Only Love can Save them

Chapter 5

The rebel ships landed on Garel, concealed by the large buildings and traffic that flew high above the dirty city streets. Kanan and Ezra stood beside her as they looked around the landing pad that was dirty and half-filled with unopened crates.

"This is your rebel base?" Kanan asked, clearly underwhelmed. Ahsoka laughed and shook her head.

"One of our largest rebel bases is on Shili, where my people are. We stop here to hide some of our larger ships and pick up fuel and weapons," Ahsoka explained as she nodded to the crates. 

"Are we supposed to drag those onto the ships?" Ezra asked. "That is a lot of stuff to carry, not to mention the fuel cells."

"Ezra, I thought you would have learned to not always use things with brute force," Barriss said, walking down the ramp. "Just focus."

Ezra blinked in realization as Ahsoka and Barriss brought several of the large crates over with the Force. Kanan and Ezra followed suit, though their use of the Force was a bit more shaky than the two experienced Grey Jedi. 

Other rebel soldiers began to haul the fuel cells onto the support ships using the antigrav. The Ghost crew began to assist as the four Force-users in moving the crates of weapons onto the main rebel cruiser. 

"So you do this every day?" Zeb asked as he pushed the fuel cell onto the grey platform and positioned it carefully, before tying it down tightly. 

"Not every day. We make supply runs in the markets and stop Imperial shipments, but we don't stay too long to attract attention from the Empire," Ahsoka said, taking one of her lightsabers off her belt and fiddling with it. 

"Odd lightsaber grip," Ezra noted as Kanan let out a laugh, nodding to his apprentice's square-shaped saber.

"Ezra, I don't think you can talk with a lightsaber-blaster combination," he said. 

"That's one I haven't heard before, and the Temple is full of weird sabers," Ahsoka said, remembering the beautiful Grey Jedi temple. Made of glistening white rock that blended in with the ice and sparkled in the light and showed the grey veins that cut through the stone. There were double-bladed sabers, some with crossguards, shoto blades, rounded hilts, ones wrapped with leather and made of wood. 

She sighed as she thought of the kyber crystals that shimmered in the cave and the statues of the warriors from when the Grey Jedi were numerous. "You've been to the temple on Lothal?" Ezra asked, intrigued. Kanan shook his head. 

"Ezra, The Jedi Temple on Coruscant. It's now a Sith temple for Emperor Palpatine," his master said, sighing.

"No. The Grey Jedi temple," Ahsoka said. "When I left the Jedi Order, I was on my own. When the Empire rose, I found Barriss who had already left the Jedi Order and she taught me the path of the Grey Jedi."

"The Grey Jedi? I thought they were extinct," Kanan said in disbelief. 

"They were, but their spirits are never gone in the Force. They guided me to the temple and to Barriss. They taught me the ways of balance in the Force," Ahsoka replied, twisting one of her lekku around her finger. 

"So you use the dark side?" Ezra asked. 

"Sometimes. I definitely use the powers of the light more often, but I will use the dark side if needed."

"Alright, it's all loaded up. Where we headed to?" Zeb asked as he finished shoving the last crate onto the ship and securing. 

"Our base on Shili," Barriss replied. "Starlit Base."

They boarded the Ghost from the landing pad. They would send the smaller ship first, making sure that it was okay for the larger ships to land. They couldn't be spotted by the Empire now. Ahsoka whistled for G-G and the R2 unit rolled up behind her. Chopper grunted angrily as he placed his small, grey pincher-shaped hands on his orange body. 

Barriss laughed, a light and airy, laugh at Chopper's reaction. "Chop, stop complaining," Hera said as she made her way into the cockpit. "Set the coordinates for hyperspace so we can leave as soon as possible."

Chopper groaned and dutifully rolled behind Hera as they sat down. Barriss settled down in the communal area to fiddle with her lightsaber and adjust several things on her outfit. Ahsoka knew that Barriss kept a blaster hidden in the folds of her long cloak to use instead of her lightsaber.

Ahsoka kept a blaster hidden as well as a kinfe that she could influence the toss with the Force in a pinch. The Togruta stood behind the Ghost crew, her elbow resting on the top of a seat as they exited the atmosphere and shot into hyperspace.

"So, how long have you been watching us for?" Sabine asked, running a hand through her orange and blue hair. "We all know Hera got messages from Fulcrum, which is you, but how long have you been overseeing us for the Rebellion?"

"Hera came to us," Ahsoka said. "She had met up with Kanan already and her stunt with him to help save Gorse and Cynda from the Empire drew our attention. We told her to go to the trader Vizago who we'd been working with already to get weapons and information and that he'd give her missions. Then we'd come after and buy the things to help our cause."

"What stunt with Kanan on Gorse?" Sabine asked, eyeing the pair. 

"I'll let you discuss it," Ahsoka said, holding back a laugh. She left and found Barriss, who was meddling with a blaster on the table. Sadness hung over her friend like a cloud. 

Barriss looked up glumly, her blue eyes filled with pain. Ahsoka sat beside her. "You miss him, don't you?" she asked and the Mirialan nodded. 

"I don't want to leave him behind and I know you don't want to leave Rex to the hands of the Empire," Barriss said in her soft voice. 

Ahsoka's heart twisted painfully in her chest. "I want to protect the fleet but I can't leave him behind. Not after what happened," she admitted. 

"So will you come with me and free them?" Barriss asked hopefully. 

Before she could answer, G-G came in and told them that they were entering the atmosphere of Shili. "Thanks, G-G," Ahsoka told the droid and it beeped triumphantly. Oh, droids. she thought, smiling to herself. "I'll tell you later," she promised Barriss as the ship swooped low over the planet. 

Something was wrong. She sensed it. The pain filling the air and clouding the Force. Hate. Anger. Death. Smoke rose from several of the colorful buildings that the colonists live in and the smell of burning rose as they landed. 

"The Empire," Ahsoka breathed. "They've been here."

A/N: Hope you liked the chapter. The Gorse and Cynda thing is from A New Dawn, which you should read. Comment your thoughts down below. Bye.

-EmeraldMoon