The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Ten

Chapter Eighty-Nine: Hidden Tension

AHSOKA TANO

Although it was still a warm night on Cialone, it still wasn't warm enough to stay outside without moving for more than half an hour. When the cold became too much, Ahsoka and Lux returned to the Temple and went their separate directions.

After all, Ahsoka to prepare for a conference with Bail Organa and a few other Rebel leaders later that night, and Lux to finish some paperwork for IronFist.

It had been a stroke of good luck that they had managed to outmaneuver the Empire's attempts to take control of the company and, as a result, one of the Rebellion's best sources of raw metals. But Lux, ever the politician, had found a remote subparagraph in the company's charter that prevented any exterior organization not directly affiliated to the company through specific means from holding over five percent of their shares. That included the Empire.

Dissatisfied with such a low number, the Imperial negotiators had moved to alter the charter. The IronFist leaders had refused, and so, with both sides having played all their cards and still come to an impasse, the negotiations had been closed.

Still, they had cut it far too close for comfort. IronFist was a piece in the game they couldn't afford to lose, so she had since given a few of her allies the task of keeping the Imperials too occupied to question the legality of one company.

Ahsoka was pulled back to the present as her transmitter began to ring. She didn't bother to check the caller ID before she pushed the button to answer – after all, she didn't need to. There was only one place this particular device received calls from, and that was Chopper Base.

"This is Fulcrum," Ahsoka said.

"Transmission from Spectre-1 for you, Fulcrum," the communications officer on the other end of the line told her.

Ahsoka furrowed her brow. Kanan? Strange... What could be so important that he needs to contact me directly?

"Transmit your clearance codes and we'll patch you through," the operator continued. Ahsoka obliged, and a moment later, Kanan's face filled the space above the transmitter's tiny holoproj.

She hadn't seen him since before the funeral, even since before they lost Janira. Out of curiosity, she pictured Enarion's face, which she had seen more recently, and compared it to his.

She shouldn't have been surprised as she was to see the physical mark of the genetic ties between them, but she was still was struck by how alike they were, even via hologram. He had his mother's high cheekbones and hair color, but with his strong nose, bright blue-green eyes, the shape of his face, the curve of his lips...

There was no denying he was his father's son.

"Hello, Spectre-1," Ahsoka said finally, smiling to herself even though she knew Kanan wouldn't be able to see it with the hologram disguising her face. "I have to say this is highly irregular. Is everything all right with Spectre-2?"

"Yeah, Spectre-2 is fine. Just busy. She cleared me to give you the briefing on our progress establishing the base."

"I see," Ahsoka said, but she sensed that wasn't the whole reason he had gotten permission to call her instead. All that was left to do now, she supposed, was wait until he told her what the rest of it was. "Good timing – I have a conference with some of the other leaders later tonight, and they'll be pleased to hear your report."

Kanan was silent for a long moment, and Ahsoka absentmindedly studied the way the long distance between their transmitters made his hologram crackle with static every now and then. "I have some things I need to talk to you about, too."