Storm troopers loaded into a ship in the hanger of the star destroyer. Equppied with blasters as well as stun guns, the soldiers were given the objective of capturing the neighbouring ship's inhabitants and to bring them to Darth Vader alive. It was an important aspect of their orders, because if it was discovered that the Jedi prisoners were killed in the crossfire, the storm troopers had to be prepared to be Force crushed by Darth Vader himself.
The ship rose from the hanger floor and was cleared to depart. The jets powered it out into space and the pilot curved around the star destroyer in the direction of their target. The troopers were prepared for a difficult capture, but in their numbers, they believed that they could overpower the Jedi. How powerful could a handful of religious monks be?
Darth Vader had returned to his quarters for a moment of clarity. With the door locked, he pulled off his black mask and placed it on the silk-sheeted bed. As the eyes of the soulless face stared at the opposite wall, its wearer was able to breathe on his own and took the time to feel the Force signature that was yet to fade from his proximity.
He wanted to curl up in his bed and spend hours staring at the white flame. With its divine purity, Vader felt as if he was seeing the light side of the Force for the first time. It had been absent in his aura long enough for him to forget why the previous Republic's made the light side the centre of their values. The Jedi were foolish and naïve, Vader still believed that, but with all the hatred and darkness he had been surrounded with, he remembered why he had been adamant on bringing peace to the galaxy when he was a mere Padawan.
With a shaky breath, Darth Vader looked to the desk that was covered in mechanical parts and circuits. The lightsaber that had belonged to Anakin Skywalker sat abandoned against the wall, and was yet to be taken into Vader's hands since it was brought to him from Tatooine. It brought the painful thoughts of Obi-wan Kenobi, and how it was possible that the man had been with Sol for all these years in Vader's absence. But beside the lightsaber of Vader's time as a Jedi, was a half-completed project of rose and cream-coloured droid parts.
He had been working on something for a long time, and with the possibility of seeing Sol drawing closer, Vader was excited at presenting to her what he had worked on. He knew that the Emperor would be disappointed to hear that Vader was spending his time working on pointless things, but the Emperor didn't have to know about Vader's private hobbies. And he especially didn't have to know about the plan Vader had been brewing in his time as the Emperor's apprentice.
---
Ahsoka's T6 ship was able to make out of the star destroyer's range before their controls could be locked. But their hyperdrive was still disabled, so the Jedis' only way of escaping the Empire's destroyer, was from Ahsoka's piloting skills. And at the extra ship that appeared on the scanner, Ahsoka knew that she had to be at her best.
'We've got incoming,' Sol informed while looking at the scanner. 'Is there a gunner on this ship?'
'Yes. It's through the training room-'
'You have a training room?'
Ahsoka gave Sol a 'now-is-not-the-time' look, and Sol closed her inquisitive lips. Instead, Sol undid her seatbelt and rushed out of the cockpit. From the rush of their situation, the poncho over Sol's Jedi robes and utility belt became unbearable. As she ran through the ship and passed the training room, Sol grabbed the hem of the poncho and pulled it over her head. In a hurry, she threw the poncho into the corner before arriving in the gun room.
The gun room held a singular chair and when Sol settled into it, she grabbed the two joysticks on either of the chair's armrests. She jumped when the chair moved and caught sight of the gun that sat below her on the outside of the ship. Sol could see the star destroyer and the ship that dispatched from its hanger through the glass of the gun room, and she hurriedly put on the headset that connected to the cockpit.
'It looks like just a carrier ship,' Sol said through the silver headset. 'They're planning to board.'
'We'll be captured. No doubt that this is Vader's orders to get you on that destroyer,' Ahsoka voice sounded in Sol's ear. 'Has your aim changed since having two children?'
'Let's hope not...'
Sol was anxious but acted on her instincts. She moved the joysticks and tested the blaster, which was activated from the red buttons on top of each control. The blast released from the gun and soared past the carrier ship, alerting the storm troopers onboard of the T6's hostility. Sol realised her mistake and gulped when a gun appeared from the ship's side and began blasting back at her.
'Can you keep an eye out for any suspicious missiles? We don't want any trackers on us when we're heading to the base,' Ahsoka said through Sol's headset.
'I-I'll do my best.'
Sol was out of touch with her battlefield skills. She dropped her thumbs on the buttons and watched each of her blasts miss the carrier ship that was on their tail. While Ahsoka piloted the T6 from left to right to avoid its counterattacks, Sol tried to rid them of the ship that could lead to their demise. But her blasts were off-target and continued to travel through space without a purpose. It was embarrassing for Sol, and if anyone from the Order could see her firing skills, they would be appalled at her poor aim.
'I was never great with starships...' Sol muttered to herself. It was frustrating to watch each of her blasts miss and it was only with Ahsoka's piloting that they were avoiding being hit.
'We're nearly out of range to jump!' Ahsoka cried. 'If you could land some hits, that would be great, Sol!'
How badly Sol wanted to mock Ahsoka's voice in irritation. Now she knew how it felt for Ahsoka when they were in the oceans of Ahch-To trying to find the underwater separatist base. The frustration was buzzing throughout the ship, and the carrier ship of troopers was getting closer. The star destroyer was behind it just waiting for its squadron to return with the Jedi prisoners, and it wouldn't be long until a blast hit the T6 and dislodged a part of their engine. Sol could easily panic and begin shooting at random, but she had forgotten something that had changed the stakes.
Sol had her Force powers at her full disposal. She didn't need to let half of her power mask her signature, and her connection with the Force was something that used to name her as one of the most lethal Jedi to the separatist movement. She used to be able to direct blasterfire without lifting a finger, and there wasn't a battle where she failed in dancing around her opponent until they were disorientated to the point of losing the fight. Sol was a Jedi, and this should be child's play.
With her hands gripping the controls, Sol felt the rush of the Force through her veins. She remembered her own words of assuming that the Force was yet to reach somewhere despite its entity being in every living thing in the galaxy. The rushes of life and power occupied Sol's vision and she saw the paths of the Force in the space between the gun room and the carrier ship.
Thumbs fell over the buttons and blasts released from the T6's gun. With Sol's guidance, the blasts moved in their path and collided with the cockpit of the carrier ship. An explosion erupted and the harsh grips of space grasped at the engines and parts and sent them falling through the abyss.
'I got it! I got it!' Sol cried and squirmed in the chair in excitement. A wide grin occupied her face and her purple eyes brightened with intensity.
'And we're out of the destroyer's reach! Going into hyperspace in three, two, one!'
The T6 ship powered and shot out of the Tatoo system. A boom sounded and the ship disappeared off of the Imperial destroyer's scanners.
'They've jumped, sir. We've lost them.'
Vader had returned to the control room to hear the update on the carrier ship's boarding, but he was greeted with nothing but disappointment.
The workmen monitoring the T6 hid low behind their screens and hoped they wouldn't be punished for the failure of the storm trooper squadron. But even though Darth Vader was terrifying and demanding, he was still logical in his battle plans. Afterall, he was a general during the notorious Clone Wars.
'Are we tracking them?' he asked the workmen in their stations.
'No, sir. They didn't land a tracker. And we can't follow them through hyperspace. We don't know where they're going...'
Darth Vader wanted to sigh. He should have known that sending one measly carrier ship would end in disaster. He didn't know who was piloting the ship, whether it was Sol or some member of the rebellion, but they were skillful. And for the carrier ship to be destroyed with a few blasts, there had to have been some use of the Force during the chase. Vader had underestimated the T6 and was blinded by the presence of Sol's signature to the point of disrupting his usually successful orders.
'We will continue the sieges on the Outer-Rim,' Grand Moff Tarkin cut in. He had remained in the control room and had remained quiet when Darth Vader returned from his personal quarters. And just as he had predicted, the T6 escaped with the supposed Jedi onboard.
'Perhaps then we can find the Jedi with the resistance. Don't you agree, Vader?'
The Sith said nothing at the man's attempt to anger him. He let Tarkin give some orders and Vader stayed staring out the windshield of the control room. The Force presence that he had been so taken with had faded, and it made the hole that had been in his stomach for years return. There was no longer the brightness and uplifting feeling in the Force, and the darkness settled back into its rightful place.
'What planet is next?' he heard Tarkin ask a workman.
'Hoth, sir. It appears to be a wasteland, though.'
---
The descent to Hoth's resistance base was familiar to Sol. The white ice and snow covered the land and the mountains stood high into the clouds. With white mists covering the sky during most months of the year, Sol and Ahsoka could see nothing out the windshield until they had descended to near-ground level.
The rebellion's base was well hidden, just how Sol and the 336th legion had left it. To ensure its anonymity, Sol made sure to mask her Force signature after the brief moment of letting it roam free in the spiritual realm. It was a great relief while it lasted, but it also felt unnatural to have her full Force power potential. Times had changed since Sol was with the Order, and being attuned with the Force was no longer her priority. She wanted to slip by unnoticed, and that was what she would use her powers for. Now that Sol was in the reaches of the rebellion's base, part of her responsibility was to keep her obvious flame out of the sight of Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine.
The base's hanger was still carved into a cave, and it was full of starfighters and x-wings. To each ship, was a group of people and a handful of droids who worked on the engines and kept the vessels functioning. When Ahsoka's T6 ship lowered into the hanger and powered down, everyone rose from their stations to see what updates the Jedi had for them.
'Tell Amidala that Tano has returned,' a female pilot called to another, who then rushed off to reach the control room of the base.
It felt strange for Sol to descend the landing ramp. She remembered standing in the hanger years prior in her white puffer coat and with frozen fingertips. Sol pulled on the poncho that she had discarded as the chill settled in, and she was sure that she would need something more substantial when her feet made contact with the icy floor of the hanger. It was freezing and the icy walls did nothing to insulate the heat that attempted to form. And to make things worse, the many eyes that fell on her as she stood beside Ahsoka was the ultimate anxiety-inducement.
No one recogised Jedi Master Sol. She looked up through her hair at the white uniforms and orange pilot jumpsuits that gathered around her and Ahsoka. While the Togruta was greeted with familiarity, Sol was left to shuffle along behind her without an acknowledgement. The resistance members didn't know who Sol was, nor what Ahsoka's mission to Tatooine had been for.
'I see that your mission was a success, Miss Tano?'
Sol peered out from her position beside Ahsoka when she heard a familiar voice. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw the gold plating that was always associated with the polite manners of Padme Amidala's protocol droid.
'Threepio!' she cried. Without a thought, Sol rushed forward and threw her arms around the droid's metal shoulders. From the slippery ice, C3-PO's feet skidded and he nearly lost his balance, causing him to let out his politest cry of surprise. But Sol steadied the two of them in their embrace and when she pulled away, she kept her hands on his shoulders as she grinned in familiarity.
'What an informal yet friendly greeting!' C3-PO cheered. 'Might I ask who you are, madam?'
'W-What? Threepio, it's me, Sol! You're... you're Padme's droid, right?'
'I am, indeed. But I am afraid we have not met before. You said your title was Sol, correct?'
Sol lost her grin. Her hands fell from the droid's golden shoulders and hung limp by her side. C3-PO looked just as he did when she and Obi-wan left Naboo, but he didn't know who Sol was. He was still as polite as he was before she left, yet he acted as if Sol was a stranger.
'Sol!'
Turning from the droid, Sol looked through the resistance members who parted in half. A path was made, and it revealed a short woman with brown hair and clad in white snow gear. Her long hair was braided and pinned in a wrap the back of her head, keeping it out of her face and away from her back. A white puffer vest occupied her chest and thermal gear sat underneath. Her legs were covered with insulated pants and white snow boots allowed the woman to walk across ice and through snow without difficulty.
'Padme!' Sol returned the cry of pure excitement and shock. Her cheeks ached at the rate her grin grew, and she almost fell from the hanger's ice when she ran to meet the Amidala halfway.
Padme and Sol embraced tightly. They remained the same height that they had been the last time they saw each other, and with their chins on each other's shoulders, the old friends grinned uncontrollably. Sol's boot slipped on the ice, and she nearly fell to the floor, but Padme kept her standing. It made the two laugh and pull away, allowing them to take in the slight signs of aging that were seen on each of their faces.
'You've barely aged a day,' Padme commented, eyeing Sol's smooth skin and small fine lines.
'Me? What about you, Miss Resistance Leader?'
Sol couldn't believe that she was standing in front of Padme Amidala. Her brown eyes hadn't ceased in their warmth and their five years apart had not done a thing to their friendship. The transmission Sol and Obi-wan received when the twins were born was the only image Sol had of the Naboo senator. Then, Padme had spoken with her politician politeness, but now that she was embracing Sol, Padme resorted to her true self that she reserved for her closest friends.
Beeps sounded from below and Sol looked down from Padme. Beside her white boots was the domed droid that Sol had missed dearly.
'Artoo!' Sol lowered into a crouch and placed one hand on R2-D2's front. The droid moved from side to side and whistled his happy greetings to the Jedi.
'It's so good to see you're safe, Sol!' R2 said and Sol patted his panels. 'How are Leia and Luke?'
'They've grown from the last time you saw them. But how come you remember me, but Threepio doesn't?'
Sol looked over her shoulder to C3-PO who stood with his arms arched in their usual position. He looked around at the resistance members who were just as clueless to who Sol was as he was to confirm that he wasn't alone in his obliviousness.
'We had to make sure that if he was ever captured, that he wouldn't reveal anything about all our involvement with the Jedi Order,' Padme answered, making Sol look away from the droid and up at the senator. She stood up straight and faced her friend whose grin had shrunken from its wide stretch.
'Artoo's Binary makes it harder for his memories to be searched. His transmissions are always wiped after viewing, but Threepio had to have a lock on his memory base. But Artoo logs all of his memories in his data base, so I'm sure we could restore his memories of you from the Republic?'
'No... because most of his memories of me would be with...'
Sol looked around the people who had gathered in the hanger and noticed that most had cleared from the area. She ducked low to ensure that only Padme would hear her.
'Well, you know...'
'Oh...yes, that would be compromising.'
R2 sounded a saddened beep. Mentions of his old master weren't common in the rebellion, as the only ones who knew about his relation to the leader of the Empire were Ahsoka, Padme and Revan. With the Shan missing, the two women barely ever mentioned the name of the man who had helped the Empire take over the galaxy. To hear Darth Vader's old name from Sol reminded R2 of the last time he saw the Skywalker on Mustafar, where he never returned from the battle with Obi-wan Kenobi.
'We ran into some trouble on the way here,' Ahsoka said from behind Sol. The Jedi Master stepped aside to allow the Togruta to report to her captain. In doing so, Padme, Sol and Ahsoka stood as a trio of some of the last remaining people who were on Coruscant during the fall of the Republic.
'We should head to the control room. You can tell me on the way,' Padme said and Ahsoka nodded, before the three turned to head out of the hanger.
'Is it still freezing inside?' Sol asked and Padme nodded with a light smile.
'We'll get you a coat.'
R2 swivelled around to follow the women, and was joined by C3-PO whose joints creaked from the cold.
'Do you know that woman, Artoo? She seemed rather friendly towards you,' C3-PO asked the droid and R2 beeped.
'We've known her for a long time, Threepio. You just don't remember.'
'You're right. I don't remember her at all...'