Coruscant
Ahsoka closed her eyes and thought to herself for a long while before opening them again and facing an impassive Ciaran. "I think it would be for the best if I stayed here and observed the questioning. I'm sure your people can handle the trap and...I have to know. I have to see this through myself."
Ciaran nodded affirmatively. "I understand. If you'll excuse me I need to place a few calls, and by then we should be getting a feed from our Sentinel contact."
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"Asajj, you have field command of Teams A and B for the op. The Gurlanin double will show up in approximately an hour, make their presence noticeable enough to get some attention, them move into the warehouse and draw the targets in. I want one alive if possible, but I'll understand if you aren't able to given Team A's reports."
"Understood."
"Also...did you...feel anything strange recently?"
"No...what are you talking about?"
"...It's a long story. I'll explain once this is over. Ciaran out."
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Darra and Anakin waited in the questioning room for the Sentinel to bring in the first suspect, the both of them clearly tense as time slowly passed. After what seemed like an eternity to the both of them the door opened to admit the Sentinel gently but firmly pushing a clearly nervous O-Mer into the room before sitting him across from Anakin and Ahsoka, the person crossing over to join them as O-Mer started to speak.
"W-why am I here? Does...does it have something to do with Ahsoka?"
"We have some questions for you," the Sentinel said, not seeming to register his question. "First: what have you been doing for the past twelve hours?"
O-Mer visibly relaxed slightly, though he was still clearly nervous. "N-Nothing really worth mentioning. I've just been studying in the Archives - Master Nu can confirm that if you need to know. Aside from that...not much else."
"What exactly did you hear about Ahsoka?" Anakin asked.
"All I've heard is that she's been accused of being connected to the bombing, but that's all. I don't think-"
"Not the point," the Sentinel interrupted. "Moving on..." they started to say, not drawing attention to the device hidden on them that was transmitting the conversation to Ciaran...
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"I don't see anything out of the ordinary," Ahsoka said after examining the holoprojection of O-Mer. "He's obviously nervous, but I've seen enough of him on Wasskah to know that it's not because he's hiding anything."
"Fair enough, I can't see anything myself," Ciaran said before pressing a button on a nearby transmitter. "Nothing to report on my end."
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After a few more moments of questioning the Sentinel backed off without a word, and in response Anakin shrugged and said "We don't have any more questions for you, you can go."
O-Mer nodded before standing up and beginning to leave before stopping, gathering himself, and turning back to face Anakin with a resolute expression. "I don't know what Ahsoka's been accused of, but whatever it is I know she's innocent. After everything she did for us on Wasskah..." He went silent for a moment. "Please find out what's going on."
"I will," Anakin replied without hesitation. Nodding towards him, O-Mer left the room, shortly followed by the Sentinel without a word.
"I really hope we are actually wrong about this," Darra said quietly. "Ahsoka shouldn't have to go through that kind of betrayal."
"I know. I hope so too..."
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Ahsoka sat back slightly as she processed what O-Mer said about her. "I...I can't believe..."
"Sounds like you've been underestimating the effect you've had on those people," Ciaran replied. "From what I understand you gave them something to believe in, something to fight for when they needed it most. Trust me when I say that people never forget that sort of thing." She smirked slightly. "Honestly, Thrawn would be proud of you for managing to inspire that much faith in them."
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As Asajj waited with the rest of the strike team around the warehouse she noticed the Gurlanin body double starting to "case" the area. She couldn't help but be impressed at the level of detail; on a purely visual level she couldn't tell the difference between said double and the young Padawan she had fought many times before. On the other hand she could tell with a little bit of concentration.
Though admittedly it probably had something to do with the fact that she'd fought Ahsoka more times than she could count...
She couldn't help but chuckle to herself about the irony in being assigned in an operation specifically designed to help her.
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By comparison, Jinx was far more nervous than O-Mer when the Sentinel brought him into the room, visibly sweating and glancing nervously between the three people in it even as he was sat down. "I-if you're going to question me, I'm just going to say up front that I-I don't know anything about where Ahsoka is, and-"
"Hold on," Anakin said firmly, holding up a hand, "What are you talking about and where exactly did you hear that?"
"M-Master Bulq told me that Ahsoka had escaped from wherever she was being held and that there were people being sent out to find her. T-That's all I've heard, I swear!"
"If that is the case, then tell us what you have been doing for the past twelve hours," the Sentinel said flatly.
"Uh...most of the time I was training with Master Bulq and Kalifa, improving my lightsaber skills-"
"What form?" the Sentinel interrupted.
"Form VI. I don't really plan on going into combat if I can help it..." Jinx said, noticeably trailing off.
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"Something's not right," Ahsoka said. "Jinx was one of the more level-headed members of the three with me, but now he's panicking. Though I don't think he's trying to hide anything, he just seems very scared of something - probably being falsely accused honestly."
"I understand," Ciaran said as she activated the transmitter. "Lay off of him a bit, try to calm him down."
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Nodding, the Sentinel stepped back slightly, letting Darra and Anakin dictate the pace of the questioning.
"What are you so afraid of?" Darra calmly asked Jinx. "We want to believe you have nothing to hide, but your panic isn't helping your case," she said gently. "Please try to calm down. Is there something else going on?"
Jinx took a series of deep breaths before visibly steadying himself. "I...I was thinking about going out there to...I don't know honestly. Master Bulq - Sora Bulq - even suggested that I join the search teams or something but..." He visibly withdrew. "I know it sounds irrational, but I still have this feeling in the back of my head that there's a Trandoshan slaver that might find me and-"
"It's alright," Darra said, crossing over and gently laying a hand on Jinx's shoulder. "I understand. When I was nearly killed on a mission, I was a lot like you. Anytime I heard a loud noise I thought it was an explosion or a blaster bolt about to hit me, and even with Master Antana's training I still was scared and I shut myself away a lot. Honestly a lot of the reason I was able to get over it was because of Gr..." She trailed off before reasserting herself. "Have you been talking about it with other people?"
"...Not as much as I should," Jinx admitted, before shaking his head. "Anyway, this whole thing was bringing back bad memories of being on Wasskah. That's why...well...I was a mess when I came in."
"Now that you're much more together," Anakin politely but firmly interrupted, "Do you mind if we take this from the top and ask some questions again?"
Jinx nodded, and was able to give much more coherent answers to him, Darra, and the Sentinel. After a few moments and the Sentinel not hearing anything from her earpiece, they flatly told him "You may go now."
"Alright. One last thing though: I've fought alongside Ahsoka enough to know that there is no chance she could be behind this at all. She put everything on the line to get us and all of the people she freed on Wasskah to safety, and..." He frowned. "I know you don't know where she is or how she's doing, but if you see her tell her that no matter what happens I will always believe in her. No matter what."
"I will," Anakin said quietly, Jinx not noticing as he left the room, once again followed by the Sentinel.
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As the holoprojection cut off, Ciaran sighed before looking over to Ahsoka, who she could tell was visibly trying not to get emotional over Jinx's declaration of faith. "You need a moment?"
Ahsoka shook her head. "I-I'll be fine. We still have two more people to go, right?" she said shakily.
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It took some time, but eventually Asajj noticed a pair of cloaked figures tailing "Ahsoka," and the rest of her team quickly corroborated her observations. Nodding to herself, she quickly ordered them to move into ambush positions and prepare for the main strike. It would only be a few more moments before the trap was sprung.
What confused Asajj though was that one of the two presences felt oddly familiar for some reason she couldn't quite place, even though she was certain she had never met them before...
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In contrast to the two people brought in before Kalifa was outwardly calm as the Sentinel escorted her into the room, calmly sitting down in the chair provided to her. She held her gaze on Anakin for a noticeable moment before saying "I take it this is about Ahsoka?"
"In part. We have some questions for you," the Sentinel said calmly.
"I imagine it boils down to 'where have you been,' 'do you have any idea where she might be,' and 'do you think she's working with anyone else?' I'll just answer now: I've been around the Temple not doing anything particularly noteworthy, I have no idea where she is or might be, and she's not working with anyone else because she's innocent. That enough of an answer for you?"
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"She's not trusting them," Ahsoka said. "Or more importantly she doesn't trust the Sentinel or Darra. But...I think she might be more willing to talk to Anakin."
"Is she lying?" Ciaran asked.
"Well...I don't think so, but she's not giving all of the answers."
"I see." Turning on the transmitter she said "Let Anakin speak with her alone. She might have more to say but I doubt she'll trust you or Darra."
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"Perhaps Miss Thel-Tanis and I should leave for a moment, Master Skywalker," the Sentinel said to the surprise of both him and Darra. "There are other things that require our attention."
Sparing a glance at Darra, the Sentinel left the room, shortly followed by a slightly confused Darra. As they left Kalifa's eyes never left them before the door shut. She waited one, two, three seconds before letting out a breath. "Good, they're finally gone."
"Wait, why-"
"Master Skywalker, you need to listen to me because I don't know who else I can trust. I know the bomber was a Jedi, but I don't know who it is."
"And how do you claim to know that?" Anakin said somewhat accusingly.
"I heard about how Letta was killed by the Force from Master Bulq," she said quickly, glancing around nervously. "I was planning on maybe going out of the Temple to try and get some answers, maybe find Ahsoka myself, but..." She shook her head. "If there's one thing she taught me while I was on Wasskah it was not to be rash and to consider the results of my actions. If I wasn't here, well, that would make me look like a prime suspect, right?" she said, slightly nervous now that she had said it.
"That it would. Were you telling the truth earlier-"
"Yes. I don't know where Ahsoka is or who the real bomber is. All I know is that she's probably in danger."
"Not as much as you might think, but I understand what you're saying."
"Right..." Anakin said as something about Kalifa's testimony piqued his interest. "Wait. You said you heard about the specifics from Master Sora Bulq, right?"
"Yes, that's right," she said affirmatively.
"Funny, he also told Jinx something similar, though he omitted the details about Letta's death..." Anakin said to himself as he brought a hand to his chin in thought. "Did he tell you anything else?"
"No..." Kalifa said nervously.
"Did he recommend that you go out and look for Ahsoka? Because he said something similar to Jinx."
"N-No he didn't but..." Kalifa glanced around nervously. "I didn't know anything about him talking to Jinx, and he, O-Mer, Ahsoka and I have been staying in fairly close touch ever since we got back. We were training together at the time, but he didn't..."
Anakin frowned, not liking the implications of where the facts were starting to point. "Jinx was scared out of his mind when we spoke with him, so that's probably why."
"That's..." Kalifa looked visibly relieved. "I'm worried for him, but I'm glad that it sounds like he's innocent."
"One last thing...has he also been in close contact with Barriss Offee?"
"I...that's Ahsoka's friend, right? I honestly don't know, I haven't really spoken with her or seen her today." She looked at Anakin again, eyes much wider than when she's first entered. "I don't know what's going on, but please keep Ahsoka safe."
"I will. You should probably check in with your friends and stay together tonight," Anakin advised. "I have a bad feeling about this..."
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"I have a bad feeling about this..." Ciaran muttered.
"What do you mean?" Ahsoka asked. "We already know that a Jedi is behind this, isn't that bad enough?"
"I won't deny that but..." Ciaran frowned as she began to get the feeling her concern was more instinctual. If they figure out Bulq is involved...this could get could get a lot worse very quickly.
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"Decoy has entered the warehouse," Asajj said over the comms. "Do not move until I give the order or you see one of the targets try to make a break for it.
"Roger," replied everyone over the line as Asajj waited from her position to see what the two pursuers would do. After a moment the two of them started to follow her in, though as they did the one Asajj was getting a strange feeling from suddenly stopped and started to speak with the other.
"Targets are becoming suspicious, be prepared to move," she reported.
After a moment the first pursuer started to move into the warehouse, but the other noticeably held back, waiting one, two, three, four, five seconds-
Then suddenly making a break for it.
"One of them is onto us, but the other has fallen for it," Asajj rapidly said over the comms as she began to run after the other figure. "Strike now, I will handle the runner."
"Understood!"
As Asajj began her pursuit the figure seemed to register that they were being followed, now actively trying to avoid Asajj as they weaved through the Undercity's streets, the person Asajj was chasing using everything from throwing pedestrians in her way to knocking over nearby food stands to simply trying to lose her in alleyways in an attempt to shake her, but Asajj was undeterred and more importantly was gaining on her target.
After a few more minutes of the chase Asajj finally cornered her target against a wall with nowhere to run. "Do not try to resist," she said as she ignited her lightsabers, "you have already lost."
The figure hesitated for a moment before saying a word Asajj was not expecting to hear.
"Sister?"
Asajj froze up for a second before recovering. "I have no idea who you are-"
"But I know who you are," they said, throwing off their cloak to reveal what were undoubtedly the features of a Dathomiri witch, her face almost chalk-white and covered in black tattoos. "You are Great Mother Talzin's favored warrior. It's an honor to meet you in person, Asajj-"
Without a word Asajj charged forward and slammed the woman against the wall, holding up one of her lightsabers to her neck. "You have one minute to explain what you're doing here. Start."
"My name is Saato," she started to say quickly as the gravity of Asajj's threat became apparent. "My mission has been to act as our Mother's eyes within the Dark Acolytes - right now I'm supposed to kill Ahsoka Tano-"
"Who gave you that order!?"
"Sora Bulq. Weequay Jedi Master. The Jedi still trust him but he fell to the Dark Side a long time ago and has been secretly leading us ever since. He wants Tano dead so that the blame for the bombing can be pinned on her."
"Was he behind the bombing?"
"I don't know, he only told us about the mission, nothing else!"
Without a word Asajj deactivated her lightsabers, thinking to herself for a brief moment.
"I will not tell a soul about our meeting, Sister," Saato said as she recovered herself. "Our Mother-"
"Is not as all-seeing as she believes she is," Asajj interrupted. "Leave. Now."
"But my mission-"
"Is now irrelevant. Bulq will die, and once he does Dooku will want to know how he was discovered - with you as the only living suspect. Leave while you still have a chance."
Saato started to open her mouth before Asajj shut her down with a vicious glare. With a quick "I understand, Sister" she quickly moved past her and faded into the Undercity streets. Asajj stood in place for a moment and gathered herself before calling the rest of the team with a curt "Report."
"Haaah, h-he's dead. We had to kill that bastard," Riphath said over the comms. "He just would not die."
"Apparently you can fashion lightsabers to resemble clubs," Kolikya commented. "We learned this as he attempted to beat Master Riphath to death with it in a berserk fury, and that is what forced me to take a killing shot. Stun rounds were used, but the man was able to resist them enough that lethal force was necessary."
"What they aren't telling you is that it was the same guy we saw casing the apartment before," Dani said. "So...that's good. Aside from the lack of information-"
"Not an issue. I was able to get a name of the ringleader from the other one."
"Y-you did!? Who is it?"
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The tension in the questioning room spiked dramatically as the Sentinel escorted a reserved Barriss into the room, as both Anakin and Darra knew that either she was the culprit behind the bombing or their information was inaccurate and they would have to go back to square one, neither of which were good outcomes by any stretch.
"We have some questions for you," the Sentinel said once it was clear that Barriss wasn't saying anything. "To begin with, what were you doing for the past twelve hours?"
Barriss glanced nervously at the Sentinel. "I...I was training with Master Bulq, just working on my lightsaber forms. Aside from that...I was just around the Temple doing nothing worth mentioning."
Anakin raised an eyebrow at her statement. "I see. So were you training with anyone else at the time?" he said neutrally.
"No. It was a private lesson, he wanted to have some time alone with me to help me work through some of the more complex stances."
"Is that right?" he said as his face visibly darkened. "Then perhaps you would care to explain when Kalifa Lelm and Jinx Tarra came into your 'private lesson.' Or was it really a group lesson?"
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The color from Ahsoka's face drained as she heard Anakin's accusation. "N-no...there's no way...why...?"
Sadly I can't say I'm surprised, Ciaran thought to herself. Suddenly her comlink began to ring...
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"I-I don't understand," Barriss said, now much more visibly nervous.
"Perhaps I should make it clearer for you," he said as he moved forward to visibly loom over Barriss, the room seeming to visibly darken around her as she did so. "Your testimony already contradicts two other people's and that means you don't have an alibi for the past twelve hours. So let's try this again and be honest this time: where were you?"
Barriss was silent for a long moment before her eyes widened. "You have to help me."
"What?"
"Sora Bulq. He's fallen to the dark side. He's behind the bombing and is trying to have Ahsoka killed right now. You have to stop him."
"She's right," Ciaran said to the Sentinel. "My people have confirmed that he was the one who sent the Dark Jedi into the Undercity to kill Ahsoka, and we have no reason to doubt the veracity of said information."
"What proof do you have of this?" the Sentinel said coolly.
"He's been trying to manipulate me and the people from Wasskah to fall...it's only now that I've realized it," she said rapidly. "I-I don't really know how to put it into words-"
"The others gave us a good idea," Anakin said to himself as he turned to face the Sentinel. "We've got enough reason to suspect him at least and the other testimonies have pointed in his direction."
Darra looked at Barriss suspiciously, but simply said "I agree" and nothing more than that.
After a long moment of silence the Sentinel spoke again. "Return to your quarters. Do not leave them until this situation has been resolved." Without a word they quickly exited the room, beginning to walk at a brisk pace as Anakin quickly followed them. "I need to know where Sora Bulq is and I will require as many agents as you can get me..."
For a moment Anakin matched pace with them before turning back to see Darra slowly exit the room. With a sad smile she shouted back "I'll escort Barriss back to her room. Wouldn't want to slow you down."
Anakin gave her a wordless nod before catching up with the Sentinel, bracing himself for the coming battle...
AN: And we're cliffhanging it here, mainly because next time Things will Happen. Also I just want to get some form of content out. Also also we're at 3.7k words as it is. Apologies for the delay, but it turns out getting new games over the holidays means you're likely to get sidetracked by them, who would have thought writer's block happened. Yes. Definitely that.
Anyway, enjoy~
