Access to the restricted area within the grand library and data hub of the Jedi temple on Coruscant was off limits to all but a few. Within its encompassing vast halls, were housed a multitude of artifacts, collected writings, teachings and holocrons from the order of the Sith dating back millennia. Ahsoka never had reason for, nor interest in, accessing it but found herself in a position all these years later cursing herself for not trying to learn more about the Force itself, in all its aspects. Her Master would have pushed for that wisdom, had she shown any interest at the time, but he was not allowed access himself.
“And for good reason” she thought blankly to herself.
She set caution aside and invited the Dark side in. At first there was no change, no alterations, only her rapid heartbeat. Immediately she called upon the light and felt the short tendrils of dark leave her at once.
‘At least I know I can control that’ she said to herself.
Abating the light and welcoming back the dark, she formed a balancing act between giving and taking and realized in that very instant what Master Yoda had meant decades before.
“Indifferent the Force is incumbent upon you the balance is or is not. Take more of one, give you must of what remains of the other.”
“Like the phase regulator on ion support links,” audibly thinking it through before accepting what had to be done.
Not being able to return once she had embraced the dark was a very real fear, and for more than ample reason, but she decided long ago that decisions would have to be made in this Empire, second to second, effecting outcomes that were never dictated to begin with. With that, she invited the dark in thoroughly and without any hesitation. Again, her arm felt refreshingly healed, her Lek’ku regaining color lost to her years, the aches and pains life added without invitation vanishing.
Avoiding the temptations circulating through her mind, Ahsoka focused entirely on seeing herself rising to the surface. Instantly, the nearest shard of broken column straightened itself from the odd angle it had come to rest and slowly hovered toward her. She continued the focus with only a singular thought and stepped up onto the hovering rock. Ahsoka noted the silence of the act, the oppressing silence. Rivers of dust fell from where the stone had lay, loose pieces and chunks of adjacent stone breaking away from their resting places to finish their descent into the darkness below. Her stone began to levitate upward, slowly, but steadily toward the surface. A slight trepidation struck her the closer she got to the surface, and the rock began to quiver slightly. She was uncertain of what, if anything, lay in wait for her up there. Again, with conviction, her focus became her one and only objective, ‘no turning back now.’
Cresting the lip of the surface above, Ahsoka felt both relief and disappointment, realizing there was a part of her that silently hoped for a confrontation of sorts. The stone quivered again slightly, a reflection, she knew, of the inner battle waging itself for superiority. That even in the brief amount of time she had acknowledged and embraced the Dark side of the Force it was already trying to claim her. She jumped off the stone quickly to the smooth surface above, her Lek’ku swaying gently in a silent wind and spun around to watch the stone tumble back down to its brethren below. Ahsoka knew her priority was getting off planet as quickly as possible, but she could not deny both the power the place continued to emanate and the memory of her arrival with Kanan and Ezra.
Ahsoka fired a glance toward a meter’s tall monolith as she rubbed furiously at her eyes, adjusting, as they were, to the light of day on the planet’s surface. The sizable meters tall spikes she had remembered were still present, albeit not all of them. She supposed the few that were missing must have toppled below because of the blast, although she did not recall seeing them. The tops of which had been crafted to point inward toward the site of the temple below. She walked slowly up to the nearest of them remembering Ezra’s urge to divine the glyphs etched into their surfaces. No such markings were visible now. She knew, as Kanan did then, that the glyphs were sigils, a codex of the Sith. That Ezra had the ability to unlock them had been a startling realization at the time, but in hindsight made sense to her now. He had come, as they all did, to Malachor, with purpose. The same purpose she had utilized to rise from the pit of the temple itself. Ahsoka turned her attention to her surroundings beyond the huge ring, to that of the ash-colored smooth ground stretching for kilometers in all directions. Jagged points protruding from the horizon at odd angles signifying the border of this planetary oddity some distance away.
Ahsoka heard the whisper in her mind again, a feeling that she was being addressed without words, but she knew she was alone. She paused for a moment to re-balance herself, dispel the Dark and fill the void with the Light once again. Ahsoka could sense a hesitation in fulfilling both tasks, as if the Force itself were denying her control. Wary of realizing her fear, she exerted more effort into the task and finally felt the Dark subside. With it, the pain returned. Her elbow, the multitude of scrapes, lacerations, and sores. Ahsoka reached out a hand to brace her sudden dizziness against the cool black stone of the monolithic spike and just as quickly retreated the hand back to her side, remembering how Ezra had started this chain of events to begin with.
Ahsoka’s head continued to sway as the pains in her body only begged her to stop, to rest... ‘let go.’ She could only drop to her backside and sidle up with her back to the tall stone spike as she planted her feet and pushed her knees up to her chest. With a sudden wracking sob, she let her head fall between her knees as she brought her hands up to support the effort. Each exhale of breath brought with it an urge to listen to what her mind was telling her. How much more of this pain must I endure? She asked herself, trying as she was to ignore the dire messages her mind had ready for her.
Ahsoka felt the weight of her plight press down upon with tremendous force, this one instance of strife only a chapter, a battle, in the war she had been single handedly waging since retreating from the Order. It was only through meticulous thought that she felt the truth of the earlier hesitation, that the Dark would not retreat because she did not want to release it. The flow of energy within her with the Dark side as her ally had eliminated the dire thoughts of hopelessness. It had broken her fears and sliced its way through doubt. It was not power she craved, but peace, and through the Dark side she had felt it for the first time in years. ‘It’s a lie’ she told herself with a thought-based reality check. Peace can only come when all feel its presence. The peace she had encountered was single-minded, customized to her personal needs and only because she willed it as such. “That peace is a lie.” She said, raising her head to the swirling dusts of the Temple basin, the warm silent winds pelting her unsheltered arms and legs with grains of weathered stone.
Ahsoka longed for a peace that could be shared by all, her eyes narrowed enough to save them from the airborne debris, scanning the horizon before her. She could see tall, jagged points protruding from a rocky ring surrounding the basin on all sides, as she pushed herself up to her feet, the numerous aches and pains responded in kind as they groaned their protest. She began walking at a slow pace toward the ring of jagged ‘teeth’ she thought, giving her a chance to slow herself down, gather her thoughts. Ahsoka knew she needed to align the numerous questions she had into an intelligible order, roll through her tumultuous emotions, assimilate what needed to be and compartmentalize everything else for unpacking later.
The personal inflection of order kept Ahsoka’s mind busy enough to distract it from reminding her of the pain in her legs as she continued to walk forward. The light from the sun, dim in the hard rain the winds continued to kick up, only added a lament to the dirge her mind continued to dredge up. It did not take her as long as she thought it should have to reach the start of an incline leading up to the peak of the stone ‘crown’ she thought, taking it upon herself to lighten the mood. The moment Ahsoka laid foot on the differing surface, a loud crack pierced the silence that had ensued since returning to Malachor, the sound splitting the strange reticence with a tremor she felt deep within her chest. The silence returned immediately as an echo sang its last reverberation and washed over her in a pensive tension that she could not place.
Ahsoka whirled around to look behind her, without warning, and without sound, the ground began turning a pitch black from the center of the blast ring, aligned in the center of the monoliths. She squinted her eyes to adjust her perception to the distance and immediately tensed her muscles as she saw what was happening. Reflexively, she began backing up further into the stone teeth, cautiously avoiding their sharp edges as a soundless quake shook the surrounding terrain. Drifting motes of ash, loose stone and scree cascaded between the sharp jagged rocks about her as she felt its effects through her boots. The remaining spikes began to teeter in the distance and pitch forward and out of sight as the ground around them disappeared into an ever-expanding crater. She watched as the ground split into a web of cracks up to the inner perimeter of the stone crown she was currently climbing into. She knew this should be deafeningly loud but not a sound escaped the action as the process finalized into a vast caldera, its bottom invisible to its depth. Understanding was foreign to her as all signs of the temple site were simply lost to reason. Ahsoka took a moment to process the event after assuring herself she would not’ be swallowed into the void as well, would be questions forming and dissolving before she could even attempt to answer them, shreds of sanity, she could feel, slipping into nothingness.
After a long contemplative exhale, Ahsoka turned to continue her climb, the ground uneven and jaggedly sharp. She had to lend her thoughts to solid footing in the hopes of avoiding yet another injury. Ashen gray and black teeth of sharp stone that would have slowed most beings to a crawl provided a challenge to even an adept Force user. Finally cresting the top, and out of breath, Ahsoka let out a forcible exhale. Taking a minute to survey the vast plains beyond the crown, she felt a sharp wind bite into her face. A hot, dry, uncaring wind that was doing its best to steal the very air from her lungs, pelted her skin with all manner of debris. She brought her arm up to shield her eyes from the sting of the projectiles, the ache within biting back in a sharp reminder of where she had been, and those she had come here with. Her thoughts turned to the Jedi temple on Lothal where this journey had started. How they all may have misconstrued the guidance in coming here.
Decisions made can have dramatic and unforeseen outcomes she would always remember Master Plo saying in response to her incessant questions, “Some for the better, some for the worse. It is not the result that determines its nature, it is how it is perceived that defines whether something is inherently good, or bad, and even then, it is thought that gives either of those qualities value.” Ahsoka shook her head, understanding now precisely what he meant. She turned around to view what was until then, unknown.
Scanning the horizon, she was quite surprised to see encampments, albeit a way off, but it was always her understanding that Malachor was incapable of supporting life. Although it boasted a breathable atmosphere, it was not farmable, received no measurable precipitation and yielded no indigenous life to the best of her knowledge. With those curiosities in tow, she set upon the decline that would bring her to the camp’s lower elevation, a fine ash coating every surface of exposed rock. There were three camps in total that she could see at least through the patches exposed at intervals by the clouded winds. The first sign of her fortune trading hands was the shuttle she could clearly see positioned close to a small dwelling.
Ahsoka closed her eyes to channel deep within herself, an effort to comfort the Light side of the Force with a warm embrace. It responded immediately to her beck and call with a like-minded fondness, one she knew she could rely on. She saw her path down materialize before her as the Force guided both her descent and trajectories on cue and made several leaps from stone to stone to reach the bottom of the ring quickly. The outskirts of the camp only meters ahead, she thanked both her footing and the gracious return of the Light.
The winds ripped the ashen coating off everything only to resettle it elsewhere, swirls of gray and white creating the illusion of descending layers of clouds rendering her visibility nonexistent at intervals. The closer she came to the dwelling the more she could tell it had not seen use in some time. She watched as the dust covered, was stripped off then covered the dwelling again assuring her that divining time was irrelevant. A purview of the camp on its outskirts revealed that it was indeed uninhabited, yet caution ruled. Slowly and carefully, she advanced on, what was in fact, a small metallic shack with a tin roof, three by four meters she quickly identified. There were three small crates, neatly stacked, to the side of a doorway. The crates were newer additions to the hovel, yet caked as they were with the ever-present ashy dust, it was her keen eye that caught that detail.
Approaching the doorway, Ahsoka could sense no other life outside of her own, although the absence of life did little to deescalate any sense of perceived danger. Inside there was only a small table in the center of the single room, a few barren shelves save a few small bottles, a solid looking chair and nothing else. Back outside, her final line of inspection was the ship itself, or what looked like a ship. Borrowed parts from a multitude of freighters, ranging from Corellian Engineering Corporation to Kuat shipyards had turned the base Crix class shuttle into something else altogether. A majority of the passenger compartment to what had been the Crix shuttle was replaced with long retractable arms that telescoped skyward, their ends supporting a variety of appendages closer akin to mining than anything else she could imagine. The repulsorlift at its base was three times its normal size and a small bank of Ion engines left her wondering if this “thing” was even space worthy.
‘Mechanic’ Tano surging forward to fill the need without hesitation, she saw additions here and there that looked encouraging but subtractions as well that left her in doubt. Needing to get inside and no way of knowing the entrance codes she called upon the Force to allow her access to the boarding ramp. At first it hesitated but relented with no real effort on Ahsoka’s part and settled with a gentle thud into the dusty ground. Slowly entering, her surveillance more an effort to ascertain the craft’s ability to fulfil her priority, she was shocked to find a class five hyperdrive, base shielding, an intact navicomputer and an inactive astromech droid. The utilities to get her off Malachor would need power rerouted to them and away from the upgraded repulsorlift and armed accessories currently skyward. She was uncertain about the droid but was not discouraged by it. She took the pilot’s seat and felt immediately at home by the control panel and host of control arms, dials, and switches. Powering up the vessel with a high-pitched whine, she was surprised when the droid exhibited no response and decided hurriedly at that point to make short work of the preflight checks. Fuel levels were adequate but by no means exhaustive, rerouting power was short work and shielding snapped around the vessel with her final act before engaging the repulsor and settling on five meters. The ship was incredibly responsive which gave Ahsoka some much needed assurance before engaging the small Ion engines which burst the ship forward with more than intended speed as they came online and burned with authority at her command. With that, she set a short course for low orbit and slowly departed the cursed world.
2 BBY
Emperor Palpatine did not like waiting for anyone. He had been known to forcibly convey this mindset to any that would challenge him. For Lord Vader, he would, if only for a few moments, forgive the insolence. After leaving Malachor, a very disheveled mess of a confrontation he could not understand if he tried, Vader returned to Mustafar to enact repairs to the suit that were desperately needed.
“My Lord, the Emperor demands immediate contact” Vanee hesitantly said with a wariness in his tone to his Master outside his chamber. The sharp hisses of the breaching seal and a mechanical hum separated the Dark Lords sphere from its equatorial axis and began to draw open.
“I will take the holo here, excuse yourself and seal the outer door” Vader said smoothly but with a broken raspy twang. The gaunt and diminutive man turned without a word to execute the order.
“I require a report of your actions and follow up on Malachor” demanded the Emperor, “and to what degree the incursion cost the temple as well as an explanation of the tremendous flux of dark side energy expended and used in the process.”
“There were unexpected presences to be sure Master. Three Jedi, multiple Inquisitors and a….. Sith” Vader replied with deliberate pause. “I saw and ultimately dispatched two of the Jedi, the third however was taken from the scene.” Vader said in response, an inattentive report of the facts in their most basic truth. “I did not see the brothers or sisters but felt their presence, although they were fading quickly.” His testimony becoming more and more a personal review than a report to his Master as his thoughts remained on the Togruta, “dispatched by the Jedi no doubt” he expressed through long bursts of difficult consonants and vowels. “The Sith presence remains a mystery to me, nor can I explain the disappearance of the third Jedi.” The Togruta, he thought again, his mind threatening to dredge the bowels of his anger. “The temple is destroyed my master” he admitted without hesitation and took a moment to regulate his breathing with the apparatus in his lap, his eyes focusing a nascent turbulence upon the image of his Master, “by the third Jedi in what seemed a suicidal act right before….” He paused, unwilling to simply state the truth in what was still, to him, inexplicable.
“Before what Lord Vader?” Sidious asked pointedly, his earlier ire over having been made to wait feeding his impatience.
“Before her disappearance Master.” Vader said with a wheeze and throaty exhale.
“Her disappearance” it was not a question.
“Yes, my Master, Tano” replied Vader.
“Ah, the Padawan of Skywalker. Very curious indeed. An approximation of divergence I had not foreseen” the Emperor mouthed, thinking the words aloud more than conversing. Although he did catch Vader’s wince at the mention of his former name. “Her actions no doubt decrying her insistence of carrying about your end it seems, with little regard for her own survival. Foolhardy but notable. Her disappearance however will need to be understood, as by the looks of your own method of survival it would have meant her certain demise.”
“I will strive to that end my master” Vader quickly added.
“As will I Lord Vader, rest assured” retorted the Emperor as the holo crackled then faded.
Vader had not heard his former name in quite some time and the anger brewing up by its mention was only just beginning to tread its way into his memory. The hate and fury it conjured could not be made whole without sealing his chamber or adorning his suit. What humanity was left would sift away on that emotion alone. To see Tano, face her, and know he was bested by her was reason enough to harbor the anger. Her act, though suicidal, remained outside his calculations as it was outside reason. To him that was the cause of the anger, not in facing Tano, but that he was not able to conjure up the possibility of her actions taking place to begin with. The fall would have killed her, of that he was certain, his suit, command of the dark side and location all but assured him of his own. She had not meant to escape. He could see it in her eyes. A factor he would weigh for sure during their next encounter, and yes, if he follows this path, there will be another encounter.
Time was disappearing quickly, and he needed the sealed environment to clear his mind and meditate on recent events. The padded seat he was sitting crouched upon rotated ninety degrees while the sphere began to close hurriedly with responsive mechanical hums and whirs and deafening blast of forced air that manifest itself in clouds of fuming steams.
Present Day