AN: Collab with Golm-Fervse-dra, also posted on AO3.

o.o.o.o.o

Path of Divergence

CHAPTER 1: AHSOKA TANO

10.3 ABY (45:3:7 GrS)

Kothlis

Amidst the metallic hollowed-out ruins of skyscrapers, cratered permacrete, and overgrown weeds, a white glow cut through the darkness. Illuminated in the dim light of her lightsaber, a grim Togruta walked forward, lightsaber extended towards a quaking Bothan.

The Bothan, going by the name of Fen Kar'fon, had been in her captivity for the last ten days—ever since he attempted to rig her head to a series of electrodes in her sleep. In that time, he had spun tales of consciousness transfer, of having spent two years in the body of a Clone Trooper, of having once met her on Kamino, and of cybernetics research involving Kaminoans, old Rakatan technology, and a now long-deceased Pantoran named Fri'ik Dojir.

"Where is it?" Ahsoka asked sternly, the mist of her breath visible in the dim pale light.

"I—We must be getting near," Fen Kar'fon growled, his greying blonde fur flat in fear. "I haven't been here in more than 29 years."

Ahsoka Tano was not sure what to believe. But, after some digging through records, she was certain that Fen Kar'fon was a convicted Class 9 war criminal, a former Spynet operative, and a former Imperial SpecNav operator. In his case, the evidence was beyond any doubt—Holofootage was uncovered in the Hall of Imperial Register on Coruscant that showed him executing 27 Selonians, including the Den Mother Qina, in 2.3 BBY according to the New Republic's new Galactic Calendar.

The footage of the smoking bodies on the snow still sent shivers down the Togruta's spine when she thought of Fen Kar'fon. She could only bear to watch it once.

Under the terms of the Galactic Concordance, the Bothan had been deported from Coruscant to a designated Imperial Inclusion World within the New Republic, then given a slap on the wrist punishment along with the more than twelve million other convicted war criminals: he was banned from ever running for public office and put on a permanent no-fly list.

Luckily for Fen, Bothawui was one such designated inclusion world. Unfortunately for him, he was quite far from Bothawui when he had attacked Ahsoka on Ossus, where she had been searching for the lost great library of the pre-Ruusan Jedi Order.

As Ahsoka and Fen continued through the ruins, the plant cover became more and more sparse. She could feel less and less lifeforce from everything around her. Their footsteps now clanged on something hard and metallic, as if the material of the sidewalk itself had changed.

"What is this?" Ahsoka asked in a hushed voice.

"Carbonite," Fen sighed. "The Empire hit Tal'cara, well old Tal'cara…" he gulped, voice dying.

Crouched along the side of a cracked wall to Ahsoka and Fen's right, were four Bothan shapes holding Bola Carbines, wearing uniforms she did not recognize. They were so detailed that, in the dim light of her saber, she could make out the direction the wind was supposed to be blowing their fur. Their snouts were visibly drooling. Statues, Ahsoka thought. Extremely vivid statues.

As she studied them, a horrifying possibility occurred to her.

"Why do they—No..." Ahsoka gasped, recalling the time she had once allowed herself to be frozen in carbonite. "Why didn't anyone revive them? Why do they feel dead?"

"They are dead," Fen snarled bitterly. Ahsoka sensed a growing sense of despair, guilt, and anger wash over him. "You stupid Jedi. You can't survive being frozen in carbonite without an air supply!"

"The Empire did this," Ahsoka muttered, continuing on, lightsaber illuminating the night. Normally, she would correct people, tell them she was not really a Jedi. This time, she was too horrified and shocked by the scenes around her to care. Dozens of figures, some with their snouts open, clearly shrieking in agony drew into view.

Not all of them were adults either… Here and there she could see pairs of Bothan children huddling in fear with one or more of their parents, teenagers caught mid-run as they tried to flee from whatever froze them solid, all further testaments to the Empire's complete lack of care for sentient life.

She stared at Fen, incredulous as to why he would even consider serving Palpatine after such an atrocity. "Why would you work for the Empire after they did this to your people?"

"They did that to me too," Fen grunted bitterly. "only they put me in storage, hooking me up to an air supply. Because I was useful. We did what we had to, killed who we had to… To survive."

Was leaving Bothawui, coming to Ossus, and sticking electrodes to my head conducive to your survival? Ahsoka frowned, beginning to lose her temper again with this psychopath. What the Empire did was unforgivable, but what he did for the Empire was equally unforgivable, even if under duress.

Rounding the corner, she spotted a ruined droid, easily four times her size, slumped against the wall and partially frozen in carbonite itself alongside a handful of nearby figures, a large carbonite sprayer replacing its right forearm. An early model Carbonite War Droid, Ahsoka only heard second-hand stories of the atrocities they were used for.

In all likelihood a lucky shot had ruptured its carbonite tank and frozen it until it simply shut down due to a lack of power, "And I assume the Empire used these in the attack?" Ahsoka inquired, illuminating the machine with her blade.

The light revealed a new fact, to her disconcertion she noticed that not all of the nearby figures were Bothans.

A trio of Clone Troopers in Phase II Armor and carrying DC-15A carbines stood frozen mid-recoil, clearly caught by surprise when the tank ruptured and spewed concentrated carbonite solution all over them.

"Them and the Clones, once the PTBs were done dropping their bombs of course," Fen muttered resentfully, "by the time the Empire landed their ground troops, next to nobody was left who could actively resist."

Ahsoka turned back to him. "Clones? Even with the chips this seems..."

He shook his head. "Several batches were held back from the war, bred for certain 'psychological traits' the then-future Emperor found desirable in terror troops. They became the first Incinerator and Cryo Troopers when the New Order arose."

She knew of Incinerator Troopers at the least, the fact the Empire actively recruited pyromaniacs into the Stormtrooper Corps largely to terrorize civilian populations was unsettling enough on its own. These 'Cryo Troopers' were undoubtedly meant for similar purposes, through freezing their targets to death if their name was any indication.

The thought of any of Rex's brothers committing such atrocities with the same gleeful smiles on their faces because that was what they were made for caused Ahoka's stomach to churn. "I see…"

Between Fen's revelations and the queasy feeling echoing through the Force, a borderline wound if she had to hazard a guess given the desolate nature of the city, Ahsoka wanted to spend as little time here as possible.

It wasn't quite like Malachor, but the similarities in the macabre way so many were frozen in perpetuity while their surroundings slowly crumbled into dust was close enough for comparison. The Dark Side thrived here, she could sense it.

Continuing on through the streets filled with carbon coated corpse-statues, they arrived at a pointed skyscraper of Bothan architectural style, coated in carbonite on the outside. Chunks of the material sat around the structure in the shape of shattered transparisteel and glass.

"This is it," Fen sighed. "The old SpyNet headquarters."

Staring at the building, Ahsoka was dumbfounded. The Empire had clearly first bombed it with conventional explosives, then later hit it with carbonite. "What happened here?" she asked interrogatively, bringing her blade close to the grey carbonite-coated structure to illuminate the surface.

Fen shifted uncomfortably. She could sense his fur moving.

"What happened here?!" She repeated, more loudly.

"They were trying to contain something as far as I can tell," the Bothan growled nervously. "Not just exterminate us or capture us but contain something. It was as if they thought the entire city was an infection vector. I don't know for what exactly. It was beyond my paygrade. All I know is I rescued a couple of Morseerian virologists from Republic custody on Vallt, brought them here, and…" He sighed, pointing into the entrance.

Beyond the entrance, dozens of Bothans were frozen, some appeared to be civilians, others security personnel, staffers, and soldiers. Amidst a group of Bothan-looking figures clad in Reinforced Insulated Sheath armor were two taller sentients who clearly were Morseerian, readily identified by their conical heads, transpirators, and methane-filled environmental suits.

Not quite able to believe her eyes, Ahsoka approached them and reached out with her hand, grabbing the edge of what looked like a grey-painted plastic transpirator, feeling the coolness of the metal coating. Nope, also coated in carbonite.

A sickening thought occurred to her as she recalled the Citadel Operation. How Rex, Cody, Fives, Echo, and the other Clones all removed their helmets before being frozen in stasis.

While the methane-breathing Morseerians undoubtedly froze quickly due to the cold, the armored Bothans were likely still conscious after being encased, and probably suffocated while being fully aware of how helpless they were, once their air supplies ran out. A fate no doubt shared with those three Clones back in the city.

Lost in her own train of thoughts, she wondered, for a moment, what their last moments would've been like.

"This way," Fen thankfully interrupted, gesturing past the security station. "I remember it just like it was—OUCH!" he yelped, falling over amidst a series of clanging noises.

"Are you alright?" Ahsoka asked, walking towards him.

Fen growled nervously, "yeah, I just. It's too dark for me to see. Could I at least have a glowrod?"

"I didn't bring one," she grunted, sensing he was perhaps plotting something. "This way?"

"Yep," Fen answered, following the Togruta as she illuminated the dark halls with her lightsaber.

Deeper in the installation, the grey carbonite material was clearly charred. Blobs of carbonite that had been melted then cooled onto floor. Yeah. Fen's right, if he really doesn't know what happened, that is. The Empire burned something in here after freezing it in carbonite. They used the carbonite to contain it, stop it from spreading, then burned it.

Memories of the Blue Shadow virus and bacterial attack by the Separatists on Ohma-D'un resurfaced. Contain something… "I think you Bothans were making a disease," Ahsoka said aloud.

"My suspicions too," Fen admitted. "Anyways, here is the original long-distance consciousness caster. Far more advanced than anything I have access to..."

Ahsoka glared at him, pondering whether he was simply too dangerous to be allowed to live.

"Had access to," Fen gulped. His fur seemed to shrink down, flattening onto his body like it had a few times before, giving him a very different appearance.

The Togruta approached the device curiously. It was a large, cylindrical, laser-looking thing with a thin point, mounted on a durasteel carriage. Surrounding the carriage were six massive two-meter tall cooling-towers. Oddly, it was completely untouched by carbonite.

"Did the Empire… The Empire they…" Ahsoka gasped to herself, putting bits of Fen's story together. "You said they transferred your consciousness a few times, involuntarily, after killing some of your Clone bodies?"

"Yes," Fen growled. "In Year Zero, the Empire had a fully functioning remote consciousness transfer array in the Institute of Applied Science, Central District. Vader pulled me out, for reasons I still don't understand, and transferred me and other captured operatives to SpecNav."

"Vader… The Empire could transfer consciousnesses," she spoke quickly, a flood of possibilities occurring to her. "Did you ever witness them do that to anyone else? Were any humans transferred, or was it just Bothans?"

"No," Fen said firmly. "I don't know if they ever managed to get the technology to work for non-Bothans. Presumably though, it should work... I believe they were experimenting with memory latency though. After I was killed dozens of times, it felt like I was forgetting things. Part of me was being lost, you know?"

A furrow of concern crossed the ridge above the Togruta's eyes. Any ranking Imperial the New Republic killed in the last… Well, since the beginning, could still be alive. They say Moff Gideon was executed for genocide… But then he resurfaced... "Alright, I've seen enough. We're going back to the ship then I am taking you to the New Republic Judiciary Branch on Hosnian Prime."

"No please!" Fen yelped, grovelling onto his knees. "I—"

"—If the Bothan Supreme Secretary is letting war criminals like you loose into the Galaxy, the New Republic needs to know. The—"

"—The Supreme Secretary didn't let me go," Fen sighed. He pointed to a bald patch on his arm Ahsoka had seen before, but never thought much of it. "I cut out my tracking device. I just couldn't take being on Bothawui anymore."

"You couldn't take being on your homeworld?" Ahsoka snorted. She grew more angry as she thought of what Fen had done. You couldn't take being in your body, so you decided to track me down, kill me, send your consciousness into my body, and steal it so you could be kriffing Force-sensitive. You are a danger to Galactic security. A threat to everything Luke is trying to do. A threat to everything Bail Organa died for. "On your feet!" She screamed, pointing her lightsaber in front of his snout.

"Bothawui isn't my home. Kothlis is," he growled, eyes tearing up.

"I am not going to repeat myself," Ahsoka warned sternly. Whichever planet was his homeworld was irrelevant to her, the mere fact he had tried to overwrite her consciousness with his own made him too dangerous to leave anywhere except a maximum security prison.

"I—I well, okay," Fen stammered sadly, standing to his feet.

"But fine," Ahsoka huffed. "I'll take you to Bothawui first. It'll be entertaining to see how Lir Sey'les explains this mess."

o.o.o.o.o

After locking Fen up in his cage in the cockpit of her transport, Ahsoka returned to the old Spynet headquarters, landing her T-6 just outside the ruins. Moving the consciousness transfer array was a challenge, even for her. Through Force-lifting the main component onto a hovercart, she was eventually able to bring it to the foot of her landing ramp.

But it wouldn't fit head on. Reaching out with the Force, she heaved, sweat building on her forehead as she angled it vertically on end. The laser-point looking tip scratched the edges of the airlock slightly as it floated into the ship.

From the cockpit, Fen yelped and snarled, rattling his cage. "What's going on?! Are we going to be alright?"

"None of your business," Ahsoka gasped, panting as she lifted the consciousness caster into the bulbous storage rooms on the right. Damn. There is not going to be room for all six cooling coils, she thought, looking around the room. This would be a lot easier if Obi-Wan hadn't gotten the Twilight destroyed… Or if I had a light freighter. Well, I have to deal with what I have.

o.o.o.o.o

With four of the six cooling coils aboard, Ahsoka's T-6 ascended through the stratosphere. Down below, the dim lights of the settlements which had either survived the Imperial onslaught 29 years ago, or been rebuilt, grew fainter.

As she stared at the dark patch of planet she'd departed, Ahsoka wondered for a moment what bout of insanity had driven SpyNet to draw the Empire's ire. They produced a bioweapon so potent that the Empire felt the need to carbonite bomb Old Tal'cara and send cleanup troops to slaughter the survivors like Nerfs. Perhaps they thought the entire populace had been weaponized into carriers for the disease.

Then again... If Fen Kar'fon was one of their top agents, maybe the Bothans calling the shots were all just as psychotic and stupid as him. Maybe they were just stupid. Either way, they got what they deserved in the end. But as always, so many innocents died for their sins as well.

Closing her eyes, Ahsoka cleared her mind to focus on the task at hand, opening them before punching in the coordinates for the Both system into the navicomp and leaning back to wait for the computer to run its calculations.

Fen sulked silently inside his cage, likely feeling like a trapped animal. Not like she had anywhere else to put him on this ship, nor did she really care about his creature comforts so long as he wasn't suffering in any manner. As much as she detested the little cretin, she still held herself to a higher standard than that.

If all you wanted was to go back to Kothlis, you could've made an appeal to the Bothan Government, no you had another reason for leaving, she thought warily as glanced at him. But you're not going to be my problem for much longer anyways.

The Navicomp chimed, indicating it was done with its calculations, unsurprising given how close Bothawui and Kothlis were and the relative lack of stellar phenomena or gravity wells between them to inhibit hyperspace travel.

With a wordless pull of the control lever, the T-6 lurched gently as the stars turned to streaks and then swirled together in the distinctive hazy blue-white aether of a hyperspace tunnel.

All things considered, arriving on Bothawui should go smoothly enough.