Chapter 24

Excision

Ahsoka meditated in the engine room of the Whipclaw. She could have been actually sleeping in her bed, either here or on the Drexl, but it had been a long day and felt the need to gather her mind. She also didn't quite feel comfortable in the main cabin of the Whipclaw yet. She needed to go through and clean out the remnants and trophies the ship's former owner had left behind. Ylenic was watching over the injured Mirian in the medbay. He would let Ahsoka know if she awoke again. The rest of the crew was on the Drexl, safely away from anyone or anything that might attract the attention of Kan'to Kree.

For now, Ahsoka let her mind wander. Reaching out through the Force around her, she could feel the city. The general feelings in the city were dampened, both literally and figuratively. The sun had gone down, and the warm waters near Yumfla had given off enough water vapor to reform as clouds, which now rained down onto the city. She could hear the raindrops tapping on the hull, the steady sound was neither a help or a hindrance to her meditation.

Somewhere out there was her quarry. Somewhere between the duties of a Jedi and the facade of a bounty hunter was where Ahsoka Tano lay. For now the two weren't at odds. The man who needed to be stopped was hurting innocent people. A madman, fueled by the dark side of the Force was out there. Ahsoka Tano needed to stop him, and Riella Masso could make a reputation for herself by catching him.

But the dark Jedi had proven slippery. The moment he realized he was outclassed, he ran. Ahsoka, and by extension Riella, needed to find a way to catch him. Her meditation was interrupted by a little voice in her head saying, "How would Skywalker handle this?"

Ahsoka wasn't quite sure if rushing in, doing the right thing in spite of her rash decisions, and then miraculously surviving it all was the right course of action. At least, not this time.

Maybe next time.

She tried to center herself, to find the kind of peace she needed to truly meditate.

Peace is a lie, there is only passion.

Ahsoka relaxed, and felt through the Force. She did her best to become one with the ebb and flow of life.

Through passion I gain strength.

Something felt wrong. Something was wrong. Something dark was growing here in Yumfla.

Through strength I gain power.

That wasn't right. That couldn't be right. Ahsoka felt something wrong. Something dark. Something... in her.

Through power I gain victory.

Not in her, in her future. In the near future.

She saw battle. Combat. She fiercely fought against a giant black shadow. A blot against the galaxy stood before her, and she fought as best she could. But it was no use. She wasn't strong enough to stand against the darkness.

Through victory, my chains are broken.

In her vision, she saw her choice. Give in to the will of the Force and die... or give in to the dark side and lash out. Destroy the darkness that was growing in the galaxy.

But in the process she would have to give herself to that same darkness.

"No!"

It took her a moment to realize that the shout had come from herself. The darkness in her vision dissipated, but Ahsoka could still feel that something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

And in a flash, she realized what it was. "Grife," she said as she reached into her belt pouch. She pulled out a small shard of crystal. "Maybe I shouldn't meditate with you nearby."

The crystal felt dirty in her hand.

Then she realized that the feeling was getting stronger. Either the crystal was somehow growing in strength, or Kree was nearby. Ahsoka reached out with the Force and pulled her bounty hunting armored mask and her lightsabers to her hands.

A moment later she scrambled up the ladder and out of the top hatch of the Whipclaw. Rain spattered across her visor, and a moment later the visor built up a static charge that wiped it clean. She didn't know where Kree was, but he was definitely close. And she knew how to draw him out.

She held her deactivated saber in one hand, and the crystal shard in the other. While waiting for Kree to show himself, she idly tossed the crystal a few centimeters into the air. There was no response. She tossed it again, a little higher this time.

Still no response.

She activated her lightsaber, and raindrops hissed against the flattened surface of the brilliant green blade. Ahsoka tossed the crystal in the air again, and this time she swung her lightsaber at it. The sharp, repeated hiss of raindrops being turned to vapor in the arc of her swing almost hid the sound of another lightsaber igniting.

In fact, the sound of Kree's mindless animal scream was almost all Ahsoka could hear.

Ahsoka knew the attack was coming, but had no clue where. So there was only one logical direction to go. She jumped straight up, ten meters into the air. Sure enough, a huge blast of Force lightning crackled past where she had been moments before. She heard a scream and saw a cloaked figure diving from a nearby hangar onto the Whipclaw.

She reached out her hand and pulled with the Force. She felt the crystal shard come within reach just as she reached the apogee of her leap, and as she expected, she saw Kree jumping up straight towards her. She swung her saber once, hearing a loud pop as the crystal shattered in the intense energy of her saber blade. Then she braced herself as best she could with a wide grip, knowing that between her falling and Kree's anger and power, he was going to strike hard.

And he did. Ahsoka took the impact fully on her blade, and this time he didn't just give her enough momentum to spin around and strike again. This time he struck firmly enough to send her flying sideways through the air. She landed on top of a bulk freighter that was parked next to the Whipclaw and skidded across the surface of the cargo nacelle.

A moment later she felt a thump through the surface of the ship. Kan'to Kree stood on the nacelle, his face contorted in rage, and the shimmering silver blade hissing in the rain.

The static charge swiped across Ahsoka's visor again, and her vision cleared just in time to see another blade ignite behind Kree.

The green light illuminated the damp fur of Ylenic It'kla. Kree spun and charged at It'kla, only to find himself buffeted back by a powerful blast of Force energy. But he landed on his feet, and didn't lose his grip on the silver saber. Ahsoka climbed to her feet shakily. Kree screamed at Ylenic, "I am eternal! I am immortal! I am the only Sith to every defy death itself! You cannot destroy me!"

And while he was screaming, Ahsoka lunged across the cargo nacelle at him. He spun to block her attack then blasted her back with the Force, and continued through to block an immediate attack from Ylenic.

While his back was turned, Ahsoka pointed her bracer at him and pressed a button on it. Six shock darts shot out, and although he tried to twist out of the way, two of them stuck to his cloak. Electricity danced across his wet cloak, and he fell backwards, his muscles twitching. In the light of the three lightsaber blades, Ahsoka could see that he had been peppered with shards of crystal. In a grim parody of the damage she'd seen on the face of her friend Arc, half his face was bloated with infection, both from the open wounds and from whatever Sith alchemical effect the crystal had on flesh.

There was no way to save him. There was no way to remove them all and save his sanity. Ahsoka slashed down once, quickly. Kan'to Kree's pain and madness was gone in an instant, along with his life.

She kneeled down beside the fallen Nikto. It didn't matter if he was Jedi, Sith, or merely a victim. It was over for him. Ahsoka Tano, Jedi Knight, put her hand on his forehead and said, "Find peace now."

The lightsaber fell from Kree's hand, and from his other hand fell what looked like a badly cracked crystalline pyramid, with a large chunk missing from its side. A hissing, spitting, broken hologram screamed incoherent static into the night.