So, this is book two, don't worry. You don't need to read any prequels. I'm German so English isn't my first language. Don't hate me for spelling or grammar.
Anyway, I hope you have fun and yes, this story is centered around Ahsoka.
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(Late fall. Northern continent. Alderaan)
-a few months after the coronation
Alexander
Alexander jumped out of the former Republic gunship into the knee deep snow that covered the lawn in front of his brother's palace. Instead of taking up residence in the royal Palace in Aldera he resided here, in a Palace in the far north of Alderaan that the Organas as had given him.
The castle throned over a small village with about two thousand inhabitants on a mountain that overlooked a fjord.
The village was now ruled and owned by Maxwell. While not being as large or grand as Castle Bay, Maxwell's residence was still beautiful. Especially at this time of the year, the castle looked like a winter dream.
Boss landed next to his king and signaled the pilots of the midnight blue gunship to wait for them.
Looking at the castle Alex couldn't suppress a smile. Nothing hinted at the presence of a Lord of Admirals in this place. The castle looked peaceful and serene. No security forces were visible, no guns or tanks were in sight. Still, Alex knew he was currently in the scope of a dozen snipers.
Well hidden in the woods surrounding the village and castle, heavy anti-aircraft guns and a heavy duty shield generator were standing ready. And above all, there was Maxwell himself, the Lord of Admirals and former Jedi Battle master who was more than capable to protect himself from just about any threat.
Snow crunched under their boots as the two men walked over the lawn. Boss knocked on the heavy wooden double doors of the gate and they waited while snow gently began to fall.
After quite some time the door finally opened revealing Shenna. The young blue-skinned Twi'lek girl was still wearing her school uniform and had apparently just returned home from school.
Much to Shenna's annoyance her older sister had signed her up at the local school the moment they moved in and Maxwell was enforcing Jallia's ruling. Jallia herself was studying at a university in the capital. However, Alex had heard that Shenna was also receiving private flying lessons in her free hours.
"Ahm hi your Majesty," Shenna greeted the king stiffly. Alex took note of the fact that she didn't make any sort of curtsy. She still hadn't gotten over the fact that he had originally enslaved her. Of course, the king did feel a bit bad about that. However, those regrettable circumstances had led to a close relationship with the Hutt clans and the pirate leader Hondo.
"Hello, Shenna. I am here to speak to my brother and my wife." Shenna sighed.
"Sure, they are in the backyard fencing." She opened the door even further and let the two men in.
"Can you find them yourself? I need to do homework."
"We'll find them," the king assured her. Shenna ran through the brightly lit entrance hall and disappeared up a stairway.
"She seems to have settled in quite well. Something tells me that your brother isn't actually letting her work as his slave," Boss remarked.
They headed through the palace until they reached the back yard. Park would have been a more accurate description. The yard housed a large water fountain. Tall snow covered pine trees appeared to watch out for the inhabitants of the castle.
Alexander immediately spotted his brother and wife through the snowy haze. Even though they were barely more than faint figures in the falling snow Yela's violet and Max's two blue lightsabers burned bright and clearly visible as the two fighters danced around each other.
Over the last seven months, Yela had dedicated herself to expand her abilities as a force wielder which cut their time together even shorter.
Yela was now six months pregnant. To her displeasure, the pregnancies of Togruta's took a bit longer than that human woman had to suffer through. Even though she showed a little bump Yela was obviously still very mobile.
"I'll stay here," Boss announced. Alexander sighed and walked through the deep snow towards his brother and wife. Yela jumped forward and made a two-hand overhead blow that Maxwell blocked by crossing his lightsabers overhead. Then he pushed her back with ease.
Then he did a backward flip and raised his hands just as Yela charged forward. A force wind erupted in Yela's direction carrying a hail of snow with it.
She crouched down and covered her eyes to protect herself from the icy, gale force winds. "Hey!" Alex called trying to get their attention. The storm died out and Yela staggered to her feet with her lightsaber raised.
Max turned off his weapons and returned them to his belt. After a moment of confusion, Yela spotted her husband and her eyes lit up.
"Alexander! What brings you here?" his brother called and the two walked towards the newcomer.
Alex pulled Yela into a short embrace and looked into her eyes. As always no more was needed between them.
Turning to his brother Alex announced, "I came to invite you to the winter ball. We also need to talk about the military reforms you suggested."
Max sighed and ran his fingers through his shortly cropped silver blond hair. "Very well. Let's get indoors."
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Two weeks later
Ahsoka
Ahsoka and Lux were kneeling on the roof of a grocery store at the outskirts of Aldera, staring up at the brightly lit palace. "Hard to believe your old friend lives there."
"First of all, he isn't my friend. Our relationship is complicated and I told you I don't want to talk about it. It's really none of your business," Ahsoka hissed before composing herself. Why was she being so defensive?
"Anway, Maxwell doesn't live here. His older brother does. You know the king of Alderaan. In fact, Maxwell isn't even on this Continent. That is something you should be grateful for. If he were here, this would be much too dangerous," she reminded him.
"I'm not afraid." Lux insisted. Ahsoka sighed exasperated. She used to really like that rebellious side of him, now she found it unpractical, even dangerous.
She also didn't like the idea of telling him about the extent of Maxwell's skills, not that she had much insight on the matter herself. "Let's just not get caught."
Lux looked unconvinced. "I'm still not afraid."
"I know," Ahsoka replied and jumped down from the roof, landed in a crouch and rolled forwards. It took Lux a minute to climb down the tree he had used to get up on the roof.
Ahsoka was dressed much like she had been when she left the Jedi Order. A skintight brick red top and padded leggings that offered some protection to her knee caps and thighs. Lux was wearing the same gear he had in the Onderon campaign.
"Come on." Ahsoka hissed and led him towards a maintenance hatch at the side of the road that led down to the cities sewage system.
"How are we getting down there?" Lux asked. Ahsoka waved a hand and unseen locks clicked. The hatch opened.
"I'll see you down there," she said and pulled a flashlight from her belt. Then she jumped down the hole and let the darkness engulfed her.
A few seconds later Lux had climbed down the latter and both turned on their flashlights. As beautiful as Aldera was with its shimmering towers and parks the sewage wasn't much more appealing than the one of Coruscant. The stench was horrible.
The two were already on their way, keeping on the narrow path. Neither of them was eager to step into the steadily flowing stream of waste water. "Do you even know where you are going? I knew we should have gotten a map!" Lux complained.
"I don't need a map. I have the force," Ahsoka growled back and winced at how much she sounded like some Jedi master. It was true through. Since she left the order she had learned to trust in the force a lot more than before.
Ahsoka let her feet carry her to her destination. Finally, she stopped dead. Lux, who himself seemed to be lost in thought knocked into his guide and nearly sent her stumbling into the stream of stinking water. Just in time, the girl managed to grab hold of a pipe in the ceiling and steady herself.
"Pay attention!" the former Jedi growled. In the past, she used to have romantic feelings for Lux. Now while both were still friends Ahsoka had made very clear that a romantic relationship between them wasn't an option.
Both of them had their own reasons to be here. Ahsoka was looking for the locations of Jedi safe houses and money reserves in case she needed them, something that was becoming more likely by the day.
Lux wanted information on Alderaan's new king as well as the Jedi. Either to protect himself from both parties or get their attention in case he himself was in distress.
Ahsoka would be very careful about what information she would let Lux walk away with. She wasn't as naive or as trusting as she used to be. Despite not being a member of the Jedi Order she would guard the secrets she had been entrusted with.
For a moment she faltered. Ahsoka did have another option. She could always go to Maxwell for help... Suddenly, the idea of living in a beautiful palace in the north seemed very appealing.
Ahsoka pushed the thought aside. She wasn't just some child that needed to be provided for. That and Ahsoka wasn't exactly sure where she and Max were standing at the moment after their last meeting. A rejection would be mortifying.
"Why did you stop?" Lux asked, clutching his blaster tightly.
"We are right under a storage room in the palace. Maybe a foot of concrete is between us and the room."
"How do you suggest we get through two foot of concrete," Lux asked skeptically.
Ahsoka wordlessly put her flashlight back in her belt and grabbed her lightsaber. "The direct way." A glowing energy green blade hissed to life.
Ahsoka stabbed straight up, burying the blade in the concrete up to the hilt. Then she slowly cut out a round section. When she complete the circle she stepped aside and let the concrete cylinder crash to the floor where it broke into a number of smaller fragments.
The edge of the hole glowed bright orange but Ahsoka didn't bother to wait for the concrete to cool down. Instead, she just tucked her arms in and jumped through and landed in the room. Lux, on the other hand, needed to wait for the marital to cool down for a few minutes before being able to climb through the hole with Ahsoka's help.
"Welcome to palace Bay," she joked. Lux broke a grin and the two maneuvered their way through wine barrels to a narrow staircase.
When they reached the top Ahsoka whispered. "Flashlight off." When Lux's light died out the Togruta carefully pushed open the door.
They stepped into a large, deserted kitchen. In a large fireplace in the middle of the room, the coals still glowed softly. To Ahsoka, it was more than enough light. She could see every tiny detail. For a moment she asked herself if Maxwell and Alexander had night vision capabilities.
She knew they weren't human. What they were she wasn't sure. Of course, Maxwell didn't need his eyes to see and chances were that Alexander had the same abilities but seeing things was still much more precise than using the force to sense your surroundings.
"Follow me and tread carefully," Ahsoka whispered. The two reached the kitchen's door and entered into a narrow hallway.
Ahsoka guessed that if she walked left she found herself in the great hall so she walked right. Finally, they reached a much larger arcing hallway with colorful led glass windows through which pale moonlight seeped inside.
"Can you see properly again?" Ahsoka asked. Lux nodded and they proceeded down the hallway.
"Do you know where the archives are?" Lux asked curiously.
"No, we'll just have to ask someone," Ahsoka replied.
"How-" Lux started. Ahsoka grabbed his arm and yanked him behind the base of a marble statue. "Someone is coming."
Lux didn't ask any questions. He knew from experience that Ahsoka's senses were a lot sharper than his. Her physical like her other ones. Her Montrals could detect disturbances in the air which were in his opinion utterly unfair.
Ahsoka glanced around the corner and watched as two cooks assistants walked down the hallway talking animatedly. "I saw the King and Queen sparring in the courtyard today. I know your parents hate the fact that our Queen isn't human but damn she is gorgeous. If I were the king I'd keep her locked up in my room all day."
They continued talking but the rest of their conversation wasn't a lot more meaningful. However, Ahsoka did learn one thing from this. Both Alexander and Yela Bay were practicing their abilities.
Ahsoka signaled Lux to stay put. Then she stepped out of the deep shadow and quietly walked after them. Finally, she stopped and folded her hands behind her back, knowing that it pronounced her chest. Ahsoka cleared her voice, "Pardon me, boys."
The two young men spun around. Even in the twilight, they could see Ahsoka reasonably well. Ahsoka knew that she was very attractive and for once, she wanted to make use of that. After all her looks had gotten her a lot of unwanted attention in the past.
"Who are you?" one of the boys asked suspiciously.
"I am one of the Queen's relatives. Now, I couldn't help but listen in to your conversation. How would you judge my looks compared to those of the Queen?"
The two guys looked at each other nervously.
They had obviously bought the relative part but were probably scared that this was a trap. Talking that disrespectful of the Queen could get you in a lot of trouble. "You see, the thing is that I just arrived here and am looking for some fun around here so..."
"You're a Jedi!" One of the boys burst out pointing at her waist where her lightsabers were.
"Boys, just because I have lightsabers doesn't mean I'm a Jedi. The King, Queen, and Lord of Admirals all own lightsabers and aren't part of the Order."
The argument was good but the two boys were freaked out now. "We will be on our way now. Forgive us if we offended you. We don't want trouble."
The moment the boys had their backs turned on Ahsoka she jumped forward, rolled and then kicked the legs out from guy number one. She rolled on top of the guy to punched him in the face, knocking him out cold.
However, the second guy caught her arm and yanked her off his friend. "Are you-" Ahsoka grabbed his wrist and spun into him. Then she flipped him over her waist and sent him crashing to the floor. Two well-aimed punches later the second guy was out cold.
"What are you doing?" Lux asked coming forth from behind the statue. "Getting our answers. Make sure no ones coming please."
Five minutes later Ahsoka and Lux knew what they needed to know and Ahsoka's two victims were out cold and hidden in a storage closet. The two guys hadn't known anything about archives of course but Ahsoka had learned that only the royal quarters and the treasury had guards assigned to them. That made sense but now she knew where the treasury was.
They managed to navigate through the palace without being discovered and found themselves at a corner. When they peered around the corner they spotted ten guards in ceremonial armor armed with energy spears flanking a wide down bound staircase.
"How do we get past without killing anyone?" Lux asked. Ahsoka had insisted on that condition. No one was supposed to die.
She was sure that she could overpower them without killing them. Even unarmed if she had to but both non-lethal options took time. Time in which one of them would raise the alarm. Her force abilities weren't refined enough to knock all of them out without killing them. Her options weren't that appealing.
"There is no way that we are sneaking around them. Either we abort our mission or expose ourselves."
"Or we jam their transmissions and you send them snoring." Lux offered, flashing the small field computer attached to his wrist.
"This is the royal palace. Don't you think they have electronic warfare capabilities?"
"It would still buy us some time." Lux insisted.
"Okay. Do it. Hang back until I'm finished with them," Ahsoka ordered. Lux presses a few buttons on his computer and gave her the thumbs up. Her turn.
The young Togruta stood up to her full height and slid her lightsabers back so they wouldn't be to clearly visible. The passage itself was dark but the large room the guard was standing in was brightly lit. So they could see her coming from quite a distance but still not recognize her as a hostile.
Ahsoka briskly started walking down the walkway towards the guard who stood at attention when they saw her coming.
This time, Ahsoka didn't fool around. One of the guards stepped forward to meet her and was just raising his arm to get Ahsoka to stop when she left the darkness and entered the brightly lit room. The guards recognized Ahsoka as an imposter just as she yanked the spear from the first guard's grip and broke it over its owners head.
Before the guard was on the ground Ahsoka's lightsabers were ready blazing and she launched herself at the nine remaining guards. She moved quick and efficient, using her lightsabers to neutralize the spears and then finishing the job with kicks, the pummels of her lightsabers or one one case a well-dosed force push.
It was over in a matter of seconds after which Ahsoka was up surrounded by unconscious bodies. She turned her lightsabers off but kept the weapons ready in her hands.
"That went well. They didn't manage to raise alarm before you took them out," Lux announced when he joined her.
"It's not over yet," Ahsoka reminded him but she too felt pleased with herself. The two hurried down the stairs and down a remarkable guard less passageway and around a corner where they were awaited with raised rifles by at least a dozen clones in dark blue and black armor. They were some of the men that had defected from the Republic with Alexander and Maxwell.
"Drop your weapons and get down on your knees," one of the clones ordered. Ahsoka had her hands raised, still clutching her lightsabers. There was no way she was going to win this fight. The clones could shoot her down before she would be able to reach them and Lux wouldn't be a match for even one of them.
No one moved for a second.
"Run!" Ahsoka's lightsabers activated in a whirlwind of green and yellow light as she covered their retreat and deflected two blaster bolts. Then they were ready around the corner and were sprinting back up the hallway. The clones were close on their tail but here in the hallway where only one, maybe two clones could fire a snap shot at her while pursuing them Ahsoka had no difficulty defending herself.
They sprinted up the stairs and entered the large room where the guards still lay out cold. Ahsoka glanced up the crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling and the moment she reached the hallway from earlier she spun around and raised her hands just as the first clones came storming up the stairwell and froze as the crystal chandelier came crashing down blocking their path.
She didn't pause to congratulate herself and was already running after Lux. Ahsoka quickly realized how much Lux Bonteri was slowing her down. She was confident that she could flee the palace on her own having survived the Citadel and the small part where she single-handedly broke out of the Republic high-security prison on Coruscant without killing a single guard.
However with Lux...... Ahsoka briefly considered leaving the former senator behind but couldn't bring herself to do it. They burst out onto an inner courtyard and froze dead in their tracks.
They weren't alone. Blocking their path was his majesty, Alexander Bay himself. The optimistic part of Ahsoka told herself that it could have been Maxwell. Both she and Obi-Wan together hadn't been able to defeat him with combined strengths. Ahsoka waved her hand and the door they had just come through slammed shut, the lock clicking into place. That would hold of the clones, for a bit at least.
"Greetings Ahsoka. You should really stop getting caught breaking into places. If you were hoping to visit my brother I fear I have to disappoint you. He doesn't live here. You know, you could have just asked for help to contact him," Alex said conversationally and activated the green energy blade of his lightsaber. Ahsoka stayed silent and crouched down her weapons raised.
"We both know you could flee from here. Unfortunately, Lux will be utterly defenseless if you do."
Lux cursed and raised his blaster. Before Ahsoka could stop him he fired three times. Alex deflected the first two round harmlessly of into the sky. The last blaster bold, however, Alex sent back at Lux who had no chance to find cover. The glowing red energy bolt struck Lux in the shoulder.
The boy screamed and dropped to his knees, clutching the smoking wound. Before Alex could say anything Ahsoka charged and their lightsabers met.
The first engagement lasted only a few seconds before Ahsoka jumped back.
"Ahh, Ataru mixed with Shien in reversed grip form," Alex mocked.
Ahsoka glared at him, "You talk too much your majesty."
"Ahsoka! Run!" Lux yelled his voice filled with pain. She ignored him and attacked. Ahsoka blocked one of Alex's blows over the head and countered with her Shoto. The stab would have run him through if he hadn't danced back. Alex struck a blow at shoulder height. Instead of blocking the power attack Ahsoka rolled forward and got a good angle on his back. Before she had the opportunity to end it, Alex himself rolled forward and came up in a ready position.
Ahsoka realized that Alexander's fighting style was a lot different than Maxwell's who had achieved mastery in all lightsaber combat forms.
Fighting Max was like playing chess. It didn't matter if you knew what was happening next because he would outmaneuver you and end up coming out on top. Intellect, precision, and timing were more important than speed and strength. That was at least how it was when he fought passively like he did against Obi-Wan and herself and there he hadn't intended to injure or kill them.
Ahsoka, of course, knew that if Maxwell approached a fight aggressively his style became fast, dynamic, adaptive and unpredictable.
Alexander lacked his brother's speed, technique, balance, and preseason what for her at least made him to a more dangerous enemy.
Against Max who in principle tried to end a fight without anyone getting hurt the potential for injury or even death was relatively low. Against Alexander, however, the opposite was the case. Both of them weren't exactly expert duelist. That meant that their fight would be more spontaneous and uncontrolled. Much more dangerous for both combatants. However, it also meant she could win.
Ahsoka was painfully aware of the fact that her years fighting droids on battle fighting had come at a price. She had slacked in her training as a duelist while Alexander had spent the last few months getting back in shape.
He was stronger and heavier while she was faster and more maneuverable.
While as a skirmisher she was easily superior to him a one on one fight could end with him coming out on top. That was if the clones didn't storm the courtyard first and ended the fight themselves.
Ahsoka took another step back and crouched down. In her mind, she was back to the time in which she spent hours on end in the fencing halls with Max back when she was a youngling. She knew the strengths and weaknesses of the fighting style Max and herself had invented for her.
Ahsoka forced herself to calm down.
She put more weight on her forward leg and winced, pretending as if she had a minor injury. At the same time over pronounced her breathing slightly to seem more exhausted than she really was. This was the first thing Ahsoka had learned from Max. A truly superior duelist won a fight in his mind before he actually engaged his enemy.
Alexander fell for it and attacked, making use of Form VII Juyo to exploit her moment of weakness. Instead of blocking the powerful two-handed blows Ahsoka rolled away sideways, letting the king of Alderaan stumble past her.
She could have countered but thought better of it. Alex spun around his glowing green blade coming up to defend a strike that didn't come when it should have.
Ahsoka fainted a strike to his ribs a moment later leaving Alex to hastily twitch his blade to deflect the expected attack. In a fluent movement, Ahsoka rolled forward and came up behind the king and slashed at him with lightsaber. Her enemy just managed to block the strike.
To her disappointment, Alexander rolled backward and was ready to meet her. Still, she had broken his confidence and now Alexander expected her to continue her current, nonlinear style. Ahsoka Tano had no such plans. She did the last thing Alexander Bay expected and attacked him straight on making good use of Ataru.
Ahsoka danced through Alexander's counter attacks and jumped around him, forcing him to maneuver. Simply refusing to give Alexander the option of putting up a stand she turned into a tornado of green streaks of light as she hacked and slashed.
Alex tried to make use of force pushes once or twice but Ahsoka dove aside and countered immediately, not allowing him the chance to recover.
A small explosion echoed over the courtyard but Ahsoka didn't pay any attention to it.
Finally, she did it. She pretended as if she intended to drive her Shoto through Alexander's face, forcing him to raise his defense allowing her to slash at his leg.
The glowing green blade cut through cloth and skin, grazing the kings thigh muscle. While part of her wanted to press her advantage and go for the kill she danced away and came to a still stand ten feet away from her opponent. Not a moment too soon.
Alexander howled in pain and went berserk and started hacking and slashing so wildly that Ahsoka doubted that she would have been able to defend herself. Instead of attacking Ahsoka drew back even further, having no intention of facing her enemy like this. Max was right, anger did put an enemy at a disadvantage.
Ahsoka dropped down into a crouch, her muscles tensed. She was now a predator, waiting for the perfect moment to kill her prey. It wasn't bad either that the king was exhausting himself with his blind attacks.
"Alexander, stop right this moment!" an angry female voice yelled. To Ahsoka's left another Togruta approached holding a light saber with a glowing violet blade. Alexander froze and looked around and spotted his angry and apparently pregnant wife storming towards the duelists.
Ahsoka crouched down ready for a fight. Just when things were going so well against enemy one a second enemy had to turn up.
Yela glared at her, "Take her alive!"
For a moment Ahsoka froze utterly flabbergasted. Then the realization hit her accompanied by horror. Yela hadn't been talking to her. She had given orders to someone behind her.
Ahsoka spun around but was too late. Pain shot through her body and then blackness.
So, tell me what you think.
WinterWolf & Lengendary95 over and out.