Star Wars: Ahsoka

Ahsoka spent most of the early evening perched on one of the barstools. Though this meant her back was to the door, it had its advantages: when you don’t look at people, they assume you can’t hear them. She overheard several conversations about Imperial theories that were not intended for her ears. Selda, from his place behind the bar, kept watch under the guise of his usual work. The system functioned pretty well.

They hadn’t even talked about it, which was the strangest part. Ahsoka had just parked on the stool, Selda had nodded, and they’d begun. It was the sort of thing she might have done with Anakin, though espionage with Anakin Skywalker always ended with explosions, and Ahsoka had no intention of going that far. When two armored troopers and two uniformed officers walked in, she decided it was time to retreat somewhere less conspicuous. She needed only to learn as much as possible about what was going on, not get involved in any messes.

The cantina door opened again, and Kaeden came in, the rest of her crew behind her. It gave Ahsoka the excuse she needed to move. Selda had kept some food hot for the workers and carried it to their usual spot in the back as soon as he saw them enter.

“Hey, Ashla,” Kaeden said quietly as she passed, and Ahsoka fell into step beside her.

“How was your day?” Ahsoka asked as they all sat down around the table.

“Tense,” Vartan said, nodding in the direction of the Imperials. “Lot of new people come to watch.”

“Hoban, get the crokin board,” Neera ordered.

It was a testament to the seriousness of the situation that Hoban did as he was told without protest. As he returned with the enormous hexagonal board, Ahsoka saw the cleverness of Neera’s idea: the board was shaped in such a way that the players moved around it. They would have reasons to put their heads together and talk, and it would look like they were only lining up the next shot. Hoban spilled the little round discs onto the board and sorted them by color. They began to play.

“How many new friends did you make today, Kaeden?” Ahsoka asked.

“None,” Kaeden grumbled. “The troopers don’t talk very much, and the officers seem to think we’re beneath them.”

She flicked a disc, and it lodged behind one of the pegs that protruded from the board. Neera huffed. It would be difficult to hit the piece. Hoban lined up a shot.

“They wouldn’t talk to any of the crew leads, either,” Vartan said. “We went to collect payroll and they were there, but whatever they want, it doesn’t involve us at all.”

“Oh,” said Hoban, “it’ll involve us, all right.”

He flicked his disc. It bounced off one of the pegs and settled without hitting Kaeden’s piece first, so he cleared it off the board. Malat lined up her shot and sunk the disc in the center of the board with little visible effort. Her points registered on the scoreboard and the celebratory song played. She fiddled with a wire until the sound cut out.

“I heard them at the fueling station,” Miara said. Her shot missed Kaeden’s piece, too, so she removed her disc. “They were asking about how fast things grow and how much we can plant at a time.”

“Even Imperials have to eat,” Neera said. “Do you think troopers grow on trees?”

A shudder ran down Ahsoka’s spine.

“Are the troopers clones?” she asked, hoping she sounded casual enough. They were being aged out of the Imperial army, she knew, but it had only been a little more than a year, so it was possible that some of the newer ones were still active.

“I don’t think so,” Vartan said. “They didn’t take off their helmets, so I can’t be sure, but I heard them talking among themselves and they all sounded different.”

Ahsoka always thought the clones sounded different, but Yoda said that was because she took the time to really listen to them. Still, if Vartan could tell them apart, that was probably a good sign for her own security. It was her turn, so she lined up a shot, aiming the same way Malat had. It occurred to her that it would be very easy to cheat at crokin if she used the Force, but now was not the time for experimentation.

Her shot went long, skimming over the center of the board and landing on the opponents’ side. Hoban gloated. Now his team had something much easier to aim for. Neera took Ahsoka’s piece with no problem and ricocheted her own piece behind a peg. Now it was up to Kaeden to make the hard shot.

Ahsoka had never played crokin before she arrived on Raada, though everyone claimed it was a very popular game. She found it oddly comforting. It could be played in teams or with just a pair, and the goals were twofold: get your own pieces on the board, but stay aware of your opponent, and knock any of your opponent’s pieces off it. It was a good strategy game, and she thought Obi-Wan would have liked it. He was the more patient of her teachers.

“How long have those Imperials been here?” Vartan asked. He wasn’t playing and instead just sat at their table, looking every bit the indulgent crew lead letting his people relax after a good day’s work.