Ahsoka, Daughter of the Light (Book 2): Shadows

Chapter 31: Shattered

AHSOKA TANO

The two took the speeder quickly through the vents, and the headaches wouldn't stop. To her, it felt like she could hear the screams of so many people she knew, and then silence. She had to act fast. And, along with that feeling, there was a hint of... betrayal. Kriff, it may already be too late.

Ahsoka turned around a corner and they came across a ray shield.

"Okay," Ahsoka said, dismounting the speeder. "This shield will vaporize any organic matter it touches, including us. We can't take the speeder any further."

"Will we at least get out of here soon?" Lux said, getting of the speeder as well. "It smells like Bantha droppings in here.

"Yes," Ahsoka replied, pointing to a door next to the ray shield. "That door right there will take us to the other side of the shield. We'll be under the temple then, and I know a spot where this sewer comes close to the floor of a hallway. I brought the lightsabers I stole from Grievous, so we can cut through the wall, and we'll be inside."

Lux grabbed Ahsoka's hand.

"What is it," Ahsoka continued.

"'Soka... I know you're afraid."

"What!? No, I'm not!"

Lux gave Ahsoka a half-serious smirk.

"Ugh," Ahsoka said, "you can read me too well."

"Listen, 'Soka, I love you more than anything else," Lux said. "But... I know, coming back here, especially after what happened, and given the circumstances... Listen, just in case we don't make it..."

Lux pulled her in and kissed her. She held him tightly, but quickly broke it as they had to hurry.

"Thank you," Ahsoka said.

Then, she walked over to the door and looked at the control panel.

"Let's hope I can get in this thing..." Ahsoka said.

She closed her eyes and waved her hand over a gizmo that allowed Jedi easy access to panels like these. She wasn't exactly the best at doing this, and sometimes she didn't even have permission to do so.

The machine clicked and whirred as it unlocked the door. The door then slid open.

"Good," she said.

She and Lux quickly ran through it, and through the pipe. After a few minutes of walking, Ahsoka looked around.

"This is the spot," Ahsoka said.

"You sure?" Lux asked.

"Positive. I know the temple's layout like the back of my hand."

There was an explosion in the background.

"Oh Kriff," they both said at the same time.

Ahsoka quickly turned on a lightsaber and stabbed the ceiling with it, cutting a hole. Then, the metal dropped out, and Ahsoka quickly leaped through it. She held out her hand to Lux, and he grabbed it. She pulled him up through the hole.

"Well," Lux said, "we're here. What now?"

"Well," Ahsoka said, "we need to know who we're dealing with. We're quite close to the main entrance, and we're lucky we didn't come out right in front of the attackers."

It didn't take them long to find out who the attackers were.

They went over to a corner peeked around it. And they saw...

No, she thought, it can't be!

It was a squad of Clone Troopers, one of which noticed them.

"Hey, you!" one of them said.

Ahsoka quickly shoved Lux away from the corner.

"Lux, get back in the-"

The troopers rounded the corner. She only recognized one of them, which was Jesse, a trooper she had worked with before.

"Ahsoka Tano!?!?" He said, clearly in shock. "What are you doing here!? And what's that Senator doing with you!?"

"I came here to save the Jedi Order," she said. Her hands shaking as they found the lightsabers on her waist. A tear dripped down her cheek. 

"I didn't think I'd have to save them from you."

"Open fire!" Jesse yelled. Ahsoka deflected the blaster shots back at the clones, some of them hitting the clones that shot them, causing them to drop dead. Ahsoka charged forward, slashing at the clones with her lightsabers. She didn't want to kill them, but she had to. Every clone she struck down broke her a little more, before the whole squad was down, except for Jesse.

She brought her lightsaber up to his neck. Jesse was on his knees before her.

"Why are you doing this!?!?" Ahsoka yelled, trying to hold back her tears.

Jesse slowly reached down to the plaster on his waist.

"Good soldiers follow orders," he replied, pointing the gun right at Ahsoka.

She gasped, and had no time to react.

She heard a blaster go off, and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting to fall into the embrace of the Cosmic Force.

Instead, Jesse dropped dead at her feet. She opened her eyes. Behind Jesse's now lifeless body was Lux, holding a smoking blaster, and a tear going down his cheek.