The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Nine

Chapter Eighteen: The Protection Of The Force/ The First Apprentice

KAYLIRA TRAMINO

Kaylira had just finished getting her hair done by Princess Leia and Winter when the news that the New Hope would be leaving shortly came.

"You're leaving already?" pouted the Princess, her chocolate-brown eyes clouded. "But you just got here! And Father told me that you and your friends were going to be staying several days at least!"

"Something must have come up," Kayli retorted quietly. "My Master is an informant to a variety of cells in the Rebellion. And even if our meetings with Rebel leaders are of the highest importance, it often happens that they're cut short as she's called away somewhere else."

Leia nodded. She looked away for a moment, before her gaze came back to meet the blonde Jedi Padawan's. "But what about the mind trick you told me about? The one you said could protect me from probing?"

"I can't teach it to you now. There's not enough time, but..." She thought for a moment. "I have an idea."

The Princess sat down on the carpeted floor in front of Kayli, who was sitting on a low chair, an excited look in her eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, the blonde saw Winter shoot a disapproving look in Leia's direction. Apparently, the other girl was a little too uptight for either of their liking. Had she been able to stay longer, Kayli would have tried to change that.

She took a deep breath, before placing the tips of her fingers on one hand on the Princess's forehead. Concentrating hard, she set up blocks in her mind: one for her Force-sensitivity, which she got the feeling wasn't supposed to be found, another against probing by ways of the Force, and a last one for memory serums.

"There," she said quietly. "The protection of the Force is upon you now."

Not, she thought. It's been upon you since birth. I'll have to ask Master Tano about this when I get back.

She hugged the two girls goodbye and promised that she would visit them again soon. Little did she know that she might have been the reason the whereabouts of the Rebel base weren't discovered by Darth Vader and Governor Tarkin, five years later...

DARTH BANE

Darth Bane and his new apprentice, now known as Darth Grievous, flew toward the remote planet Lothal. Their ship, which had once been called the Unseen Enemy, or the Scimitar in Dathomirian, snuck quietly past the two Imperial Star Destroyers orbiting the planet, thanks to an excellent cloaking device.

Have you been practicing, Lord Grievous? Bane asked his disciple through the Force. He had always found that communicating verbally was too... mundane, and projecting one's thoughts was a far better way to talk. We will be arriving soon.

Yes, Master, came the reply.

Then I will evaluate your progress now.

He walked through the narrow hallway, only half-conscious of the creaking of the metal inner workings of the small ship. He had discovered that, ever since he had returned from the netherworld of the Force, he had the ability to walk with one foot in the real galaxy, and with the other in the fathomless depths of the Dark Side.

Although he remained deaf to the cries of the other spirits, who called for him to return to them, there was one voice that was difficult to ignore: that of his old apprentice, Darth Zannah.

This is madness, Bane! She hissed at him through the Force. This defies every law of the Sith you ever taught me!

Madness, hmph! Madness is a point of view, my old apprentice. There can be different points of view, just as there are different interpretations of the laws of the Dark Side.

Zannah seemed to have nothing to say to that. But then, her tone changed. Then why did you not take me with you? Why could we not have ruled the galaxy together, as we would have years ago?

You betrayed me, the Sith Lord replied.

That is the way of the Rule Of Two. That is the belief I was brought up on. Bane did not speak as her spirit floated around him.

"And that is the belief that you will die with," he said aloud, clenching his fists. She had always had a remarkable way of getting to him. "Goodbye, Zannah."

He forced her spirit back into the netherworld, breaking off the connection. But even as she was forced away, she still had the last word to the conversation:

I killed you once, and I can do it again. I will find a way. Mark my words.

Slipping smoothly from his thoughts to the read galaxy, he reached the cargo bay, where Grievous had been practicing his new skills in the Dark Side of the Force. He crossed his massive arms over his chest. The transformation was nearly complete; and for the first time in nearly a thousand years, he felt like himself again.

"Well?" he said, eyeing the cyborg up and down.

Suddenly, before his eyes, the metal claws and plating began to shift, blurring into the natural skin tone of a human male with lightly tanned skin and dark brown hair streaked with grey.

"Good," said Bane. "Now go down to the surface as planned. And do not forget to cloak your signature; although you will look and feel like someone you are not, if the Emperor by any chance sends an Inquisitor here..."

"Yes Master. I will not fail you."

As the ship landed on the grassy plains of Lothal and Grievous disembarked to begin his mission, Bane returned to his personal quarters to meditate.

He had a feeling that his old apprentice would try something, and, if luck was with him, he could find out what it was before it was too late. And it was without a doubt that she had a plan to take him down.

Because after all, she was Zannah.

*Darth Bane is concerned about his first apprentice, Darth Zannah. Will she try to come back? And if so, will it be to kill her old Master again, or for another reason that remains a mystery? And what could Grievous's mission be? How will it affect our heroes? You'll find out in the next thrilling chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano!

Hello all! Sorry the chapter took so long... But, as usual, homework was being, well, homework. I haven't had all that much time on my hands lately. 

A couple of things about this chapter: THE LAST LINE OF KAYLI'S POV WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THAT?!?!?! *runs around screaming* I wrote that just because I felt like it, and hey, what's better than intertwining your fanfics with the movies? NOTHING!!

The bit about the Scimitar is for you, Storm-Shadows7, because, being the perfectionist that I am, I want to get as close to canon as possible. Apparently, in the variety of EU material about Darth Maul, that's what his ship is called, so hope you liked that!

I'm working on the next chapter now, but I don't think that I'll have the time to post it tonight. Tomorrow, maybe. So bye for now!

Realize that your old Master you thought died long ago is still alive and may the Force be with you,

Sharron