Here's the Ahsoka story we promised. Takes place the night of the Purge. Enjoy!
Running
A young Togruta ran through the lower levels with her hood hiding her features. There were several other individuals running with her. Tears ran down their faces. They were running for their lives from the very people they had led countless times into battle. They all felt betrayed, but none more than the teenage Togruta.
They found an abandoned warehouse and ducked inside. They collapsed on the ground or watched the windows as they tried to catch their breath. There were nine humans, three Rodians, a Shistavanean, two Zabraks, three Twi'leks, and the female Togruta. Nineteen in all and for all they knew the last of their own. The last of the Jedi.
The Rodians were the only knights among them. The rest were padawans who had lost their masters. One of the humans stood up and walked over to the Togruta.
"Great! Just great! Your master just caused the downfall of the Jedi! Some chosen one! What, did you guys plan this? Huh?!" he yelled.
The Togruta, sitting down on the floor with her back against a crate, looked up to meet his gaze. Her eyes were swollen with tears and she looked so beaten. The man stopped glaring at her. One of the Rodian knights walked over and pushed him aside.
"Enough! If it hadn't been for her, we would've been slaughtered by the clone troopers." he said.
A Twi'lek female scooted over to the Togruta. "Ahsoka? Are you okay?"
Ahsoka looked down at the ground and brought her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. "I…I…" She couldn't say anything.
"Narin, she's not well. Her master just betrayed the entire order and slaughtered Jedi he fought beside and called allies. She feels confused and lost." the Rodian said.
Ahsoka's mind was a mess. She recalled being at the temple waiting for her next assignment when she had felt something horrible about to occur in the Force. She had looked out a window to see a large force of the 501st Clone Troopers marching up to the temple. She saw her master in front leading them into the temple. She had taken off for the entrance. Her first thought was that her master was bringing the troopers in to protect them. Then she felt a great wave of death in the Force.
She stopped on the winding staircase she was on and saw the troopers break ranks and began to shoot the Jedi. Old or young, it didn't matter. She saw her master draw his lightsaber and easily defeated Jedi after Jedi. She felt the anger in him and the death of her friends. She felt sorrow and confusion. She didn't know what to do. So she ran.
She had stumbled across the Jedi who were with her now. They were cornered by a group of troopers and were being shot at. Six of them had been killed before she had jumped down from the level she was on and attacked the troopers. She didn't know what had happened, but she was looking down on the scene at first and the next she was standing in the middle of dead troopers with her green blade shimmering in the darkness.
She had gotten the others out of the temple and passed the blockades set by the troopers. She had motioned for them to halt just as they had gotten to the outer edges. She had seen troopers escorting Jedi, but not as prisoners. Before she could do anything, she had to hide when she saw Rex among them. Fearing he was also apart of the traitorous events occurring, she brought everyone down to the lower levels. Now here they were, trying to figure out what to do.
The male Rodian, Falor, was acting as the leader among them. The other Rodians supported him, but remained silent in all this. The humans and the other two Twi'leks followed their lead, but the Shistavanean, Zabraks, and Narin seemed to think Ahsoka should be their leader. But with her shaken up as she was, she was in no condition to do so yet.
They ended up settling in the warehouse. They had managed to make it to this place without being followed and had traversed almost 50 kilometers from the temple. They would be safe for awhile. Three people would be night guards and switch shifts throughout the night. Each night it would change so that no one was stuck with it. They searched the warehouse to find anything useful. Turns out it was a supply warehouse filled with food, water, and useful gadgets and equipment meant for emergencies such as invasion or shortages. This meant that no one would be coming here.
They had a small dinner and set up a holonet set before going to sleep for the night. Ahsoka was lucky to not be on watch duty, but she fell into a fitful sleep.
Morning of the Next Day
The group had woken up a few hours after sunrise and was rummaging through some containers of clothing while Falor and the other Rodian knights went out to see what info they could gather and to see if they could find anymore Jedi. Ahsoka, Narin, the other Twi'lek girl Zari, and the three female humans found some plain clothing normal people wore and switched their Jedi outfits for them. Ahsoka had found some loose tan clothing and had made a simple look that gave off the feeling of being poor but not down in the dumps. The pants were slightly loose on her, with the tunic she picked out better fitted to her chest. She kept her Jedi boots, but sprayed them with a tan coating of paint. The look was complete with the tan sash around her waist and the hood that hung from the back of her tunic.
"Ahsoka, here are some gloves that would go with what you're wearing." one of the humans, Asila, said, handing a pair of tan fingerless gloves to her. She accepted them and replaced her red ones with them. The rest of the girls, all of them teenagers, had dressed similar to her with some variations in their choices. When finished they returned to the boys to find them dressed in similar tan clothing.
"Seems we all agree its' better to hide in lighter clothing than in dark clothing." a male human, Raso, commented. He was sitting with the Shistavanean Ryor, tuning the holonet channels and trying to get a news channel.
"Darker clothing stands out and just screams 'Hey I'm hiding something!'" a male human, Darin, said. He grinned at this and managed to get a smile from everyone.
Ahsoka went over to a crate full of some type of fruit from a far away planet named Saldira. The fruit was sweet and as large as her fist. She picked one up and sat down against what she called her spot. Everyone else thought of it as her pity spot.
As she took a bite of the fruit, she sensed Falor and four others returning to the warehouse. She looked to the others and made a signal to watch the doors. Two of the humans walked over and stood to either side. First to come through was Falor, followed closely by two kids huddled close together. Last to enter were the other two Rodians. Making sure no one had followed them the humans closed the door behind them. The young kids, a boy and a girl, seemed to relax when they saw everyone there.
"This is Raki and Salira. They are twins that managed to escape the temple massacre when they had snuck out to explore the city." Falor explained. "They saw the temple's destruction this morning and almost went to the Army Barracks to ask what had happened. We managed to get them before they did."
Ahsoka looked at the twins. They had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Raki's hair was cut short and close to his head while Salira's was pulled into a ponytail that came down just below her shoulders. They wore plain civilian clothing made of red and white cloth. Their boots were muddy and worn out. She saw them smiling at their fellow Jedi and couldn't help but smile. She had thought all the younglings were killed.
Salira saw her and crossed over to where she was. "Are you Ahsoka?"
"Yes I am."
"Master Plo Koon told me stories about you. He kept saying how brave and strong you were. I always wanted to meet you."
Ahsoka smiled. She held out her hand to her and they shook hands. "Now we've met."
Salira returned the smile and sat down next to her. Ahsoka broke off a piece of the fruit and handed it to her. She started to nibble it.
"Word on the holonet is that the Jedi tried to pull a coup de taut on the Chancellor. Masters Kit Fisto, Mace Windu, and two others attempted to kill him, but the Chancellor and his new right hand Darth Vader killed them. Afterwards, Anakin Skywalker led the attack on the temple. He was named as the only loyal Jedi to the Republic and pardoned of any suspicious actions. It was discovered later that he was killed after being sent on a mission to destroy the Separatist leaders, which ended in success." one of the Rodians reported.
"There is no longer a Republic. It's the Empire and Imperial Army now. The clones that attacked us last night, the 501st. They're now Vader's Fist, the elite of the Army." Falor said. "A bounty is being put up for any and all Jedi found. Preferably dead, but if any are captured alive then it's just as good. Masters are wanted dead, Knights dead or alive, and Padawans are to be brought in alive."
The group seemed solemn at the news. That means that if they were discovered, they would be captured. Except that the Knights would rather die than be captured. Ahsoka stood up and stretched. She grabbed a satchel and looped it around her shoulder.
"Where are you going?" Falor asked.
"I need to get some air. I'll be back later at nightfall." Ahsoka answered.
"Don't go alone. Take someone with you."
"I'll go." Narin volunteered.
"Same here." a human male, Jeru, said.
Falor nodded. Ahsoka, Narin, and Jeru walked out the small entrance behind the warehouse and proceeded towards the recreational district. Several people of all species and races were about, so they blend into the crowd well. Ahsoka found a small pub and went inside. Narin and Jeru watched as Ahsoka sat down at a stool on the table and ordered a ryll drink. The bartender hesitated, but when she slid a hundred credit piece towards him he pocketed it and gave it to her.
"Ahsoka, what're you doing?" Narin asked.
"What's it look like? I'm unwinding."
"Ahsoka! You shouldn't drink that! We were raised better than that!" Jeru said.
She looked back at them and raised the drink to her lips. Before either one could stop her, she drained the glass and set it down. They both gaped at her as she ordered another round of the alcohol. Narin breathed a sigh and sat down on her left side.
"What's up Ahsoka? You never did stuff like this at the temple."
As Jeru sat down on Ahsoka's right, she had finished half of the second glass. "Everything's different now. My master betrayed us and got killed carrying out the deeds of stupid Palpatine. All of my friends are dead, including my masters and family. There's no one left. We're hiding from the ones we used to protect and fearing every minute."
"But Ahsoka, there's still hope. We're your friends and we're still here. We're your family." Narin said.
"Yeah. That's true. But this is still my fault. If I had paid more attention to how my master was acting, then maybe I could've…"
"Stop." Jeru commanded.
Ahsoka and Narin looked at him with their eyes open in a surprised gesture.
"This is not and can never be blamed on you Ahsoka. You never knew of this and even when you were hurt and confused you rescued us from the clone army. It was both frightening and awesome. You went into this state where you were nothing but the Force. The Force surged through you and guided you in everything you did. You killed them, but you saved us. If that was an evil deed, then I never want to become good."
Jeru managed to get a smile from Ahsoka. She bowed her head over the bar and mumbled something. "Excuse me?"
"Thanks. Both of you. I needed that."
Narin rubbed Ahsoka's back. She was about to say something when her lekku twitched. She looked towards the doorway to see something white gleaming just outside. "Danger."
Ahsoka and Jeru looked towards the doorway to see stormtroopers walking in. All three of them pulled their hoods up before the troopers spread out through the bar. Three of them, one of which looked to be a sergeant, approached the bar and motioned for the bartender to come speak with him.
"This is an Imperial Search Warrant for the W-45G7 sector. Are you the owner of this establishment?"
"Yes sir."
"We got word that there are Jedi hiding in this sector. Do you know of any Jedi hiding in this area or in this building?"
Ahsoka watched as the man shook his head. "Sorry, no idea. If you do find some give them hell for me will ya?"
"Of course, sir. We still need to conduct a search of your establishment."
Before the bartender could say anything, two of the troopers pushed him aside and went into the back. The sergeant looked around until his eyes landed on them. Or at least his helmet was looking at them. He approached them and rested his hand on his blaster.
"ID chips please."
Ahsoka and Narin handed their fake IDs over and Jeru did after a moment of ruffling through his pockets. The sergeant scanned them and returned the chips back.
"Zarisi and Sani Varinto, adoptive daughters of Badiro, and Gredaro, their watcher. A little young to be keeping an eye on two teenage girls aren't we?"
"Trained to keep people in line since I was four, sir. The better you train, the better the service you get." Jeru answered.
"Isn't it always?" the sergeant said. "Well, thank you for your time."
The trooper moved away from them and scanned the room again before approaching another group of teenagers. When he asked for their ID chips, one of the females reached into a shoulder bag and rummaged around in it. Something fell out. Before it had even hit the ground, the trooper brought his blaster up and pointed it at her.
"JEDI!"
The sergeant's cry was heard by his troopers, who turned towards them with blasters and blaster rifles raised. The teenager and her four friends pulled out lightsabers and attacked the troopers.
Ahsoka and Narin stood up, but were pulled back by the back of their tunics behind the counter. Jeru had yanked them back and put his hands on theirs.
"Don't. We can't do anything. We have to get out of here." he said.
Ahsoka looked back over the counter. She knew he was right, but she still wished she could do something. The girl who had dropped her lightsaber and one of her companions were lying on the ground dead. The last three had been separated and were deflecting blaster bolts as fast as possible.
Her eyes were drawn to one of the humans. He had his face wrapped up, but his eyes seemed to draw her in. He had golden eyes that gave off something more. She wasn't sure what it was.
Then she was being rushed out the back door. Night was almost upon them. A crowd of people were rushing back and forth. The fight inside was drawing a large crowd. Ahsoka had trouble keeping up with Narin and Jeru. A loud bang sounded and she turned to see the body of two troopers and a Jedi slam into a building and lay down were they landed. The last two Jedi jumped through a hole in the wall that had been made by a grenade thrown by a trooper. They took off towards the western end of the district. With a quick nod from Narin and Jeru, Ahsoka and company took off after them. They made sure to keep their distance, but close enough to keep up with them.
A lone trooper was still trailing them. He was struggling, but keeping the two escaping Jedi in sight. Jeru hit the comm jammer on his wrist so the trooper couldn't call in his buddies. They kept going for a few dozen meters before they saw one of the Jedi take a hit and fall. The golden eyed Jedi stopped to help his friend, but was hit in the shoulder. The trooper stopped right by them, keeping enough distance to where the injured Jedi couldn't get him.
"Got you, Jedi scum. Now just turn off the jammer you've got or I start making this even more painful than it is." the trooper said, pointing his rifle at the badly injured Jedi.
"What do you mean? You're jamming us!" the golden eyed Jedi said.
The trooper cocked his head in confusion. Then Ahsoka and Jeru tackled him. He was twice their size and managed to toss Jeru off. He slammed Ahsoka down on the ground and pulled out a blaster aimed at her.
"Stand down civilian! These are criminals of the Empire. Or are you one of them? That's it you must be a…" He stopped short of what he was saying and fell forward. Ahsoka squirmed to get out from under him. She got up and saw that Jeru had pulled a blaster on the trooper.
"Where'd you get a blaster?" Ahsoka inquired.
"At the warehouse. When we agreed to put our lightsabers in the crate with anything else that might identify us as Jedi, some of the guys went looking for anything we could use as a discreet weapon. They found these blasters. Lightweight, silent, easy to reload, and easy to hide. Perfect for us." Jeru answered.
"Guys? Some help lease." Narin said. They looked to see her turning the fallen Jedi over. It was a teenage girl with short blond hair. The golden eyed Jedi had stood up and was standing over them. Ahsoka and Jeru walked over to them.
"Are you ok?" Ahsoka asked.
The golden eyed Jedi nodded. "We're fine thanks to you, but our friends…"
"I'm sorry. We couldn't do anything at first. Too many people around." Jeru apologized.
The girl had a wound that had gone through her side. It was a clean shot so there wasn't any blood. The wound had closed up immediately, but if she didn't get treatment soon she would develop a fever. She smiled weakly up at Ahsoka.
"Hello Padawan Tano." she said weakly.
"You know who I am?"
"Yes. I know you from when Master Plo trained our youngling class. I'm Ximina."
"Oh! I remember you. Glad to see you made it through the attack."
After quickly making sure her wound was wrapped up, they decided to go to the place Ximina and her companions had been hiding since it was closer than the warehouse. They slowly made it to the location and went to the door. Ahsoka, Narin, and Jeru gave their new companions a look of questioning.
"What's up?" the golden eyed Jedi asked.
"Why are we at a club?" Jeru asked.
"Well…" he started to answer, but then the door opened. A large man stood in the doorway.
"About time you got back! Who are these folks? Where are the others? Never mind, just get in here!"
They were ushered inside and stopped short when they came face to face with twelve individuals aiming rifles and blasters at them. They relaxed when they saw Ximina and moved to take her to a sofa. She didn't resist and let the doctor look at her wound and clean it. The others were grouped around the Jedi, waiting for some answers.
"Guys, first things first. These are more Jedi. This is Ahsoka, Narin, and Jeru." the golden eyed Jedi explained. "They rescued us when we were attacked by clone troopers. That's what happened. The army is sweeping the eastern recreational district VF-4610. We were in a bar hiding from them when they entered. Sarina accidentally dropped her lightsaber and all hell broke loose. We were the only ones to get away. But there was a lone trooper after us. We were injured and then rescued by our new friends. Their hideout is a few more kilometers from here so we said they could come here for the night."
The people seemed solemn at the news of the dead Jedi. Then the doctor rose up from Ximina. She turned to the large man who had let them in.
"She'll be fine. The wound hasn't festered and the shot just skimmed a few nerves. It didn't hit anything vital. She just needs some rest."
"That's good. You two, take her to the back den area. We need to get ready to open."
Two of the men gently lifted Ximina and carried her to a room in the back. The others began to light the place and turn on some of the machines behind the counter. Some took up spots in the kitchen behind the bar or up on the stage. The golden eyed Jedi motioned for Ahsoka and the others to follow him into the back.
"In return for putting us up here, we help them run the club. Any of you good with cooking, waiting on people, or singing?" he asked.
"I can wait on people." Narin offered.
"I know how to cook." Jeru answered.
"I…" Ahsoka stated. She thought about it. She never was very patient and she only knew a couple of quick meal recipes. So that left…
"She knows how to sing." Narin said. "She sung a few songs at the temple before."
"But that was only for the younglings. I don't know how good I can be for a club." Ahsoka said.
"Doesn't matter. You'll be fine!" the golden eyed Jedi said. He pointed to where each of them needed to go and went to his place on the stage where he sat down with a flute of some type. She shot a quick glare at Narin who smiled and returned to her work.
A few minutes later the club was open and packed. She was up on the stage nervously thinking of a song to sing. She looked to Gold Eye (since she still didn't know his name that was what she called him) and got an encouraging nod from him. She smiled and when they started to play a soft melody she began to sing a Jedi lullaby. Time seemed to slow down and she lost track of time. She was only aware of the music and the sound of her voice.
A few hours later
Ahsoka and the others were cleaning up the club. Everyone had kept congratulating Ahsoka on her singing. The club's customers had kept applauding her throughout the evening. She relaxed on the sofa in the back with Ximina. Once everyone else had gathered, they had a light dinner.
"Hey Gold Eye, so what's up with you and the head wrap?" Ahsoka asked when they were finished and having a sweet from Corellia for dessert.
"Huh? Oh you mean me!" the golden eyed Jedi said. He leaned back in his chair and began to unwrap his head. "First off, since I never did introduce myself my name is Zarin. The reason for my head gear is this."
He unwrapped his head and faced them. He had black hair that was cut short and close to his head. It was spiked. The true bizarre things were the other features on his face. He had pointed ears, gold spots running across his face and under each eye, and fangs. Ahsoka starred in wonder of Zarin. She immediately realized she was doing so and blushed.
"I am an Asarian. My people are extremely rare and usually can only be found on the outer rim. If I were discovered, I would be hunted by Palpatine."
"Just how rare are your people?" Jeru inquired.
"Besides me, there was only one other Asarian Jedi. He was my master and died during the Temple Assault. Last known numbers of my people were about a thousand and three hundred. But that was about ten years ago. No idea how much there are now."
Ahsoka looked at him with sadness. Then confusion hit her. "Why is your population so low?"
"Asarians are…force users. We never bothered to build lightsabers so we couldn't be called Jedi, but whenever we had our own planet to call home we built the bows of energy. We used large crystals called Varyl Crystals and shaped them into bows. Then we'd take a Salari crystal to use as our version of a lightsaber crystal and put it into the center of the bow. With the bond between the two crystals complete, we'd call on the force as we moved our hand back from the center of the bow to our shoulder and an arrow of energy just like a lightsaber would form. The rest is history."
"Why haven't the Asarians ever been heard of before?" Narin asked.
"We were at one time very well known. Back when the republic fought against the Mandalorian hordes. We served the Mandos and fought the Jedi. But then we realized what the Mandos were doing and we asked to withdraw from our alliance with them. But they thought we were going to serve the republic and refused to accept this. They launched a surprise strike on our homeworld. Our military forces were returning whenever the raid was taking place.'
"While our small fleet tried to combat the Mandos, our transports evacuated all civilians they could. But it was a massacre. Only twelve cruisers and five small transports escaped. Just a little more than six thousand. It became a sport to hunt Asarians and over the last several millennia our population has dwindled."
"Was there ever any hope for your people to revive and grow again?" Ahsoka asked.
"There was a rumor going around of the return of Asarians, but those things always go around." Zarin answered. Ahsoka saw something gleam in his eyes. He knows something, but he isn't saying.
Everyone said goodnight and headed for their rooms. Zarin and Ximina led Ahsoka, Narin, and Jeru up to their room. There were three bunks in the room. Narin grabbed a top bunk with Ximina on the bottom. Jeru grabbed the top bunk of another, but it fell through on top of the other. When they were done laughing, Ahsoka jumped up to the remaining top bunk and Zarin the lower. Soon all the others had fallen asleep. Except for Ahsoka and Zarin.
"Zarin?"
"Yeah Ahsoka?"
"Do you know something about your people? You seemed to be a little out of it when I asked earlier."
"I hope Ahsoka. I really do. But when an Asarian becomes a Jedi, we pretty much loose contact with the rest of our people."
"Sorry. Goodnight Zarin."
"Goodnight Ahsoka." When Zarin was sure Ahsoka fell asleep, he reached underneath his tunic and pulled out a necklace. "I wish I could say everything. But other than knowing where my people are gathering to hide, I can't say I know. And where they're going you might not like." Hanging from the necklace was a Mandalorian mythosaur skull. The same skull symbol used on most Mandalorian war machines, weapons, and armor.
Did you like it? DID YA? Reviews people!