4 BBY
Vjun
Darth Vader sat in a tower on top of his castle meditating, letting the dark side flow through him. Focusing on the source his anger, the Jedi. He was trying to locate Obi-Wan Kenobi again, and once again his former master was proving elusive. For fifteen years he had been seeking Kenobi and had been unsuccessful. He knew the Jedi Master still lived, if he would have died Vader was sure he would have felt it. As he delved deeper into his mediations he began to have a vision. He saw a figure in brown robes stalking through the streets of Imperial Center trying to remain anonymous. The figure approached a red haired individual in senatorial robes he recognized as Mon Mothma. He was sure it was a Jedi. He stretched out once more with the force and determined it wasn't Obi-Wan. Darth Vader's eyes snapped open to reveal yellow irises ringed with red.
"There is a Jedi on Imperial Center" he said to the dark chamber he was meditating in.
Imperial Center
Ahsoka Tano made her way out of the spaceport in and began to look for a way to gain access to senator Mon Mothma. Obi-Wan had sent her to find out more about the rebellion that the Empire could no longer keep hidden from the holonet. Over the past few years they had been hearing more and more from the many freighter pilots whenever they visited Anchorhead or Tosche Station. While meditating on the matter Obi-Wan had a vision of Mon Mothma and decided she may be the key to learning more. So he had sent Ahsoka to learn what she could and come back. That had been three and a half weeks ago. After leaving Tatooine she had travelled to Alderaan and from there to Corellia, then to Rodia, then to Belsavis before she was sure she wasn't being followed and finally coming to the imperial capitol disguised as a refugee.
Now that she was here she had no idea how to gain an audience with the senator without revealing who and what she was but if Obi-Wan was right it wouldn't matter. This didn't worry her though, she trusted the force to guide her actions. What worried her was being in the heart of the Empire but she quickly learned the Emperor was off world somewhere and not expected to return anytime soon.
Hours later she was wandering near 500 Republica when she saw Senator Mon Mothma and a small entourage exit the apartment building and head towards a public transport speeder. Making her way to the speeder before it took off Ahsoka slipped on board and found herself at the opposite end from the Chandrillian senator. The speeder wasn't very crowded but something told the Jedi now was not the time to try to make contact; Imperial Security Bureau agents could be anywhere. They were only on the transport a few minutes before the senator got up to exit with Ahsoka following at a discreet distance. She watched as the small entourage entered a small café outside the senate building for their morning meal. She would attempt to make contact in the crowded square when they left.
Nar Shaada
Leia had arrived on Nar Shaada only to learn that Gardulla the Hutt was off planet at a secret meeting with Jabba the Hutt. Her first instinct had been to find the secret meeting and assassinate the Hutt there but had then dismissed the idea knowing that eventually the Hutt would return. One thing her father always her was to be patient. She had been waiting for two weeks with still no word on when the Hutt would be back. To learn the layout of Gardulla's palace Leia had persuaded one of the chief servants to hire her as a servant girl under a false name. The job allowed her to completely roam the palace unnoticed as she was just another servant the security guards grew accustomed to seeing every day.
She had learned a great deal about the Hutts dealings in the short time she had been at the palace. She learned Gardulla was just a lackey for Jabba the Hutt. She also learned that the Hutts were hermaphroditic displaying either masculine or effeminate traits, Gardulla was effeminate by Hutt standards. As she passed by two security guards she overheard them talking about a party being thrown in three days to celebrate the return of Gardulla and to celebrate a successful new deal. This was the opportunity she needed.
Tatooine
When Luke returned to the Lars moisture farm after creating his lightsaber he couldn't wait to show his master. To find Ahsoka gone came as a surprise since he had grown accustomed to her always being there much like Obi-Wan. But the Jedi Master explained that they wouldn't remain on Tatooine forever and that he had sent Ahsoka to lay the groundwork for later. He told Luke not to worry that she would be back soon enough and to welcome the brief respite from his training. When Luke asked what he should until she returned; Obi-Wan told him to work on his meditation and understanding of the force. One night after their evening meal the two sat around their shared hut.
"Master Kenobi, who trained you to be a jedi?" Luke asked
Obi-Wan who had been writing in his journal leaned back in his chair and looked at Luke "My master was a Jedi named Qui-Gon Jinn." Then began to laugh
Luke looked confused "What's so funny Master Kenobi?"
Obi-Wan waved off the boys concerns but still laughing "I was just remembering how I almost ended up in the Jedi agricultural corps before Qui-Gon took me as his Padawan. On our way to Bandomeer we were accosted by pirates, had to fight a Hutt, climb up a mountain and fight a dark jedi before I proved to Qui-Gon that I didn't belong in the Agri-corps. It was all Master Yodas doing I suspect, putting us together in mean"
"What was he like as a teacher?" Luke asked becoming more intrigued. He found it hard to imagine Obi-Wan fighting anyone let alone pirates and hutts.
"Well he was a bit of a maverick and very reluctant to train anyone after his first padawan fell to the dark side. He believed in studying the living force more than he did the cosmic force. I've taught you both aspects to best of my abilities. But Qui-Gon strongly believed in utilizing the living force. In fact, he was the Jedi who discovered your father"
At the mention of his father Obi-Wan gained Luke's undivided attention "He's the one who trained my father?
Obi-Wan cursed himself, he had gotten carried away and now he had been careful "Well yes and no, you see shortly after he discovered your father Qui-Gon was killed by a Sith Lord on the planet of Naboo."
"What Sith Lord was it and what happened to him after killing Master Jinn?" Luke asked. It was rare that Obi-Wan talked about the past and Luke was going to make the most of the situation.
"I believe his name was maul, though I can't be sure, and I killed him. Shortly afterward the council granted me the rank of knight for doing so." Obi-Wan said as he got a faraway look in his eyes like he was fighting the Sith Lord again.
Luke was having difficult time picturing Master Kenobi as a Padawan fighting a Sith Lord. Maybe there was more to the old Jedi than there seemed.
"Master Kenobi, how come you and Master Ahsoka never talk about my father?" He asked
Obi-Wan and came back to reality and sighed, he had been hoping to avoid this topic despite his slip up. He would have to do his best to avoid revealing to much. "Your father, was one of the greatest Jedi I ever knew. I trained him from the age of nine. It was Qui-Gon's dying wish that Anakin be trained as a Jedi" He said
"If he was so powerful how was he defeated?" Luke asked.
Now here was a tricky subject Obi-Wan thought. Luke was not ready to know the truth of what happened to his father. As Obi-Wan thought deeply on the subject a thought occurred to him. He could tell the boy without actually telling the boy.
"When Master Windu and the other Jedi went to arrest Palpatine; your father followed along to help. Palpatine defeated all of the Jedi save Master Windu before father showed up. At the last minute Darth Vader betrayed the Jedi in the Chancellors office and pledged himself to Palpatine and with that fell to the dark side." Obi-Wan answered. He could still remember the way his heart had broken when he had seen the security holos of his former Padawan slaying the Jedi in the temple and kneeling before Darth Sidious.
"Is the dark side stronger?" Luke asked
"No" Obi-Wan quickly replied "it's quick to come in a fight, I know. It came to me when I defeated Maul and quickly left me. I felt sick afterwards. You must always be aware of the lingering seduction of the dark side." Obi-Wan cautioned the young padawan
"Yes Master Kenobi" Luke said before falling into a deep silence.
The Executor – Kuat Drive Yards
Starkiller was meditating by staring deep into the red blade of his lightsaber. He found it helped focus his anger and rage. He thought once again of being stuck in the dark hold, of how his existence was being kept a secret by his master and how he didn't even know his real name. He had never left the ship, for as far back as he could remember he had been here. As he focused he heard the door the cargo holds open.
"Boy" he heard his master say
Starkiller deactivated the lightsaber before he got up to go kneel before his master. Wondering what kind of training Vader had for him now "Yes, my master"
"It is time for your first mission. I have had a vision of a Jedi on Imperial Center visiting senator Mon Mothma. You are to go arrest the senator and bring her to me, eliminate the Jedi. There is a pilot in the hangar waiting for you. Her name is Juno Eclipse. This will be your first test, now go." Vader commanded before flickering away to reveal PROXY standing before him.
"Oh master your first mission. Do be careful. I had looked forward to killing you myself" the holodroid said.
"I'll be fine PROXY "he told the droid as he got his feet and went to leave for the hangar. After he exited the hold he looked left and right. "PROXY, What way is the hangar?
"I'll show you master" the droid said before leading him to a nearby turbo lift and taking him to the hangar. Inside was a heavily modified imperial transport with a very attractive blonde pilot standing by the ramp. As Starkiller approached she snapped to attention.
"My Lord, I am Captain Juno Eclipse." She stated as he stopped in front of her
"What are your orders from Lord Vader Captain" he asked her as he took in the ship
Still at attention she responded "Lord Vader gave me my orders himself. I am to keep your ship running and fly you wherever your missions require."
"Relax Juno, you will find I'm highly informal" he said turning back to her and seeing her relax he continued "Tell me about the ship"
She started walking around the ship pointing out different features as she started telling him about it "It's a prototype really; it's called the Rogue Shadow. It will make point-five past light speed, it's armed with a laser cannon and has a cloaking device. It also has an advanced sensor array that I took the liberty of upgrading myself. Now you will be able to spy on any suspect ships across an entire system. I'm sorry sir, I didn't catch your name?"
"Starkiller" he said "Let get on our way then. We need to go to Imperial Center"
Imperial Center
Mon Mothma sat in her senatorial pod impatiently waiting for the session to end. After breakfast the day before she had been approached by what she thought was a beggar in Imperial Square but had really turned out to be a Jedi in disguise. After all these she had learned Obi-Wan Kenobi was alive and well. The Jedi had then requested a private audience but Mon Mothma was unable to meet with her that day or the night before due to senatorial and social obligations. She had however been able to make room in her schedule tonight before she was scheduled to return to Chandrilla. At first she had been hesitant about the Jedi; as helpful as they might be with the rebellion they could also be just as damaging. It had been eleven years since Bail Organa had disappeared into the spice mines of Kessel and one of his adopted daughters taken. Rumor had it Bail had died years ago and that said daughter had been killed just for being the offspring of a Jedi. Nobody knew for sure though. Nothing was certain in the Empire, not even being alive the next day.
As she sat there listening to Mas Amedda go on about how the Empire needed more taxation to fund the military due to increasing attacks by the rebels; she couldn't help but wonder what the Chagrian would do if he knew several of the senators to which he now spoke were in league with the rebels. Mon Mothma herself had been one of its founding members from the very beginning. That seemed like a lifetime ago. It had taken years to build up the rebellion and as they had grown they had stepped up their attacks. The Emperor referred to them as terrorists. They considered themselves freedom fighters. Soon they would be able to wage a full scale war against the Galactic Republic.
Finally, Mas Amedda finished his speech to lukewarm applause from the senate. It was hard to get excited over more burdens on their people but resistance in public was dealt with harshly in private. Resistance in private, if caught, was dealt with just as harshly. The senate was nothing more than a relic now. It held no real power. Everyone would vote for approval whether they wanted to or not to keep the world they represented from being punished. The Emperor did as he pleased. After a quick perfunctory vote, the new tax passed and the senate chambers began to empty.
She made her way back to her offices stopping along the way to greet her fellow senators, some of whom look worried about the new tax law. She did her best to reassure them but there was little she could do. They all had to vote for the Emperor's policies or face the consequences. Not many senators liked the idea of being dragged from their homes in the middle of the night or waking up with a blaster shot to the head. When she finally approached her office she saw her visitor was already outside the door waiting for her.
The visitor approached lowering her hood to reveal a Togruta female "Hello senator" the visitor said
"Hello" Mothma replied somewhat guardedly as she motioned for the Jedi to follow. Once inside the Jedi took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk while Mon Mothma sat behind it.
"I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage" she said to the Jedi "You know my name but I don't know yours"
"Apologies, I am Jedi Knight Ahsoka Tano and I believe we have a lot to discuss.
Imperial Center
Juno Eclipse piloted the Rogue Shadow down to the surface of the city planet. Starkiller was in the copilot seat going over the mission in his head. He was to kill the Jedi and bring The Senator to Lord Vader for questioning. As he approached the planet he reached out with the force and realized on a planet with this much life it would impossible to locate the Jedi especially if she was hiding her presence. That left the senator. He was sure she would easy to locate and after a quick search through the imperial database he saw she had just checked into her office. He would follow the senator until the Jedi made contact, kill the jedi and come back for the senator. He ordered Juno to drop him off as close to the senate offices as she could without raising suspicions.
The pilot got him a lot closer than he had expected would be the case and saw he was less than a kilometer away from his destination. Moving as quickly as he could without running he made his way to the senatorial office building. Upon arriving he was amazed at the lack of security to get in and out of the building and made his way to the security office. Vader had told him that it was imperative that he remain unnoticed so he snuck in and turned off all the security recorders and deleted the holos showing him entering the building. After he was finished he made his way to the nearest turbolift. The imperial database said her office was on the one hundred and seventy first floor of the building. Getting off the turbo lift he turned right to go find a spot where he could observe the senator's office. Just as he rounded the corner he saw the senator and a togruta female he assumed was the Jedi coming straight towards him. There was no doubt they had spotted him as they stopped dead in their tracks.
The two eyed him suspiciously and he felt her brush his mind with the force as he put up mental walls to keep her out. She reached under her robe and pulled a lightsaber from her belt and held it in her hand as she turned to the senator.
"Senator, I do believe it's time for you to leave" the togruta said as the senator turned and ran the other way.
"That was very foolish. There's no place she can go that I won't find her" Starkiller said pulling his lightsaber out and igniting the red blade.
He looked closer at the togruta as recognition form in his brain "I know you, you're Ahsoka Tano. The Empire has been looking for you"
"Well, I guess they found me" she said as she ignited her green blade
"indeed" He said before rushing forward.
The two locked blades. Starkiller attacked violently to try and throw Ahsoka off balance. His unconventional style was hard to predict so she went on the defensive and put her trust in the force to guide her actions. As she backed down the hallway she made her way to the atrium that she knew was on this floor so she could have more room to maneuver. Starkiller had expected her to use the forms PROXY had used when the droid assumed Ahsoka's likeness for their sparring. He had not taken into account that over the years styles changed and are refined to suit to user. While the togruta was still using those forms he expected, she had added two more to her repertoire.
Finally, they reached atrium and Ahsoka performed a back flip and landed on a large potted tree in the center. Once she had landed she reached out and started throwing some smaller potted plants at her opponent. Starkiller dodged these with ease. While PROXY had never been able to use such tricks during sparring due to being a droid this was a favorite tactic of Darth Vader to keep him on his toes when he dueled the dark lord.
After dodging another projectile Starkiller called out "That's a handy trick you picked up from Skywalker" he teased "But it's going to take a lot more than that to stop me"
If the mention of her former master unnerved her, she didn't show it. Instead he sensed calm from the Jedi. She threw another potted plant and leapt towards the spot she sensed he would land ready to strike. Starkiller was to quick though and had his blade up to deflect her blow before he regained his feet and gave her a hard push through the force that staggered her just enough to allow him to get up. Once on his feet he charged at her and in a fit of rage tackled her through a large window separating the atrium from the night sky.
As they crashed through the glass Ahsoka lost her grip on her lightsaber from the force of the unexpected attack. Starkiller rolled through the tackle and somersaulted to his feet. Ahsoka was a little slower to get up and before she could fully rise a blast of force lightning hit her square in the chest and sent her flying over the balcony into the night. Starkiller deactivated his lightsaber and walked to the spot where he had last seen the Jedi and looked over. He couldn't see any sign of her not that he expected to. He turned around and called the Jedi's weapon to his hand and went after the senator.
Nar Shaada
Leia moved her way through the crowd of the party serving drinks and waiting for an opportunity to make her move. Gardulla was sitting overseeing the party surrounded by her henchmen. The party was larger than Leia had expected but it didn't matter; an opportunity would present itself sooner or later. Leia silently cursed herself for not thinking to bring poison with her as it would have made the task much easier. As she looked around she noticed several of the guards were being less than professional and sneaking drinks in here and there. She was sure this would make the job easier in the end when it was time to escape. The party started to thin out in the early morning hours and Leia made her way back to the kitchen deciding once everyone had passed out she would kill Gardulla in her sleep and slip out of the palace.
When she reached the kitchen the man in charge of the servants grabbed her and informed her Gardulla wished to have a snack before she went to sleep and gave Leia a tray of something that looked like large black slugs. Leia took the tray and was surprised to see that the palace was already quiet as most of the party goers had either passed out or had already left. Here and there small groups still lingered and half the guards were on the brink of passing out themselves.
Leia came to Gardulla's quarters and announced her presence and that she had the crime lords snack. The Hutt commanded her to enter. As she entered the large ornate room Leia noticed all of the Hutts cronies were passed out from too much to drink. As she got closer to the Hutt she was told to place the tray on a table nearby and that she would be called when Gardulla wanted it removed. As she put down the tray she turned as her lightsaber dropped from her sleeve. With a movement so fast it was a complete blur she impaled the purple blade between the Hutts eyes killing her instantly. Looking around she noticed the sudden the commotion had gone unnoticed. She deactivated her lightsaber and quietly left the palace.