The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Five

Chapter Two: Security Breach/Speeder Search

LUX BONTERI

Lux and Ahsoka arrived at the Lookout. Lux was very concerned about the security breach, because he didn’t even know how it had happened. But what he did know was that the scanners had stopped working completely for a few minutes, then had come back on as if nothing had occured.

“It’s exactly the right amount of time for a ship or an escape pod to land without being detected,” he told her as they slowed their pace. “But what I don’t understand is how they did it. Only you and I know the passcodes to override the signal.”

He watched as she went into thinking mode. It was one of the things that he loved about her; her face would sort of compress itself in a way that you could almost see the gears whirring away in her head.

Suddenly her face lit up. “If someone were sending out a distress signal from an escape pod or a ship, then it might have a frequency high enough to disrupt it. But it would have to be the escape pod from a particular kind of ship.” Then her face darkened. “Only, I can’t remember which kind.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll work it out eventually,” he said, putting his arm around her shoulder and leading her up the rocks that served as steps and inside.

The Lookout was built in a way that it sat on the edge of the old meteorite crater where the camp was set up. It was attached to one of Cialone’s enormous, ancient trees, but it could be reached from the ground using the rocky steps. Or one could use a system of ropes outside of the crater to get in.

Every inch of the inside of the small wooden cabin was covered in dials, switches, buttons and computer screens. Lux was there on a regular basis, for one of the three watches during the night and one during the day, so he knew his way around the place pretty well.

He showed Ahsoka the timeframes. “It started here,” he said, pointing to the anomaly in a diagram on-screen, “and then ended here. But in the moments that the scanners were still working before they were compromised, something that was not a meteorite entered the atmosphere a few kilometers to the east.”

“And do you know what it was if it wasn’t a meteorite?” she asked. It was true that the flying rocks weren’t uncommon on Cialone, because of the planet’s unusual astronomical conditions.

“It was probably an escape pod. There’s no way to know for certain, but it’s the most likely possibility.”

“Well,” she said, eyes shining with excitement, “then let’s go check it out!”

AHSOKA TANO

Once they had gulped down their breakfast, which proved to be delicious, and an alternate schedule had been arranged so that Ahsoka and Lux could leave to investigate, they set out.

It was warmer out by that time, so Ahsoka was able to take off her cloak and just wear her usual outfit, complete with some goggles for the ride. The sun warmed her back as the speeder she was flying zoomed towards the area where the pod must have landed.

Lux, who was sitting next to her on the vehicle, put a comforting arm on her shoulder. She snuck a look back at him, despite the fact that there was a risk of crashing into a tree if she didn’t look where she was going. No matter. All Togruta had a sixth sense that made their lekku sensitive to what was going on around them, even the most subtle of changes in air pressure.

As she slowed the speeder, Ahsoka looked around the surrounding landscape. Nothing seemed out of place, so she kept going at the same speed.

Suddenly Lux jerked in his seat, and wordlessly motioned to the side. Broken undergrowth and a path that was etched deeply in the soil pointed towards the left. She angled the speeder in the right direction, and they took off, following the trail.