Empire and Rebellion

by Snake Staff

69: Master and Apprentice

Ahsoka Tano’s world was a bleary, half-conscious thing of contradictions. All she remembered was pain, yet all she felt was… curiously numb. She was floating weightlessly, flitting in and out of an infinite abyss whose nature she did not comprehend. This state, and place, seemed almost to go on forever. What passed for her conscious mind wondered for a while if she might in fact be dead, and this strangeness actually the fabled netherworld of the Force.

How long she truly spent in that state, she could never have said. Whatever the case, eventually the mists of that realm seemed to fade away into darkness, until all was black. Her body still felt numb, yet ghosts of aches danced the edges of her awareness. Gradually, she began to regain a degree of her senses. Ahsoka slowly perceived that numbed body lay flat against something, her unfeeling limbs completely unresponsive. As her senses began to return, she eventually realized that there was something affixed over her nose and mouth, pumping a vaguely sweet concoction in along with oxygen. It vaguely reminded her of some delectable sweetmeat she’d eaten… somewhere. The instant she thought of food she felt more than heard her stomach rumble, then immediately felt a jolt of terrible pain. She screwed up her eyes against it, shutting out the lingering agony by focusing her attention on her own rhythmic, mechanical breathing. No, she realized after a moment. Not her breathing.

Ahsoka’s eyes snapped open.

Immediately she had to fight the temptation to shut them again, squinting against the harsh white lights above. As her eyes adjusted, it dawned on here that everything here was white, sterile and unsettlingly familiar. With a start, she recognized a Star Destroyer’s medical bay from her time aboard far too many. And with that memories came flooding back. Denon. The Jedi. The trap. The Inquisitor. A lightsaber through her gut. Pain and darkness. Her breathing picked up rapidly, she could vaguely hear beeps indicating her rising heartrate. If she was still alive, and she was here, then that could only mean…

“Ahsoka,” came a deep, mechanical, bass voice.

Her blue eyes darted towards her feet, futilely willing her unmoving neck to crane for a better view. There, past her body wrapped tight in white medical dressing, standing at the foot of her bed, was a towering black figure out of nightmare. With an agonized reluctance, terrified of what she might see, she brought her gaze further and further up until her eyes met the soulless lenses of the terror’s mask.

She hadn’t wanted to believe it. Despite what she had seen in the Inquisitor’s mind, what she had heard from her lips, Ahsoka Tano had yet harbored a desperate hope that it might all be some kind of trick. That the Anakin Skywalker she had trained under for so long, had endured so much with, had merely died, bravely but untainted. The tiniest, most irrational part of her had even hoped that perhaps he yet lived, and she might one day see him again. One look into the mechanical monster’s mask, and those hopes writhed in agony before perishing miserably in the dirt. There could no longer be any doubt.

“Anakin…” she breathed weakly.

“That name,” said Darth Vader, “has no meaning any longer.”

“No…” Ahsoka managed, eyes watering. “No…”

“Anakin Skywalker was weak. I murdered him.”

Vader made a gesture with his hand, and Ahsoka barely heard the mechanical clicking sounds. She barely registered the bed she lay flat on rising up, adjusting and tilting towards the towering black abomination that had once been her master. Tears trickled softly down her orange cheeks, her body sagged limply against its restraints as her table brought her eyes level to the Sith Lord’s chest.

“Darkness destroyed all that once was and rebuilt something far greater in its place,” he went on. “Now destiny has brought you to me, that you too might be rebuilt.”

“No…” Ahsoka whispered. “You don’t mean that…”

“Do not lie to yourself. It is unbefitting.”

Ahsoka stretched out feebly with what Force energy she could muster. It barely qualified as a mind probe, yet Vader made absolutely no effort to muster a telepathic defense. Even in her drugged, numbed state she could sense the man’s feelings and… there was nothing there. No warmth, familiarity, or compassion, only a desire to reach out and possess, a fierce yet twisted sense of ownership that sought to have and to hold as one might a favored inanimate object. In place of love there was greed, anger, and a simmering bitterness whose source she could not identify. To feel what had become of the master she’d left behind was almost enough to break her heart on the spot.

“Now you see,” said Vader after a moment had passed. “The man you trained under is long gone.”

“Then what…” Ahsoka hissed at the murderer even as she continued to cry, “do you want with me?”

“I want you to complete your training, this time under a far wiser master.” The cyborg stretched out a hand to her. “The Jedi Order is all but extinct. The weak light gutters and fades. Soon it will be nothing more than a dim memory, and then nothing at all. All who would serve it will die. But you do not need to be among them. Join me. Become my apprentice, abandon the last craven and empty ideals you cling to, and arise from these ashes greater and more terrible than ever before.” He clenched his fist. “Together, we can cleanse this galaxy of disorder and put an end to conflict. With the powers of the dark side we can achieve what the Jedi never could, and force the universe to bow to the righteousness of our will. There would be none capable of stopping us.”

“You… already have an apprentice. I saw you two. On Kashyyyk.”

“Her life means nothing to me,” Vader answered. “Join me and you may claim her head as revenge, if that is what you wish. Under me, nothing would be denied you, neither passions nor learning nor wealth nor power. Nor would you be kept back from vengeance on those who betrayed you, who drove you from the Order.”

Ahsoka wasn’t sure what appalled her more, Vader’s sheer callousness towards the woman who’d pledged herself to him already, or the idea that her conscience could be bought off with power, wealth, and bloodshed. Anakin would have known better than to even think that could work, should have known better.

“Anakin Skywalker once thought as you do,” the cyborg said. “He was a fool to believe that, and that is why he perished burning and screaming in the fires of Mustafar. Do not make the same mistakes that he once did.”

“If Anakin Skywalker is dead…” Ahsoka breathed heavily under her clear mask. “Why do you care about me at all? I lost to your new puppet, by Sith rules doesn’t that make her the better choice? Shouldn’t you be trying to torture the whereabouts of dissidents or Jedi survivors out of me? Shouldn’t I be in an execution chamber? Why would you want to make an apprentice out of the failed student of a man you murdered?”

Vader said nothing for a moment, dead black lenses continuing to regard her impassively. But Ahsoka, through her still-tenuous mind probe, could still feel the echoes of long-distant memories bubble up. They were fading impressions, nothing more, as if from a dream long since passed. But the cyborg made no effort to stop her touching them, however briefly.

“A… child?” Ahsoka’s eyes widened. “Anakin was going to… have a child?” She’d known her master had frequently clashed with the Jedi Council, but had never imagined he’d gone against the code so brazenly.

“He was.”

“But… something went wrong. Horribly… terribly wrong…” she frowned. “Pain… darkness… grief…” Ahsoka looked up. “The child died.”

“I killed them,” Vader said, almost quietly.

“Then… what?” Ahsoka gasped, then recoiled as best she could when the pieces finally clicked into place. “I’m not them!” she insisted, futilely trying to squirm with her limp body. “I don’t know what the dark side did to twist your mind, Anakin, but I’m not a substitute for the child you lost! I can’t be!”

It hurt her to say that. Her master had been the closest thing to a father she had known in the cloistered, monastic existence that had been the Jedi Order. To learn that he had had a child and lost it to tragedy made her desperately want to reach out and comfort him. But this wasn’t him standing before her, it was a deranged, psychopathic parasite wearing her slain master’s body like a suit.

“You will become my apprentice,” Vader pointed on black-gloved finger between her eyes. “As my child would have been. And we will rule the galaxy together.”

“Never!” Ahsoka spat the word, tears raining down her cheeks. “I’ll never join you! You killed my master! You’re desecrating his body and slandering his memory! You’re nothing but a walking blasphemy! I’ll die before I serve a monster like you!”

“Brave words,” said Vader. “But I have heard them many times before. Everyone has their breaking point. Anakin did, and you are no different than your master.”

“I don’t care what you do to me, I won’t follow you!”

“You say that now. Perhaps after a few weeks locked in a cell with my interrogation droids and no food, water, or rest, you might find yourself more kindly disposed towards my offer. Or it may be that I simply have to shatter your mind altogether and begin from the ground up.” He paused. “But no matter, you do not have a choice. Destiny brought you back to me, and it is your destiny to take your place at my side.”

“If there’s anything left of the Anakin Skywalker I knew,” Ahsoka again tried to struggle, but her body was too weak and too drugged to respond, “then please, just kill me. Throw my broken body to the gundarks and give my lightsabers as a trophy to your Emperor. Just give me a clean death. Don’t try to make me into something like you. That’s all I ask, for the sake of what we once had. Please.” She looked him in the eyes.

Darth Vader paused, saying nothing. For a moment there was no sound from the Sith Lord, save the incessant mechanical breathing. Then slowly, deliberately, he turned his back on her and began striding purposefully towards the exit.

“I suggest that you enjoy your period of recuperation while you can,” he said. “Because once your danger is passed, the true pain begins.”

Comments

[Emperor of Jurai]

Oh this got sick dark real fast. Neat.

[Black Hoof]

The Togruta didn't enjoy the reunion indeed.
Next mission for Twilight : Save Ahsoka?

[zimmerwald1915]

8740793
Who?

[WanderingPony]

There is no mercy in the Dark Side. Not even death.

At least there are no ghost-eaters in this pack of Sith...

[J-90]

Let's hope the interrogation droids are NOT the Triple 0 and BT-1... Well those two were more of an assassins, but you get the idea if know lore...

[Black Hoof]

8740798
Twilight Sparkle, Equestrian pony princess, lavender mare, former student of Princess Celestia ; Ahsoka, female Togruta, former Padawan of Anakin Skywalker, during the Clone Wars.

[zimmerwald1915]

8740972
Gist of the comment: Twilight has no idea who Ahsoka is, and no means of finding out, thus cannot gain impetus to go rescue her.

(At least, they've never met in this story. I haven't read the prequel.)

[ABitterPill]

Vader may say everything about Anakin Skywalker is dead, but it's pretty clear something remains. As Ahsoka said, he wouldn't care one way or another if there wasn't something of him left.

Considering that Luna has plans to betray and kill Vader as well, I cannot say I am surprised he finds her expendable. Still, while in the future she's expendable, in the present she still has uses for Vader. I wonder if she was rewarded in any way for Ahsoka's capture.
I wonder what Count Dooku/Tyrannus has been up to. He's been quiet for quite some time now.

So we've got Sidious manipulting Celestia into a new potential apprentice/heir.
We've got Tyrannus and Luna/Noctis planning to make the galaxy burn.
And we've got Vader beginning to mold Ahsoka into a new apprentice.
... So much for the Rule of Two.

And Twilight's off doing her own thing somewhere off in the galaxy. I don't think she's going to save the galaxy, I think the various warring Sith are going to just sabotage each other.

And thank you once again for the update.

[Snake Staff]

8741165

So much for the Rule of Two

You can see how the Sith kept stupiding themselves into extinction over the millennia. Put enough of them together and things will invariably devolve into a circular firing squad.

[Dustchu]

Wheeew... I feel bad for her, mmm... hopefully there's some way out of this for her, perhaps.
Perhaps not, we shall see.

Good show.

[the other sans]

Wwith an agonized reluctance

1. With.

[Drakar]

8741258
Now now, societies with a lot of Sith can be perfectly functional. They just need a single overwhelmingly powerful Sith Lord at the top to keep the others from being stupid. As long as there is such a Sith Lord (someone with both the power and the temperament to rule properly), Sith Empire's can get very prosperous.

Marka Ragnos's reign was known as the golden age of the Sith. It was called that both because he was so powerful no one dared challenge him, even when he was old and dying (he's like the only Sith Emperor to die of old age), and because he cared about the Empire and was good at ruling.

If the Sith attacked the Republic while he was still alive (they didn't because he was cautious) and not when Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh were busy fighting each other over who'd be Ragnos' successor, they would have totally won. They still very nearly did, and only lost because Sadow's apprentice betrayed him. Not bad considering this was when the Sith were at their absolute strongest and they were still only a third of the size of the Republic. Every subsequent Empire was much weaker. The Sith never really recovered from the genocide after the Great Hyperspace War.

Vitiate could have also kept the other Sith in line but didn't care enough to bother. Even the likes of Darth Jadus were completely terrified of that monster. Marr had the personality to be the perfect Emperor but lacked the power.

Sadly, there's no one in the current era who could do what Ragnos did. Much like Vitiate, Sidious has the power to rule over an Empire of Sith Lords but has a personality completely unsuited for the job.

Vader lacks both. He could easily become strong enough if he ever dealt with his issues but that's unlikely in the extreme... He's supposed to be the Chosen One. Born of the Force with a potential greater than any other being. Even the Father on Mortis told him "I am neither Sith nor Jedi. I am much more, and so are you.". The feat he performed there, making the Son and Daughter kneel, is unmatched by any other force user in the EU.

Yet for all of that potential, he lacked power every time it mattered. It can sort of make you understand why he became a Sith and why he wants power so badly. Anakin was a slave because he was too weak to free himself. He lost his hand because he was weak (this bothered him a lot). He lost his mother for the same reason. He lost at Mustafar when he should have won. This cost him his body and his wife. It cost him his child (as far as he knows).

Every bad thing that's ever happened to him was because he lacked power. If he knew a technique like Dark Transfer, he could have saved both his mother and his wife. He would have never become Darth Vader if he had the power to save Padme himself and didn't need to ask for help. He should have had that power. But he didn't. Or, more accurately, he didn't know how to use the great power he already had. I sometimes wonder if the Jedi taught him anything other than lightsaber combat.

Even now, nothing has changed. He is stuck being Darth Vader and doing a job he hates because he's too weak to defeat the Emperor. He's suffering in that suit of his with no other option but to continue doing what he's doing. If he gave up or died, everything he's done so far will have been for nothing. He has to kill Palpatine and become Emperor. If he does that and rules well, if he truly brings the peace and order he talks of then all the sacrifices would have been worth it. That's probably how he justifies things to himself. He may even be right. The Star Wars galaxy could really use a benevolent dictator to sort things out. The Republic was a real mess.

Not that this is likely to happen. Vader is his own worst enemy. The main thing holding him back is himself. It's really quite sad. If he would only stop holding back, the Emperor would be no match for him.

Ah, but I seem to have went off on a tanget. Sorry about that. I look forward to seeing what you do with Ahsoka. I really like these last few chapters.

[Snake Staff]

8741876
You're basically asking for an overlord with eldrich abomination level powers (to keep the rest of the Sith from just dogpiling him) who still gives a crap about things beyond his own mysterious eccentricities, all to keep the society from collapsing into a ridiculously vicious anarchy. That combination is... not common, to say the least. Ragnos was about the only one who qualified, and even he realized the Sith Empire would lose a fight with the Republic and kept his ambitions manageable. That is an extremely rare thing for a Sith.