“Leave us!” Kaeden shouted. She was half carrying Hoban even though he was twice her size, and she was bleeding from a cut on her forehead. “You told us not to get in this mess. You shouldn’t pay for it.”
“Not an option!” Ahsoka shouted back.
Anything else Kaeden might have said was drowned out by an enormous explosion in front of them. A crater opened, blasted by one of the tanks that still had a working gun. It would take too long to go around the smoking hole in the ground, and if they went into it, they were as good as dead.
“Freeze,” said the closest stormtrooper.
“It’s our lucky day,” said Hoban sarcastically as Ahsoka lowered her gun. “They want prisoners.”
Ahsoka didn’t have the heart to tell him it was more likely the stormtroopers just wanted clean shots. Sure enough, when she turned around she found a line of blasters and no signs of mercy.
Obi-Wan would have had a clever remark in this situation, something that belied the danger of the moment and confused his adversaries into doubting themselves. Anakin wouldn’t have surrendered in the first place. Ahsoka usually fell somewhere between the two, but right now she didn’t have the luxury of deliberation.
Hoban threw himself toward the line of stormtroopers. It was pointless, but Ahsoka couldn’t stop him. She heard Neera screaming behind her, but then the sound was drowned out by the whine of Imperial blasters as they ripped Hoban apart at close range. When he was dead, there was a horrible moment of silence. Someone must have shut Neera up, or dragged her far enough away that Ahsoka couldn’t hear her anymore.
Then the Imperial lieutenant raised her hand, giving the order to fire, and Ahsoka raised hers at the same time. Since she’d started helping the Raadians organize themselves, she’d used the Force only to sense her friends and avoid her enemies. She’d been careful, contained, making sure she would not be detected. That caution was gone now. For the first time in too long, she felt the full power of the Force flow through her, and she welcomed it.
Blasters flew backward through the air, some even dragging the stormtroopers who held them. Metal screamed as it was bent away from her and her friends, and even the ground seemed to shift as Ahsoka pushed the Imperial firing line back. The lieutenant gaped at her, staggering as if someone had struck her across the face.
“Ashla!” Kaeden was staring at her, too, which was when Ahsoka realized exactly what she’d done.
“Run now,” she said. “Talk later.”
The Raadians did as they were told, making for the hills. Ahsoka lagged behind. With her cover well and truly blown, she had no qualms about continuing to deflect the heavy artillery aimed at them. It took longer than she would have liked and she could only imagine what a spectacle she made, but eventually she and the farmers reached the temporary security of the hills and the cave where they could hide until they came up with a better plan.
As soon as Ahsoka walked into the cave, all eyes turned to her. Kaeden, who was sitting next to her sister on a medical cot, turned and bore down on her.
“So,” she said, her eyes blazing with anger, “was there something you wanted to tell us?”
Chapter 14
THIS COULD STILL BE MANAGED. Fixed. Jenneth could rework his calculations, accounting for the new variables, and come up with a workable solution. He just had to know what resources were currently available. He called up the incident reports that the Imperial officers had already entered into the system and read them quickly so he could begin his extrapolations.
The loss of the walkers was rough. They were newer than the tanks, built since the rise of the Empire, and much better suited to patrolling, because they were operated by smaller crews and covered more ground. Without them, the stormtroopers would have to search on foot while the tanks were being repaired. At least the gun turrets were still operational. The Imperial compound was not defenseless.
What he really needed were more stormtrooper units. Although they weren’t suited to doing any of the actual farming, they’d be more than capable of supervising the local labor. The initial plan had been implemented well, but it was time for harsher measures. Curfew, which had been laxly enforced, would be strictly monitored, and those who disobeyed would be punished. In broad daylight. Preferably in the center of town. He would also have to make sure the ringleaders were rounded up. They wouldn’t be executed—that would just make the farmers angrier—but publicized torture and visible suffering did wonders to break morale.
He could work with that.
What he could not work with was also his biggest problem. He hadn’t seen the raid, had in fact slept through it, but there were simply too many corroborating reports for him to discount. There had been a Force user in the uprising. She had come out of nowhere, and by all accounts she was very good. She was old enough that she must have had Jedi training. Jenneth wanted to scoff, to dismiss the notion. All the Jedi were dead. And even if some had escaped, why in the galaxy would one show up on a backwater like Raada?
He turned the calculation in his head and found the answer. The Jedi was here because it was a backwater. She thought the Empire wouldn’t come to Raada, and he, Jenneth Pilar, had surprised her. That made him feel much better about the whole thing.
He had no idea how to report a suspected Jedi. He would let the Imperial commander take care of that. He just had to submit his new report and analysis, and make his suggestions as soon as possible to maintain his good reputation.
Jenneth thumbed to a blank screen on his datapad and began entering his new tabulations.
In the end, they’d had to sedate Neera to keep her from harming herself. Ahsoka covered her with a blanket, tucked Neera’s hands underneath, and checked her breathing. Neera inhaled and exhaled quietly, at the proper rate. It wouldn’t be a solution for the long term, but for now, they needed quiet and time to think. And Ahsoka had some explaining to do.
She sat down at the table where Kaeden and Miara were building more explosives. Neither sister looked at her, even to glare. Ahsoka sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy.
“My real name is Ahsoka Tano,” she said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you.”
Ahsoka always found it best to start with the apology and then work backward to the explanation. It was something Anakin had never mastered.
“It’s not very safe to be like me,” she continued. “The Empire pays handsomely for Jedi, and it doesn’t show mercy.”
“We noticed,” Miara said curtly. She still wouldn’t look up, but her hands were shaking with anger, and probably fear.
“I never meant to put any of you in danger,” Ahsoka continued. “I didn’t think anyone would find out, and I hoped that would keep you safe.”
“Safe?” Kaeden said. She gave up all pretense of working and looked Ahsoka right in the eye. “We’re not angry because your existence put us in danger, Ash—Ahsoka. We’re angry because you didn’t do everything you could to help us sooner.”
It felt like Kaeden had struck her across the face. Ahsoka had done everything she could possibly think of. She’d set up a place to hide. She’d stockpiled food and water and medical supplies. She’d helped them get organized.
But she hadn’t used the Force to save Hoban.
“Kaeden,” she said as gently as she could manage, “even a Jedi can only do so much. And I promise I did my best to help your friends and your family.”