Chapter 3

Ahsoka sighed as she threw herself down into the co-pilot seat. She crossed her arms and put up her feet against the control board, "Three days on this pathetic excuse of a planet and they found nothing. What a waste of time."

Anakin sat next to her in the pilot seat of the ship they had borrowed, The Swarm. "Ahsoka we may not even be on the right planet. They're searching on planets with high crime rates and some other teams are following up on some leads. Whether they are reliable, I don't know. It may take time to find these freaks." He looked at her in some effort to comfort her. He knew that she was taking the search for the Strangers hard and it was exhausting for her. Not that he blamed her at all. He felt the same, he was just better at hiding it than she was.

Ahsoka let out a deep breath and Anakin assumed she was trying to calm herself down. "I know that. It's just frustrating that I wasted three days of my life that I'll never get back because I was pretending to be your little servant girl while the rest of your "servants" ran around trying to find some clues like on some children's show." She huffed, "Being undercover sucks."

Anakin just rolled his eyes and started up The Swarm. It ran a lot faster than the Twilight but Anakin missed his ship that was currently being repaired. He would've liked to have done it himself but he just couldn't find the time these days.

After a few moments of silence he sighed before speaking softly, "We'll find them, Ahsoka. We will. It just might take time and we have to accept that. I don't like doing this anymore than you do."

She sighed too and looked him the eyes, "I know, I'm sorry, Master. I just want to take these maniacs down. What they're doing is awful and it makes me feel sick just thinking about it…"

Anakin was happy that she was opening up to him a little. It wasn't often that Ahsoka spoke about her negative feelings. He figured it would do her some good to get them out of her system by speaking about them.

"We'll find them. When we get back to the temple, we can do our report back to the council and we'll just go to our quarters and relax okay?" He said gently, treading carefully with his words.

She nodded her head and closed her eyes, hoping to get a bit of sleep before they arrived back at the temple.

It seemed like her eyes had only been closed for two minutes when they landed back on Coruscant. She groaned groggily and rubbed her eyes, "Did I even fall asleep?" She asked sleepily.

Anakin laughed, "Yeah you did – for two hours. You were out like a light." Ahsoka noticed he seemed a bit more cheerful than he was earlier. He was seemed less serious and even less stressed.

"Doesn't feel like it." She mumbled and stood up slowly, still rubbing at her eyes. She swore she had only been asleep for two minutes. It must have been one of those sleeps where you know you're awake but then you drift off a little and when you wake up you feel like you didn't sleep at all. She was convinced she just had her eyes closed for two hours, but not actually sleeping.

Anakin's comm buzzed and he rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what was coming. "Skywalker."

"Report to the council with the details about your assignment." Mace's voice sounded through the tiny speaker on the comlink.

Anakin rolled his eyes again. "Why does he even have to tell me? It's not like we don't have to report to the council after every mission we do. It's basic routine, why does he have to comm me every time?"

Ahsoka laughed a little at her masters rant.

He gave her an unimpressed look, "What's so funny?" He grumbled, picking up his walking speed a little, making it harder for the smaller girl to keep up.

Ahsoka smirked, barely noticing the change of speed, "Well, it's not you actually report to the council every time you're supposed to." She gave him the side eye.

Anakin narrowed his eyes at her and didn't reply, only making Ahsoka laugh even more. Of course she was right.

They soon arrived at the council chambers. Anakin resisted the strong urge to roll his eyes when he saw Mace's expectant face. Anakin was really starting to dislike him – as was Ahsoka. Something about him just rubbed Anakin the wrong way and he just didn't like it.

Anakin spoke before Mace had a chance too, knowing exactly what he was going to say. "We found nothing, Masters. Not even a clue and we heard nothing from the locals. We spoke with a wise man who the town indicated to be extremely knowledgeable – even he had never heard of the organisation. Have we heard anything from any other of the teams?" He crossed his arms and looked towards Mace quizzically.

Mace shook his head slightly, "The same. No one has found anything."

Ki-Adi-Mundi spoke up, stoking his beard, reminding Ahsoka a little of Obi-Wan, "A standard day after your departure we gathered up a new team. We selected the best members of each research team and made a new team. They are following an anonymous tip that we received a day after you and you and Padawan Tano left. The team are due to return tomorrow. We're confident that they will find something." He said optimistically.

Ahsoka raised a brow, "Wait a second… I thought we were keeping this secret from the media? Surely no one knows that we're searching for the Strangers so how did we receive a lead?" Ahsoka was beyond confused and she felt that anxious feeling in her stomach again. The topic surrounding the organisation just got stranger and stranger. Things just didn't seem to add up.

Ahsoka looked to her right when the holographic Kit Fisto started to speak, his accent still prominent even through the holographic system, "That's why we are doing everything we can to be extra careful with this one, Padawan. It is possible that someone found something and just thought they'd inform the Jedi, as we are peacekeepers." The hologram fizzled a little as Kit spoke, "We are optimistic about this tip."

Ahsoka felt a little more at ease but not enough to make her feel at all comfortable. A random tip is sent in – an anonymous one at that. That was strange anyway.

Ahsoka frowned when Kit Fisto's and Shaak Ti's holographic images started to flicker constantly, at least once or twice per second. Anakin noticed a few seconds after as well.

"What's going on?" Anakin questioned as the other council members noticed too.

Ahsoka's stomach dropped when she saw the flicker of a hologram appear in the middle of room, the exact same as the last time. She should've guessed as soon as she saw the mysterious flickering – not that she could've stopped it anyway.

Anakin stepped away from the hologram that now flashed in the middle of the council chambers.

Ahsoka didn't think her stomach could drop any further but apparently she was wrong. When the same mysterious criminal appeared in front of her for the second time this week she was actually surprised her stomach hadn't left her body.

All eyes were on the holographic man in the same creepy mask in the middle of the room. Ahsoka swallowed hard as he started to speak.

"You Jedi aren't very good at following orders, are you?" He asked rhetorically, shaking his head. "I did tell not to come looking for us again. If you had listened, we could've avoided this little meeting." He sighed mockingly, making out he actually cared, "No matter. It is you that has to pay the consequences now anyway."

Ahsoka could feel the tension in the room, similarly to the last time this maniac had paid them a visit. Consequences? What did he mean? Now she was anxious.

The man chuckled, "Nothing to say, huh?"

Ahsoka gasped – this was a live feed. It wasn't a pre-recorded hologram; he was speaking directly to everyone in the room.

Mace stood from his chair and started to speak but the man silenced him, putting his fingers to where his mouth would be under the mask, making a soft 'shush' noise. "I'm speaking, not you."

Mace slowly sat back in his chair, not taking his narrowed eyes off the hologram. His facial expression mirrored everyone else's in the room. Narrowed eyes with creased brows, all focussed directly on the flickering blue hue in the centre of the room.

The man chuckled, "Good boy." He mocked, "Now, I'm guessing you're wondering why I've contacted you again. I told you not to send out any more researchers. You still decided to do so. Which, honestly, isn't my problem." He shrugged as if it meant nothing to him, "You won't find us anyway. Fortunately for us, we found you."

Ahsoka took a shaky as she heard Anakin mumble something under his breath. She could almost sense the smirk on the monsters face, hidden under the dark, sinister mask.

Before anyone had the chance to speak, the image shown on the hologram moved, as if the masked man had picked up the machine that produces the holographic image.

Gasps echoed throughout the council room as six mutilated bodies were shown on the flickering blue holo-image. They were burnt, most of the hair on their heads missing and their facial features were almost gone. Ahsoka noticed one man missing all of his fingers on one hand and a woman with her leg bent at a sickening angle – the bone had pierced through the skin where it had snapped in two. Through all the blood that seemed to be splattered across the six people, Ahsoka recognised them to members of the research teams. This must be the team that was dispatched after Anakin and Ahsoka left Coruscant.

Ahsoka swallowed before speaking, trying to stop her voice from stammering, "That's a research team."

She understood why Anakin had been affected so much by the images he had seen previously. She felt sick, like she throw up this second.

The view on the hologram changed again and the Jedi were met with the masked face once again. "Well done, missy." He said, referring to Ahsoka. "I told you all that you would regret it if you sent out more. You didn't listen, so I took matters into my own hands. These six people died because of your actions. They had relatively quick deaths – they were strong in mind but not in body. Keep that in mind before you send out another team. The next lot will end up worse than these." He said before the image flickered away within a second.

Silence filled the room for a few moments.

Shaak Ti sighed. Ahsoka gazed at her as she spoke, "It's obvious that they are on our trail and they'll expect anything from us. We have no tricks up our sleeves. We need a plan of action if we're going to stop this organisation."

Plo Koon spoke up, "There isn't much we can do at this moment in time. We need time to think up an effective strategy. We cannot just leap back into this mess again or we may face even worse consequences." He looked around the council members and they all nodded in agreement.

Yoda tapped his walking stick on the floor gently, "Agree with Master Koon, I do. Time, we need. However, time, we do not have. Very unfortunate, this is. Very sorry I am, for the loss of their lives. Contact the families, we must." He closed his large eyes momentarily, a small moment of silent respect.

Anakin stepped forward a little, "Master's is there no way we can trace where this hologram came from? Maybe we can pick up signal and trace it back to the location? Or maybe even the planet?" He questioned.

Master Mundi spoke again, "We tried that the first time, Skywalker. They have managed to get a signal and hack into our holographic files. Strangely, they haven't stolen any information from the Jedi. All they have done is broken into our system through networks so they can send us these messages without being on a device we could possible trace."

Ahsoka looked at her master as he spoke, "We should still try to trace this new one too. This one may be easier because it was a live feed and not a pre-recorded hologram. They would need a stronger signal for that – it's worth a try." Anakin said, determined. Ahsoka could tell he wanted to take these monsters down as much as she did.

The Togruta felt dizzy after seeing those sickening images. She had no idea how someone could have it in them to do that sort of thing to someone else. To torture someone, mutilate them; listen to their screams and pleas for help.

How could someone do it? It made her sick to her stomach just thinking about. She felt the same about slavery – anything that involved inequality, in fact. How could someone think they are above someone for their race? How could someone order someone else around and not feel guilty about it?

Mace nodded in reply to Anakin's point, "I'll get one of our top electronics expects on it straight away. We have to be careful now. This short amount of time we have is crucial."

Ahsoka frowned, which fortunately went unnoticed by everyone. If Master Windu hadn't been so adamant about sending out more teams despite the threats – yes, the threats – those six innocent people would still be alive. They wouldn't have had to go through that unbearable torture. The Jedi wouldn't have to inform their poor families. She wasn't going to deny it – she did blame Master Windu. There was no planning put into the strategy and now they were paying the price for it. She wished she had spoken up before he made the overall decision.

"Go now, Skywalker and Padawan Tano. Rest, you must. Keep you both informed, we shall. Dismissed."

The master and Padawan bowed in unison and walked out of the council room.

Anakin noticed how quiet Ahsoka was being and he immediately knew what was wrong with her. He had felt the same after seeing horrific images similar to those that they had just been shown.

"Ahsoka," He said softly, "I wish you hadn't of seen that. It obviously couldn't be helped but…" He sighed, "I know that you're strong and you can handle it, okay? These are dark times and we have to be strong. I know it's hard."

"I know, Master. I really appreciate you being supportive. You weren't wrong when you said they were awful… I just can't get that image out of my head. You could barely recognise them! There was so much blood and it looked like acid had been poured over them…" Ahsoka spoke quietly, her eyes downcast. "And I'm sure you're worried sick about Padmé, as she might be a target."

Anakin stammered a little, which didn't go unnoticed by the Padawan. She chose to ignore it, however. She knew Anakin had his secrets and she respected it, in a way. It was a little irritating of course, as it made her feel like he didn't trust her all that much. She knew he was secretive and extremely stubborn so no matter what, he wouldn't tell her. Anakin swallowed visibly and said, "What do you mean?"

Ahsoka would've rolled her eyes if she didn't feel disheartened. "Well I know you and Padmé have been friends for a long time. I'm sure you'd be upset if something were to happen to her." Ahsoka said in an almost questionable way, a little confused as to why Anakin was even asking her such an irrelevant question. If someone you knew went missing you'd be worried and upset anyway.

"Oh, yeah, of course." He said quickly.

Ahsoka shook her head slightly as they carried on the walk back to their quarters. No doubt they'd be back in that blasted council room again within the next standard week.

Why did things have to get so complicated?

..

I know, I know. Another boring chapter. But like I said, it's sort of setting the scene and some action and other stuff will be happening very soon, so bear with me. Also so far a lot of the story has taken place in the council room so it's probably getting a bit repetitive. The council probably won't be in the next chapter anyway.

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