Turk Plique clapped his hands together again to get the blood running through his digits. Despite the small heaters within the control room, the penetrating cold of Hoth always found a way inside his thick gloves, “repeat again please?” He said through his headset, his own teeth on the verge of chattering together as he tuned out the constant hum and audible murmurings chirping through the numerous console banks dedicated to scanning both land and air for incoming signals.
“I said, Fulcrum AA 2231. And yes, I already know it’s an older code.” The female said into his earpiece.
“Are we having issues with that unknown Turk?” Lieutenant Greebs asked over the comm tech’s shoulder, rubbing his own hands together furiously.
Turk covered his mic with an eye on his monitoring screen, “...I don’t know about issues Sir, the code checks although it is older, it’s just a matter of probability.”
“How so?” Greebs asked, stamping his feet mildly through the invasive cold.
“Fulcrum AA 2231 hasn’t registered in over three years…..”
“That’s because she’s been busy first Lieutenant, transfer that feed will you please.” General Carlist Rieekan stated, surprising both officers with his presence behind them.
“You’re a go Sir.” Greebs relayed after Turk supplied a thumbs up.
“Tano...is that you?” Rieekan asked with a genuine smile on his aging lips.
“Only because no one else would volunteer General. You really know how to select the most inhospitable locations, don’t you.” Ahsoka’s voice sounded muffled through the small incubated control center.
Rieekan covered his own mic quickly, giving Greebs his full attention briefly, “go get the princess please, she’s going to want to be here for this.” He said, then returned his attention to the mic once more, “inhospitable is precisely the point Fulcrum. I’ll get you an approach vector and shield door access. We are currently enduring a fairly significant storm at the moment and are holed up, but we can provide a short window to accept your vessel before nightfall.”
“Much appreciated General, see you shortly.” Ahsoka stated over the comms once more before ending her own transmission.
“And you thought it would be an issue….” Ahsoka said, turning toward Huyang with a sly smirk spreading across her lips.
The ancient droid returned the glance, narrowing his photoreceptors to intensify his field of view, “I did not say it would be an issue, only that issues could arise Lady Tano.” He spun his view outward and through the canopy, “they still may…”
Despite the urge to turn toward the droid, Ahsoka maintained her own outward view, “...referring to Skywalker no doubt.” She all but whispered.
“Our present location would cause me no other concerns Lady Tano, you know this.” Huyang rebutted directly, “and by your own admission, you are not interfere with the boys path.”
She turned toward him this time, his doubts lighting a fuse toward a burst of anger she knew was irrational, “his path will always be his own Huyang, our path...my path lies in a different direction.”
“So, you do wish to proceed with the Mandalorian?” Huyang caught the abrupt change of subject and decided to stay the course.
“Much like this mission Huyang, yes...because there is no one else.” Ahsoka said, turning her view outward once again as the T-6 entered the blazing and blinding white of Hoth’s upper atmosphere.
“The General’s recommendation should be followed Lady Tano, I am certain night will fall quickly given the coordinates.” Huyang remained on topic, his photoreceptors locked severely upon the ship’s navigational readings.
Ahsoka was glad for the immediacy of their decent as she continued to work toward lowering her ire to a more natural degree, “coming up on the designated sector...these readings are going to be an issue.”
Huyang swiveled his head somewhat to eye the same, quickly running through the noted particularities within the data set given to all by N’dali Fardi, “KDY DSS-02. That is notable indeed.”
“The KDY V-150 in conjunction will tip the scales the moment they are identified.” Ahsoka added, turning, yet again, toward Huyang, the anger lost immediately to a sense of dread.
“Perhaps a suggested signal and trace hack would mitigate any initial findings.”
“Not from Viper droids Huyang. They wouldn’t communicate those initial findings without visual backup in any case though...it’s a good thing were here my old friend.”
Ahsoka continued piloting the T-6 through the overlayed flight path given them by Echo base command, mid rimming leeward sides of massive glacial flows, mottled patterns of gray and white blending in with the sky enough to confuse even seasoned pilots. Gusting downdrafts battled frigid updrafts as the winds fought with themselves in the narrows and ravines, Ahsoka glad for some reprieve when the clouds began to break up enough to let in Hoths final sun rays of the day. She was glad to see them, if even silently, an assurance that she had not lost her own bearings through the maddening terrain. Although inhospitable was the only way she would describe the planet’s surface, she would not deny the beauty of the glimmering fist sized flakes of snow as they reflected the dying light through an ambience of flourishing color, distractions to be sure to test the mettle of anyone brave enough to course a vessel through the harshness the planet offered.
✦
“Your highness, General Rieekan thought you may want to be present for a ‘guest’ we are preparing to host…” Lieutenant Greebs said after knocking on the Princess’s door.
“Who the hell would be foolish enough to come here at this hour?” Leia responded, the door to her quarters sliding open suddenly, Greebs retreating a full two steps to keep from falling into her, “let alone at all!” She continued, narrowing her eyes somewhat at the man’s retreat.
“Fulcrum...your highness.” Greebs returned quickly.
“Well, that changes things…” She said, giving the man one last glance before quick stepping her way toward the base command center. The Lieutenant hurried after her as best he could after a near miss with a patch of ice in the central corridor, “She will be entering the north gates your highness…” He called out as the Alderaanian Princess disappeared around the first bend, ducking beneath draping cable that had yet to be fastened to the icy walls with any permanence.
In a matter of minutes, Greebs emerged into the open hatchway of the command center, lacing a gloved hand upon its sturdy framework simply to catch his breath. He could feel the cool condensation upon his mustache as it brushed against his skin, silently damning his commands choice of ‘secret base.’ In such close proximity to the base’s covert hangar, the humming of the massive machinery in adjacent rooms began throttling the enormous shield doors open. Continuing reports flooding the northern parts of the bunkered rebel base with exposure warnings left no one in surprise when the planets harsh nightfall entered the hollow servicing as its hangar bay with gusts of frigid air encroaching minus forty degrees and sheets of horizontal snow and ice. Greebs about faced to look through the installed transparisteel port set into an adjacent wall in time to see a frost covered T-6 shuttle slowly setting down on its landing gear just inside the large bay, ice snapping from its gear hatches and flows of snow dumping from its fluid wing surfaces. “This must be extremely important.” He heard from beside him, the Princess taking residence at his shoulder without making a sound.
“I am sure she wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t Princess.” General Rieekan said, Greebs turning to find that the General too had absorbed the same scene without the ever-present crunching of ice and snow below boot heel.
Both the General and the Princess walked together toward the closed hatchway dividing their corridor from the hangar bay, a retinue of guard following close behind. Greebs felt the moment significant in ways he couldn’t describe, as if something were changing or a sign were revealing itself. He removed his command cap just long enough the wipe a line of sweat from his brow, noting the irregularity of the action within the confines of his surroundings. ‘Something is indeed changing.’ Greebs thought to himself, hoping it was for the better as he replaced his cap and followed the ensemble out into the hangar bay, the clanking of the northern shield doors providing a signature punctuation to his own thoughts as the generated heat began to filter into the open space once again.
“Lady Tano, I would suggest the heavy cloak in the wardrobe next to the ramp. It is only ten degrees out there.” Huyang advised as Ahsoka pushed herself up from the pilots seat the moment the ship touched the manicured tarmac of compressed ice and snow.
“We both know that suggestion has nothing to do with the cold…” She eyed him curiously but let the hint of a smile accent her statement, “but well received just the same…” She continued, exiting the cockpit altogether and opening the door just beyond the small corridor to the mentioned closet. A heavy gray cloak caught her eye immediately as she pulled it from its hook and tossed it over her head. She let the exaggerated hood fall low over her montral and forehead, leaving her eyes set within partial shadow. The adornment as long enough to conceal the cache of weapons at her waist as she fumbled around the black belt that held them. Her hand fell upon the hilt of Windu’s saber, the metal almost freezing to the touch. In a hasty decision she unfastened the saber and let it drop into a small drawer set within the closet, depressing a small switch at its base to lock it tight when she closed it. Ahsoka kicked off the soft leather boots she had been wearing in favor of a pair of heavy lined boots with cleated soles, “ready for any occasion huh?”
“I have not survived eons by being unprepared Lady Tano.” Huyang voiced just over her shoulder, “shall we?” He continued when she turned around suddenly, her eyes wide with a surprise she knew she shouldn’t have let slip so easily. Ahsoka knew immediately that the droid had caught the expression, but in the name of cordiality let it go. With a nod between them, Huyang depressed the actuator for the port side boarding ramp, both of them swallowed immediately by the instant bellows of condensed warm air whipping to a froth with the intrusion of the frigid air outside.
✦
“I don’t care what you smell! If we don’t get these lines repaired first, we can’t hope to get to the compressor itself Chewie.” Han Solo scolded the warbles from his distracted navigator. “Now hold that line while I tighten the manifold inductor!” The Corellian twisted his hydrospanner counterclockwise but slipped and banged his knuckles once again on the manifold housing’s brutal cortosis lined panels. “OUCH! Dammit Chewie, what the hell is wrong with you!”
“Han, someone just landed.” A young man’s voice added from the manicured tarmac below. His hands numb from the cold, the blood on his knuckles already freezing over, Han looked over the side of the Falcon’s starboard manifold housing, “Luke...dammit you too? Why is one ship a sudden distraction? You both know I need to get this crate back together, and your hand is supposed to be on the manifold lock...here I’ve been blaming Chewie!”
“Don’t confuse one distraction for another buddy, you should have told the General already. This hangs on me too until you do, don’t forget.” Luke responded with manufactured aggression, a cadence of ululations from the resident Wookie in complete defense of the young man’s statement.
“Do you honestly think I don’t know a ship has landed? It’s already freezing in here and the last bits I could have called warm are now not…” Han trailed off, the ire in his voice dying out as he absorbed Luke’s comment. “I need to fix the Falcon, you need to know why a ship is here and Chewie smells Togruta. Aw hell, I suppose we can take a break...well you two can if you want anyway.”
“Hrrnnn roarrghh.” Chewie bellowed lightly.
“Fine, a specific Togruta.” Han retorted.
“Who?” Luke asked quizzically turning from the distraught Corellian toward the northern end of the hangar bay.
“He says….Ahsoka…” Han responded with a nod toward the Wookie.
‘Ahsoka…’ Luke thought to himself, feeling a slight wave of dizziness come and go. ‘I know that name….’ His mind echoed in upon itself, forcing some memory to awaken that was never truly there to begin with, ‘more like a dream…’ The thought began to correct its own trajectory, ‘someone else’s dream…’
Luke walked forward gingerly, the thoughts flooding his mind with obfuscating images he knew he could not have possibly witnessed firsthand, shouts rendered from people he had never met and overarching views of places he had never been. He tripped suddenly over an exposed power cable that led to one of many T-65’s, catching himself before spilling foolishly on the frozen ground on the edge of a GNK power droid. ‘Obi-wan…’ Luke said to himself, relaying the dream state toward the only countenance he could muster when the thoughts began to take control, something that was happening with more frequency as of late. “What is happening?” He whispered quietly into the frozen air, his eyes trying to focus on the arching dorsal fin of the newly landed T-6 shuttle in the distance after he righted himself. The entirety of the hangar bay wavered in and out of focus for a moment, his hand bracing his suddenly wobbling form and weak knees with a tenuous grip on the cold hard edges of the droid’s frame.
Irrational emotions fought with one another, vying for some form of supremacy in a turmoil Luke himself had not created, one that seemed to enliven itself through the foreign thoughts and images that continued to flash through his mind. Smoldering lava flows mingled heavily with dense jungles, the colors themselves ripping so fast through his vision that they created only an opaque window of two unlikely scenes bashed together. Much like the adrenaline laced anger that had fueled his focus after watching Obi-wan perish upon the red blade of the Emperor’s arbiter, a level of rage that had only equaled the cavernous depths of sorrow that had gripped him when last he viewed his home on Tatooine, a certain peace flowed evenly between to counter it, one that he himself could not have manufactured on his own. Luke looked down toward the well-trodden stretch of finely shaven and groomed stretch of snow and ice between fore and port landing gear of his own T-65, wondering if he even had the ability to muster such conflict within himself, the roiling anger smashing directly into the calming peace that continued to grow in its intensity.
‘This cannot be my own anger...something is causing this…’ The thought was fleeting as his mind spun wildly to correct itself, providing him the physical balance he required to right himself from the supportive assist of the nearby power droid. Just then he felt taught fingers lace around his left arm, a mass of muscle flexing between the digits to help him to his feet.
“Harruun grrhh grrhh.” Chewbacca murmured softly, unwilling to alert anyone else nearby that the young man’s body was currently failing him.
“Thanks Chewie...I appreciate it.” Luke intoned just as quietly, noting the few heads he could see that were already turning toward the pair. “I’ll be fine.” He vowed as he rocked on his heels momentarily, resting his weight on the strong arm of the Wookie. Luke wobbled but for a moment as Chewbacca released his grip slowly, the young man proving himself true to his word with a gentle stagger before finding his balance fully. The moment he had control over his appendages and muscles once again the dizzying images and associative emotions withdrew completely. Luke had no other target for his curiosity as he focused his sight on the tail fin of the T-6 once again, assured that whatever had caused his episode could only be aboard the ship.
✦
‘Interesting…’ Ahsoka thought to herself, an audible murmur that was unintentional following the personal statement that unwittingly found the audio receivers of Huyang beside her.
“It is not customary to leave our hosts waiting this long Lady Tano, is there something wrong?” He voiced quietly at the top of the decanted ramp, turning his head toward the low cowl covering Ahsoka’s features, her mouth and chin only visible from his perspective.
“Wrong...no.” She answered as obtusely as she could, “….unexpected.” She finished after a long contemplative moment.
“In what way?” Huyang was curious on all levels.
“The young man is strong in the Force Huyang, that much was expected….but he was not alone.” Ahsoka replied in a whisper as she half turned toward him, the gathering meant to greet them stepping within sight of the ramps lower edge, the Princess herself among them.
“Whom...then, on both counts?”
“The children of Anakin Skywalker Huyang…” Ahsoka replied, letting the name fill in all the meaning the droid would ever need. She turned her gaze forward completely once again as she commenced her slow descent. Huyang taking a moment to process the information that should have fell in line with the narrative that had taken place on their journey here, only now realizing how foolish they had both been to assign themselves this particular task.
“Fulcrum.” General Rieekan stated as Ahsoka neared the compacted snow and ice of Echo base’s makeshift tarmac, each step silent as she withdrew from the Force. She had done what she had wanted to do above the mission itself and felt further prodding would only confound the young man more than help.
“General.” Ahsoka replied in turn, bowing with a gentle grace slightly that was meant more for the Alderaanian Princess. Upon rising, she pulled back the cowl of her outer garment in genuine respect for the cadre present, making sure they could all see her without question or hesitations. She presented herself stoically but made sure to let a slight smile crease her lips as she tucked her arms back into the grand folds of the overlarge robes. “It has been some time.” She said with a quip.
“That it has. How have you been?” Leia interjected, leaving the General’s side, and throwing her hands around Ahsoka. Her smile beaming as she embraced the woman she only knew from the shadows as a child within her father’s offices.
Ahsoka let go any remaining pretense and adopted a more natural stance and gait, the young girl she had known was now a beautiful young woman.
“Busy, not to put too fine a point on it.” Ahsoka stated with a hearty chuckle, her lips turning downward suddenly, “...I am so sorry about your home Princess….” It was all she could do to blind herself to the vision she still remembered clearly, a fate she was incredibly happy to see the Princess had avoided.
“Well...that is in part why we are here.” Leia responded, releasing her grip about Ahsoka’s back as Ahsoka let her own arms fall from the Princess’ shoulders.
“And why we are as well. Huyang will have the specifics involved within the communique that had gone unheard. The Empire is instituting a massive net throughout the galaxy it appears, it’s only goal to hunt down Rebellious factions.” Ahsoka went straight to the point.
“Factions?” A young man questioned within the cadre, someone Ahsoka had never met before.
Ahsoka gave the young man her full attention, “yours is the largest and most well equipped but it is not the only group taking a stand, there were quite a few sectors, if I am not mistaken, that had not taken table for the Corellian Treaty.”
“I was under the impression those other factions did not constitute much by way of Imperial attention, but it is good to know we are not the only ones fighting for the same cause.” General Rieekan intervened quickly, a decision made to conceal the limited range of intelligence his own staff actually had.
“Everyone has their cause General, even us.” Ahsoka stated with an unintentional flourish, her arms outstretched as her senses alerted her to heavy footfalls heading her way. She looked up quickly from the General and saw a Wookie barreling his way through the conglomeration of stacked equipment, power cables and maintenance crews huddled around a T-34. Ahsoka narrowed her eyes as she focused on the friendly face she hadn’t seen in decades.
“Chewbacca? Is that you?” Ahsoka was elated, her voice falling in line succinctly with the emotion.
“Harruuun Grlll Woopf Woopf.” Chewbacca sounded out loudly, breaking through the General’s cadre with a gentle but massive sweep of his shaggy arms. Within three long steps he had both of them wrapped around the Togruta, lifting her off the ground.
“You’re getting shorter you know!” Ahsoka said playfully, ready to have her feet back on the ground once more.
“Grhh Woopf Harrun.” Chewie barked back, setting Ahsoka back down.
“I suppose I did, didn’t I.” She responded, winking an eye in the process. Through the emotional greeting, General Rieekan offered Huyang his hand in guidance toward the base’s command center, Ahsoka noting that the droid would fulfill their intended mission without need of her services. “Interesting how destiny seems to play it’s hand even when we may not be paying attention.” She said to both Chewbacca and Leia who had remained with her.
“This walking furball sure gets around this galaxy it seems. How are you acquainted?” Leia had to know.
“Long story but let’s just say a mutual kinship on a Trandosian moon.” Ahsoka responded with a smile.
Chewbacca only guffawed an acquiescent laugh, nodding his head in agreement. “Woopf Grrlggh Harrun.” He added after a moment.
“Back to what ship?” Ahsoka asked with genuine curiosity.
“Harrun Woopf Woopf Harruuun Whargl.”
Ahsoka nodded her understanding, her lips defying her attempts to keep the smile on her face through the admission. The mention of the Millenium Falcon brought with it instant memories of Kowani, ‘how she would have loved to have been here for this.’ She thought to herself, “I understand, I wouldn’t keep you from your obligation. It was very nice seeing you though Chewbacca.”
With a parting embrace and emotional chortles of his own, Chewbacca turned to head back toward the Falcon, although his step was just a little slower. Ahsoka watched him leave, navigating through the same obstacles only to stop briefly as a young man came into view. She watched with avid curiosity as the Wookie placed a hand on his shoulder and continued on his way. The young man only stood his ground, his own gaze directed at her. He was dressed fully in thermal gear, tan leggings and overcoat with white trimmings and brimmed thermal cap, side skirting flaps covering his ears. He removed the hat without removing his pensive gaze. Ahsoka could feel herself garnering his full attention as he began to walk toward her and the Princess.
The closer the young man came the more he looked like Anakin. Penetrating blue eyes bore into her own as he tousled with the matted sandy blonde hair at the crown of his head. Ahsoka quickly glanced toward Leia who had only half turned to the crunching of Luke’s approach. ‘How she looks of her own mother, and he, his father…’ The thought quickly became almost too much to bear, sudden flashes of a life that would never be, an alternate reality in a sense that would never be known, found her thinking through a particular image in which both of these siblings could know their parents, or even of each other. Secrets were never her strong suit, but oaths to her own Masters were oaths above all else.
“Ahsoka, meet Luke, Luke Skywalker.” Leia provided the introduction Ahsoka found laughably unnecessary but was more than happy to let a simple smile stretch across her lips.
“Well met young Skywalker.” Ahsoka stated, her gaze working to pierce the intense scrutiny his own regard was conveying. Bordering the limits of comfortability, he narrowed his eyes as if working out a breaching path toward his own truth through the impassibility of Ahsoka’s own thoughts. ‘He knows he has the ability, even without any training. Strong in the Force indeed.’ She thought behind her impenetrable wall.
“Hey! Luke?” Leia waved a hand in front of the young man as she nodded apologetically toward Ahsoka.
“I know you…” He finally said, prompting Leia’s attention once again.
“That’s not possible Luke.” Leia interjected, affirming the young man of his own reality, despite his wandering mind.
“It shouldn’t be…” Luke continued, “but I feel as if I do.”
“Ahsoka Tano, at your service…” Ahsoka said with a gentle bow, not unlike her greeting to the base General. “If there is any recognition, it would lie perhaps in my association with Master Kenobi.” That got his attention. Luke’s eyes flared open widely at the mention of the old Jedi Master. “Among other titles, I was his….apprentice...for a time.” She continued when she thought the timing appropriate.
“You’re a Jedi?” Luke asked with an intense degree of hesitation, willing to admit that he knew exactly nothing in the grand scheme of things.
“A Jedi? No Master Skywalker, I am no Jedi.” Ahsoka stated, the smile gone from her expression fully. It was only then that she looked down toward his waist, finding the unmistakable hilt of her former Masters lightsaber clipped to his belt. She knew her features instantly betrayed the message she was trying desperately to conceal, understanding, only now, the warnings and associative disagreements she had had with both Obi-wan and Master Yoda concerning her involvement at all with the young man.
Ahsoka knew she should shut her mouth from saying any more, turn from these siblings that clearly didn’t know they even were and place as much distance between herself and them as she possible could. That would impart the sanity of her own reality upon the crux of emotions that threatened to consume her, but only after contemplating the whole of what was represented. The young man’s path was clouded at best, and she was only sure in this moment that she could not be the one to guide him in any facet through the challenges the Force would impart upon him. Her sentiments were far too biased, the subject far too close to both heart and mind to even contemplate training this man in the manner he deserves. ‘I should not have come here.’ Ahsoka told herself, already finding it difficult to manage her well-practiced methods of negating her own emotions and the flows of the Force.
“I only knew him briefly, but Obi-wan felt more like home to me than I had ever felt before. That same feeling is present now, and I cannot explain it.” Luke offered with sincerity.
How she wished she could tell him the truth, break down her own walls and let her truth tell itself to him. With stoic resolve, she contained every last bit of her own confidence and smiled broadly, “then you young Skywalker are exactly where you need to be.” Ahsoka stated, her eyes filling with the same joy her lips had conveyed. Spotting Huyang’s return over the young man’s shoulder, she felt a nourishing wave of relief and slipped her arms from the robes once again. Her intention was simply to pull the cowl over her montral, but the fold opened wider than expected, Luke’s gaze drawn immediately to her saber hilt about her waist. Ahsoka noted his attentive shift but made no move to conceal the weapon, “and I must depart, for I am needed elsewhere.”
Huyang approached then bypassed the trio with a cordial nod toward the Princess, his ambulatory struts clacking on the boarding ramp once free of the silence the compacted snow had provided. Ahsoka nodded her own farewell without a trace of fanfare, following the ancient droid up into the shuttle.
“Will we see you again?” Luke called up after her, his expression a mix of the same emotions he had inexplicably endured earlier, although steady on his feet standing astride the Princess.
Ahsoka stopped and turned toward the two, gazing at the them both for a moment as she let her smile broaden. Destiny would provide the only answers to that question, something she was unwilling to defy, “you really should think about closing off the intake ducts and rerouting the manifold distributors away from the cooling vents or you’ll never get those T-34’s to operate properly….” She almost laughed to herself but was glad she didn’t as she turned to complete her trek up the ramp, Huyang already activating the ramp behind her.