was going easy on her, as she expected.
The Sith Lord didn't move to attack for a few seconds, and then as expected chose to back off, assaulting Maul with his blade instead.
So Sidious wasn't trying to kill her, which much was now certain. If she could find a way to exploit that, then they had a chance.
"AH!"
A cry of pain brought Ahsoka out of her inner thoughts, as she witnessed Obi-Wan knocked down onto the floor, a light cut present on his left thigh, courtesy of Sidious.
The Sith Lord cackled again, before moving to intercept Maul again.
Seizing her opportunity, Ahsoka reached into both sides of the force, and unleashed a force push in Sidious direction.
With the Sith Lord distracted by Maul, he was unable to defend himself, and was sent backwards himself, landing in an undignified heap of long black cloak, before rising back to his feet just as fast as he had fallen.
"You dare attack your master in such a way apprentice!" Sidious snarled, before vaulting into the air and coming down on Ahsoka's position, a tornado of blows coming in quick succession against the blade Ahsoka held.
Deactivating one end of the blade, Ahsoka parried and deflected, entering into a saber lock with Sidious. Behind the Sith Lord, Maul began to charge, vicious intent in his golden eyes.
That was until Sidious broke out of the saber lock and turned to Maul, slashing his blade towards the Zabrak's head.
Maul barely managed to duck in time, sliding to the floor and back to his feet beside Ahsoka.
As Sidious pivoted to face the two, a sinister smile came to his face.
Ahsoka spotted what he was looking at. During Maul's slide, the Sith Lord had caught the horns on the top of Maul's head, severing a pair off. The Zabrak seemed to not care however, his focus solely on his hatred for Sidious.
The Sith Master began to cackle as Kanan moved to join Ahsoka and Maul, supporting Obi-Wan on his shoulder.
"Come then my opponents. Let us finish this!"
And with that, the Sith Master's hands came up sharply, the force swirling around him as he mustered a large push in their direction.
In response, Ahsoka held her own hands out, pushing back against Sidious' manipulation of the force.
Beside her, Maul and Kanan did the same, their hands out, pushing with considerable strain.
Obi-Wan too, despite his wound, held his hands out, adding his strength to the push.
But try as they may, Sidious was too strong. Ahsoka felt her muscles begin to ache was they pushed against Sidious. The strain was too much.
Despite their best efforts, and despite the fact that it seemed like Sidious was struggling also, Ahsoka felt the Sith Lord break through their resistance.
Sidious broke through, and Ahsoka once again found herself flying backwards onto the floor thanks to a force push. Her landing would cause bruising, no doubt about that.
The others weren't so lucky. Sidious clearly had directed more of the force push in their direction. Rather than being sent to the floor, they were sent careening backwards, crashing into a wall nearby, before slumping to the floor.
Through the force, Ahsoka could feel them all slip into an unconscious state.
"And once again, it is just us. The master and the apprentice."
Ahsoka audibly sighed. How many times did she have to tell this piece of bantha dung?
Twisting her arm to counter a series of strikes from Sidious with the Inquisitor's lightsaber, Ahsoka darted backwards out of reach of her opponent, lest he attempt to wound her again.
The Sith Lord followed however, furiously trying to disarm her in the process. Each clash of his blade upon hers caused Ahsoka to stumble slightly. The unfamiliar grip of the lightsaber in her hand didn't help the situation. If she was using her own, she would be better suited to such a duel.
As Sidious came in for another flurry of strikes, Ahsoka seized the opportunity to launch her own counteroffensive, sweeping the blade she held towards Sidious' feet, before angling the blade upwards, attempting to cleave the Sith in two.
As expected, Sidious countered easily, deflecting the blow aimed at his feet and countering with his own assault at the Togruta, forcing her to jump over his blade.
In mid jump, Sidious pushed her back again with the force, knocking Ahsoka to the ground once again.
Shaking off the disorientation from the fall, Ahsoka vaulted to her feet, crouching into a ready position.
Across from her, Sidious waited.
"Tell me dear, you strike me down today and then what? You become a Jedi again? Train your own apprentice? Who would accept you for a teacher anyways? A failed Jedi who ran away?"
Ahsoka tried not to think about the past. It was too painful, even over a decade later. And truth be told she had no intention to ever return to being a Jedi. They had cast her out, and frankly, she was glad. Away from the limitations of the Jedi, away from the rules, Ahsoka had found her own balance.
Balance that had kept her alive.
And right now she needed to stay balanced, for the sake of those who were threatened by Sidious' existence.
And then, a sudden look of surprise came across Sidious' face, followed by a dark glee.
"Oh, what is this I see in your mind? A young girl by the side of Senator Organa, and a young boy in the deserts of Tatooine. Could it possibly be?"
Ahsoka's breath hitched. Sidious was probing her mind. She was so focused on the ongoing duel, on keeping herself steady that she had neglected to keep her mental shields up.
And now, Sidious had breached them, and found out information that was meant to be kept the upmost secret from him.
"The children of Skywalker live! This is meant to be!"
Ahsoka snarled, her presence in the force darkening at Sidious' rhetoric. It was clear what he had planned.
"You won't touch them!" Ahsoka spat back, gripping the saber in her hands tighter.
Sidious began to cackle once again, this time much louder and full of far more menace than previously.
"Oh my dear I will. Since you seem most persistent on refusing my generous offer to you, I will have to turn them instead. I no longer have need for you Ahsoka Tano!"
And then Sidious was upon her again, attacking with ferocity unmatched by the Togruta.
Now he was fighting to kill, Ahsoka could tell. Each of his attacks were fast and deadly, designed to mortally wound rather than disarm.
Each blow was like getting hit by an oncoming speeder. Each deflection caused Ahsoka to stumble.
Each clash strained her muscles more and more, wearing her out in the space of a few seconds.
Through the force, Ahsoka could feel Sidious' anger and hatred as he brutally attacked her.
And try as she may, Ahsoka was unable to launch her own counteroffensive. She was even unable to back off, as Sidious would follow her, his crimson blade bathing him in a horrific glow that resembled death itself.
And then he broke through her defences.
Ahsoka's hand burnt as Sidious' blade made contact with the hilt of the Eighth Brother's, destroying the weapon and sending sparks flying in all directions, scorching her hand in the process.
The small scale explosion of the lightsaber caused Ahsoka to stumble backwards, and seconds later Sidious unleashed his full power upon her.
Lightning erupted from his free hand, crashing into Ahsoka and sending her writhing to the floor, screaming in pain as the lightning traversed her body.
Her lekku and montrals pulsated in agony as the lightning disrupted her senses. Her body began to feel as though it was submerged in boiling water.
"Young fool, only now at the end, do you see the truth."
Lightning continued to cover Ahsoka's body, burning through her armour, cooking her from within. Ahsoka could smell the stench of her own flesh being roasted from within.
"You will pay the price for you lack of vision."
Ahsoka could pay no attention to Sidious' taunts. The agonizing pain of Sidious' force lightning was too much. And yet the Sith Lord continued.
And Ahsoka continued to scream. Her breathing began to grow sporadic, until she found herself unable to breathe altogether.
And still, Sidious continued, arcing the lightning across her body, burning away.
And all the while, Sidious cackled.
The brutal usage of the force continued, and the pain began to grow excruciating. Ahsoka had yet to pass out from such agony, and she assumed this too was down to Sidious. No doubt the Sith Lord was keeping her awake, forcing her to endure the pain.
And then, something changed. In her head, everything began to grow silent. And something tried to pry into her mind.
And then, a pair of voices.
'Focus Togruta! Find a way to destroy him!' The voice of the presence in the holocron spoke first, offering nothing more than more darkside rhetoric that did little to help her in the current situation.
And then, another voice, one she recognized, but could not believe she was hearing.
'Focus you must. Listen to the force. Calls to you, it does.'
How Yoda was contacting her from beyond was unknown to Ahsoka, but right now she welcomed the presence of the elder Jedi Master. Through the force she could feel him, what was left of him, by her side, willing her on.
And so, despite the agony, despite the torture, she listened.
There was a song, one singing out to her. It was dark and corrupted, but full of hope and a sense of familiarity in it at the same time. It was as if she had encountered it before, and that now it wanted to help her.
But what was it?
She continued to listen. The song was certainly familiar, in more than one way. It was a variation of a song she had heard before, a song that called out to her and her alone. As if it wanted her to do something with it.
And then, another voice in her head, one she had not heard in years, one she wanted to so desperately hear again, but never would.
And it muttered one word to her.
'Snips!'
"Anakin?" Ahsoka whispered in response, still under the torment of the lightning from Sidious.
And just was quickly as she had felt her master's presence, it receded, falling back to whatever its point of origin was.
So Ahsoka delved herself deeper into the force, trying to pinpoint the source.
And then Sidious stopped his lightning assault finally giving Ahsoka some time to breathe.
She lay on her back, coughing and spluttering from the agony. Her body ached from the barrage, the smell of burnt flesh prevalent in her nose. Her skin itched under her armour, a clear sign of damage being done.
It was her back that hurt the most. The searing pain only seemed to increase when Sidious ceased his assault. It was clear that this was where he had focused him attack on her body.
"Perhaps though, there is still a place for you within my ranks. The position of Inquisitor did recently open up. You would make a fine agent of mine whilst I corrupt the children of Skywalker."
Ahsoka slowly regained her breathe, moving up from the floor and taking a kneeling position before the Sith Lord.
Glancing up at him through dazed vision, Ahsoka analysed the situation.
Sidious stood before her, his free hand by his side, ready to unleash lightning once again. His other hand held his remaining saber, the one contained Vader's plundered crystal.
Sidious began to speak again, but Ahsoka paid him no mind. The force suddenly called to her again, that strange yet familiar song playing in her head. It was closer to her now, and calling with more magnitude.
Closing her eyes and listening to it, Ahsoka once again tried to pinpoint the source. It was close, very very close.
She followed the presence in the force, allowing it to dictate her movements. She didn't need to stand. Whatever it was was within reaching distance.
Instead, she subconsciously moved her head to the side slightly, focusing on something in particular.
And then, when the force sang out to her louder, she opened her eyes.
Confusion hit her firstly. Why had the force directed her to look at that? She knew what a lightsaber looked and felt like.
And then, realization!
The force had directed her to look at Sidious' remaining lightsaber. The song that called to her was emanating from it.
Or more specifically, it was emanating from the kyber crystal within.
Vader's crystal.
Sith corrupted their crystals through the process known as bleeding. They infused it with their hatred and their anger, twisting the crystal to their own needs. Contained within the crystal was everything that made a Sith a Sith. All of their power, all of their thoughts, contained within one small crystal.
And somehow, just somehow, residing within Darth Vader's corrupted crystal was one little part of Anakin Skywalker, put their subconsciously by Vader when he had corrupted it.
And now, it called out to her, offering to help.
Sidious had clearly not purged it of the presence of Vader when he had plundered it from Malachor. And now it would work against him, rather than for.
All she had to do was get her hands onto the saber itself.
That was easier said than done of course, considering it was currently in the hands of Sidious himself, who was still in the midst of some sort of monologue that Ahsoka was not even paying attention to.
What she needed was a distraction, something that would divert Sidious' attention for just a second.
Reaching into the force again, she called out for Maul.
When no response came from the Zabrak, she called out for Obi-Wan and Kanan.
Still, there was no response. The blows they had taken had knocked them all out cold. They wouldn't be of any help here.
Which meant that she had to somehow do this herself.
'Over there. Pull it towards you.'
The voice of the holocron spoke in her head this time, offering advice and pointing her in a direction.
Moving her eyes to the right and behind Sidious, Ahsoka spotted the familiar glean of the metal hilt of one of her lightsabers.
If she could pull the shoto towards her, she might stand a chance.
"So Ahsoka Tano, I offer you one last chance. Join me, or die!"
Ahsoka allowed a smile to come to her face, careful not to betray any emotion or thoughts as she had done before. Sidious' smirk had gone now, instead it was replaced by an intense look of concentration. His focus was on her and her alone.
Out of the corner of her eye, and through the force, she felt further shifting. Maul was getting back up.
'Wait for my signal.' She whispered through their bond. Maul acknowledged, preparing himself for what was to come.
Locking eyes with Sidious, Ahsoka gave her reply.
"Go kriff yourself ugly!"
Sidious snarled, and raised the arm holding the lightsaber above his head, ready to bring it down upon her head.
Reaching deep into the force herself, Ahsoka spotted the hilt of her shoto begin to twitch, angling it's emitter towards Sidious' unprotected flank.
And then the entire station shook.
Galen Erso stared down at the console.
One final push that was all it would take. One push and this station would be history.
One push and all of his and Krennic's hard work would be obliterated.
One push, and he would have his revenge.
Reaching the palm of his hand forward, Galen Erso pushed the accept button.
And then all hell broke loose.
Consoles around the room sparked dramatically, showing the floor with bright orange flashes. Systems began to come online, power being channelled through various components.
And then, the synthetic crystal shuddered suddenly, a bright red glow emerging from it, before suddenly it exploded in light.
The crystal began to evidently crack, veins of white energy appearing on its surface, seeping out. The consoles connected to it began to blare warnings aloud, and an emergency siren began to deafen him.
The crystal began to pulsate with energy, before seemingly exploding outwards, discharging energy all around the station, the result of which caused the entirety of the station to shudder.
"The crystal is destabilised. We have to go NOW!" Erso shouted out to the rebels who had come to destroy the station.
"Couldn't agree more. EVERYONE MOVE! BACK TO THE HANGER BAY!" Rex replied, yelling his command out.
Within seconds the team had turned and began to run back out the way they had come in, hoping to retrace their steps.
They had to get back to the Ghost quickly.
Hera felt the station shudder suddenly, even from within the Ghost.
That could only mean one thing. The team had succeeded.
Now they would have to wait for them to get back in time, assuming they did.
And if they didn't, then Hera would wait.
She wasn't going to abandon them now.
After all, they were her family.
"What the hell was that?!" Wilhuff Tarkin demanded to know as the station shook dramatically, the consoles in the control room all beginning to blare various warnings.
"Grand Moff, we are picking up a massive power reading in the centre of the station. The crystals appear to be overloading. The resulting explosion will decimate this station. We have to leave now!" Jerjerrod replied, concern on his face as he analysed a terminal.
Tarkin didn't want to leave. This was supposed to be his station now.
And by the looks of it, Tano had somehow managed to cause it to blow up!
"Stupid Togruta bitch!" Tarkin muttered under his breath, cursing the Togruta as best he could despite the situation.
"Sorry sir?" Jerjerrod replied, confused about Tarkin's temporary decent into cursive language.
Tarkin shook his head before replying, already planning his escape route to his personal ship.
"Nothing officer, we must flee. I have a ship in a nearby hanger."
And with that, Tarkin exited the control room, two deathtroopers flanking him, and Jerjerrod by his side.
The room seemed to move suddenly, as if caught in some sort of earthquake, but it was all the distraction Ahsoka needed.
The shudder caused Sidious to stumble slightly, and in his confusion, Ahsoka reached into the force and pulled her lightsaber towards him.
She pictured the hilt in her mind, finding the ignition switch with the force, and pushed it down.
The hilt was flying towards Sidious now, and the blade suddenly activated, white light emerging from the emitter, aiming to pierce through Sidious' back.
The Sith Lord sensed this, and turned, a brief moment of surprise coming to him at the sight of a lightsaber flying towards him without anyone holding it.
Pivoting his own blade away from Ahsoka's head, he deflected the oncoming beam of white plasma with ease.
And then Maul attacked, his own lightsaber being thrown via the force, spinning towards Sidious in an arc of red death.
Sidious was forced to duck to avoid the rotating double ended blade as it passed by over his head.
Only for Maul to summon it back the way it came, arcing through the air towards Sidious front.
Sidious snarled aloud as he pivoted his own blade to deflect the rotating saber, the surprise retaliation causing Sidious to falter ever so slightly, yet still deflect the unexpected attack from Maul.
And then Ahsoka made her move. Despite the pain her body was in, she mustered all of her strength and charged Sidious, slamming her shoulder into him, whilst reaching her hands out to grasp Sidious' lightsaber in her own hands.
Sidious was knocked back slightly, dragging Ahsoka with him as they wrestled for control over the lightsaber.
"Bold move Tano. But foolish!"
Ahsoka did not reply, instead focusing all her energy on trying to wrestle the saber out of Sidious' hands.
Through the force, she could feel the crystal calling out to her, channelling its power into her hands.
She felt the presence of the holocron, channelling its connection to her, amplifying her darkside strength.
She felt the ever calm presence of Yoda, offering his support and guidance too, balancing out her light and darkness, solidifying her in the centre.
She pushed and pulled the hilt in her hands, trying to remove it from Sidious grasp. The Sith Lord did the same, beginning to angle to blade in a manner that would remove her hand if not careful.
Sidious began to grunt in strain, clearly not used to such physical confrontations. Evidently he preferred the usage of the force.
Closing her eyes, Ahsoka began to focus her mind. She pictured the crystal within the saber, and the crystal called back.
Both duellists had their hands on the saber, trying to either wrestle it out of the other's hands, or trying to move it to strike their opponent.
And then the shift occurred. The crystal began to sing to Ahsoka aloud, flooding her senses.
Through the force, she felt power flood down her arms, enhancing her, assisting her. The crystal inside of the hilt called louder to her, singing a song that nearly deafened her.
Her grip on the saber tightened, and she began to gain control over it, directing the saber blade away from her hands, and towards Sidious' wrists.
In quite the contrast to Ahsoka's reaction, Sidious' face began to twist into a look of despair and horror. He to felt the crystal' shift in allegiance, and within him he felt it draining his power, sucking out his one advantage and offering it to Tano.
The red beam of plasma was now dangerously close to both duellists, and one push in either direction would no doubt result in death.
The strain of the wrestle began to set in, both fighters began breathing heavily.
The blade was now position above Sidious wrists. One more move was all it would take.
Yet in doing so she would harm herself.
But in the end, it was worth it. Ahsoka was prepared to make such a sacrifice.
Gripping the hilt tightly, Ahsoka pushed it downwards with all her might.
The blade shifted quickly, red plasma slicing through Sidious' wrists, separating the limbs and rewarding her with his yelp of agony.
However, the sheer force required to break Sidious' hold on the weapon cause the blade to keep travelling downwards, the searing hot blade making contact with her left knee cap, slicing a nasty cut into it, but not separating it from her body.
Ahsoka too yelled in pain, collapsing to the floor from the wound and her leg buckled underneath her.
But still, she cared little right now. Glancing up from her position, she spotted Sidious, glaring down at the stumps where his hands had previously been, terror in his golden eyes.
The Sith Lord fell to his own knees as he gave a cry of disbelief and anger. Anger at being bested.
Ahsoka couldn't help the smug smile that came to her face, as she began to shakily rise to her feet. Only adrenaline was stopping her from collapsing again.
From where he was perched on his knees, Sidious glared up at her, his eyes bright golden.
"So now what. If you kill me then you are no better than the Sith you claim that you are not. Come, strike me down with all your hatred, and your journey towards the darkside will be complete!"
Ahsoka contemplated it. She really wanted to kill him. After all, he was the reason everything had gone so wrong.
Glancing down at the hilt of his saber in her hand, Ahsoka decided his fate.
Reaching down, she attached the saber to her belt.
Sidious began to cackle.
"So weak. Can't even work up the courage to kill me. Jedi scum!"
Ahsoka shrugged her shoulders, before her eyes caught a glimpse of movement behind Sidious.
"I'm no Jedi Sidious, but I'm not going to kill you."
Sidious began to cackle again, despite the dire situation he was in.
"But I can't promise he won't."
Sidious suddenly ceased his cackling, a fearful look on his face, as if he had suddenly sensed what was now standing right behind him.
Ahsoka took that as her cue to leave, stepping off to the side before speaking to the person behind the fallen Sith Lord.
"As promised, he is all yours. Do as you wish."
Sidious' eyes began to dart around, looking for a way out before he heard the reply.
"Many thanks Lady Tano!"
Author's thoughts
Oh boy, I bet some of you won't like this chapter, especially considering what just happened to Palpy. However, as with all things controversial in this AU, I have thought about it and have come up with an explanation for how things unfold the way they do. Originally I was going to wait until the epilogue to reveal it, but I decided to do it here as well, just so my audience understands my train of thought.
Ahsoka could never in a billion years beat Sidious conventionally. She can barely stand up to him when he is going all out. The only reason she survives as long as she does is because he is toying with her, training her to become his apprentice. However, when he disgards this goal, he defeats her in seconds, as seen in this chapter.
However, in this chapter we also see him defeated by her, except that in a way it is not her. In fact, I invisioned it so that Ahsoka was merely the physical entity used to defeat Sidious. She herself was not responsble, but instead three important factors working together were.
1. Yoda is dead, meaning he is now a force ghost. In her time of need, Yoda channels his presence with hers, amplfying her lightside power.
2. The Sith holocron also sides with Ahsoka, since she was the one to remove it from Malachor it has a bond with her. This in turn gives her a boost in the darkside of the force.
3. However, the most important factor is that Sidious is using Vader's kyber crystal. Since so many people believe that there is a shred of goodness within Vader, I decided to play on that a little with crystal lore. So, when Vader corrupts the crystal he used to make his lightsaber, he subconsciously placed a small piece of Anakin Skywalker inside of it, which remained dormant for years. However, when the crystal hears Ahsoka's screams of agony from the force lightning, that dormant fragment of Anakin reawakens and takes control of the crystal, shifting it's allegiance away from Sidious and to Ahsoka, draining the Sith Lord of his advantage and giving Ahsoka the strength to overpower Sidious and take control of the blade itself. Thus, in a way, the 'chosen one' prophecy is fulfilled still, but without Vader being alive. :)
So yeah, hopefully you understand where I was going with it, and hopefully you like the idea. Now since I ranted on a bit I'm going to skip to the chase and get to the comment review section.
Next time round, Maul gets to have some fun, and Tarkin attempts to leave the station before it explodes. But someone won't let him.
As normal, comment and speculate at will. Speaking of which:
TerminatorJedi1995: Well, congratulations of calling what was going to happen for the most part. Hope you liked how it went.
Hondo always has to be planning on stealing something is my rule, no matter the situation. His pockets are probably full of things he had picked up along the way.
As for a one shot with Galen Erso... maybe. :)
SLE's fave guest: I very nearly killed him off in one draft here, but I wanted him to survive just a bit longer. Let's hope Ahsoka's decision doesn't have negative consequences.
To be far, the main reason Palpy kills three Jedi Masters in seconds in ROTS is because of Ian McDiarmid's slower skills with a lightsaber. He is great at playing Palpy, but for that scene they probably had to get rid of the toehr three quickly so to avoid a long duel with him. That being said, Sidious probably could kill them all that quickly anyway, so my point is moot.
LukeDude: Poor Eighth Bro. He tried, he really did. Shame he tried to decieve a master deciever.
Maul being tempted by Sidious wasn't in the original script. It got added last minute because of a review I got where someone said they wanted to see it, and I thought it was a good idea.
Thrawn better hurry up and get his allies together before they flee. He is going to need them.
Mysterious guest one: Looks like Maul is ok... and about to have some fun. :)
Mysterious guest two: The Eighth Bro's fate is my favourite. Wait and see what happens to him. But he shall not be having a romance with Ahsoka. He hates her guts!
Mysterious guest three: I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter, as well as the slicing off of hands. Maul is not falling for Palpy's tricks anymore. And Kanan deserved a badass moment.
Mysterious guest four: The Eighth Bro's fate remains to be seen. He is currently unconscious after all.
Mogor: More chapters are here. Only a few to go now though I'm afraid.
Travis Middleton: I'm glad you enjoyed the action packed chapter, and that you felt sorry for the Eighth Bro. It was my goal to make him a sympathetic villian in this. All paths are certainly coming together. I only hope you like how. :)
ahsokathechosen: Glad you loved the chapter. :)
FossilQueen1984: In a way it all came down to Ahsoka vs. Palpatine. Yet Ahsoka was only the body used by the force to dispose of Sidious' menace.
Keep on hoping about a family reunion. I may already be planning on writing it. :)
Cranky Paws: Sidious is certainly overpowered, and I hope I captured that well enough, even if he was defeated in this chapter. Hope you liked how it went. :)
jamese765: Kanan deserved a badass moment, so I let him be the one to destroy one of Sidious' lightsabers.
Maliwan: I'm glad you liked Kanan getting his moment of glory. Thrawn's plans are moving along. You will see him next chapter.
The clock is already ticking now. They better run fast!
Chiara Polairix Edelstein: I'm glad I was able to surprise you with Ahsoka defending the Eighth Bro.
Sidious really doesn't understand that Ahsoka doesn't want to be a Sith! Stupid old man!