AHSOKA TANO
“I can’t believe it,” whispered Ahsoka. She felt her eyes fill again, but wiped them away. No, she consoled herself. If he’s gone to the Dark Side, then there’s nothing I can do for him. I have to be strong.
She felt a whiff of air, despite being indoors, and looked up to see another vent, this one leading directly upwards, towards the Council Chamber. Anakin’s former padawan had the feeling that she would find her former-Master-gone-Dark-Side there. She would have to confront him, for the lives of those that were threatened. Maybe she could even stop this attack, but she wasn’t that hopeful.
She began to climb. The vent was broken in places, obviously from where the Clone Troopers had blasted it open to get at any hiding Jedi. Now the coast was clear, as the menace had moved into the Temple.
Eventually, she reached the top, but was faced with a problem: the vent had been closed off. Apparently, whatever Anakin’s – no, Darth Vader’s – doing, he doesn’t want to be interrupted, Ahsoka thought. He was Darth Vader now; her old master was gone to evil.
Suddenly, she had an idea. The large windows of the Council Chamber were breakable, and she could get through that if she had enough power in her hit to them. It would probably be her only hope.
She levered herself up to the window, and peeped in, choosing not to remember that she was thousands of feet from the ground. From there, she could see younglings hiding behind the Council chairs. There were six of them. They came out of hiding, and a little boy with blond hair went to speak to Ana – Darth Vader.
It’s just like in my dream, she thought with horror. Sure enough, Darth Vader pulled his blue lightsaber on him. It was ironic that he had gone to the Dark Side, while he still had a weapon of that of Light.
“I have to be strong,” she said quietly, trying to calm her beating heart. “I hope that the Force will be with me, so that even if I die, I will save the younglings.”
Swinging on a thick cable that had come loose in the fighting, she flew towards the window with as much force as her compact body could manage.
The window shattered on the first blow. In the space of a heartbeat, Ahsoka had let go, done a front flip through the air, and landed gracefully in front of the blond youngling who was a second away from death. A single blue lightsaber and two green ones met, and she absorbed what would have been a deathblow to the little boy.
A look of immeasurable fury came over her former Master’s yellow-and-red-rimmed eyes. She allowed herself a millisecond be scared of that look, then came back to her fearless self.
Jumping back and placing herself between Darth Vader and the younglings, she looked at him with her deep blue eyes that sometimes seemed to contain entire seas with unmasked regret.
“It doesn’t have to end this way, Anakin,” she said, as he shed his cloak, for easier movement, to fight her.
“It does. I will achieve what is most important for my Master by destroying the Jedi!”
“And who is your new Master, Darth Vader?” she asked, her voice bitter, taking off her cloak as well.
“The Chancellor. And together, we are more powerful than you could ever become, unless you join us.” He stared her down with a look that had, time and time again, convinced her to do as he said, back when she had been his padawan.
“Never.” They began to circle one another, preparing to attack or be attacked. “I’m no agent of that Dark Side, Vader. I may have been yours to command once, even loved you once, but not any more. You’ve sealed your fate, and not mine.”
Anger distorted the young Sith Lord’s face, and he rushed her. Using all of her skills as a Jedi, she leaped, just out of reach, and kicked him with precision on the back. Unbalanced, Vader fell, and tried to sweep Ahsoka’s legs out from under her, and succeeded. She was knocked to the ground.