“Sir…” Bev began.
“No need Bev, just show me.” Sylde cut her off and watched, cursing under his breath, as the signal count was now reaching thirty. Approximating that circumnavigation of the deactivated hyper-relay was responsible for the signal sources he then established they were in fact being employed to map planetary space around Mustafar, but how? Yes, there were traces, or hints, a vessel was responsible but with twenty plus war ships scanning not only the immediate space but the entirety of the system, nothing should be evading the coverage. Analyzing the data field his mind had become had yielded no results either, cloaking, although possible, would require a Stygium crystal array and something large enough to power it. Memories of Tarkin’s own Corvette came to mind, yet the ship had been recovered, thoroughly vetted, and found to have not been compromised. His thoughts then drifted to the conspirators in its very heist, ‘that was years ago Evan, surely we would have seen the technologies employed by now’ he thought idly to himself as he ran through a mental list of all involved. Understanding dawned on him, despite the findings afterward, the talent the crew had assembled at subterfuge would have made uploading the ships data, encrypting what they had found as well as transmitting it for dispersal on some level, mere child’s play.
“We’re going to assume we are dealing with cloaked quarry, unless certain technologies have been employed, I am, as of yet, unaware of, we will then assume this quarry is utilizing a Stygium crystal array.” He said after a few more moments in thought, startling more than a few of the members of his crew. “What I need is a way to locate, track and target a vessel equipped as such.”
“To what purpose?” Pritcar spoke up, adjusting his black tunic as he stood at his station.
“I’m sorry?” Sylde responded quickly.
“What is the purpose of deploying the signal buoys in the first place?”
“It is my estimation that we are being mapped, or rather, the intra-planetary space around us.” Sylde admitted. “I do not believe there are a sufficient amount of source signals to expose the entirety of our operation however, and I would very much like it to remain that way.” He could see sporadic teams working together to find his answers. Those that weren’t debating a myriad of possibilities through open dialogue were tapping away at data stations, simulators or hammering away at personal data pads, working through complex equations, algorithms, and scenarios.
“Seven, please tell me your conglomerate have been working these through as well.” Sylde asked into empty air, squinting his eyes, and tugging at his chin again.
“We have sir, I, we, accept your assumptions are correct. Although Stygium systems are quite capable of evading detection they are not, inherently, fail safe. Requiring an abnormal amount of power to maintain the system itself, I, we, calculate the vessel to be no smaller than eight thousand metric tons, roughly the size of a light cruiser. The system power requirements mentioned are being analyzed congruent with this conversation precisely to determine viability of tracing that component.”
Sylde considered the influx of information, screwing his face tightly and flexing his arms about him to conjure his own internal analysis. “Tracing the element will be priority one.” He said with his eyes tightly shut. “Upon location, I need solutions for disablement. Effects of a tuned seismic charge?”
A chime rang softly through the room, “Thetch, Ryhanuck, Sir that would probably work although the pitch and amplitude necessary may destabilize on board systems in the wake zone of any vessel caught in the blast. Reactor cores more specifically.” A slightly distorted male voice called over the linked TacNet employed by the fleet.
“Wouldn’t shielding prevent primary and critical systems from the wake?” Another voice rang in over the same feed, female and accented, sounding similar with moderately grainy electrical distortion.
“Theoretically, yes, however, disabling the system will require almost the full complement of the fleet. That many charges could hypothetically do more harm to our own ships than anything we ‘may’ target, if you take my meaning.” Pritcar spoke to answer, his face glued to the monitor before him running simulations of the exact tactic before him.
Sylde enjoyed the openness of free speech within his ranks, it promoted the ‘out of the box’ solutions that had gotten him, and those under him, where they were respectively, and most assuredly this assignment.
“Sir, multiple casualties planet side.” Bev said standing with the muff pressed to her right ear. “Unaggravated hostile action from the quarry.”
“Is the target harmed?” Sylde was suddenly nervous, flashing his eyes wide in immediate distress. “If so, all of this conversation becomes null and void.”
Bev waited patiently for the after action from the Tagata Taia, “Both targets remain unharmed. Ground forces executing loose follow, providing location and vectors for possible terminus.”
“Both targets?” Sylde asked, truly puzzled.
“Target one and…” Bev paused, “A Mandalorian?” It was a statement but sounded more like a question to Sylde.
Sylde stared at his comm officer waiting for more information, his hands now resting anxiously on his hips.
“Footage from one of the trailing teams on center monitor.” Bev said, tapping a key and pointing forward.
Sylde snapped his head forward looking beyond, and in some instances ‘through’ the holo image. Watching intently as two tiny specs were racing at breakneck speed over rocky ash laden ground, kicking up a nightmare of dust contrails in their wake. “I thought we were doing a loose follow?” He uttered.
“Sir.” A static laced voice broadcast over the Tacnet, “For all intents, they are. Target is full throttle, our team is as well, and not keeping pace.”
“I want a vector, now! We’re going to lose them.” Sylde all but screamed.
“Sir, they’re headed for original vector two…?” Pritcar answered, doing his best to phrase it as a statement.
“Tagata Taia, Herrell. Break pattern immediately and converge on Vector two. Hem them in.”
“Sir.” Came two distinct replies from both Hung and Kajg.
“Sir, action was recorded at Vector one. On secondary.” Bev reported.
Sylde switched his gaze then to the monitor on the right and watched the cam footage from the original team, on whose bikes the targets were now in possession of. He watched as the Togruta ignited a red lightsaber followed closely by a white lightsaber. He watched her face, forehead turned down, eyes seemingly staring right at him. He watched as she clashed the sabers together, how the resultant energy arcs blinded him and distorted the recorded feed. Static laden waves gave way to off screen background noise. “Hold.” He said, the image freezing on command. “Isolate that…. blaster fire?”
Bev sat down quickly, running audio only a few times through to clean up the intermittent static. With the video still paused, she fed the audio into the TacNet for all to listen. The sound was unmistakable, two quick blasts followed by a third.
“Similar trajectory on the first two, distinct power increase on the third. DLT-20?” Pritcar spoke up.
“Continue playback Bev.” Sylde said, returning his finger to his chin and watching intently as the video resumed. A bright flash of white, green, and red rocked across the screen drawing more than a few intakes of breath from those around him. As the video regained integrity, torn bits of metal were raining down in all directions, some fragments even hitting the helmet and cam of the trooper whom they had the perspective of. Seconds later, the second of the two targets came into frame, lithe form, olive skinned with a vambrace over her right arm and a T-visored helmet on, charging formidably at the cam source.
“A-180? That’s impossible.” Pritcar said.
“That was an unprovoked terrorist act….” He heard the second of the two troopers say as Sylde clamped a hand around his own mouth, knowing what was coming.
“Anything else to add?” Target two said. Sylde dropped any form of trying to hide his surprise and understood then, fully, why three troopers, one pilot and a TIE/GT were dispatched in less than seven seconds. ‘Please let it not be’ he told himself. As she trained the rifle on the last of the dismounted troopers the skin of her left forearm lay exposed. “Freeze.” He closed his eyes to absolute silence and knew from the lack of color shift that his order had been carried out. Instinctively, he placed his right hand over his own left forearm feeling the circular branding under the firm fabric then slowly opened his eyes. ‘Sister’ he said to himself, seeing exactly that there, branded into her own flesh. A humanoid head, half skull, half flesh.
“Sir?” Bev said slowly, carefully.
“Sir.” A small voice chimed in his ear through the microbead implanted there.
Sylde covered his mouth to reply, “Go ahead.”
“DS1...has been...destroyed.” The voice replied waveringly.
Sylde looked over to Taig who was slowly removing his own headset and placing his hands to support his slumped head. He breathed in deeply and held it there for few seconds before blowing it out with gusto.
He cast a brief glance around the room, all eyes were on him. “She’s a child of Keno.”
✦
“This place is a wasteland.” T’zar said what Kowani was thinking. Flat expanses giving way to irregular rock formations, outcroppings, carved gullies, and treacherous natural bridges of porous volcanic stone, blanketed by thick layers of oily black and gray ash. An oppressive heat baked indiscriminately, unwavering in whom, or what, it touched. The constant reddish glow and black rock contrasted each other to perfection, making it impossible to determine time of day. ‘Night, day, what’s the difference,’ She thought. Kowani could feel the bike beneath her rattle and backfire, soot clogging every component from intake to exhaust she knew, casting doubt on her initial thought to keep them.
‘This place is just flat-out desolation,’ She thought for both their benefit. ‘Thank you by the way...I don’t know exactly what you did but the knee feels much better.’
“No need. As stated, your mobility affects us both…. but your welcome for what it’s worth.” T’zar responded. “Besides, it beats jabbing yourself with a stim pack. Nasty things.”
Kowani could see sculpted geometry cresting the horizon before her, uncertain if it were in fact the fortress, or just another gathering of indignant natural phenomena. Roiling clouds of incendiary smoke beside it left little doubt however and she idled back somewhat to allow Ahsoka to ease her bike in beside. The planet was already a cacophony of natural sound which made verbal communication over the din exceedingly difficult. The added pitched howl of the bikes themselves made it all but impossible. She glanced back quickly to look at Ahsoka whom had taken a stretch of cloth and knowingly wrapped herself tightly about the head, leaving a slight crease from which to see. She motioned with her brake hand, two fingers toward her visor then quickly out with those same fingers toward the horizon. Ahsoka brought up a hand of her own to her head to do her best to look past the steam, smoke, and ash toward what Kowani was pointing to, then saw it. Twin spires were breaking the horizon line and then, she too, could see the fiery cloud of smoke coming from somewhere out of view. She nodded at Kowani, and they both took the bike’s grips firmly and throttled them fully on cue.
“That was quite the display back there Kowani, I hadn’t known you capable.” T’zar said, breaking the almost mesmerizing trance she felt herself drifting into. The feel of the bike underneath her, the whine of the engine in her ears both feeding the increasing hunger to rid herself of memories.
‘That.’ She began in thought, ‘is precisely what I am trying to forget T’zar. I am better than that.’ She finished the thought, envisioning the words while dodging a pair of intrusive spires, the resultant howling echo of her passing sweet music to her ears.
“To forget, hmmm.” He began again, then paused briefly.
‘Out with it.’
“Endeavoring to forget seems to have taken you full circle, right back into the birth of your memories.” He carefully interjected.
‘There isn’t time for riddles T’zar, speak plainly.’ Kowani felt herself losing patience.
“Why forget when you want to recall Ani, you’re fighting yourself. Every life has a purpose, that purpose gives it meaning. Without meaning there is only chaos, and you don’t subscribe to that. Be honest with yourself and admit your fears, only then can you conquer them.” He said.
‘That rings with the tenet of the Dark Side T’zar. I will not revisit that past.’ She almost spoke the words into her own ears.
“All that you’ve witnessed with this Togruta Kowani? Open your eyes. There is no Dark Side…. there is no Light Side. Ani, there is only the Force, and this is all it will ever be. Ahsoka has learned this. You need to as well.”
Kowani ground her teeth, and opened the throttle as far as it would go. Anger seeping through her very core, she took the bike slightly off track solely for the purpose of dashing in between rock formations she hadn’t needed to, cursing into the helmet. Cursing Sidious, the Sith and the Inquisitorious. Cursing the Empire.
“What I am saying is simply this Kowani, you’ve a past, yes, everyone does. You have decided to follow a different path, however, so do not let your past now dictate your future.”
She began weeping despite her best efforts to the contrary. “They made me a tool T’zar, a tool!” She yelled into the helmet.
“Yes, they did. An exquisitely crafted tactical storm of aggressive chaos, steeped in your ability to connect with the Force. A terrible weapon Kowani, terrible. Why rely on anger then when your given the opportunity to turn those very gifts they bestowed upon you, against them?”
Kowani involuntarily relaxed her grip on the throttle, hearing and feeling the bike respond with the mechanical equivalent of ‘thank you.’ The corners of her lips tugged slightly as she felt herself nodding in comprehension, understanding what T’zar was getting at.
‘Find my peace.’ She thought. ‘N’dali used to say that all the time.’
“Yes. Exactly that. Utilize your anger instead of reacting to it. Let it become the source of your power, then unleash it. Channel it thoroughly.” T’zar continued.
‘That is precisely what the Sith teach T’zar.’
“And again, with the labels. Kowani, let go of your assumptions. You could just as well focus your humor, or your joy. They all have power. There is no Dark Side, there is no Light Side.”
‘There is only the Force.’ She thought as she closed her eyes briefly, squeezing the last of her tears from them as a gentle smile took shape then form.
“There is only the Force.” T’zar repeated.
“There is only the Force.” She agreed.
Ahsoka could feel the tension emanating from Kowani in droves. Waves of regret she seemed to be outracing yet would never be able to elude. She felt her friend’s pain as few could. Tides of anger improperly blamed, used merely to recuse her own actions. Sorrow and grief, her life partners, holding her hand each day, ready to embrace her every moment of her life. Through both conscience and subconscious, these emotions would remind her, never allowing her a minute to herself. ‘And then you invite T’zar in as well.’ Ahsoka thought, shaking her head, hoping there was balance to be found within. Her thoughts were broken the second she saw Kowani idle her bike down as they crested a small incline of unbroken rock. They both brought their respective bikes to a halt on the precipice of a shallow canyon only one meter across, its base flowing with molten rock. Three kilometers away, standing before them was the obtuse fortress, its smooth polished facade a stark contrast to the pock marked and pitted stone surrounding it. A blazing inferno encircled the landing pad and surrounding area. ‘Welcome home Ahsoka.’ She said to herself.
They both sat there for a long moment saying nothing, feet planted on the ground, watching as the engulfing fire danced its savory light over the gleaming stronghold.
Removing her helmet finally and tucking it under her left arm, Kowani turned to Ahsoka, “I am sorry Ahsoka. I make no excuses for who I am but that, back there…” She nodded behind them, “was uncalled for.”
“Was it not? There is no need to search for absolution where there is none to be found Ani, you did what you felt was right. My trust is in you. They are not mutually exclusive.” Ahsoka said unwrapping her head. “I feel a conflict within you though and in there,” She continued, pointing to the fortress, “That will be detrimental.”
“Any conflict, I believe, has found resolution Ahsoka.” She paused a moment then continued, “I see it now. The conversations with Master Yoda, your lightsaber…. T’zar drove the point home.”
Ahsoka felt the sincerity in the admission, how the anger she had perceived minutes before was channeling toward other endeavors, cached in a sense.
“Ahsoka?” Kowani asked, her eyes never having left Ahsoka’s.
“Yes Ani.”
“You had no intention of leaving here, did you?” Kowani asked outright.
Ahsoka hadn’t, remembering her vision with absolute clarity. She had been willing, at that time, to perceive the vision literally, to finish what had not been on Malachor. Many things have changed since however, most importantly, herself. “Initially, no.” She began, then after careful consideration, “however, things have changed. My heart has shown me there is further need of Ahsoka Tano.” She finished smiling.
Kowani couldn’t help but return it as her gaze turned back to that of the fortress. “You don’t have to do this you know. We can leave right now and find this Sabine you keep talking about.” She turned back to Ahsoka with a wink.
Ahsoka turned her own gaze back to the stronghold and mulled that over for a few seconds, “No... we,” she was starting to say as she heard Kowani fire up her bike and looked back at her friend.
“Glad to hear it, let us announce ourselves then.” The Mirialan said, voice electronically modulated as she had already settled the helmet home and was throttling the engine. Ahsoka watched blankly as Kowani walked the bike back a few feet and gunned the throttle, rocketing over the small lava flow and landing with a slight lurch. Ahsoka was ready and followed suit, feeling her own lurch as she sped for the contrail before her.