“I can’t reach N’dali…” Rex stated to Ahsoka quietly, “we’re blind.”
“I am sure she will re-establish contact when she’s able, for the mome….” Ahsoka was cut off.
A muted clamor rocked them both from their collective astonishment causing them to wheel their gazes toward the clear partition dividing the room from the pods on the other side. Within seconds, they saw a glimmering cascade of glass shards rain down from high above, bounding erratically as they pinged off the outer casings of the pods themselves. A soundless dry rain of prismatic rainbows, individual edges of glass finding the reds and blues of monitoring equipment from floors well above their own, all of them offset by the overabundance of green everywhere they looked. An unintelligible shout closely followed, a ferocious scream that stole the beauty from the scene at the same moment of creation.
“That sounded like Nara…” Rex was the first to comment, turning his head upward despite the assurance the view would provide him anything beyond the rooms ceiling.
“I am fairly certain it was.” Ahsoka replied, contorting her face through a series of expressions Rex had witnessed many times as he lowered his gaze.
“What are you thinking?” He whispered to her, eager to substantiate his own musings with her opinion.
“We are on ‘Z’ level, room 22. Do you remember the shuttle with Master Quinlan?”
“That was eerie...yes I remember, but the numbers mean nothing to me.” Rex admitted openly.
“D22. D21...I think it was level and room designations, for Aborah.” Ahsoka continued, her features returning to a more natural state.
“Then we’re on the wrong level.” Rex said for them both.
With a final glance toward the young woman in triplicate within the pods just beyond the clear divide, Rex followed closely behind Ahsoka as they entered the austere white corridor once again. Retracing their steps, they backtracked to the lift they had exited just prior, Rex offering the memory core yet again into the open terminal. Unlike before, nothing happened.
“Ahsoka..we may need to find another way up.” Rex stated turning toward the woman who had her back to him, watching with a keen eye for any movement from either direction.
“What?” Ahsoka asked quickly, turning to face the problem at hand and watching as Rex inserted the core a second time and turned slightly to the right. Nothing happened. “Security maybe?” The guess sounded plausible but there was no alarm or the rushing of footsteps to confirm it.
“Ahsoka, there doesn’t appear to be anyone here, aside from that activity on the lower levels of course,” Rex ran through what he did know in an effort to secure any loose ends, “these levels seem to be devoid of interaction, despite the monitoring equipment. If it was completely automated there shouldn’t be a need for monitors right?”
Ahsoka understood his meaning and shrugged any tension loose, “then let’s find someone that can answer some questions.” She stated, taking the lead to the right.
The immediate section of corridor they entered was devoid of the rooms they had expected, reminiscent of the corridor on the Bacta level as it curved beyond view. Ahsoka inspected the walls as they quickly traversed the wide expanse, looking for the imperceptible divides that had revealed the doorways behind them. Every few steps she would place a hand on the walls surface and push slightly, making sure they didn’t pass up some form of access ladder like they had used on the lowest level. Ever vigilant, Rex pressed closely behind, swiveling his gait every few seconds to give them sight behind, DC-17’s charged and ready with sweeping motions in front of him. Another bank of lifts revealed itself to their right as clear partitions began materializing within view to their left on the outer rim of the concentric circle they were traveling.
“Try it Rex, I have eyes.” Ahsoka whispered, her eyes scanning the scene before and behind them with quick turns of her head, Lek’ku bouncing over her chest.
“Nothing!” Rex was letting exasperation take hold.
Ahsoka turned from her vigilant scans to look him in the eye, “relax Rex, something will present itself.”
“We were able to access it before, I don’t understand.” He said in confusion, Ahsoka understanding the annoyance was far more reaching than a simple stubborn terminal.
“Then let us procced with some analytical presumption. Assume Nara knows more about this place than she has ever admitted and has found access to the rooms above.
“Then she has betrayed us Ahsoka.” Rex stated harshly.
“Think it through Rex. If she is up there, she allowed us an escape removed from what she’s planning. If she’s either activated or deactivated any security features, it will lead a search to the extreme lower levels where they will find evidence of malice, nothing more.” Ahsoka assured the old clone with a hand on his shoulder. “Look just there, room Z01.”
“Ahsoka, I don’t want to continue running in circles, confined to this level alone. If she is above us, if she is trying to protect us and not betray us as you suggest, then she is going to need help.” Rex confided, assuring Ahsoka that the old man at least cared for the woman. She flashed him a comforting smile, sure enough in her assessment that Nara would do everything in her power to stymie any Imperial involvement, not assist it.
“The fact that you care is reason enough for us to attempt what we probably shouldn’t then.” She replied.
“I do Ahsoka. But not just about Nara.” He said, deep lines of concern and sorrow dragging his features into the beard at his chin, “it’s a kinship with all of them…” He relayed, pointing toward the room near them. “Whatever happens will affect thousands here, N’dali said as much….not just us.”
Ahsoka froze her expression, realizing Rex was right. Although far from afterthought, it was a consideration she felt they had time to explore but found the wisdom through Rex’s admission that they couldn’t plan without involving the security of everyone on Aborah as well.
“You want to climb the pods?” The idea seemed exorbitantly moronic to Rex the moment the suggestion left Ahsoka’s lips, “you might be able to do it, but I sure can’t Ahsoka...there’s at least three meters between levels and nothing whatsoever by way of handholds on the bottom of those things!” The circular expedition ended the moment Rex had reached door designations Z11 and Z10, prompting him to force open the door to room Z10 itself to prove his point.
“By the stars Rex…” Ahsoka gasped the exclamation the moment she looked between the pods in front of them. Rex followed her gaze noting the pods on the far side of the chamber dripping with the green substance. A quick glance upward revealed the same fluids dripping down the clear partitions from the floors above the room they had previously occupied.
“Maybe we presumed a little to prematurely Ahsoka, that would explain the ruckus earlier...and if she did that…” Rex pointed out the visual flaw in their assumptions.
Ahsoka closed her eyes as she tuned out her surroundings, calling the Force to her aid to help her assess the situation before them. The confusion that resulted left her shaking her head out of the determined practice before she could even get started. “There is too much interference here, I can’t sense anything.” The admission was difficult even though it opened new doors of explanation. She gazed absently from pod to pod, to the tenth pod, then the thirtieth… ‘they are all Force sensitive…’ She thought to herself, only adding to a dilemma she was certain she would have to contend with. “The way is shut to me Rex. We either climb the pods or wait for N’dali’s return.”
“I can’t make the climb Ahsoka, and we both know you can’t with me in tow.” Rex said blowing out his breath. “But you can alone.”
“You suggest we split up?” Ahsoka was surprised, sure the man wasn’t fond of just simply waiting, but to divide himself out of the equation entirely surely could only stand toward the merit of his earlier comments.
“You can help her. If her wrath is confined to that particular room, it is understandable...if she proceeds then we need to re-evaluate. I can’t do it, but I may be able to figure out something from here.” Rex responded, a genuine look of concern… ‘worry’...Ahsoka identified, gracing the mans weathered face.
“If you think so Rex, you know I trust your judgement...even beyond my own sometimes.” Ahsoka responded with a gentle smile and clap to the clone’s shoulder, “N’dali won’t leave us in the dark long Rex, she’ll find a way.” She said as she turned for the glass partition and her shoto saber. With a quick ignition, the room buzzed the electronic hiss and subsequent shattering of glass, Ahsoka not wasting any time with the suggested deployment. She affixed the saber to her waist once more and lept with a duck for the center pod, Rex watching her deftly pull herself to the black mechanism atop it that provided its stability. The red orb at its center, trying to locate the disturbance within its balance as it swiveled in all directions trying to find focus. Before it could Ahsoka had nimbly danced to the pod adjacent and was already leaping for the next set of pods in their set of three one level above his. “Good luck.” Rex whispered, sure she wouldn’t need it.
Ahsoka found the task rather simple but, as Rex had surmised, only because she didn’t need to concern herself with his encumbrance. She continually moved her feet and legs, swaying her arms to maintain balance and control, all in an effort to baffle the mechanisms atop each subsequent pod. She felt each sink through mid-air briefly before a stabilizing parameter within them brought them back to a predetermined height, Ahsoka leaning on the assist as she timed her jumps from adjacent pod to pod. She was able to use the leverage and momentum from the assist to help her navigate any difficulties as she worked through an upward helix to acrobatics toward the level they had assured themselves Nara was on.
Through the ease of movement, she was able to look within some of the pods underfoot, noting the complete lack segregation that had placed human aside Twi’lek, Devaronian aside Nautolon. The only constant was the groupings of three. Each room consisted of three identical forms within the pods before it. She filed the curiosity as she approached what she considered G level, trying to locate the particular room she and Rex had assumed Nara would be in. She found the room easily with a simple turn of her neck. The only one she could see without pods, and the only one she suspected, other than the partition she herself had destroyed, without the barrier between the chamber and the room itself.
Glad for Rex’s suggestion, Ahsoka was certain she could not have made the leap with him in tandem as she quickly lept up the final two levels and slowed her progress somewhat. She didn’t want to simply careen into the room and disturb what was transpiring within, something that remained ever elusive through her connection to the chaotic meanderings of the Force within the facility. With the room in clear view, she could see someone’s back to her, Nara she presumed, but was open to any possibility as she considered arming herself with at least one of her sabers. Just before the rotating red orb could secure her position upon its pod, Ahsoka made the final leap, coming to a halt with sure footed steps just before crashing into the rooms side wall. She turned quickly to make sure she wasn’t prone to anything behind her, indeed finding Nara seated cross-legged with her eyes closed to the doorway of the room.
Lying before Nara’s seated pose was the deceased body of a Kaminoan, her hands folded peacefully across her chest and the lids of her vacuous eyes closed. Despite the pronounced wound just below the folded hands, the lanky Kaminoan could have been asleep for all Ahsoka knew.
“She was a clone herself, first gen.” Nara whispered into the silence that ensued. Ahsoka had no idea what to say, yet at ease that their assessment was at least partially right. She attached her saber to her waist and focused her gaze on the woman lying upon the austere floor of the room.
“It would stand to reason Nara, they don’t live that long.” Ahsoka whispered in return, falling slowly to her knees at the Kaminoan’s feet.
“She would sing to me Ahsoka. She would tell me I was beautiful…” Nara stuttered through her internal lament, her shoulders falling slightly under the weight of an invisible burden. “I always felt she was trying to tell me something...but I never knew what…”
“Nara, our personal struggles can take us down paths we wouldn’t normally chose for ourselves. It forces us to see things through differing perspectives but only if we’ve made a choice to learn from them.” Ahsoka said calmly, hearing her own voice echo the sentiments she had come to learn, most often, the hard way.
“There are many things in this life that aren’t fair...and this place….this place houses them all…” Nara said with a stifling sniffle, failing in her efforts to keep the emotional signs of her internal battle from showing outwardly.
“Let it out Nara, there is no bad time to release the torment within when you’re among friends.” Ahsoka said with all sincerity, Nara opening her eyes as she turned toward the Togruta, both black iris’ swimming with unshed tears.
“It is because you are that you must leave Ahsoka...take Rex and leave while you can.” The tears released the grip they had at the very corners of the woman’s eyes, streaking down either cheek without restraint.
“We will not leave without you Nara so just get that out of your head. We are in this together.” Ahsoka vowed, knowing Rex would agree.
Nara was lost for words but only for a moment, turning her weeping gaze down upon her own hands, hands that still bore witness to the death they had authored as Ahsoka followed the look. Green stains blotched the woman’s olive skin as proof of the deeds she had carried out. “He is coming Ahsoka…and he won’t be alone.”
Ahsoka’s mind whirled instantly, understanding immediately who ‘He’ was only led her to conceive that master would arrive with apprentice. She tapered her eyes in instant thought as flashes of Ambria returned involuntarily, assurances she had assumed for herself in conjunction with the narrative that had taken place. ‘It can’t be Vader…’ she was sure of it, he had all but admitted the divergent path he was taking alone. Sidious would have seen that just as she had, leaving her to believe it would be almost inconceivable that Vader even knew about Aborah. ‘If he had it would already be burning.’ She told herself, raising her gaze to Nara once again. ‘Vader’s focus is quite singular, if the Alliance was extinguished in the process so be it, he is only looking for his son.’ Ahsoka convinced herself.
Nara looked up into Ahsoka’s blue eyes, conceiving her own ideas and thoughts through an exchange that was inaudible. Ahsoka could easily see the sadness within them but a torment that lie just beneath. “I’ve ended my line Ahsoka, and Ani’s. If there are any more that live, it is beyond these walls….” Nara trailed off, Ahsoka positive the Mirialan had more to say.
“What is it Nara?” She prompted, adopting a concerned tone and readying herself to listen.
“The rest.” Nara began, embracing the torment Ahsoka had identified, “I cannot slay them, nor can I conceive a way to save them.”
Ahsoka lit the horror she perceived through Nara’s eyes with a gentle smile in return, “Rex is suffering from the same conundrum I am happy to admit.”
Nara’s expression remained unchanged, “and you?”
Ahsoka should have been ready for the question, she should have had an answer ready, and a plan established yet she had nothing to offer whatsoever. She felt an overwhelming urge to reply with the pit of her anger and rage, her mind focused solely on those she came here with. The fate of thousands was well beyond her capacity to contemplate, something that should be reserved for legions of clone troopers and the Jedi Council to determine, but those were days long gone. She fell back to the only cradle she knew, willing the Force itself to provide an answer she couldn’t fathom, a decision given to the very thing being perverted within these walls. ‘Does it not want justice of its own?’ The question was ridiculous, and she knew it as she tried to press the looming decision that would have to be made upon anything other than herself. “Nara, I will admit, my pressing concern is getting the three of us out of here.” She began sullenly, closing her eyes in the process. “I understand the importance of the rest of the clones…”
“People.” Nara interrupted.
“...people,” Ahsoka amended, “but I, like you, cannot conceive a way to make that possible.” She finished, wishing she had some form of consolation to add before remembering the unlikeliness of N’dali’s earlier assistance, “though, things do seem to work themselves out in ways most unexpected.” She added with a genuine smile.
As Nara turned her forlorn expression upward into the beginnings of a smile, both she and Ahsoka turned to the open doorway of the room, sensing something that clearly wanted to make its presence known. She turned slightly to see that Ahsoka had felt the same intrusion, the same presence, and turned back to the doorway. The silence that ensued stole them both from the conversation that rang in their minds, a shared commitment toward the salvation of moral guidelines that firmly entrenched a shared agenda. Without sound, Ahsoka rose to her feet, ready to offer an assistive hand to Nara who remained seated. They both heard the footsteps, their owner not bothering with concealment or stealth of any kind, despite the unmistakable soft leather boots upon them. Whoever it was surely strode with an alerting persistence, offering an inflated sense of urgency, or more to the point in Ahsoka’s mind, a gait of overindulgent self-confidence.
“Oh Thana….” The voice was Nara’s, although Nara hadn’t said a word. It echoed through the corridor beyond their doorway loud enough to carry some distance. “You’ve stolen something, haven’t you.” The echoes found them again, sourced somewhat closer by Ahsoka’s estimation. Ahsoka turned to face Nara who was stoically focused on the doorway, only now pushing herself to her feet, using the offered hand to balance herself.
“Apparently I missed one…” Nara whispered into the room, tugging on the lower hem of the patchwork synthleather coat quickly before tucking her hair into its high collar.
“Ah...that you did Thana. Not everything was within your murderous embrace. To know you would slay our sisters before they ever had a chance at life,” the echo was only footsteps away from revealing itself. “Twenty-five was close too...oh, but you know that don’t you...you watched the life die from her eyes didn’t you.”
“Ahsoka, this is between us...please do not interfere.” Nara whispered lightly into the room.
“Master will be pleased Thana, the Togrutan blood will be his achievement! Your efforts will be rewarded!” The voice finally had substance as black robes slowly came into view. Nara took the second it would take for the cowl of the robes to reveal itself to turn to Ahsoka briefly with a head shake, her lips clearly imparting the word ‘No’ before turning back to the hem of a cowl pulled low over the face beneath.
“And what name does my sister answer to.” Nara said calmly, pressing an open palm forward delicately, the hood of the cowl slipping slowly over the features identical to her own as it fell from the head entirely.
“And give you the satisfaction of increased odds...I don’t think so.” The clone responded with a chuckle.
“It doesn’t have to be like this…” Nara said slowly.
“Like what? You’ve performed admirably, Sidious will be most pleased.”
Ahsoka understood the game being played but could not shake a sudden sensation that all three of them in the room were being deceived.
“You have the same ability to choose that I did, once you understand you are more than who you think you are.” Nara declared with more lividity.
“Barriss? Lunara? Unduli?...Kowani even?” The clone responded, clearly ready for the verbal sport in all of its capacity, “you think you know yourself ‘Nara’ but your only following the designed script you were manufactured to…”
“What is she referring to…?” Zannah whispered lightly into Nara’s mind.
‘It is nothing but words Zannah.’ Nara thought in response, as sure of her own mind as she was on Ambria.
“Even now, you carry that which the Master had entrusted to your care, with the Togruta you had promised him.” The clone said within the doorway, unmoving since she made herself known.
“She cannot know about the matrix Nara…” Zannah drifted off in speech, the unfinished question planting a miniscule seed of doubt within Nara.
‘Unless Cognus revealed the information. Sidious has immersed himself in all arts, surely it is possible he could have learned the information.’ Nara was certain of the thought but couldn’t be positive at the same time.
“Even now, the confusion reveals the truth Nara...even Ahsoka senses it.” The clone added to the chaos unfolding in the room.
Ahsoka simply shrugged off the accusatory attempt, having been the target of suggestion many times before by those skilled proficiently in the art, she could only focus on her unwavering loyalty to the Mirialan she had, admittedly, not know very long. It was the trust she placed within her own resolve that held her mind completely in check, all she could do in response to the situation was hope that Nara wouldn’t waver beyond that same trust in return. The events unfolding reminded her of the shadowed memories she kept separate from her own unconsciousness, the thought alone reinforcing the commitments to Obi-wan, the oaths of truth given freely to Yoda. The moral conflicts of Mortis and the ease with which outside forces could abide their own bidding through suggestion alone. Ahsoka catered to the thought and let it manifest as her soul felt the retching pull of the Dark side through the Brothers influence, but the nurturing care of the Sisters sacrifice at the same time. She let the two intertwine as she subjectively eliminated the voice of the clone that would wedge the bond she had with Nara with cascading doubts and promises of obedience to a master that could not have possibly engineered anything to the limits suggested. Without thought given, Ahsoka transfixed her thoughts into a link between all things considered, forcing her subconscious to fixate itself within the confines of the shuttle that had whisked them all to safety on Ambria. ‘Remember Nara.’ She posited the thought within the Force itself, knowing she had done all that she could.
The thought struck Nara, unsure of its source. Like a sudden reminder of a thing most precious, the weight of which shook her to her core, Nara faltered in her stance as her knees buckled wildly, ‘Nerha will guide the way…’ she thought to herself, ignoring the questions Zannah was trying to formulate. Nara reached into the deep pocket within the leather coat, squeezing the tiny stone cube into her palm as she relayed unspoken intention and the sudden assuredness that the light of truth would be cast upon the heathen before her. “Na sevwi doch ka sue a shor…” Nara suddenly sprang into the light melody, closing her eyes to the passion the words conveyed, remembering the determined look within her young sisters’ eyes surrounded by snow banks neither she nor Lulu could see over. “Na thol douher ka sueve eiher loaes.” She continued, raising her voice as she conveyed the words with more authority through the song that only she and her sister could ever know, images of laughing and playing games with their bed-ridden mother fluttered in but not out of her thoughts.
Ahsoka smiled internally as she heard the song, offering the translation in her own mind, ‘A bond woven with tender care….’ ‘Nara is remembering’ she told herself, quickly glancing toward the clone within the doors frame, noting the exceptional change in features that pulled at the cheeks and lips of the woman who was becoming transfixed by the melody wafting through the air between them. Ahsoka then turned to Nara, a renewed sense of trust forged in those seconds that would never be severed under any circumstance. Nara continued, “Ne shiueyh kaleyi ka dorshe geirrue….” hitting a crescendo and pitch that sounded haunting to Ahsoka, intrigued by the underlying guile of relaying the sonnet within the Mirialan’s native tongue.
“Dah... lienha sheu... heughwe... ka sue leta…” The clone closed the dirge slowly, precedence focused, through Ahsoka’s estimation, on closing the connection that irrationally forced its way into the mind of the conniving woman.
“Yes….a melody that lingers in the air.” Nara said softly, a warm touch to the ambiance she herself had created. “Now you know who you are without having to discover it yourself.” Nara continued, any formal disdain she may have held for the clone forgotten through the complete change in narrative she had imparted. “You only deserve to know that which was taken from you, despite what your mind tells you, the truth can never be unknown once it is revealed.”
The clone only held Nara in her gaze, a horror-stricken regard that she clearly could not pull herself out of. The woman’s limbs were frozen in place, whether by choice or realization Ahsoka didn’t know. Nara had found the connection she needed to eviscerate the potentiality of falling victim to any suggestion and Ahsoka could sense the internal exhale of freedom and absolution within the Mirialan at her side.
“The choice is now yours and yours alone, sister. Find your center and rid yourself of the depravation only strict obedience to a cause beyond your own could fathom.” Nara said with emphasis yet remaining calm as she steadied herself from further action. Ahsoka wasn’t sure where the encounter would head, but was positive Nara was in control of it now. “You can either die with identity or you can shed your preconceptions and accept your own truth...as I have accepted mine.” Nara said cooly, obvious to Ahsoka that the woman would force her own objective if a decision wasn’t made quickly. “I will offer my hand but once. This is your only opportunity….” Nara said with a grand finality that shook Ahsoka to her core.