After Jedi

Stowaway

Coruscant really was a beautiful planet. If you were rich, that is. Jedi weren't rich, but the Republic Senate was. While Ahsoka hadn't lived in luxury, she'd seen Padmé's apartment and it was almost twelve times bigger than her little room in the Temple.

She and Ventress were nowhere near rich, and after being on the run for so long, they'd gotten used to seeing Courscant's ugly underbelly. They landed in Ventress' little docking bay, only a week after they'd left.

They walked out of the Sunset, pushing one crate each.

"Hey, should we link our comms?" Ahsoka asked as they walked towards the door. Ventress stopped for a moment to fiddle with hers.

"Good idea. Just give me a second...there. Now we can keep in contact in case anything goes wrong. I'll transmit the coordinates of your meeting place."

"Alright. I'll meet you at the rendezvous point." Ahsoka and Ventress walked out the door and went their separate ways.

Every window was either one-way or too dirty to see through. The alleyways were shadowy and narrow, giving off the illusion that everything was bigger than it really was. The sound of all the nightclub music reminded Ahsoka of the late hour. She quickened her pace, not wanting to get caught in the crowd of drunks that would soon flood out.

After another fifteen minutes, Ahsoka turned into a secluded, dead-end alleyway where her contact was waiting. He, too, was wearing all grey, and his hat covered most of his face. Ahsoka sensed his gaze on her lightsabers.

"Jedi?" he asked in a rough voice.

"No," she responded, defiantly meeting his gaze.

"Then where'd you get those?" He pointed to her lightsabers.

"Stole them. After their original owner... lost them." She hoped he would understand the implications of her words. Besides, there was no way he would deal with her if he knew her background.

He backed off. Ahsoka showed him the crate and he showed her the credits. It was a considerable amount and Ahsoka didn't think that whatever was in the crate was worth it, but she forced herself to hold her questioning tongue.

"Thank you," the mysterious man said. "These will help a lot of the people down here."

Ahsoka nodded in acknowledgment, not voicing her burning question about who was sponsoring them.

A few minutes later, Ahsoka walked out holding a briefcase. Once she was out of sight, Ahsoka held the circular button on her commlink and spoke.

"Ventress?"

"Ahsoka. Off without a hitch, huh?"

"Yup. Meet you at the rendezvous point?"

"See you there."

Ahsoka walked back to the hangar and waited in the shadows for Ventress, stashing her briefcase somewhere she knew Ventress would find it.

Her comm beeped. The loud noise made Ahsoka jump after being so quiet for so long. She opened the channel.

"Ahsoka, change of plans." Ventress' voice spoke quickly from the other side.

"Uh, okay. To what?" Ahsoka heard her deflecting blaster shots with lightsabers.

"I'm being chased by some clones. I'm guessing they don't exactly appreciate what we're doing here. I can hold them off long enough to get away, but you can't come with me."

"What? Why not?"

"If they see you, do you think they won't report it? Skywalker would come running and I don't think that's a good idea."

"Okay, you're right. What should I do?"

"Stowaway on a ship. You can still hide in the vents right?"

"I think so."

"Good, there's one in Bay 7. Figure out how to get yourself on board. I don't have much time, the clones will find me again soon. Good luck."

"You too." Ahsoka broke the connection.

Since she was already in the hangar bay, it didn't take too long to find Bay 7. It was a fairly large ship, probably made for deep space travel. It was pitch black and kind of reminded her of that ship General Grievous once had, the Malevolence. Ahsoka shook that thought out of her mind. The Malevolence had been destroyed years ago, she was just being paranoid.

She crouched down behind some cargo being loaded and then ran quickly to the side of the ship. Ahsoka managed to crawl under and ran her hands along the smooth surface, searching for the hinge to the engine room. It took some prying, but she got it open and quietly pulled herself into the red-lit room.

Ahsoka climbed the ladder out of the engine room and immediately started scanning the ceiling for any vent covers. She was in a secluded corridor adjacent to a large, brightly-lit hallway. It looked deserted, so she took her chances and opened the first vent she saw. Ahsoka carefully pulled herself into the vent and replaced the cover behind her.

She knew Ventress wouldn't be in orbit yet but Ahsoka was too restless to just sit still and wait. She crawled around the vents until she had a rough idea of how to navigate the ship. Once she found the main airlock, Ahsoka stopped and sat with her legs crossed. She waited by the door see who's ship she was on.

Ahsoka shied away from the light as droids filed into the corridor. They were Separatist droids, which made her wonder what exactly this ship was doing here. The Separatists wouldn't dare enter Republic space, would they?

Her question was soon answered when the doors opened and a weirdly shaped droid was running towards the ramp. It was carrying someone across its shoulders. Ahsoka gasped as she realized it was General Grievous. She recognized his bizarre legs and unnecessary amount of arms (I mean, who needs that many arms?). His metal footsteps clanged on the ground as he ran and Ahsoka realized who he was carrying: Chancellor Palpatine. And if Palpatine was there, then Anakin wouldn't be far behind. He and Obi-Wan were running after Grievous with their blue lightsabers drawn. He had some clones with him but their shots just ricocheted off of Grievious' armor.

Once Grievous was on the ship, the door closed, and the General started ordering his droids around.

"What are you doing?" he asked in his unnatural voice. "Get us out of here!"

"Yes, sir," the droids' metallic voices responded.

The droids dispersed and Grievous walked off, presumably to put Palpatine in a cell. Ahsoka followed them as quietly as she could.

But he didn't even take the Chancellor to the detention level. He tied Palpatine to a chair on the bridge. Thankfully, the Chancellor was still out cold. Ahsoka silently slid away from the room and tried to contact Ventress.

"Hey. Just got away, but I'm still in orbit. There's another ship up here too, a big Separatist one."

"Yeah, I know, it's Grievous' ship and I'm on it."

"Oh no."

"They were on Coruscant to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine. The Republic will be up here soon, along with Anakin. Stay out of scanning range from the ship but don't leave the system. There's going to be a battle and in the midst of it, you can dock unnoticed and get me out of here. Got it?"

"Yes. Stay out of sight."

"I will. Ahsoka out."