“If we’re really lucky,” Ahsoka had told Vartan and Selda while the others listened, “the devices will be corroded entirely, and the Imperials will think something about Raada’s weather is responsible for the damage.”
“You really think so?” Kaeden had asked.
“No,” said Ahsoka. “No one’s that lucky. But we can hope for the best.”
The only problem with the plan was that the liquid in Ahsoka’s half of the device was quite corrosive all on its own. She’d have to let Miara open the seal on the device at the base of every walker and then climb with it very carefully. It was not a good place to make mistakes.
Ahsoka waved at Miara to get her attention and then pointed to their first target. The two of them slipped off into the dark, leaving Neera and Kolvin behind to wait until they were done. The chances of getting caught were slim, but splitting into pairs meant that if two of them did get nabbed, the other two might escape.
At the base of the first walker, Miara placed the device carefully in Ahsoka’s hand. It limited her ability to climb, which slowed her down, but the knees on the walker weren’t very high anyway. She remembered training the Onderon rebels to take out Separatist weapons by exploiting their weaknesses, and tried not to think too hard about the fact that she was exploiting the weaknesses in the equipment she’d once served in.
She placed the first four charges without incident. If she listened very hard, she could hear Neera and Kolvin working behind them, but they were doing well at keeping quiet. The patrol was due back any moment, so Ahsoka and Miara hunkered down behind the feet of one of the walkers, which would conceal them from the searchlight the troopers lackadaisically employed. Ahsoka was already holding the next charge, ready to climb as soon as it was clear, but she noticed something different about it, even in the dark. It wasn’t a corrosive charge at all. It was an actual bomb.
“Miara, what is this?” she whispered, after checking to be sure the Imperials weren’t back yet.
“Oh, sorry,” the girl replied. “I passed you the wrong charge. I must have packed that by accident.”
Miara spoke like it was no big deal, but Ahsoka couldn’t let the subject drop so easily. She didn’t remember Miara’s making that kind of charge, and it certainly wasn’t included in any of the plans Ahsoka had gone over with Vartan.
“Are you planning your own operations without me?” she hissed in Miara’s ear, but before she got an answer, the searchlight turned on.
Both of them froze, and Ahsoka hoped that Neera and Kolvin were similarly concealed. This time the troopers stepped into the yard—only two or three steps, but far enough that Ahsoka prepared for the worst. Tucked in beside Ahsoka, Miara wasn’t breathing at all, but Ahsoka could feel her trembling. For the first time, Miara was really scared. After a few more nervous moments, the searchlight went off and the troopers moved on. Ahsoka put the more dangerous charge in her pocket and held out her hands for a proper one. Miara handed it to her without asking for the other one back.
They didn’t speak for the rest of the mission, not until all the charges were placed and Neera and Kolvin had caught up with them at the other end of the yard. Ahsoka could already hear the sound of failing metal struts, straining to stay upright, and knew they had done their job well.
“Back to Selda’s,” she commanded.
Neera shot her a surprised look. That hadn’t been the plan. Ahsoka didn’t give them any time to protest. She led the way back over the wall and then down the unlit streets to the cantina.
There were more people inside than there should be, Ahsoka could see, but they were staying away from the windows at least. She barged right through the front door.
“Hey, now!” Vartan had jumped to his feet, a blaster in his hand. There was the sound of several chairs scraping back as others leapt up. “Wait, wait,” he said. “They’re friends of ours. Put your weapons down.”
Something was very wrong. Kaeden wasn’t there. Ahsoka couldn’t imagine she was at home if Vartan was in the cantina. And yet if she were present, she would have run toward Miara immediately. Worse, Kaeden wasn’t the only person who was missing.
“Where’s Hoban?” Ahsoka demanded.
There was no immediate answer. Neera slumped into a chair and gestured to Vartan as if to say, It’s your problem now, boss, so Ahsoka turned her attention back to him. She took a tally of who wasn’t there. It was fully half of Vartan’s recruits. He’d mixed up the crews. The older ones, the slower ones, were all there. The ones who could run were gone.
Wearing her most fearsome expression, Ahsoka pulled out the chair opposite to where Vartan was standing and they both took a seat. He leaned as far back as he could, scared of her even though he held a blaster and she was, to all appearances, unarmed. When she reached into her pocket for Miara’s charge and set it on the table, he flinched as if she had struck him. Ahsoka didn’t care. Kaeden was out there, doing something stupid, and Ahsoka didn’t know if she’d be able to set things right.
“Let me see if I have this figured out,” she said. “You thought I would be distracted by the walker operation and it would be a good time to run your own mission.”
Nobody said anything. She wasn’t even sure they were still breathing.
“You picked a target. The admin building, maybe? I hope it’s not the barracks.” Vartan flinched again, and she knew her guess was right. “You sent them out, your own crews, to lay explosives.”
“We had to do something.” That was Kolvin’s crew lead. Ahsoka didn’t know the woman’s name. “We can’t just sit here.”
“Any moment now, a pair of stormtroopers are going to find out that their walkers are damaged,” Ahsoka said. “All of their walkers. And they’re going to raise an alarm, and that will wake up all the other troopers. And where do you think those troopers are going to go to receive their orders?”
Miara gasped and made a break for the door. Selda caught her and held her until she stopped struggling against him.
“We didn’t know,” Vartan said.
“You didn’t even try,” Ahsoka said. “What were you thinking?”
“We can go help them,” Kolvin’s crew lead said.
“No,” Ahsoka said. “Now you are going to listen to me. Those of you who are here have to go home. Right now. If anyone asks, you disavow any knowledge of what went on tonight. You lie.”
“We can’t leave them,” Vartan protested.
“You have to,” Ahsoka said. “Or every member of our group is going to end up arrested, dead, or on the run tonight. We need operatives in town.”
“She’s right,” Selda said. His tone brooked no argument, and he received none. He pointed to the door. “And I think the bar is closed.”
“I’m not going home,” Miara said, pushing through the crowd to stand next to Ahsoka. “I’m sorry, Ashla, I’m so sorry. She’s everything I have.”
Ahsoka looked at Vartan, who was directing people through the door with Selda’s help, and then locked eyes with Neera. Ahsoka could see that she was just as determined as Miara was.
“Fine,” Ahsoka said. “But you do everything I tell you to.”
They both nodded.
“And bring the charges.”
Chapter 13
STEALTH WAS IMPOSSIBLE, so they just had to run for it. The streets were mostly deserted, thanks to the curfew. Ahsoka and the others were almost halfway to the Imperial compound when the alarms sounded. The damage to the walkers had taken a while for the troopers to detect. That was good news, as far as Ahsoka was concerned. Anything that bought them more time was good news.