Ahsoka's Return

Chapter 7

A chunk of the ceiling dropped to the floor, and Ahsoka sighed. The corridors were badly damaged from the bombing runs, and sections of the ceiling had collapsed completely. She wedged her shoulder underneath another section and shoved it to the side, then looked back at Leia. "Are you sure this is the fastest way to the hanger? With this amount of debris, it could take us another hour before we get there." Leia nodded and rolled a large chunk to the side, further opening the hallway. "It should only be this middle section that's collapsed. This is one of the longest hallways, so protocol is to evacuate this area first in case of collapses. The workers in the hanger will already be working to clear it from their end."

Ahsoka turned back to the pile of rubble in front of them and grinned. "Speak of the angels." Leia glanced up and saw that one of the largest chunks was shifting slightly. It rolled backwards, and Han's face came into view. He grinned at them as he grabbed the next section and heaved backwards. "Fancy seeing you here, Snippy." Ahsoka grinned and lifted the rock from the other side, and they dropped it to the side. "Leia thought it would be a good idea to make sure you hadn't scared our technician specialist away. I just followed her."

Han shook his head and looked offended. "Scare someone away? Me? I wouldn't scare someone, if I wanted them gone I'd shoot them." Leia smiled as she slipped through the gap. "Or run, or do something stupid like fly into an asteroid field." Han poked her as Ahsoka slipped through the gap. "Hey, that worked, and don't you forget it." The sting in his words was dulled by the sparkle in his eyes. He glanced at Ahsoka, who had stepped past them and was looking around the space. The structure was stronger here, and while there were a few cracks, there weren't any collapsed sections. Ahsoka looked back at Han. "How many pilots were lost?" Han frowned. "We weren't expecting so many TIE fighters. We lost forty-three today." Leia's eyes widened. "Forty-three? That's almost our entire force!"

Han nodded as Ahsoka rested her hand on the hull of an X-wing and closed her eyes. Leia glanced over and frowned. "Ahsoka, are you ok?" Ahsoka nodded slowly. "Something feels different now. It feels like there is a new presence in the base." Leia frowned. "That's not possible. We would have known if someone made it into the base before the shields went up." Leia grabbed her communicator and pressed a button. "Everyone, report. Have you found any signs of someone making it into the base?" The communicator crackled, then a series of voices began to come through. "No. 3 is clear." Negative. 2 is empty." "Nothing here in 4." Leia frowned. "Number 1, what's your status?"

There was a moment of silence, then the communicator buzzed. "There's a breach in the exit. It's small, only large enough for one person." Han cursed. "But there's something else. This doorway wasn't blown open, it was cut open with a lightsaber." Han froze, and Leia's eyes widened slightly. Ahsoka opened her eyes and began walking to the Junkyard. Leia looked up and shoved the communicator into her pocket, and she and Han both ran after Ahsoka. "Ahsoka, what are you doing?" Leia asked as she fell into step next to her. "Do you know who this person is?" Han questioned as he walked by her other side. Ahsoka shook her head. "No. Whoever they are, they know how to use the Force to conceal their presence. I won't be able to tell who it is until I get much closer." "So why are you going to the Junkyard?" Han's voice had a slightly confused edge. Ahsoka smiled as she stepped through the doorway and picked up a small controller. "I'm going to warm up." She pressed the button then drew her lightsabers as she stepped into the center of the room, and Han and Leia looked at the piles of junk strewn around the room. Everywhere, droids assembled from scrap metal were pulling themselves free of the piles and drawing blasters. "Ahsoka? Where did these droids come from?" Leia and Han drew their blasters. "Don't! I made them for practice. The blasters have been altered, they won't kill, they'll just leave a nasty mark. I needed something to fight for training. These will do for now." Ahsoka activated her lightsabers, and the green light made her eyes gleam. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply, then launched herself into the air.

Leia's eyes widened. She had seen Luke fight in Jabba's palace, but Ahsoka's moves were on a completely different level. She moved so quickly you couldn't tell which droid was her next target, and she even dismembered droids while moving around the room. Towards the end, six droids moved towards her at once as she landed on the nose of a ship. Ahsoka didn't even blink. She flipped towards them and spun as she did so. Her blades blurred as she spun, and when she landed, the droids collapsed around her, neatly sliced into pieces. Ahsoka stood up, and the last droid stood up behind her and fired. Leia's mouth opened, but before she could say anything Ahsoka blocked the shot without even looking. It hit the droid in the head and it staggered. Ahsoka turned and hurled her lightsaber straight through its chest, then called it back to her hand. She looked around, then deactivated her lightsabers and sheathed them. Leia looked at Han, then noticed that further away, Luke was watching. He was holding his helmet in his hands, and his eyes were wide. Leia frowned. It almost looked like he had a question, but he turned and strode away before Leia could call out to them.

She heard a crunching sound and turned back to see Han walking towards Ahsoka. "That was amazing! I've seen Luke do some impressive things, but that was amazing! You looked like you could take on twice that many and still have it easy!" Ahsoka grinned slightly, looking embarrassed. "It was just some droids, and I made them myself. They weren't as difficult as they should have been." Han shook his head and looked at Leia as she came over. "Leia, tell Snippy that what she just did was amazing." Leia smiled. "It was definitely impressive, at the very least." Ahsoka smiled at that, then turned and looked towards the hallway. It was almost completely cleared now, and her face was serious when she turned back to Han and Leia. "I'm going to go look for the intruder now. They should have felt that, and it'll have them on the lookout." Han frowned. "You wanted them to know you were here? Why?" "So that when I find them they don't think I'm instantly attacking them. It might give me a chance to talk and figure out what they're doing here, and if they were the ones the Imperials were chasing." Leia nodded slowly. "All right, good luck Ahsoka. I hope you find them and you are able to talk to them." Ahsoka nodded and walked towards the end of the hanger. As she entered the hallway, Han looked at Leia. "What do you think is going on?" Leia sighed. "I think that our jobs are getting a lot harder."