He planted his feet, anchored in his own resolve as he tried making sense of the gargantuan beast before him. His helmet chimed annoyingly, alerting him to the descending Star Destroyer and the remainder of the foolishness surrounding him on this cursed planet. Intensifying his rage, Vader focused on adding the salvos of the walkers beneath his boots to the concentrated bursts from the battleship above him. ‘This isn’t possible…’ he continuously thought as the combined whine of aerial bombardment and turbo laser fire began registering further annoyance. “General...get your men out of here. There is a shuttle inbound.” He spoke through the comm in his helm, shaken by the damned irritation of catering to useless endeavors.
“Lord Vader. Of yourself?” General Veers responded.
“Do not concern yourself. Communicate to Ozzel that I wish to depart upon my return.”
“My Lord, Captain Piett is currently in command….” Veers reported, surprised that the Dark Lord had not already known.
Vader chose not to respond as the relayed information found purchase within the vast cauldron of hatred he constantly brewed. ‘Good,’ he thought, ‘someone is at least taking action in my stead.’ “Who’s orders?” He needed to know.
“Grand Admiral Tethys My Lord, although she has fallen. Ravager is currently under the command of Admiral Rae Sloane.” Veers fired off immediately.
Vader instantly considered the vulnerability that his fleet had been in, reassured through Veers’ update that it was now in far more capable hands. “Very well. Get you and your men out of here.” If Veers responded any farther, Vader was unaware of it, focusing entirely on the creature before him.
Vader pressed deeply within, envisioning the power settings on the forward fire control of all four operational walkers and driving them into overload. He knew they would never menacingly traverse any sort of terrain again, but he was also convinced the massive creature wouldn’t either, justification enough. He was beginning to realize, however, that the efforts were a useless gesture. The behemoth bellowed a tremendous throaty gurgle signifying that it was still very much alive. Vader drove the settings farther still, well past overload capacity before he witnessed the unthinkable. The creature reared its head, finally fed up with the annoyance of being targeted by the descending Star Destroyer and locked all four putrid orange eyes on it. He sensed the tension within the beast moments before it performed an impossible leap, arresting the vessel with vicious determination.
Vader felt an inconceivable kinship with the motives and determination he was witnessing, watching while his fascination outpaced his growing impatience. ‘Such power.’ He thought outright, his irritation dispersing into a field of jealousy. The thought following didn’t surprise him one bit as he watched the massive tail drive itself straight through the ships Ion drives, its ravenous claws tearing off enormous sections of hull plating. ‘To harness such boldness….to saddle and reign in such power…,’ the consideration rang through his conscience like the fuel of rage that his constant pain provided him. ‘To helm such ability….’ he inadvertently drew the conclusion that had always surfaced but with such ferocity that he could already imagine his master begging for his life at his feet. A thousand questions accompanied thousands of motives as they whirled mercilessly through his mind. ‘If the man was hunting down a path toward immortality would it then be within reason to suggest he wasn’t beneath pleading for a mercy he didn’t deserve?’ The thought shot through Vader with abandon, dredging up the aspect of himself he hated most, Anakin’s memories. “Yes my master….you’ve done it before.” He voiced for his own benefit as the broken Star Destroyer fell perpendicular to the ground, an extremely rare occurrence in the grand scheme of things. The agonizingly slow descent only spoke to the size of the weapon of war, and, more importantly, the strength of the offending darkness that had consumed it. Vader followed its fall to completion, a raucous conglomeration of distant crunches, pings, snaps, and grating metal, wrapped up in a billowing cloud of its own detritus. Secondary explosions consumed his dark orbs as unspent ordinance ignited upon reactor breach sending waves of raining shrapnel clanging and cracking over the exposed surface of the valley in all directions, his own armor buffeted by a dozen sharp pings. Not once did he relent on the fire controls of the walkers, only driving the power settings toward critical mass, his intentions changing lanes between determined extinction and harnessing the power within.
As the dust and smoke began to settle themselves into agreement, he surveyed the twisted metal, patiently waiting for movement, movement upon which to focus his intensified rage. From fore to aft of the broken vessel he slowly scanned, finding no trace of the offending monster, yet he could feel the presence just the same. Vader sensed an underlying darkness, one that had no borders or oaths to swear. He knew the shell had dissipated into what was truly behind the visual facade, the raging behemoth just a representation of a channeled strength. Vader felt a craving, a desire, tear him from his focus as he tried to find the source, the yearning for the upper hand he desperately wanted and needed. He felt the pangs of his own oaths bark back in denial, the creed he had dedicated his life too with the spilling of his own blood. “You will forever crave the power that only I possess.” He heard the whispered voice of Sidious ring through his thoughts, a sick mocking laughter following closely behind.
Vader fought an internal war on two fronts, determined to be the arbiter in the matter, the final word. He let the barriers fall between himself and the flood of repression he had given effort for the last twenty years, letting the deluge of emotion slam into his psyche. He could feel what was left of his living heart pump furiously through the effort, driving the armored suit toward caustic exertion, his mind a wellspring of ferocity in the wake of unfelt sentiment. He felt his knees buckle under the weight of unfettered pressure and the sting of tears that would never fall. Vader forced every compulsion, each sentiment that would tear him away from his own agenda and the entirety of unrefined emotion into the boiling miasma of contemptuous rage he kept diligent watch over, save one. With the ferocity of a hundred Star Destroyers, he sent wave upon wave of directed hatred toward the mangled debris of Tagata Taia, the AT-AT under his boots violently shaking through the efforts. He jumped to the ground without flourish, coming to rest on a well planted boot and his extended left hand, the spent walkers clanking with exhaustion on their upper struts, creaking loudly as the internal gyros compensated with a metallic scraping. Vader lifted his head to inspect the carnage, an effort to locate the source of the power he found himself willfully craving but finding nothing for the attempt. Nothing but a solemn silence as dust, sand and stone settled in the distance. Fires burned their fuel throughout the wreckage streaming thick columns of oily smoke upwards in vertical shafts with no breeze to angle them. The source of the vision, the source of his conceived freedom and the power he craved lost to his probing senses. Another failure.
✦
Nara felt the fury of recognition surge through the invasive entity yet denied herself any form of platitude upon revealing the name. She could feel millions of tiny barbs, each lethal, bombarding the protective shell she had erected around her psyche as the malevolent spirit lashed out in a primitive anger. “You have no power over me Abeloth.” She whispered to her own subconscious, knowing she could only hope to contain the ancient evil through provocation. “Das’ha was a weak-minded fool, and you inherit that weakness.” She whispered again, feeling the pressure of the barbs manifest into carbonite fists of outrage.
“How is that you, pathetic and estranged, can know of such things!” Abeloth suggested into the shared space of Nara’s subconsciousness.
“Because I am pathetic to those that bore me. Because I am estranged from the confines of rationality, that is why I know. I have searched where others dare not.” Nara returned, the carbonite fists evolving farther into billions of sharpened blades of refined durasteel, working to penetrate the shield toward inevitable destruction.
“Das’ha beseeched the power through instruction to open my doors to this galaxy you insignificant leach, and it took the efforts of a Jedi Grand Master to simply waylay the inevitable. What chance do you think you have Nara of the Bendu?” Abeloth whispered, an eerie echo pounding through Nara’s mind that gave her pause.
Nara worked through the mental practice of defending her mind from the invasive speech as well, understanding that it could penetrate her efforts just as easily as the attacking blades. “My insignificance is what has allowed me to understand your motives dark mother. Despite your will you are blind to your own manifestations. Why Das’ha and not Vitiate...or was it that he posed the danger between the two that gave you pause?” She filled the whisper with as much venom and bile as she could muster through diligent emotional efforts. The responding fury doubled in magnitude as Abeloth conjured herself in their subconscious realm, weaving her hands in intricate patterns as she grinned from ear to ear, exposing an impossible amount of spiny stonelike teeth. Nara felt the penetrating stare of both sickly orange eyes lock on her huddled form, continuing to abate the welling fear that threatened to consume her. She knew she was succeeding through the efforts to draw the malevolence closer to her but was beginning to have doubts concerning her ability to contain it as the hand gestures continued.
Nara pressed through her own subconsciousness, breaching the natural veil between it and her conscience self-letting the fear intensify into irresistible prey. She probed her physical body to test for response, feeling her fingers flex slowly in answer. Nara could feel herself smile but fought the urge from manifesting it physically. She needed to be quick, but she also needed to continue the charade long enough to grab the cube from her pocket. She worked her subconscious into a maze of terror, providing Abeloth the prime victim to work her incantation, Nara paying awfully close attention to the symbolic gestures the woman’s long fingers were enacting.
✦
“What is even happening to her?” Kowani asked outright, holding Nara’s left hand in her own as she supported the woman’s side.
Ahsoka didn’t answer immediately. She didn’t have the words, “honestly Ani, I have no idea.” She finally said, her fingers lightly touching Nara’s right hand.
“Ahsoka, next time take Sabine...please. I am too old for this, and this is too strange for me.” Rex added, Nara’s head in his lap, his fingers to the side of her throat measuring heartbeats. “If it’s not you, it’s Ani. If it’s not Ani it’s Sabine….I almost miss the insanity of Ezra and Kanan.” He concluded, blowing out his breath.
Ahsoka lifted her head toward him, “Rex, there isn’t anyone I trust with my life more than those right here.”
“Does that not include Sabine then?” Kowani leaned in with a devilish smile on her face.
“That statement does not exclude anyone on Lothal.” Ahsoka said, smiling in return, finding solace enough to reach toward levity.
“Nothing that she has said has made much sense to me since we got here.” Kowani said, Ahsoka turning back to her to see the Mirialan looking upon Nara between them. “I understand what you meant Ahsoka, about opening our minds, our hearts.” Kowani continued looking up into Ahsoka’s blue eyes. “She’s been through a hell I could only imagine.” “One that continues Ani.” Ahsoka responded, “I think she is at war with what we saw, the old woman.”
“What old woman?” Rex asked, his face contorted to extremes.
“The one that was responsible for the monstrous hssiss.” Kowani replied.
Rex instantly burst into laughter, an uproarious guffaw and accompanying snort that fueled further chortling and stomach lurching whooping, setting Nara’s head bouncing in his lap. Both Ahsoka and Kowani looked upon him with both deep concern and despondence, Rex lowering his gaze to see Nara’s head. “OH...that can’t be good.” He responded finally through the laughter, expending great amounts of effort to keep it from continuing. “Look, I am sorry,” he added once he caught his breath sufficiently, “this whole situation has been insanity from the start, I mean….well...look around.” He said, finally through his bout of laughter, a forlorn urgency tugging at his wrinkles as he swept an open palm in a wide half circle about him. “Have we even had a moment to ask ourselves why?”
Ahsoka considered the comment, knowing she in fact had thought it through without any semblance of reason to speak of.
“Why what Rexxy...War? Whatever this was constitutes something well outside those boundaries my friend.” Kowani blurted out.
Ahsoka whirled quickly to face the Mirialan, “what do you mean?”
Kowani was certain that the Togruta would have already felt the same energies that she had, “this isn’t about who’s right or wrong, winning or even losing….Ahsoka, she was here for a reason outside her own choice.” She said with a look downward toward Nara. She quickly turned her head toward the continuing barrage and smoldering wreckage of the Imperial walkers and Star Destroyer respectively, “They are here for their own reasons, which may or may not have anything to do with her.” She stopped herself from continuing as she thought through the remainder of her conclusions, “that rebel element wasn’t alliance so even they had their motives….” she paused uncomfortably.
“As if it were manufactured….” Rex finished for her.
“Exactly.” Kowani noted with a head nod toward the clone.
Ahsoka couldn’t disagree with the logic but found difficulty labeling the engineer. “Much of this was based on indirect decision…”
“Was it though?” Kowani interjected. “I know what you’re thinking, hell, we’re all thinking it. Palpatine...Sidious...whatever we’re calling him, knows you well enough Ahsoka.”
“What are you implying Ani?” Ahsoka asked with a hint of frustration fused into the inflections.
“Ahsoka, this isn’t about blame, only observation ok so please relax. He knows you more intimately than you give him credit for.” Kowani added with an open palm toward Ahsoka.
Ahsoka knew Nar Shadaa would haunt her the moment she found reason to apologize for it, and at this moment, understood where Kowani was headed with the comment. “I know Ani, I don’t mean to lose composure.” She replied, turning to watch as Vader lept from the AT-AT’s enormous cabin far in the distance.
Kowani followed her gaze, “It can’t be easy for you.” She made it a point to turn to Rex as well, “or you Rexxy.” She could feel them both lamenting in their own way, oaths and odes to camaraderie, friendship and even family that had been cast as dust in the wind many years prior, but still stinging, nonetheless. “I only mean to suggest that we should not discount that he may have been the ultimate architect here.”
Rex nodded toward her, “that is wise counsel Ani, even if it isn’t true, it is wise to operate as if it were.”
Nara’s fingers stirred under Ahsoka’s palm, Ahsoka instantly letting the conversation go as she let the fingers free from her grip. They fumbled meekly at the hard ground below them for a few seconds before firing deep into her right-side pants pocket. The moment her hand found contact with its target a loud snap roused them all. “What was that?” Ahsoka asked indirectly.
The snap turned into several loud and intense cracks that pinged their way throughout the valley, like the return of the violent storms and the mind shattering thunder that rumbled the very ground. Eschewing dust clouds sifted skyward as the flaming wreckage began to groan with a grating metallic grind against Ambria’s living stone. Several seconds passed without event as the remainder of the booming sounds finalized their respective echoes. Without warning the ground under them began to shake violently a moment before another explosion drew their attention to the walkers, none of them noticing the cease fire from the active turbo lasers.
“There can’t be another…” Rex said what they were all thinking.
“No. Ambria is claiming her right. We need to leave...now!” Nara said between them, tossing hands aside and pushing herself up to her feet.
Ahsoka instinctively snapped her head toward the shuttle. It was already airborne and heading for them. “There!” She shouted over the bellows and groans of the angry ground, the stone splintering with loud cracks and pings. The shuttle was already upon them, swiveling itself to present its aft ramp as a life preserver to the ground that began to evaporate under their feet. In unison, the quartet sprang from the disappearing stone right behind Mushi a moment before the remainder of the valley’s surface crumbled in upon itself in a vast kilometer wide circular caldera surrounding the wreckage, all of them breathing rapidly, unable to speak as their hearts hammered into their ribs. Lying on the bare metal of the boarding ramp, Ahsoka quickly pushed herself up, squinting her eyes to the black speck on the other side of the new formation. Dust, sand, broken stone, and dried clumps of baked mud rained down all about them, distorting the view of her old master briefly before she found him again, unmoved from his stance.
‘Ahsoka…’ She could sense him calling to her, or was he. She could sense someone calling her, but it wasn’t Vader.
‘Anakin…’ she tried in reply, unwilling to identify with the relationship they had had decades ago, but drawn to it just the same.
‘I was only ever here on my own behalf...know that.’ She sensed his words, felt the truth in them, not of Vader, Anakin’s truth.
‘I know you’re still in there Anakin, despite what anyone would have us believe...know that.’ Her reply was concise and deliberate. She wanted to believe every ounce of it because the Anakin she knew deserved that truth. ‘He lives….’ She added after a moment of deliberation, deciding to leave the revelation there and no farther despite wanting to tell him everything. Without another utterance she closed herself off from him, severing any ties to the man trapped within. Ahsoka felt a sudden heartache grip her entirely, reliving every instance from her past when she’d thought she’d done the same. It felt of betrayal to the friends and family already lost but she knew it was the only way to ensure the safety of what family of his that remained, ‘life is for the living.’ She thought to herself as she finally turned around and followed the rest up the remainder of the boarding ramp, slapping the actuator without ever turning back around.
✦
Before the ramp even closed fully, Ahsoka saw Kowani grapple Nara into the nearest acceleration seat with tremendous force, snapping her hold out blaster from its holster faster than Ahsoka could blink.
“What the hell happened down there Nara?” Kowani shouted to the startled and shocked gaze of everyone. Mushi, who Ahsoka assumed would rush to Nara’s side, simply sat on the rusted deck plating of the shuttles floor, tail sweeping back and forth in the confined space.
“Whoa..whoa Ani, lower that blaster will ya?” Rex motioned to intervene before Ahsoka could.
“You didn’t see it Rexxy.” Kowani fired back, her voice consumed with anger as she quickly shot the old clone a sidelong glance.
“But I did.” Ahsoka finally got the words out, “now, do as he said Ani and lower that blaster, she at least deserves the chance to explain.”
“If it’s even her Ahsoka. We can’t even assume that!” Kowani blasted, turning to face Nara once again.
“What does your heart tell you?” A new voice pierced the encounter, a deep voice that resonated through the small cabin with a confidence all but Kowani recognized.
Kowani snapped her head up rolling her eyes toward the cabin’s ceiling, “if I’d listened to that I wouldn’t have even drawn the blaster….” she said, anger quickly turning to frustration as she blew out her breath with emphasis. “Who the hell are you anyway?” She blurted as she re-holstered the blaster and planted her backside into an acceleration seat adjacent Nara, turning to face a hooded figure. “Ugh….Sorry…” Kowani continued with exasperation.
“Are you quite finished?” Nara spoke up, eyeing Kowani with hesitation and settling a degree of defiance she physically delivered.
Kowani blew out a second breath with more vigor, her demeanor torn between sobbing and defeat, “I am sorry Nara…” she said, her half open eyes failing to focus on the swishing motions of Mushi’s tail.
“Master Vos.” Ahsoka addressed the hooded figure, designs clearly set on changing the subject. “Apologies for the misunderstanding…” she trailed off slightly, an eye on Kowani, “thank you for the prompt exit, another few seconds…”
“And you would have plummeted to an assured and painful death...yes, yes. Your welcome.” Quinlan responded with a jovial tone. “Quite the company you keep Ms. Tano.”
“Yes, thank you...uh..General...”Rex added, unsure if the former Jedi, ‘or was he still a Jedi,’ ever presented himself as such.
“Your welcome Captain, but just Vos is fine.” Quinlan addressed with a complimentary bow, one he quickly regretted as he snapped his body back up, a hand on his lower back.
Mushi only looked the man over and lay his head back down between Nara and Kowani.
“We can exchange further pleasantries in a minute but Ms. Tano, a word if you don’t mind?” Vos said, pulling the hood back to reveal himself to them all.
Uncertain stares and questioning looks passed between them all as the sudden need for secrecy was the last thing any of them expected.
“With all due respect Master Vos, and in the interest of quelling what just transpired, I would feel more comfortable if anything that is said is shared by all.” Ahsoka spoke up to the nods and grins of the other three.
“Very well.” Vos said flatly, his demeanor shifting in a matter of seconds from blithe to sedate, “what happened on the surface of Ambria that was worth over two thousand lives?”
Ahsoka was stunned into silence, the question not at all what she had expected.
“Cleansing the waters of Lake Naath.” Nara spoke up, Ahsoka casting her a sidelong glance. Nara hadn’t moved from her seat, her eyes focusing on Mushi’s head as she reached down to scratch the fur between his ears.
“There is no Lake my young friend, only a tomb….and what do you mean cleansing?” Vos replied.
Nara lifted her head to stare directly into Quinlan’s deep-set eyes, “So those weren’t the two thousand lives to which you refer?” She asked, doing her best to quell her sarcasm. She reached into her jacket pocket, retrieving a small, intricately carved tan cube. Nara slowly turned her gaze from the old man to the cube she turned between two fingers. “Abeloth attempted to break free as the shroud fell. Not her specifically, but an element of her. Had she succeeded, this conversation would be vastly different.” She turned the cube several more times between her fingers before tossing the cube to Quinlan. He stretched his palm to retrieve it finding that he needed to support the effort with his other hand as well, grunting with effort. Nara turned to Kowani and tapped her own forehead, “she’s not in here...she’s in that.” She finalized with a finger pointing toward the cube Vos was struggling to hold.
Ahsoka let her building tension dissipate through Nara’s explanation as it quelled completely different arguments in the span of five seconds. She had to admit she was impressed.
“I understand your perspective but know that thousands more died in orbit.” Quinlan focused for a moment on the object in his hands, “seeing this answers my question to satisfaction.” He said in earnest, shuffling his feet across the rusted grating to drop the cube back into Nara’s outstretched palm. She toyed with it a second longer between her fingertips before returning it to her pocket. “We were always taught the Sorceress was nameless…”
“Das’ha was merely a pawn, acting through suggestion eons ago. I do not know how Vitiate was able to mimic the ritual but both points are irrelevant.” Nara spoke to them all, but nodded toward Kowani, “Abeloth is mobilizing….far, far from here, and is intent on finding her family.”
Everyone else exchanged glances, trying in vain to pull understanding out of thin air. Kowani was the first to ask the obvious, “...didn’t you just say she was in that thing?” her finger pointing toward Nara’s jacket for emphasis.
“She said an element of her Ani,” Ahsoka responded to the question posed. Squinting her eyes in thought, she crossed an arm before her chest. “Nara what do you mean her family?”
Nara turned slowly to face her, screwing her face up in indecision. “There was only a split second as we passed one another. I saw glimpses from her past, present, and future.” Ahsoka noted the fluttering of Nara’s eyes and the contortion of her cheeks as she struggled with something. “She is the Mother Ahsoka.”
It was Ahsoka’s turn to adopt the expression of extreme bewilderment, her eyes darting in all directions as the term worked its way through her thoughts. ‘Mother’ only has significance in basic terms, she thought. “In relation to the familial dynamic.”
“As in Father, Son and Daughter….” Kowani added, “I remember that conversation.”
Ahsoka felt as if the revelation should be just that, that she should be throwing her hands up in awe as this detail added itself to the bigger picture. She was shocked to find that she didn’t care in the slightest. “She’s in for a rude rendezvous if it is they that she seeks.”
“I don’t think a family reunion should be the takeaway here.” Nara added, Vos from the other end of the cabin running a diligent hand through his silvery hair agreeing with a harumph. “She is amassing support from an unknown species. It could be years, even decades, but she is working toward that end.” Nara concluded.
A silence overtook the cabin as they all worked that final comment over internally.
Vos broke the deliberation suddenly, “breaking away from problems we can’t solve for the moment, do you mind if I try working on one we may be able to resolve?”
Everyone looked up toward the Kiffar as he clapped his hands together. “I want to know how it’s possible to clone force sensitivity. There is much to be learned...and feared I may add if it is indeed true.” He asked through the statement, opening his hands wide between them all. All eyes turned to Nara who only shrugged in indifference.
“Ask away…” Nara started.
Quinlan quelled the gentle smile on his lips as realization slammed into his consciousness… ‘oh dear...they don’t know’ he thought. ‘How best to get this out there then. Well Quinlan, just be Quinlan.’ He hated his thoughts sometimes….
“Well...I will do just that, but I’ll ask her.” He said to everyone’s astonishment, his hands outstretched toward Kowani.
Ahsoka chuckled softly to herself, waiting for the enigmatic Kiffar to stretch a wide smile from ear to ear. When he didn’t, the soft chuckle died away to a raw and scratchy throat. She looked to Kowani who returned the gaze, the horrific look in her eyes an homage to a truth none of them had every suspected. “That’s impossible.” The words seeped from Ahsoka’s lips despite her efforts to hold them at bay.
Vos inhaled sharply, “as I said, a problem we can resolve...if only there were a Force sensitive among us with the gift of retrocognition….”