Star Wars Rebels: Come In, Spectre Six

Part Seven

Hyperspace melted behind the two expeditioners, who gazed upon the busy planet of Coruscant. As they landed on the surface full of bustling people, Sabine stared out at the tight crowds, wondering if she would have a panic attack if she went out into the ocean of species. But Ahsoka wove through the crowd as if through a simple maze; everyone seemed to part ways for her, like they feared her white-cloaked, white-staffed aura. So, Sabine trailed behind Ahsoka as they approached a tall, wide, grey building with no people in it or around it. The outside walls slanted inward and miles upward, and on the flat roof were five grey towers.

Sabine wondered why Ahsoka thought this abandoned building would house a better technician than Ezra. "Where are we, Ahsoka?"

"Call me Fulcrum while we're here," Ahsoka said as they entered the tall doorway and found themselves in a great lobby covered in dust, "There are too many memories here... hidden behind these drapes, these walls... and calling me Ahsoka will only uncover what should stay hidden."

Sabine shrugged and followed the Jedi deeper into the dusty building. She suddenly stopped and looked down at fresh footprints in the dust and dirt on the floor, leading up some stairs to an elevator that barely looked functional anymore. Ahsoka carefully stepped inside it, listening to the creaking noises it made before motioning for Sabine to enter with her. With a wave of her hand, Ahsoka closed the elevator doors and they started to ascend. 

Once it stopped, Sabine was afraid it would collapse. But it held up, shakily opening the doors. Without noticing what floor she was on, she jumped and stumbled out of the elevator, just in case it decided to give out and crash. Ahsoka, on the other hand, glided out, looking almost like a ghost in her majestic white robes. She glanced at Sabine, her eyes saying, "Really?" and all Sabine could do was shrug.

Ahsoka looked ahead with nervous, yet determined eyes. Sabine started to notice their surroundings... and she didn't like what she saw. The walls, floor, and ceiling were grey, and all the tapestries were black and silver. The hall was thin, long, and dark, and Sabine could barely see ten feet down the hall. Deeper into the eerie hallway was a flickering light, which revealed a single wide doorway.

"Strange..." Ahsoka said, "They must have changed the decor since I've been here." Ahsoka started down the hall. "Come on, our acquaintance is in there. I can sense her presence." She gestured toward the door and glided onward. Sabine kept a steady hand on Ezra's lightsaber, just in case Ahsoka's "acquaintance" wasn't who she thought she was.

The doorway was as grey as the halls, and above it was the sign of the Empire. Sabine noted this and took out the lightsaber without turning it on. Inside the large room were only a long desk and a tall chair behind it. In the corners were more chairs, covered in scorch and ash. The decor was burned around the edges, and some were burned off almost completely. The back wall was a giant window with a magnificent view of Coruscant. Half of the glass was broken, sending cool breezes in the stuffy room from outside. Some of the glass was even spotted with blood.

The chair behind the desk was turned towards the window, and Sabine knew there was someone there because she could hear their loud, heavy breathing. It didn't sound quite like Darth Vader's, it was more strained and organic. Ahsoka and Sabine stood in front of the desk, waiting to be addressed. Finally, the mystery friend of Ahsoka's spoke:

"So, you came back," a soft female voice said. "It only took you, what, three decades?"

"I was fighting a war," Ahsoka answered. There was so much hate in her voice, Sabine barely believed it was the sweet Togruta she had fought beside... "One that you left years ago."

"You did, too," the woman said coldly, "Don't forget how you left your Master... waiting for you to return as the sun set over that dreadful day, your Padawan braid clutched in his palm..."

"You have no right to speak of Anakin that way," Ahsoka snapped. 

"And you don't either," the woman barked. 

Ahsoka shuffled her feet uncomfortably. "I came back to him."

A cold, stifled chuckle came from the chair as the woman whipped around to face Sabine and Ahsoka. She was almost horrifying to look at. She was a Mirialan woman with long, straight, scraggly black hair and a few light tattoos across the bridge of her nose. Her skin was the usual greenish color of a Mirialan, but it was covered in splotches of bright pink burns and multiple blaster wounds. Sabine resisted the urge to turn away, hating that this woman's scars told a painful story, but she didn't think the woman even knew she was there. The Mirialan naturally leaned forward in her giant chair, staring into Ahsoka's eyes with the slightest gleam of hungry murder and vengeance. "You have no right to walk along these halls."

"Well, Barriss," Ahsoka said, "I couldn't stay away from my Padawan friend for long, could I?"