Part III- Soldiers of the Empire
The dark figure of Lord Vader stood imposingly on the bridge of Exactor, staring off at the surrounding ships of the new Imperial star fleet. Approaching this in intimidating cybernetic enforcer of the Emperor's will who had once been a man he'd known was one of the most difficult things Col. Marczak had ever done. Nevertheless, he quickly crossed the walkway in between the crew pits. Without turning around, Vader addressed the him.
"Colonel."
"Lord Vader, you summoned me."
"With the death of Skywalker, the 501st is in need a new commanding officer. I've chosen you for the position."
"Thank you, my lord."
He prepared to leave, but he felt Vader's invisible grasp holding him in place.
"There is something else."
"Is there?"
"The matter of Ahsoka Tano."
Marczak's heart jumped into his throat at the mention of his wife, Vader's apprentice before she was booted from the order. He'd dreaded this moment every day since Order 66 and the beginning of the Jedi Purge.
"Yes?"
"The Emperor is unaware of her survival; I cannot ensure you it will remain that way."
"I assure you, Lord Vader, we are both loyal to the Empire."
"Of course, but it is unlikely this will matter to the Emperor. It is possible for me to provide protection, however limited."
Vader paused to allow this to sink in, Marczak quickly caught on to his implication.
"Do you intend to overthrow him?"
"It is the way of the Sith, for the apprentice to overthrow the master."
"Then the 501st will be behind you."
"You may go, General."
…
Marczak returned to his suite to find Ahsoka waiting for him. He removed the uncomfortable officer's uniform he'd seldom worn during the war as she began speaking.
"How'd it go?"
"Lord Vader graciously offered me command of his personal legion, which I of course accepted."
"That's it?"
"He also informed me that he was the only thing standing between us and the Emperor's wrath, so long as me and my men are loyal to him."
"He's really gone then."
Tears rolled down her face as it fully hit her, Anakin Skywalker, hero of the Republic and the Jedi order, as well as her teacher and close friend, was now a dark lord of the Sith. Marczak sat down next to her and pulled her close to comfort her.
"I know it's hard to accept Ahsoka, but whatever was left of the Anakin you knew died on Mustafar, even during the assault on the Temple, I could tell just by being near him that he was too far gone."
"How could this have happened, the last time I saw him, he was so happy. He came to see me, said that Padme was pregnant, he was going to be a father. What could have happened to make him throw all that away?"
"Padme's dead, Ahsoka, I found out this morning."
"What? How?"
"It wasn't listed; all I know is she died sometime around Order 66."
"And the baby?"
"Died with her."
They sat there for a long while after that, unwilling to continue such a depressing conversation. Ahsoka finally broke the silence.
"We could run away, you know, with your contacts it would take them years to find us."
"I don't want to live on the run Ahsoka, and neither do you."
"Maybe not, Ghes, but is this really much better? Surrounded by the Emperor's agents and your fellow 'officers', most of whom are plotting against you and each other as we speak?"
"The army is all I've ever known, and I can deal with a few petty schemers. Besides, who's going to be able to stab me in the back with you watching it?"
She laughed.
"So I'm still going to have to save your ass as always?"
"Would you really want it any other way?"
…..
Ahsoka wasn't happy with this. She liked Wookiees, they'd saved her life after all, and the idea of having to kill them made her sick to her stomach. Ghes, on the other hand, seemed far less disturbed by this, but it was so hard to tell with him. Either way, this was happening and there was no way to avoid it, at least not one that wouldn't get them both executed as traitors.
"Reports coming in General, first wave's been wiped out, second wave's taking heavy casualties."
"Looks like somebody's been raiding the toy chest we left here at the end of the war. All units be advised: Kashyyyk forces have heavy equipment, proceed with caution."
"Lord Vader has authorized orbital bombardment."
"Looks like Appo managed to talk some sense into him, probably the only thing that's going to go right today."
Ahsoka stood slightly behind Ghes in the troop bay of the LAAT/i gunship, still cramped despite only being occupied by Ghes's command staff and five troopers. She'd gotten used to this, keeping off to the side so as to avoid attention, she'd even begun dressing like the ever increasing number force-sensitive agents deployed by the Emperor to further discourage questioning of her presence. It was effective. Ghes turned to her as red light illuminated the bay.
"You sure you can do this?"
"No, but I'm not letting you go alone."
"Stay behind me, let the troopers do the fighting, this doesn't have to be on your conscience."
She nodded.
A few minutes later the gunship hit the ground and the doors opened, allowing the occupants to rush for cover. One of the officers took a bolt to the chest almost immediately, not a surprise considering how much they stood out from the white armored troopers. But then again, Ahsoka thought as she dodged incoming fire, she didn't exactly blend in either. They crossed the open ground separating them from the shell crater currently serving as the command post for the assault on the city of Okikuti.
"General, sirs, Lady Tano."
"Captain. What's the situation?"
"We're pinned bad. Walking carpets scraped together some heavy fire power from what was left of the sep forces, and they've got smugglers providing air support, something we seem to have in short supply."
"Exactor's moving into position for bombardment, all we've got to do is hold them here then mop up what's left."
"Right flank's on the verge of collapse, General. Wookiees'll break through if it's not shored up."
"I'll handle it. Sergeant, you're with me. Captain, keep the major and my staff here."
"Aye, General."
"Wait, sir, this is highly unorthodox…."
"And don't let him give any orders."
They reached the problem area just as the troopers were beginning to fall back. Wookies were swarming over Imperial lines, engaging the clearly overmatched troopers hand to hand. Ghes ran into the fray, firing his rifle as he went. He climbed up onto the corpse of a fallen Wookie and fired several rounds into the air.
"Rally on me boys! For the Empire!"
Ahsoka smirked as she jumped over to Ghes and the troopers began to reform around him. She deflected fire back into nothing. They began pushing the Wookiees back as turbolaser fire rained down on Okikuti in the distance. Seeing the destruction of their homes behind them, the remaining Wookiees started going berserk, ignoring blaster wounds as they charged into the troopers, blind with rage. Ghes was grappling with one and had been knocked to the ground. Ahsoka reacted without thinking as the beast raised its weapon to finish him off, and suddenly found her blades plunged into the Wookiee's back. The shrieks of pain which escaped the creature's mouth left her nauseated and her gut wrenching as she realized what she'd done. She stood there as the troopers finished putting down the enraged Wookiees.
Back aboard Exactor Ahsoka sat on the edge of the hanger deck, staring down through the ray shield into the void, ignoring suspicious looks from the flight crews and deck officer. She felt Ghes coming up behind, but made no move to acknowledge him. He sat down next to her and stayed silent for a few good minutes before speaking.
"I take it somethings bothering you?"
She didn't respond.
"It's that Wookie, isn't it?"
She remained silent.
"You've killed before, what's bothering you about this?"
"I killed during a war, for the Republic."
"And now we're killing for the Empire, I don't see the difference."
"What did the Wookiees do? Why were we there? Why did they need to die?"
"Jedi."
"What?"
"Survivors of Order 66, the Wookiees were sheltering them."
"What happened?"
"Vader."
She fell silent again.
"This is going to happen again, you know that, right?"
She nodded.
"Is this going to happen every time you have to kill someone?"
She didn't respond.
"You saved my life, again, can you at least be happy about that?"
Still silent, she shifted farther away.
"I'll give you some space then."
…...
Despite the battle going on around them, Ghes seemed more concerned with his armor then the enemy, but that wasn't much of an issue. Both him and Ahsoka had done little as the 501st's Stormtroopers had swept through Naboo's capital of Theed, devastating the pitiful forces of Naboo's royal security force.
"I mean, I like it…, but it feels different."
"It's probably the chestplate, it's just plastoid, not your beskar."
"Your right, I'm going to have to have a set forged."
"A whole set?"
"Why not? I've had plenty of beskar plates lying around since Mandalore."
"Do what you want, but it's going to be expensive."
"Since when are you worried about money?"
"Since you started spending so much."
"What do you want? Imperial logistics is a lot stricter than the GAR ever was."
They were interrupted by an officer's voice over the comlink.
"Sir, the Palace defenses are down."
"Good, I'm on my way."
Ghes lead the charge thru the ornate halls of Theed's royal palace, pushing the few remaining guards further and further towards the throne room. Ahsoka, for her part, still wasn't actively participating in the fight. Until she heard a trooper yell the one thing she feared most.
"Jedi!"
The Imperial Security Bureau had suspected Queen Apailana was harboring fugitive Jedi, and that had been part of the justification for the assault, but Ahsoka had hoped it wasn't true. Those hopes were shattered by six figures charging down the corridor brandishing lightsabers.
They cut down the first few troopers as the rest started falling back, firing as they went. Two of the Jedi, obviously inexperienced, were shot down almost immediately, two more moved to engage Ghes, standing at the front of the formation. The leader saw Ahsoka and leapt at her, she ignited her sabers and met his blow.
"Traitor!"
She pushed him away and took a defensive posture.
"To what? A dead order, or a corrupt republic?"
He launched another flurry of blows before they locked saber again.
"So you side with the Sith?"
"No, I side with my family!"
"The Jedi were your family!"
She kicked out one of his legs, spinning him around and putting her sabers at his neck.
"The Jedi tossed me aside, that's not family."
His head rolled to the floor and his body, neck smoking, collapsed into a heap.
She looked over and saw the remaining Jedi had been defeated by the troopers, with Ghes standing over one who appeared to be a knight holding a lightsaber she didn't recognize.
"You okay?"
"Yea, you?"
"Yea. Lieutenant! Where's the queen?"
"Escaped out a side entrance, troopers are engaging her and her Jedi bodyguard."
Ghes stepped away and pulled up his comlink.
"Marczak to sniper team."
"General?"
"Do you have visual on target?"
"Affirmative."
"Take the shot."
After a brief pause, the sniper responded
"Target eliminated."
Ahsoka and Ghes stood on a balcony overlooking Theed from the upper levels of the palace, the fires caused by the battle illuminating the skyline in the night.
"How do you feel?"
"About what?"
"The Jedi, whatever his name was, you don't seem to torn up about him."
"That's what worries me, I should be torn up about it, but I'm not."
"I don't see the issue."
"I don't know what it is, let's just drop it."
She looked down and saw the lightsaber he'd been holding before on his belt, weird because she'd seen the lightsabers belonging to the Jedi packed away. She also needed a distraction.
"How long have you had that?"
"What? This?"
He pulled the saber off his belt and spun it in his fingers.
"I've had this since Knightfall, it belonged to a Rodian."
"Why'd you keep it?"
"I don't know, I just grabbed it during the battle and started using it. I guess I'm a bit sentimental, because I never turned it in."
"How's it handle?"
"Fine, a bit light for my taste. So, why are you trying to get me off track?"
"Because I killed a Jedi, and I don't feel anything. Why don't I feel anything?!"
"You don't feel anything because you didn't do anything wrong."
"Of course I did something wrong."
"What? What did you do wrong? So you killed a Jedi, big deal, I've killed plenty since Order 66, I'll probably kill plenty more. We're not bad people Ahsoka, we're warriors, we fight because that's what we were born to do."
"It's who we're fighting for that bothers me. Vader, Palpatine, they're Sith, evil, and we're their thugs."
"And if we deserted, if we left the Empire? What could we do? This may not be preferable, but the galaxy is at peace, and I'm damn sure we can do more good from inside the system than outside fighting against it."
"Can we really keep justifying this, invading any world that dares to defy Palpatine?"
"We justified doing the same thing for the Republic during the war, that was in the name of peace and so is this. Whatever you want to say about Palpatine, or Vader, or anyone else in the Empire, at least the war ended, at least the galaxy isn't tearing itself apart."
"I know, I know. It's just hard, going from being a liberator to a conqueror."
"We were never liberators Ahsoka, no matter what we told ourselves."
….
"Have you made contact?"
"No, and if I keep having to answer you I'm probably not going to!"
"Sheesh, you don't have to bite my head off."
"Sorry, I'm just nervous. I don't know how I feel about this."
Ahsoka sat at a booth in one of the many seedy bars that dotted the worst parts of heavily industrialized Axum. Despite the planet's mainly human population, non-humans still existed in abundance in places such as this dark, dank place, making it the perfect location for what they had planned.
"She contacted you, that means she trusts you, this will probably be the best chance we get to capture her alive."
"Are you sure your men are up to this?"
"They'd better be, otherwise the Emperor wasted a lot of credits training them."
The troops waiting in hiding with Ghes, ready to ambush their guest, were from a new special unit, the Storm Commandos. The brain child of some Moff looking for a better way to deal with insurgents, they'd been drawn from the best Stormtroopers and given advanced training rivaling that of Imperial Commandos. The 501st being under direct command of Lord Vader meant one of the first units had been sent to them.
After another twenty minutes of waiting, as well as shooing away the bars drunken patrons, Ahsoka finally saw who she'd been waiting for.
"I have Unduli in my sites, making contact."
"Affirmative, strike team standing by"
Ahsoka waved to the Mirialan woman, beckoning her to sit down.
"Master Luminara, I'm relieved to see you alive."
"As am I you, Ahsoka, it took quite a bit of doing to track you down."
"How are you still alive, I thought all the Jedi were dead."
"I was separated from the men under my command at the time we were betrayed, I was able to avoid them and escape Kashyyyk, but I fear we are all that is left of the Order."
"You're all that's left, I haven't been a Jedi for a long time."
"Your expulsion from the Jedi Order was a tragic mistake, one I wish we had not made, but that is behind us now."
"What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to come with me, there are elements in the Outer Rim hostile to the Empire, we can join them, rebuild the Order, fight the Sith."
"I don't think that's going to work."
"What? What do you mean…."
The bar erupted into chaos as charges blew in the front entrance and three of the exterior walls, quickly followed by smoke and flash grenades as the commandos breached the structure. Many of the bar's patrons drew blasters, some of the more sober ones even managed to fie before they were cut down. Master Luminara leapt from the booth igniting her lightsaber and facing up against the encircling commandos.
"Stay behind me Ahsoka, it's me they're here for!"
Ghes stepped forward from the line of commandos, polished black armor reflecting the light of Unduli's blade.
"You're absolutely right. Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, on the authority of Lord Vader, you are under arrest for crimes against the Republic and the Empire."
"You'll never take me alive, Imperial dogs!"
"There's no use fighting, Jedi, you're surrounded and outnumbered ten to one."
"I think you'll find a Jedi master far more difficult to…"
She was cut short as her body went limp after being hit by Ahsoka's stun bolt. The commandos quickly bound the unconscious Jedi as Ghes smiled at Ahsoka under his helmet.
"Why do they always insist on ranting like that.?"
"You're not one to talk, 'on the authority of Lord Vader', 'crimes against the Empire', were you going to give her your operating number to?"
They brought Unduli outside where they loaded her into a transport along with the remaining bar patrons, no witnesses.
"Why did they want her alive?"
"Something about bating a trap for whatever Jedi are left, she probably won't live long."
He held up the doomed Jedi's lightsaber, offering it to Ahsoka.
"You want it?"
"What, are you collecting them now?"
"Seems like the respectful thing to do, the Jedi were warriors after all, makes sense to keep their weapons as mementos."
"You say that like you already have a collection."
"I've been trying to get my hands on captured sabers from Jedi I've killed, so, yea I have quite a few now."
"And when were you going to tell me this?"
"After I was pretty sure you wouldn't be pissed at me about it."
…
The Kaminoan weather, renowned for its nearly endless rainstorms had not failed to disappoint. Unsurprisingly, this did not seem to trouble the troopers, all of whom had grown up here. Fett was different. Though he had grown up on this world as well, his distaste for it was quite apparent, despite the fact that he projected nearly as little into the force as Ghes. It was clear that if he hadn't been very well paid, he would have avoided ever returning here.
While the weather didn't bother the troopers, their task here clearly did. It bothered Ghes to, though not for the same reason.
"You'd better know what you're doing Fett, I don't want to lose to many men on this."
"Don't tell me how to do my job, General, the Empire hired me because I know this facility. You just worry about the clones."
Fett aggravated Ghes, Ahsoka wasn't sure why, but she'd heard him grumbling under his breath about the bounty hunter being a pale imitation of his father, whatever that meant.
Ahsoka had been unsure about this mission as well, she'd only come because she was worried about Ghes being injured without her there to save his butt.
They came under fire soon after landing on the stilt city. Their assailants wore the Phase-1 armor that all GAR clones had during the first half of the war, clearly the Kaminoans had stashed away enough of the armor to equip an army, as well as the corresponding munitions. Fett flew off soon after they landed, leaving Ghes and the troopers to rush for the entrance to the facility. Upon reaching the facility, they hugged up against the wall.
"What are we waiting for?"
"Fett, bastard's supposed to disable the lock down."
"I'm sure he's on his way."
"He'd better be."
The door opened soon after, causing Ghes to mumble under his breath further. They burst into the entrance, Ahsoka deflecting fire for the advancing Stormtroopers. The anti-troopers fell back, unable to hold their ground against the onslaught off fire. Fett's voice came over the comlink.
"Marczak, I have the DNA sample."
"Get it back to the shuttle then."
"I need cover, the Kaminoans cooked up a new batch of ARC's."
"B company, break off and cover the bounty hunter."
"Aye, General."
B company broke off as Ghes and the remaining troopers continued their advance. They reached the first of the large open muster areas and ran into the ARC's Fett had been talking about.
"We're pinned down, General, these ARC's are packing heavy equipment!"
Ahsoka broke from cover and ran towards the dug in troopers.
"Don't worry boys, I'll handle this."
She jumped the last ten meters, landing behind the ARC's, who quickly turned to face her. Easily batting aside their initial volley, she lunged at the first one, taking out his legs, then quickly drove her sabre through another's chest, pulling his body in front of hers to absorb more fire. Another came behind her and fired at her head. She ducked the bolt, rolling away and coming up right next to him. She drove her elbow up under his chin, knocking off his helmet and forcing her to look him in the eye. She hesitated, giving the trooper an opening to knee her in the gut. Ahsoka fell, bent over by the force of the blow, the trooper leveled his rifle before catching a blaster blot in the head. Ghes vaulted over the barricade and bent down to hoist her up.
"Who's protecting who here?"
…
Ghes and Ahsoka stood on the Tipoca city landing platform, rain coming down around them, as they watched the 501st's victorious troopers load back into their landing craft.
"What happened back there?"
"I hesitated. It was his eyes, the same eyes they all have. I saw the fear on his face, knowing he was about to die, and I couldn't do it."
"I get it."
"Would you have hesitated?"
"Maybe, it's hard to look into a man's eyes while you kill him. I can't imagine what it would be like to know the man staring back at you."
"I'm glad their dead, the Kaminoans, they earned it for what they did to these men, making them fight their brothers."
"A quick death was more they deserved, if we'd taken them alive we could have really made them pay."
That line of thinking wasn't going to go anywhere good, so Ahsoka quickly changed the subject.
"What ever happened to Fett?"
"What do you think? He was payed, now he's gone, shouldn't expect anything else from a bounty hunter."
"What's your issue with him?"
"My father fought for Jango before he met my mother, and my grandfather fought for Jaster Mereel when he created the True Mandalorians. I guess I just expected more from a clone son of the Mand'alore."
"You can't expect the kid to live up to his father, especially when he's been on his own for almost a decade."
"I guess not. It just bothers me that there hasn't been a Mand'alor since Jango's death, not a legitimate one at least. Our people are shattered, and, as Jango's heir, he's the best choice for a figure head to rally around."
"Give it time. Talk to him in twenty years, he might be more amenable to the idea. Mandalore will wait."
"Under the Emperor's boot."
"You're the one who said we should stay."
"I know; I just get aggravated sometimes."
"We're biding our time, Palpatine won't live forever, especially not if Vader has anything to say about it."
…
Ghes and Ahsoka stood alone in Exactor's forward shuttle bay, neither happy with what was about to happen.
"I should've fought this."
"And what would that have done? You can't overrule him, especially on something like this."
"So I'm just supposed to let you go?"
"It's not like you have much of a choice."
Vader wanted Ahsoka to go undercover, but not exactly in the usual way. She would still be Ahsoka Tano, former Jedi, but she'd use the fact that almost no one outside the 501st knew where she'd been since the end of the Clone War to infiltrate whatever rebel network sought her out first, much in the same way they'd lured Master Luminara into a trap on Axum years ago. It was a solid plan, and it would more than likely succeed, but it would require her and Ghes to be apart for months, possibly years.
"I don't want to lose you."
"You could come with me, you know, we used to be pretty good at this sort of thing."
Ghes smirked.
"A Togruta Jedi and a Mando mercenary travelling together, that won't look suspicious. And there are still a few Death Watch operatives out there who'd recognize my family colors, and I feel like they'd still be looking to settle some old grudges, especially after we drove them out of Mandalore."
"And they won't recognize me?"
"You were just another aruetiise with a lightsaber, to them I'm a traitor to whatever it is they think makes a Mandalorian. Besides, I think at this point it's pretty common knowledge among my old, associates, that I work for the Empire now."
Ghes was right, he'd made a different sort of a name for himself during the war than she had, especially with the seedy underbelly of the galaxy that she was about to dive into. Ahsoka, on the other hand, had never been introduced to any of the assorted scumbags whose services Ghes had used for more, clandestine, operations during the war.
"I know… it's just I'm worried about what'll happen to you with me not around."
"You're worried? I have to watch you walk into the serpents' den and you're worried about me. I almost lost you once, Ahsoka, I don't want to go through that again."
As Ghes began to tear up, Ahsoka put her arms around him and pulled him close.
"You won't lose me, I'll be back."
He choked back a few soft sobs before calming down enough to respond.
"It's a test, you know that, right?"
She did. Of course it was a test, Vader was seeing if she'd stay loyal to Ghes, and by extension the Empire, when presented with an easy way out.
"I'm not going to run off with some rebellion, I promise to come back to you."
He let go of her, wiping his eyes and attempting to smooth the front of his tunic as he put on a false smile.
"I'll spread the word that the Empire's on the hunt for a recently reemerged Jedi, one who'd be a particular threat to us if she wasn't apprehended, I figure that'll catch someone's interest."
She smiled back, then turned to board the confiscated spice freighter that Vader had provided for her to use. It was much like the one Anakin had owned and used toward the beginning of the war, she wondered if that was another ploy by Vader to try and get under her skin. A few minutes later, the freighter lifted of the deck and dove into cold blackness of space.
…
It hadn't taken long for someone to come looking for Ahsoka, an Alderanian, though whether or not that meant anything she had no idea. The man had said his employer was looking for someone he could trust to help coordinate between groups of people who weren't too happy with the Empire. Months later, she still had no idea who that employer was, but she really didn't want to. The mission was to find rebels, and she'd found them.
It was laughable, how quickly they'd trusted her with so much based solely on the fact that she'd been a Jedi, even though they had no idea what she'd been doing since the war ended. Ahsoka had quickly learned, though, these people were nothing like she'd expected them to be. What she'd expected were the kind of rebels she'd known on Onderon, idealistic freedom fighters working to overthrow an oppressive regime, but instead most of them were criminals, mercenaries, and ex-separatists scraped together more so for their violence and relative skill at arms then for any belief in what they were doing. Ghes was right, if this scum was the alternative, maybe the Empire wasn't so bad.
There were a few exceptions, and they were what was going to make the next part of this plan hard.
"Commander."
Sato's voice brought Ahsoka back into the moment. They were on the bridge of an old Pelta-class frigate which served as the flagship of this little fleet they called Phoenix Squadron.
"What? Sorry, I was thinking of something else. What were we discussing?"
"The possibility of a mission to rescue Minister Tua."
"Yes. Hera, Kanan, you want to go ahead with this?"
"It's the right thing to do, and the information she can give us would be invaluable."
"Then I think I'll join you."
It was a trap. Not that Tua's desire to defect wasn't genuine, it was, but that was part of the plan to lure the crew of the Ghost back to Lothal. It was their own fault, destroying Sovereign like they did, Tarkin couldn't overlook the destruction of his flagship, and had demanded they die first. Hopefully it wouldn't come to that.
At least something good would come out of this, Vader would be on Lothal, and if he was there, Ghes would be to.
….…
The bridge of Exactor was bustling with activity as the crew prepared for departure. Ghes entered the tactical control center at the rear of the bridge, where Lord Vader was waiting for him.
"You summoned me, Lord Vader."
"The Emperor desires us to end another rebellion."
"Where?"
"Lothal."
"Is that backwater really worth the effort, my Lord?"
"The Emperor has plans for Lothal, and this particular cell has embarrassed Governor Tarkin quite spectacularly."
"Really? I'm beginning to like these traitors."
"Do not let your personal squabbles with Tarkin interfere with your duty to the Empire. We believe this cell is tied to the larger network our spies have been tracking, their capture could spell the end of armed resistance to the Empire."
Ghes smiled, they only had one spy imbedded in this burgeoning rebellion.
"Then it shall be done my lord."
….
As far as the specters, as the crew of the Ghost called themselves, were concerned, this mission gone downhill fast, Minister Tua was dead and their only method of escape had been shot down by an Imperial walker, leaving them scrambling to their nearest safe house. But for Ahsoka, this was all going according to plan.
"You guys go on, I'll catch up."
"What? We can't split up!"
Jarrus was right to be concerned, a Togruta, a Twi'lek, a Lasat, and a Mandalorian were conspicuous enough on their own, let alone in a group. To make matters worse, the troopers that had appeared after the destruction of Tua's shuttle were different than the normal garrison, they were better, as evidenced by the blaster wound in Zebb's shoulder and the rather spectacular failure that this rescue had been.
"Relax, I've been doing this sort of thing a lot longer than you have."
She ducked into an alleyway, then waited until the others were long gone before walking back into the open. As she rounded the corner, she found herself looking down the barrel of an E-11.
"Don't move, rebel scum."
Back during the war, she might have been a bit startled, walking into three troopers who had every reason to shoot her on sight. Now, though, she just looked around the blaster to the trooper holding it and cocked her eyebrow at him. It would take a few seconds, but eventually their HUDs would tell them who she was. They lowered their weapons, and the one with the white pauldron addressed her.
"Sorry ma'am, didn't recognize you."
Of course he didn't, he may have been 501st, but that didn't mean he'd ever seen her, they'd gotten a lot of new blood over the years. She pulled a datachip off her belt and held it out to the sergeant
"Take this, it's every safe house they have. Use detonators."
"Yes ma'am, do you require an escort?"
"No thank you, sergeant, I'll be fine on my own."
Ahsoka wouldn't hold them up, they had buildings to burn, and she had someone to find.
…..
The lieutenant was suspicious, he hadn't seen anything on the schedule that would explain why a trooper and a cadet would be coming into the compound with two crates. In fact, no one should be moving any supplies around until the planet wide lockdown was over. Definitely suspicious. The two halted as he approached.
"What are you two doing here?"
The trooper answered.
"I'm escorting this cadet; he's supposed to deliver these supplies."
"No one's supposed to be away from general quarters."
As he said that, the lieutenant's HUD identified the trooper. He was checked into the infirmary five hours ago, having been knocked out a stripped of his armor. These were rebels, rebels who apparently thought they didn't keep track of these things. The 'cadet' stepped forward and waved his hand as he spoke.
"You will let us pass."
Jedi, great. He'd go along with it; they were walking into a trap anyway.
"Sure, go ahead. Just don't let me catch you wandering around out here again."
As the two walked away into the facility, the lieutenant turned on his comlink.
"Inform Lord Vader and the General, the rebels have entered the compound."
…
The specters rushed across the landing field towards what appeared to be the only shuttle, pushing the generators they had recently 'liberated', a consolation prize for their otherwise fruitless efforts. Kanan and Ezra stopped suddenly, feeling a sudden chill. They turn to see a figure in black approaching them holding a red lightsaber and flanked by Stormtroopers. The two Jedi ignited their lighsabers, Jarrus looked back at Sundulla.
"Get the shuttle ready, we'll hold them off."
"Kanan…"
"Go!"
The two rushed to meet the masked figure while the others ran to board the seemingly unguarded shuttle.
Hera stopped dead in her tracks as she reached the top of the ramp, the others, following close behind, were concerned, until they saw him as well. In the shuttle stood a trooper in solid black armor except for an orange command pauldron.
"Drop your weapons, rebel scum, you're not going anywhere."
Sabine and Hera were confused, Zebb laughed.
"And who's gonna stop us?"
The Lasat stepped up to the trooper, dwarfing him in comparison.
"I am."
Zebb grinned as he deployed his bo rifle, clearly convinced that this man was just suicidal. He struck out with one end, but the trooper ducked the blow and came up into Zebb's rib cage with the butt of his rifle. The Lasat fell back, stunned, and the trooper shouldered his weapon to fire. Zebb grabbed the weapon's long barrel, throwing it aside. The trooper, abandoning his blaster, rushed Zebb and grabbed on to his weapon. The two wrestled for over the rifle for a moment, but the Lasat's superior strength won out. He wound up for a final blow, lifting his weapon of his head. Suddenly, Zebb collapsed, clutching at his side as blood soaked through his fur and clothing. The black armored trooper stood over him, holding up his right arm to show the vibroblade that had been concealed inside his gauntlet.
Quickly recovering from the shock of Zebb's defeat, Hera and Sabine leveled their blasters on the trooper. He seemed unconcerned, retracting the blade and looking around for where his rifle had ended up.
"Stop! Don't move!"
He responded in an annoyed tone.
"Then do it. But you might want to worry about her."
The two were confused until the sound of a lightsaber activating came from the cockpit behind them. They turned to see Ahsoka flanked by two Stormtroopers standing in the doorway.
"Sorry about this, Hera."
The Twi'lek woman's shock and confusion were evident on her face at the revelation of this betrayal.
The troopers forced the two to their knees and disarmed them, Ahsoka walked over to were Ghes had retrieved his rifle. He removed his helmet.
"You couldn't have cut in before the Lasat tried to kill me?"
"You said to wait for your signal. Speaking of which… is he dead?"
"No, he should be fine if he doesn't bleed out all over the deck. Trooper, patch him up."
One of the troopers stood and rushed over to the unconscious Zebb, grabbing a first aid kit off the wall. Hera finally regained enough composure to speak.
"Ahsoka? You've been working for the Empire this whole time?!"
"Yes, I was given a mission to infiltrate a rebel network in the outer rim, that led me to you, and you made the mistake of taking on Tarkin, so you're first on the chopping block"
"But you're a Jedi?"
"Former Jedi, I was tossed out of the Order during the war, if you'd done any real research you'd have known that."
The two rebels were enraged by now, knowing that they'd been played for so long.
"We trusted you!"
"Well you shouldn't have."
She turned her back on the two, no longer wanting to look at them.
Sabine stood suddenly, drawing a holdout blaster and fired at Ahsoka. Ghes stepped in front of the bolt, which panged against his breastplate, causing no real damage. The trooper smacked her in the back with his rifle, then picked her up, pinning her arms to her back and removing her helmet.
"Feisty one, aren't we? Clan Wren is part of House Vizsla, isn't it? What would your parents think of you associating with aruetiise, especially Jedi? If the Emperor didn't want you alive, I'd kill you right now, Death Watch scum."
"Says one of Palpatine's dogs, what kind of Mando'ade helps oppress his own people?"
"My people were slaughtered by Jedi on Galidraan, courtesy of House Vizsla."
Ghes grabbed her from the trooper and motioned to the man to grab Hera.
"Come on, you two are going to help us with something."
They walked down the ramp to find Vader still dueling the two Jedi. He was toying with them, clearly not thinking it worth the effort to simply kill the two. When he saw Ghes and Ahsoka with the prisoners, Vader lowered his saber and disengaged from the duel. Jarrus and Bridger were confused, until they turned to see Ghes and a trooper holding blades to Hera and Sabine's necks.
"I'd stand down if I were you, Jedi, unless you want your girlfriends' blood all over the tarmac."
Bridger clearly considered attacking Ghes and the trooper before Jarrus put his hand on the young man's shoulder and shook his head. The two dropped their sabers and knelt down with their hands behind their heads. The troopers who had accompanied Vader came in to detain the two, cuffing them and dragging them off the field along with Hera and Sabine. Ghes saluted as Vader approached to congratulate him.
"Well done General, the emperor will be most pleased."
"I live to serve, my lord."
Vader glanced briefly at Ahsoka before following the prisoners off the landing field into the facility.
"Do you have to grovel like that?"
"That depends, do you want to be married to a corpse?"
…
Ahsoka wasn't sure what had woken her up, the room was pitch black and entirely silent, but she quickly noticed that Ghes was not in bed next to her. Instead, he sat in a chair staring out a view port into space, helmet in his lap. Ahsoka got out of the bed and walked over to him.
"Ghes, what's wrong?"
"I couldn't sleep. I tried not to wake you."
"You didn't. Something's bothering you, what is it?"
"It's that Wren girl, what she said. Can I really still consider myself Mando'ade?"
"That's ridiculous, she was just trying to get to you."
"I almost never speak Mando'a, I have no clan anymore, and this armor may be beskar, but it's far from Mandalorian. That's half the Resol'Nare."
"You'd defend me to the last breath."
"That's one."
"Some would say that's the most important."
"I'm supposed to live and breathe the Resol'Nare every day, all six acts."
"So am I, when I agreed to marry you I became Mando'ade to."
"So I failed as a husband to, great."
"If you feel like you're not living up to it you can always change. Speak Mando'a more, add your clan iconography to your armor."
"Why bother, the rest of Clan Marczak died out years ago. My father was the only one left when I was born, and I don't even have him anymore."
"You have me. The two of us might not be much of a clan, but we are a clan. As for children…."
"I made my choice when I asked you to marry me, I don't want you to ever feel guilty about that."
"I know."
Ghes stood up and led her back to the bed, sitting down on the edge.
"I didn't want to bother you with this, you have enough trouble as it is."
"No, Ghes, I want you to tell me when you're having trouble."
"I wanted to stay strong for you. Your always having doubts, I thought that if you saw I had them to…"
"What?"
"I don't know."
"I've always known you've had doubts about this Ghes, that doesn't change anything."
Ghes pulled Ahsoka close, kissing her on the head before laying down.
"I should know I don't have to protect you from anything."
"You don't, but it shows that you care."
…
The clock said 0400, however much time of day really mattered aboard a star destroyer. What did matter was that Ahsoka was awake and Ghes wasn't. It was often like this, she didn't sleep nearly as much as he did, especially if he didn't have anywhere to be. Ahsoka had commented on this once, how weird it was for someone who'd been a soldier his whole life to sleep in so often, he'd laughed and said that all any soldier really wanted was plenty of sleep.
She looked around for something to do while she waited for Ghes to finally drag himself out of bed, but there wasn't really anything, so she decided to brew some caf. As she rooted around inside a cabinet looking for the can, she stopped, something didn't feel right. Ahsoka turned quickly, grabbing something out of the air that had been lying toward her shoulder. It was some sort of dart, probably poison. She tossed it aside, then turned towards its origin, grabbing a blaster pistol Ghes kept hidden in a drawer. A black clad figure stepped out of the shadows in the far corner of the room, some sort of humanoid female.
Shit, how hadn't she noticed her, she should've turned the light on.
"Whoever the hell you are, put your hands up now!"
The woman didn't comply, instead pulling something out from behind her back, a lightsaber.
Shit. Ahsoka fired, but the woman sidestepped and advanced toward her.
"Ghes!"
The intruder ignited the weapon, swinging the crimson blade at Ahsoka, who narrowly avoided the blow. A loud thud came from the bedroom, Ghes rolling out of bed. She dodged another attack, trying to work towards the door so she could call for help.
"Ghes!"
Ghes came out of the bedroom, half naked and firing randomly as he got his bearings. The intruder turned her attention away from Ahsoka, who rolled over a couch to get away. As she stood up, Ghes tossed her one of her lightsabers. Ahsoka ignited the weapon as she leaped back at the intruder, now distracted by Ghes's increasingly accurate fire. The woman blocked Ahsoka's first blow, but fell as she was hit in the leg by one of Ghes's bolt's. Ahsoka quickly battered the woman's blade to the side and held her own at her throat. The intruder deactivated her weapon as Ghes moved over to Ahsoka's side.
"You okay?"
"Yea, you?"
"I really need to stop rolling out of bed every time you yell for me."
"Probably. What do you want to do with her?"
"I could probably get her to talk, but what's the point?"
"So get the guards, or do you want to kill her?"
"Might as well."
Ghes leveled his blaster on the woman's head, but she put her hands up and began pleading.
"Wait! Wait, please don't kill me."
"Give me one reason why not to."
"Don't you want to know who sent me?"
"The Emperor. Try again."
"I can tell you why."
"Another obvious one. You're going to have to try harder than that."
"You can send me back to him, I'll deliver a message."
"No, you'll just come back and try again, because if you go back and tell Palpatine you failed, he'll kill you"
She was panicking now, stuttering and stammering.
"But… but, ah…"
Ghes pulled the trigger. Ahsoka deactivated her saber and picked up the now deceased woman's. It was plain, like it had been manufactured rather than then put together by its dead owner. Someone knocked on the door.
"General? Ma'am? Are you all right in there?"
Ghes opened the door, revealing a confused Navy trooper who'd probably heard something while on patrol. He saw the body and the pistol in Ghes's hand.
"Sir?"
"Trooper, good, get this body out of here and find me the officer of the watch. I need to have a conversation with him about the importance of security."
...
Ghes hated doing parade ground inspections, he found it tedious, but it couldn't be avoided, not on Empire day, not when Vader wanted to show off the Legion. It was a propaganda move, having the 501st take over the celebration from the Lothal garrison, showcasing the Emperor's finest on the one-year anniversary of the last, most public attack carried out by the system's rebel cell, a detachment of Novatroopers had even been sent from Coruscant to act as an honor guard. To his credit, Ghes had put all his effort into making sure his armor looked immaculate. He'd already painted Mandalorian iconography onto the gleaming black beskar. In white, he'd painted his bird like clan crest onto the left shoulder guard, with the shield of the True Mandalorians on the right, though the later was obstructed by his pauldron. Several of Ghes's subordinates had grumbled about the departure from regulation this represented, but it was clear they were unwilling to confront him about it, it's not like a General wearing trooper armor was that typical anyway.
"You've done well, General, the Emperor will be most pleased."
Ghes and Ahsoka followed Vader down the lines of the assembled Legion, a task which would take hours if they were to scrutinize every man themselves, but that's what sergeants where for.
"Thank you my Lord. Will the Emperor be in attendance?"
"No, he will merely be viewing the holonet broadcast. This will be viewed across the entire Outer Rim, a clear message of the futility of resistance."
Ahsoka and Ghes were relieved by this, Vader may choose to ignore Ahsoka, but the Emperor would likely react far differently to her presence. As it was she stood out far more than usual, ditching her usual black attire for a suit of armor Ghes had had made for her adorned with his family colors. Luckily, she'd be standing towards the rear of a grandstand, so the garish purple and gold would not have much of an opportunity to draw attention to her.
"It will be quite the spectacle, if this doesn't make Tarkin's job easier I don't know what will."
"Yes, he will finally be free to tinker with his projects in the Maw without interruption."
"Will Tarkin be attending the celebration?"
"He will, General, I assume this won't be an issue?"
"Of course not, my Lord, I only ask so that security measures can be planned accordingly."
"Of course."
They'd walked over a hundred meters down the line before Vader was satisfied and allowed the troops to be dismissed. The parade commenced three hours later. Tarkin joined Vader and Ghes on the grandstand overlooking the passing troops.
"Quite an impressive display, Marczak, perhaps I underestimated you."
"Oh really?"
"Yes, you make quite the event coordinator."
"At least I managed to capture the rebels that managed to destroy your flagship Tarkin. Remember that, right after they seized control of the comtower and broadcast their propaganda across half the Empire?"
"Are you implying that those setbacks were a result of incompetence on my part?"
"Was I being too subtle?"
"I'd like to remind you that the only reason I didn't lay waste to this pitiful rock is that the Emperor considers it of strategic value, and that you withheld valuable information."
"What information did I withhold from you, Tarkin?"
"Your agent inside the rebellion, if I'd know the rebel's plans in advance I'd have been able to lay a trap for them as you did."
"If you think that we'd have withheld that information from you you're an even greater fool than I thought."
Vader choose this moment to chime in.
"He is correct Tarkin, the rebels you encountered acted independently of the larger network. We have never had any knowledge regarding the planned actions individual cells, they were manipulated into our trap."
"And thanks to that trap, we've dismantled rebel cells all over the Outer Rim."
"But you've yet to locate their patron."
"We have suspects, but no hard evidence."
"And if you fail to locate whoever is behind these rebels we will be dealing with this all again in a few years."
…
Polis Masa was a lifeless rock, cold and dark, the perfect place for a rebel cell to hide. Unfortunately for the rebels, the cramped quarters of their hidden base had made dispatching them all the easier. The battle had been brief, the Stormtroopers had taken few casualties and the few remaining rebels were in custody. However, it didn't appear that what they'd been sent here to obtain was anywhere in the base.
"Useless! Months spent scouring the galaxy and our only lead turns up nothing!"
"I don't understand, it had to be here, everything pointed to this base."
"Nothing in the base computer, decoy holodisks, if the plans were here they've been gone for days at least."
"How is it that, with the limitless resources of the Empire, we can't track down one datafile."
"I don't know, this entire investigation has been one massive headache. I can't believe I let this happen in the first place."
"Come on Ghes, it's not your fault, you weren't even there."
"That's the problem, it's Atoa all over again. If I'd been on the Death Star during the prison break none of this would have happened."
"Really? How were you supposed to know Major Corro wouldn't be able to handle a riot?"
"I shouldn't have left the buffoon in charge, he wasn't fit to run a mail room, let alone a Legion!"
"At least you don't have to deal with him anymore."
"I should've handed him over to Vader, he didn't deserve the mercy of a bolt."
An engineer interrupted Ghes and Ahsoka's conversation with a salute and a report.
"General, I think we found something."
"What?"
"A message, sent out earlier today."
"To who?"
"A diplomatic vessel, the Tantive IV, from Alderaan."
"Organa, that slimo! We should've arrested him years ago! Inform Lord Vader."
"Right away, sir."
…..
There had been no rebel base on Dantooine, at least not an active one. Tarkin had been misled into sending them on a wild goose chase, and the arrogant bastard had paid for it with his life, along with the those of tens of thousands of Imperial personnel. The rebellion had scored its greatest victory that day, and was likely celebrating the Empire's embarrassment. Ghes was still alive. With Lord Vader missing and Tarkin confirmed dead, Ghes took control of the dead governor's fleet and what was left of the 501st and set out for Yavin. The rebels were smart, most had evacuated within the week it took for the Imperial retaliation strike to arrive, but a few were left, and those few received the full force of Vader's Fist. They could have wiped the surface of the planet clean from orbit after they defeated the pitiful fleet assisting the ongoing evacuation, but Ghes wanted to send a message, more than that he wanted answers, and for that he needed prisoners. The battle lasted most of the day, rebel forces attempting to fight to the last man, but some had no choice on the matter. Only a hand full of prisoners were taken, it was all Ghes could do to keep the troopers from executing every rebel on the spot. The prisoners were brought up to Ghes's headquarters aboard Exactor for interrogation, something he looked forward to handling himself. Ahsoka had been angry when the about the station's destruction, but more than that she felt guilty, guilty because her and Ghes had failed. For months they'd searched for the stolen plans and if they'd found them then none of this would have happened, Tarkin never would have destroyed Alderaan, the Death Star never would have been destroyed, billions of lives wouldn't have been lost. That's why she decided to help Ghes with the interrogations.
"Tell me what I want to know, rebel scum, and I promise your death will be as painless as possible."
"I'm not tell you fascists anything."
"You know, I was hoping you'd say that, I desperately want to make this as painful as possible."
Ghes pulled a vibroblade off his belt and ran his finger across the blade. The knife was a ploy of course, what Ghes had planned was much worse.
"Go to hell."
"Have it your way."
Ahsoka tentatively stepped forward and held her hand up to the man's chest. Slowly, she used the force to compress his rib cage, squeezing the heart and lungs, as if he was being crushed in a hydraulic press. This had been Ghes's idea, and it had taken a lot to convince her to go along with it, but he had and she'd agreed. There wasn't any turning back now. He gasped for air and his ribs started cracking, likely sending splinters of bone into the soft tissue beneath. Within a minute, the rebel tried to say something, though he was unable. Ahsoka lessened her hold on the man, allowing him to gasp out a plea for mercy.
"Stop, I'll tell you everything, just stop!"
"Tell me where your friends evacuated to. Where is the new rebel base?"
"I don't know; they wouldn't tell any of us!"
"Oh, really?"
"Yes! I swear I'm telling the truth!"
Ghes glanced at Ahsoka, she nodded, affirming that the man was telling the truth.
"Okay, well then I guess you're useless to me. Unless you happen to know the name of the pilot who destroyed the Death Star?"
"Yes, no, I don't know his full name!"
"What do you know?"
"He arrived shortly before the Death Star did, with Senator Organa and the plans."
"What was his name!"
"Skywalker! His name was Skywalker."
Ahsoka looked up suddenly, shocked by this revelation. Ghes to was speechless, and it was several moments before he was finally able to respond.
"Skywalker?"
"Yes! Please, make the pain stop."
The man's plea jolted Ghes out of shocked state. He took the knife and drove it into the man's chest, impaling his heart. He left the man their as he and Ahsoka exited the cell. Ghes turned to the trooper guarding the door.
"Get rid of him and execute the rest, they won't be able to tell us any more than this one did."
"Right away, General."
Ghes stalked off down the corridor with Ahsoka close behind.
"It can't be true."
"It has to be, there's no other reason for him to know that name."
"But Padme never gave birth."
"Well there aren't any other Skywalkers."
"What exactly happened to her, could the child have survived?"
"They had her body at her funeral, visibly pregnant, but the records concerning her death were vague."
"What are we going to tell Vader?"
"I don't know, but we have until he turns up to figure it out."
"If it really is his son; how do you think he'll handle it?"
"I don't know Ahsoka, I don't know."
They didn't say anything else most of the way back from the detention block, but eventually Ahsoka broke the silence. There was something else she needed to say.
"What did we just do?"
"What we had to."
"Did we?"
"We had to find out what he knew, Ahsoka, we had to find out so we can stop anything like this from ever happening again."
"But we didn't get anything, just a name, a name we could have gotten without him."
"The fact that he didn't know anything doesn't matter, what matters is that he could've known something. The rules have changed; we're going to have to do things we'd rather not do if we're going to keep the peace we've worked so hard to maintain."
"I don't know if I can do something like that again."
"I understand, and I won't make you."
