Chapter 16

Labor

There is no emotion, there is peace.

Ahsoka used Force-enhanced strength to lift the last crate onto the repulsorlift, then she let the Bith archeology student push it up the ramp of the Red Drexl. "Well, that's it. As soon as the last crates are secured, we're ready to go."

"Fly safe, kid." Jyssa gave Ahsoka a brief one-armed hug. "We'll see you on Rudrig."

"Just don't break anything. I won't be on board to fix it for this trip."

They boarded the ships, and one at a time, the ships lifted off. Freshly dug up dirt from the ancient Jedi Enclave whipped across the landscape under the ship's repulsorlifts. At one time, thousands of Jedi had trod upon this land. Then, in a blaze of fire from the skies, the Sith had laid waste to what was once a peaceful place of training, learning, and meditation.

Ahsoka looked below her through the windscreen of the Whipclaw. No matter how much destruction had taken place there, she had trained, learned, and meditated there herself. She understood why the ancient Jedi had decided to build their Enclave there.

She followed the Red Drexl up through the atmosphere of Dantooine, eventually passing through the clouds and into the twinkling skies of the galaxy itself. Then, with a streak of starlight, her ship jumped into the roiling violet clouds of hyperspace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

The flight was going to take some time. Ahsoka left the cockpit and headed back towards the engine room. The hiss of an arc welder could be heard from several meters away. As she entered the room, she grabbed a pair of darkly polarized goggles off of a nearby rack and put them on.

"How are the modifications going?"

"Ah! Ahsoka, I am afraid you startled me. Please announce your presence when I am using a welder. Very hot. Very dangerous."

"My apologies, Xho."

"Apologies accepted. I have finished modifying the connection between the two halves. It will release much quicker now, and the diatium power cells are self contained in each half. Once reconnected, however, their power flow will balance out. This means that if one saber has lost its charge, it can share the charge with its mate."

"That could come in handy."

"Yes, I believe it will. Useful modification. I have just finished carving out a channel for the saber blade on both the ends of the stun stick body. With a little bit of polish, it should look like it was designed that way to begin with. I am nothing if not precise."

Ahsoka put her hand on his leathery shoulder "If I needed precision, I'd get a droid to mill it down. I asked you to do it because I think the Force led me to you. I trust you to help me do this right."

"I hope your trust is well founded, Ahsoka."

There is no passion, there is serenity.

The Red Drexl was waiting for Ahsoka when she dropped the Whipclaw out of hyperspace. Her comm unit crackled, and Jyssa's voice came through, "Glad to see you're still with us. Varos has programmed the trajectory of his asteroid base into my navicomputer, I'm transmitting its current coordinates now."

A set of coordinates came through a moment later, and both ships turned towards it. The coordinates appeared to be in a small cluster of ore-rich asteroids in a Lagrange point running behind the rotation of Rudrug. In a ship as fast as the Whipclaw, it was no more than an hour's sublight travel from Rudrig.

"Setting course now."

"Varos said that it's at the back end of the asteroid cluster, so it's fairly safe to approach. Still, keep your shields up and be careful. This isn't as dense as an asteroid belt, but there's always the chance that a piece of debris will slip past your sensors. And then, if you're unlucky, it'll slip through your cockpit too."

"I'll keep an eye out. Whipclaw out."

"See you there. Red Drexl out."

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

Sure enough, the docking codes worked. The massive durasteel doors slid open, and Ahsoka flew the Whipclaw inside. She already had most everything she needed packed away in a bag. As she lowered the ramp, Xho handed her the last element she needed. What was once a tool used by a slaver and bounty hunter was no going to be turned into a weapon of justice.

With nothing more than a few days worth of rations, water, and the parts she needed to construct her lightsaber, she walked down the ramp. The air here was temperate, whatever power systems kept the environmental units running were still working well after being abandoned for so long.

The asteroid had practically no gravity. Static charges were more likely to hold her to the floor than gravity would. She kicked off and floated to the nearest door. It opened with a groan. After stepping through, she found herself in a control room. Through the windows, she waved to Xho. He triggered the bay doors, and took the ship out. Her comm beeped.

"We will return in a few days. As soon as we have the students and their archeology finds returned to their proper place, and we get the ID cards for Arc and Nat, we will be back for you."

"I'll do my best to finish before you get back. May the Force be With You, Xho."

She heard his mandibles click over the comlink, "You have saved my life, freed me, and saved my sanity. I will repay you however I can. Any grace I garner from the Force, I give freely to you."

"Thank you, Xho. I just might need it."

The bay doors closed.

"We will return soon. Whipclaw out."

There is no death, there is the Force.

Ahsoka sat, cross-legged, hovering loosely above the deck. Next to her was the holocron, with Master Lestin's holographic image watching over her. Floating around her were the parts for her lightsabers.

With her eyes closed, she meditated. Reaching out through the Force, she could feel the lightsaber crystals. But that wasn't enough. She meditated. For how long, she couldn't tell.

One by one, each part became clear in the Force. She knew how her lightsaber would work. She knew how the energy would focus through. She knew how the negative flow couplings would direct the energy. As she worked, and as the Force worked through her, she discovered that adding a coil of magnetic wire in the right place would change the function of one of her sabers.

When she was ready, she began to assemble the pieces.

One by one, the blazing swords of light came together. Bit by bit, every piece served a function. And every piece came together as one. When it was done, she plugged her lightsaber into a small portable generator. Through the Force, she could feel the energy filling the diatium power cells. She could feel the Force flowing through everything.

And then, it was done. To the rest of the galaxy she would be Riella Masso, part time starship mechanic, part time bounty hunter. But to herself, her friends, and the Force, she would always be Ahsoka Tano, Jedi Knight.