AN: Okay. This is a two parter, which means this story end in a cliffhanger. Therefore, I've decided to do an incentive simply so you all can't say I'm trying to torture you. Same as before. A certain number of reviews by a certain time and you all get an extra chapter. So let's see… There's going to be two quotas today.
Quota: 15 reviews by six o'clock eastern time
or
12 reviews and the actual war the war described at beginning of this chapter is based off of (I think it's obvious but who am I to know?) by four o'clock eastern time
So there it is people. It's whichever one happens first. Now that I'm done here, I've gotta to go study for my finals. A week and a half of school to go…
Read, enjoy, and review!
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Chapter Twenty
Vader was obviously and visibly irritated as he drove his men to work at maximum efficiency as they finished quelling the small civil war that had ensued months before. Ahsoka figured he might not have been so irritated if it weren't for two things. The mission had interrupted their efforts to find Shmi and Vader had uncovered the true cause of the war. The planet was ruled by a high council which in turn had smaller local governments, some bigger than others. Recently one the most sought after princesses of the planet was married off, and the princess and her new husband were given a small region to govern as a gift from the proud father. Everything was fine until one day, when the regional governor was away, one of the honored guests from the neighboring regions took his wife. Whether she was willing or not, no one was sure. But they did know that her husband called on his allying regional leaders, gathered a fierce army, and declared war on the region the man who had coveted his wife was from.
To say the least, Vader wasn't pleased at the fact that civil war had broken out because some man couldn't keep another man from carrying his wife off. Not only that, but the atrocities that had been committed in the name of that woman made a list longer and much worse than Vader's list of atrocities… At least that's what Vader said as most of the time he committed his so-called 'atrocities' in the name of peace or for some other viable reason. At least he hadn't started a civil war because some man had run off with his wife (Ahsoka scoffed at the thought. Any other time she would have pointed out his hypocrisy, but for the sake of their mission she decided not to remind him that part of the reason he turned to the dark side was to save his wife). To add to his ire, instead of trying to diffuse the situation, the high council became divided and took sides.
It had been a sticky situation to say the least, even with the Imperial army on the grounds. First they had to find the main driving forces of both armies and either capture or kill them. Vader managed to quell the defending side, but Ahsoka had the task handling the attacking region. When they learned their opponents weren't attacking, they took the opportunity to invade the region. She had narrowly missed saving a priestess from being raped right before the shrine of one of their holy deities, in front of the rest of the army. Her troops detained the men, killing anyone who seemed to be causing too much trouble before putting the priestess under direct protection of the empire.
That would have been the end of it if Vader hadn't found out what happened and that no one in the 'victorious' army had enough honor to stop it. Ahsoka hadn't even tried to stop him for two reasons. One was that she agreed with him, and next, even if she hadn't, she doubted he would have listened to her and would have only succeeded in getting him angry at her because she was willing to let such an atrocity slide.
Vader unleashed the Imperial Army on the entirety of both armies, not caring who got caught in the crossfire. Needless to say, they hadn't stood a chance and no one man was left alive, at least not to Vader's knowledge anyway. Ahsoka was sure there were a few stragglers. With both armies either annihilated or subdued (mostly annihilated), the high council sent their thanks for handling the situation and saving their planet from anarchy, adding that they wished to honor Vader. Ahsoka remembered feeling a mixture of bemusement, disbelief, outrage and finally resolve as Vader replied he would arrive shortly. When he cut the connection, he muttered something about, "Fickle, lying, backstabbing, traitorous hypocrites," (more or less. It had actually been much more vulgar) and then proceeded to go 'discuss' the terms of peace for the planet.
Ahsoka hadn't thought it necessary to kill them and so Vader as usual didn't make her partake of it and sent her back to the Executor to observe the situation from above.
But Ahsoka didn't plan on observing anything. She was spent after weeks of nonstop fighting and trying to quell a civil war, not counting the months they had spent carefully monitoring the situation. It wasn't until they got the report that someone had broke the terms of a truce before the truce could even be agreed upon that Vader and Ahsoka intervened, especially after they found out someone from the council had reignited the fight. Ahsoka groaned to herself and pushed all thoughts of the conflict out her mind as she went to take a shower.
Completely relaxed afterwards, she lied on the bed in one of her flimsy gowns. This was like fighting the Clone Wars all over again, but different. Back then she had been a Jedi and the situation wouldn't have been diffused so easily. The Jedi would have tried to talk the regions into peace themselves first. Then someone from one of the armies would have gotten angry at the interference and tried to kill the Jedi forcing them to defend themselves, which would have resulted in more fighting. It would have been likely that they wouldn't have even been able to end the war. The Jedi would have been forced to be retreat.
She had to give it to Vader though. His sometimes harsh methods got the job done. The Jedi used to berate him for his reluctance to talk when he thought it was obvious their opponent wasn't going to hear talking. But in this case it worked, though she admitted he could have at least left the high council alive even if he had to disband it.
Ahsoka was so into her own thoughts she didn't know she had dozed off until she sensed Vader coming into the room, obviously tired. But Ahsoka didn't feel the usual satisfaction he felt after finally overcoming an opponent or winning a battle. In fact, he seemed even more irritated, but it wasn't about the battle.
"Why are you back? Aren't you supposed to be overseeing the situation from below?" she asked.
"The generals can handle that. Even they can't start another war because of incompetence with the way I left that place," he muttered sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling off the remains of his suit, including the bulky boots leaving him in only his trousers. He sighed.
"What's your problem?" Ahsoka asked him sitting up.
He suppressed an irritated growl. "Nothing Ahsoka. I'm fine."
"Sure," Ahsoka replied dryly. "Are you hurt?"
"The usual soreness, but I'm fine other than that. Go back to sleep."
"Hard to do when your mood is slapping at my senses," she replied.
Vader decided not to answer her and instead said, "We'll be leaving tomorrow. We're going back to Coruscant."
"For what?" Ahsoka asked. She hated going back to Coruscant. The emperor was there…
"Empire day," he said in obvious disdain.
Ahsoka tilted her head a little, amazed that Empire day had rolled back around. When a person was in space all the time and on missions, the days could blur together. She hardly kept up with the passing of days anymore. It made it easier to cope with things sometimes.
Vader continued, "The emperor wants the empire's two greatest warriors there to celebrate it. Make sure you find something appropriate to wear."
"What's wrong with what I normally wear? I'm not some politician."
"You call what you normally wear appropriate to wear at a celebration like that? I'll give you the flexibility thing on the field, but it's hardly appropriate for such functions as this, especially since this will technically be your debut before the empire. It'll just feed the rumors," Vader replied.
"Fine," Ahsoka muttered and Vader nodded as he started to leave the room. "Where are you going?"
"Don't worry about it," Vader said to her. "Go back to sleep."
Ahsoka worried the most when Vader told her not to worry about something but she'd bother him about it later. It was likely he'd be much more agreeable the next morning.
He wasn't.
If anything, he was even more bothered. They set out a few hours later in a personal shuttle, leaving the Executor behind. He hadn't said anything other than what was necessary, and Ahsoka decided it wasn't the best time to ask him what was wrong. Instead she fell asleep, exhausted from their last mission. She awoke to find Vader shaking her awake, mask and all telling her she needed to get up and that he hoped she had found something else to wear.
She groaned as she went to put on the dress. She hated dresses like these. She had never told Vader and he never asked, but part of the reason Ahsoka always wore what most society might call skimpy and a little slutty was because of her predator nature and native torgruta culture. She couldn't help that she liked to wear revealing clothing. It was innate. Compared to what torgruta wore back on her home planet, especially the main hunters, she would be considered conservative. Ahsoka put on the black dress with a fitted bodice and open back that then flared into a flowing long dress that came all the way down to her feet. Then she put on a cloak that matched the material and clasped it with a silver broach. She finished the look with boots that were much dressier and had a higher, thinner heel than what she preferred.
Vader had landed the ship by then and was impatiently waiting on her with his arms crossed staring pointedly at the door.
"I'll never know how Padmé wore this stuff every day. It's so heavy," Ahsoka muttered moving to stand beside him.
Vader looked up at her at that point, and Ahsoka wasn't quite able to read his emotions on the matter, mostly because he had a guard on them for some reason. But the way he tilted his head made concerned her.
"What?" she asked. "Is it too much."
"N-No," he stuttered slightly. "It just… I guess I'm used to seeing you in a lot less."
Ahsoka smirked. "You like it better don't you?"
Vader didn't reply. He wanted to, of that much Ahsoka was sure. But something was stopping him. Ahsoka probed him again and though everything else was safely bottled away, he wasn't as carefully guarding one particular emotion and it surprised Ahsoka which one. Guilt.
"Vader," she started but he gestured for her to hush as he let the ramp down and they started down it together.
Ahsoka resisted the urge to turn back and run in to the ship. Sensing that she felt that way though, Vader put his arm on her back to keep her going along. Holo-news reporters were everywhere on the private landing pad where apparently governors, governesses, kings, and queens had landed earlier than them. But Ahsoka had a feeling that they were definitely getting more attention and more so because of her than the fact that the second in command to the empire had arrived. This was probably the first time the general public had seen her.
"We couldn't have come on a private landing bay or something?" she whispered looking at the ground.
"Believe me. This wasn't my idea. The emperor insisted on it," Vader muttered.
Ahsoka sighed as they went to the lift that would take them down the large stadium filled with the many people invited for the celebration of the rise of the empire. They didn't greet anyone, just went straight to the emperor's private seating area.
Vader sat stiffly with his arms crossed and didn't say a word in a manner that said he just wanted the day to be over. Ahsoka, hoping maybe she could coax him into telling her what the big deal was as he couldn't make a scene in public, placed a hand on one of his arms.
"What's your problem?" she asked. "You're so tense. Sure this isn't exactly flying into battle and taking out traitors, but it's not that bad. Why the bad mood?"
"I'm not in a bad mood. I just really don't want to be here," he said simply
"Liar," she said to him. "I know the difference between you losing patience and being in a bad mood."
"Many would say they coincide with each other," Vader commented with a hint of amusement.
"Many people don't know you," she replied. "So are you going to tell me?"
All amusement left as he simply put his left hand over hers for a moment and then gently placed her hand back in her lap. Ahsoka sighed. She'd leave him alone for now. Soon the event started and they were forced to sit through hours of speeches that upheld the empire. She resisted urge to yawn many times and then she resisted the urge to actually fall asleep. This was getting ridiculous.
Finally the time came for the emperor to make his speech and Ahsoka only half listened until he said, "But the peace and prosperity we have been blessed with-."
Hardly, Ahsoka thought and then felt Vader's eyes on her out the corner of his helmet. Ahsoka tensed. Maybe she had been thinking a little too loud. But he only looked back at the emperor. It was the same thing he used to do when she was his padawan some odd twenty years before and she would make some improper dry comment to him about a situation. He would look at her with a small smile and then act like he hadn't heard it.
"… would not have been possible without Lord Vader commanding our fleet and making sure that no one disrupts our peace."
Vader stood as was proper in these types of situations.
"But we must also thank his new second for her great contributions in the last two years in helping quell the rebellion that has risen up to oppose us. Without her, many of the recent victories the empire has had would have been much more difficult victories or maybe not even victories at all," the emperor said and gestured to Ahsoka
Stand up, Vader sent to her and Ahsoka slowly rose from her chair.
"Lady Pesinoé," the emperor introduced.
Ahsoka nearly forgot to breathe in her shock and then was forced to do so as she tried to suppress her fury at the man. How dare he act like everything was alright? Like they were all best friends and not plotting against each other…
Insufferable, wrinkled, hypocritical, manipulative corpse!
Vader putting hand on her back brought her back to what was going on as everyone in the audience had stood to clap for them. She felt like she was his padawan again standing next to him. People would thank him and then thank his young apprentice who had certainly proved herself worthy to be his apprentice. Yet she still felt insignificant standing next to him.
Palpatine calmed the crowd and they sat down again, Ahsoka feeling overwhelmed at everything. It wasn't until after they were dismissed, and it was time to go to the theater for the special opera that was being held in honor of the emperor that the feeling left and she remembered her rage. Vader was leading her to where one of his no doubt extensively modified speeders was parked as she brought it up.
"How dare he?" she muttered and then looked at Vader with her arms crossed. "Did you know about this?"
"Know about what?" he asked.
"Maybe you didn't notice, but he introduced me as… what was it? Lady Pesinoé." She spat the name as though it were poison. What was that all about?" she demanded.
"Get in," he said using the force to open her door.
Ahsoka slid in but didn't let up.
"No. Why did he do that?"
"Are you honestly shocked?" Vader replied simply.
"You're not?"
Vader didn't reply.
"Did you know about this?"
Vader again didn't reply.
"You did. Didn't you?"
"I didn't know he was going to do it. He's been pressing me for months to come up with something of a new identity for you. He said we couldn't let any remaining Jedi think that we were letting up on them and Ahsoka Tano was a Jedi, a very famous one might I add."
"I was a padawan," she commented.
"A padawan that reached a level of fame that not even I knew at your age just because you were the apprentice of the famed 'Hero with no Fear'," he said with a little disdain in his tone.
"That still didn't give him the right to change my identity."
Vader made a sound that sounded like a scoff.
"What?" Ahsoka asked hotly as she turned to look at him.
"If you haven't noticed, you're nowhere near the person you were when you were a padawan," Vader said.
"What do you mean?" she asked as he parked the speeder at the theater.
"Really Ahsoka, you won't admit it, but the person you used to be before the empire died the same day that-." Vader stopped.
"The same day as who?" she asked as he got out. She followed. "As who?"
"As what. I was going to say the republic."
"Then why did you stop?" Ahsoka asked.
"It's irrelevant," Vader dismissed and Ahsoka felt his mood go south again. "Regardless, you may still be Ahsoka Tano in name, but the person she used to represent is long dead, the Jedi she used to represent. It would be wise if you got used to your new name Pesinoé."
Vader walked ahead of her to go into the theater leaving Ahsoka staring after him. He was the most infuriating man she knew, but he wasn't just acting this way for the sake of bothering her. Something was seriously bothering him about today and for the life of her, Ahsoka couldn't figure it out. But she had the distinct feeling she should know, that she should understand this. She sighed and followed him into the theater. Now she couldn't wait for this day to be over simply because maybe Vader would go back to normal after this. He wasn't exactly forthcoming any other time, but at least she knew how to read him during those times.
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AN: So I took a few liberties with some things in this. And yeah… I ended up using the name from my other story. But I certainly doubted that the emperor would introduce Ahsoka by her real name. There's other stuff and tidbits, but I'm tired and I've got school.
Hope you enjoyed. Review Please!