(EM Vol. 3: Melodies of the Force) Chapter 5: Imparting Dilemma (Patreon)

Chapter 5: Imparting Dilemma

21 BBY, Maridun

Ahsoka Tano was not having a good day, not one bit. First, her Master gets injured on their rescue mission, and then, they find themselves on a planet without proper medical help. They had found a village of Lurmens for help, who had come to colonise this world, Maridun, to avoid the war. They were a peaceful, too peaceful in Ahsoka’s opinion, but the chief had spared his son, Wag Too, to accompany them as a healer so that they would hopefully be able to help Skyguy.

They returned, only to find out that Anakin was gone. Ahsoka could still feel him through their bond, and so, she knew that he was still alive, but that was it. The only positive was that there had been no signs of a fight. Rex had been with him and was gone as well, and the clone would not have gone quietly.

He and Skyguy would be fine…

At least that was what she told herself as she used her Lightsaber to redirect a blast back to the droid, while doing her best to defend the Lurmen Village whose inhabitants still refused to fight.

Yes, because if things were not bad enough, the Separatists were there as well. One of their commanders, a Neimoidian, had come with a small army of droids, claiming that the planet was now his colony. Ahsoka swore that the Force had it out for them or something, given the coincidence of the Separatists coming to the planet they had crash-landed on.

However, it had given them an opportunity to potentially steal the Separatist ship. At least, that was Master Secura’s plan. The Jedi Knight had helped Ahsoka stay calm. After all, what kind of Padawan lost her Master? Still, Master Secura’s plan had a lot of merit. Ahsoka could feel that Anakin was still alive, and there was a chance, even if it was slim, that the Seps had taken her Master, and that meant that they needed to stop them. The ship should also have a Bacta tank on hand, as was required for most ships, which they could use to help Anakin.

Of course, that spiralled into finding out that the Neimoidian was using this planet to test a new weapon of some kind, something that they overheard when he made a speech… to the droids… for some reason. Honestly, Ahsoka didn’t know if he just wanted to make a speech just for the sake of it, but that didn’t change the fact that he was happy at the idea of using the Lurmens as a target to test his new weapons.

Anyway, now they were fighting to stop the Separatists from destroying the Lurmen Village, which wasn’t exactly going well. Ahsoka wished that Skyguy were here. He would have been a great help and come up with some insane plan that would succeed, instead of them endlessly fighting off hordes of droids, hoping that the new Separatist Weapon would not overwhelm the shield generators that they scavenged from their ship.

Unfortunately, while the shield generators could protect from blaster bolts, the droids could walk through without any problems, hence why she, Master Secura, and a handful of clones under the command of Bly, were trying to stop them.

Only, there were far too many droids to stop. Two Jedi and a few clones could only do so much. But they would do what they could, because that was what the Republic stood for: to protect those who could not protect themselves and stop the Separatists from causing more damage.

Ahsoka suppressed the urge to flinch as she heard screams behind her as a few droids were able to sneak past the shield generator and were attacking the Lurmens. Ahsoka used the Force to push them away, but she could hardly do anything more, as she was attacked by more bolts and needed to jump away.

Unfortunately, she was not able to get away enough as a giant blaster bolt came flying towards her, this time fired by one of their hover tanks, an AAT. While she was able to dodge it, its impact on the ground was still strong enough to send her flying back. It was then that she realised the purpose of this move, as it allowed the droids that she had kept at bay to go through the energy shield and specifically make their way towards the shield generators.

Out of desperation, Ahsoka threw her Lightsaber towards the incoming droids, guiding its trajectory using the Force, allowing it to cut through a dozen droids. It was a trick that her master taught her, which he also cautioned against using too much, since it would deprive her of her Lightsaber, which would make dealing with blaster bolts all the harder.

Unfortunately, she was too late, as she saw one of the shield generators explode, and watched in horror as the energy shield fell apart. This thing had been the only reason why the Lurmen village remained standing, as it was able to stop the Separatists' new weapons from reaching them.

Ahsoka summoned her Lightsaber and ran forward towards Master Secura, hoping that the Knight would be able to help her, “What do we do now?”

The Twi’lek did not answer immediately, likely thinking of a plan, and she spoke up, "We need to reconfigure the rest of the shield generators to set up a new energy shield. It will be weaker, but it is better than leaving the village unprotected. I will go handle it, you take my back and protect the rest of the generators. If another one falls, it will be catastrophic. We will need to split up to do it faster, before the Separatists fire their weapon.

Ahsoka nodded and ran towards one of the intact Shield Generators, ready to set it up, doing her best to ignore the faint warning from the Force as the giant weapon, the Defoliator, was preparing to fire. She quickly reconfigured one and saw Master Secura doing the same. She did not need the Force to know that they would not be able to do it in time.

She was proven to be correct as she heard the giant weapon fire, making her feel a spike of danger in the Force. She saw the missile in the air, making its way towards the village, knowing that it would burn into the ground, including everyone in it, and Ahsoka couldn't help but think that her master would have been able to do it. He would have found some ridiculous plan that saved the village.

She closed her eyes, knowing that there was very little she could do now, but then, a familiar presence in the Force appeared, and Ahsoka found herself smiling as she recognised it. She looked up and saw the missile slowing down before all but stopping, in mid-air, and detonating far away so it would not be able to affect the village.

Skyguy was here.

She used her bond to try to find him and saw him standing on a nearby hill, having raised his hand to stop the missile in question.

Ahsoka could see the Neimoidian visibly panic at what happened as he yelled out, “Kill him!”

The AATs turned to the side, ready to blast him, only for Skyguy to push his hand forward, creating a Force Push that almost sent the Tanks hurtling back, making them miss their bolts easily. The AATs would have likely recovered and fired again, as they were hover tanks, but then the Jedi Knight pulled his arm down in a fist, crushing them and making them fall into the ground.

To show that he wasn’t done, her master jumped into the air and landed in the middle of the battle droids, creating a shockwave with the force as he reached the ground. A pulse of dust and wind make Ahsoka close her eyes from a moment, and by the time things settled, she found the small army of droids destroyed all around Skyguy, as he walked his way towards the new Separatist weapon, the Defoliator, and casually dismantled with a wave of his hand, before raising his hand and levitating the Separatist Leader from his seat, and keeping him hovering in the air, captured.

And just like that, the battle was over…

The Togruta found herself staring at her master, her mouth completely wide, trying to comprehend what she had just seen. Skyguy had always been absurdly powerful in the Force. The way he used it to great effect whenever he fought using a Lightsaber had been extremely impressive, rivalling most masters of the order, but this… He had never done anything on this scale before.

Taking a closer look at him with the Force, Ahsoka couldn’t help but think that he felt… different. Oh, much of it was the same, but to the Force, he seemed more at peace. He had always felt like an ocean to her, one that was always unrestful, wishing to do something actively, but now, he felt more like a clear, endless lake of power.

Ahsoka didn’t know when she started running, but she found herself approaching him, “Master!”

“It’s very good to see you, Snips.”

She looked down at him and saw that he wasn’t injured anymore, and with that realisation, she hit him in the shoulder with her fist, “You really need to stop getting injured all the time.”

Skyguy rolls his eyes and pats her on the head, “I missed you, too, Snips.”

She couldn’t help but ask, “What happened?”

“It’s a very long story, Snips… A very long story that I should probably tell the Council first.”

Ahsoka rolled her eyes and prepared to retort, only for Master Secura to speak up, “That was quite the display, Skywalker. I am glad to see you healed.”

“Ah, yes… Someone found me and fixed me up. Where is he again?” her master muttered to himself that last part, and looked around, narrowing near a pile of destroyed droids, “What are you doing near the droids, Potter?”

Ahsoka looked at where her master was speaking to, and saw a man casually make their way towards them, looking almost like he was pouting, “Oh, come on, Anakin. Don’t be such a bore… I was just exploring and taking a little look around.”

Her master raised an eyebrow, and Ahsoka found herself looking at this Potter. He was a human with messy hair and kind green eyes, which also brimmed with mischief. He wore an outfit that looked more like that of a smuggler, except for the strange leather jacket that seemed to be made out of some kind of reptile. He also wore glasses, something that wasn’t exactly common nowadays, but Ahsoka had travelled enough in the galaxy to not really question people’s fashion sense.

He was also holding a mug of some kind of steaming hot liquid in his hand. Skyguy must have noticed it as well, speaking up in an exasperated tone, “What the Kriff are you drinking, Potter?”

“Hot Chocolate. It’s pretty good. Do you want some?” the man answered, and she swore that she saw his eyes twinkling or something.

“How did… No, I don’t want to know. Could you just… not do anything ridiculous until Rex gets here.”

Potter rolled his eyes but didn’t comment. Instead, he turned towards her and Master Secura, “Hello there. I’m Harry Potter, explorer extraordinaire, at your service.”

Normally, Ahsoka would have thought that the man was harmless, a civilian who only had one of Rex’s blasters on him. He didn’t look muscular or even slightly dangerous, but the Force seemed to disagree completely.

From the moment that the man spoke, she could feel a warning in the Force, not that she was being attacked, but telling her that this man was exceedingly dangerous. She had almost reached for her Lightsaber when he spoke up, and saw Master Secura do the same.

It was her master’s placating them using the Force that got them to stand down, and he introduced them, “This is Ahsoka Tano, my Padawan Learner.” he then turned towards Master Secura, “This one is Aayla Secura. Like me, she is a Jedi Knight of the Republic.”

“It’s very nice to meet you,” the man answered, before Skyguy dragged him to meet the clones.

After their conversations picked up, her master returned to them, and Master Secura spoke up first, “Who is he? Why does he feel like this in the Force?”

Her master had a serious expression on his face when he asked, “I don’t know, but he was the one who healed me. He also… He also saved my life earlier. I wouldn’t say that we should trust him, but he has been quite cordial. The Force is also urging me to take him with us back to the Temple. What happened on your end? Why were the Separatists attacking this village in the first place?”

“They were using the village to test a new weapon,” the Twi’lek Jedi answered, and her master clenched his fists at the realisation of what had just happened, and for a moment, Ahsoka felt the lake that was Skyguy’s presence in the Force ripple, but then it calmed down almost immediately, returning to its tranquil state.

Before he could say anything, a Separatist Transport Shuttle quickly flew towards them and landed next to them. The shuttle’s door opened, revealing Rex making his way back down from the ship. His armour was pretty damaged, and he wasn’t wearing his helmet, but he generally looked unharmed. “General, Skywalker, you were right. The Seps left their Landing Craft unmanned. It’s secured now…”

“Good job, Rex,” her master answered.

Ahsoka looked at the shuttle that Rex had been piloting earlier, recognising its model and the fact that it had a hyperdrive, and spoke up, “Master, can we not use the Shuttle to return to the Temple?”

“It’ll be cramped, but I don’t see why we couldn’t? Why do you ask?”

She gave the Lurmen village a complicated look before it morphed into resolution, “These people, the Lurmens, came here to flee the Clone Wars. The Republic is bound to find this planet looking for us, and the Separatists could come back to investigate their destroyed expedition force. A Landing Craft would be large enough that the village would be able to leave if something happened to them.”

Ahsoka turned to her master with a hopeful look, and he gave her a warm smile. “Very well. We will leave the Landing Craft on Maridun,” he paused for a moment before speaking up, “I am proud of you, Ahsoka.”

The Padawan gave her master a shy smile before reigning herself in. After all, she was a Jedi. She then excitedly went towards the Lurmen village later, specifically to speak with Wag-Too, the Chief’s son. Their conversation didn’t take long, given that the Chief had wanted them as far away from the village as they could; still, it was obvious that the Lurmen were thankful for their help and the gift.

As she returned later and heard Anakin loudly addressing Potter, “You’re coming with us.”

“Am I now?” the human asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Are you telling me that you have another way off this system?”

Potter smirked as he took a large sip of his Hot Chocolate, “I suppose you’re right. I have no other choice but to come with you all.”

Ahsoka couldn’t help but wonder what happened to Potter’s ship? He had to have come with one, didn’t he? So, had it been destroyed somehow, maybe by the Separatists?

It was obvious that her master didn’t know what to do with the man, and to be fair, Ahsoka didn’t either, though she still didn’t know the full story about what happened. Skyguy clearly thought that Potter was dangerous, too dangerous to be left alone, but wouldn’t risk taking him prisoner, or hadn’t done anything.

She wasn’t sure, and she would admit that she was very curious. But hey, Skyguy didn’t say anything against asking him questions while they were on the ship.

Still, Potter walked forward with a small gleam in his eyes. As he entered the ship, she swore that she heard him mutter to himself in a joking tone, “To infinity and beyond!”

Ahsoka shook her head. What a weird thing to say… It was like the man had never been on a spaceship before. But that would be ridiculous, wouldn't it?

AN: So that's the Maridun mini-arc done. I had a lot of fun writing it, and as I said before, I’m still getting the hang of writing a Star Wars story, so bear with me if anything feels off.

This chapter was meant mostly to calm things down a bit after the previous one, while also showing a bit of the change in Anakin's power after his experience in the Rakatan Temple. I'm pretty excited to have Harry go to the Jedi Temple and Coruscant, in general, and hope that the transition made sense... somehow. Anyway, the next chapter will be a Harry POV, which I'm pretty excited to write. I'm thinking that moving forward, I should focus on Harry's POV, since a big theme in this story is Harry being excited about space travel, going to other planets, and exploring the Force, so I wanted to get your opinion on that.

Also, feel free to let me know if you have any things you'd like to see in that story. SW lore is pretty expansive, especially Legends stuff, and there's a lot that I'll probably miss, so I'm counting on you guys :)

As usual, I don’t mind rewriting this chapter depending on your feedback, so please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions.