Previously on Star Wars: Exile's Journey
After defeating a bounty hunter named Koros L'Larr and taking his ship for her own, Ahsoka Tano has taken on the persona of Riella Masso, bounty hunter, as a way of keeping tabs on the current hunt for Jedi on the run
On the planet Susevfi, she discovered that an ex-Jedi, Kan'to Kree, had fallen to the dark side and was murdering innocent people for no discernable reason.
After defeating him, Ahsoka discovered that he had been under the influence of Sith teachings, and he had been infected by shards of a broken Sith holocron that drove him mad. She gathered the pieces and left the planet, intending to shoot the pieces into Susevfi's sun.
Before she made it into firing range, her ship was attacked by the pirate Hondo Ohnaka, who had a score to settle with the bounty hunter Koros L'Larr. After discovering that the ship was now piloted by Ahsoka, he instructed his pirates to take her alive, since Jedi have become a valuable commodity in the new Imperial order.
After a struggle, Ahsoka's ship crashed on an unknown desert planet. Suffering a concussion, she was easily led astray by the remnants of the personality inside the shattered Sith holocron, and she found herself in a strange cave.
Chapter 33
Desire
Ahsoka stared at the giant crystal. The Force essence of six once living people were trapped inside of it. Even now, thousands of years later, they struggled to get out. She didn't know exactly what they could see or sense from inside there, but she did know that the monster who put them inside the crystal had carbon frozen their bodies and left them in a gruesome display in the room, all crawling on the ground and reaching desperately towards the crystal in the center of the room.
The blue glow of the crystal reminded Ahsoka of the whorls of tachyon interactions during hyperspace travel. In her current state, she felt like if she stared at it too long, she would become hypnotized.
She raised up her lightsaber. She had to destroy this thing. She had to let these poor souls be free, and become one with the Force.
"Oh, you don't want to do that. There's a lot of energy trapped inside that crystal."
"Leave me alone!"
"I'm just trying to keep you alive. After all, if you get yourself killed, I'll just have to get your little Padawan to help bring me back to life."
"Don't you dare."
The bubbling laughter echoed in her mind again. "I do what I must to survive, just like any other animal."
"I won't let you get close to him."
"And in making that decision, you have handed me victory. You have shown my your desire. Desire is the root of all things."
Ahsoka turned around the head back towards her ship. Right now the only thing she desired was a timer and some explosives, something she knew that Koros had kept onboard the Whipclaw.
"Ah yes, you Jedi." The voice sounded like it sneered when it said the word Jedi. "Always looking for peaceful resolutions to things. Is that really what you want? To destroy my work? It's lasted for thousands of years. It's a masterpiece, something that few have been capable of duplicating."
"I want peace for those souls trapped inside there." Ahsoka marched down the corridor.
"Peace is a lie. Your passion is what drives you, young one. Your desire is not yet mine to mold. But it will be."
"Nothing of mine is yours. Ever. I am a Jedi, you are just a shadow of a Sith who died a long time ago." Ahsoka stopped, confused. She could have sworn that the exit to the cave was here. Maybe her concussion was confusing her. Maybe it was just farther away than she thought. She continued walking through the long tunnel.
"Oh, you won't be able to find your way out. I've seen to that. Your mind has been taken over by the dark side before. I find it particularly easy to manipulate."
"I will find a way out, then a way back in. I will destroy your crystal, and then I will take off and shoot your holocron into the sun. You and your victims will become one with the Force. You can't stop me."
"I don't have to. I just have to... guide you."
She found herself at a four way fork. She hadn't passed this on the way in. This wasn't good.
"Uh-oh," said Nat as he looked at the scope. "The big ship is following us down! I've got to get Ahsoka."
He darted down the corridor and opened the door to Ahsoka's cabin.
It was empty.
"Oh boy. Ahsoka!" he yelled as he ran back towards the engine room. But she wasn't there either. He ran back outside to where Bollux was cleaning asteroid debris out of the hole in the ship's hull and preparing it for a patch. "Bollux, we've got trouble! The big ship is heading our way. And I don't know where Ahsoka is! She disappeared."
Bollux tilted his head and looked up at the sky. The dot of a ship could be seen in the distance, coming in quickly. "Since they are looking for Jedi, I suggest you hide your lightsaber."
"Where can I hide it?" Nat was close to panicking, his yellow-green cheeks were flushed. "Even if I hide it on the ship, they still might have scanners."
The droid handed a hydrospanner to Nat. "I cannot reach, but there are four bolts holding my chestplate in place. There is a small cavity in my abdomen to allow me to bend slightly. I should be able to hide a lightsaber there. It will scan as simply a part of my robotics. Move quickly, but carefully, Master Nat. We only have a few minutes."
Nat swallowed nervously, and started to unbolt Bollux's chestplate.
Jyssa smacked the control panel with the heel of her hand. "Blast it, there's no way to beat them to the landing site. They've got too much of a head start. Arc, you think your intrusion skills are still up to par?"
"I think so. We'll have to see. I'm not planning on leaving Ahsoka and Nat to be kidnapped by pirates. I have a few extra weapons from the Whipclaw that Ahsoka said were too big for her to handle. What still functioning gear I have is made specifically for infiltration work. Most ARCs liked being big and visible on the battlefield. I prefer the Commando style approach to things."
"He will not be alone," said Ylenic from the cockpit door. "Mirian and I have the Force. We will do whatever we can to help. But I must warn you, I sense something very dark on that planet below us."
Jyssa snorted while she set a course to follow the Surronian to an area near Ahsoka's landing site. "Great. More Jedi druk. Is it near where Ahsoka is?"
"No," he said, "it is everywhere. The entire planet. I have never felt such a strong concentration of the dark side of the Force. And if my memory serves me, there is a reason why."
"I'm almost afraid to ask, but I bet you'll tell me even if I don't. Out with it."
"The planet below us is, I believe, the planet Korriban. The burial place of many ancient Sith, and at the height of their empire, it served as their capital." Ylenic shook his head and said, "I fear that Ahsoka Tano has come in contact with dark forces. I can barely feel her through the haze."
"She's a good kid. I doubt any musty old Sith corpses are going to be able to change that." Jyssa flipped a few switches and hit the engines. "Everybody strap in. I'm going to try to follow their exhaust trail down to avoid detection. Sensor show a nice little dip in the ground just to the west of the valley she landed in. We should be out of sight from any direction except above. As long as we land after the Surronian does and lift off before it does, we should be safe there."
"Should be?" asked Arc, a little worried.
"Should be," repeated Jyssa as she guided the ship into the planet's atmosphere. "This is a freighter, it ain't exactly a stealth ship."
Ahsoka Tano stood at a crossroads, uncertain of which way to turn. Right now the only thing she desired was a way out of this mess.
And to get away from the voice in her head.
Author's note: So far it looks like the general consensus is to post one chapter every Monday for the next few weeks. You've got until posting time tomorrow to go to my profile and vote in that poll if you really want to see the rest of it this week and you're willing to go without for the next three. :)
And, if anyone is curious, I finished off the second chapter of my NaNoWriMo project shortly before midnight last night. Each chapter is about 5,000 words, my last word count was just over 10,000. If I can speed up my writing, I may be able to finish the entire book before Thanksgiving. :)
Addendum to author's note: Okay, it looks like the poll results are in. All both of them. :) See you guys next Monday! In the meantime, I'm cranking up the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack while I write about... um... pirates. In the Caribbean. Hmm. If I wasn't planning on actually publishing this book, I could totally just change some of the names and post it in the PotC section on this site.