AHSOKA TANO
"Maul!" Ahsoka said, her voice rising to a shout. Her hands were clenched into fists, her nails digging into her skin. "What have you done with Lux?"
There was no reply. There was the ghost of a sneer on Lux's chiseled features, and his eyes stared at her with their unnatural yellow-rimmed-with-red eyes. The veins around the bright Sith orbs were dark and distinct, his skin pale.
"Answer me!" she yelled. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for something she could use as a weapon. Her lightsaber wasn't at her belt or tucked into the secret pocket in her vest, and the blaster holster that was usually strapped to her thigh was gone as well. It was only reasonable to assume that the medical staff had taken her weapons away; most likely to make sure she didn't hurt herself in her delirious state.
But even so, there was nothing that she could use to fight Maul without harming Lux in the process. And, despite having sworn an oath of detachment, as all Jedi did, she was entirely incapable of hurting the love of her life.
"Your husband is safe... For now," Maul said. The Sith Lord then reached into her mind, flicking away her mental blocks like flies, to show her an image of Lux – the real Lux – in a tiny cell, deep in the Force where Maul had put him. "To speak frankly, he's far safer than you are about to be!"
"What do you mean?" she growled, a shard of curiosity piercing her mask of battle-ready ferocity.
As if answering her question, suddenly, more of the strange, black-and-red mist appeared out of thin air, beginning to pool around Lux – no, Maul's – feet. It spiraled up in places, reaching approximately the height of a person. Then, the each of the spires morphed into another one of the strange Sith warriors, each one equipped with a deadly red lightsaber! And there were more than ten of them there!
Again, she did a frantic sweep of the room. There was nothing that she could use, nothing even remotely related to a lightsaber or a blaster. And, from what she had observed on the battlefield, they were incredibly skilled. She had little hope of defeating them with her bare hands.
"Now, Ahsoka Tano," said Maul, who even had the audacity to continue speaking in Lux's voice, "you will die."
As the soldiers began closing in, Ahsoka pushed a button on her comlink, and tapped out a quick message. Thankfully, Amni hadn't taken that away. She could only pray that Padme or Anakin would answer, and send some sort of help.
R2-D2
In the main hangar of the Morvolo Base, not too far away from the center of the battle, R2-D2 felt the comlink he was carrying in one of his compartments buzz and trill. The small communicator was receiving a message.
He opened the lid, using one of his smaller mechanical grabbers to pull it out. Miss Padme, whom he had escorted here, had given it to him for safekeeping, in case she didn't come back from going to help Master Anakin. Apparently, it contained precious information that was not only vital to the survival of the growing Rebel cells dotted throughout the galaxy, but also to the few remaining Jedi.
Artoo's limited sentience circuitry registered a feeling of gladness that she trusted him so. It made him feel... Well, the simplest emotion of the mix that he was capable of decoding was happiness.
But, even though he was supposed to guard it even if his very jetpack boosters – which had become a little faulty of late, much to his chagrin, as he didn't know how to repair them – were on the line, nothing had been said about checking new messages.
And so, taking care to sweep the message as he went for harmful computer bugs, he listened in.
Ahsoka Tano was the registered sender. Artoo beeped in relief – he had checked her comlink, as well as that of Master Anakin and those of the rest of Miss Padme's closest allies here at the Base, that morning. There were no bugs he had picked up that might be harmful Padme's comlink or his own systems.
Need help, the message said. Cornered by Maul in medical wing. Lux is in danger. Need a lightsaber or blaster. Come as soon as possible.
The time it was sent wasn't too long before. As no one else had received this message – with the possible exception of Master Ani, but he was indisposed at the moment – little Artoo decided to take matters into his own hands.
And then, turning on his motorized treads and his jetpacks on low for extra speed, he zoomed off down the hallway. His long-range sensors were alert for anything like the specialized frequencies that came from Ahsoka's lightsaber.
Not too much later, he picked up a trace of her lightsaber's composition – the green crystal at its very heart. It was on a high shelf in Mistress Amni's room, and with it was her blaster. He dialed in the security code and rolled inside.
A few tugs of one of his more powerful magnets later, the little droid had the blaster stowed safely away in one of his larger compartments, and Miss Tano's lightsaber in his secret lightsaber slot, a feature that Master Anakin had installed during the Clone Wars.
With that, he hurried out of the room, towards the room in the medical facility where Ahsoka was being kept, which was thankfully not too far away. He only hoped that he was in time to save her from whoever or whatever it was that was threatening her.
*Ahsoka has sent out a call for help. But will Artoo reach her in time to get her lightsaber and her blaster back to her, or will he be too late? Just what information is on the comlink that Padme gave to the R2 unit for safekeeping? And will Ahsoka be able to save Lux from the evil clutches of Darth Maul, or is the damage permanent? You'll find out in the next thrilling chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano!
AAAAAANNNNDDDDD ARTOO DETOO MAKES HIS APPEARANCE!!! YAAAAY!!! I wanted R2 was to have a relatively important role in the story, like he does in the movies. And I thought that it would be interesting if he was the one to receive the call for aid and be all like: ARTOO TO THE RESCUUUUUUUE just like in the good ol' days back during the Clone Wars!
So yeah, I'll update soon. It's gonna be one of the last ten or so chapters! *does Emperor Palpatine accent* The end is near, my friends...
Become a Senator for your home world and may the Force be with you,
Sharron
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The Unchronicled Adventures of Ahsoka Tano, Book Eight
FanfictionTo be read as the eighth book in the series. Ahsoka Tano has come far. She has faced three Sith Lords and still escaped with her life. She has broken in and out of top secret facilities without receiving a single scratch. She has overcome every hurd...
