The Fall of Ahsoka Tano

The fall of the Republic had come and gone in what had seemed like a heartbeat. A nightmare one expected to be shocked out of at any moment, just to find oneself drenched in sweat among familiar surroundings. But the nightmare was yet to end. The frantic hours of chase and combat had subsided, sure… but the lingering terror remained. It always remained. A nagging fear at the back of her mind, the kind that doesn’t scream, doesn’t push, only whispers.

‘Watch your back…’

‘They’ll catch you any moment…’

‘You aren’t safe here; you should keep moving…’

The last one was the most persistent. And the most correct. Years of training had taught her about keeping the peace. Years of experience at war had taught her about facing her foes head on. She had some experience being on the run, and that short stint had been unsuccessful to say the least. She just had to keep running, stay alive. Until she could start living again. Or until she died.

It had only been a month since the Empire took control. The day it happened, Ahsoka had been to say goodbye to almost everyone she knew and loved, those she considered as close as family. The clones had betrayed her, as they had betrayed everyone else. She had felt them dying, each and every Jedi ruthlessly exterminated at a single order. The light had faded, the vacuum refilled with the growing dark of the Sith, crushing her heart as the echoes rippled through the .

The Jedi had been blinded by the war, and it had led to their demise. Barriss had been right. The irony of which was not lost on Ahsoka. She shivered at the memory, drawing her blanket closer as she huddled in the corner of the room. It was plain, utilitarian but warm enough. One of the last pieces of GAR kit she had left since splitting with Rex a few weeks before.

She glanced around at the room’s other occupants: a Trandotian; a couple of Toydarians; a few humans. All were scruffy and unkempt, covered by poorly threaded, grease-stained attire common of workmen in spaceports across the galaxy. It hadn’t been hard using the to trick her way into the workers’ slums, though most didn’t seem to care. She would only be here until the next transport to any civilised planet was about to leave. She would leave no trace, no way to track her. The empire would have a hell of a time finding her, despite their new stormtroopers patrolling everywhere. Ahsoka was careful, and far from the naïve padawan she had once been.

Slumping down on her makeshift bed, Ahsoka let out an exhausted sigh and closed her eyes, letting the ache bleed in from her over-exerted muscles. That time had been far too close, how had Imperial reinforcements arrived so quickly? And who the fuck were those warriors? Three black clad, lightsaber wielding killers all focused on her. They couldn’t be Sith… Sideous was in power with this Vader at his side, the rule of two at its capacity. And yet she had faced down three sensitive Imperial troops. She’d overheard a stormtrooper calling them Inquisitors, whatever that meant. Ahsoka had managed to kill one, while wounding a second. The third was stronger than the others, thin and agile, with a style perplexingly familiar to her, though she couldn’t place it. She had fought Ahsoka off, a retreat but didn’t seem concerned about her dead and wounded allies.

‘I’d best stay away from them,’ she thought, a rising dread overcoming her at the thought of who they might have been. Could they have been Jedi, before the Purge? The thought sickened her to the core. She had left the order, sure, but to fall so far as to fight for the Empire? For the Sith? She had to fight to keep down the contempt and anger swelling in her stomach. She reached out and wrapped herself in the old standard issue blanket, still adorned with the symbol of the Grand Army of the Republic. She fell asleep, best to get some rest quickly. She’d be on the run again tomorrow.

‘ damn that Seventh Sister!’ Ahsoka seethed as she paced around the cockpit of her ship. Once again, the Inquisitors had intercepted her on a mission. She had been on her way to bring relief supplies to a group of anti-imperial rebels on Ryloth, only to find a corpse waiting for her at the rendezvous. The burnt trails of lightsaber cuts were unmistakeable, and they were brutal. The lines twisted and jostled, as if the victim had been moving as the cut was made. ’Sick bastards.’ She had long since lost count of the number of her rebel allies who had fallen to Inquisitor blades over the last few years.

They were toying with her. It wasn’t an ambush as she’d expected after seeing what remained of her contact, but a star destroyer had jumped into the atmosphere above the city, blocking her escape off-world. The vessel loomed above the innocents of the city, casting its oppressive shadow, and condemning the inhabitants to darkness. A tyrant contemplating his vassals.

She couldn’t stay here, the dark was their domain. Tarry too long, and they would find her. She had always known she couldn’t run forever, but she hadn’t expected to be cornered so soon. The rebellion had only just begun to form, they couldn’t have caught the Empire’s attention already. So they had to be tracking Ahsoka herself. But they had predicted her too well. How had they known?

A blinking light on the ship’s console interrupted her train of thought, dragging her sluggishly back to the here and now. A message. On the ship’s link, not her personal communicator. Who knew this was her ship? A press of a button later, a life-sized holo-projection stuttered into existence across from her. A Mirialan woman in full armour stood before her, she knew it to be a glossy black colour, despite hologram’s monochromatic blue. The uniform of the Inquisitors was one all too familiar to Ahsoka. The slight build and shoulder insignia allowed her to recognise the Seventh Sister, though this was the first time seeing her without a helmet. Her former comrade had changed a lot since her arrest for the Jedi Temple bombing, but an aged face and change of tattoos did nothing to disguise her unique presence in the , despite its now twisted nature of the Dark Side.

“Barriss,” she snarled. The hologram showed no reaction. This was only a recording.

“Greetings, exile,” the former Jedi said, smirking malevolently. Exile. The inquisitor’s favourite nickname for her. It seemed her egress from the Order all those years ago was not overlooked by the Empire, for what little impact it had on their sentence for her. “We know you are trapped here on Ryloth. We know your ship and its signature. Try to fly away, and we can shoot you out of the sky in a second. But today, the favours you. You have been a thorn in the side of the Empire for far too long, and you now have the attention of the Emperor himself. And so, we offer you a bargain, should you choose to listen.” The disappointment, spite and shame were painted across Barriss’ face, though what came next into her eyes scared her more than the desperation of a losing enemy. Glee.

“Your former master, Anakin Skywalker, is alive.” The words hit her like a speeder to a womprat. She felt her heart elate in hope, then sink with the sudden gravity and horror of the situation. “He is in the Emperor’s possession, but I cannot say he is unharmed. Follow our instructions and no further harm shall come to him. You are to meet us aboard the star destroyer before the next rotation.” The message ended. The room went dark. There was no ‘or else’ in the message. It wasn’t needed. They both knew the score.

Ahsoka had never sensed her master die. The relationship between master and apprentice was a bond strong in the . After so long though, she had assumed that it had been lost among the noise of the purge. A flicker of hope had remained though, fleeting and naïve, but a hope, nonetheless. If there was even the slightest chance, she had to take it. She knew Anakin would do the same for her no matter the odds.

An hour later, Ahsoka disembarked her ship and set foot aboard the star destroyer. Years of equal parts fight and flight ended as her lightsabers were taken, and her hands placed in manacles.

So began the fall of Ahsoka Tano.

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Hi guys,

Unlike my previous story, this one will be non-erotic. So any of you looking for that, sorry but this ain't the one for you. I am planning to return to the original at some point but as of right now, this is a kind of passion project for me and will have my undivided attention. Hope you guys enjoy and see you all in the next one!