Apathy

by Throwaway1971

Not important please ignore

19. Entry 167-174

After Activation 1121 - Origin Universe

After Insertion 1082 - Cultivation Universe

Millennium 095-32M - 40k Universe

Clone Wars 24 BBY - Star Wars Universe

"She jumped down the vent and bypassed the 3rd, 2nd, 1st, and Ground floors."

"Oh? She certainly is the resourceful one, and brave. A non-Cultivator dropping from that height? Hmmm. She might be worthy after all."

"Keep going, let's see how she handles what is protecting her objective."

"Yes, Empress."

Ahsoka was annoyed. Very annoyed. Fucking Droids.

The patrol patterns were simply going in a constant cycle around her position. It was only due to her echolocation that she was able to avoid being caught at all, the Droids hadn't yet been made with sound absorbent materials, the only saving grace now that she thought about it.

As it was, Ahsoka during the last 3 hours had barely made any progress at all, stuck on the 5th basement level, 4 away from the 9th level. At this level, however, she was stuck, the constant patrols by the Commando Droids forcing her to simply hide away.

Using elevators was out, using stairs was out, using vents was the only way she could move, but the only one was behind 8 more doors, each passageway being covered by Droids to the point where it was ridiculous. Without the patrol routes, Ahsoka was forced to act like a little vegetarian, darting in, running away and trying to take advantage of little breaks in their pattern, only to be forced out of it.

In essence, Ahsoka was locked, she could either go back the way she had before, or she could try to break through.

Why am I even trying to find out what happened to the colony? I already know, the Droids took them! Wait… where are they? Where are the colonists? There's so sign of any of them.

Ahsoka stared at the wall in front of her as the revelation made itself known. It was very clearly a trap now that she thought about it. There were meant to be several thousand colonists/deserters but throughout her sneaking/movement/travel through the colony, she had found no signs of there being colonists at all.

In fact, thinking about it now, the idea that she alone had to investigate the site after multiple different incidents pulled the Clone contingent of the Ascendent away, in an area that was meant to be silent in terms of actual Separatist activity, there being no facilities of significance… well, it certainly got one's imagination growing.

This was a setup and Ahsoka had walked right into it, even forcing herself deeper underground willingly. She gave herself a mental slap on the head, stupid Ahsoka.

Ahsoka Tano, Padawan, Amazing Jedi, Greatest Person Ever Born, crawled down into the room. Her head turning left, right. Eyes, useless. It was dark, pitch dark, dark that would catch you and pull you in with tentacles and promises of cookies. Echolocation. People. But silent. Where are the people? Or rather, what are the people doing? Just sitting there. Not moving. Dead? Can't feel any blood. Poison? Food… is plastic. What is going on? Hand, touches the roof, crawling up. Trying to see. The heads follow, tracking. No sound. Tracking, Tracking. Ahsoka keeps crawling, they stand up, heads always turned towards Ahsoka, always looking. Some of them have necks turned 180 degrees backward. Always looking. They walk, no sounds, no clothes brushing against each other, no feet on the floor. Always looking. Staring. Eyes just staring. Ahsoka is scared. Ahsoka activates lightsaber and...

Well she needed an out now, she could go back the way she entered, but it was highly likely that it was being watched. Whoever did this took great pains to ensure she was here on her own, without assistance or help. It would not be too much to assume they had watched her come in, hell, they were probably watching her now. No, she needed a different means of escaping the facility, one that would deny them vision of her.

The best option she thought would be to first, grab a Commando Droid, splice into it, grab the patrol routes due to having the exact locations of each of the Droids. It would be difficult, she would need to destroy 3 of them, destroying the SOS at the same time before disabling the last one, grabbing the data inside and escaping. It would be risky, especially since she needed to do it before a second patrol came along. In fact, it would probably be best if she was prepared to go loud in the first place, the chance that Ahsoka would be able to hide her destruction of the Droids in the first place was very low.

Destroy the Droids, Grab the Data, work out the next step of the plan. Bad plan.

Yes, that was a very bad plan.

Ok… what do.

Ahsoka in the little vent put a finger to her chin and considered exactly what she wanted to do, that would also let her get out of this alive.

Hmmmmmmmm.

It would perhaps be best if she took the data from the Droids, shut off the power for the colony itself, then make her escape. That way she would be able to at least shut off the eyes that were watching her. Only it was clear that they were playing with her, they probably knew exactly where she was, but the Droids hadn't actually gone to attack her.

She would try to play along with the invisible puppet masters, then when they least expected it, destroy the power generator before escaping. There would hopefully be a transport waiting over her extraction zone, she didn't want to risk using her radio before this point, letting everyone know that she was transmitting was just asking for a Droid team to find her. At the same time, they had been briefed to alert the other teams and her Master if she didn't return after 3 hours. It had been several times that at this point, there should be reinforcements arriving soon.

Only if the reinforcements arrived… maybe whoever it was that was playing with her would decide that she had enough time to play and direct all the Droids towards her. In short, she had to escape before the reinforcements arrived and the puppetmaster lost patience for whatever he wanted her to do. She had to escape just before the reinforcements arrived in order that she would have support when she was making her run for it.

Ugh. So much thinking. Just kill the Droids already.

Ahsoka nodded to herself, she would take out the Droids, grab the information then move to the Power Plant and wait. There would be a broadcast coming across the open airwaves from her reinforcements, she would destroy the generator then make her way, speed over stealth. Checking the schematic of the Colony again, Ahsoka made a mental route of her path over to the Power Plant room, and her escape. Engraving it in, she prepared to begin the first stage of the plan. She would have to loiter around the Power Plant but making it appear as if she was trying to go deeper into the facility.

Her current choice was a vent that went down 3 floors, but there was one near the Power Plant that went down 1 floor. Yes, adequate cover for her plan.

Ahsoka prepared, she gripped the lightsabers in her hand. Two of them this time, there was a team of 4 making its way over to her location. She would pop out of the vent, cut them vertically to disable the SOS protocols, the last one would be cut only to the neck so that it could be spliced. From there she would need to multi-task, leave the splicer tool to grab the information, chop up the other 3, and shove them into the vent so nobody would notice, then chop up the last one when the splicing was done.

She nodded, yes, good plan.

Needs crazy amounts of luck, but yes, good plan.

Ahsoka grinned, it was time, she could totally do the dual lightsaber pose. Oh yes.

As the last pair went past the vent, Ahsoka popped the grating off the wall, leapt out of the vent and activated her lightsabers. Bouncing off the ceiling, she came down on top of the last 2, lightsaber went from head to crotch, all the way down, splitting them in half. The third one was cut from crotch to head while the fourth had its head cut from the top, like a pair of humming scissors.

Ahsoka grinned to herself, first phase was done.

Wait. Why am I splicing them out in the open. I could just do it in the vent. Dammit Ahsoka, this is why you need to think you plans through.

She stopped grinning, that was a very bad idea and she could have gotten herself killed while doing it. Good thing her subconscious liked to nitpick.

Ahsoka used the force to pick up the Droid bodies, non-to-be-spliced one last. Only to whirl around, a loud clanging noise ringing through her ears. She had moved so fast that the grating only just now had landed on the ground. Nice. Only it was very loud and there would be Droids moving to investigate if there were any nearby. Not so nice.

She hurried herself along, picking up the bodies, shoving them roughly into the vent, grabbing the grating and rescrewing it back into place, shoving all the bodies deeper into the vent so that the investigators couldn't see them. Settling her heart rate once she stuck the splicer cable into the Droid. She chuckled slightly to herself, this was certainly something to talk about later. The holo recording would be cool as well, Ahsoka, saboteur, seductress, Jedi.

The splicing tool alerted her to its success. Ok, time to start.

"Padawan Ahsoka! If you are still alive please respond! Padawan Ahsoka! If you are still alive please respond!" Ahsoka was jerked out of her light doze, it was time. While she didn't want to risk speaking over the radio and revealing her position, she was sure that what happened next would be more than enough of a message that she was alive.

A dive out of the vent, Ahsoka brandished her lightsabers, holding them out like little wings, she dived through a squad of 10 B1 Battle Droids, cutting them all in half at the waist. She grinned savagely, she had always wanted to do that. If she was an omnivore, she might have compared it to reaping grains of some kind, but as a carnivore, she just enjoyed the sensation of destroying her enemies.

Turning off the lightsabers, she sprinted towards the Power Plant that was approximately 20 meters down the corridor. Turning them on again (running with blades of plasma in your hand was a bad idea), she criss crossed them across the entrance, cutting it down, Force Pushing the fragments into the room. Another dive and she was in the room, lightsaber swinging down, out and around, cutting through the shielding cables that protected the Power Plant. A set of Thermal detonators were placed on the core, timer set to 20 seconds, enough time for her to swing her lightsabers at all the computers and equipment in the room.

From there, she dived out of the room and began to sprint for the elevator. The cargo elevators went through the entire colony and it would be her ticket out. It was right in front of her now, the loud rumbling that came from the corridor behind her, the detonators had detonated. The lights were flickering annnnd now.

The facility went dark, elevators were stopped and she wasn't going to be crushed by a muti-ton mass of metal coming down on her from above.

Doors were sliced, Ahsoka was Force Jumping, or rather Force Pushing herself from one side of the elevator to the other. Accelerating ever higher as the momentum was conserved from every jump, going faster and faster. Some of the doors were being forced open, it looked like the Droids knew where she was. Didn't matter if she talked on the radio now.

"This is Padawan Ahsoka, heading to extraction point Bravo. Hostile Droids, watch your approach."

"Blue Tangent, Copy that Padawan Ahsoka, en-route to Extraction point Bravo."

Ahsoka kept jumping up, the paint said this was the 5th floor, only 10 more before she finished. Not too far left now.

A few of the doors were open, the Droids were beginning to fire at her. Not exactly the most enjoyable experience. Ahsoka gave a Force Push, knocking them back and buying her time. No need to get in a protracted engagement, that was just asking for death.

A quick nod and she was up and out in the air. A smile, a vast open space… and there were probably a few hundred Droids waiting for her. Woops.

She thought quickly, the higher she was, the more Droids could see her and shoot her. Best to keep low. Lightsaber at her sides, Ahsoka dashed to the side, down low, close to the ground. Cutting the legs of the Droids that were in her way, she continued to dash along the entirety of the Colony's top. Her legs burning as she did so. The entire day was beginning to catch up to her, but she couldn't afford to slow down now. The Droids would make mince of her, not the best feeling she was sure.

Step, slash, step, slash, rinse and repeat for the kilometers that made up the top. Ahsoka lost count of how many Droids she had taken out, how many steps she had taken. She just knew that it wouldn't be long before her legs gave out on her. Hours of crouching in vents didn't help.

Still, she could see the edge now, just waiting for her. Yes. She gave a low growl, now.

And she was out, using the highest amount of Force power she could muster, Pushing herself straight into the forest below. Another push to her shoulders to arrest her flight, before she planted herself into a tree and she was leaping from tree to tree. The extraction point was just ahead. Blaster Bolts flew in behind her, shattering branches, punching holes in leaves. It was just too bad she was already ahead of it all, making her way deep into the forest.

Ahsoka was tired, exhausted, on the verge of falling apart. Only she was feeling the adrenaline high, the holo recording would be badass and she did it without her Master. Master Ahsoka, it had quite the ring to it.

She grinned, it would be safe from here, a few cruisers had dropped out of Hyperspace and were as she looked, sending in flights of craft to the supposed Colony. Combat teams to make sure the colony was secured before sending in the kill teams to wipe out the Droids.

Regardless, her part was done, it was confirmed hostile, she had gone missing, and something. She was too tired to consider the whys, just needed to get to the extraction and she could sleep for a week.

"She has escaped without completing the objective."

"She saw through it. Smart. She had potential."

Things in the Republic were not looking good for Sheev Palpatine, Supreme Chancellor of the Republic.

It had been going so well, the Clones were fighting their little war, the Separatists were in his pocket and he had the entire galaxy at his feet, ready to do what he wanted. "Emperor Palpatine", it had a nice ring to it, regal even. He could see himself as the Emperor, as the most powerful man in the galaxy, in tune with the Dark side, strongest Force user in the galaxy.

Yes, he had it all.

Now… now things were becoming increasingly difficult for him to claim that he was in control. It had started off with an explosion, literally. His apprentice, Count Dooku was killed, former Master Jedi, former idiot, dead. He was not sure why Dooku accepted his command to make himself a public figure in denouncing the Republic and leading a secession war, in doing so he gave up any hope he had of appearing legitimate and made himself an antagonist to the Republic forever. He had no use after he was shown in public, his death was assured, but at the very least Palpatine hoped to have his death be worth something. A trade of equal proportions or something of the like.

Instead what he got was the man dead, from a sabotage attack by a force that he wasn't even sure of anymore. A ring of Thermal detonators, blasters, it had to be with the knowledge of the Separatist council, yet half of their number died in the attack, even those that spoke out against Dooku. It was supposedly done with Clones but all of the ARC clones were accounted for, they would be the only ones capable of even trying something of the like.

The Outer Rim was now apparently completely out of his control, somehow those who stole his idea to use the name "Emperor" had also united large swathes of it. It was not a mere warlord, no, what was worrying was that they were using their power to consolidate and boost the infrastructure of the Outer Rim. To form them into something that was actually worth something. Now there were reports that their ground armies were surprisingly capable, more so than even the Clones were in a battle. It was worrying indeed, especially when this new faction somehow was pulling continent sized asteroids to be used as materials for building ships or infrastructure. It was clear that they were an extra-galactic species or something of the like, likely forming a foothold to invade the galaxy. They would need to be dealt with, luckily what they demonstrated could give all the reasons he needed.

So with the Separatists that were now fully against him, refusing to even meet with him, he now had to contend with an invasion from outside the galaxy, something that wanted to strike at him directly. The Republic could not afford to wage a war on 3 fronts, something had to give and it was very likely the Republic would. At least for now the Outer Rim was content to sit on its own and not interfere with the Clone war, when it did however, was when all bets were off and Palpatine had to be very careful if he was going to keep his position.

So much planning, so much time, so much luck. All of it wasted by some fools that had decided to show up out of nowhere and throw it all down the vacuum flush.

That did not even mention the Flash Clones, created by a race that he didn't even know existed, using Cloning technology that had him highly disappointed he did not use them in the first place to create the clones he needed. Billions of them in the same time that the Kaminoans made a measly few hundred thousand. If he had that much firepower at his disposal… why he wouldn't even need the pretense of this silly little war, he could have simply taken over the galaxy in a few months.

Instead, the Flash Clones were being programmed via what they called "Hypno-therapy", using code that even his dedicated Splicers could not understand. It was like several different languages, all wrapped up in code. Sure they gave the plain text version, but that was useless if he wanted to change the programming so that they were loyal to him. And those Quarians… Ugh. They programmed the Clones to be loyal to the Republic, all cheerful and smiling when he wanted them to program the Clones to be loyal to him Sheev Palpatine. What he got was them talking about the possibility that somebody else would be voted in and while he was loyal, the next Chancellor might not be, the next Chancellor might be corrupt and use the Flash Clones for his own purposes.

Palpatine had to resist the urge to rip his hair out and scream that "there would be no next Chancellors!" that he would be the Emperor, the final one, the ultimate. Yet he did not. He would be overplaying his hand and as powerful as he was, he could not fight his way through millions of the damn things.

At least the Kaminoans were prepared to look the other way with their control chips, not like those damned, incorruptible Quarians. Palpatine gave a snort, as he leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled on his stomach.

So many things going wrong. It couldn't get any worse he thought. Only to find out that yes it could. It very much could. The Quarians had offered Palpatine a bracelet, one vetted by the Jedi as to be safe and benign. What happened after they placed it on his arm and told him of its power… well, Palpatine began to sweat. His entire life under the control of some stupid fucking microbes that apparently wanted him to die. The only reasons that his plan worked out at all was because the Jedi were being made artificially stupid, as was he and everyone else in the galaxy.

If it had been any other way, he would have been found out and executed for treason long ago. In other words, he was being used.

He was Sith, he hated the very idea of it.

With the Bracelet he could not think much more clearly and what he saw was not something that gave him much hope. Everything teetered on the brink, so many of his plans, so many of the small details that required others to willingly ignore them. So much of it that could fall apart if one were to tease out just a small amount of detail, all of it connecting back to him.

Palpatine was on the verge of destruction and he knew it. It was only luck so far that had kept him in his seat, luck that he could no longer count on since the Jedi were now wearing the bracelets too. Their sight that had been clouded was now clear. They were no longer artificially stupid and were very likely to inquire as to exactly what it was he was doing. In short, his time was limited.

And oh how he despised that. To know the only reason he had succeeded was because others had paved the way for him, artificially dumbing down all of his opposition to make him feel more powerful.

There was hope, however. A tiny sliver of it. These new… Sith as they called themselves, they would provide a distraction that he could use. Yes, he could pretend that he was being threatened by them, who would think poor old Sheev Palpatine as Sith? Preposterous. But being threatened by the "real" Sith? Well, that made so much more sense.

He might lose his position as Supreme Chancellor but the people of the Republic were not the brightest lightsabers in the storage rack. He could come back in a few years and do it again, this time without leaving behind crumbs everywhere he moved for the Jedi or anyone with half a brain to realise what he was doing.

It might be best to simply cut it short now, than go further in, seriously, was Midichlorian him an idiot? Hoping the Jedi wouldn't notice that their Clones were all programmed with a kill order via the chips in their brains? That no Jedi would ever try and look at a scan of the Clone's skull and notice the very odd and rectangular shape inserted into their heads.

At least the new Sith were proving a distraction, only they couldn't be Sith. His master was the last of the Sith, Darth Plagueis who followed the Rule of Two, the Master and the Apprentice, only 2 Sith could ever exist at one time. Which now that he thought about it was a very stupid idea, what if one of them was discovered by the Jedi or killed in an accident? The entire Sith tradition could have been ended before he was even born, Palpatine doomed to living a life of mediocrity or worse… a Jedi.

No, he would have many apprentices, teach them the ways of the Dark side from afar and have them compete amongst each other to grow in power. The Sith would require a heavy hand to keep them in line but it could be done, rather it would be done. He didn't want for the Sith to end with him, just because the Midichlorians made the Sith stupid.

That being said… the new Sith… it was a very strange development. They had the biological markers that made them at the very least connected to the Sith, notably their red skin and humanoid features. They were in a very real sense, something new. There were many different races that had red skin, but for a race to have red skin, and force sensitivity that allowed them to do some particularly ridiculous things that even Palpatine would have trouble with… well, it added credibility to their claim.

The fact that there was apparently more of them than the entire Jedi Order and to turn up on the side of the Separatists was another point in the tick box that said, "these are Sith." That being said, Palpatine could not be completely sure, the notes left behind by the Sith of ages past had been lost at some point or another, his deceased Master's notes being the only source of information he had on them. The notes themselves were notes of the notes of a previous Sith regarding the legends of the Sith, last seen more than a thousand years previously.

Palpatine therefore, was in the dark regarding these new Sith, no doubt the Rule of Two would seem absurd to them, placing them against him at the first sign. The fact that they didn't use Lightsabers and focused on a different method to use the Force meant that they might be incompatible with the "new" Sith that had entered the galaxy while they were gone.

It was getting very complicated and Palpatine was beginning to wish he had not started this all off with the Trade Federation, rather it would have been better to just wait for all these events to play themselves out before he made his move. Instead, he was forced to play against these sudden events, each one more absurd than the one before it.

What made things worse was his contacts on Coruscant had gone silent, the mercenaries, black market dealers, gang bosses, and the other, underworld contacts of his had all disappeared. Personal investigation had shown him, that over the last year, his contacts had been disappearing. Or rather they had been replaced in leadership struggled by various different individuals, each one bringing more profits in true, but also didn't report to Palpatine, an annoyance.

He had to re-cultivate his contacts, a process that would take time and would leave him blind in the time he spent doing it. Something that he could not afford given that Senators were being assassinated. Specifically, the Senators that opposed him in the Senate were being assassinated. It was only one or 2 a week, but it was building up and soon the mainstream media would pick up on it.

He needed to find the source and the reason before he was caught. He needed time to create an alibi and it looked like the galaxy was out to get him.

Palpatine sighed, sometimes he considered that being a Sith was more effort than it was worth. Not to mention Anakin Skywalker, the young man who he had been grooming as an apprentice, now no longer in need of him, his problems solved with the Midichlorians gone, emotionally stable, happy… Such a waste, they could have been great together.

The Imperium of Man, a vast empire that stretched for a good part of the galaxy, an empire that contained the heights of human exultation and the depths of despair. It could have been so much worse the Remembrancers agreed, humanity had reached a breaking point at the end of the Horus Heresy, things could have ended in a manner that would have seen humanity descend the path of darkness. There they stood at crossroads, seek to preserve what they could of the God Emperor's Empire, to act as guardians of knowledge, to keep the knowledge that they had and jealousy destroy all who might take it from them.

The Adeptus Mechanicus, was in danger of descending into a state of insularity, of not being ready to share what knowledge they had with the wider Imperium, of hoarding everything that might be useful to a Mankind that desperately needed and edge against the Xeno hordes.

The Inquisition, ready to do all it could to destroy all they who might be considered heretics, regardless of whether or not it was true in the first place. A force that would seek to destroy all those that might possibly save humanity in the guise of protecting it.

The Space Marine legions, fractured into many smaller Chapters who would all act independently of each other, more like warlords than the defenders of humanity. When put back together, they would be less effective than the sum of their parts, the bitter infighting and bickering of a thousand different cultures clashing against one another.

The people of the Imperium, quadrillions of them in number spread over a million worlds, each of them contributing their tiny little part to the wider Imperium. Whether it be crafting a receiver for a lasgun or producing fertilizer in a Forge World, they all did their part to assist the Imperium. Yet it was they who would suffer in the future, the technology and skills of ages past lost, their vast Hive worlds falling into decay, the Fleets of man, each vital in ensuring that humanity would be able to feed and sustain itself, losing ships every day to the predations of the Warp. Of entire sectors of the Imperium lost to Warp Storms and marauding raiders of Ork and Eldar ilk alike. It was they who were poised to suffer in a galaxy set out to destroy all they held dear, for they were human, only in numbers would they be strong.

On the other side of the crossroad, in a pivotal entrance following the Emperor's defeat of Horus, came the Caretakers. 2 entire Space Marine Legions, lost to the Warp and emerging around Terra just at the close of the Horus Heresy. Their journey had seen them play a pivotal role in the Horus Heresy, their part being one of immense importance to the future of the Imperium.

Emerging over Isstvan 4, where the Traitor Legions had caught their brothers in an ambush, seeking to destroy them entirely, 3 entire Legions, caught, surrounded, lambs to the slaughter. It was the Caretakers who descended from the skies that day, a counter-ambush of their own, engaging the Traitors from behind and shattering their cohesion. Perturabo, Fulgrim, Lorgar, Konrad, Primarchs all, died on the field of Isstvan 4. Their Legions annihilated almost to a man by the attacking Caretakers and the resurgent Loyalist Legions, their Primarchs leading the strike. While Ferrus, Primarch of the Iron Hands was slain, his Legion continued on in their Primarch's stead, vowing to continue his legacy.

Following this, they travelled to Prospero, their intervention preventing Loyalist Legion, striking Loyalist Legion. Where there might have been the destruction of Prospero by the Space Wolves, tricked by the traitor Horus, Leman was shown the truth by the Caretakers, their words staying his blade and the Thousand Sons were saved from having to fight their Brothers. Magnus the Red, without being forced to engage his brother, was free to follow the Space Wolf fleet to Terra, where his assistance was vital in helping his Father, the God Emperor as he powered the Golden Throne.

On Terra itself, their assistance was vital for the future of the Imperium, their destruction of a vast majority of the Traitor fleets and the Traitors ensconced within, had the effect of crushing future insurgencies, forcing them to hide and recoup their losses. Licking their wounds in isolation and fear, hiding their faces from the Loyalists seeking to destroy them.

Yet it was not with this that their assistance ended. While they had some conflictwith the Ultramarines and their Primarch Roboute Guilliman and his Codex Astartes, calling for the division of the Legions into 1000 man Chapters. They resolved this in typical Caretaker fashion by cutting their Chapter in half, the Sojourners and the Caretakers. The Caretakers would be stationed on the Beacon worlds (more on that later), while the Sojourners would be posted on every world in the Imperium, a network of Space Marines with an intelligence network to ensure that nothing would escape their sight. Undertaking small missions posted by the people of the Imperium, something as small as finding lost pets to seeking pirates hiding in residential sectors. The Sojourners carried their love of the ordinary Imperial citizen through to their actions, assisting and protecting.

In doing this, they allowed for the Salamanders, Raven Guard and Iron Hands to use the Sojourners as a means of dividing their own Legions, yet maintaining the numbers of before. By sending Space Marines throughout the Imperium, while they nominally were 1000 Space Marines strong, in actuality they were many times that number. While Roboute Guilliman was frustrated, he understood that pushing his brothers further was an exercise in danger, a second civil war mere moments away and with many full strength Legions arrayed against him. Indeed, the Caretakers with their masterful understanding of biology had assisted the Salamanders, Raven Guard and Iron Hands in replenishing their numbers following the massacre of Isstvan 4.

With little support behind him, Roboute Guilliman was forced to back down, his own Legion broken into Chapters, yet not so. While each Chapter was nominally separate, it was still unified under the Ultramar banner, each Chapter Master pilgrimaging to the Ultramar system every 100 years in order to reacquaint himself with the traditions of the Ultramarines.

The Beacon Worlds as mentioned previously are yet another step back from the precipice of darkness and stagnation, the Beacon Worlds being a manner in which to both stabilize the Warp and to also provide a means by which the Navis Nobilis can navigate the Warp, the Beacon Worlds shining in their sight.

These worlds are an artificial creation of course, ancient devices powered by the souls of the Caretakers. The Caretakers themselves undergoing a ceremony by which they bind their souls to the Beacons, in a ceremony not unlike that by which astropaths bind themselves to the Emperor. In this manner the Beacons allow for the Caretakers to combat the deadly enemies of the Imperium, enhancing the already prodigious strength and speed of a Space Marine to new heights.

Each Caretaker Space Marine, fresh from the Binding process, are able to run twice as fast as other Space Marines, lift weights in excess of triple that of other Space Marines and able wield weapons that would require two hands to otherwise pick up, let alone use effectively. Each Beacon World was home to 1000 "active" Caretakers, their forces ready to repel any invaders at all times. Each World having immense value beyond that of merely being a Beacon in the Warp. The "active" notation refers to the fact that each Beacon World may hold many times that number of Space Marines, their binding process after all was not a purely altruistic effect.

It ate at their emotions, each Sojourner and Caretaker over time losing their ability to emote, requiring a lengthy stay on a Beacon World where their souls are directly stimulated in order for them to regain their ability to feel. A process that is agonizing to the extreme, one that even other Space Marines have declared to be beyond any pain that they have ever felt. Yet it is necessary for the Caretakers to maintain the Beacons for they have yet another ability. That of extending their calming effect over the Warp into the Immaterium and to other Beacons nearby. In essence creating vast tracts of the Immaterium where travel is as regular as travelling on a freshly pressed road. The trip both fast and regular.

It is with these that the Caretakers provide their greatest service, a means to transport the goods and services of the Imperium quickly and on schedule, allowing for the growth and expansion of many worlds, their population no longer held in check by a shortage of food and material.

What is a means to transport materials, is also a means to move entire fleets of warships and troop transports, the Astra Militarum able to project its force over the entire galaxy. No longer were worlds isolated, weak and prey to the insidious thoughts such as democracy. No, they would always have the guiding light of the Emperor above them, always ready to bestow his wisdom and grace. Indeed rebellions became an increasingly rare event, entire fleets dropping in over worlds before the speech was even over in some cases.

With the contributions that the Caretakers made, the Imperium turned away from the darkness and embraced the light. Not stagnating and afraid of the future, but striding confidently forward, ready for any eventuality.

The Primarchs, they who remained loyal to the Emperor, his very children, made in his image remained. Their guiding hand invaluable to the fledgling Imperium, warding off the decisions that might end in disaster and pushing forward those that would see the Imperium thrive.

Roboute Guilliman and Rogal Dorn stood ready at all times, the Defender of Terra and the Giant of Reason, always ready to dispatch their own wisdom as it was needed to the High Council of Terra. Corax and Vulkan led the vanguard of the Imperium's armies, driving forth into the unknown, always ready to find humanity and defend it where they could. Khan and Russ had disappeared early in the 32 Millennium, both for reasons unknown. Some say they seek to find a means by which to cure the Emperor, to bring him back from the precipice that he hung. Magnus the Red was ever vigilant, his presence next to the Golden Throne a given as he assisted his father in both powering the Golden Throne and alleviating the weight of responsibility on his shoulders.

The Church of Order had been formed from the gifts of the Law of Order from the Caretakers, the Arbites of course had taken greatly to the Law of Order that allowed them to both worship the Emperor as well as ensure the Law was kept. There would be no corruption, no theft, no murder do long as they were present, their very order expanding by many folds in order to cater to every planet in the Imperium. At the same time, the Church or rather the Ecclesiarchy was to be kept separate at all times. One would administer to the faith and keep the common man loyal, the second would administer the laws, to keep the Imperium stable. Both would serve the Imperium and ensure its growth and survival.

The Imperium was travelling down a route that promised a future of greatness, a future where humanity would once again rule the stars and stand triumphant over the Xeno and Heretic that had brought it low.

It was into this growing and hopeful Imperium that the infant Primarchs were delivered above Terra. The ship that did so being of an unknown design, the crew missing and the infants kept in stasis pods, only activatable by the Primarchs themselves.

Their presence was an unknown, their very existence a thing of uncertainty. But there was one constant that was clear by the order of the Emperor. They were innocent of all crimes and they were to be raised as fitting of their station.

In the years since that event, the Primarchs matured and were taken for individual tutoring by either their original, or by another if he was unavailable. When ready, they would be unleashed on the galaxy.

"What exactly is he doing?" Asked Vulkan, nudging Guilliman to his left. Both were outside of their Power Armour, standing and watching their Brother, fresh from Ultramar where he had been tutored.

His namesake's rage had been legendary and so Angron Junior as he had been designated had been sent to Ultramar where it was hoped that the presence of Guilliman Junior and Senior Guilliman would perhaps allow him to overcome the affliction of his namesake.

Only… it had been too effective apparently. Angron Junior, or as he preferred to be known, Angrone had changed so dramatically that Vulkan had to rub his eyes and make sure that this was indeed Angron's clone.

"Reciting poetry. He is reciting poetry." Said Guilliman, his sense of proprietary long since dead since Angrone had arrived on his homeworld.

"But why?" Asked Vulkan, flabbergasted. They were Primarchs, the greatest warriors ever conceived, their very presence able to route armies.

"He considers poetry to be… an integral part of war apparently." Said Guilliman, his head unable to wrap itself around the idea, a fact that in and of itself was disturbing. He who had redesigned an entire empire's governmental system as his first act, was unable to comprehend what poetry and war had to do together.

"I don't understand? His poetry is… is... " Vulkan fumbled, saved when Guilliman interjected.

"Terrible? Yes, it is. That is why I fail to understand. Poetry as and means to focus the mind? I can understand the reasons for it even if I do not personally pursue such a path. Poetry of this level being used as a means to hone the mind? He is a Primarch, he should be preternaturally skilled and able at whatever he sets his mind to. Yet here he is… I… I don't understand." Guilliman stumbled, even he, the greatest orator of the Primarchs was unable to dig himself from this hole his mind had dug.

Vulkan, the nicest of the Primarchs,he who hugged with both hands, was unable to give compliment to what he was hearing, his ears stabbing him with every word.

Your face is like ivory,

Your eyes shine with the purest of greens,

Enough to have any melt either envy,

Your presence, a wipe to all that had been

"Brother! What are you cloistered in here for?" Came the voice behind the two Primarchs. In came Roboute Junior, his strong features and clear skin a distinct deviation from his genetic sire's craggy features, long weathered from centuries of war and politics.

"Ah, I didn't see you there Vulkan. It is good to see you!" He said,walking up and hugging the dark Primarch as they turned to face him.

"It is good to see you too Roboute Junior." Replied Vulkan, returning a hug that would have broken a lesser man in half.

"Please, call me Rob, Roboute Junior sounds so boring. Don't want my big brother here to have to go around with a 'Senior' badge on his armour" Said Rob, winking at his Senior.

"We are trying to understand what your house brother is doing." Said Guilliman, refusing to take the bait.

"What do you mean? It's not very difficult to understand?" Asked Rob, a puzzled expression on his face.

"What do you mean by that? It has been a week since he started this… this… poetry! I cannot make heads or tails of what he doing or why." Said Roboute, spitting out the word 'poetry' as if it were the cause for Horus turning. Face twisted with frustration.

"Hmmm. What do you see him doing right now?" Asked Rob, trying to think of a way for his older brothers to come to a conclusion on their own.

"Making a fool of himself!" Jabbed Roboute, words faster than a bolter shell. If they were physical entities, no doubt Rob would be bleeding all over the floor.

"I do not know." Said Vulkan, trying to preserve some of Angrone's dignity.

The 3 of them were standing in a pict room, viewing Angrone through one of the servo-skulls that was currently serving the room that Angrone was in.

"Ok, new tack. Who is there with him?" Said Rob, rubbing his temples with his right hand, his left supporting his right elbow.

"Imperial citizens." Said Roboute, resolute.

"People?" Queried Vulkan, not understanding the direction this line of question was taking.

Rob slapped his face, or rather, facepalmed it as the younglings said. "I… I just… ok. Those are women brothers. Young, women."

The looks on their faces was one of extreme confusion. Rob resisted the urge to repeat his previous action. His brothers were very clearly Primarchs found during the Great Crusade, their thoughts, their actions, their very being reflecting that.

He gave a sigh.

"He is purposefully using bad poetry in order to win the affection of the young women in the room. He is a Primarch Brothers, is there anything we could be bad at if we focused our minds to it? He is merely focusing his attention to winning the hearts of women, fancies himself a ladykiller." Rob experienced.

The looks of horror on their faces had him backpeddling.

"No, no. He is not killing the women, he is merely winning their hearts and having his way with them."

More confusion. Lots of confusion.

"He is having sex with them!" Rob shouted. His face red.

The flabbergasted expressions on their faces told him exactly what the 2 older Primarchs thought of what he just said.

"He is the… epitome of human development, the greatest of warriors to be born and he is… is… having sex?" Asked Roboute.

"Yes. He is doing this in order to have more sex. His bad poetry, his body posture, everything. He has made it into an art." Replied Rob. While he did consider it a waste, he also understood that trying to stop Angrone was not possible. He had inherited his genefather's headstrong nature and his determination. He also inherited his genefather's ability with close combat weaponry, if he lost a fight then it was on purpose.

Even looking back on the pict-vids of Angron during the Great Crusade, Angrone fought with an intelligence and skill that his genefather simply did not possess. Where one was ruled by rage and an insane need to fight and kill to alleviate the pain caused by the Butcher's nails in the back of his head, the other fought with skill and control that allowed him to finish a fight instantly or to drag it until his objectives were completed.

A Primarch would always become several leagues better than ordinary men once they set their minds to a task, towering about their lessers with a dominance assured through their genetics. It was with this however that a problem came, when one towered above their lessers, how were they going to improve? Simply sparring with a lesser would do nothing but humiliate the poor man, and do nothing to help the Primarch understand their own abilities.

Angrone, ever the perfectionist in his pursuit of the ultimate woman, was also a Primarch. He practiced his forms with an almost religious fervor, deconstructing each and every swing of his sword, every thrust, every parry, every single movement from feet, to hand, to waist, to chest, to neck. Every single part of his performance that could be critiqued and improved as. From pict-captures in a sphere around him, Angrone spent hours, days, weeks, months perfecting his form, every single strike would be delivered with precision that only another Primarch would be able to emulate.

Yet it was not enough. Simply practicing the forms was not enough when one faced opponents, he would be able to dominate them with sheer strength, yes, but it was also ugly. To simply crash your sword into another, to brute force a fight with nothing but strength, the inelegance of it was simply repulsive to Angrone. No, he needed to be able to demonstrate the beauty of his form while also defeating his opponent in such a manner that the only reaction would be awe. Awe not of his strength, but his control, his skill, his form.

To that end, Angrone had dragged Rob down to a chamber deep underneath Ultramar itself, the only ones who knew about it were the two Primarchs and the servitors that kept it clean. It was here that Angrone enlisted Rob's help in building for him something that would have had him branded him insane if he was anyone else. A room, or rather a sphere that would perfectly surround the individual placed within. Inside were countless blades on articulating arms with a random element to them. Each would strike down, the general direction covered by the first joint, the second and third each acting randomly to have the blade strike in a different direction each time. Alongside this were randomly popping up targets which required him to strike them for the next blade to begin moving, the harder the strike, the faster, and harder the next blade would come. By standing in the center of the sphere, every single blade would have to be deflected or blocked on pain of death. The faster one struck down the targets, the faster the blades came. The harder one struck down the targets, the harder the blades came. And with the speed at which a Primarch fought… well, it was some very fast and powerful blades coming at him.

It was a room to very simply train one in the art of surviving attacks from 360 degrees. Very literally, there was an entire sphere of death. Angrone himself spent what must have been months worth of time in there, practising his blade, his hand, his staff, any and all weapons available to him. Practising, practising, practising. The only reason he survived at all was due to his Primarch's physiology. Cuts adorned his body, drenching him and the floor in his own blood, increasing the difficulty of the room as he had to avoid slipping while deflecting the blades.

Angrone made it even more impossible for himself by forcing himself to use the perfect form while in the "ball of death" as Rob called it. Always making sure he looked as beautiful as possible, each swing and thrust looking as perfect and elegant as possible, the entire dance being as effortless as possible. Constant practise, constant shedding of blood, constant pain.

It had all been in Angrone's words "worth it" as he wooed even more, women with his weapon skills. Each fight looking effortless yet also a dance of skill, matching his opponent perfectly. Every encounter ending with both sides satisfied and demonstrating their abilities to the highest heights at which they could be displayed.

"Every single thing he has devoted himself to, has been in the art of chasing after women." Said Rob finally.

"Everything?" Asked Roboute, disbelievingly. He had been away for a few years in Terra, true, he was not expecting this when he returned, however. It boggled the imagination, had he failed his brother by not being there for him?

"A word of warning Brother, Angrone is not someone that is fit to lead a Space Marine Legion, unless you want them to all turn out like him," Rob interjected, shutting down Roboute's train of thought. Both he and Vulkan demonstrating the same face of horror at that prospect. An entire Legion… all dedicated to chasing women? Horrifying.

"Then what would you recommend I do?" Asked Roboute. His time with the High Lords of Terra demonstrated that he did not fully understand people, he might understand the overall picture, but not the individual that made up that picture. Asking for assistance was not a failing.

"There is no pressing need for Primarchs in the Imperium as of late, we are at peace… or as much peace as the Imperium is capable of. I propose that you send us, Angrone, Perturabo, and I out from Ultramar to explore the Imperium on our own. While we may stand out, we will not be so out of place considering that the Sojourners often walk about without their armour, and the people of the Imperium are accustomed to giants walking amongst them. In doing this, we will perhaps find the areas that we are most suited to pursue, a journey of self-discovery as it were."

Roboute was conflicted, on one hand, what Rob said was true. They did not need the Primarchs at this time. Yet… yet they should be serving at the head of great Space Marine legions. Legions that if he was honest, did not need them or even exist as of yet. The younger Primarchs would serve very well as assistants once they were of age, yet now… here… they had time. Time to go out and do something that none of the older Primarchs had the opportunity to do so, their births being on worlds of pain and suffering, their childhoods being marred by war, their adult life of service to their Father, the Emperor. They were able to go out and enjoy themselves, to be free.

Still.

Angrone. Roboute did not know of Angrone's ability regarding weapons and Rob saw no reason to enlighten him, it would be a great surprise present.

"What of Perturabo?" Asked Vulkan, injecting himself into the conversation.

Rob's eyes shifting to the left did not inspire confidence.

After Activation 1122 - Origin Universe

After Insertion 1083 - Cultivation Universe

Millennium 096-32M - 40k Universe

Clone Wars 25 BBY - Star Wars Universe

Ahsoka stood with her Master and Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, lightsabers flashing, Blaster bolts being bounced back at the Droids that fired them and being generally really cool. Not that she would say anything to her Master, he had become really… mellow lately. Also sticking to the rules, she wasn't allowed to go off on her own anymore after that whole thing with the Droids and them baiting her out.

It had been a pain but her Master was looking after her. Only it meant she couldn't practise her awesome moves anymore, always being by her Master's side. Like that time when they came down in a residential sector to stop a Droid attack on a communications hub, that for some reason had been placed in the middle of a multi-storey shopping center. She had to follow her Master, deflect a few Blaster Bolts and then chop up some Droids.

All by the book, all boring, none of it awesome at all.

If she had been alone…

Schwing! The sound of broken glass tinkling across the concrete floor interrupted the Commando Droid. It had its prey in its sights and it was going to finish them off. Stalking forward, blaster in hand. Instead, the glass above it had been broken and its sensors detected falling pieces of glass on its head and shoulders. It looked up.

Mistake.

Padawan Ahsoka Tano, hero of the Republic, the greatest Padawan to ever have been born, a prodigy of lightsaber combat in her own self-invented style, the "death touch", had made her entrance. A forward spin downward, lightsaber cutting crosswise and schwooo. The Droid is still on its feet, the cross cuts instead meant 2 wedges slid out, their edges still orange and molten. The chest is still connected, but not for long. It falls, the legs the only part of it left, a gruesome sculpture, expressing Ahsoka's masterful blade skills.

She turns to the man on the floor, "Do not worry citizen, I am here to save you." She says, voice deep, sexy.

"W-w-w-w-who are you?" He quivers, the sight of her magnificence shocking him into incoherency. He wanted to throw himself at her feet, begging to be made hers.

"Just a nameless Jedi." She says, a mysterious smile on her face, a face angled in exactly the right way so that the sunlight blends the edges of her face, artificially darkening the side facing the man. A shadow was all he saw, the mysterious, deep and sexy voice being the only thing he could identify her by. That and her montrals.

He would search and he would find that it was the one and only Ahsoka Tano that saved him, the greatest Jedi of them all. Her own holonet page would be filled with jiffies of her swinging her lightsaber, destroying Droids, doing daring and dangerous stunts that took her to the edge of what could be considered acceptable by the Sith, let alone the Jedi.

He stared at her as she left, Force Jumping straight at the Droids, twirling like a graceful and totally not erotic dancer as she cut the Droids up into little pieces. Their glowing edges a telling reminder of why Ahsoka Tano was the best Jedi ever.

And when it was over, she would hop aboard her transport, leaving to fight another battle, to save another life. The greatest Jedi ever.

Ahsoka Tano. Jedi Over-Master.

"Snips!"

"Ah!" Ahsoka cried out, her daydream rudely interrupted when it was just getting to the best part. She would have a Harem of men, she wasn't sure what men and where/when but she was totally sure it would be one, at her bidding. The most awesome Jedi ever.

"You okay kiddo? I know you must be a little off from Kysariah, anything I can do to help?" Her Master leaned down and looked her in the eye.

She averted her gaze, "It's ok Master, it's getting better."

"If you say so Snips, get your head in the game ok? We're dropping in 5." Said her Master, walking over to his own drop-pod.

Ahsoka ignored the guilt that was seeping from her chest, she had been daydreaming quite frequently as of late, that single action on Kysariah, where she totally kicked Droid ass had her reliving her awesomeness over and over again. Those around her thought she was traumatized from it, assuming the hours of crawling in complete darkness had done something to her mind. She didn't have the heart or the bravery to tell them she was thinking it was the coolest thing she had ever done.

8 Jedi had been called in to assist her when she didn't report back, her Master being one of them. The fact that she had been missing for what was nearly 12 hours had terrified him. Add in the fact that what they found was an entire facility that had been apparently created for the sole purpose of toying with her… and well the Jedi were feeling rather overprotective.

The records had been faked by an external source, the Droids were all programmed to shoot stunning bolts rather than lethal, all of them had her face on their AI modules, designated as "priority VIP", and the colony itself was barely 24 hours old from the scans they did on the materials.

The team that went in didn't face any resistance at all, the Droids powering down once she had passed the 1-kilometer mark, away from the colony. On the Colony servers, her first target, they had found a message simply saying, "congratulations, you passed the first test." It had freaked the Jedi Masters out, only they couldn't do anything since the Droids had been stolen by a third party, no tracking means possible.

In the aftermath, Ahsoka was permanently assigned to Master Anakin's side until the threat had been identified and neutralized.

This had made her stir-crazy, the daydreams intensifying as she craved the feeling of actual combat again, wanting to go outside and dive right into the chopping and the slicing.

This was the first time that a mission had been approved since the incident, 4 months ago now, and Ahsoka was more than ready. There would be 10 Jedi inserting for this one, Her Master, Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Master Halsey, 6 Jedi Knights (she didn't care about them), and herself. They were moving to defend against a sizable Sith incursion, reportedly there were about 12 of them trying to destroy a Power Relay that would render half the planet without power.

There was a sizable contingent of Clones already on the planet, Flash and Kaminoan alike, as well as a battalion of Krogan. They were currently holding one half of the planet, being pushed hard by a renewed Separatist advance, and could only spare a few squads to assist the Jedi. For them it didn't really matter if the planet didn't have power, they had their own generators for field use and were using them anyway.

For the Blockade Forces, it mattered since this would be the first time they could engage this many Sith at once, hopefully, they would be able to gather information that could be of use. Everything prior to this being 1v1 or 2v2 engagements, subdued engagements where nothing important happened except a few cuts here and there.

The Jedi would be followed in by a company of Clones, Flash Clones. The Blockade Forces had accepted the use of Flash Clones, more as cannon fodder, but they were still useful in their own ways. Their ability to pour on accurate and massed fire on a target was invaluable when one was facing up against a Force Sensitive. One of the recommended ways to eliminate one was to pour on overwhelming and individual sources of firepower to overwhelm their ability to dodge or deflect.

10 Jedi in their drop-pods, 20 ARC clones in their drop-pods and 1000 Flash Clones to follow in their orbital transports. They would first hit the forces trying to breach the Power Relay, secure the area and then secure a corridor so that the advisory Clone team could meet them. They would then use the knowledge of the facility to hunt down the Sith, assuming they were inside in the first place.

The Blockade Forces wanted the Power Relay secured, more for the propaganda victory than anything else, but it would be nice to be able to keep it intact. At the same time, the Sith were a priority target, if the Relay had to die for them to secure one as prisoner, then so be it. The people could live without power for a few days, the Republic would send them generators to keep themselves supplied, or even build a new one. One that was spread out over half the planet so that this same situation wouldn't happen again.

Terrible design, one might think it was another trap to draw me in.

Ahsoka strapped herself in, pulling down the metal bar that secured her upper body. The drop-pod hatch was closed via a metal arm and the rivets keeping it closed were sealed shut. To her right the light flicked red, the explosives were armed for the hatch ejection. To her left the light was red, the drop-pod's airbrakes were online. To her bottom right, the light was red, the rocket boost to slow down the descent just before planetfall was online. To her bottom left, the light was red, the drop-pod was ready to launch.

Ahsoka took a deep breath. It was only a matter of time now, the Ascendent 2 (the upgraded ship) would be orbiting over the drop-zone in a matter of minutes. They would drop, they would destroy Droids and kick Sith ass. That was the plan at any rate, and plans with me in it always go wrong.

"5 minutes till drop." Came the voice across the intercom installed inside the drop-pod.

The light above the hatch, straight ahead of her lit up as red. When it turned orange, they had 1 minute before drop. When it went green, then they were dropping.

It wasn't the most pleasant experience in the world, just silence as they went through space, then the shuddering as they went through the atmosphere, then the whistling as they passed through the turbulence and coasted down. A sudden jerk as the airbrakes deployed, a roar as the retrorockets ignited and a thump as they landed.

Yes, not very pleasant at all.

"3 minutes till drop."

Ahsoka tried a breathing exercise, she hated drops. Being in a rickety little pod as it hurtled through the atmosphere, a sitting duck for any anti-air systems on the ground. A slight miscalculation of the drop-zone and she would be blown to little pieces as she entered the AA umbrella.

Stop trying to scare yourself Ahsoka. Aren't you meant to be the most awesome Jedi ever? Act like it. Or… at least try to think like it.

"Revision, the drop-zone has heavy anti-air systems detected, they are moving into position. Will enter their envelope in 30 seconds." Came the voice again, still calm, totally not ignoring the fact that they were about to be dropped into a certain kill scenario.

"If we drop now, what is the risk of entering the envelope?" Asked her Master, good Master, always with the good questions that sets us up for a suicide mission later. Like "will you marry me", that was a good one. I need a man. I am also 14 years old. Maybe later.

"12% Jedi Knight Skywalker."

"Then do it. Drop now!"

"Understood, dropping."

And off they went. A light shudder as the clamp released itself and a bigger one as the piston ejected them out of the hangar, straight down into the atmosphere. The little window in front of her face showed a vast fleet battle, lasers being exchanged across space, ships burning, others breaking apart, both Republic and Separatist alike.

Down they went, further and further, the drop-pod began to rattle. The atmospheric resistance causing the outside to glow orange, little flame icons appearing on the little monitor to her center right.

Then it abruptly stopped, instead there was another period of quiet, only the whistling of the air outside being audible. Another shudder and the disappearance of the noise told her the airbrakes had deployed themselves.

They were going in and things were looking normal.

"Warning. Missile Lock. Warning. Missile Lock. Initiating evasive actions." What. No. That wasn't meant to happen.

The pod began to jerk, Ahsoka's organs shifting about as the jets on the side of the pod took her left, right, forward, backward, and all about as it tried to juke the missiles.

She wasn't aware of how much time passed, her head too busy trying not to snap as the pod maneuvered.

She was only sure that the pod wasn't meant to shake horribly at the sound of an explosion and it wasn't meant to be going sideways.

Ahsoka's last sight was a building, a rather tall one, coming closer and closer in her vision port as the pod raced towards it… upside down. She grimaced as the pod smashed into it, clenching her teeth so she wouldn't bite off her tongue.

Then it hit, and she knew no more.

After Activation 1122 - Origin Universe

After Insertion 1083 - Cultivation Universe

Millennium 096-32M - 40k Universe

Clone Wars 25 BBY - Star Wars Universe

Ahsoka came to, her head feeling rather strange. Very likely due to the fact that she was upside down and all the blood was rushing to her head. That and she probably had a concussion or something considering that she was knocked out when she hit the building. Only she was not thinking about that right now.

She was considering how easy it would be to just kill herself and end the pain, like a headache, turned up to 50, a throbbing and pervasive headache that just sapped at her motivation to exist. Still, she was Jedi, the most awesomemost Jedi ever. She couldn't let this get her down.

The hatch was still intact, Ahsoka was about to punch the button to eject it when she stopped. Even with a headache, she knew she had to pay more attention. A cursory scan of the outside showed it to be the interior of an office building of some kind, lots of desks, chairs, all arrayed in neat rows. Or rather would have been in neat rows, Ahsoka's entry had bowled half of them over like weeds before a lightsaber.

She was hanging from the ceiling, likely the power cabling had wrapped around the pod and kept her suspended. Maybe the hatch was caught and it wouldn't be able to properly eject. Luckily she was a Jedi, and more importantly, she had her lightsaber. Another glance and there was nothing of note, punching the button and the hatch ejected. Or tried. It went half a meter before weakly drooping down, half over the entrance and half off. Looked like the cabling caught it after all.

Ahsoka unhooked the metal bar that had been keeping her intact the whole time, forgetting it was keeping her intact and crumpling to the bottom of the drop-pod. Or was it the top. One of them.

Still, she was free, and she was going to get herself upright.

After the pain of having her spine compressed eased a little bit.

Ahsoka landed on the ground, the little kerfuffle with the drop-pod being upside down forgotten. Nothing a little lightsabering and Force Pushing couldn't fix. She had grabbed her tertiary bags, it felt like she might be here for a while and it would be best to bring everything with her. Including a sleeping bag, mosquitos were universal apparently and Ahsoka hated them with a passion.

She looked like a miniature ARC trooper in full getup. A vest with her ammunition, grenades, ration bars, spare lightsaber, extra batteries for her helmet. The works. On her back was the tertiary backpack, filled with a tent, sleeping bag, more rations, more ammunition, more grenades, clothes (in case she needed to blend in), a cloak and a spare radio. A radio that Ahsoka was connecting to her helmet via a cable, it should extend her range and allow her to communicate with anyone in the surrounding 50 kilometers. Hopefully, the buildings would break that up she was sure.

Around her the dust had settled, it looked like the pod had been here for quite a while before she woke up. Hopefully, her Master didn't think she was dead or something when she didn't answer the called. Hopefully, her Master was still alive, that AA fire couldn't have just been her.

Ahsoka gave a quick check of herself again, patting the various pockets of the vest, the little pouches on her legs, waist, stomach. Everything was in place, nothing missing. A quick glance at the drop-pod, again nothing. Ok. Everything all green.

Ahsoka nodded to herself.

And thus began the adventure of Ahsoka Tano, Jedi Over-Master, seductress, warrior, Jedi.

She grinned under the helmet, at least with a helmet on, she could make whatever expression she wanted without her Master worrying about her mental state.

Walking to the edge of the office space, hand on the large window which had survived the war, Ahsoka looked down. Her hud told her that she needed to head down into the city to reach the objective marker. A city that from above looked like hell. Blaster bolts criss-crossed the entire city, blue and red contrasted as they flickered briefly before impacting whatever it was they were being aimed at. Explosions, dust, rubble. All of it filling the streets, more being added as she watched.

It was morbidly beautiful in the darkness of the night, brief patches being lit up before the dark reclaimed them. An entire city at war when it should have been sleeping. That was pretty good. Keep it up!

Her objective was directly ahead, or rather it was ahead, through the city and past what looked like the Separatist front line. They had the Relay encircled if the data on her hud was accurate, not the best of situations if she was being honest. She didn't want to check in over the radio either, being alone meant that the Droids would be able to find her just as easily as her allies.

Looked like she was on her own again. Ahsoka grinned, well more of a smile that was encroaching over her entire face, that she was trying beat down. It was proving to be an impossible task at this rate, finally Master, I can unleash my true form.

Bad Ahsoka. This is the thinking that makes everyone think you are weird. Still, she was behind enemy lines… it wouldn't be her fault if she… killed a few Droids, would it?

Jedi Ahsoka, the most powerful and awesomemost Jedi in the galaxy, destroying Droids, kicking ass, taking names, seducing with a gaze.

Coming from the sky, slamming into the ground. The shock wave alone bowls over the Droids, the Force Push assist sends them into the walls and the ground, their fragile forms crumpling. The dust dissipates and reveals the young, lithe, sexy Jedi. Her long limbs and rather generous bust emphasized by her figure. Kneeling with a single fist on the ground, the sole form in a crater over a dozen meters wide. She looks up, her mature figure, her body… mmmm. That 20 year old body, superior in every day to pre-pubescent Ahsoka. The most awesome Ahsoka ever.

Her lightsabers ignite, long blades of green and blue, she looks like an angel of death. Ahsoka Tano, greatest Jedi ever grins at the Droids in front of her. She dives forward, Force Sprinting as she closes the distance, the shocked Droids unable to accurately fire at her.

Dodging left to right, little hops to throw off their aim before she Force Leaps, right at the biggest concentration of Droids, Force Pushing to knock them off balance. Then she is there, right in the middle of them, lightsaber carving through their metal bodies, leaving glowing, molten metal in her ease.

Hah. This is Ahsoka Tano, scourge of the Droid Army, Jedi Over-Master, the greatest of them all.

Ahsoka gave a tap on her helmet, this wasn't the time to daydream.

She needed to get down there and she needed to do it quietly. As great as the Ahsoka of her daydreams was, real life Ahsoka was nowhere near that level of ability and needed to be much more cautious when it came to moving through the city. There was nothing stopping her from destroying Droids, just the knowledge that her doing so would make her a very big target. She sighed, more Clones were going to die because she needed to complete her mission.

Or were they? She had been practising on her own, using the Force as a sharp weapon instead of a blunt trauma instrument. Using the Force in conjunction with her own echolocational abilities, being able to detect Droids and more importantly, detect their insides and then using the Force to strike at them from a distance. While it was less awesome than using her Lightsaber, it would also be something that was much safer. She would be able to destroy Droids without alerting them to her presence, allowing her to help the Clones without calling in massive numbers of Droid reinforcements on their heads. If the Droids found her presence, they would be trying to kill her no matter the cost, there were billions of Clones but only a few thousand Jedi at the most.

Ahsoka grinned, yes. She had a plan of attack. Getting down there however, was another issue entirely. Running down the stairs would be dangerous, the Droids likely knew she was here and probably had Commando Units canvassing the building as she stood there. Ahsoka took a moment to gather her thoughts together. How should she get down there?

Who said you needed to walk? Do it aweeeesome.

Ahsoka grinned even more widely. Yes. This was the best plan ever.

She took a few steps back before she Force Pulled the window in front of her, shattering it. More importantly, all the pieces went into the room, not dropping pieces down below to alert the Droids as to what she was doing. From there Ahsoka walked over to the edge took a deep breath.

Then stepped off. She was over 100 meters up into the air, the drop would kill her, Greatest Jedi or not.

However, she had been working on her micro-control of the Force and displayed it now. A simple Force Ball in her palm which was slapped onto the side of the building and she was sliding down, fast but manageable. Something that wouldn't kill her if she fell and something that allowed her to control her descent. It was still fast, fast enough that if Ahsoka didn't have her helmet on, she wouldn't be able to breathe at all. She grinned savagely, it was going to be awesome when she landed. Oh yes.

Down she went until she was halfway down the building and she did a Force Leap. Using the entirety of her power, pushing down onto the skyscraper while using her body as the fulcrum. An entire 3 floors of the building buckled, the windows shattered into microscopic pieces, the metal bracings bending under the pressure. It looked like an asteroid had smashed into the side of the building, a crate all that remained.

As for Ahsoka however, she came flying out from the side, moving so fast that her neck nearly broke from the acceleration. Bad idea. She wouldn't be doing that again anytime soon, but the Droids at least wouldn't be able to tell what happened, she was already 100 meters away, her body scything through the air at maximum speed.

Sore neck aside, Ahsoka grinned. Oh yes. This was the best.

A large arc through the sky and Ahsoka began her downward descent, the Force Leap taking her 700 meters away from the skyscraper, they would know it was her of course, but they wouldn't know where she went. Halfway down the building meant she was lower to begin with, making it harder for them to see her in the air, not much of a concern given her camouflaged armour, but it was a concern nonetheless. What about the backpack, is it still there? She had a little panic, head twisting around to check if her backpack was still in place. It was. She gave a slight exhalation of relief.

Down and down she went, using Force Pushes and Pulls to control her descent. She wanted to land somewhere high up, where she could see the various different positions of her allies and the Droids. It was a built up area but no buildings were over 4 stories tall, an industrial sector perhaps. Then again it didn't matter, she needed to get through this area, reach her Master and complete her mission.

At the same time, if she destroyed Droids on the way through without also slowing down… well, there would be nothing for her Master to complain about was there?

She grinned, oh yes, the Droids were underneath, as she came in, her montrals allowed her to detect them. All of them with their hollow interiors, so deliciously vulnerable.

Ahsoka had landed and Ahsoka was ready to hunt.

After Activation 1122 - Origin Universe

After Insertion 1083 - Cultivation Universe

Millennium 096-32M - 40k Universe

Clone Wars 25 BBY - Star Wars Universe

Ahsoka landed on the roof of a particularly wide building. Perfect for her needs. She grinned. Oh yes. This was going to be perfect. She lay down on the roof, both as a means of avoiding detection and to allow her helmet direct contact with the material. Her helmet had been specially made in order to allow her to use her montrals, even through the material, the helmet itself hugging her head with an almost 1-1 ratio of contact.

With her montrals on the ground, the roof acted like a large microphone, amplifying her range drastically, enough for her to detect everything in a 50 meter range. Enough for her to build a map of extreme detail, enough that she could tell where every single Droid was, their exact dimensions and exactly where she needed to Push to take them all down.

Ahsoka grinned, she had been practicing this, while it wasn't as flashy and cool as using her lightsaber, it was also super cool in its own way. To sneak around, destroying Droids before they even knew she was there, just wiping them out, sneaking away. While nobody else would be able to see her, she would know. And if she managed to record it? Well someone else might know… all the someones. She grinned at the thought, Ahsoka Tano, Greatest Jedi Ever, Master of the Super Cool spinning combat school, Queen of all.

This was not a Force Push this time but a Force Grip, a supernaturally strong crushing force where she willed it. And she willed it into the center of every Droid within her range, crushing their AI modules in their chests, all the Droids simply folding in on themselves without anything keeping them balanced. The sound of metal striking concrete filled her ears and Ahsoka grinned with gay abandon. Oh yes. This was cool as well.

Not as flashy but cool.

Ahsoka stood up and gave a little frown. She was still able to detect everything, what was going on? Armour is conductive? Testing it a little, Ahsoka noticed that if she stood in a certain position, the plates of armour lined up and allowed her montrals to extend their echolocational abilities through the soles of her boots.

She grinned, no more lying down, she could just land, Force Grip, and leave, all in a few seconds.

With that thought Ahsoka mapped out a route in her head, it would be on the way to the Power Relay, but it was also through the frontline, coming in just behind the Separatist Droids. She would be able to assist the Clones even as she made her way to her mission. Ahsoka leapt off the roof and made her way over to the next building, a Force Push on her back, propelling her even further. Landing on the next building she repeated the process, a scan, find all the Droids, destroy their AI modules and then leave.

The Relay was approximately 15 kilometers away, her drop-zone was catastrophically off target. Actually, now that she thought about it, why was she heading along behind the Droid lines in the first place? It would be far better for her to head over to the Clone lines, find a safe radio (one that was physically linked instead of wireless) and see if she could raise any of the Jedi or the Ascendent.

As it was, she was going in blind and she would be of absolutely no help if she blundered into a Sith on her own and was killed. Previous Ahsoka would have simply rushed over, smarter, more awesome Ahsoka was capable of reasoning with herself and not committing suicide by Droid.

A leap to the right and she was bouncing to the Clones. Activating her radio with a press to the button underneath her helmet, Ahsoka started broadcasting. After looking at her streamed map of course.

"Republic units in grid H-5 of Sector 192281A, this is Jedi Ahsoka Tano coming in from above, I repeat, Jedi Ahsoka Tano coming in from above. Look for the Green Lightsaber." She called out, flying over the frontline entirely. As she neared the end of her trajectory, she activated her lightsaber, waving it so the Clones on the ground would be able to see her. Would be very bad if they fired on her.

Down she went, aiming for one of the trenches.

One impact later, making sure she posed properly, Ahsoka looked up to see the barrels of multiple Blasters aiming at her head. Hands up, she said, "Identification protocol 5-A, override 10-b." Or in other words, she was a Jedi, her automatic broadcast systems would update their huds when it connected to the local network.

As the Blasters went down she walked over to a Kaminoan Clone as identified on her hud.

"Trooper, where is the nearest radio station?" She asked.

The Clone looked at her, or rather angled his helmet to look at her. He paused a moment before answering, "It's another 100 meters behind the lines ma'am, just go in that direction, follow the trenches (pointing in the general direction of their rearline). We got Droid snipers, they'll pop anything that makes it over the trenchline (jerking a thumb in the general direction of the Droid lines)."

Ahsoka nodded, "thank you trooper", offered her thanks and was off. Maybe her little fun with the Droids would help them out. She wasn't counting on it doing much, though, she had seen the casualty reports and they were horrendous. At least it's Clones, imagine if all of those were real people. Oh wow, that sounded terrible. Bad Ahsoka.

"Ahsoka, get yourself to Grid E-9, sector 202361A, we can talk more once you make it over. Don't head to the Power Relay, it was a trap. Obi-Wan, Out."

Well, that was short. Sending a message over the radio to put her in contact with her Masters, her Masters asking if she was ok then telling her to make her way over. It must be serious if they couldn't spare the time to talk to her.

Ahsoka gave a brief sigh before standing up, looks like she needed to hurry along then.

She ran along in the trenches, no point presenting herself as a target, she wasn't nearly as good as she could be in deflecting blaster bolts, so she wasn't even going to try.

Just stay in the trenches and it would be ok. Only the trenches were… packed, congested, heaving. What looked like an immobile mess of bodies was actually congestion free. The Clones seemingly moving like they all knew where they needed to be exactly to maximize efficiency. Looking carefully, the Clones moved in 3 lanes, the first and third were for the Clones coming to the front from the rear, the middle was dedicated to those returning to the rear from the front.

Those coming up would be carrying ammunition, equipment, bacta bags, weapons, and food. Those coming from the front were bringing their wounded, both walking and critical, as well as themselves. It was a highly efficient system that somehow worked, the ones heading up would give way to those returning, and runners got right of way from both.

Ahsoka joined the outgoing line, headed in the direction of the grid Master Obi-Wan had said she should. Moving at what was not quite a jogging pace but fast enough that it would probably leave her out of breath in a few minutes.

Along the way she saw what was probably close to hell on earth, little dugouts to the side that held what must have been hundreds of Clones, the most wounded of which looked like they were missing most of their limbs and body. The others just a few limbs. They didn't cry, just moaned softly. There were more being brought every second, just as many of them being taken back to where she assumed were proper medical facilities. Most of them rocked side to side, groaning a little every now and again. Others still just lay there, silent and unmoving, either dead or unconscious. Not so awesome huh Ahsoka?

She saw Clone commanders organizing defences or attacks in tiny little alcoves dug into the trench wall, their figures hunched over physical maps or holographic ones. Their hands flickering as they rapidly gestured, drawing on the maps or marking out points of interest. Around them were Clone officers, taking notes or sitting attentively as they nodded or answered questions as prompted.

Others still were cleaning weapons in the entrances to an underground bunker, clearly an armoury of some sort. Their hands moving with precision borne of experience or their Hypnotherapy, it was hard to tell. Stripping down weapons, cleaning them, reassembling them, repeated over and over with new weapons. Why they were in the open she didn't know but they probably had good reasons for it.

There were other tunnel entrances, these had signs on them, "in case of siren, get in". Probably bomb shelters of some kind.

It was an entirely new experience for Ahsoka, what engagements she had been prior to her induction to the Blockade Forces had been skirmishing type battles, small engagements where mobility was king. In the Blockade Forces, she had been largely separated from the average Clone troopers, their way of fighting being incompatible with the lighting raids and counter moves made by the Blockade Forces. Even when the Clones were deployed, it was much more along the lines of a situation where the opening months of the war repeated itself, fast maneuvers and lightning action. They didn't have time to dig in, secure the target then leave was the mantra.

Here, however… here there too were Clones that probably had spent their entire lives in these trenches outside of a week on Senti. Living and dying for some cause they probably didn't care about, produced solely to be cannon fodder. Ahsoka didn't try to think too hard on it, the deaths of the Clones under her command in the Blockade Forces already weighed on her mind. The deaths of billions more would crush her.

Despite this, however, the Clones were not despairing, rather they moved with a quiet determination and purpose that made her rather… respectful. They knew they were born to die but did their jobs anyway. It was probably programmed into them but she thought it was better this way. It would probably be much worse if they hated what they were doing.

She gave a sigh, best not to think about it too closely. She kept walk-jogging along, following the stream of Clones as she made her ear to the grid. The Clones had been switching in and out as some made their way to different parts of the Trench network and others still came in to pick up the wounded or drop off the various crates and boxes they had been carrying.

Eventually, she did reach her Master, her mind long numb to the suffering that was the result of this war. The wounded and dead must have been in the thousands, just for a tiny stretch of trench, barely even 3 kilometers. And she was just walking through a single rear line trench, what about the ones who died on the front and the other support trenches to the rear?

It was disgusting and she resolved to fight as hard as she could, she would do her part to end this war.

"Snips!" Called out her Master, waving her over into the little dugout he had commandeered. She had just followed the pip on her hud that indicated the rough direction of where he was.

"Master!" She called, in turn, waving her right arm before pulling it down. So not cool, what are you? 10?

Ahsoka made her way over, the little clearing where 4 trenches met making it seem like a town square or something, the Clones crisscrossing as they made their way across. Embedded in the sides were dugouts for bomb shelters as well as command posts and ammo dumps.

Ahsoka had to do a little shouldering as the traffic increased, her tiny frame being hidden from their peripheral vision or something. She was rather small bow that she thought about it. She gave another sigh before reaching her Master.

"You ok Snips?"

"Yes Master, there wasn't anything that dangerous." She replied.

After Activation 1122 - Origin Universe

After Insertion 1083 - Cultivation Universe

Millennium 096-32M - 40k Universe

Clone Wars 25 BBY - Star Wars Universe

"So Snips… anything you want to say?" Her Master asked, teeth clenched. Each word like it was being nice spat from his mouth at blaster bolt speeds

"What about?" She said evasive, eyes slanting to the left… away from his gaze. Her Master's expression got worse, deep canyons furrowed on his forehead.

"The part where you jumped off a building and dived into the city without any sort of airbrake." He said, staring at her.

"It wasn't dangerous or anything Master, I just jumped off. I was safe the whole time!" Ahsoka tried to retort. Hands held before in supplication.

"Safe? You jumped off a skyscraper!" He shouted, voice escalating to the end.

"But I was in control the whole time Master! Here look!" Ahsoka said, trying to appease her Master. Manipulating the hologram to show the way in which she was using the Force to control the descent, the Jedi watching intently.

She had given over her helmet for the Jedi Masters to review what had happened to her so far. The Jedi and the Clones had managed to circumvent the Anti-Air fire, well most of them. 2 Jedi Knights and 8 Clones had been killed on the way down with 8 more Clones knocked off course like Ahsoka had been. Only they didn't have her abilities and were killed by the Droids. The Flash Clones were still orbit, their drop cancelled once the AA had been revealed.

The strike team had been much reduced and the fact that it was a trap had left them twiddling their thumbs. The Sith had been used as bait for them to head directly to the facility, leaving them open for an AA team to pick them off as they dropped down. Luckily the Droids had messed up the timing and the strike team had dropped early, circumventing the AA system entirely.

As it was, they had no idea what they should be doing, any sightings of the Sith had to be met with skepticism, anytime they presented an opening was a potential trap.

Ahsoka Tano, the greatest Jedi in all of history, destroyer of Droid armies, Jedi Over-Master, Sith huntress. The greatest of them all. Today she hunts Sith, tracking them to their native environment and confronting the red skinned aliens, her lightsaber ready, her eyes narrowed, posture ready.

From the cavernous tunnel a single Sith emerges, she looks very similar to Ahsoka, her next words only confirming it.

"I am your Mother." She says delivering the first blow.

"Nooooooooooooooooooooo!" Screams Ahsoka, falling on her knees.

"Now, fight me daughter!"

Ahsoka roars and triggers her lightsaber, standing up and leaping at her mother. Ready to do battle.

Only for her to trip and plant her face on the ground.

"Ahsoka, back with me kiddo." Her Master was waving his hand in front of her face.

"Oh, sorry Master, just daydreaming."

"Ok, Snips, back with us now?" Her Master looked rather worried at her. She was a little tired but nothing serious… she hoped.

"Yes, Master."

"What was that?" He asked, pointing at the loop of her maneuvering through the air, looking like a guided missile more than a Jedi.

"Well, in the obstacle courses, I always wondered why exactly we had to use our arms and legs to get through when we have the Force. So I practiced in my room until I made it work. When I jump, like here (reversing the hologram back to the time when she leapt off the side of the building), I just Force Push against the side of the building, using my legs as the basis, I call it "Force Leap". So I can jump really far, and then I just Force Push and Pull to make sure I'm heading in the right direction, (forwarding the hologram to the scene of her shifting left and right in the air.) That way I can move properly without needing to run and expose myself.

"Like here! (Shifting even further forward to when she was jumping, building to building, a zigzagging little streak of dark grey that moved with prodigious speed). See? It's totally safe, I've been doing this I graduated!" She said. Perhaps unwisely. Woops.

"So you've been doing this since last year. Why exactly didn't you tell us?" Master Kenobi asked, concern in his voice. Leaning over the holotable he certainly looked worried.

"I thought you were doing it too? It seemed so obvious." Ahsoka replied, and it was rather obvious, only for children who hadn't had their minds set by the rigid traditions of their teachers.

"Well we didn't exactly know Padawan, us old people tend to be set in our ways." Her Master said, grinning at her. It seemed he was less angry, maybe she had convinced him?

"But I gave all my recordings to the records department, didn't anyone watch them?" Ahsoka asked, her eyes begging. Her Master hadn't seen her doing all those awesome flips and tricks? Wasn't he meant to watch her? He gave her critiques and stuff, wasn't he watching her do her awesome jumps and stuff too?

"Well… we thought you were doing the same as the other Padawans and just running to your objective. We just skipped that part of the holovids and went straight to your combat scenes." Master Kenobi said.

Oh. That made sense. Dammit, she was so awesome that they assumed she couldn't be that awesome. It was truly difficult being as amazing as she was. The greatest Jedi of all. She might need to start self advertising so that everyone knew exactly how, truly awesome that she was. Still was a punch in the gut, though.

Her master clearly picked up on her emotions however and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry Snips, we'll make sure to watch your holovids in full next time. Why don't you keep going with your report?" He said, smiling at her.

Ahsoka smiled back at him weakly. Taking a deep breath she continued her narration.

"So I landed on this building here and then used my montrals to detect the Droids. (The holo showed her lying down on the roof.) I then used Force Push but in the shape of my hand to crush their AI modules." She continued, demonstrating on an empty bag of rations. Throwing it into the air, she gripped her hand and the bag was squeezed, looking as if it had multiple Pushes being pressed against it.

"Impressive." Said Master Halsey. "It appears that with our focus upon the Force, we have ignored the natural advantages that our Padawans and Knights have had, to our detriment. I will have to bring this up with the other Masters when we return, it is particularly impressive I must say."

Ahsoka grinned. Yes, she was truly the most awesomest Jedi ever.

"Ok Snips, don't let it get to your head, don't want you floating off of me now."

Ahsoka did a little head toss, "There's a ceiling here so you can just pull me down."

Master Kenobi chuckled. "She takes after you Anakin." He said, jabbing her Master with his elbow.

"The wrong parts you mean."

"All the parts." Master Kenobi retorted.

"Alright, you got me. So what next?" Master Anakin said to her, ignoring his former master, doing a little rollover motion with his hand.

Ahsoka smiled and continued her narration.

"Well I kept going, but then I realised that there had been too much time passing and if I went to the Power Relay, the fight might have been over and I would be walking into a trap. So I turned and went to the Clone trenches and called in over the radio to find you." She finished. Beaming at the assembled audience.

While the ARC Clones had been rather quiet, their body language betrayed their amusement at what was going on.

"Why didn't you use your own radio? You do have the radio pack in your backpacks don't you?" Asked Master Halsey.

"Yes I do Master, but if I did, it would alert the Droids that I was in the area and make it easy to track me down. I was on radio silence hoping that you would try and contact me over the open airwaves." She said, fiddling with her lekku as she did so.

"We did Snips, only when you didn't reply the first 20 times, we assumed you were dead or knocked out and stopped." Her Master said.

"What happened with you, Master? How did things go for you?"

"Well, things went a lot better for us than for you from the looks of it. We dropped down in the same area, took a minute or 2 to round everyone up and we started heading back to the Clone lines like you did. Master Halsey picked up on the fact that it was probably a trap for us and recommended we pull back until we had more information. From the looks of it he was right as well, the Power Relay is still operational and intact. Anyway, we fought through a small platoon of Droids and made our way out safely. Not all of us can move like you can." Master Kenobi finished, grinning at her as he did so.

"So what do we do from here?" She asked, they had pulled her in to start her report as soon as she was confirmed safe (with a minor concussion according to the medi-bot).

"We sit tight Snips, we came down here to do a job, only the timeframes changed. We wait for them to expose themselves where we can counter without worrying about an ambush, then we strike. See if we can get that intel and maybe even catch one or 2 of them for interrogation. It's going to be a pain but the best we can do is wait. The Clones are bringing the intel to us while we are here." Said her Master.

"But what about the Clones? There's so much suffering out there Master, can't we do anything to help them? So much suffering and death, just for this stupid war." Ahsoka finished, her face set in a bitter scowl.

"We are warriors Ahsoka, the best we can do is fight this war as hard as we can, do our jobs to the best we can, and hope that's enough." Master Kenobi said, his face was also rather bitter. The Clones had been a sticking point in the Jedi Order, their deaths necessary for the Republic to be able to fight back against the Separatist Droids, but in doing so they died in massive numbers.

"And no Padawan, I won't allow you to go up and fight them personally, you aren't a Clone and they will hunt you down. If you are there, you will be doing more harm than good. Your heart is in the right place, but it's going to hurt the Clones you wish to help if you do." Master Kenobi pre-empted her next question.

"But there has to be something we can do to help! We are Jedi, we have the Force, we can create miracles, but we have to watch the Clones die when we could be there helping them?!" She shouted. Her red face turning slightly redder.

"The Padawan has a point," said Master Halsey before her Master could jump in, "perhaps, with the Padawan's ability, she could assist the Clones in the defence without exposing herself? As it is, denying her will only hurt her progress along the path." He finished. His voice rather calm, passive, soothing.

"Master Halsey does have a point, while Ashoka does that, could we not attempt to replicate her process? Surely what she can do with her montrals, we can do with the Force." Said Master Kenobi.

Her Master hummed slightly, his face set into a contemplative frown.

"Ok, you can do your echolocation thing with the Clones but you must hide yourself ok? Remember what I said about exposing yourself, it will hurt the Clones more than it will hurt you." He finished.

She grinned, clapping her hands together.

"I won't disappoint you!" She cried out, jumping to her feet.

"Yes, yes. I'll contact the trench commander and he'll assign you to where you are needed the most. Don't overdo it, just because they can't see you, doesn't mean they won't notice all their Droids keeling over at the same time."

She saluted, bouncing on the spot.

She could help and show her Master how awesome she was at the same time.

After Activation 1122 - Origin Universe

After Insertion 1083 - Cultivation Universe

Millennium 096-32M - 40k Universe

Clone Wars 25 BBY - Star Wars Universe

Ahsoka ducked behind a block of concrete, one that had somehow survived the weeks of shelling. She was here, crouching down, hiding from what looked like 2 Force Users as they tore apart the landscape in a battle of some kind. No lightsabers, more swords and shouting and random explosions. Just replace grabbing things with the Force and hurling them at your enemies, with explosions and thrown weapons, and it would give a general idea as to how things were going.

One of them looked like a human and the other was the Sith, from what she could understand, the human was a hunter of the Sith and had tracked the Sith to this planet. A Sith that Ahsoka herself was trying to trail, keeping her in sight while she waited for her Master to arrive and lead the attack.

As it was, she had been interrupted when the human had appeared out of nowhere and started fighting with the Sith. Ahsoka sighed, this was such a good day when it started, her doing her sneaky stuff, the Droids being destroyed, tracking the Sith with her super secret sneaking skills. So much of it going right, of course, it would all go wrong.

They had been on the planet for weeks now and even Master Obi-Wan was feeling the strain. The boredom was setting in and he was getting fidgety. While just waiting wasn't that much of an issue for Jedi, meditation was essentially, useful waiting. Waiting while thousands upon thousands of Clones died every day on the planetary surface, their deaths to prolong a stalemate. A stalemate that showed no signs of ending anytime soon, the bodies piling up as time passed. The frontline had shifted back and forth a kilometer, resetting every few days, a strip of land that was being bombed to the point it ceased resembling anything except a hellscape, the buildings turned to rubble, the rubble turned to dirt, the dirt turned to dust.

The rainy season had started and the dust greedily ate up the water, turning into a mud that simply boggled the mind. It looked solid until you stepped into it, only then would it reveal itself, a quicksand that locked you in place and refused to let go. There had been cases of Clones simply vanishing on patrol, found later when their IFF tags showed them under the mud. Sometimes they would be alive, their armour's inbuilt air canisters keeping them alive, other times they had long since suffocated from the lack of air.

The Droids had it worse, their limited joint articulation and their relatively small weight spread, meant they sank straight down. Even if they didn't need to breathe, their bodies lacked the strength to move even a little bit, simply shutting down as they ran out of power.

What made the mud so bad was the fact that it both absorbed everything and also made it almost impossible to get it out again. The mud simply flowed into everywhere that there might be a gap, setting itself into place and requiring an amount of force that would rip a person in half if they were pulled out. The only options available were to dislodge them by scraping out the mud, slowly wriggling them around to create gaps of air, that in turn would allow them to slowly come out. It was a labour and time intensive process, something impossible to do in the middle of no-man's land, something that meant many Clones had been left, their bodies slowly sinking into the mud.

It was horrifying and the Jedi were becoming impatient to do something, anything. They couldn't just sit here for a prolonged period of time, listening to the reports of the front, not being able to do anything.

What had kept them from going out personally was the fact that their attempts at using the Force to detect physical objects instead of lifeforms, was bearing fruit. It was enough for them to work from behind the lines, destroying Droids and assisting the Clones, sight unseen. It kept them occupied but even that was no longer enough.

It was then that a Sith had been spotted, they were still on the planet, the Jedi knew that. The Force told them it was so, that and military intelligence that was checking every ship that left the system. They had been lying low, striking out at the Clones every now and again before vanishing quickly back to Separatist lines.

This one however, had been revealed by Anakin Skywalker who had detected a life sign behind the Droid lines, a very strange event that had him alerting the other Jedi. Together they had checked and discovered that it was indeed a Sith, or at least a Force Sensitive. What to do had been considered, the fact that Ahsoka was the best of them when it came to the art of sneaking had played a large part in the decision to send her out. Not that her Master and Obi-Wan were happy about it but they wouldn't be able to stop her either.

Ahsoka therefore, was sent out to the frontline, to track the Sith back to their headquarters or staging area, see if she could find more of them in the area, then calling in reinforcements to take them down. The buzzer would send a one-way signal that would not give her away to the Droids and their signal tappers.

So out she went, to find and track the Sith, her body and spirit were ready. Finally able to do what she had trained for.

Ahsoka crawled along the roof, her body kept low, her silhouette tiny. There wasn't a backpack to give her away now, everything that was unnecessary was stripped away. This time she would be sneaking, no fighting unless absolutely necessary. That didn't mean she didn't have her blaster pistol and lightsabers, just not enough grenades and ammunition to wage a war on her own.

With a focus on sneaking around the Sith, a Force Sensitive, Ahsoka was much more focused on the internal than the external this time around. Trying to suppress her signature as to not give herself away to the Sith, making sure that every movement was done with purpose and precision. Everything on her body was locked down tightly, the ammunition in pouches, each tied down. Her grenades were inside her vest, each wrapped in cloth, there would be no clanking here. Everything was painted with a non-reflective pain, even her lightsabers, no sudden gleams of light to give her away.

The Sith was quickly moving, deeper into Separatist territory. Ahsoka wasn't using the Force to track her, it was likely to give her away which would be extremely bad for her. Rather she was using her echolocational abilities, keeping out of direct line of sight and tracking through sound alone. While the Sith was moving fast, Ahsoka was moving slowly, sudden bursts of speed when she was at the edge of her range. A sudden Force Push to her stomach to launch her to the next building, and a pull to ensure she didn't smash into the roof, meant she was able to keep up without overexerting herself.

It looked rather strange but nobody was able to see her, ergo there was nobody able to judge. Like a little frog, just popping up and down.

The Sith suddenly ran down what appeared to be an alleyway, head down low, body hunched over. As if the Sith were trying to avoid the attention of something particularly calamitous. What it was Ahsoka wasn't sure, but it was definitely something that she wanted to see. Or maybe the Sith really needed to go to the bathroom and since everything was Droids, there weren't any around. Ahsoka didn't know, it wasn't like she was a future reader person thing, she was just a Padawan.

An awesome Padawan to be sure but still a Padawan, one that was very much not a future reader. Probably.

Ahsoka moved through the concrete jungle, this far back from the lines, the artillery had not yet reduced all of it to rubble. While the main roads and the buildings around them tended to be piles of rubble, the smaller side roads and the buildings around them survived. More for the fact that it was too inefficient to send Droids through them to the frontline as opposed to just circumventing the city entirely once the main roads had been destroyed.

Ahsoka kept moving, keeping at least 40 meters away from the Sith at all times. It wouldn't do to be discovered, not on her own against a Sith that could fight the Masters on their own. Good idea me, genius. Well, maybe not genius, but close to it.

Then the spot where the Sith was originally exploded, a column of dust rising into the air. Ahsoka stared at it in shock, her eyes wide. Well, not at it, at the plume of dust. Right now there was too much dust and the sound was still reverberating in the space between the buildings. Any image she could pull using her echolocation was all jumbled fuzzy, the best she could make out was that something had impacted the area and it was still in the blast zone.

As the dust cleared, it became rather clear that there was another Sith… or rather something with the same kind of features as the Sith, echolocation didn't exactly help with the skin colour department. Ahsoka was debating to herself about whether or not she would come out and poke her head over the edge of the roof to have a look. On one hand it would mean she would be able to actually record what was happening with her helmet, on the other she might lose her head when the Sith threw a knife at her head.

One was kind of cool and daring, the other was safe and gave inferior information.

Gnnnhhhnnn

She moaned as her head tried to work out the best course of action. One was almost suicidal, the other was boring. Guuuuuh. Do it! Be a Man!

What.

Ahsoka shook her head, her thoughts tended to go strange when she was conflicted. She took out her coin, her special coin. The one she used whenever she didn't know what she wanted to do, forced to choose between 2 options.

Heads I go over, tails I stay.

Flicking the coin upwards, I want to go, Ahsoka caught it before it landed. Heads it was.

She grinned, looked like she knew what she wanted after all.

Propping herself up on her elbows, Ahsoka quickly crawled over to the edge of the building, looking down on the 2 figures below. Helmet memory capacity was still at 48% capacity, enough. Looking down, it was a human… and the Sith. Both of them were standing on either side of the crater, the human looked distinctly confrontational.

A Jedi? But Ahsoka didn't recognize him, nor did he have a lightsaber. Ahsoka's fingers jabbed the button that sent the signal to the Masters, they would probably want to be here for what happened next. Which was explosions, lots of explosions. The ethereal daggers that the human was throwing around were being deflected by the Sith and they were exploding on everything they impacted.

Ahsoka felt the building destabilizing underneath her, the two of them throwing around enough firepower that it was turning the area around them to rubble. Something Ahsoka was resenting very much, like little Thermal Detonators that were coming out at a rate of a few hundred a minute.

A jump over and Ahsoka tried to find a building a bit further back that wasn't as damaged. The problem being that the two of them had started… flying? And the radius of destruction was increasing. Increasing by a rather large and dangerous amount.

Ahsoka dived down, being up high was not safe anymore, on the ground at least she could hide behind something.

She couldn't wait for the Masters to arrive, maybe they would do that lifting and throwing large pieces of rubble thing.

After Activation 1122 - Origin Universe

After Insertion 1083 - Cultivation Universe

Millennium 096-32M - 40k Universe

Clone Wars 25 BBY - Star Wars Universe

Ahsoka stared at the the human. The Sith had managed to escape, the rest of the contingent arriving to reinforce her. The combined might of the 14 of them (more than reported), managed to buy enough space which they used to escape.

Ahsoka sighed, it had been such a cool battle as well, lots of lightsaber flashing, lots of grunts and shouts, doing weird noises, jumping around, spinning, trying to avoid getting her lekku cut off by the flashing lightsabers, trying not to get killed by the daggers being flung everywhere, trying to avoid shrapnel from exploding pieces of rubble, dodging around random duels that were popping out of nowhere, trying to help but not being able to get in close enough.

It wasn't so cool after all, better when I'm alone and have room to move.

Ahsoka had spent the majority of time deflecting Blaster Bolts from the Droids that had come to investigate the explosions, and the Jedi and the Clone company that had pushed through their lines. In fact, it had turned into a rout of sorts, the Droids being forced back by the combined might of the Clones and the Jedi and the collateral damage caused by the Sith most of all. Entire Droid squads being destroyed every time a dagger went astray and detonated amongst them. Pieces of Droid formed a steady rain over the area, a little leg here, a little arm there, heads over the way.

So many things that made so little sense.

At least Ahsoka had a recording of her standing on a pile of rubble, her lightsabers twirling as she deflected Blaster Bolts alongside her Master and Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. It was awesome.

Ahsoka the greatest Jedi of them all. Entire armies of Droids bowed before her, their blasters useless. Shwing, Swhoo, Shwum, lightsaber swings through the air, bolts reflected back to Droids who fired them, one bolt one kill. Left, right, upper left, twirl for appeal and the holo movie deal, a little duck to the right to avoid the laser, swhing, oooooh yes.

At the end of it, the Force Sensitive, who called himself a "Cultivator" was here, in their dugout. Drinking tea. Looking rather at home.

Ahsoka frowned, a new group of Force Sensitives that were mortal enemies of the Sith, but also hidden away from the galaxy at large until they decided to reveal themselves to fight the Sith. Ahsoka wasn't as conspiracy minded as before… but she also thought it was very strange that there was an entirely different kind of Force Sensitive that used different abilities that heavily resembled the Sith, and were different only in their skin colour.

It was… very suspicious and strange. She was going to enjoy hearing his explanation as to exactly what was going on.

The "Cultivator" as he referred to himself (likely a similar meaning as to Jedi), sat relaxed and smiling at the Jedi and the ARC Clones that surrounded him.

"So, who are you and what are exactly?" Started off Master Obi-Wan, the Cultivator being able to speak galactic standard.

"I am Jung Tao, a Cultivator, we who use the Force to enhance ourselves at the most basic level. We are like you, mortal, but with added longevity and strength." He replied, taking a sip of tea as he did so.

Ahsoka frowned, her expression hidden behind the helmet. Cultivation implied enhancing or improving some aspect of something. It might be the spirit, the Force, the body… probably the body. It didn't explain how he was able to pull off those crazy stunts thought, flying in the air, punching Blaster Bolts, getting hit by Blaster Bolts and not dying. Seriously, something was very strange here.

"What do you mean by enhance? How does one go about it?" Asked Master Halsey, he had always been the inquisitive one.

"Well, I'll need to do a quick check before we start talking." He said, pulling out what looked like a piece of paper with strange lines all over it and placing it on his forehead. It was a rectangular strip but wide enough to cover his eyes when placed lengthwise down his face. One end tapered off to form a point, the tip of which was connected to the forehead. The strange scribblings glowed for a second before he spoke again.

"Well, it is better than I had thought and also worse. I will need to speak with you, the Jedi alone for this next part. Are you willing for me to place a sound proofing barrier so that we may converse? If not then I'm afraid we must skip this question or worse… not explain it properly." Said Jung, leaning forward on the rickety little folding chair he had been given.

The Masters looked at each other briefly, communicating through what appeared to be their eyes. A range of emotions flickered over their faces before they turned back to Jung and nodded. "Yes, you have our permission to do so." Said Master Obi-Wan.

The man reached into his robe-like clothing and pulled out a dark red sheet of paper. Ahsoka felt an instinctual dislike and a feeling of what felt like… fear towards the item. She jumped up, off her chair and Force Jumped at him, but she was too slow. The paper was already glowing and as he slapped it on the table before him, it exploded.

Ahsoka was blown back, her spine impacting on the wall of the dugout behind her. The breath knocked out of her body, her lightsaber out of reach. Jung stood up and laughed, a mirthless, evil laugh as he pulled out a sword and started killing the stunned Jedi.

"Nooooooooo." She cried out, hand reaching out ineffectually.

The piece of paper hit the table and nothing happened. Ahsoka's little daydream had no place in reality of course, but she felt like it had its place. If she constantly thought up possible scenarios that might happen and the actions she could use to mitigate or prevent them. Well, it stood to reason that by practicing in the mind, she would be able to carry out the actions more effectively later.

Genius.

Totally not her thinking about how awesome she would look when she did whatever it was she did.

"It starts with us taking control of the Midichlorians in our bodies." He said, startling the Jedi, Ahsoka included. That was very unexpected.

"From the looks on your faces, it is clear that you understand what the Midichlorians are and the threat they pose yes?" His question prompted a round of nodding from the Jedi.

"I don't quite understand how it is you have taken control of your own Midichlorians, but in doing so, we have unprecedented control over our own bodies as well as the Force. By using them to enact the changes we wish to our cellular structure, we are able to evolve our bodies over time and wield the Force with greater skill and efficiency. It takes a very long time to fully understand what is available and to become proficient enough to be considered a Master, but in doing so, one gains immense power. I cannot detect the same changes in you, which leaves me puzzled as to how you avoided their contamination of you." He finished. Leaning back in the chair and looking at them expectantly.

"While I feel the very large desire to continue this line of questioning and discovering how it is you are able to control the Midichlorians in your body, I feel we must consider more pressing matters first." Said Master Halsey, looking at the other Jedi to gauge their feelings, at their nods he continued. "First, why were you fighting the Sith?"

Jung leaned forward again, his face set in grim lines, a clear contrast to the peaceful and laidback persona he had been inhabiting before.

"The Sith are Cultivators that discovered some Holocrons relating to the ancient Sith Lords a few hundred years ago. In turn, it enlightened them to the power of the Dark Side. While we Cultivators do not actively pursue the Dark Side, we have come to accept that it is the other half of the whole, and if we are to understand the Force, we must understand both halves of it. A balance is to be maintained at all times. The Sith on the other hand, go to extremes, they worship the Dark Side and discard the Light Side of the Force entirely." He stopped to take a sip of tea, looking at the expressions on the Jedi Masters. Understandable, the Jedi were adherents to the faction that said the Light Side of the Force was the only acceptable one, and that the Dark Side was to be avoided at all costs.

Really stupid, the Force is the Forces, why are they all scared just because it's all dark and shadowy and makes you angry and killy? Oooh… yea, that's why.

The frowns on the faces of her Masters and his half grin told her that he got the reaction that he wanted. He probably knew about the Jedi beforehand and this was a clearly planned first contact scenario if he knew about the Jedi. Maybe the Sith and the Cultivators were working together, the Cultivator coming out from behind and stabbing them in the back later! Then again, knowledge of the Jedi wasn't hard to come by unless you were an idiot. They had been around for a thousand years at least. You had to be born 10 kilometers underground, under a rock the size of a continent to not know of the Jedi.

"Since they had decided to call themselves the Sith, the breakaway group became separate entirely, cutting ties with us. We the Cultivators have only settled one world, we enjoy the peace and quiet and do not desire to become embroiled in galactic affairs. While we do keep an eye out on galactic news, if only to acquaint ourselves with possible signs of trouble. Only, 3 years ago the Sith decided that it was time for them to announce themselves to the galaxy and take revenge on the Republic that had destroyed the Sith 1000 years past. We tried to stop them and they fought back, spilling blood on both sides.

"All of the Sith left our world, several thousand of them in total. While most of our population does not believe we should interfere, there is a small group of us, again a few thousand in number that believe that the Sith are our problem, and that we should assist in dealing with them. We cannot let the galaxy clean up for us. And that is why we are here, to fight the Sith, contain or kill the Sith and return home when we are done. We have no interest in making ourselves part of the galactic stage, we are just here to do a job and we leave."

Explanation finished, Jung leaned slightly back. The Jedi were looking serious, the revelation that the Sith were from a separate tradition of Force training, hellbent on ending the Republic and likely the Jedi order for past slights… well, that was a concerning issue. The fact that the Sith had joined the Separatists in order to do so was obvious at first glance. The Jedi looked at each other, turning here and there, silently communicating.

Ahsoka was jealous, she would have liked to be able to do the eye speaking thing, would make her life so much easier, that was for sure. No more of this speaking gig. But wait! What if she used her montrals to talk? Like pulsing sound waves? Yes, genius. No more needed to open her mouth, it would make her so mysterious and awesome when she delivered words right into the ears of those around her. Hahaha, Ahsoka, most awesome Padawan, genius innovator. The greatest of them all.

"Oh… I forgot to turn off the silencer… do I need to go through that explanation again? Without the Midichlorian part of course." Said Jung, grinning at them sheepishly.

Huh… he might not be as uptight and boring as Ahsoka thought. The way they walked was certainly rigid and upright. If he was joining them on their ship, Ahsoka would have someone else to practice her stealth skills on.

What fun.

"We're heading back to Coruscant, the Council need to hear of this." Said Master Halsey.

Booo. Not fun.