“Make that tertiary, quaternary and quinary.” Bev said to the whole of the command deck. “Signal sequence is unchanged; however, frequency has increased to sixty second intervals.”
Sylde was bewildered, still unable to locate the exact source of the secondary signal they had moved to intercept on the small moon. “Seven.” He ordered.
“Sir, ‘we’ are still looking deep within the sequence for patterns, but it appears to be random in nature and nothing more than that.”
‘Had these been here the whole time?’ He questioned himself, brought only to their knowledge by the gravity of methods they had employed to stifle any possible means of resistance. “Approximate locations Bev.” He said and heard her tapping keys at her terminal.
“Visual Captain.” She said.
Sylde turned his attention, fully, to the holoimage that had remained unchanged after his last order, and watched as small yellow dots appeared at five, seemingly random, locations around the planet. ‘No this is intentional, deliberate and happening in real time.’ He concluded his thought.
“Seven, something must be distributing these sources. More broadly to the whole of the deck,” he continued, “I want a breakdown of implications. Anything known, hypothetical or even wild fantasy.”
“Your assumption has merit Captain, ‘Broocal’ has measured wake disturbance and blueshift. There is indeed a vessel, but it is eluding all measures of trace capabilities.” Came the delayed modulated voice.
Sylde stared at the proximity the ‘fourth’ dot resided in relation to his deployed fleet. “I need Sempra II.” He said aloud.
“Captain Sullen sir.” Bev said, how he appreciated her diligence.
“Captain, I want a squad of fighters to investigate the quaternary signal. We need to find out from what it is sourcing.” Sylde said.
“Understood sir, Major Willak will have the comm.” The captain said eagerly, clearly ready for engagement of any sort thought Sylde.
“Bev, I want that channel open.” he said.
“Copy sir.”
A few moments passed creating a thick tension that Sylde had been trying in vain to prevent before the wavering voice of the squadron lead, Major Yom Willak, crackled over the comm on the command deck. “We are approaching vicinity, engaged in locking down the source sir.” A heavy static resonating within the words, not entirely to blame on the magnetic pulses generated from the twin ion engines Sylde knew. A few more seconds passed before they were on the ‘target,’ as represented by their own likeness within Sylde’s holoimage. “Sir, Cobra’s two and three providing triangulation to my own vector. I have visual. Will attempt to gather.” The crackling voice said, almost incomprehensible.
Sylde knew the Major well and was waiting for his orders. “Proceed Major. Static comm, apprise.”
The command deck could hear the all too familiar sounds of ion engines being powered down.
“Attainment Captain. Metal cylinder, heavy carbon scoring, approximate one on one. Bring it home?” Major Willak was as clear over the comm to the command deck as if he would have been standing at their sides. Something within Sylde pulled dread over his vision and his insides felt as if they were being pulled from him.
“Negative Major. Get out of there!!” He barked into the comm on his end, the rest of the command deck crew staring in bewilderment. “Cobra two, Cobra three, follow one, get out of there...now!”
“Sir….” was all anyone heard before full static erupted through the deck. Sylde watching his holo as the three dots vanished from view.
“What the hell just happened?” Pritcar asked, his arms held open in surprise.
“Sir.” Bev interjected, “There are now six additional signals.”
Sylde watched as they appeared within the image. ‘Nowhere near the incident with the Major.’ He thought.
“Advise all channels, stay clear of signal source.” he said.
“Proximity explosive Captain, set to detonate the moment it’s signal was compromised.” Seven interjected after conference with the ‘Broocal’ and their resultant, if not harried, attempt at a preliminary investigation. “We believe the Major’s TIE was the trigger.”
‘This complicates things,’ Sylde confessed.
“Whoo hoo.” Came an exhilarated cheer from one of the junior techs further down the comm station on Bev’s team.
“Taig, care to share?” Sylde said staring at the young man.
“Apologies sir, just in over broadband, the Imperial Navy is closing in on the rebel base,” he checked his settings quickly, “at Yavin. Tarkin is commanding DS1.”
Sylde could not help but stretch a wide grin across his face. This was good news indeed. “Bev signal that to the fleet, with the hyper-relay offline they won’t be getting that feed.”
“With pleasure sir.” She replied quickly.
He could not fathom the depths of which his Emperor was engaged. How many fronts the man was capable of waging war and shook his head with the disbelief. ‘Perhaps whatever this promises to be could be worthy of Tarkin’s inevitable privilege,’ he thought to himself. If his crew knew the entirety of the scope of their Emperor's ambition, there would be many victories forthcoming, not only for the Silent fleet, but in all things. They were at the threshold to the penultimate objective, when operations themselves would be insignificant, would pale in comparison to what one Star Destroyer would be capable of. He was ready for his, their, first Order, but first, and for whatever reason his Emperor deemed fit, they needed to apprehend fugitive Tano.
✦
Flashes of the red lightning, exposing black peaks of stone and lava carved formations hidden from view by a thick smokey haze that was ever present, provided the background for the massive vessel residing just inside their view. Bolts of electricity firing in erratic directions from under the hull of the star destroyer, a stark contrast of color to the red and black that comprised a majority of the planet, as the two sources of heat fought for supremacy. It’s repulsors humming to engage at full power as the behemoth sidled ever closer to the encroaching land below it, winning the war over the static discharge beneath it. What passed for clouds on Mustafar spilled over its edges and engulfed the ship, making it its own.
Kowani watched with awe and disbelief. Horror and wonder. How something so magnificent could elicit two completely different responses within her was almost dumbfounding.
“Never seen a star destroyer before?” Ahsoka asked, knowing full well she had.
Kowani did not take her eyes off the descending vessel, “Not like this. In another time and place I might call this beautiful.” She responded.
Ahsoka looked up again and shrugged, “I’ve had my fill, thank you,” and turning to the duffel at Kowani’s side she continued, “that helmet in there?”
Kowani, eyes still skyward, fumbled for the opening of the bag for a moment before turning her gaze downward. She parted the sides and grabbed both the helmet and the data cylinder she had pulled from the terminal. “Here.” She said, passing the helmet to Ahsoka and simultaneously jamming the cylinder into the pocket with her data pad. She heard Ahsoka release a light cough and looked up to see her friend with her hands on her hips, a disappointed look on her face, then looked down to the helmet. “I apologize.” She said, feeling the flush of embarrassment cascade over her, “You’ll have to show me how to work it though.” She said, recovering her pride and sliding the helmet over her head, engaging the switch Ahsoka had shown her earlier. Hearing a slight hiss this time and a high-pitched whistle she hadn’t noticed earlier; all she had seen prior was unchanged yet remarkably clearer. She could see small flashing lights at the side of the vessel and a blast door opening to reveal the blue static field of a mag lock. Ahsoka reached up a hand to tilt the range finder into Kowani’s view and tapped at its pivot point a few times.
“How about now.” Ahsoka said.
Although the view through the helmet visor hadn’t changed one bit the focus lens from the extended range finder was discombobulating much closer to the view of the mag lock and she could see, as well as identify, the transport ship decanting from the hanger bay. “Inbound transport vessel.” Kowani said as the focusing lens continued following the transport on its own, providing her with distance, windage, trajectories and a firing solution. “A full set of this armor would be incredible.”
“Yeah, you really need to meet Sabine.” Ahsoka replied.
“Enough Ahsoka, it’s time to come home.” The voice was there again, accented, female. If she didn’t know better, she would have assumed it was Kowani’s.
“What did you say?” She asked to be sure.
“A full set of this….” Kowani started.
“No, no, after that.”
Kowani lifted the helmet from her head amidst a cadence of warning sounds from inside it, “Nothing.” She replied looking at Ahsoka.
“I thought not,” Ahsoka paused for few moments hoping for the opposite. “Ani, we’re not done here yet.”
“You hearing voices again?” Kowani asked without hesitation.
“I am always hearing voices.” She said with a measure of witticism, “I usually just ignore them though.”
Kowani wasn’t sure if she should laugh along with her friend or adopt a deeply concerned expression. She found another option, “What do you mean then that we aren’t done here?” She asked, watching Ahsoka switch her gaze from herself toward the direction the Morai had left them, Kowani’s gaze following Ahsoka’s. She felt her stomach lurch and knew where this was going. “Ahsoka, why?” She said with all sincerity.
Ahsoka knew the answer but remained silent. A thousand thoughts descended upon her simultaneously, confounding logic and skewering her senses, “Absolution.” She finally said after a long pause.
Kowani removed the helmet altogether and stood at Ahsoka’s side adopting a sardonic expression, “Ahsoka, truly, to remain here is suicidal. This is looking more and more like a trap. What we need to do is find a vessel or a vector R3 that can navigate to get us off this rock. And you, you want to venture right into the Rancor’s den.”
Ahsoka again remained silent, ‘you’re the one that insisted on coming with,’ the retort was fresh and ready for use, but Ahsoka bit her tongue.
“They want you, have wanted you for some time...I’ve intercepted and seen the transmissions for over a year, going there will give them exactly that. Me? What do you think they’ll do with me?”
“You were the one insistent upon following her Ani.” T’zar spoke up. “What happens to you also happens to me but let’s not forget that detail. I would not have said I agreed with the decision, but it has been made, do you not think she already knows this?”
Kowani turned herself in a full three sixty and exaggeratedly tossed her hands into the air, growling audibly.
“Ani, I have seen her mind, experienced her thoughts and past, briefly, yes, but it is all I needed. She has been fighting for her own sanity through conflict and war for almost thirty years. Although time has little meaning for me, let me make the comparison for you that that is longer than you’ve been alive my friend. She has little sense of herself through all of that because she has had little time to focus on what that means. I digress though, as I said, you have already made the decision so move forward, do not muddy the situation any further…. please.” He finished.
Kowani, although defiant initially after listening intently to T’zar, began to understand. She looked at Ahsoka whom had hung her head and summarily sunk her body along the rock at her back to sit on the hard ground, pulling her knees into her chest. “Ahsoka…. I’m….” She began.
“I am just so…. tired Ani…. I am tired of fighting; I am tired of…. well...life.” Ahsoka said, surprising Kowani. “I am tired of voices in my head that aren't my own. I am tired of obscure visions and mysteries. I am just tired.”
Kowani let her speak, saying nothing and remaining cognizant of T’zar’s words.
“Why did they all die? Huh? WHY?!? And those that didn’t...WHERE ARE THEY!??” Ahsoka was screaming into the callous and perfunctory Mustafarian air. She reached up to gently rub the area around her broken montral, squeezing her eyes shut and wincing from the pain.
Kowani sat with a wince of her own at Ahsoka’s side and wrapped an arm around the Togruta, pulling her close to her own shoulder and placed a hand on Ahsoka’s cheek to invite her friend into the crook formed between the shoulder and upper chest and held her there, feeling Ahsoka’s body begin to wrack mildly. She felt Ahsoka’s arms wrap around her as well, pulling them even closer together as the wracking turned to sobbing, Kowani feeling her own tears trail down her cheek as the full weight of what T’zar had said finally hit home.
‘She’s been doing this alone for decades.’ Kowani thought.
“Precisely.” T’zar replied. “There has always been assistance or associates of some sort but never closeness. That was reserved for two people that I could perceive, and no one since.”
Kowani struggled to understand the full complexities of Ahsoka’s life but understood enough from their time together to get a grasp of what T’zar was saying.
“I cannot ever possibly know what you’ve been through Ahsoka, but I will say this. You’re not alone, not now, not ever as far as I’m concerned. Your past is precisely where it belongs, and ‘WE’ are here now.” She blew out her breath and squeezed Ahsoka’s shoulder. “What do ‘WE’ need to do?”
Ahsoka did not want to answer, although she knew ‘how,’ she just wanted to remain in the care of someone else for a few more moments, feel the warmth of the embrace compassion bore. She wanted to forget Mustafar, take the data cylinder and pitch it into the lava flows, cleave her sabers...all of them...in half and leave them at Anakin’s feet. She wanted to forget how one man could have orchestrated the fate of an entire galaxy. How that one man, through ambition and determination settled scores, crossed barriers unknown and brought a sense of stability to quadrillions of beings across the galaxy. Stability through deceit, through lies and manipulation, through corruption and decadence, war, and death. Ahsoka began to feel ashamed of herself, how her plight paled, truly, in comparison to vast cultures and ethnicities that had been exterminated for the most abominable reasons imaginable. How her actions themselves paled in comparison to entire planetary systems coordinating efforts to drive the Empire away, only to be dealt a delayed death through retribution further down the road. She shut her eyes as she let go of her pride and, again, confided in the warmth of Kowani’s embrace, thankful for it, but thinking of all those that could not receive the same.
A shrill, high pitched whine of forced air broke them both from the confines of the embrace.
“74-U.” Kowani said with her eyes closed, wincing briefly as she got to her feet, grabbing the helmet.
“Not bad.” Ahsoka replied, impressed with the appraisal.
“Nope. Z,” She corrected herself, “two of them.” Kowani finished, reactivating the helm, and immediately locating the incoming ‘scouts’ she ascertained. “Headed our way but not vector, about twenty klicks out.” Kowani smiled inwardly. “Those are our rides, aren’t they?” She said, just now realizing she was speaking into a microphone built into the helmet and wondered what it sounded like to Ahsoka.
“They sure are Ani.” Ahsoka said with a wink.
Kowani looked more closely at the riders, “Ahsoka, these aren’t troopers.” She stated. “Fully armored with a black and gray mottled camouflage, thin red lines.” she finished, raising the range finder back into its rest state.
Ahsoka pondered it, “That’s either new or something else entirely.” She said thoughtfully.
“I didn’t think much of it, but the pattern is similar to the hull plating of the star destroyer.” Kowani said removing the helmet, “I don’t think this is Imp navy.”
‘Something else’ Ahsoka said to herself. “May the Force guide us Ani.” she said walking slowly from the confines of the rock wall and onto open ground. “Stay down.” She said. Kowani watching as Ahsoka casually brought both hands down to her hips, retrieving both hilts.
“Do you want this one?” Kowani said holding Ahsoka’s shoto blade in her open palm.
Ahsoka considered it but only for a moment. “No.” She said with more authority than she had intended. Kowani feeling her very presence shift to the more formidable version she had witnessed on Nar Shaddaa.
Kowani felt the unease that conflicting thoughts and feelings always brought with them. She was quite sure the doomed troopers headed their way had what was coming to them, but a sense of horror also gripped her in that she wasn’t sure if the method of their inevitable demise was warranted. “Ahsoka?”
“I’ll make it quick Ani, I’m not here to make a statement.” Ahsoka said.
The comment came as both a relief and an inexplicable sense of excitement. She wasn’t sure if she should have been horrified by her own reaction or at peace with the normalcy at which these events were defining her reality. The whine was building in to a crescendo as the bikes approached, she didn’t need the helmet to see how the ash was lodging and clogging the intake manifolds or caking on the exhaust vents by the way the contrails angled behind them. ‘Amateurs’ she thought.
Ahsoka waited until the sides of the bikes breached her view before pulling both hilts and igniting them simultaneously in one quick movement, providing the riders with a flash of color to home in on. They both arced gracefully toward her.
Kowani could hear the engines throttling down as they began to slow. ‘Odd,’ she thought and pulled the helmet back on. The visor immediately shaded red in her peripheral and auto located another source of contrail. “Ahsoka!, TX-225, same markings at your nine!” She cursed herself inwardly for not being diligent with the details of the transport ships flight path.
“Got it.” Ahsoka replied as the upper port cannon fired from the approaching tank, sailing far overhead.
The peripheral of the helmet visor flashed red again, Kowani could not see anything beyond what was before them, the tracking sensor within the visor that had flagged down the tank moments before was dancing at the brim of her vision. She cast her head back as the sensor target followed and danced again at the brim. Kowani turned her body around completely and the sensor locked on another pair of incoming bikes from behind them. She slipped the helmet up and found she was staring at the rock wall of the passageway. “Sister, multiple targets...everywhere.” She said slipping the helmet back down, yet again rewarded with another red flash directly above her. “TIE on repulsors above us.” She said, becoming exasperated with all the unwanted attention, ‘how did I not hear that TIE?’ she asked herself. ‘I can’t sit here T’zar I need to act.”
“I am in agreement; can we get atop this rock formation?” T’zar said.
“With this knee, possibly. Getting down would be the hard part.” Kowani responded, “On my own terms.” she added hastily.
“I take your meaning, but your knee should be much better now, try it.”
Kowani motioned to stand and found the pain had subsided considerably, although pain remained, it was manageable.
“Slowly then, to the left.” T’zar advised.
Kowani moved with care behind and around the larger rocks at the base of the flat outcropping, the helmet visor switching to a mode she couldn’t identify as it snapped yellow arcs across her field of view before settling on a linear path that turned to green. ‘Ask and you shall receive’ she thought.
“Indeed.” Said T’zar
“Ahsoka give me some distraction.” Kowani said not taking her eyes from the digital line in her purview.
She didn’t get a chance then to see Ahsoka shaking her head before she heard a fevered rhythmic humming and associated discharge as Ahsoka was crossing the blades over her head. Kowani nodded to herself in approval at the timeliness of the electronic blinding flashes of energy bathing the entirety of their surroundings. ‘That’ll probably blind their sensors too.’ She thought, as she found her egress and slid in between two large rocks amid the top of the formation, fumbling through the bag she had laid down beside her for the components of the modified A-180 she made sure to lovingly grab. She could lay prone and assess her targets as she assembled the blaster rifle with practiced hands. A lone TIE above her, a model she was unfamiliar with, as was the helmet. Two more bikes a quarter km out in front of her now. Her thought process piecing together all that was tactically known of their time here. ‘If they intended to kill us, the TIE would be the most direct threat, therefore.’ She thought and summarily lined up a trooper in her sights.
“I concur.” T’zar said.
‘Thanks.’ Kowani thought as she pulled the trigger. With almost no report the green energy bolt ripped through the trooper’s chest and through his back. The helmet was already lining up her next shot as it was syncing itself to the weapon in her hands. She pulled the trigger without a second thought as the reticle solidified and a slight tone in her ears flatlined. He didn’t even have a chance to look to see what happened to his compatriot before he suffered the exact same fate. Kowani could hear the wavering hum of the sabers below and could only guess what was resultant after she had initiated the attack. She rolled over on her back and took aim at the TIE above that was powering up its Ion engines for, what she guessed, was a tactical redeployment. The reticle this time split in two. She would need to hit it twice to disable it. “Hell with that.” She said toggling the discharge setting to ‘full.’
“Now we’re talking!” T’zar said with a measure of enthusiasm she hadn’t heard before.
She had the shot lined up and patiently waited with measured breaths as the weapon audibly charged itself in her hands. A click and ‘ping’ rang true in her helmet, and she pulled the trigger with a deafening report and bright white flash from the suppressor as it released its cooling agent immediately around the barrel. The brilliant green energy bolt crashed through the underside of the TIE cockpit and erupted through the entirety of the fighter causing a magnificent deluge of brief arcs of electricity firing in all directions, the thunderous explosion incinerating the vessel in a mass of destruction worthy of shipboard turbo laser cannons. She turned over immediately, curling herself into a ball to avoid being struck by falling debris as cascading shards of sheared and torn metal rained down from above. She opened her eyes to the stillness of post catastrophic reaction and slid back down the way she had come without giving the carnage a second thought. Regaining her feet and dusting off her bottom as she reached level ground, she looked up to see Ahsoka glaring at her, the remaining three targets present in her view with small yellow rectangles snapped around their respective frames. “Don’t even look at me like that.” Kowani said locking the butt of the blaster rifle against her hip, “There’s a reason you liberated Keno first.”
Ahsoka pursed her lips to say something but thought better of it and simply shrugged it off, deciding to leave debate out of the equation, “That about sums it up.”
“If we’re headed for the fortress let’s grab the bikes. The tank is too slow and won’t be able to keep up.” Kowani said, heading toward the original duo of speeders and accompanying troopers, she raised the A-180 again as she walked toward them. Both troopers spread their hands over their heads and stepped off and away from the idling 74-Z’s.
She did have to admire the armor she thought to herself, it was aesthetically pleasing for sure, it gave them a sense of professionalism and almost demanded intimidation. She could hear Ahsoka following behind her, and she was close enough to the troopers to make the approaching tank an afterthought.
“That was an unprovoked terrorist actio………” began one of the troopers, Kowani finished her statement for her as she bored a hole through her chest with a discharge of the A-180.
“Anything else to add?” Kowani asked the remaining trooper, who didn’t utter a word with the muzzle pointed right at him. He just shook his head and stepped carefully and slowly away from the bike. “Keep the nose up and flash the forward vent sporadically, set repulsor to max and open the rear gates fully.” She said as she hoped on one of the bikes, heard Ahsoka jump on the other and with the muzzle un-moving from the trooper’s chest she said, “We’ll avoid repeating what these ‘Chuba druks’ did to these marvelous pieces of engineering.” She lowered her gaze and slapped the controls to ‘modify’ her bike the same way. In that split second she heard a series of clicks, the swirling ignition of a lightsaber and the most peculiar sound she had ever heard a lightsaber make as she looked up to see the troopers hand wrapping around a small hold out blaster strapped to his thigh and Ahsoka’s red saber embedded in his chest. Just as quickly she saw, and heard, it deactivate and soar through the air back to the Togruta’s waiting hand. “Terrorist I think she said?” Kowani remarked as the reticle changed from a static group of lines to flashing red around the tank in her view. “Time to go.” She kicked down the throttle and opened it up, Ahsoka right at her side, leaving the tank in the distance far behind them.