The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Nine

Chapter Thirty-One: Rebel Trooper Rescue

KAYLIRA TRAMINO

Kaylira heard Ahsoka mutter a curse under her breath as they, along with Aeja and Lux, ran down yet another alleyway. It seemed like the wise Togruta was leading them on a wild goose chase, but she had faith in her Master. She knew that she wouldn't lead them astray.

The only sounds she could hear were those of the speeder traffic in the distance and that of the Imperial Storm Troopers' ominous footfalls a little while behind them as they tried to catch up.

She was worried by what she was feeling. It was almost as if this section of the city was holding its breath. Somehow, the citizens could feel the tension. They knew what kind of 'threat' the Emperor's forces were being sent to neutralize.

Rebels.

Finally, she skidded to a halt at a corner, half-sheltered by a heap of crates. They had to be old; they still had emblems from the time of the Old Republic on them. And yet, they still looked new. Why was that?

She was about to ask Ahsoka, but the latter put a burnt-orange finger to her lips to silence her question before the words left her mouth. It was then that she noticed the Storm Troopers standing a few feet away.

As soon as the Troopers were gone, she tensed her muscles to spring out into the hallway. But the moment she released to jump, her Master grabbed a fistful of the back of her cloak and pulled her back, none too gently.

"No," she hissed. "Not yet. Use your senses, Padawan."

A moment later, another patrol walked by.

"But Master, I thought we couldn't use the Force here on Coruscant!" she whispered back.

"We can, but only enough to sense our way around," Lux piped up. "Any more and the wrong kind of people will pick up on it."

"How are our shields holding?" her Master asked, referring to their Force-based disguises.

"I'm fine, Master," Kayli answered, glancing over at Lux. He was beginning to look a little sick, most likely due to the fact that he wasn't as strong in the Force as they were. And the higher one's midichlorian count, the easier it was to maintain a cloak for a long period of time. "But I don't think we can hold out much long–"

"Wait," Ahsoka interrupted. She cocked her head, sniffing the air. In the back of her mind, Kayli remembered her Master telling her that she had a very sensitive sense of smell. "What's... That's ozone from Storm Trooper blasters! Get down!"

A moment later, a hail of bullets rained down from the rooftops, and although the four Jedi were safe from troops on the ground, enemies firing at them from the high ground were another matter entirely...

The Storm Troopers at either ends of the alleyway reacted immediately, and got as close as they could without getting shot to fire upon the Rebels.

"Well, this is a fine mess!" Lux commented as he blasted a Trooper that got too close into oblivion.

Ahsoka suddenly glanced down at the comm panel on her wrist, and smiled the way she always did when her luck was changing, her blue eyes bright. "And it's about to get messier."

It was then that Kayli heard the purring of some sort of air vehicle. It didn't quite sound like a speeder, nor like a fighter...

And then three blue ion cannon blasts took out the troops on the roof, sending the entire top floor of the building crashing down. A pair of spotlights was suddenly beamed down on them, and Kaylira blinked in the sudden light.