The Unchronicled Adventures of Ahsoka Tano, Book Eight

Chapter Forty-Eight: Attack On The Morvolo Base/ Subject GG

AHSOKA TANO

Ahsoka and Lux ran down the hallway towards the briefing room and control center, both wearing fearful expressions. Ahsoka hoped that it was only another drill, but considering what had happened on Onderon mere hours before... There wasn't much hope she was able to allot it. 

She looked over at Lux. In all of the craziness of the last few days, he had forgotten to shave. She smiled a little. No one ever noticed when he did except her. 

Suddenly, she was overcome by the most peculiar feeling. It was like she was trying to run through water, but at the same time, she could still feel that she was running forward. It was strange, and she almost said something to Lux about it, but he apparently hadn't noticed. 

But just as quickly as it had come, it was gone. And then the explosions started. The two ran to the nearest window, looking out. And what they saw would have been enough to put fear in the heart of the bravest of soldiers. 

There was an army of enemy troops approaching. 

Ahsoka knew what the protocol was here at the base. The officers with more rank – such as her and Lux – were supposed to report immediately to the main entrance hall, while the pilots and ground troops went to their assigned hangar bays to be briefed on their roles in the Rebels' next move. 

The two were thankfully near the entrance hall. They arrived shortly, meeting up with Saw Gerrera and General Tandin, a man who had been an important figure in the survival of the rebellion against the Separatists during the Clone Wars. 

"What's happened?" Lux demanded, wincing as another explosion dislodged some powdery snow from the ceiling. "We heard explosions, and–" 

Ahsoka suddenly had a sharp intake of breath, causing him to stop speaking. She was seeing something that ignited terrified feelings deep within her, and her stomach turned. 

Too many red lightsabers to count were slicing through the thick steel doors that were protecting them from the outside weather and their attackers. 

"Sith!"

 DARTH VADER 

Darth Vader strode into the storage section of the medical wing on the Executor, his personal Super Star Destroyer and the flagship of the Imperial Navy. His cloak billowed out behind him, and every officer he passed who didn't have their hands full stood to rapt attention, saluting smartly. They were the reason that the Executor had such a reputation. 

A ship was only as good as its crew, after all. 

Many different thoughts were swirling around in his mind. For one, the Emperor sending the ship in was no random choice – even the mere presence of the Executor's massive bulk just beyond the gravitational pull of a planet was more than enough to scare the inhabitants into submission. However, in this case, Onderon had stubbornly refused to show signs of fear. 

The planet's people were brave; Vader would give them that. They came from a warrior past. And, as was said in Sith teachings, stubbornness was often a foolish card to play, but if it was played right, then it could come off as brave, and even – he very nearly shuddered just thinking about it – heroic. 

But no matter. Tenacity of will could be weakened if pressure was applied in the right places, eventually leading to the breaking point and an Imperial victory. And the 'extra precautions' that his Master had instructed him to bring would push that along very nicely. 

"My lord," a tall, thin man clad in a stark white lab coat called. He was the Chief Medical Engineer onboard, and one of the few people aside from Grand Moff Tarkin who could actually get the better of him. 

Tarkin. He had done everything in his power to stop the man's promotion to the first Grand Moff in galactic history, but failed. And now he was forced to obey the Moff's every command. 

"What is the status with the project, officer?" he asked, crossing his arms and looking at the bacta tank that contained the Empire's secret weapon: a plan that had been, along with the Maul Project, almost the first things that the Emperor had set up when his control over the Galaxy had been made certain. 

He didn't know for certain why his Master wanted the original Darth Maul when he had made several clones already, but he had his suspicions. He believed that his Master was concerned for his already old and feeble body. He intended to use one of the Maul clones as his host when he could no longer support himself. And, as he wanted the original Maul back, that would mean that so far all of the clones were imperfect. 

But as far as he knew, his Master couldn't inhabit members of the Kaleesh species. Which meant that the project was safe for the moment. 

"Subject GG has been refitted with new and improved armor to better protection to the vital organs, to avoid how he was defeated last time. At your leisure, my lord, he is ready to wake up."

Vader looked again at the skeletal, armored figure in the tank. "Wake him. And be sure to take care. If he is disabled in any way... The Empire has ways of dealing with failures such as these." 

His words had no effect on the man. He didn't even blink. "Yes sir," he said simply, and turned to the control panel. Vader really did hate him. 

The subject was carefully lifted from the bacta tank and placed on a metal operating table nearby. The Chief Medical Engineer gave him a shot of something, probably a stimulant, but there was no change.  

"Can you hear me?" he said, addressing Subject GG. 

Suddenly the pair of yellow eyes belonging to the cyborg opened, dilating once or twice, but continued to stare straight ahead.  

After a moment, he seemed able to speak. The medical officer passed the subject a dark green cloak, which he put on as he sat up, still refusing to look at Vader. Then he drew himself to his full height, which was a little taller than he was, finally meeting the Sith Lord's eyes through the ocular device in his helmet. 

"I can," he said with a cough, his wheezing, rattling voice calling up old memories. Memories that were better off buried deep in the abyss of the Dark Side.  

"Then I bid you welcome to the time of the Galactic Empire," Vader said, crossing his arms. "You will call me Lord Vader or Darth Vader. I am the new apprentice of Darth Sidious. My Master and I have work for you... General Grievous."

*General Grievous, the Kaleesh cyborg and former Supreme Commander of the Separatist army, has returned. But, as his body was destroyed on Utapau all those years ago, how was this done? And what can the Empire accomplish with such formidable foe in their ranks? And, with enemies on both sides - Maul and the Empire - to whom will our heroes turn to for help, if there is even anyone left who can come to their aide? You'll find out in the next amazing chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano!

Okay, you all are hereby given official permission to go crazy.

I know that I might seem a little unoriginal with bringing back all of the old Star Wars super villains and all, but I literally just got the idea to bring Grievous an hour before I sat down to write... and I was like, HOLY SITH, THAT IS THE BEST IDEA EVER!!!! Not saying you have to agree, though.

Now a few things about this chapter: GG stands for General Grievous, and I was originally planning for the 'extra precautions' to be someone else, but I decided against it at the last minute and I'm saving their debut for the next book. I've been doing an awful lot of switching the plot events around lately from books eight to nine and vice versa...

So, anyways, I have to get going, and I'll try to update as soon as I can. Sorry if I just caused heart attacks under the forms of fangirling/boying fits. It was NOT intentional. Bye.

Realize that your father was not the navigator on a spice freighter and may the Force be with you,

Sharron