The gunboat shuddered again under a powerful gust of wind. Standing beside her Teacher, Ahsoka peered into the snowy whirlwind rushing past the open hatch. Somewhere ahead and below, a battle was raging, but it was impossible to make out any details.
"How can you see anything—or anyone—in this storm? You can't see a thing!" the Togruta exclaimed, addressing no one in particular.
Her teacher turned his head toward her and replied calmly,
"The pilots have radar and thermal imaging. Something like that." He shrugged, then added, "And we can use our life detection skill. Try it."
Ahsoka closed her eyes and concentrated, doing as she had been taught in the Temple, spreading imaginary waves of the Force outward. Only the clones and her teacher were nearby, but far ahead, on the edge of her perception, faint "lumps" of life trembled. Reaching out toward them, the Togruta sensed the presence of many living beings.
Wow, that's amazing! Back at the Temple I could barely sense my groupmates and instructor. Does that mean I'm getting stronger?
Suddenly, some of the "lumps" began to fade. Ripples of pain—and fear—spread through the Force. When they reached Ahsoka, they struck her consciousness with shocking intensity.
For the first time in her life, Ahsoka felt real dread. What... what was that? How... terrifying...
Panic seized the young Togruta, but then she felt a warm, steady presence—her teacher's hand resting on her shoulder, pulling her out of the nightmare.
Breathing heavily, she looked up at him.
"Teacher, I... what... what is this?" she stammered.
The Jedi placed his hand on her head to calm and reassure her, speaking in a measured tone:
"You felt the deaths of living beings, Ahsoka. A disturbance in the Force. The Force is what gives a Jedi their power. It's an energy field created by all living things—it surrounds and penetrates us. Some claim the Force is a single entity, that we merely sense life energy. But through it, we can feel not only life... but also death. Was this your first time?"
"Y-yes. They never told us about that at the Temple... it was so awful." The Togruta shivered, hugging herself.
"They didn't tell you many things," the Jedi murmured, covering his eyes briefly. "They didn't teach you many things. But they should have. You felt fear. Though emotions alone can't drive one to the Dark Side, without guidance, facing them can be difficult—especially for someone not yet strong in spirit."
Ahsoka felt somewhat reassured by his calm, steady tone.
"Master, do you... also feel it?" she asked, then immediately realized how foolish that sounded. Of course he does, idiot—he's much older and experienced than you.
"Yes, Snips," he said quietly.
"And how do you deal with it?"
"I can't give you a simple answer, Ahsoka. All you can do is keep yourself under control... and try to get used to it."
"Get used to it?" she repeated, her emotions flaring. "How can anyone get used to this?"
Her teacher only shrugged.
"It's easiest during war. Understand—this isn't a game. People die in war, sometimes in terrible ways. And you, as my second-in-command, will have to send soldiers into battle—to possible death. Sometimes, to certain death. You can't let your emotions rule your judgment, or the operation might fail—and then, even more will die."
"Then why have war at all, Master? Can't we do without it?" Ahsoka searched for any kind of reason.
"Ah, Snips..." He sighed heavily. "Humans—and all sentient beings, really—have been fighting for tens of thousands of years. They'll keep fighting long after we're gone. It's in our very nature. Only the reasons change: the struggle for food and shelter, religious conflicts, hatred between species and races."
"But we're Jedi—guardians of peace and balance!" the young Togruta protested, stamping her foot in frustration. "Aren't we supposed to prevent such things?"
Her teacher merely grumbled,
"Snips, we're approaching our target. Focus on the battle ahead. We'll talk later—it's not easy to explain."
Ahsoka could only nod. For the first time, Master walked away from a conversation. 'Not easy to explain'? What did he mean by that?
***
"Lord Governor, unauthorized personnel have boarded the ship. Their number is being determined," reported the tactical droid.
"B'antta po'odo'o!!!" Kamanair Maruk roared. "Send the droids to destroy them immediately! Send the droids, you brainless piles of scrap!"
Slamming back into his chair, the Neimoidian drummed his fingers on the armrests. The situation was dire.
Three ships had come to aid the Republic forces. They had easily swept aside his orbital group. After that, they landed troops, spread out along a wide front, and attacked his positions. He had to throw all his forces into repelling the assault.
Then those cursed saboteurs had disabled the anti-air network—destroying some of the guns and cutting power to others. One of the earlier ships took advantage of the chaos and landed precisely where his droids had been blocking part of the enemy's forces. To make matters worse, the enemy now held superiority in the air.
And the Republic troops were even using captured equipment and droids. There weren't enough of the latter to pose a real threat, but still... Maruk found himself oddly impressed. War was expensive, and replenishing an army that way was, admittedly, resourceful.
***
The landing on the Separatist ship went smoothly. Keeping close to the mountains, we reached our target almost unnoticed. By the time the anti-air guns realized what was happening, it was already too late—our group was inside one of the hangars. The doors had been left conveniently open, and the shielding screens were deactivated.
Calling over two droid company commanders, I gave quick orders:
"You! Take your company below—eliminate all droids in your path. And you, take your to the upper decks!"
"Roger Roger!" the droids replied in unison, hurrying to execute their assignments.
Honestly, I didn't expect much from them, but they'd serve as a distraction—and while they drew attention, like decent heroes, we'll go around.
At the far end of the hangar, we fired grappling lines with magnetic hooks from our underbarrel launchers and began climbing the ship's hull toward the base of the command tower.
It was easier for Ahsoka and me—the Force gave us an advantage even over trained Republic Commandos. Fortunately, the climb didn't take long.
After cutting a hole in the wall with our lightsabers, we slipped inside. One of the clone commandos activated a ship schematic on his handheld projector.
"We're here, sir. The target's six levels up," reported the commander of squad RC-00-0173, nicknamed Chuck.
"Excellent. We'll take these stairs to the command post," I said, tracing our route along the holographic map.