How to Take an Empire

Chapter Eighteen: Diya

Vader had informed Ahsoka early on that the Emperor had enlisted a special task force consisting of fallen Jedi and other dark side adepts called Inquisitors. All of them were tasked with two objectives. The first was to find all remaining Jedi that may have escaped the initial purge, and either force them to pledge service to the Empire or be killed. The second was to find as many Force-sensitive beings as possible, especially children, who could be groomed to serve the Empire. Any of whom, she'd forced Vader to acknowledge, could become his eventual replacement if he outlived his usefulness.

He hadn't given her pictures or profiles or been able to tell her exactly how many inquisitors there were. Just that they were out there and that if she ran into one, her best bet was to kill them. Inquisitors wouldn't stop until they hunted their target down, and if she left them alive, they'd only figure out who she was, and word would get back to the emperor that she was alive. And part of their plan depended on the emperor not knowing she was alive or involved with the rebels.

Ahsoka thought the kill, be killed, or worse mentality would bother her when Vader first advised her. But maybe the fact that it didn't was a testament to the fact that she hadn't been a Jedi for a long time now. Maybe since the war because kill or be killed was how most Jedi lasted the war, whether they wanted to admit it or not.

"Now would be a really good time to use your own lightsaber," Diyannah said in a grim tone without taking her eyes off the inquisitor.

"I agree. It would be if I had mine," Ahsoka replied.

"How are you a Jedi and don't have a lightsaber? Isn't that being a Jedi 101?"

"I'm not a Jedi."

"Tell that to her," Diyannah managed to say before she and Ahsoka had to duck out the way of the lightsaber thrown at them.

"Diyannah, get out of here," Ahsoka said as she ducked and jumped over the lightsaber attacks of the Inquisitor. If it came down to a force-sensitive child who didn't know how not to draw attention to herself and a full-fledged former Jedi, she knew the Inquisitor would choose the latter.

"Ahsoka Tano," the woman said. "I should have known that you would have managed to elude the initial purges. I'll certainly gain the emperor's favor once I report your capture."

"Good luck with that," Ahsoka said, deciding there was no time to waste letting the woman think she'd ever gain the upper hand over her.

It had only taken her observing the woman's initial strikes to notice she was using a very rudimentary and clumsy form of Vader's powerful offensive lightsaber technique. With none of Vader's strength and little of the man's speed that would have served as a cover for the weaknesses in the technique, Ahsoka took advantage of an opening in the woman's defenses. Ahsoka jumped over her blade and chopped the woman right in the neck in a place that wasn't obscured by her helmet and collar.

The woman let out a choked gasp, her empty hand going to her neck and her other hand loosening its grip on her lightsaber, allowing Ahsoka to take the blade out her hand and plunge it into the woman's heart.

The Inquisitor let out another choked gasp, this time, blood spilling from her mouth before she fell backward onto the floor.

Out of danger for the moment, Ahsoka took a moment to inspect the woman's lightsaber and noticed a second switch which Ahsoka pressed to reveal the second blade of the lightsaber. What was it with dark siders and their dual-bladed weapons?

She was distracted from her inspection by the Force and a loud cry.

"Diyannah," Ahsoka shouted, running toward the door that opened up to the secret alley.