Robert Meta
patreon
Star Wars: Rise of the Battlemage - Chapter 199 - Ahsoka Tano Interlude
🕑 Added 2025-01-24 16:25:05 +0000 UTCAhsoka and Vaz watched as the 1st group, carrying their friends, allies, and lover, took off and headed out towards deep space with a final message goodbye. Once they had jumped out of sensor range, Ahsoka turned to Vaz, standing up and out of the Starcaller's captain's chair.
"Well, Vaz, tell me, do you have experience with investigations?" she asked, passing the Shistavanen to head deeper into the ship.
"I have experience tracking bounties and hunting," Vaz responded, following after the Togruta, still dressed in full armor, only her helmet off, clipped to her hip. "I believe that is why the Boss instructed me to remain with you. I also have basic Mandalorian training from my adopted father, with a focus on heavy weapons. Beyond that, I am afraid I lack any experience."
"I would think that's more than enough experience for this," She assured her, patting an armored pauldron. "For now, I want you to act as my bodyguard of sorts, looming behind me, the hard to my soft approach. Does that make sense?"
"It does, I am familiar with intimidation and negotiation tactics," She explained, Ahsoka smiling.
"See, more experience than you thought," She responded, releasing the warrior's shoulder. "Our first stop will be Alliance Intelligence, which probably means we will be interacting with Draven. Don't let him get on your nerves. We are still guests, so anything we do might negatively affect or restrict our access."
"Very well."
"Good. I don't know how difficult this will be or how long it will take," Ahsoka admitted, now making her way to the lounge area, where a pair of beskar-clad commando droids were waiting. "It all depends on what sort of information security the Rebellion employed for the mission. We could puzzle it out in a few minutes, or this could take weeks."
"I am here for the long haul, Ahsoka," Vaz assured her, prompting another smile from Ahsoka.
Rather than respond, Ahsoka focused on the two Commando droids, who were armed and ready for battle. They stood at loose attention, tightening up when Ahsoka focused on them.
"As for you two, I expect you to stay quiet unless Vaz or I address you," She explained. "I don't think we particularly need you accompanying us, as Vaz and I are perfectly capable of defending ourselves, but I promised Deacon that I would take you with me, so I will. Keep your sensors going, guard doors as we enter rooms, and I don't want your weapons to leave stun unless I give you a direct order. Understood?"
"Roger roger," Both of the droids said in unison, switching their weapons to stun, before saluting the young Jedi. "We follow your command."
Ahsoka gave them a nod before pulling out her comms and contacting the number she was given to start their investigation. After a quick conversation with an intelligence agent on the other end, they were invited back into Alpha Base to begin, with a transport sent out to collect them. Thankfully, they didn't even have to wait long, as the wheeled transport showed up to pick them up in only a few minutes. From there, they were guided through the base until, eventually, they arrived at an office space of sorts, with people sitting at computers, looking at projections and analyzing data and machines. Quite a few people looked up as they entered, but most focused back on their work soon after. One woman, a female Kel Dor spotted them and approached.
"Ahsoka Tano, I assume?" she said, reaching out to shake her hand. “I am Agent Yos Yuca. Draven wished to meet you, if you'd follow me?"
She gestured to the direction she had come from, carefully guiding the two further into the room. The two BX droids stood at attention at the door, following Ahsoka's instruction, as the Kel Dor guided them to a small conference room turned office. A desk sat tucked in the corner with a holo-projector on it, while the center of the room was occupied by a large table. There, by the conference table, standing above several data pads, actual printouts, and a second larger holo-projector, was General Draven. When they stepped in, the head of intelligence operations looked up, nodded, and gestured to the pile.
"Welcome, I'm glad to see you are so eager to start, "General Draven said, cutting through any sort of small talk. "As you can see, we have compiled a lot of data concerning the most recent collaborative mission."
Draven leaned forward and tapped a particular datapad, sliding it toward Ahsoka.
"On here is a list of our people who knew about the mission far enough in advance to somehow communicate the knowledge to an outside source," He explained. "It is cross-referenced with people who didn't actually participate in the gathering of the fleet, so they were never in danger."
Ashoka approached the table, focusing on the tablet directly in front of the General of Intelligence. He picked up the tablet and handed it to her, activating the screen. Ahsoka scrolled through the names, noting its relatively small size before looking back up at the General.
"I understand that we have our differences, but if there is anything I dislike more than wild card variables and opportunists like your leader, it is traitors and spies," He explained, gritting his teeth as he shook his head. "This is our best place to start."
"I understand your sentiment, General Draven," Ahsoka said, keeping her response diplomatic. "How have you ordered the suspect list?"
"Those at the top have somehow tripped our suspicions already. The lead suspect was already under surveillance for "losing" a shipment he was in charge of, while the second, third, and fourth, have some suspicious credit activity," Draven answered with another tight scowl. "Anyone past the third page is suspicious in some way, but not worth investigating immediately because of an alibi or some other evidence."
Ahsoka raised an eyebrow at the general's dismissiveness, realizing that, as much as it was unfortunate, it was necessary. The size of the list and the distance some of the people were spread out meant that a bit of practicality and generalization was needed to focus the search.
"Unfortunately, the list is only so short because we have avoided the influence of zealotry," Draven admitted, shaking his head. "If the traitor or spy was willing to sacrifice themselves by setting up an ambush they would be caught in, the list becomes significantly longer."
"Yes, but thankfully, out of all the possible motives, the zealotry is the easiest for me to detect," Ahsoka explained. "Such blind faith and belief leaves a stain on someone's mind. Should it come to that."
Draven didn't seem to know how to react to that statement, so he simply stayed silent. After a minute of looking through the list, Ahsoka nodded, looking back up at Draven.
"I would like to interview as many people on the list as I can," She said. "Certainly any that are suspected or have a motive."
"That can be arranged, we have been working to keep those we suspect from being moved off the planet," Draven explained. "I will have a room set up for you so you can meet them. Keep in mind that bringing these suspects in will likely let them know we are onto them, should they be guilty."
"I am aware," Ahsoka responded. "But if there is one thing a Jedi is good at, it is establishing guilt."
"I was under the impression that a sufficiently strong-willed mind could resist such attempts," the general said with a frown. "Is that not true?"
"For some of the more complicated mind techniques, yes, but reading surface emotions is as basic as breathing for a Jedi. I will be asking questions while probing their mind, not bending them to my will," she assured him. "Unless one of these suspects has an especially willful mind that is trained in repelling a Jedi's senses, I will most likely be able to sense something. I do not imagine the interviews will take long."
Draven seemed a bit skeptical, but nonetheless nodded. Ahsoka had no illusions that the General of Intelligence would be continuing his own investigations while they worked on theirs, but she had faith that the Force would find the truth.
"I should also point out that, as agreed, you will be accompanied by an Intelligence agent," he added. "I believe Agent Yuca was the one that greeted you? She will be your escort during your investigation."
"Very well,"
It took about an hour to start the interviews, with Draven selecting a nondescript room not far from the Intelligence office. Ahsoka, with her years of experience and prior training, worked hard to streamline and interview each suspect efficiently. Unfortunately, there were quite a few people on the list, even with the generalizations and assumptions that Draven had made to cut down the list.
One by one, suspects were brought to the cordoned-off room, and Ahsoka would ask them simple questions designed to prompt their emotions, using the small psychological description provided for each Rebel member by Agent Yuca. For some of the suspects, Ahsoka complimented their cunning to foster their pride. For some, she belittled their uselessness to incur anger in failure. In others still, she shouted at them, working their weak wills to push for a response.
Soon, a day passed, and then another, Ahsoka interviewing nearly two dozen people each day. Some only took several minutes, while most took around fifteen or twenty, while others with stronger, more controlled minds took quite a bit longer.
In total, she had managed to uncover a small smuggling working out of a nearby rebel cell, an illicit relationship between a high-ranked official and a subordinate, as well as an actual traitor who had been selling secrets to the Hutts. Unfortunately, her investigation into the one who sold out the Skyforged Vanguard was coming up short. Within a few days, she was forced to reconsider the list, wondering what she was missing, the Force tugging at her mind.
"What sort of reasoning pushed certain people down the list?" Ahsoka asked General Draven after another day of interviews. "Is there a concrete reason for all of them?"
"They have alibis or witnesses saying they weren't able to reach out to anyone. Some of them also maintain an otherwise clean record," the general explained. "It's obviously not completely foolproof, but we needed a way to consolidate and organize the list."
Ahsoka frowned, going through the whole list again. She was missing something, and the Force fluttered at the back of her mind to pay attention. It had been pushing her to step further and do something else, but so far, she had been unable to figure out what. As she was scanning through, a single name caught her eye. It was familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.
"Who is this?" She asked, pointing to the name and showing Draven.
"Commander Neshweh Gadic… A Mon Cal who has been with us for years. He is one of the leaders of an important station near the Hydian Way," He said, pulling up a datapad and reading from it carefully. "He was moved down the suspect list because of the intense security of his post. No electronic messages go in or out, and everything is heavily monitored."
"Why was he made aware of the plans in the first place?"
"We had to call in quite a few assets to put together the fleet we sent with you, fat lot of good that it would have done against that monstrosity of a ship," He explained with a growl, before shaking his head. "His post deals with several cells dropping off goods they procure from the Empire, then shipping them off to other cells, a distribution point, much like Omega Station. We wanted some of his people on board to help with whatever goods we found. We would have loaded them up with supplies, and they would have taken it back to their base and disseminated it through their usual routes."
"I take it he isn't here?" Ahsoka asked, feeling the Force tugging at her.
"No, he never left his post," He responded with a frown. "Why? He is only on the list because he knew about the mission. Otherwise, he has a clean record and no reason to betray the Alliance."
"The name… it sounds familiar," She admitted. "The Force is telling me he is important."
"Ahsoka, Apologies, but I recognize the name. It simply took me a moment to place it," Vaz explained, stepping forward from her position by the door. "Vakim, the captain of the Intervention, as well as his brother and husband, were Rebels before coming to work with us. According to them, they left because of rumors and slander that Commander Gadic spread in order to stiff them on compensation for their work."
"Ah, right, I remember now. The Mon Calamari who worked with General Syndulla," Ahsoka said, her mind's eye providing a mental image of the aquatic humanoid. "Interesting. He did interact with Deacon and his crew in the early days, just around when I first met them… He did not seem to appreciate their success or me leaving to join them... In fact, he was quite vocally against it..."
"That is hardly motive, no one was exactly happy about that," General Draven pointed out. "You were legendary among the ranks, after all. Losing you to a mercenary branch was a hit to morale."
"Perhaps, but if you say he has no record of issues, and yet our people say he was the reason they left the Rebellion… that says to me he is just good at covering his tracks," Ahsoka pointed, shaking her head. "The Force is pulling me towards him, so I can only think he is important to this investigation. Can you get me access to his station?"
"I… I believe I can, if that's what you want to do," He said, a frown on his face. "But I reiterate, there are no comms going in or out of that base, we monitor it too heavily for him to have snuck a message by. All communication is done by courier, which is also heavily monitored."
"Perhaps… But the Force is telling me that there is something there," Ahsoka reiterated, standing up from her seat. "We will be visiting his post so we can question him directly."
"Very well, I will get you the passcodes on a datapad," He agreed with a shrug. "Agent Yuca will be accompanying you, of course, so she can handle the contact."
"Of course," Ahsoka agreed with a smile. "In the meantime, we will head back to the Starcaller and prepare for departure."
General Draven nodded, and Ahsoka returned the gesture, turning and leaving the room. Vaz followed after her, as did Agent Yuca. Finally, as they left the intelligence office, both of the beskar armored commando droids followed after them, trailing behind like an honor guard.
Comments
Noob
Tftc
Fortunis
Fish is back on the menu boys!
JKarrde
I figured Gadic would be the one, or that Commander from earlier chapters that Deacon company saved from slavers.
Duke of Coffee
Loose ends being tied, let see if he or something else was the it tipped off the Darth Vadar.
Nathan R Chase
this is not a self-contained interluded next chapter the second part?
Feliprins
Who's to say they haven't put a listening post close to that drop point and have a small communication device on the guy which can do interplanetary communication? The fact he commands a logistics center would make him an excellent spy.
HYP3R
Tyftc. Love to see an old face brought back in
Austin
Love this story thanks
