Ahsoka, Daughter of the Light (Book 4): Hidden

Chapter 33: Supply Run

AHSOKA TANO-BONTERI

Ahsoka watched as the ship came up on the deserted landscape of Florrum.

It had been a while since she had been here, but then again, ever since she had left the Order, she had only been on Coruscant, Onderon, and the Jedi camp.

"Anything on scan?" Ahsoka asked Lux.

"No ships incoming," Lux replied. "There are no ships in orbit. Looks like the pirates are gone."

"Scan the surface," Ahsoka continued. "Any active installations?"

"Nope," Lux said. "Looks like the place is abandoned. We're clear for landing."

"Alright then," Ahsoka said, "let's go."

Ahsoka piloted the ship as it approached Florrum's surface. The plateaus and rock formations of the landscape came into view, and the sky became covered in an orange-ish haze.

Soon, the wreckage of Hondo's base came into view.

"No pirates," Lux said. "The place was abandoned."

"What happened to Hondo?" Katooni asked.

"Empire, probably," Ahsoka replied.

The ship landed just outside the old pirate base in the middle of a debris pile, so it wouldn't be noticed.

"Let's go," Ahsoka said. "R7, stay on board and listen for my call if we need a quick pickup. Call me if anything enters orbit. There doesn't seem to be anyone here, but we don't want to risk it if there's a probe droid here that reports our location."

They made their way towards the ramp and walked down it.

There was the faint sound of wind rustling. The hot, scorching sun was beating down on her orange skin. The dust was already starting to collect on her combat suit.

She could tell why the pirates had chosen Florrum. It's hot climate wasn't the most pleasant, enough to deter most settlers.

"Come on," Ahsoka said, "Let's head in."

They headed into the building, and there were still no signs of life.

Sunlight slid through the cracks of the building, illuminating it enough that they didn't need to activate their lightsabers to see.

"Where do they keep the goods?" Lux asked.

"I don't know," Ahsoka said. "We just have to look around."

After a few minutres of walking through the building, they came to a room full of miscellaneous crates and equipment.

"Looks like we found something," Lux said.

"No kidding," Katooni replied. "Let's see what's inside."

Ahsoka slid open the top to one of the crates.

"Medical supplies," she said.

"Great," Lux said.

Ahsoka pushed a button on the side of the crate, and it began to hover.

"We're taking this one," she said.

Lux then took a look in another crate.

"This one too," he said. "It looks like there's some mechanical parts here we can use. There's prosthetic limbs in here, too, which will be useful if any of us lose a limb."

"I hope I won't need any of those," Katooni remarked.

Ahsoka walked over to another crate and opened it. She was unexpectedly met with a blast of cold air. Looking inside the crate, she saw multiple refrigerated foods.

"We've got some foods in here, too," Ahsoka said.

She then hit the button to make the crate hover and closed it back up.

"Let's take these back to the ship," Ahsoka said. "We can come back for more."

"Agreed," Lux said.

Ahsoka pushed the crates out of the room and into the halls, followed by Lux and Katooni.

They boarded the ship and put the crates down.

R7 saw them and beeped at them.

"Yes," Ahsoka replied, "we'll be back with more. There's a lot of stuff in there."

THE GRAND INQUISITOR

The Grand Inquisitor stood on the bridge of his Imperial-class star destroyer which was orbiting Coruscant.

The ship was one of the first of it's kind, and was intended to phase out the old Republic's Venator-class ships within a year or so.

"Sir," a nearby officer said, "we have some footage from a probe droid on Florrum that might interest you."

"Hmm," said the Inquisitor, "did those pirates come crawling back to their base to retrieve some stolen goods?"

"No sir," said the officer. "It seems to be the fugitives Ahsoka Tano and Lux Bonteri, along with what appears to be an unidentified Tholothian female teenager."

The Inquisitor immediately shot the officer a look of great interest.

"Very well then," he said, "show me the footage."

The officer pushed a few buttons, and a holographic recording of Ahsoka came up, pushing a crate. Behind her was Lux Bonteri, the former Senator of Onderon who was presumed dead. Behind him was the Tholothian that the officer mentioned. The three were talking, but the recording must have been taken too far away for it to be heard clearly.

He couldn't see where the three were pushing the three crates, as they dissapeared behind a pile of debris.

"How recent was this footage captured?" The Inquisitor asked.

"Just now," the officer said.

"Very well then," he said. "I shall contact Lord Vader immediately," he said.

The officer bowed, and The Inquisitor left the bridge and went to the communications chamber.

He pushed a few buttons to contact Vader, and then kneeled before the hologram.

The holographic image of Vader showed up.

"Why have you summoned me, Inquisitor?" Asked Vader.

"I have evidence that Ahsoka Tano and Lux Bonteri are on Florrum, along with what appears to be a Tholothian youngling," replied The Inquisitor. "This is a critical moment we have to capture or kill Tano, and it is important that we do not squander it."

"If you wish for me to assist you, I regret to inform you I am dealing with something myself at this moment," Vader said. "I suggest you take care of this situation yourself."

"If what I have heard about Tano is correct, then I may not be able to take her out on my own, much less the three of them."

"You have the Inquisitorius at your disposal," Vader said. "I suggest you use them."

"It will be done, my lord," The Inquisitor replied, ending the hologram.

He walked back up to the bridge.

"You there," he beckoned at a nearby officer. "Fetch me First Sister and Fifth Brother, immediately. Tell them we're heading to Florrum to deal with Ahsoka Tano and Lux Bonteri."

"Yes sir," the officer replied.