“I just need some space...please. I need to think.” Nara pleaded, doing her best to maintain her composure despite the misgivings rocketing through her concerning trust.
“And I will reiterate that I don’t feel it’s a good idea to split up.” Rex responded, an open palm toward Ahsoka for emphasis, “despite her admission, we are going to need each other here.”
Ahsoka simply continued staring at her own hands, spread wide before her chest, uncertain how to move beyond the relevant admission to which her friend referred. She was moments away from leaping to action based entirely on raw and aggressive emotion, without a thought given to consequence. ‘What if I did manage to reach him?’ She asked herself, considering the physics which presented their own unanswerable questions as well as the moral implications. ‘Could I have killed him? What if removing him was enough?’ Both questions coinciding within the same sphere of conscious thought, unable to answer either question the more she thought about them. Knowing what he became would not merit his own death before he had made the decisions that set him upon the path, ‘stealing him from that moment would have removed him from his own free will.’ Something she had defended against her entire life. Killing him would have been an immoral act of murder under those same precepts, which led her to the only conclusion she could, whatever path she took to get there. “You were right to hold me back. I was wrong to think I should interfere, and I was wrong to think I could….” Ahsoka stated behind the two without looking away from the hands that would have taken free will out of destinies equation.
“An admission that we both knew was coming.” Nara said flatly. “Ahsoka, you’re not a killer. Despite what Nar Shadaa may have been for some, it is not who you are, Mustafar proves that.” She continued, “you could have killed me, but you didn’t.”
“It’s this place...”Rex added, “it’s unnatural. Absent of continuity.”
Ahsoka finally looked up as the statement were similar enough to the same counsel she had given Ezra. “We shouldn’t be here.”
“I think we can all agree on that.” Nara said, “We weren’t supposed to enter, we were supposed to destroy.”
“And now we understand why..” Rex said outright, “Do we just pick a portal and exit?”
Ahsoka considered the question as she thought back toward the beginning of what had set off the stream of events over the last year, she knew she could run back to the portal Ezra had extracted her from to begin with, but even then she had no idea what lay beyond that doorway, the questions, even now, assailing her mind, ‘Would Vader be waiting on the other side?,’ ‘Will it be an immediate death?’ She hadn’t had time to process the authority, nor the finality, those questions could or would determine and found it compellingly frustrating to have so little knowledge even at this point.
“Entering any portal as an exit from this realm will most likely provide its own challenges and consequences but I will defer to Ahsoka on that topic, she has the most experience.” Nara attempted an answer but fell short of committing to anything of substance.
“Access points would seem scant and very rare, however, exit points are quite numerous it would appear.” Ahsoka said as she spanned her view to encompass the myriad ‘doorways’ that stood randomly along the very path they were headed, ‘in a place we should not be, with no clear direction with which to proceed.’ The thought did its best to flitter about through her mind as it posed a duality that compounded the frustration the place presented to begin with. ‘We could die here without ever making any decisions.’ Ahsoka told herself, the basics of life equating their own reality through involuntary reaction. She almost missed it, in light of her derailing thoughts, but noted the query that had led to her own confusion in the moment was directed by the very person that was currently steps ahead of both her and Rex. ‘She already knows where she is going….’
“I have nothing of substance to offer, but that doesn’t seem to matter.” Ahsoka said, trailing the other two by a few steps as the three of them moved slowly past an intricately latticed circular ‘doorway.’ She couldn’t place the geometry at all, but it presented as a single line of glowing green that had been elaborately overlapped upon itself with determined purpose for all the loops and twining it conferred. Ahsoka could not help but think of ‘life’ in its most basic form while looking at it and wondered what the ‘doorway’ itself actually led to. She turned her head as they passed, observing with intent the center of the circle as it remained unchanged, dark, beyond blackness. She stopped altogether and altered her steps to approach the circle as the others obliviously carried on. She wasn’t sure what she should have expected but nothing changed whatsoever. The center remained pitch without alteration, the looping green geometry continually pulsing within its own light. Ahsoka pressed a hand forward finding no resistance whatsoever, even beyond the boundaries of the circle itself. She returned her hand to her side and turned to leave, narrowing her eyes in thought one final time before running off to catch up with Rex and Nara, who hadn’t slowed their progress at all. ‘They are either personal interactions or require a will beyond our own…’
“I don’t remember the process itself, although certain elements are returning from childhood.” Nara was explaining to Rex as the two walked together, Ahsoka just catching up. “My name for example, was something lost entirely. But my subconscious must have remembered something. ‘Lulu….’” Nara thought as she spoke. ‘Lunara.’
“I don’t remember anything of incubation at all, there are no memories of it.” Rex reflected as he strode alongside the Mirialan.
“That seems to be something of a difference with obvious roots Rex, something of a precursor to the evolution of the process…” Nara responded, cutting herself short as the horror so simply explained should have brought wave upon wave of grief in its wake, or so she thought. Nara considered her own perspective of the horror itself, finding that it only registered as something she thought she should be feeling in place of the confusing ambivalence she did feel. ‘Was it not that long ago you shed a tear for a sister you never knew you had. Was it not minutes since she had uttered the need to find that same sister above all else? Why am I walking this direction?’ The questions continued to stream in abundance as they danced themselves in and directly out of her conscious thought. Nara knew she should have stopped walking, she should have thrown herself to the ground in some attempt to regain control she hadn’t even been aware she was losing. “What is happening….” Nara stated with an unnerving tone of subjective urgency.
“What do you mean?” Rex asked immediately, placing a hand on Nara’s shoulder, his expression fluctuating between confusion and outright concern.
Ahsoka observed the interaction, opening her eyes through the Force to shed some light on what her vision was missing. Torrents of Force energies battled with each other, neither light nor dark, in a twisting menagerie of subjugation, without any sign or form of domination. It presented itself as a war between contending factions that aligned with chaos itself. ‘This could explain the determined direction, but not intention.’ She thought to herself, watching as the Mirialan began flexing her fingers in what appeared to be a prevention of the hand firing into her pocket. ‘The cube…’ Ahsoka thought suddenly, careful not to express herself outwardly. She began devising several defensive strategies as the Force currents suddenly froze in their unseen battle, Ahsoka cautiously placing herself between Nara and Rex. “Where are we headed if you don’t mind me asking...Zannah…” She said with a hand already laced tightly around the hilt of her saber.
✦
“Stay your hand Ahsoka Tano, it is not what it seems.” The mouth that moved belonged to Nara, but the voice was harmonious, almost melodic as it wafted from her lips, a voice that was not the Mirialans.
“Many things have not been what they seem since Ambria, and of the present, the Force proves the contrary.” Ahsoka said as she tightened the grip on her hilt, pushing against a mildly protesting Rex in the process.
“The same could be said of you Ms. Tano, since Malachor, yes?” Zannah’s voice sang the words.
“What is happening?” Rex’s question mirrored Nara’s earlier statement.
“Exactly what we are going to determine before taking another step forward.” Ahsoka stated, assuring herself that the old clone would not make a move before she slid her left hand closer to her secondary hilt.
“Rest assured that Nara is safe and you have my word that no harm will come to her, I have been nothing but truthful with you.” Zannah replied, raising Nara’s hands in a calming gesture.
“Destroying the temple…” Ahsoka said in protest, her head lowered, and eyes narrowed in earnest preparation to elevate the confrontation beyond verbal.
“Almost truthful.” Zannah admitted.
“Then out with it, what are we doing here?” Rex interjected, assuming Ahsoka’s defensive cues.
“The tale is a long and arduous one. One that would defy the limited amount of time we have left within this realm. Should we survive, I will alight your fancy and regale its details but to remain on task, and to remain transparent, we are looking for Aborah.” Zannah replied.
Ahsoka lightened the grip she had firmly placed on both hilts, the knuckles of her fingers relaxing their delicate tether to the instruments of destruction with hesitation. “What do you know of Aborah?”
Nara smiled, however the voice remained Zannah’s, “only what Nara remembers. I have been assisting with those recollections and we collectively believe we know what we are looking for.”
“And?” Rex pressed before Ahsoka could.
“We are going to destroy it.” Zannah replied outright, a confirmational nod representative of Nara’s own agreement bobbed simultaneously.
“Well, I may have my reservations concerning strategy, but I’m not opposed to that plan.” Ahsoka responded, releasing the sabers altogether.
Rex pulled back with a derisive snort, “what exactly do you mean? Agenda or not, we are only three.”
Ahsoka rose to her full height as she bore her gaze directly into the Mirialans eyes, “How does Aborah’s destruction affect you? What could you possibly gain?”
Zannah smiled through Nara’s lips as the eyes widened briefly before framing a sultry smile, “the chance to finish what I had begun on Ciutric so very many years ago Ahsoka Tano, destroy the Sith.”
Rex gasped in astonishment, “the Sith?”
“I vow to recite the tale, when time permits, and I realize how confusing this must be for both of you, but even Nara understands….”
“She does have a unique perspective.” Ahsoka intervened with a contorted expression.
“...yes, well, that she does. You will need to understand then those elements that she already does.” Zannah replied, “It begins and ends on Ciutric….”
✦
Nara’s chin dropped somewhat as the skin slackened over her cheek bones, her eyes, which had been so full of a wonderful confusion cast aside the murky quality Ahsoka had growing concerns over as they cleared toward youthful enthusiasm, “The truth of Banes defeat lie in the legacy that followed our confrontation on Ambria. One that would have finalized the transfer of power from Master to apprentice. The stage had already been set for the progression of the secretive Sith order with his selection of Cognus to follow whoever rose from the ashes of that battle. She was the perfect choice, I will admit. Her loyalty lay with the Sith and not with title, only the progression of the same cycle Bane had the mind to establish amongst the turmoil of the time. It is to Cognus that his legacy ultimately fell but not before I had understood the true nature of the Force itself. Banes ultimate foe lie beyond the teachings of the Jedi, although he had risen through his own power to loathe and despise the order, however, his disdain for the order of the Sith took precedence.”
“It was within the bowels of his amassed library on Ciutric that I continually ran into references of the ‘Whills.’” Zannah, through Nara’s perception, saw a twinkle of familiarity within Ahsoka’s eyes and knew some clarification would be needed, “they are the Force, and the Force is the Whill. They comprise the Force in every facet because they are the Force. I took it upon myself, while Cognus was distracted through meticulous planning, to locate every such source of information my Master had amassed and hid them away from her ceaseless inquisitions, safeguarding them from her sacrilous purge. She was my Master in almost every aspect and was vehement in her disregard for anything beyond the teachings of the Sith. The Whills must survive, they must be guarded by all means necessary, or the Force, as we know it, ceases to exist.”
*Zannah could sense that the two were at least listening, and she knew Nara understood precisely what was at stake, “the Jedi order was only the first to fall in a battle that changes both allegiance and outcome. Numerous Empires have risen and fallen through the eons, all of them founded on the extremes of the Whills, sentiments that lean toward the light, of peace and fellowship, and those that lean toward the dark, of domination and oppression. The order of the Sith must also fall to restore the balance that has been lacking since well before my time. And through the memories of this abused vessel, it is to Sidious that I refer. We make for Aborah to destroy it, but also to draw him out.” Zannah felt confident that enough information had been shared to unite their cause, at least on the surface. She had spent enough time with the Togruta, however, to cast aside any notion that the questions would cease.*
Ahsoka waited patiently for more as she stood with her arms folded lightly across her chest, narrowing her eyes in the process, “why the charade? Why risk our lives for half-truth when you could have simply stated the importance of what we were doing from the start? You knew the configuration at the stones on Conum Arnia would open, not destroy, that portal. And why Abeloth, how does she factor into any equation?”
“I understand the direction your questions wish to take this conversation, and I am more than willing to comply, but I need you to understand that this isn’t an endeavor that can fail. My trust was placed in Nara, and only with the item she carries in her pocket am I able to venture from my resting place, those are the conditions of the Whills, and, presumably, why this Sidious had placed such importance on Ambria.” The voice belonged to Nara once again, an even measure of perfect cadence that removed emotion from the onset.
“Abeloth was an element that Zannah gambled on, known only to those whose studies would have ranged beyond myth to the realms of superstition. She used that image, that information to allow her the passage she needed to me alone through the stone. Does Abeloth exist? I don’t know, but Zannah believes she does and that’s all the information I need to, at the very least, prepare for.”
Rex screwed up his face tightly into a packed salvo of utter confusion, “there is almost nothing to formulate a plan that I can see, no pertinent information regarding this ‘Aborah’ that could actually present us with the faintest hope of actual success. We could walk directly beyond this nightmare straight into death itself.”
“That is a risk, yes. But enough memory is returning to provide some guidance, I think.” Nara responded, her own admission proving nothing more substantial than that of hope.
“And you said your objective was Ani…” Ahsoka said with more venom than intended.
Nara blew out her breath lightly, her frame sagging before them both as she cast her gaze downward, “she is above all else Ahsoka.”
“Then why the drive to reach Aborah Nara?” Ahsoka asked, her arms springing from her sides in wild elaboration.
Nara slowly lifted her head to face Ahsoka, tear filled eyes that relayed a deeper sorrow than the Togruta could have imagined, “because Cognus was right, Zannah did not overpower Bane outright. A part of his spirit remained within her, tormenting her soul every moment of every day. Tearing at her psyche and warping her mind through the waking hours and rampaging her thoughts with nightmares through meditation. She hadn’t slept in years before finding the solution through the matrix. “There is another,” she paused briefly, retrieving the cube from her pocket, and rolling it between her fingers, “that was confined to its resting place on Ciutric. Within it lies the remnants of Banes spirit Ahsoka.”
“I am failing miserably to bridge the two subjects Nara, how does that affect Ani?” Ahsoka was becoming increasingly irritated and hostile through her genuflections and sporadic actions, taking it upon herself to fold her arms before her chest once more for fear of punching the elusive Mirialan.
“Because an unknown side effect of that stunt we pulled with Master Vos was waking memory Ahsoka. I am remembering more with each passing minute, as I am sure she is. I feel Bane’s anger running rampant throughout me, but Zannah is working with diligence to keep him at bay. Ani doesn’t have that luxury. His anger is now her anger, it will drive her mad with its corruption until she finds her way to Ciutric...and rest assured she will.” Nara paused as a new pain in her chest gripped her with conviction. She doubled over briefly grunting through the anguish before rising slowly back to face Ahsoka. “She will.”
“Then we need to focus on Ani, or Ciutric exclusively, not Aborah.” Rex added, finding the perfect segue to plant some common sense.
“I don’t think you understand Rex,” Nara said shaking her head, “this is a matter of multiple convergence not just opposing agenda. Sidious has a plan and we do not know what that is.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Ahsoka dropped all guise of rationality as she absorbed the statement fully, “I don’t care what he is planning Nara, if Ani is in danger, we need to make her the priority above all else!”
Nara turned her head slowly toward the Togruta, the tears of sorrow that had filled her own eyes stinging with a pain of absolution, “coming from the apprentice that sought to murder her own Master…”
“Now is not the time!” Rex reigned both women in with his own voice of reason, working to intercept them with placating hands outstretched toward them both. “Look where we are! Nobody could have foreseen this, nor planned for it, so let’s take a minute, take a breath, and figure out what we’re going to do….together.” He finished in a relaxed tone, his eyes projecting the truth of the statement as they opened fully.
“Fine.” Ahsoka conceded with her hands in the air around her head, “but, why Aborah then? Is that some conjuncture this convergence is to materialize? And what risk is there to Ani if we do nothing, and she finds whatever is left for her to find on Ciutric?”
“Honestly, I don’t think Cognus was clear herself, although Zannah had intended for the cubes, the matrix, from ever coming into contact with one another. What was done on Ciutric was done with finality.” Nara considered aloud, her mind turning to the dour message left for her through time in the confined space of Zannah’s tomb. ‘It could have referred to either of us.’ She thought to herself.
‘Indeed. Perhaps this too is the contrivance of Sidious?’ Zannah added to the thought.
‘There is no way he could have known Zannah.’ Nara returned, finding the inner dialogue more discombobulating than traversing the tenuous path underfoot.
‘I think it’s time that this galaxy considers an alternate frame of mind when it comes to determining what the man is capable and not capable of. In our brief time together, there have been innumerable mentions of underestimating every facet of the man, from ability to contrivance. Assume he is capable of anything, only then will you begin to counter his moves at his own level.’ Zannah replied in earnest, recalling the very nature of the relationship forged between herself and Bane.
“I thought he had assigned me the task of completing what he could not...his motive becomes clear to me now.” Nara said aloud, staring beyond both Rex and Ahsoka. “The Imperial presence was far beyond anything so simple as extraction.”
Ahsoka opened her eyes fully as she planted a palm against her forehead, “how could he have intended to draw in opposing forces, unless he knows about Quinlan Vos…”
“It is a military tactic Ahsoka.” Rex reflected, raising a finger to the hairs of his thick beard, “one we’ve seen employed many times over. Dazzle with the fruit of known victory just to pounce on your enemy with timed precision. He not only knows about Vos, but that entire fleet Ahsoka, and who knows how many others that we may not. It’s genius really.” Rex finalized the statement to the stares of both women, “speaking metaphorically of course.”
“Then he simply pits force against force. The tactic would seem plausible if victory were assured, from what we know of Ambria, however, victory was granted to neither side.” Ahsoka continued the thought.
“Then he commits those battles without care given to victor.” Nara stated.
“Waging war for the sake of conflict and nothing more.” Rex continued.
“To keep the galaxy occupied while he is left to his own whims….” Ahsoka added.
‘Now you are beginning to grasp the depths at which one would strive for personal achievement, the true path of the Sith.’ Zannah whispered in Nara’s mind.
“Those whims, it would appear, lie in paths both before us and behind.” Nara said aloud.
Ahsoka felt defeated as she processed Nara’s last statement with no clear direction to address her concerns over Ani, nor the disposition of Nara’s resident spirit. Memories of T’zar pulled at her core, ones of implicit trust only to be cast aside by absolute betrayal. “What does Cognus have to gain if Sidious would succeed?” The thought seemed to be the only link she could draw to T’zar. The Zeltran’s spirit had no power beyond his ability to overcome the weak minded, at least that she could perceive. ‘One step forward, two steps back.’ Ahsoka thought to herself, cognizant of the meaning that one in particular could have in a place such as this.
Nara, who had turned to proceed, stopped quickly, and turned back to Ahsoka, “I can’t imagine she would have anything to gain, nor are we even aware she has the ability to manifest. It is something Zannah had not learned herself before the two were separated. Why?” fully curious herself. “Cognus was loyal only to the Sith.”
“So, any designs on extending the souls existence lived and died with Bane?” Ahsoka responded, her tone reminiscent of whispered thought rather than an outright question.
“Exclusively. It was nothing I gave him time to share.” Zannah replied through Nara, the harmonious tones earlier absorbed into an admission of the past that seethed between her teeth.
‘She seems quite genuine in her hatred for the man…’ Ahsoka thought as the basics of trust began to build themselves toward some mutual bridge between herself and Zannah, the thoughts of T’zar’s’ betrayal still fresh however, “she would have been more apt to guard the Whills then it seems.”
“Banes obsession with immortality had everything to do with his own impatience. In his mind, he had lived through what should have been the height of my own ascension to Master, Ahsoka.” Zannah continued speaking for herself, the melody returning somewhat as took on a more subdued tone.
‘So very different from Sidious.’ Ahsoka thought as they continued along their journey, the sights remaining unchanged as the faint blue aura began to seem colder to her, bereft of the wonder that lay beyond it. Each step becoming more laborious then the one before it although nothing presented any form of physical impediment. “His obsession then, it would seem, had more to do with his own allegiance and less to do with personal gain.” She said quietly as some of the pieces began to fit together in her mind.
Although following the broken conversation, Rex continued his vigilant assessments as they passed one darkened doorway after another, wondering how any of them could be certain they were going the right way. A cursory glance around made his heart sink in his chest as the path forward proceeded beyond sight branching numerous times in all manner of direction, a count of scores of such doorways standing in wait as far as the eye could see. He silently blew of an exasperated breath and continued walking with the women, hoping the point to their particular conversation would align with his own concerns.
“His allegiance meant everything to him. Bane was the Sith and the Sith was Bane. Although terrible in consequence and afterthought, his actions altered the very nature of the Force and the paths of any discipline that utilized it. Ruusan stands as testimony, to this day. The purge of the Jedi was surpassed in both cunning and ruthlessness with his cleansing of the Sith. A culling. But one with absolute purpose.” Zannah answered the question after careful thought. ‘You were there, but a child…’ Nara somberly thought.
‘Yes.’ Zannah responded immediately. ‘A youngling that I had to kill, in order to survive.’
‘He didn’t give you a choice…’ Nara thought quickly.
‘Nara, there is always a choice. I made my choice when I murdered Jedi.’
“Bane chased immortality to extend the order of the Sith. Sidious chases immortality only to extend the grasp of his own power....” Ahsoka stated, her head lowered toward her feet in thought, “we cannot let that happen.” The power of her empathy surprised her, not for any of those she interacted with either, but for the similarities she was formulating between her own actions and those of the architect of the Sith order millennia ago. How Banes actions only surpassed her own conviction through his willingness to take lives in the process, not unlike Nar Shadaa…. “Zannah….” She was unsure how to frame the question but then dug in her heels, “will Ani survive Banes spirit if indeed she does find the matrix?”
Nara stopped abruptly and turned slightly over her shoulder, “she is resilient, defiant, and determined Ahsoka, you’ve spent enough time with her to know that...and she will be angry. Sidious forged her through her own trials on Keno and I know firsthand what she is capable. Banes spirit will augment those qualities. To what extent? I do not know. Will she survive? Yes, Ahsoka, she will survive. Will she do what she must when that matrix must be destroyed is the question even Zannah cannot answer.” Nara said softly, the vacuous space around them carrying the whisper beyond their own ears as the echo feigned to write the admission into manifesto between space and time.