Chapter 2

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My orders were clear; I was to secure the ground, as it was, and report any movement directly to my superiors.

That's right; Asajj Ventress, Supreme Commander of the Separatist incursion into Shili had given me superiors. They were droids, to add insult to injury, a common battle-droid commander named "xex" and an astro-mech named, I kid you not, "Stinky."

…It's as though she wants me to kill her.

I told them the basics; the natives here were a bunch of mud-dwelling, scum sucking, bottom of the ladder apes with little-to-no level of technology. It would be easier than baby-sitting a toddler.

I had just sat back in my commander's chair to check our security cameras when I saw it; one of the "backwards apes" was sneaking onto my ship!

I cursed. This was practically impossible! First, that the planet's defenses had managed to actually rip a hole in Invisible Hand's hull, secondly, that one of these so-called "Togruta" was brave enough to sneak on, and thirdly that I would have to deal with it myself!

I rose from my chair, ordering my Magna guards to follow me. There was little reason to suspect that the intruder was an actual danger. Before landing, I had gone through and secured every vulnerable part of the ship with a complement of guards, no one, and I mean no one was going to seriously damage this place. Even Obi Wan Kenobi would have difficulty cutting through my army.

I brought up a read-out of my ship. The intruder had to be some sort of master spy, avoiding detection by going through redundant areas, completely avoiding any important sections.

"Where is he going?" I demanded. The droids beeped and blurped worriedly trying to supply me with an answer. The dot on the screen seemed to bounce around without any real goal in mind. He was heading for…

Personnel quarters?

It made no sense. There were, at best, two dozen living beings on this ship at any given moment. Discounting any visiting dignitaries, myself or Ventress, we occasionally housed volunteers, but only rarely. I pulled up a list of recent guests. Besides the count, only generals had stayed in that area.

Finally, the dot stopped moving. I recognized the room, how could I not? It was filled with the galaxy's greatest assortment of trophies; weapons, hides, and antiques. How could it not be so? For the room was mine!

I hissed angrily, summoning a detachment of droids from the elsewhere on the ship. They took my orders, rushing to my room in haste.

"Magna guards!" I howled, "I will deal with this myself!" They obediently followed me out of the room and into the corridor.

I stalked my way to my room, focusing on a battle-plan. There was no way this was an accident. Although there was no discernable reason for all the bouncing and stopping of this intruder, it was obvious to me that he was an expert spy- likely an assassin sent to kill me. Well! He had another thing coming!

When we reached my room, I paused, willing my battle prowess forward, and praying for the blessing of my ancestors. They had been silent for a long time, which bothered me. When fighting the Huk, I almost constantly felt their battle-spirit with now. Now that I fought to avenge them and their descendants, they were strangely absent. Oh well, a question for another time.

I burst into my room, drawing all four lightsabers at once, yelling a battle-cry! My guards rushed in after me, ready to take the intruder by surprise!

We then came face-to-face with… a youngling?!

Chapter three

I was not amused. This, many of my coworkers have informed me, is not an unusual state in which to find me. But now, I was less amused than usual. The youngling could not have been more than ten, if Togruta females aged like Kalee. It was odd to me that, if my mate and I had a child, it would roughly be this… thing's age. Such thoughts were not conducive to my work.

The child was quiet, expect to whisper, "Shiny" occasionally. At its feet was a collection of various parts- from the ship, from the droids and from…

Oh no.

I withdrew to my private area. This couldn't be happening. In the far corner of the room was my 'bed'- its wires sizzling intermittently. A small scream of rage threatened to break forth. I suppressed it.

My dream machine was in shambles.

When the I.B.C. turned me into a cyborg, they had ripped so much away from me that I needed a special machine to sleep. I could go days without it, but, still being flesh, I required its help to rest. Now… now it was only a matter of time before I went mad.

"Sir?" Asked a droid, "What should we do with the intruder?"

It was a good question. My first impulse was to just walk out of the room and attend to my duties. There was nothing to be done here. The damage was permanent. This dream machine was specially built for me. I could not just have worker droids repair it. It would not hurt to let them have a look, but it appeared as though this particular model was wrecked.

I turned on the child. She was small, barely large enough to carry…

"Shiny…!" She gave me a small smile, and held out the broken parts to me. My eyes widened in understanding. That was the connection between all the places this intruder had gone; only living quarters would attract the eyes of a small child- and my room, with it vast assortment of relics was a prime spot for a curious youngling.

"Shiny," I sighed in exasperation. This was no spy, just a small child whose desire was to pull out anything shiny. It was a coincidence she had found my room. And, as it so happens, my dream machine was quite 'shiny'. Frustration built up as the thought that my defeat may come, accidentally, at the hands of a child!

She looked at me, smile fading, "Don't like?"

I wanted to rip her guts out, but that would be… wrong. And underwhelming. Such a killing was beneath a warrior of my might and power.

"I don't like," I answered honestly, "Take her to the brig."

I looked about my room once more. It took four minutes for repair bots to reach me, and six more minutes for them to confirm what I already knew; my machine was 'toast'. And yes, that is the technical term for it.

I had wasted enough time on a mere child. My services were required on the ground. I positioned cannons, aligned the ships, and counted unloaded crates. All these jobs were beneath me, of course, but there were very, very few things in this galaxy that were worthy of my attention. Therefore I did these things without complaint. Besides which, the longer I worked the less I would have to deal with-

"General!" Barked Asajj Ventress. I let out a weary sigh.

"Yes, Commander?"

"Do you have the intruder?" She screamed.
"Of course!" I growled back.

"Good! There is a delegation from the village approaching; I want you to deal with them as I will be too busy!"

"Busy?"

"Busy destroying their village, Asajj out."

She cut the transmission. Of course.

I hated politics, and dealing with ambassadors of any sort. And yet now I had to deal with backwater apes who thought this new 'Wheel-thingy' was a revolutionary idea. I stomped out into the mud and waited for the visitors to arrive. My perimeter guard droids stood down upon my orders, allowing the… one, two, three four… five…- Individuals to pass, unscathed, to me.

I bowed, and bid them welcome- which was a lie because nobody wanted them to be here, not even the delegation itself. We all knew what would happen next; they would boost my ego and destroy their own, praise the Separatist cause as noble, thank us for any gifts we may bring them (unlikely, by the way) before making the statement along the lines of, "We don't want this fight in our neighborhood."

In simpler terms, this was another typical planetary invasion. Funny to think my own people had never really tried this technique. I tried not to think about what that said about us and our failure to protect our homes. And I refuse to see myself as ANYTHING like the vile Huk! They took our homes and our children without second thought, lying to their elite masters in the corrupt senate!

I stopped them somewhere between them calling Dooku 'the benefactor of systems' and themselves, 'lower than worms in dirt'.

"This war is over. My commander has already reduced your village to rubble."

Four of the Togruta turned to look at a cloaked one in the back.

"You're… not in charge?"

I sighed wearily, "I find it hard to believe as well."

I turned to leave, listening to their whining sounds. Every species seems to make them them when we show up. Weakness, that's all it is. Just weakness.

"Great general!" called a young voice. I turned to find the robed figure prostrating on the ground. The rest of the group seemed very surprised to see this. It seemed worthy of my attention. She continued," We are missing a youngling. She is but a few standard years, and dangerously curious. We know she was playing near this field when your ships landed can you tell us….?"

Her words died in the air. They wanted to know if the child was dead. I paused. Lying to her did me no good, but then, neither did telling the truth. I turned my full attention to her. That voice… sounded familiar. And her presence, as well, something I haven't…

"Enemy incursions into the compound are dealt with personally, by me," I belt out in my gravelly voice. I see everyone else draw away in fear, but the girl on the ground clenches her fists in anger.

"We are not your enemies!" She insisted, "Please-!"

"You are all my enemies!" I screamed. My right arm grabbed her by the throat, lifting her off the ground, her hood fell back, "Jedi!"

Her pained face was all-too familiar to me. And mine to her, I am sure.

"I am no Jedi!" Screamed Ahsoka Tano.

I laughed deeply, "Truly? Ahsoka Tano? Are you not the apprentice of Jedi master Anakin Skywalker? Hmmm….?"

She struggled for a moment. I drew my lightsaber, "I do not ask that you beg for your life, it would take away from my victory, but you may beg if you so desire!" I laughed again.

She gasped for air. Her hand reached out, and one of the lightsabers on my belt flew into her hand by the Force. I immediately dropped her. Gasping for air, she rolled backwards, and we dueled.

"Guards!" I ordered, "Take these prisoners to the brig!" I attacked. She was no match. Spinning away, she summoned another lightsaber. Too late, I slammed it down into the mud with my foot, and slapped the one she already had out of her hand, "Ha!"

It spun away into the air. Tano relaxed, drawing her hands across her chest in an 'x' form. The blade spun upward, forcing me to draw backwards. I had seen this before… somewhere. She spun down, letting her torso's weight drive a series of kicks; the first hit my foot, dislodging it from the blade, the second my shin, knocking me to my knee, the third landed on my chest, driving it back and my head out, vulnerable. Her final kick knocked my chin back. I saw stars.

It was a perfect execution of the Kalee technique marrying the power of a swordsmaster and the skills of a slugthrower rifle expert. There was only one person who had ever managed to do so: Ronderu- my love.

I stood there, gasping in shock. Tano's eyes were vacant, like she had no idea where she was or what she was doing. We stared at each other for a moment before I relaxed.

I caught the falling lightsaber. For the first time, I looked at it- really looked at it. Who were these Jedi, really? I always assumed they were pacifist murderers. But the spirits of the ancestors were clearly upon her.

"Huh?" She said.

"Guards!" I ordered, taking back control of the situation, "Take this… female! To the brig!"

My droids obeyed. I did not bother to follow. If she escaped, she escaped. Jedi have a way of doing that. But… something was wrong here. It just… felt wrong. She should not have been able to do such a thing; she could not have done such a thing! I could not pull off that technique, and I was there to help develop it! More questions than answers clouded my mind. Only one thing was certain; there was more to Ahsoka Tano than met the eyes.