Chapter 8: After Dark

"Without darkness there cannot be light."

That night, she lay on her thin pallet, Jax's snores and Kaia's even breathing a soft counterpoint to the Tower's thrum. She wouldn't learn anything from her assigned consol. She needed to see more.

Waiting until the room was still, Ahsoka slipped out of her bunk. The door to the slave quarters was sealed, but a focused push of the Force was enough to slide the locking mechanism open with a faint click. She was in the main corridor.

Her first objective was a maintenance access shaft twenty meters up. She gathered herself, preparing to leap. But as she sprang, the tight, unforgiving dress constricted her legs, shortening her jump. Her fingers scraped against the metal edge of the hatch, failing to catch hold. She fell back to the floor with a thud, landing in a crouch, her heart hammering.

This wouldn't work. Every movement, every acrobatic feat she relied on, required dexterity. With a frustrated sigh she pulled off her dress, tucking it and the hidden holocom into a dark corner. Naked save for her collar, she tried again.

This time, she flew. The Force carried her upward and her hands caught the edge of the hatch. She pulled herself into the dark, narrow ventilation shaft with ease. The metal was cool against her bare skin. She moved through the Tower's guts like a ghost, a silent shadow in the machine.

She navigated a maze of ducts, her movements fluid and silent. Below her, through a grated floor panel, she saw a meeting room. Valen was there, along with two Techno Union officials, their voices mechanical and muffled behind sleek, metallic helmets. Ahsoka listened.

"...the cognitive recalibration helmet is yielding promising results," a synthesized voice rasped. "We have the frequencies for three new hyperlanes."

Ahsoka's blood ran cold. Frequencies? How could having hyperlane frequencies cut off Republic escape routes? It didn't make sense. They were using infornation ripped from the minds of prisoners. Whatever 'the work' was, it involved a monstrous feedback loop of stolen intelligence.

"Excellent," Valen replied. "The Republic will find their escape routes closing. Regarding Operation: After Dark, triple check the data that will let our ships through and have it sent to me the moment it's complete. I'll update the shield's predictive matrix to stay open for any ship with After Dark's code in their signature.

There it was! Night Work: the data that Anakin needed to save their troops. But she needed more. The tower felt like so much more than just a planetary defense station.

She crawled through the vents one room further and looked down. Two guards were posted outside the door alongside Eola. One of the guards appeared to be having a little fun with her while she waited for Valan, tugging the single bioclip on her left nipple. She was begging him to stop "for both our sakes." This only encouraged his predatory play, as he pulled it tight, stretching her boob with it. Suddenly it popped off and they both froze in horror. The message chip blinked red once. Then twice. On the third blink three things happened at once. First, a shrill alarm sounded from all the speakers in the room. Second, she hit the ground screaming, hands cupped between her legs as she arched her back, writhing in what looked like agonizing stimulation. Third, a dozen black-helmeted security guards flooded the room within moments, tackling the bewildered guard holding the chip. Ahsoka tore herself away and kept moving. This might be the dustraction she needed to get close to the kyber chamber.

She lept out of the ducts and stealthed her way through several inhabited floors. It was a flawless dance. She used a subtle push of the Force to distract a guard, leapt up to cling to the ceiling beams as a patrol walked beneath her naked form, and used a silent, acrobatic roll to get across an open command center. Finally, she could feel by the pulse in the air that she was nearing the Kyber-Matrix room. Crouching carefully she peered through a maintenance slit into the chamber.

The scientists inside weren't talking about the Kessel shield. "The harmonic resonance is stable," one said, pointing to a hologram. "The real breakthrough is when this technology goes mobile. To set up undetectable force fields in the hyperlanes themselves."

"Exactly," another said excitedly. "If we can make adjustments here... and here... a hyperlane shield can pop up in front of enemy ships traveling at lightspeed. They would be vaporized in nanoseconds. When the shield drops, no trace, no debris, no warning."

"Will it be enough?" The first scientist asked.

"I dont see why not. It's the same predictive technology we use to intercept turbolasers above Kessel." The other replied confidently.

Ahsoka felt a chill colder than the air itself. This wasn't just a defense. It was a weapon of mass destruction, a hyperlane killer. If the Separatists could replicate this, entire sectors could be cut off, fleets destroyed without ever seeing their attacker. She had to get this information to Anakin.

She doubled back, moving with renewed urgency and stealth. She found a small, empty meeting room outside the slave quarters and pulled the stolen holocom from the folds of her dress and activated it, projecting Hondo's grinning face into the room.

"Hondo!" she whispered urgently, her heart still pounding from the adrenaline.

"Ahsoka! My little Jedi!" Hondo boomed, his voice far too loud. He looked genuinely relieved. "I was just finalizing a plan to get you out of there once you had the goods! You have them, yes? Of course you do!"

"Hondo, keep your voice down," she hissed.

He did a double take, his eyes widening as he took in her full, naked projection. "Well, well, my adorable little Jedi! I must say, the Force has been good to you!"

Ahsoka cursed, having forgotten how much the holocom showed. She quickly covered her breasts and pubic area with her hands, trying to keep this quick. "Hondo, focus! This is serious."

"I am focused! Very focused!" he leered. "But fine, fine. What seems to be the rush?"

"The shield is more than we thought. They're using stolen memories to adapt it. Tech slave labor to program it. And they're about to activate a hyperlane disruption field. It can vaporize ships at lightspeed. I need you to get a message to Anakin. I need a distraction. I need to get out of here!"

Hondo's playful demeanor vanished. "A hyperlane killer? That's... not good for business." He nodded. "I have a plan. Ive made some associates. We can create a diversion. But you need to be ready."

"Twenty-four hours," Ahsoka said. "Give me twenty-four hours."

"Done," Hondo said, and the call cut out.

She dressed quickly, the familiar frustration of the short, tight dress returning. She slipped back into the slave quarters, moving like a whisper. As she tiptoed over to her pallet between Jax and Kaia, she saw one of Jax's eyes crack open.

"Level 2" He whispered as she stood above him.

"What?" Ahsoka crouched in front of him, not understanding.

He grinned, staring at the perfect view up her dress. "Level 2... diagnostic of the Liana system. It's causing a spike. He said with a chuckle, glancing down at the tent in his overalls.

"I will smother you in your sleep." She spat, turning around to lay down.

"Promise me youll do it... with that..." He whispered, watching her accidentally flashed again. "...and you have yourself a deal." He chuckled warmly. "Sweet dreams, Liana."

Ahsoka couldn't help it. A smirk touched her lips even as she landed a solid punch on his arm. But for the first time since she'd been captured, she felt a flicker of something else. Hope. And as she closed her eyes, she knew she would have a peaceful rest in the heart of this beast.