Spy Shipment

“Yes, I am,” Ahsoka nodded, bowing back. “Ahsoka Tano, Jedi Padawan, at your service.” Then she blinked as she realized something. “You’re a telepath? Amazing! The only people I know who can telecommunicate are Jedi.”

Warp muttered something unintellible, wishing that he had place the small boy on his left arm and not on weapon arm, as he turned slightly in order to face the source of the new, female voice.

Wellwellwell, what do we have here?

A quick evaluation of the newcomer told Warp that, though the young lady was a bit on the slim side, she was not to be fooled with, and she had the look about her that said she had actually been in her own share of battles.

"And you are...?" He tried to keep his tone neutral, but there was no denying the slight edge that was playing key to his hidden frustration.

Slightly irritated, Ahsoka folded her arms. “I just said, flyboy, and if you’d been paying attention, you’d know. Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, Commander in the Grand Army of the Republic. And, I take it, we’re not in the Galactic Republic right now.”

"Well, excuse me for having other things on my mind at the moment." Flyboy. Why did everyone call him that? It was like someone gone and made it the offical term for everyone who didn't know his real name.

"And thank you for being so kind as to repeat yourself. I'm sure it must have taken a great deal of effort on your part." He gently set the boy back on his own two feet, messing up his hair before turning back to Ahsoka. "And no, we're definitely not in the Galactic Repubilc right now." Whatever that was.

“Was that supposed to be a slight?” said Ahsoka, raising her eyebrow with Jedi dignity. “I’ll have you know that I’ve been slighted by professionals, mister. Who are you, anyway?”

Buzz laughed. “Her, I like.” The girl looked like she could be seventeen, but just felt like she could also be much older. “And you’re an officer in an army? That’s quite an impressive feat for a teenager, Commander Tano.” He saluted. “Captain Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger, at your service.”

"No, it was supposed to just a smart remark, but you can take it however you like." Warp smiled back. "Was your comment supposed to be a slight? My name's Warp Darkmatter."

Quote :

“And you’re an officer in an army? That’s quite an impressive feat for a teenager, Commander Tano.” He saluted. “Captain Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger, at your service.”

Captain, huh? She already liked this man – he had an aura about him that was almost… Obi-Wan-ish. And that she could definitely trust.

Ahsoka saluted him back. “Nice to meet you, Captain Lightyear. And please, just call me Ahsoka. My rank doesn’t have much to do with my capabilities other than the fact that I’m a Jedi. …If that makes any sense.” She smiled sheepishly.

Quote :

"No, it was supposed to just a smart remark, but you can take it however you like." Warp smiled back. "Was your comment supposed to be a slight? My name's Warp Darkmatter."

“Nice to meet you, and no, not really.” Ahsoka kept her arms folded but relaxed her stance. “Darkmatter, huh? Quite a name. Lightyear, too, for that matter. Is that some kind of corny counterpart thing – Lightyear, Darkmatter?” No sarcasm in her tone, just genuine curiosity. She could tell that they knew each other, but… hmm, the sense of their relationship was skewed, confused. Tangled like the wires in the Twilight’s hyperdrive.

Warp would've laughed if Ahsoka hadn't almost guessed just exactly what the relationship between him and Buzz was. His eyes flashed with anger for a moment as his temper flared. He opened his mouth to let loose a string of comebacks, but no words came out and none were coming to his mind. "It's not that simple."

Ahsoka’s eyebrows drew together. “Apparently.” Her blue eyes glanced between the two men, one angry and the other… regretful. “The Force is tangled between you two…” She looked Warp directly in the eye. “Tangled even further in you.”

The who...the what? Whatever it doesn't matter right now.

"As well it should be after..."he paused for a moment, trying to get his words straightened out. He wanted to tell Ashoka that it really wasn't any of her business and that if she wanted to know she could go search the databanks. But it wasn't going to be that easy, not at this point anyway.

"I was a double agent." It felt weird saying that with Buzz standing right there, but it wasn't like he was going to give the details. "Since you can already tell that things aren't exactly settled between us, I hope you don't need help figuring out the rest." An irritated look still covered Warp's features, but a good deal of his anger had been defused his very abbreviated version of the story.

Ahsoka blinked. She hadn’t seen that one coming. “I guess not,” she said coolly. “I…”

She stopped herself and closed her eyes. “Calm, you must be, young one.” She shook her head and opened her eyes. “Never mind.”

Turning to Buzz, she said, “Sir? Maybe you could debrief me on what’s going on here? Before coming here, I heard a voice that was very… well, evil.”

Well that makes two of you. His cocky smile returned as he cast a side-long glance at his old partner. "Good."

Oh, she was going to get the debrief of her life. Of course, seeing that they were both of the same mindset, she would probably enjoy it. Still, he wanted to stick around to see how long it would take of her and Buzz to start exchanging ideas about what happened, and how to fix it.

Quote :

Ahsoka saluted him back. “Nice to meet you, Captain Lightyear. And please, just call me Ahsoka. My rank doesn’t have much to do with my capabilities other than the fact that I’m a Jedi. …If that makes any sense.” She smiled sheepishly.

“Actually, it kinda does,” Buzz said slowly. “Space Rangers, regardless of their capabilities, all have authority over planetary law enforcement. And if I call you Ahsoka, you call me Buzz, okay?”

Quote :

Turning to Buzz, she said, “Sir? Maybe you could debrief me on what’s going on here? Before coming here, I heard a voice that was very… well, evil.”

Buzz blinked at the unexpected shift in conversation. “Uh, that’s right. He’s called the Dictator, and he has a Second-in-Command…” He paused, trying to think of how to break the news gently. …He couldn’t do it. “Ahsoka,” he said in a quieter tone, “they’ve overrun all our galaxies. All our defense forces have been defeated. The reason we’re here is to serve them.”

Dark he could do, and cold he could do. He could even put up with dark and cold together. The part that was getting to him was the overall depressing atmosphere of the ship. It was almost like someone had set the gravity field of ship up a notch too high or something.

It had been almost forty-five minutes since Shane had found himself dropped onto the cold dark floor, of a cold, dark hallway that had only one door. He had, in that time, managed to find what looked like an observation deck, after having gone on a self-guided tour of a good part of the the ship. It was indeed a very large, open space that didn't seem to house anything except several massive billboards that were alternating between displaying less-than-helpful rules, and announcements.

No way! There's more people here?! Resisting the erge to run across the space, to a group of unidentified people, Shane slid quietly along the wall doing his best to stay out of sight, just as had been for almost an hour now. He stopped when he only thirty feet away, and exactly perpendicular to the group. He was relieved to see Warp amoung them, and slightly worried to also see Buzz Lightyear, who he hadn't actually met yet. The rest of the company were new to him though. A bug with no mouth, a two small boys, and a rather attractive young lady.

Finally holstering his sidearm, he stepped quietly out from the shadow and made his way toward the small congregation. They were obviously discussing something, and from the look of things it wasn't exactly pleasant. "Would you people mind if I joined you?" Hopefully, nobody jumped out of their skin.

Quote :

“Actually, it kinda does,” Buzz said slowly. “Space Rangers, regardless of their capabilities, all have authority over planetary law enforcement. And if I call you Ahsoka, you call me Buzz, okay?”

“Sure thing,” she smiled. Yep, she liked this guy, all right.

Quote :

"Would you people mind if I joined you?"

Ahsoka turned to the newcomer. “Hey,” she greeted. Hmm, he looked to be about her own age. “Come on over.”

Quote :

Buzz blinked at the unexpected shift in conversation. “Uh, that’s right. He’s called the Dictator, and he has a Second-in-Command…” He paused, trying to think of how to break the news gently. …He couldn’t do it. “Ahsoka,” he said in a quieter tone, “they’ve overrun all our galaxies. All our defense forces have been defeated. The reason we’re here is to serve them.”

All of Ahsoka’s breath came out in a harsh whisper. “What??” She took an instinctive step back, her already large eyes even wider with shock. “That’s not possible…”

She reached deep into the Force, raced for where it was strongest, in her own galaxy. She stumbled back with a cry of pain, reaching up to hold her head in her hands.

“Master Plo… Barriss… Rex… Obi-Wan… Anakin!!” The last word came out in a scream. “ANAKIN, WHERE ARE YOU??”

Anakin didn’t answer.

The Force was roiling with suffering and destruction… mourning. It wept, and its lament was heavy upon all who could touch it.

Ahsoka collapsed to the deck, nearly blacking out.

"Hello, Shane."

Quote :

All of Ahsoka’s breath came out in a harsh whisper. “What??” She took an instinctive step back, her already large eyes even wider with shock. “That’s not possible…”

"Appearently it is," Warp muttered with an almost apologetic look on his face. He had been able to see what happened to Tradeworld. He could only imagine the rest.

Quote :

“Master Plo… Barriss… Rex… Obi-Wan… Anakin!!” The last word came out in a scream. “ANAKIN, WHERE ARE YOU??”

Oh, this was not going to end well. Whoever it was that she was calling for, they weren't there and/or they weren't able to answer her.

Quote :

Ahsoka collapsed to the deck, nearly blacking out.

Reflexively trotting over to, and kneeling next to Ashoka, he said,"That didn't look so good. You okay?" This was a fine time for one of them to decide to have some sort of physical breakdown.

Ahsoka looked up at Warp through tear-blurred eyes. “No,” she moaned. “I’m not.” It felt as if a huge part of her had been ripped away, leaving her broken and bleeding and empty.

She pushed herself up to a sitting position. “I just…” She bit her lip and looked down. “It’s hard to explain. But… I can feel it. All the hurt.”

She looked up at Buzz, her expression suddenly fiercely determined. “We can’t let them get away with it.” There was a note of desperation in her voice. “I’ll do whatever it takes – just so long as we bring them down.” A faint glimmer of gold flashed through her blue eyes, so quickly that it almost might not have happened at all.

Buzz caught the flash of gold, though, and it unsettled him – not to mention the girl’s psychic pain. “Okay, okay, calm down, Ahsoka,” he urged. “Hysteria won’t help you.”

He took a deep breath. “We’ll take them down if we can, but we need to have a plan, a group of people dedicated to this. We won’t succeed otherwise.”

Quote :

“Okay, okay, calm down, Ahsoka,” he urged. “Hysteria won’t help you.”

She nodded, closed her eyes, and took a deep, cleansing breath. There is no emotion; there is peace.

Quote :

He took a deep breath. “We’ll take them down if we can, but we need to have a plan, a group of people dedicated to this. We won’t succeed otherwise.”

Ahsoka’s face lit up as she slowly rose to her feet. “A resistance.” Half-formed ideas spun through her head like a whirlwind. “Captain – Buzz – count me in.”

Quote :

He took a deep breath. “We’ll take them down if we can, but we need to have a plan, a group of people dedicated to this. We won’t succeed otherwise.”

"Well, it looks like this all you've got for your group of people, Buzz. For now anyway," Warp said, standing. He was still trying to decide if he had actually seen a flash of gold color in Ashoka's eyes or not.

Quote :

Ashoka's eyes lit up as she slowly rose to her feet. "A resistance." Half-formed ideas spun through her head like a whirlwind. "Captain - Buzz - count me in."

"Just don't keep falling over like that. And you both might want to keep your voices down when speaking on that particular topic. There's really no point in telling the universe what you're thinking about doing." He shot Shane an irritated glance as he stepped back to his original spot in the group.

If that wasn't the fastest development of a situation that Shane had ever seen, he didn't know what was. Within just a few minutes of his joining the company, he had found out why he was on this massive ship, Ashoka had had, what looked like some sort of breakdown, and four out of the seven of them that were there, had decided that they were going to start a resistance.

And Warp wonders why I'm so quiet. His mouth twisted into a slight grin. I can learn almost everything I need to just by listening.

"I think Miss, um..." He addressed Ahsoka, deciding to use her first name since he hadn't heard her last name yet. "Ahsoka, that you might not want to do whatever is it that you just did." Hmm, Ahsoka. That was a very interesting name. "I call recon/sniper."

Quote :

"Just don't keep falling over like that. And you both might want to keep your voices down when speaking on that particular topic. There's really no point in telling the universe what you're thinking about doing." He shot Shane an irritated glance as he stepped back to his original spot in the group.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “I’m young, but I’m not stupid, thanks. I lost control for a minute – it… it won’t happen again.” I hope.

Quote :

"I think, Miss, um..." He addressed Ahsoka, deciding to use her first name since he hadn't heard her last name yet. "Ahsoka, that you might not want to do whatever is it that you just did." Hmm, Ahsoka. That was a very interesting name. "I call recon/sniper."

Ahsoka turned to the young man, blue eyes hard. “What I just did was sort of like testing the water for depth and getting pulled under by a riptide. I had no idea that would happen.”

She turned back to Buzz. “I’ve only shot with a blaster a few times, and I’m not that experienced. But I have a lot of strengths that make up for that. I’m a good pilot, I can do hand-to-hand and telekinesis, and…” She ended her sentence by drawing the cylinder hanging from her belt and igniting it – snap-hiss – producing a bright green-white blade of energy a meter long. Almost faster than eye could catch, she brought the blade back in a reverse-grip, her body shifting into a clearly aggressive combat opening stance.

Quote :

Ashoka rolled her eyes. "I'm young, but I'm not stupid, thanks. I lost control for a minute - it...it won't happen again.

"Yes, I can see that you're not stupid," Warp replied cooly. "If you were, you wouldn't be a commander, would you?"

Quote :

“I’ve only shot with a blaster a few times, and I’m not that experienced. But I have a lot of strengths that make up for that. I’m a good pilot, I can do hand-to-hand and telekinesis, and…” She ended her sentence by drawing the cylinder hanging from her belt and igniting it – snap-hiss – producing a bright green-white blade of energy a meter long. Almost faster than eye could catch, she brought the blade back in a reverse-grip, her body shifting into a clearly aggressive combat opening stance.

Well,well, well... Okay, so she definitely had a few skills that would be more than useful in future, but that blade was what caught Warp's interest. It was obviously energy, but it looked like a lot more energy than could possbily fit into just one, narrow meter of space.

Quote :

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “I’m young, but I’m not stupid, thanks. I lost control for a minute – it… it won’t happen again.” I hope.

Shane coughed to keep himself from laughing, but smiled in agreement. There had been more than one time that he had been counted as under-par because he was younger, and less built than those around him.

Quote :

Ahsoka turned to the young man, blue eyes hard. “What I just did was sort of like testing the water for depth and getting pulled under by a riptide. I had no idea that would happen.”

"...Sorry," he said with a shrug, his blue-green eyes meeting her gaze for a moment. "But maybe you shouldn't go testing the water anymore."

That energy blade was impressive indeed. "Wanna try mine," Shane asked, pulling his fourteen inch vibroblade from underneath his rifle and over his shoulder, and holding it hilt first toward Ahsoka. Okay, this was a first. He had just voluntarily offered to show his weapon to a complete stranger.