“That’s a good idea,” Vartan said. “I’ll let Selda know.” His eyes flicked past the place where the Imperial officers were sitting. “Later.”
Ahsoka nodded and took her turn at the crokin board. She missed the shot, as well. Neera’s piece was just too well protected behind the peg. They did another full round, Ahsoka’s side trying to dislodge Neera’s piece and Hoban’s team trying to dislodge Kaeden’s. No one had any success, except that it was nice to focus on the frustrations of the game instead of the presence of the Imperials.
Neera was about to take the final shot of the game when there was a disturbance at the front of the cantina. The two officers had been joined by a third, a superior judging by his insignia. The officers stood and saluted. The stormtroopers remained motionless. The new officer leaned forward to confer with his fellows but spoke too quietly for Ahsoka to hear what he said. Then he marched to the doorway and fastened a notice to the wall. He looked around the cantina with some measure of scorn for the occupants before leaving. The other Imperials followed him out without looking back.
Selda walked slowly across the cantina toward the notice. Ahsoka wondered if he would tear it down, but he only read it quietly, his shoulders slumping more with every line.
“The thing about crokin,” said Vartan, taking the last disc from Neera’s grasp, “is that you don’t have to hit the opponent’s piece head-on. You can wing it, if you want, and hope for a good ricochet.”
He lined up the shot and flicked the disc at Kaeden’s. He clipped the edge, and both pieces went flying off the board.
“Sometimes you don’t get it,” he said. “But you still get points.”
Neera’s piece was the only one remaining on the board. Her points showed up on the scoreboard a moment later, once the board realized that all the pieces had been played and the game was over.
“We still win,” Kaeden said. “We have Malat’s points from the beginning.”
“That’s the other thing about crokin,” Vartan added. “You have to remember every piece that’s been played, even the ones removed from the board, because some of them might count against you in the end.”
His words made Ahsoka uncomfortable. She didn’t like the way she automatically began to think about tactics. She got up from the table and went to read the notice board. It was, as she suspected, a list of rules. There was a curfew in place now, which would, among other things, make it nearly impossible for anyone working the late shift to eat out when they were done. They’d have to eat at home. There were rules forbidding group meetings of more than a certain number. The Imperials weren’t closing the cantinas, but they were shortening the hours and restricting the food and alcohol available. With the lost business, it would be only a matter of time before the cantinas closed on their own.
It was everything you’d do to keep the locals from communicating with each other and getting organized. It was everything you’d do to soften them up before the hammer fell. It was everything Ahsoka didn’t think the farmers on Raada would be able to counter. Scenarios ran through her mind, ideas for insurgency and defense. Reluctantly, this time she let them.
She turned away from the notice and made space for the others who wanted to read it. She pushed her way back through the strange and crowded silence to where her friends were sitting, and when she sat down, she relayed what she’d read. She didn’t tell them any of her conclusions about what the new rules meant. They would figure it out, or they wouldn’t, but she would have to be careful to conceal her military experience now. There was no guessing how it might be used against her if the Imperials found out. She had to keep her secrets for as long as she could.
Ahsoka looked at the crokin board, at the single piece that remained despite the efforts of both sides. They’d traded shots, and even Ahsoka’s mistake, which provided an easier target, hadn’t been enough to change the game’s outcome. Neera’s piece hadn’t been enough to make a difference in the end. The game had been settled on the third move, long before any of them was aware of it.
Ahsoka had no idea what points the Empire might have stowed away already, but she knew it was one of the tactics the Imperials used. Order 66 had been part of a very long game, and there was no reason to think that Palpatine had gotten any less foresighted since gaining full power. She was also aware that Raada didn’t have much to fight with, if it came to a fight. No real ships for air support, no heavy artillery. But maybe it wouldn’t go that far. Maybe they would be lucky. Maybe the Empire would take what it wanted and go.
Maybe it would, she thought. But what would it leave behind?
TWO STORMTROOPERS stopped at Ahsoka’s house the next morning. She’d locked the door, setting Miara’s device for security before she went to sleep. It was a small defense, but at least it would be a warning if she needed it. Now it prevented the stormtroopers from simply barging in.
The troopers hammered on the door, and Ahsoka considered her options. Resisting would be stupid at this point. For all she knew, they just needed directions or wanted a count of the number of people who lived in town. Ahsoka could handle two troopers, even if they turned out to be clones, but it wouldn’t be quiet. Better to be Ashla for as long as she could. She took a deep breath, remembered to look at the ground, and opened the door.
“Can I help you, sirs?” she asked.
“Why aren’t you at work?” one of them snapped. Vartan was right. They weren’t clones. Ahsoka relaxed, just a little bit.
“I am at work,” she said. “I mean, I’m not a farmer. I fix the equipment when it’s broken, see?”
She gestured behind her, where the pieces of the broken vaporator were still spread out on the table. It was an easy fix, but the previous day had been a little distracting.
“We’ll need your information,” said the other trooper. “You may be reassigned to field work if it becomes necessary.”
Ahsoka paused. She did not want to be exposed out in the fields. She didn’t have a lot of freedom, but in town she could almost always find an excuse to leave and go into the hills. It was important she maintain that. She raised her eyes and looked directly at the stormtroopers’ helmets, where their eyes were concealed behind lenses.
“You don’t need to reassign me,” she said, and leaned on them with the Force. “The work I do is important for food production.”
It hung there for a moment, and Ahsoka wondered if she’d pushed too far. But then they looked at each other.
“We don’t need to reassign her,” said the first one.
“The work she does is important for food production,” the second agreed.
Ahsoka smiled. “So glad we could have this little chat. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
The stormtroopers looked at her, confused for a moment. She could imagine their blinking eyes and perplexed expressions, except she didn’t know what their faces looked like. She refused to imagine them with Rex’s face. They shook their heads, lowering their blasters and taking half a step back.
“Make sure you follow the new rules,” the second trooper said. “They are posted in several places around the town. Familiarize yourself with them.”
“I will,” she said. “Have a good day!”
She shut the door before they could say anything else. She liked how flummoxed they seemed by basic manners, though her intrusion into their minds was likely part of their befuddlement. She activated the lock with a quick press of her finger and it glowed green as it sealed the door.
“Remind me to ask Miara what happens if you get triggered,” she said to the lock, absently running her hand across the control pad. Miara had said it would be shocking to anyone who broke in, and Ahsoka hadn’t asked for specifics at the time. Now, though, it was probably a good idea to be aware of what everyone around her was capable of.
The Imperials were still setting up their base. The Star Destroyer was gone, or at least out of sight, but it had left behind the building blocks for a good-sized administrative building an
d barracks that could house several dozen stormtroopers. They hadn’t had time to lock down the spaceport yet, and Ahsoka wanted to get her ship out of there before they did. The only problem was that she had no other place to put it.
She looked at the vaporator parts. They could wait another day.
She emptied the crate of ration packs—Kaeden’s payment for the very first repair job—into her bag. Almost all of them fit, but after a moment’s thought, Ahsoka took ten out and put them back in the crate. She would need some food on hand, after all. She added the latest package of metal pieces to the top of the bag and filled her water canteen. After a moment’s thought, she added a cutting tool to the bag as well, then picked up the shredded cloths that the vaporator had been wrapped in when its owner dropped it off. She twisted them until they looked like a hunting sling and hung it from her belt, hoping that any Imperials she ran into didn’t know that hunting on this moon was next to pointless. Then she went to the door and looked up and down the street.
There was no sign of the stormtroopers. They couldn’t harass her neighbors, because most of them were at work, so they must have moved on. Ahsoka walked out onto the street and then made for the edge of town as quickly as she could. When she reached the last house, she looked around, and up, for any newly installed methods of Imperial surveillance but found nothing. Then she squared her shoulders and set out toward the hills as if it were any other day. There was a time for stealth, but when stealth was impossible, the only other option was to walk like she was meant to be there.
It was nerve-wracking. She had no indication that anyone was watching her, but she still felt uncomfortably exposed. At least it was less oppressive than it had been the day before, now that the Imperial ships were grounded. She didn’t look back, but she wanted to, and it was all she could do to maintain an even pace as she walked. At last she reached the first line of hills and disappeared from view of the town.
Ahsoka went first to her cave, where she removed the stone slab. She used the cutter to slice away at the shelf until she’d hollowed out the hidden compartment she’d first imagined the day she found the cave. The tool was not made for stone, but it got the job done eventually. She hid the extra ration packs, along with the metal pieces. As she set them down, she thought she saw a familiar pattern to them that she hadn’t noticed before. There were connections, wires, between the pieces that could still conduct power. Casually, she waved her hand over them and they moved to fall in line as she saw them in her mind’s eye.
“No,” she said, letting her hand drop. The pieces rolled across the stone, and she scooped them up. She had other things to do.
With everything secure again, Ahsoka left the cave. She paused at the entrance, wondering if there was something else she could do to conceal it from view, but she couldn’t think of anything. The best she could do was make sure the inside of the cave looked entirely natural. She ducked back inside and cleaned up all her footprints.
Her pack significantly lighter, she continued into the hills. Now she was looking for something particular: a hill big enough that any cave inside it might be able to fit her ship. The freighter wasn’t huge, but it was too large to stash in a hollow and hope no Imperials ever flew over it. She needed a cave, or perhaps a canyon where she could add her own cover.
She kept a close eye on the sky as she rambled through the hills, both in case she had company and to keep track of the time. She couldn’t afford to have her disappearance remarked on, and even though Kaeden and the others wouldn’t turn her in intentionally, all it took to raise suspicion was one overheard remark at a place like Selda’s. Just when she was thinking she would have to head back to town and try again the following morning, she saw a dip in the ground ahead of her. It looked almost like an optical illusion, but when she got close to the edge, she saw that it was actually a small gully. The ship would only fit in sideways, which she knew it wouldn’t like, but she could make it work.
“Well,” she said, “that was the easy part. Now all I have to do is get the ship out here.”
She really, really missed R2-D2. The little droid was always good at this sort of thing. She decided that stealing her own ship would be much the same as walking out to the hills had been. Stealth was impossible, so she would just have to do it.
Ahsoka went back into town. Again, she met no one and saw no signs that her movements had been observed. When she got near the Imperial base, she saw immediately why that was. It looked like every stormtrooper brought to occupy Raada was engaged patrolling the locals who had been press-ganged into construction. Ahsoka scoffed. Rex would never have been so lax with security. Even if it made the building process difficult, he would have insisted that some of his men patrol the streets.
It occurred to Ahsoka that the stormtroopers were not necessarily the strongest soldiers yet and none of the officers assigned to Raada had much experience. That was useful information.
She made it all the way to the spaceport before she met anyone. A very junior-looking Imperial officer was making a list of all the ships docked there. She considered using the Force to convince him to let her take her ship. She could pretend she was under orders from one of the overseers, who appeared to be the only people the Imperials would talk to. It would be easy to play the overwhelmed hired hand and then nudge the officer a bit when he was distracted.
At the same time, he might have been trained to recognize Jedi powers when they were used on him. The stormtroopers had been risky enough. Ahsoka couldn’t take the same chance on an officer.
She could go home and fake up some credentials, but then she wouldn’t be able to move the ship until the next day. Every moment she waited was another moment one of the Imperials might remember that they were occupying a planet and they should act like it. Ahsoka couldn’t afford to wait. She walked out into the yard. She would have to play her way through this by getting more creative. Or, rather, Ashla would.
“You, stop right there,” said the officer. Ahsoka was pretty sure he was trying to make his voice deeper than it was. “What are you doing?”
“I’ve come for my ship,” said Ahsoka. “All these new security measures are making me nervous. I want to keep my property where only I have access to it.”
“I assure you, the Imperial garrison stationed here will maintain a high level of security at this spaceport,” the young officer blustered. “Your ship will be safe.”
Slowly, and with considerable scorn, she looked him up and down.
“Are you high-level security?” she asked. “Because you don’t inspire a lot of confidence.”
His chest puffed out, and his face turned red. As she’d hoped, she hadn’t made him angry. She’d embarrassed him.
“I’m in charge of all the ships here,” he told her. “It is my specific job and specific training to ensure that the spaceport runs smoothly and securely.”
“I was able to walk right in here without anyone stopping me,” Ahsoka said. “I hardly call that secure!”
“We’re still getting set up,” the officer said defensively.
“Well, that settles it,” Ahsoka said. “I’ll take my ship until you’re done getting set up, and then I’ll bring it back when I know everything is safe.”
“I really don’t think—” began the officer, but Ahsoka had already blown past him.
She was in the pilot’s seat and preparing to take off before he mustered any kind of protest, and by then the engines were too loud for her to hear him. She took off and flew in the opposite direction of the hills. It wouldn’t take much time to fly around the moon the long way, and it would help cover her tracks before she concealed the ship in the ravine.
As she flew, it occurred to her that she could just keep flying. She could leave Raada, run from the Empire again, and try to set up somewhere it hadn’t reached yet. She could find a cave in some isolated mountain range, or an oasis in the middle of a desert. She could go far away and abandon everyone again. Not again. Not again.
She looked down at the fields of Raada, spread out below her, and knew it was a dream, anyway. There was nowhere she could go where the Empire wouldn’t find her eventually. No matter how far she went, it would be behind her, nipping at her heels. She might as well face them here, where she was relatively anonymous and moderately prepared.
She set the ship down in the gully, wedging it in backward so that the nose of the vessel pointed straight at the sky. As she’d suspected, the landing struts were very unhappy with her, but the rocky sides of the ravine supported most of the ship’s weight. She stayed on the bridge, lying back against the chair and looking up, her mind filled with too many thoughts. She didn’t get out of the pilot’s seat for a long time.
AHSOKA WAS LATE getting back to town, even running the whole way, but her ship was hidden and she was relatively sure no one had detected her as she was hiding it. She stayed in her house only long enough to throw the mostly empty bag on the bed and kick the crate with the ration packs in it under the table before heading to Selda’s. She hoped Kaeden and the others hadn’t been too vocal in wondering where she was.
There were even fewer people in the cantina that night, as most of them had headed home well in advance of the curfew. Ahsoka had seen this sort of thing before, when she was on Separatist-occupied worlds during the Clone Wars. For the first few days, the locals would observe the rules very closely and see what the reaction to breaking them was. Then they would begin to push back. If the Imperials reacted violently, the pushback could be extreme.
With the thinner crowd, she spotted Kaeden and the others immediately. Malat was gone already, presumably home to her children, but the others were crammed around the crokin board. They were playing a variation Ahsoka hadn’t seen before. Instead of all the pieces being shot onto the board one by one, about half of them were carefully placed. In fact, it looked a lot like the Imperial—
Ahsoka sat down and brushed her hand across the board, scattering the pieces.
Star Wars: Ahsoka Page 6