Starkiller Base

Ahsoka gasped, and clapped her hands over her mouth, and almost turned off the hologram. She was staring wide eyed at the coordinates of the new First Order space station…She’d gotten word from General Organa that they had taken out the entire Hosnian system only hours ago and that their next target was the Resistance base.

She’d called Ahsoka to fill her in and for some help, and since Ahsoka was always ready to help, there she was: On a ship, on route to the Illenium System, and who knew what else…She was really getting too old for this…but she was a Jedi at heart. Which is why she couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw that the coordinates for Star Killer Base were at…at Illum.

She knew that the Empire had stripped that planet decades ago, and it had broken her heart to see it, but she never thought they’d dare go this far. It seemed as though they’d managed to build a massive hyperspace vehicle into the planet itself. It appeared to operate like the Empires death stars but more vile and powerful than she could ever have imagined. She could barely wrap her head around the technology too…

She leaned back in her seat and stared out the viewport at the wondrously blue spirals of hyperspace. It always helped clear her head. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, slowly. She had to remind herself that this wasn’t the Empire, this was far worse…an organised and heavily armed intergalactic mercenary group, out for nothing but death and destruction. She held back a sob. Strangely enough, of all the people she could have wished to have beside her right then, she just wanted R2. That droid had seen more action than even she had…

She stared through the viewport again, pondering the next adventure that lay ahead.

Rosario Dawson on Ahsoka Tano and The Mandalorian | StarWars.com Photo Credits: Star Wars The Mandalorian

Together Again

A few days after she met Luke, Ahsoka saw a force ghost. She wasn’t sure what it was at first, but then the apparition spoke, and her heart filled with warmth, which quickly turned to a raging fire. She turned to face him. Her jaw set and eyes boring into his. “Ahsoka”, he said, as he hung his head. “I don’t deserve to be here. I don’t deserve your time, or your forgiveness. But you must know that I am truly sorry…for everything…”

Ahsoka could barely manage to get the words out. “You…”, she choked, pain pouring through her voice. “You were my brother, Anakin. Where have you been!?”. Her voice was slowly rising to a growl as she continued, “I spent years beating myself up for your decisions. I’ve had sleepless nights, refusing to believe what you’d become. What do you want me to say to you now!”

She breathed deeply, trying to steady herself. She felt like a 14 year old girl again…lost in emotion, and confused. “You’re right”, he said softly. “You always were. And your hope is the only thing that ever kept me going. Thank you for that…I’ve never been able to hope like you, and I’ve never been as strong as you…and I know I hurt you, so I ask you for nothing. You don’t have to say anything…Just know that if you ever need me, look through the force, and you will always find me. I will never leave you alone again. I promise.”

He disappeared, and Ahsoka let go of the sobs she was holding back, and smiled.

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Photo Credits: Star Wars Rebels

Skywalkers

Luke wasn’t looking forward to this. Ahsoka had been so upset when he’d lost his father’s lightsaber, how upset would she be when she heard this?

He’d arranged to meet her on Lothal. She had a mission there apparently…he wondered what it was, and if he could go with her as he wasn’t quite sure what to do with himself anymore. And he most certainly did not want to return to Tattooine…

He landed his ship at the coordinates she’d given him but didn’t disembark. It was cold and empty out here. He wondered why this was where Ahsoka wanted to meet…

Her ship landed not long after and he got out to meet her. As usual she displayed the ability that she could read his mind and said “There was a Jedi Temple here until a few years ago. I thought you should know. The Jedi had ‘outposts’, if you will, all across the galaxy. Many long forgotten before even I became a Jedi. The ones that are left and still untainted by the Sith are the only sanctuaries we have left…”

Luke noticed that she said “we”, even though she’d spent the better part of their time together telling him she wasn’t a Jedi. He wanted to know what happened to the temple but she seemed pretty sad already and it seemed a soft topic.

She was silent for a long time, watching the horizon, so Luke decided he’d better just break the news to her.

“Umm…Ahsoka?”, he said softly. “I met him. I fought Vader, just like Ben-, ah, Obi Wan said. Then the Emperor started torturing me with this blue lighting and…Anakin killed him…He saved my life…”

Ahsoka didn’t respond. Her expression was placid and unreadable. Then finally she said, “…But he isn’t coming back, is he?”

Luke shook his head dejectedly. Anakin might have been his father, but he meant so much more to Ahsoka. They’d been through so much together… “Hey”, he said softly, “He came back. You were right! He was in pain, but the light was never driven from him fully. He’d buried Anakin Skywalker, but he couldn’t destroy him. When he saw me…helpless…everything you told me about him came to the surface and he did what was right…Did you and Obi-Wan mean that I was the only hope to save him?

A tear ran down her cheek. “Yes…”, she whispered, “I’m glad you got to meet him, even if only for a moment… Years ago the three of us ran into some powerful Force beings that confirmed Anakin was the chosen one. And family always drove him…Thank you”

She smiled, and Luke smiled back. They’d both lost so much, but this put both their minds at rest 🙂

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Photo Credits: https://in.pinterest.com/pin/414049759485703804/

“It’s Time to Bring him Home”

She stared at the holo-transmission, transfixed. Fulcrum? Ezra and Kannen said she was killed on Malachor.

“Hello,” she said tentatively, “This is Sabine Wren, Spectre 5 of the Ghost. How can I help you?”

A voice crackled to life on the hologram and then she saw the hooded figure again. There was no mistaking her tall montrals and tattooed face. It was Ahsoka Tano.

“Hello Sabine. It’s good to see you again. I understand the rest of the crew is busy on Endor at the moment, so I wanted to speak with you. I’ve received word from an old friend…Ezra Bridger.”

It was a moment before Sabine stuttered… “Ezra!…where? How? How did he contact you!? I’ve been trying to raise him on every channel I could think of! For…forever! I can’t believe you found him!”

Ahsoka smiled, “Well, it wasn’t in any way I’d expected. And I wasn’t really looking for him. I…I had a vision.” Sabine gave her a sceptical look so she elaborated. “I saw him through the force. He’s stranded on a planet somewhere in the western reaches. Beyond the outer rim, in unchartered space. And…somethings happened. He needs our help.”

Sabine couldn’t believe her ears. Was this it? Was this what Ezra was counting on her for? She couldn’t help smiling. Her little brother had made a mess again and needed her to come and clean it up for him…What a Lothrat…

She nodded and said, “It’s time to bring him home. Meet me at the old Republic building in Capital city on Lothal…I’ll be waiting” She smiled, and ended the transmission.

This is it, she thought. This is it.

Photo Credits: https://www.reddit.com/r/starwarsrebels/comments/8bnvyx/that_canned_star_wars_1313_game_but_with_sabine/

After the War

“Members of the Alliance to restore the Republic. Our victory today must be celebrated, but amid the happy cheer we must not forget the reason why we are here. Our work is not yet finished. We can not yet rest… Like many of you, I have been fighting wars all my life, and I long for peace. It is as sad as it is ironic, that to regain peace we must fight for it.”

“So stand. Their leader may be gone, but the poison of the Empire is spread deep throughout the galaxy. And this bold Rebellion is what is going to drive them out. We must finish what we’ve started here today. Word of our victory will spread quickly through the galaxy. The Empire’s ranks will fall into chaos, and we must act upon that chaos, and control it.”

“Remember our place, remember our purpose, and let us fulfil it. Remember what we fight for. Remember who we fight for. We are gathered here so that dictatorship and oppression can end, and so that democracy can resume.”

“Hold each other close tonight. Revel this victory. But rise tomorrow, to fight another day.”

As Senator Mothma wrapped up her speech, babble broke out in the briefing room once again. The Rebels had finally won. The fight they’d been fighting forever, was beginning to end.

Hera, Zeb and Rex returned to Lothal to pick up Sabine.

Lea and Han disappeared into the Falcon as Lando loudly proclaimed that they might have had a better time if the ship was still maintained by him…

Chewie contacted his family on Kashyyyk after years and set off to help them fight the Empire there.

Luke hopped into his x-wing and watched the droppers getting ready in the hanger for the next day’s adventures. His job wasn’t finished either. He still had so many unanswered questions…and he had someone to meet, he though grimly.

Ahsoka would be waiting.

Photo Credits: https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2014/6/20/the-rebel-alliances-view-of-the-galaxy/

One With The Cosmic Force

Hera was broken. After all this time, all her trials and struggles, this was too much. Her strength had finally given way. From the first day she’d met him, she’d realised how special he was. She had always been strong, but when she couldn’t be, he was always there to be strong for her. He was the only person who’d been with her from the dawn if it all…and the only person she thought would have been there until the end…

Kannen Jarrus…that was how she knew him. But since the beginning, Caleb Dume hd always been in there, and he always stood out to her. But it didn’t matter what he called himself. She loved all of him, and she couldn’t believe she’d waited so long to tell him…Somewhere in her heart she knew he knew, but she still regretted every moment of the last several years. She had dragged him into tis fight. He’d never wanted war, and now he was gone because of it…

What had he told her once? “Death is not the end. It’s just movement into another realm. The realm of the stars…” She sighed to herself and walked up to the turret gun on The Ghost. His favourite place, because he could see all around him, all the stars and the skies…and now she was supposed to believe that he was a part of them…? “Rejoice for those around you, who transform into the force”, he’d said. But how could she believe that when it was so mystical, so unreal, and so out of reach?

She was just wallowing in her own misery…gah, she chided herself for feeling that way, she needed to be strong. But how could she be strong without him? She didn’t even remember what that was like any more…fighting the universe on her own. Gods, she was being ridiculous…she was ignoring everyone else…she knew they all cared about Kannen as much as she did, and must have been feeling just like she was. Especially Ezra…oh Ezra…he was so young, he didn’t deserve this. He needed her more than anything right now. And it made her even sadder to think how much Kannen must have resented having to leave him like this, just the way his master had to leave him.

She started to cry…again. But this time she didn’t even try to stop it. She let go, and le the tears roll forth, and years of pain, loss, and grief seemed to wash over her. But then they also washed away. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered what the crew would think if they heard her sobbing over there like a baby, but then she realised she didn’t really care.

Her emotions were settling…if only for the moment. Her head was beginning to clear and she was sure that this was as close as she was ever going to come to “rejoicing” Kannen’s death. She dried her eyes, lowered herself down from the turret, and then walked back to the turret. To her safe place. She announced into the comm system that she was taking them for a spin and when she met no apparent objections she took off. She remarked that Chopper was nowhere to be found. He’d been spending a lot of time in Kannen’s cabin lately but apparently thought no one had noticed. That made her smile.

She sighed. Flying always made her feel good. It made her feel weightless, elated, like a child on a trampoline. Utterly free. Apparently Ezra had noticed this because he emerged from his nose gun hideout a few minutes later and pointed this out.

He sat in the seat across behind her, not wanting to be in Kannen’s seat…They flew in silence for a few minutes before Ezra said dejectedly, “I miss him too…I…just feel so lost…I don’t know what to do, and I don’t want to make you have to take charge that’s not fair I just don’t thi-“
“I know,” she cut him off. “It’s alright Ezra…I understand this has been hard for you…and I’m so sorry…but I believe Kannen would say something like ‘Rejoice for those around you who transform into the force’”

They smiled.

A Soul for a Soul

After Padmé died, he almost had nothing left to live for. He had failed, again, and he wanted revenge. He wanted to inflict upon the universe, all the years of pain it had inflicted on him. He wanted to squeeze the galaxy until it submitted to his will, because if he couldn’t control his own pain and his own life, why should anyone else be able to control theirs?

Finding the crash site with the Clones graves and Ahsoka’s frozen lightsaber had been the final straw. How could everything he loved be gone? But then the rage welled up inside him again and he realised, no. They were not gone. They had left him. Left him all alone, refused to stand beside him. First Ahsoka, then Obi-Wan, then the council, then Padmé…one by one they’d betrayed him. But not the Emperor. He had always believed him him, still Vader didn’t trust him. The conspiracy with the clones…he had been used by the Emperor too.

The Emperor did not have his loyalty, and he never would. Vader only needed him to finish his plans for the galaxy and to exact his revenge. Then he would rest. He promised himself that he would never endure pain again.

Can we talk about that final Darth Vader scene in Rogue One? - The ...

Photo Credits: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Lightsabers

“so…”, Ahsoka said, “How much do you know about lightsabers?”

Luke took a moment to respond, “Really, nothing…I had my fathers old one but I…lost it when I fought Vader…” Ahsoka was surprised by how hurt she felt that Anakin’s lightsaber was lost…Ugh, she needed to focus…Since Luke knew nothing about lightsabers, she thought she’s better start from the beginning. “No problem,” she said “you can practice with one of mine for now, but first you need to understand how they work, and why we use them.”

“Maybe you should sit down.” she added as an afterthought. He obliged, and sat down with his legs crossed on the cave floor. She sat down across from him and took out one of her sabers. She decided to channel her inner Master Huang and dissect it to show him how it worked. She closed her eyes and meditated, slowly levitating the hilt of the sword. She felt like she was 7 years old again on The Crucible, concentrating on each piece and screw and how they all fit together. When she opened her eyes Luke’s mouth was hanging open and his eyes were so wide she almost lost focus and laughed aloud. She smiled inspite of herself and told him, “this, is a lightsaber. It’s actually part of my second pair but the feel is the same, and that’s the most important thing. The sword and Jedi must be one, and the key component for that, is this.” She pointed at the Kyber crystal and continued, “it powers the lightsaber, gives it life, and connects it to you. In the Order…it was the greatest honour for a youngling to harvest their crystal and build their lightsaber.” She went on explaining the different components and wasn’t surprised by how quickly he caught on. It seemed he had his father’s mind for mechanics, and was very happy when she pointed this out to him.

“When do I get to build mine?”, he inquired, sounding impeccably like every youngling in the temple she’d ever met. She smiled slightly and gave him her best Jedi master answer, “When you’re ready.” He rolled his eyes at her and she started to laugh. Her lightsaber bits clattered to the floor and she could practically hear Master Huang tutting at her in her head. After she pulled herself together and reassembled her lightsaber she threw it to Luke and said “Let’s see what you can do with that. Use the dial on the left to adjust the length of the blade.”

He looked so comfortable with the blade in his hands. She walked him through the forms and styles, displaying her own backward grip and some of Anakin’s specialised styles too. They went over these for weeks. Ahsoka was unsure how long it would take for him to be truly ready, but he was determined, and she respected that. She’d decided to teach him a little bit about Jedi history too, even though she had a strange perspective on it. And of course she made him do force-control exercises. Those were Master Yoda’s favourite, and Luke, like Anakin, hated them.

They had interesting discussions while they trained. Ahsoka told Luke about the Clone Wars and his parents and how she’d come to join the Rebellion. Luke talked about his life on Tatooine and his own adventures with the Rebellion. Finally, one evening as they were collecting wood for a fire she told him, “you’re ready. It’s time for The Gathering.”

Jake Bartok on Twitter: "After watching Empire Strikes Back, I ...

Photo Credits: @JR_Bartok on Twitter. Check him out at https://jakebartok.art and @jakebartok on Instagram too!

A Mission

Sabine was eating a very, very late snack up in her…well Ezra’s tower, when the holo-transmitter hummed to life. It was Hera! Sabine jumped over a crate of helmets to greet her and said, “Hey! How’s it going? How’s Jacen? You guys miss me yet?”

Hera smiled back weakly, she looked troubled. “What’s wrong?”, Sabine inquired immediately, “I know that look…” Hera sighed… “The Alliance is mounting a massive attack on the Imperial facility on Scarif. A small crew is already on the surface and they’ve engaged the Imps but they need backup, now. I don’t have much time…I’m leaving Jacen here on Yavin, he’ll be safe…”, then she looked Sabine in the eye and said, “Do you think you could come with us? We could really use you on this one.”

Sabine was so taken aback it took her a minute to respond. Mounting a full scale attack on Scarif? That was a bold move. She whistled aloud, senator Mothma was really going all out these days. They needed all the help they could get…She pulled up a star chart and said, “I don’t have a ship but…I’m not out of the way. Pick me up from the comm tower outside Capital City. I’ll be waiting.” She finished with a smile. “Thank you”, Hera replied, “we’ll see you soon.”

Once the hologram was off Sabine started to think about how much Ezra would have loved this mission. Where could he be?…she half hoped that good-for-nothing Lothrat would just turn up at her doorstep one day…she chided herself…she needed to focus. She walked around the room, picking up supplies as she went. Explosives, blasters, backpack, paint, Ezra’s lightsaber (she’d really gotten very good at using it), more explosives…She checked over all her gear and realised she was low on blaster ammo. Eh, she thought, Rex would bring enough for both of them. She liked Rex. He was a true warrior… She threw some holo-maps into her bag and checked over her armour again before grabbing her helmet and heading outside. Hera would her there soon. She sighed and watched her breath form mist in the cold night air…She hadn’t been on a crazy mission like this in a while…she was in for a very long night.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the blinding lights of the Ghost snd she grinned from ear to ear. She was home. She gave Zeb her customary welcome punch and and then slapped Rex’s outstretched palm. They both chuckled as they welcomed her back. She dropped her pack of in her room and headed to the cockpit. Hera smiled and greeted her with a big Mamma hug and then they were off, spiralling through hyperspace. Chopper ambled in and pretended that he wasn’t excited to have her back…useless bucket of bolts…Then Hera went over the plan with the whole crew and they went off to get ready but Sabine stayed back. She sighed, “This is gonna be a tough one…without access codes it’s basically impossible to get past that shield. Our best bet for getting to the surface is when they open the gate for for their own pilots…and then theres getting out…” She pulled up a scan of the shield and continued “there’s no way even a transmission will get through with the shield up. We’ll have to look for a weak link and try and blast our way through. Shame scans and data can only tell us so much about it…we’ll only get a good look once we’re actually there. Maybe a few good hits to the power cells could do the trick…you guys got any proton torpedoes?” Hera laughed, “God, have I missed having you around.”, then she got serious and said, “Blast…we’re really flying in blind on this one. I’ll tell command what you know. Go get ready with the others. Kallus is here too by the way…and he’s in your seat. Send him up will you?”

“Course”, she said as she left. She sent Kallus up and then found Rex in the hold picking up some guns and asked him to throw her some blaster ammo. He chuckled and said, “It’s good to have you back kid, here you go…You know anything about this Scarif place?” She told him what she knew and he didn’t look very optimistic once she was finished, “Don’t worry big guy”, she said, “the whole Alliance is going to be there. It’s finally happening.”

Just then Hera’s voice rang out through the ship, “Battle stations! Everyone! We’re coming out of hyperspace!” Sabine Practically flew towards the nose gun and strapped herself in when they dropped into space. The ship shook as a raging battle came into view. “oooh…” she breathed, “It really is happening…”

Star Wars Rebels Finale: That Surprise Ending Cameo and the Future ...

Photo Credits: Star Wars Rebels

Order 66-Part 3

~from Ahsoka Tano

If she stopped Rex could she stop the others? She had hard evidence now that it wan’t their fault. They were being controlled! Her mind was working furiously trying to come up with a solution. There was Maul too, he was still loose on the ship wreaking havoc no doubt…How could this happen? Did nobody know? Why didn’t the Jedi ever listen? She was filled with rage towards them once again. Fives was right, he’d known about this years ago and the Jedi ignored him. They were so wrapped up in this “war with the separatists” and “saving the Republic” that they became blind. And where did that lead them…?

She couldn’t bare the thought. And her vision of Anakin…she felt it…the cold, the darkness, the death…could it be…could Maul be right…?

No! Snap out of it! Maul was manipulating her. The Sith were manipulating the force. That’s how they plotted all this in the first place. She had to get back to Coruscant and find out the truth. If she could lay low for a bit this ship would be taking her there anyway. And as for the clones…she’d have to speak with Rex. They’re still his brothers, he wouldn’t like to fight them.

She walked over to his bed and he spoke before she could even call his name. “I…know, how you’re feeling…”, he said. “I can’t believe it myself, and I uh…I honestly don’t know what to do either…There’s no way we can subdue these many clones and take out all their control chips. There’s too many of them. But I don’t wanna hurt them…” Ahsoka thought for a moment before responding, “I was lucky to get you out of there…I agree, there’s definitely too many to save…I’m sorry Rex, I wish…I wish I could do more. I think we’ll have to lay low until we reach Coruscant and then find a way off this ship. The rest of the Clones will still be hunting me but it’ll be easier to lose them once we’re on the surface. I’ve got the all clear signal from the Jedi temple so if we can get there it’ll be the safest. And…if you come with me, you know they’ll be hunting you too right?”

Rex smiled the way he had the first time he heard her call Anakin Skyguy and she took that as a yes. “What about Maul”, he said suddenly, the smile vanishing from his face. “The Chancellor wants him dead…”

She grimaced and said slowly, “I think we might have to let him go Rex…he’s unarmed but he’s enraged. And a Sith with a powerful grudge like him can be very dangerous. And besides, he’s the least of our worries right now…I…I don’t think the Council exists anymore…and I believe the Republic is under the control of this elusive Darth Sidious…”

She turned away from rex as she pondered these words. Was it…possible…?

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Photo Credits: Star Wars The Clone Wars