Chapter VII
Thrawn sits at his desk on the Chimaera, he gave strict orders to the bridge that he is to be uninterrupted. With his thumb on his chin and forefinger resting on his lips to hold his head up as he thinks carefully of what he is going to say before he sends a transmission through the holopad built into his desk. Suddenly the holopad activates and from the receiving end of the line stands a blue hologram hologram. Standing square in the middle of Thrawn's desk is the Supreme Commander of the Imperial Forces, Darth Vader. Thrawn rises from his chair and kneels before his commander.
"What is it, Grand Admiral?" the voice dilators in the Sith Lord's helmet make his voice deep and menacing.
"Lord Vader," Thrawn says as he rises to his feet, "A small group of resistance fighters have attacked an Imperial patrol in the Thakwaa System of the Tunka Sector."
"And these rebels have been dealt with accordingly?"
"Unfortunately, they escaped. However, behind them they left damning evidence. These rebels had help, help from whom I believe was the Jedi responsible for the incident on Raada some time back."
Vader rests his hands on his hips, flaunting his dominance, "How exactly have you come to that conclusion?"
"The Jedi rented a room at a hotel adjacent to where the attack occurred, she rented the room under the alias Sonya Larte. Larte being the name of a girl she helped escape from our custody on Raada. That, and one of the tanks in the patrol wasn't destroyed by any typical pyrotechnics these insurgents have evidently used." Thrawn pauses. "But by something a bit more mystic." Thrawn implores the Force.
Vader crosses his arms and goes quiet, though he can't show it, Thrawn knows he is frustrated by the information.
"And what of this Jedi's description?"
"A Togruta female, my Lord. Although from what was reported, she didn't carry a lightsaber."
"Very good, Grand Admiral Thrawn. I will send my specialized agents to aid in your search."
"As you wish, Lord Vader."
The hologram flickers off and Thrawn sits in his chair thinking of the Inquisitor's that will soon be arriving.
Vader stands before the holotable where the image of Grand Admiral Thrawn stood moments ago. He remembers not long ago when his Master sent him to destroy what remained of the Jedi, the faces of the Masters he'd slain still haunt him. He knows there is no death record of Jedi Master Shaak Ti, whether she was killed in Order 66 or not has remained a mystery. However Vader knows if Shaak Ti is alive, she wouldn't expose herself as the Togruta had on Thakwaa. Vader suddenly remembers the apprentice of the once Anakin Skywalker.
"Ahsoka Tano."
Ahsoka stands in the doorway of what appears to be Shila's room. Shila sits on her makeshift bed of a mattress suspended by two crates. Shila doesn't take her eyes off the dagger she sharpens to acknowledge her visitor.
"What do you want?" is all she says.
"I was hoping we could talk?" Ahsoka asks.
"What's there to talk about, Spy?"
"Do you assume that of everyone? Did you do that the first time you met Cassian? What about Ondar or Zallar?"
Shila puts the dagger in her vest. "Do you know how short tempered Thakwaash are? The Empire would be better off trying to make a spy out of a Wookiee."
Ahsoka smiles, "If I was a buckethead, I'd worry more about the smell than the temper."
"The only one who doesn't seem to smell it is him." Shila thinks for a second before deciding to let her in. "Zallar might stink and sometimes have a short temper if he's in a mood, but he's loyal to our cause. He'd proven that multiple times. We found Cassian and Ondar living in the backwater of the galaxy, both just looking for any work, drinks, and a place to lay their heads at night. Neither of them having anywhere to belong."
"And now they do."
Ahsoka realizes that this is the most Shila has ever talked to her - at least without a blaster aimed at her. It would be risky to ask Shila about her past, but Ahsoka needs to know about Shila and her tie to the Empire.
"I don't mean to pry." Ahsoka starts trying to sound apologetic at the same time, "But I've heard you once use to work for the Empire."
Shila stares at Ahsoka with an emotion on her face she can't quite name. But the sense of feeling she must have inside, Ahsoka feels she can relate. That feeling of wanting put aside her life before and focus on what's now, yet at the same time can't forget who she was.
Shila sighs, "Cassian told you, didn't he?"
"It's not his fault, I asked him."
"It's fine. Cassian wouldn't tell anyone he didn't trust." Shila looks over at the portable lamp sitting at her bedside and thinks of a way to tell her story. "I was an Imperial armor specialist. It was my job to operate and maintain numerous pieces of Imperial equipment. I served as a specialist during the Republic, then came the Empire, and nothing was the same. I was proud of my work, I felt what I was doing was for the right cause. With the Empire, I felt I was fueling a machine of terror, a machine controlled by the Emperor and his ring of cruel advisors. I wanted out of it all, but the Empire wouldn't let me. Until Callan came."
Shila smiles faintly as she remembers the past and seeing Callan for the first time.
"Callan," she continues, "He was a Stormtrooper. On his first battle he got cold feet. He saw something that changed him, made him not want to be a part of the Emperor's war. He was taken off the front lines and sent to work security for the Imperial armory on Coruscant, the same armory I was in. I helped to show him the way around, it wasn't long before it became apparent that we both didn't care for the Empire and we soon became friends, then got a little closer." Shila smiles a bit more.
"How did you escape?" Ahsoka asks.
Shila chuckles a little, "We faked our deaths and hitched our way on a freighter off world. As far as the Imp's care, we were killed in an unfortunate accident where an ammunitions cart overloaded, the damage was so bad the bodies couldn't be identified. The bodies were just a couple troopers we found who were at the wrong place, at the wrong time."
Ahsoka nods, understanding how she wants to run from her past. Shila looks back up at Ahsoka, "I don't trust people easily, I trusted the Republic and look what happened, now there is the Empire."
"I understand how you feel." Ahsoka bites her tongue hoping Shila won't ask to go into depth - but she does.
Ahsoka quickly thinks of a story that is similar to the truth. She's done it enough times that lying has become accustomed to her, but sometimes she wishes she could tell the truth. "The Republic saved my people, my family, from the Confederacy during the Clone Wars. I trusted them, the clones - the Jedi." Ahsoka hasn't talked about the Jedi with anyone other than Bail Organa. Just talking about it makes her feel strange.
Shila straightens up her eyebrows raise, she too hasn't heard or talked of the Jedi since the final days of the Republic. The Empire banned the public of speaking about the Jedi, just saying the word "Jedi" can get someone in trouble. "You saw them? The Jedi?" Shila becomes very interested.
"Yes. It was the Jedi that helped free me and my people from Zygerrian slavers." That part is true - from another perspective.
"I'd never seen one before, and in the days of the Republic I use to help load cruisers at the airfield on Coruscant - where the Jedi frequented. I'd heard stories from the workers of seeing them. They'd always say there were incredible, kind, and mystic." Shila smiles as she recalls those days and wishes they could still exist - as would Ahsoka. "I don't believe the Emperor in what he said about the Jedi, the Jedi were so humble and loyal to the idea of peace. I find it hard to believe they could do something so terrible as the Emperor claims." Shila pauses for a moment before shaking her head. "But enough of that, what made you hate the Empire?"
Again, Ahsoka tells a version of the truth, "The Empire came and took my family away from me. They destroyed everything I held close. My family told me to run, and since then, I have remained hidden from the Empire."