Her heart clenched. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t reforge connections with people who might betray her out of fear or because they had no choice. She couldn’t face the deaths of her friends again.
But then, she already was. While on Raada, she’d learned that there was no escape from it. Even if she was no longer a Jedi, she had too much training to turn her back on people in need. She would help them fight, and she would watch them die, and every time her heart would harden a little bit more.
No. There must be another way. A middle road. Somehow, she wouldn’t let the evil in the galaxy, the evil of the Empire, swallow her and change her nature. She thought of what had gone wrong on Raada and what had gone wrong with Bail, and in both cases, she thought she saw a similarity.
She moved without thinking about it, her hand shifting so it covered the communication device on her wrist. That was it. That was what she could do to help the galaxy and try to keep her friends safe.
Softly, but then louder as the sun began to creep up over the hills, Ahsoka heard the song. It didn’t match the first one, though there were some similarities. She didn’t doubt for a second, though. The song was hers, if she was willing to fight for it.
The sun broke over the horizon completely, and Ahsoka Tano was whole again.
“Come on, Miara,” she said. “Let’s go get your sister.”
Chapter 28
THE FIELDS OF RAADA were ruined. Even Ahsoka’s inexpert eye could see it. The soil that had once been a dark brown was now bleached to an unhealthy gray, and the life that she used to sense from it was almost entirely drained. The only things in the fields that looked healthy were the hectares of little green plants, the source of so much misery.
“If we get the chance,” Ahsoka whispered to Miara, who crouched beside her, “remind me to come back here and burn this to ash.”
“I’ll help,” Miara promised. “I’ve gotten pretty good at lighting fires.”
“Come on,” Ahsoka said. “We need to be through here before the first shift starts.”
Miara had told her that the Imperials had extended the shift lengths again. Now the farmers worked for nearly the entire time there was daylight to work by, and there were rumors that once the harvest started, the Imperials were going to bring in floodlights so the farmers could work in the dark, as well. There wasn’t a lot of time, and there wasn’t much cover, so Miara led Ahsoka along the edge of the tilled ground, and as soon as they reached the outlying buildings of the town, they ducked down an alleyway.
“We’re on the opposite side of town from the Imperial compound,” Miara whispered. “We’ll have to cross the entire settlement to get to Kaeden.”
“Not we,” Ahsoka said. “Just me. I need you to go to Selda and give him this.”
She passed over the holo she’d recorded in hyperspace.
“If you can’t find Selda, find Vartan or one of the other crew leads. But make sure it’s someone you trust!”
“I want to come with you!” Miara said.
Ahsoka stopped and put a hand on each of the girl’s shoulders.
“I know you do,” she said. “I know you’d do anything for your sister right now, but I need you to listen. I can get your sister out, but my ship is too far away for us to escape Raada. And even if the three of us got away, what would happen to everyone else?”
Miara started to protest but then stopped. Ahsoka could tell she had seen reason.
“I need you to get to Selda,” she said again. “Kaeden needs you to get to Selda. Okay?”
“Okay,” Miara said. “I’ll do it.”
Ahsoka squeezed Miara’s hand around the holo and then watched the girl make her way down the street. She’d learned to walk softly since Ahsoka had last seen her, and how to use even what little cover the street offered to her advantage. Ahsoka really hated war.
She let Miara get a good head start and then struck out in the direction of the Imperial compound. She did not use cover or make any pretense of attempting to conceal her approach. The gray creature knew she was coming and knew what her target was. Stealth was impossible, and she had one shot. Her only hope was that the Empire didn’t have a secret piece hidden on the back of the board like she did.
She walked down the middle of the street, senses alert and ready for anything. Every part of her was like an energy coil, wound tight and ready for action.
She didn’t have to wait very long.
“Jedi!” A harsh voice rang out. It seemed to come from every direction at once. Ahsoka cast out with her senses, searching for the source.
“You have something I want,” she said. It would be easier if she could get the gray creature to keep talking.
“Poor little Kaeden Larte,” said the creature. Ahsoka narrowed in on his location. “So hopeful that her Jedi friend would come for her. I had to tell her that Jedi don’t have friends. Jedi don’t have attachments of any kind. They’re heartless and cold and don’t even understand what love is.”
“I don’t know who taught you about the Jedi,” Ahsoka said. “But they seem to have left out a few things. You should ask for better lessons.”
“I told Kaeden that you weren’t a real Jedi,” the creature said. There! Ahsoka had him. Now she just had to wait for the right moment. “I told her that you were probably so scared of me that you were twelve systems away and never coming back. I’m actually happy to be wrong.”
She felt him jump off the roof of the building behind her and turned. She could no more identify his species in person than she could from his picture. He was taller than she was, even with the height she’d added in the past few years, and very broadly built. He was clearly very strong, and with the body armor he wore, he was a formidable opponent. He was still wearing his helmet, and his face shield was up, as though he needed to see her clearly while they fought. That was another difference in their training, Ahsoka thought. She could fight completely blind if she had to, though blind and without her lightsabers might be pushing it.
She focused her attention on his chest, where movement began. She felt the Force flowing through her as his lightsaber flared to life. She could hear its hum, a dark counterpoint to the song of her own crystals, now quite nearby. Ahsoka cleared her mind of all distractions.
The creature struck, and Ahsoka deflected his blows before they fell. She read his feelings through the Force that connected them, and she tracked the movement of his shoulders, elbows, and wrists, pushing them away so that they always missed their targets. Furious, he doubled his efforts, striking for her head and chest.
What the gray creature lacked in finesse, he made up for in brute strength. He pushed Ahsoka back, toward the line of houses, and she let him, still taking his measure as a fighter. When she reached the front step of the house behind her, she jumped off of it, using the Force to propel herself in an elegant flip over his head. She easily avoided the frantic swing of his lightsaber as she flew over him, then landed in a crouch on the other side, ready to continue.
“Impressive,” he said.
“You’re easily impressed,” she said. “I’m only just getting started.”
She felt more people behind her and realized that someone in the Imperial compound had gotten wind of what was going on. The walls were lined with stormtroopers, all of them pointing blasters at her. At least it didn’t look like they’d added any reinforcements since she left. She ducked down a side street, out of their line of fire, and the gray creature followed her.