"General Tano?"
Ahsoka turned around. Behind her was Ar'alani, standing in the doorway alone.
"Do you mind if we speak privately?" Ar'alani asked.
Ahsoka blinked. "No, I don't mind," she replied, dismissing LOLA with a wave of her hand. The slightly miffed droid began to buzz disappointedly before turning around and flitting away. The Chiss woman motioned silently at her and she followed. Once they were by themselves in a private room, Ar'alani turned back to face her.
"Here, I have something for you," Ar'alani said, pressing something into Ahsoka's hands.
Huh? Ahsoka's mind temporarily went blank. What could she possibly give her? A credits card? A drink coupon for some sort of Chiss night bar?
When she opened her hands, she finally recognized what Ar'alani had just given her and her jaw dropped.
It was a blazer bomb.
"This is..." Ahsoka's eyes widened and her hands almost trembled. "Where did you get this?" She whispered frantically. "I thought only the Separatists knew how to make these."
Ar'alani pursed her lips and lowered her voice discreetly. "As I'm sure you may have noticed, the Separatists that you speak of seemed to enjoy outsourcing their weapons to other worlds. But there is a very specific pattern to the ones that they chose," she nodded. "Would you like to guess?"
Ahsoka swallowed. "They were all on the Outer Rim," she whispered. "Close to Unknown Space. Where they could operate unregulated by the eyes of the Republic."
"Correct," Ar'alani nodded. "Many of these weapons factories are often unmanned, completely automated and only partially surveilled by security droids. Long after the Separatists ended their war on the Republic, these factories continued to operate until they were discovered...for the better or for worse," Ar'alani concluded. "Many of us who originate from the Chaos feel that since the Separatists were encroaching on our territory, none of these factories should have belonged to them in the first place."
"I see," Ahsoka said slowly. She turned the inactive bomb over in her hands, inspecting it. It hardly seemed as dangerous as the ones she remembered facing on Ryloth, back when she and Anakin were tasked with destroying all of the bombers. That was the first time she had ever used the Marg Sabl, after being authorized by Admiral Yularen.
She smiled wryly, thinking back on all those times when the Admiral begrudgingly allowed Anakin to execute whatever incredibly foolish battle plan he had concocted. Or rather, a glaring lack thereof. Everything seemed to go haywire whenever it involved Anakin.
Better not let him see this. If he were here, he'd want to examine it and take it apart from the inside, she thought drily. Droids were more of Anakin's thing, but he got pretty excited over weapons just as well.
"So, what do you want me to do with this?" Ahsoka asked.
"It is up to you," Ar'alani replied. "However, it is customary for us to gift our sky-walkers with explosives when on dangerous missions, such as this. Should we fail, and should you fall into the hands of the Grysk...then, at least you will have the choice to escape," she nodded.
Ahsoka frowned. "But..." She closed her mouth before the questions could escape her.
What about the sky-walker that was taken hostage? Why didn't she use this bomb to protect herself?
As if she could read her mind, Ar'alani began to answer for her.
"I was supposed to give this to our youngest," she clarified. "She was, I suppose you could say, like a sister to me. I have introduced myself to you as being part of the Irizi family, but that is not entirely true. They merely adopted me in name, I am no longer one of them. But recently, they contacted me and told me they were highly interested in adopting this new girl. Sky-walkers are highly prized in our culture, as you may imagine, and so the most important families of the Chiss are always highly interested in collecting them. She was meant to join them after fulfilling her last mission as a sort of celebratory finale to her career." Ar'alani narrowed her eyes. "They told me to watch over her, take her under my wing. She was responsible for directing our entire fleet, and I was responsible for watching over her," she murmured, "I do not know what I am to do with myself now that I am without her. Perhaps I should never have tried to be her sister."
Ahsoka lowered her eyelids, nodding silently. She knew what those words meant now.
"But when the time came to give this to her...I did not have the heart to do it. Now I realize that I was weak and that for my weakness, she may suffer a fate even worse than the death I could have granted her."
Ahsoka's heart fluttered slightly in her chest. She felt her cheeks begin to flare with heat and she looked up, meeting Ar'alani eye-to-eye.
"Thank you," she said, "But I don't think I will need it. And I'll make sure she won't, either," she said meaningfully. "We will get her back."
Ar'alani blinked, staring up at her.
"I understand it, you know. I think what you are referring to is not weakness but attachment. You did not wish for her to suffer as a slave, but you could not accept the idea of allowing her to die instead. That is attachment."
Ar'alani bowed her head remorsefully. She began to open her mouth, but Ahsoka cut her off before she could speak.
"Anyone can be strong. But not everyone knows how to let go of attachment," Ahsoka said firmly. "That is something that we must all work towards, no matter what stage of life we are at. I used to believe that I had to cut everything off as quickly as possible in order to avoid getting attached to anyone. But the truth is, all of us are attached to someone or something. Because we cannot live without the ones we love. And how can we, when it is in our nature to love? Your desire to protect your people, your desire to protect your sister...neither of them are selfish, but rather born from love."
Ar'alani blinked, confused. "I...do not understand."
"You seem to believe that you would have done better to detach yourself from the child so you would never have built a connection in the first place, thus lessening the pain of knowing her. But that is wrong. We do not have to cut off the ones that we love in to overcome our weaknesses. In fact, they can be our strengths. It is only a question of learning when to let go, and when to accept that something is beyond our power to change it," she said firmly. "Do not be harsh on yourself for loving your sister. Your actions were born out of attachment, yes, but also love. You cannot undo what has happened, but I would not fault you for wanting to protect her, and neither should you."
"I...see," Ar'alani said softly. "I did not think of it that way, but I suppose you may have a point. Thank you, Jedi."
Ahsoka flinched. "Oh, I'm...I'm not a Jedi," she stuttered, causing Ar'alani to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "I mean...I was," she said. "But not anymore."
Ar'alani shrugged. "Could have fooled me," she said, then a slow smile spread across her face. "For a few moments there, you sounded very much like one."
"I..."
Ahsoka felt her entire face heat up. She turned around, facing away so she wouldn't see how hard she was blushing. Ar'alani laughed softly, her voice rich and pleasant to listen to. Ahsoka ended up excusing herself and left to talk to Obi-Wan.
"Yes, Ahsoka?" he turned and faced her in his repulsor chair. Ahsoka watched him silently, then cleared her throat.
"I'm just...not so sure about this Third Sight thing," she said.
"Well," Obi-Wan said, stroking his beard. "I must admit that this is the first time I have heard about it myself. It will be difficult, mastering this technique. I expect there will be some learning curve."
"We don't have time for a learning curve, though," Ahsoka reminded him. Obi-Wan nodded gravely. "I'm not confident that I can do something new like this that I have never tried before. How do we know we can pull it off?"
Obi-Wan shrugged. "There is always a first time for everything," he said. "Give me your hand."
Ahsoka held out her hand. Obi-Wan reached out and gently placed a small glass cup in her palm.
"Try and examine this," he said.
Ahsoka made a face. "It's a cup," she said dully.
"No, I mean use the Force to examine it," Obi-Wan corrected her.
Ahsoka closed her eyes and felt the cup with her mind. It was smooth and pristine, almost flawless in its constitution. "It's made of glass."
"Good," Obi-Wan said. "Now try to break it." When Ahsoka raised her arm to throw it, he hastily added "Not like that! I mean, use the Force to shatter it by only touching it once."
"That's impossible," Ahsoka frowned. "I'd have to crush it manually for that to happen."
"Not you," Obi-Wan corrected her. "You are a Jedi, Ahsoka. Use the Force."
Ahsoka closed her mouth instead of protesting. Turning the cup over in her hands, she closed her eyes and tried to find imperfections in the clear glass.
After some time, she sensed small pinprick cracks in the surface, not big enough to be visible but just enough for her to apply a little force to it. She reached up and tapped her finger against it, using just a bit of the Force to assist her.
The glass cup immediately shattered into pieces and fell onto the ground before them. Ahsoka stared at it, deep in thought. Obi-Wan smiled proudly.
"See?" he said. "You just mastered a new technique. That was the Shatter Point," he nodded. "I got the name from Master Windu."
Ahsoka blinked and looked up at him. "Master Windu knew how to do this?" she asked.
"Yes," Obi-Wan replied. "It is common for us Jedi Masters to share our knowledge in each specialty with one another. With Master Windu, we discussed the Shatter Point and Second Sight. With Master Ti, the ability to sense oncoming threats using the properties of sound..."
"I can do that too," Ahsoka reminded him. "All Togrutas have that ability."
"I know you can do it," Obi-Wan retorted, then continued. "With Master Billaba, the manipulation of physical matter. With Master Plo, the manifestation of the Force in the form of Lightning..."
Ahsoka's face immediately became somber at the mention of Master Plo's name. Obi-Wan seemed to notice this, as he immediately changed the subject.
"I know you miss him greatly, Ahsoka. I'm sure he would have been proud of you."
"Would he?" Ahsoka asked doubtfully.
He never got to see her become a Knight. He probably died still thinking that she would never return to the Jedi Council. She didn't want to think about what could've been if she had come back, just for him.
Obi-Wan looked up at her and hesitated. "No, he did not see you graduate," he said. "But you never needed to become a Knight, Ahsoka. You have always been a true Jedi, in every way that matters."
Ahsoka looked back at him, still feeling conflicted. Obi-Wan just smiled warmly at her.
"Even when compared to you?"
"Oh, no Ahsoka." Her face fell. "You are better than me."
Ahsoka sputtered. Obi-Wan laughed.
"Let us clean this up," he said, waving his hand at the remains of the glass cup. Right before her eyes, she watched as the glass reconstructed itself and molded back together. No one would even have guessed it was broken. "Lieutenant Vanto might get mad at me if he found out what I did to his drinking glasses."
"Why do you have Lieutenant Vanto's drinking glasses, anyway?" Ahsoka asked suspiciously.
Obi-Wan shrugged. "Perhaps I wanted to drink something with them," he said innocently.
Ahsoka crossed her arms chidingly. "I leave for five minutes, and you go to drink with Lieutenant Vanto? Without me?"
"Oh, I'm sure you wouldn't have been interested. We were only discussing his time as a cadet for the Imperial Academy. I'm sure you would have found it quite boring...mostly of it involved Yularen, who you already know plenty about."
Ahsoka raised an eyebrow. So that was what the Admiral had gotten up to after retiring from the Clone Wars. "You were questioning him about...about Admiral Thrawn, weren't you?" she asked.
She shuddered even saying his name out loud. From the way Reva had described him to her, she felt as if just speaking it would manifest him. Even though they were out in the dense oblivion of the Chaos, she still felt unsteady.
Obi-Wan nodded. "He was not aware that we are being hunted by his former classmate," he said. "But from what I gather, the Admiral does not possess any flaws as a tactician. He is slow, takes his time, and not arrogant. There is no way to surprise or fool him."
Ahsoka frowned, displeased by this news. Then after some time, she looked back up. "You said he does not possess any flaws as a tactician. So, that must mean there is still an area where he lacks expertise."
"That is correct," Obi-Wan confirmed. "He is terrible at politics."
There was a long silence, and Ahsoka groaned.
"I don't think we can use that against him," she said. "Unless we're suddenly interrupted by a democratic vote in the middle of battle."
Obi-Wan shrugged. "You never know when something like this could come in handy," he said simply.
"Give me that," Ahsoka ordered, and he obediently handed the drinking glass over to her. "I need it more than you."
"Oh?" Obi-Wan asked, feigning innocence. "And what do you plan on doing with it exactly?"
"None of your business, old man," she retorted. "And...I'll be taking this, thank you," she said, using the Force to swipe the half-empty bottle that he had been hiding behind his repulsorchair. Obi-Wan frowned, clearly miffed.
"I was planning on finishing that," he called out after her.
"Consider it your way of paying me back after keeping me in the dark about Anakin," she yelled back.
Obi-Wan scowled and Ahsoka smirked, taking a swig of the bottle. It was a nice reward to end the day with, and after what she had been through she had most certainly earned it.
"Ready, General Kenobi?" Ar'alani asked, taking her place at the command center of the ship.
"Ready," Obi-Wan nodded. From beside him, Ahsoka bit her lip and looked down at him. He was so frail earlier, she still felt concerned for him. But Obi-Wan had continually insisted that he was fine, and she did not need to push his repulsor chair anymore.
"Ready, General Tano?"
Ahsoka flinched slightly. It felt strange, finally being promoted to the same rank as Anakin when he wasn't even there with them.
"Just Fulcrum," she found herself saying hesitantly. "Fulcrum will do."
Ar'alani nodded.
"Fulcrum it is," she replied. "Are you ready?"
"Yes," Ahsoka breathed, closing her eyes and placing her hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder.
It was time to enter Third Sight.
"Concentrate your thoughts," she heard Ar'alani's voice saying. "Feel for the Grysk using your mind."
Ahsoka tried to reach out using the Force and grimaced, feeling nothing but anxiety. Obi-Wan reached up and closed his fingers around her wrist, surprising her with how warm his hand was.
"Calm down, Ahsoka," Obi-Wan said. "Quiet your mind."
She opened her eyes and looked down. A pair of clear blue eyes stared back at her. She took a deep breath, trying to imitate his rhythm. From behind them, Lieutenant Vanto approached slowly.
"I have some experience with the sky-walkers," Eli said suddenly, and Ahsoka turned around to face him. "They told me that the way they accessed the Third Sight is by concentrating on rhythms. Patterns, beats, that sort of thing. It helps them to see the frame of what will be."
Ahsoka closed her eyes and tried to do what Lieutenant Vanto had suggested.
Lines. Patterns.
She felt something tick in the back of her mind and reached for it. Feeling herself open up to the entirety of the Force, she suddenly was overcame with a huge sensation of belonging. Her mind and body were completely connected to the Force, all in one, and she felt overwhelmed with how much she felt.
So this is what it means to be a Sky-walker, she thought quietly. You are everything and nothing, all at once. The Galaxy is your body. You feel so hard, because you can feel every little thing happening around you. The Light feeds into you, and the Darkness consumes you. Everything is the same.
Ahsoka raised her fingers in front of her, pointing ahead.
"I see the Way," she declared.
Obi-Wan nodded beside her. "I do, too." Lieutenant Vanto immediately rushed to input the numbers as they started to recite the optimal points for a safe hyperlane. Since they could not use conventional navigational coordinates out in the Chaos (as they had become accustomed to calling it), they had to direct Lieutenant Vanto and tell him which way to turn in live time. As they finally reached their last turning point, Ahsoka gave him a small smile ingratitude for his assistance. He hesitated slightly, then went back to focusing on the navicomputer. They had gotten off to a very rocky start, but she felt that they were starting to warm up to one another. Just like her and Ar'alani.
The Grysk ships arrived immediately once the rest of Ar'alani's fleet pulled out of hyperspace, arriving right before the Nikardun homeworld. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan both steeled themselves as the Grysk warships circled above overhead, lazily sizing them up. If they were to survive this encounter, they would have to tap into their full abilities...not just employing the Third Sight for navigation, but also the more important task of guessing their enemy's moves.
There was no time for mistakes. It was either sink or swim, do or die.
"They're going to attack our right flank," Ahsoka said, and Lieutenant Vanto immediately pulled their ship to the left. They narrowly avoided a blast that was directed at their compromised side.
"Watch out from above," Obi-Wan warned suddenly, and they swerved out of the way of an overhead attack.
"I sense an opening," Ar'alani said. "Push forwards," she ordered.
They soon fell into a rhythm, with Ahsoka and Obi-Wan calling out the Grysks' attacks and Ar'alani interjecting to initiate attacks of their own. Using this strategy, they were able to successfully penetrate the first line of defense. Their fleets were now almost evenly matched in number.
"Now," Ar'alani nodded. "Execute the maneuver."
Lieutenant Vanto reached for the controls, signaling to the other ships to get behind him. It was now time for the Margl Sabl formation.
Ahsoka held her breath, trying to gauge the Grysks' reaction as they watched the ships respond to Eli's command. Not knowing what the Grysks would do next was eating at her inside, but the Force was silent. All that she could sense was her own tension and nervousness.
Then slowly, the Grysk warships began to imitate them. Ahsoka watched as they also entered the same formation, slowly watching them.
"Now," Ar'alani commanded.
Ahsoka closed her eyes, feeling around with the Force. Remembering what Obi-Wan had taught her about the Shatter Point technique, she examined each ship before determining which one was most crucial to maintaining the Formation. When she looked down at Obi-Wan, he nodded as if to indicate that he also already picked his choice. Taking a deep breath, she held out her hand and began to squeeze.
Crushing something with the Force was easy. She had done it a million times during the Clone Wars, and she had also slowed down a ship once with only the Force. But this was something different, entirely; she had not even seen a Jedi Master destroy an entire ship using the Force.
But this was not just about the magnitude and strength of the Force, she realized. It was also about using the Force to find the most efficient breaking point.
A sort of shatter point, one might even say.
"Hurry," Lieutenant Vanto warned. "They are going to break formation soon-"
Ahsoka grunted and clenched her fist, tightening it. Beside her, Obi-Wan's hand also shook with effort and sweat began to bead on his brow.
At first, it seemed as if nothing had happened. Then slowly, Ahsoka began to feel the smallest amount of give.
Before entering space, many Younglings assumed that it was impossible for sound to travel throughout it, as there was nothing but vacuum. This was proven wrong, as there is always something. Some gas, some stardust, some stray particles that might once have belonged to a star or a planet. But there was definitely sound, and Ahsoka's sensitive Montrals could already sense it. The sound of the ship cracking reached her before it was loud enough for the others to notice, and she eagerly poured the rest of her energy into it, urging the Force towards it, trying to get as much purchase on it as she could.
"It's working," Eli gasped. "Push harder!"
Obi-Wan and Ahsoka both let out a groan at the same time, and all four of them watched as the two ships slowly came apart and crashed into the ones beside them, throwing them off their trajectory and creating a chain reaction. Each ship slowly spun out of control, hitting one another. As they exploded, the cortosis filaments absorbed the energy but quickly became overheated, causing the ships themselves to ignite. By the time the Grysks had realized what had happened, most of their fleet had already been destroyed.
"I can't believe it," Eli mumbled. "It actually worked."
Ahsoka smiled. "Admiral Yularen would've said the same," she said.
Eli immediately whirled around at the familiar name, but Ahsoka ignored him in favor of watching the show that was unfolding before them. The Grysks turned on their faulty gravity well projector as a last-ditch attempt at stopping their ships from crashing together, but it had the opposite effect and only caused them to spin into one another even faster. Eventually, there was nothing in front of them except for floating debris and a flurry of escape pods leaving for some unknown point in the Chaos. The Grysks clearly knew when they were fighting a losing battle. Given that they were only after the Nikardun Destiny, however, Ar'alani did not decide to pursue them.
Pacing around the ship, she surveyed the wreckage shrewdly and stopped moving. "Begin the recovery mission," she ordered.
Lieutenant Vanto obeyed, rigging the escape pod. Once he was finished and satisfied that it met all of his safety standards, he stepped aside so Ahsoka and Obi-Wan could enter it. A few minutes into piloting the pod, however, he heard a telltale buzz coming from behind him.
"Do we really need the droid?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. LOLA buzzed again with annoyance.
"Of course we do," Ahsoka replied. "We have to bring her everywhere. It's an order."
"A royal order," Obi-Wan added. "We were told to do this by the Princess. So, of course we have to." Eli grumbled, but complied.
It took only a few minutes for them to arrive upon the site of the wreck. "We're right outside of the first ship," he said. "Using the bioscanner to search for any surviving lifeforms."
"Find the hostage," Ar'alani commanded him. "I want her back as soon as possible."
Eli knocked against the glass of the ship to ensure that it was secure, then turned towards Ahsoka. "Is your enviro-suit in good condition?" he asked.
"Yes," Ahsoka replied.
"What about me?" Obi-Wan interjected. "You didn't ask me if my enviro-suit is working."
"I already know your suit is fine," Lieutenant Vanto said tiredly. Ahsoka began to suspect he had made the mistake of taking Obi-Wan up on a drinking challenge, only to discover to his horror just how much Obi-Wan could drink, followed by humiliation and the world's worst hangover. Anakin had also made that mistake, as did several other unfortunate Separatists.
Out in space, Obi-Wan no longer needed to worry about his legs since the lack of gravity made it quite easy to move around. As they boarded the remains of the enemy ship, he looked around with an awed expression. "I wonder if perhaps we could recover and use all this cortosis," he said.
"Too much busy work," Eli grunted. "Let's just get the prisoners out of here, and get out."
They proceeded forward, searching each corridor of the ruined ships.
"We're in the hull," Eli said into his comlink. "We're about to enter the galley."
"Exercise caution," Ar'alani warned him.
They heard the sound of footsteps and turned, pointing their blasters. They found themselves face-to-face with a short, blue-skinned Chiss girl. Although she was nearly the same hue as Ar'alani, her skin was much paler and sickly-looking. Ahsoka began to wonder just how much time she had spent under the Grysk's control.
"Eli?" the girl asked softly, cocking her head to the side, and Lieutenant Vanto froze with his blaster midair.
The girl began to approach them slowly. Obi-Wan lowered his blaster and knelt down, allowing her to approach them. Ahsoka, too, lowered her blaster and started to walk towards her but Eli stopped her.
"Eli," the girl said. "Where were you? I couldn't find you," she called out. Eli shuddered, but he still did not lower his blaster. "The Admiral said you left me, but I knew you wouldn't. You came back to take me with you, didn't you? Does this mean we can go home now?"
Ahsoka reached out to the girl when suddenly, she felt something strange in the back of her head. As if hypnotized, she started to walk towards the girl. The girl reached out her hands to her, beckoning her. The closer she got, the more the building wave of nausea in the back of her head increased, but for some reason she couldn't stop herself. Dazed, Ahsoka reached out towards the girl and almost touched her hand.
Just then, Eli turned off his comlink and tackled her, startling Obi-Wan. "Get down!" he snarled, using her hands to cover both of Ahsoka's montrals. "It's a trap!"
Obi-Wan immediately covered his ears and got down, just seconds before a rain of blaster fire shot out towards them. One of them hit Ahsoka's oxygen tank, causing it to leak rapidly. Lieutenant Vanto sat up and shot back at their unseen attackers. The Chiss girl just stood there watching them silently, not at all fazed by the loud and lethal shots going off all around her.
Ahsoka frowned, confused.
Why isn't she running or hiding? Isn't she afraid of getting hit?
She had a weird feeling about this.
"Move back," Eli said, standing up and yanking Ahsoka with him.
"What about the hostage?" Ahsoka yelled.
"I said, move back!" Eli yelled louder.
Reluctantly, she stood up and obeyed, forming a Force Shield around them. All of the blaster shots were immediately deflected back at the enemies, and after some time the fire ceased. Eli quickly ushered them into the ship and slammed the door shut, piloting them back towards the Springhawk.
Ahsoka sat down, feeling strangely numb. As they got further away from the wreck, the weird pressure in the back of her head started to lessen and her mind felt sharper. But something still wasn't right.
"What happened?" Obi-Wan asked. "Why are we leaving?"
Eli shook his head. "They noticed that General Tano's montrals can pick up on higher frequencies, so they started using their ultrasound implants to try and brainwash her," he hissed. "They were going to turn her into a slave." Ahsoka swallowed uncomfortably.
"Oh, I see," Obi-Wan said glumly. "Then, that girl-?"
Eli shook his head. "Not worth it," he hissed. "I know that child, and if she were to call out to me of her own will, she wouldn't have done it the way they made her. She didn't even speak a single word of Sy Bisti," he said sadly.
Obi-Wan nodded. Ahsoka stood up and grabbed his blaster. "What are you doing?" he asked.
"Going back," she said.
"Ahsoka, NO!" Eli yelled angrily.
"Ahsoka! Your oxygen tank!" Obi-Wan yelled.
Ahsoka leapt to her feet and unscrewed the airlock, flipping the hood of her enviro-suit back on. Oxygen tank or not, she was determined to go back for the girl.
Setting her blaster to the lowest nonlethal setting, she immediately jetpacked towards the wreck and waited. Several shots came after her, but Ahsoka closed her eyes and let herself fall back on the Force. She deflected each and every one of them using the Force and then stunned them with her blaster. The Chiss girl turned back around and saw her then started walking towards her.
For a moment, when Ahsoka looked into her red eyes, they almost reminded her of the blue ones she was so accustomed to. The eyes of the one she was meant to take with her.
"You can't take me with you," she said. "I already belong to them. You can't save me."
"I know," Ahsoka said.
With that, she pointed her blaster and shot at her.
The Chiss child crumpled into a lifeless heap and Ahsoka swooped down to gather her. Grabbing the tube of her leaking oxygen tank, she disconnected it from her helmet and pressed it to the girl's mouth. Then she hoisted the girl into her arms and jetpacked back to the evacuation pod.
Lieutenant Vanto did not look pleased with her, but his faced softened immediately upon seeing the Chiss girl in her arms. "You got her," he said softly. Then he frowned again. "Why did you disconnect the oxygen? You could've passed out!"
"It was damaged anyway," Ahsoka shrugged.
Eli mumbled something under his breath and quickly steered them back towards the ship, although he couldn't help glancing over his shoulder at the Chiss girl every few minutes or so. Obi-Wan peered at her and gently flicked his wrist, using the Force to heal her. The girl stirred slightly but did not wake up.
"She has some bruises," Obi-Wan noted, "But I do not see any exterior wounds. She should be just fine, after a good rest."
Eli still looked concerned. "When she wakes up, will she still be under the control of the Grysk?"
"I suspect it's the same case as the mind control frequencies they were using on Ahsoka," Obi-Wan replied. "Once we are out of the range of their signals, she should be fine."
Ar'alani was also surprised to see the Chiss girl. Once they arrived, she stirred and started to look over at the admiral, blinking away the sleep from her eyes. "Crahsystor Ziara?" she asked sleepily.
"Miri," Ar'alani replied, deeply relieved. Together, the two of them immediately launched into rapid-fire Cheunh, rushing to catch up with one another. Beside them, Eli smiled warmly. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan watched as the two Chiss started to cry and embraced each other, sobbing. After some time, Ar'alani ordered Eli to fetch some cream and Grillig fruit to make a drink for the Chiss girl. By the time Eli returned from the galley, she was contentedly sipping on her drink and nibbling on some Yapel triangles.
Ar'alani frowned. "I did not tell you to feed her junk food," she scolded Eli. "A nut-paste sandwich would have been just fine."
"I know," he said. "I just can't help it, you know. When she gives me those Ewok eyes."
Miri turned towards Ar'alani and she immediately caved as well, apparently not immune to her charms. Miri walked over to Obi-Wan and started asking him to play sabacc with her, to his surprise. Obi-Wan agreed and proceeded to be shocked with how formidably terrifying of an opponent the ten year-old Chiss girl was. Even the Negotiator found himself struggling to gain some leverage. Eli made a sour face, as if he had known all along that something like this would happen.
"We can now return to the Chiss planetary system," Ar'alani informed Ahsoka. "With three sky-walkers on board, I have no doubt that the voyage will be swift."
Ahsoka smiled back at her and leaned back in her chair as they entered hyperspace. LOLA buzzed and landed on her shoulder, purring contentedly. From beside her, Obi-Wan and Miri gave instructions and competed on who could come up with the best hyperlane path.
Just then, however, their ship suddenly shook. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan turned towards Lieutenant Vanto, who frantically struggled with the ships controls.
"What's going on?" Ar'alani asked, confused.
"I don't know," Eli said, sweating. "I'm trying to regain control over it, but it's not obeying me. This isn't the direction we're supposed to be going."
"The ship's slowing down," Obi-Wan noted, "And the trajectory has changed. I think we're being pulled out of hyperspace."
"But...that shouldn't be possible," Ar'alani frowned. "We destroyed the Grysks' gravity well projector! Didn't we?"
"We did," Obi-Wan nodded slowly. "I checked while we were surveying the wreckage."
"Then...how...?"
All of them looked up, just as the ship was finally pulled out of hyperspace.
Above them loomed an enormous Imperial vessel.
"No," Ar'alani gasped, and Lieutenant Vanto's face hardened. "It's him. It's really him!"
Ahsoka looked over to Obi-Wan, hoping that what she suspected was happening wasn't true.
"It's him," he said softly. "The Admiral."
"Sir, the rogue Jedi have been intercepted by the gravity well," Colonel Ronan informed Thrawn. "We are waiting for your command to board the ship."
Thrawn turned around and sat up. "Good," he said. Standing up, he walked over and peered out of the transparisteel windows.
As he looked down upon the ships, however, his red pupils immediately widened.
"It can't be," he whispered. Colonel Ronan watched him as he immediately walked closer, ascertaining the familiar craft.
"What is it, sir?" Colonel Ronan asked.
"It's..."
Memories flooded his mind, almost making him reel backwards. Thrawn frantically dialed Che'ri's code on his comlink.
"Are you positive that this is the correct ship?"
"It is," Che'ri confirmed back in Cheunh. "The sky-walker says she can sense both of the Jedi on board."
Thrawn's lips pressed together into a thin line.
I always hoped that we would meet again. But not like this.
"Activate the tractor beam," he ordered. "We will board it, now."
"And who exactly is going to go down onto that thing?" Colonel Ronan asked wearily.
"You," Thrawn replied, "And I. We will both go."
Colonel Ronan stiffened, then he nodded reluctantly.
Thrawn pressed the universal radio communicator device and began to send a signal.
"This is the Grand Admiral Thrawn of the Galactic Empire," he said sternly. "We will not harm you, as long as you surrender the two Jedi you have on board. They are dangerous traitors that must be apprehended."
He waited several moments for a response, sensing Colonel Ronan's mounting impatience from behind him.
"Greetings, Grand Admiral Thrawn," Ar'alani's voice said coldly. "You have my best wishes, but you may not take my Jedi. If you want something from me, then you must come get it yourself. I am not one of the Empire's servants."
The transmission cut off. Colonel Ronan glared at him expectantly. "What language was that?" he asked snarkily.
"Cheunh," Thrawn replied slowly. It felt like a shock to hear her voice again, after all these years.
"I don't understand why people feel the need to muddy the pool with all these backwater dialects. If you know Basic, then just speak it."
"It is the language of my homeworld. Us Chiss speak it to one another. It is the first one that we learn, before we are taught Galactic Basic and other dialects."
"Yeah?" Colonel Ronan asked indifferently. "So what did they say, huh? Are they going to surrender?"
Thrawn looked down quietly. "No, they will not."
"They said that to you?"
"I know it."
"Fine with me," Colonel Ronan cocked his blaster. "I have something to say to people who talk back."
Thrawn stood back up, though his legs felt less stable than normal. As he followed after Colonel Ronan, he tried to remind himself of the values of rationality and logic, but nothing could calm his shaking heart.
As they boarded the ship, he prepared himself to see those two familiar faces again.
"Commander Vanto," he said, but all that he could find in his former classmate's face was hatred and anger as he struggled against the officers handcuffing him. Next to him, the three other Chiss crew members allowed themselves to be chained up and moved apart. Thrawn's eyes immediately went to the Chiss girl, who could only have been about ten years old. The same age as Che'ri when she first served as his sky-walker.
"Thrawn," Eli said angrily. "I thought you were a man...a Chiss of integrity," he hissed. "What happened to the commander who refused to treat prisoners-of-war unfairly? You used to go out of your way to make sure no civilians were harmed. Now look at you!"
"My friend," Thrawn said slowly, "I do not wish for there to be hard feelings between us-"
Che'ri and Thalias also came running. "Ar'alani?" Che'ri gasped. "What are you doing-"
"Ar'alani!" Thalias screamed, reaching towards her, but Colonel Ronan grabbed her arm. "Ow!" she cried out. "Let go of me! Let me speak to her, I know her!"
"You may speak to her after her trial," Colonel Ronan snarled. "If we decide not to execute her."
Thalias cried out in distress and Che'ri rushed to her, trying to calm her. Just then, a couple of officers walked up to report to Ronan.
"We searched the ship, but we cannot find any humans or Togrutas," one of the officers called out.
"Search it again!" Colonel Ronan snarled angrily. "We are not leaving until we find them!"
Thrawn desperately tried to catch Eli's eye, but he turned away from him. Deciding to speak next to Ar'alani, he strolled towards her slowly. "Admiral Ar'alani," he said.
"My name is Iriziar'alani," she said coldly. "I don't know you."
Thrawn paused. "Ar'alani," he said. "Please, do not be a stranger," he begged. "We are still friends, we know each other. You and I have the same goal-"
"What goal?" she spat. "To save the Ascendancy? Forget it, Thrawn! There is no Ascendancy. After the Grysks attacked, the civil war destroyed most of the planet and fractured what remained of us. There is no Csilla, at least not the one we grew up on. All of the Chiss population has either fled to other planets or exists as unwilling laborers under the control of the Hegemony. We have no homeworld to go back to, not anymore. So no, I do not know you, for we have nothing uniting us," she snarled.
One of the other Chiss looked away from him, but before they did he managed to catch a glimpse of their eyes. How strange, he thought to himself. His eyes are not red. He could almost be mistaken for Pantoran, or even a human wearing blue body paint...
"You," he said, and started marching towards the false Chiss.
The false Chiss immediately pulled out his blaster and shot at him.
"Now, LOLA!" Obi-Wan yelled, and the droid that he had been concealing under his hood flew out and started emitting a loud noise that caused all of the officers to drop their blasters so they could cover their ears. Obi-Wan pulled out his own blaster and shot at as many officers as he could, running back towards the ship. Next to him, the Twilek also dropped her hood, revealing two montrals.
"Let's separate!" Obi-Wan yelled, running to one escape pod. Ahsoka ran to the other. They managed to close the hatches before Colonel Ronan or any of the other officers could catch up to them. Thrawn managed to get close, although he hesitated just before he pressed his finger to the trigger of his blaster.
"What are you waiting for?" Colonel Ronan yelled. "Shoot them!"
Thrawn turned around.
Behind him, Che'ri, Thalias, Ar'alani and Eli all watched him with bated breath.
Thrawn closed his eyes for a moment, shutting out Colonel Ronan's shouting.
I must come to a logical decision.
Taking a deep breath, he opened his eyes and pointed his blaster, pulling the trigger.
Colonel Ronan cried out and fell to the ground, dead. The other officers gasped in shock, but Thrawn turned around and pointed his blasters at them too. The Jedi did not wait around to see if Thrawn would be merciful to them. Both of their escape pods took off, spiralling in completely opposite directions.
Once the smoke cleared, Thrawn found himself face-to-face with a combination of his newest and oldest crew members.
"Glad to see you've come to your senses," Ar'alani said.
Thrawn looked at her funnily. Che'ri rushed over to her and they hugged, overjoyed to be reunited. As he glanced over at Eli, he caught his eye briefly before he turned away. He thought he noticed a faint flush on his face. Chiss usually turned purple whenever embarrassed, but Eli's cheeks would always turn pink when he was blushing. He found that endearing.
"Admiral Yularen isn't going to like this," he said.
Thrawn smiled. "No, he won't," he agreed. "But he doesn't have to know."
"You did it," Thalias said breathily. "You finally made a decision without having to rely on logic."
Thrawn shook his head, then made direct eye contact. "No," he replied. "I used logic and rationality to come to a conclusion regarding the situation. And I have decided that this is the best possible outcome."
Eli smiled at him wryly, and he felt a slight relief at knowing that he did not entirely hate him.
"I'm glad to hear you consider us more important than a promotion," Eli mumbled. "So, I guess what I mean is...thank you."
"You are most welcome, Commander Vanto," Thrawn replied, bowing respectfully.
Eli looked at Ar'alani for a split second before turning back to face him.
"Actually," he said, "It's Lieutenant Vanto now."