Star Wars: Ahsoka

The astromech chirruped soothingly and went back to stand beside her. She was going to have to leave soon, but she really didn’t want to part with the little droid again.

“What was their mission, anyway?” Ahsoka asked.

R2-D2 told her what he was permitted to, specifically that the pilot, Chardri Tage, and his partner, Tamsin, had been tasked with taking her to meet someone.

“The same senator you’re not supposed to tell me the identity of?” Ahsoka asked. “Artoo, I need to know.”

The droid seemed to consider it for a moment, rolling back and forth on his three legs. Then he said a name.

“Bail Organa?” Ahsoka said. “I can’t believe they let him live. He’s a known Jedi sympathizer. He must be in so much danger.”

R2-D2 beeped that she didn’t know the half of it.

“And you won’t tell me,” Ahsoka said. “I get it.”

The droid reminded her that Padmé Amidala, too, had trusted Bail, not just the Jedi. Ahsoka sighed.

“Look, can you release the tractor beam on my ship?” she asked him. “And then I’ll escape, and you can tell everyone you never saw me, okay? Just make sure I can track this ship. If I like what I see, then I’ll come in. I promise.”

R2-D2 rolled back and forth for a few moments. The little droid was used to espionage and high stakes. He would understand why Ahsoka wanted to do this under her own power, as much as she could. After a moment, he beeped his agreement and told her the code she could use to track the ship.

“Thanks, Artoo,” she said. She turned to go, but he rolled over to her again. He made a series of sad sounds.

“I know, little guy.” Her heart clenched around the empty spot where Anakin Skywalker used to be. “I miss him, too.”

R2-D2 rolled back to the controls, and Ahsoka saw he was wiping all surveillance of their conversation. Then he beeped farewell to her and activated an electrical circuit that would make it look like she’d shorted him out. It wouldn’t fool Bail, so he’d know to expect her if he was paying attention, but it would probably do the trick with the two pilots.

Ahsoka didn’t waste any more time. She went back to the hold, dragged the pilots to the pressurized area, and then boarded her ship and fired up the engines, as much as they would allow in their damaged condition. She slipped out of the cargo bay and scanned around for a good place to hide and make repairs while she waited for the pilots to wake up.

In the end, she had to settle for one of the small moons that orbited the planet where she’d fought the Black Sun agent. She hoped they weren’t hiding there to mend their ship, too, but honestly, she didn’t think even her luck today would be that bad. She was nearly done with her repairs by the time the signal from Artoo started beeping at her, indicating which way he and the pilots had gone. She watched as it stuttered, meaning they had entered hyperspace, and then settled back for a nap. She wanted them to have a head start, and she’d need to be rested when she talked to Bail anyway.

Floating above some nameless moon, Ahsoka closed her eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

Bail did his level best not to laugh through the report that Chardri Tage delivered to him. They hadn’t even seen the Jedi long enough to give a description of her. She’d taken them out immediately, shorted out the R2 unit, and disabled the tractor beam with no real effort at all. Bail actually felt a little guilty. He hadn’t told Tage what he was setting him and Tamsin up against, and apparently the Jedi was as well trained in combat as any Clone Wars veteran. She’d even scrubbed most of the security footage, but there was one clip she’d overlooked.

It was a shot of the engine room. Everything looked in order at first glance, but if he paused at the exact right moment, a pair of montrals was clearly visible above one of the coils as the Jedi checked to make sure the room was empty. Bail swallowed a shout of pure triumph. He knew those markings. This wasn’t just any Jedi; it was Ahsoka Tano, and he had to find her immediately.

He paused. Ahsoka would have recognized R2-D2. More important, the astromech would have recognized her.

“Why, you little metal devil,” Bail said, cursing the absent unit.

He couldn’t really blame Ahsoka for her caution. He hadn’t associated with her as closely as with Skywalker and Kenobi, and she hadn’t parted well with anyone when she left Coruscant. Also, he’d sent two people to kidnap her, essentially. She must have a plan, though, and the R2 unit undoubtedly knew what it was: the droid had all but told him to expect her, if not any of the specifics.

He recorded a new message to send Tage, giving coordinates to meet, even though they hadn’t successfully apprehended the Jedi they were after. Tage didn’t reply with a holo, merely sent a confirmation code, but Bail knew his orders would be followed to the letter.