Chapter 36: The Contact

                                    

                                          

Ahsoka panicked. Her eyes narrowed. The only thing she could think of was that this was a kriffing Imperial Senator, and she thought she'd been made. Her face morphed into that of sheer fear, and her breathing picked up rapidly to the point of hyperventilation. Not a moment later, in panic, she drew her lightsaber, still the classic Sith red, and pointed at him.
Bail Organa, shocked, got out of his chair and quickly backed up to the other side of the room.
"We've been made!" Ahsoka yelled, still in fear.
Who was to say he wasn't alone? They could be surrounded by legions of Stormtroopers, or maybe Vader himself was here with him, or-
"Ahsoka get a grip of yourself, he's obviously the contact!" Lux yelled at her, putting his hand on her shoulder.
Her breathing slowly became less intense.
Eventually, her lightsaber turned off and fell out of her hand as she fell into Lux's arms, nearly passing out.
"I see you are still dealing with some... painful memories," Bail said. "honestly, given everything you've been through... well, I can't blame you."
Ahsoka got back on her feet.
"You... you've been working against the Empire this whole time!?" She asked.
Bail nodded his head.
"And right under my kriffing nose," she whispered to herself.
"Don't worry I won't turn over your location to the Empire, and I've already had this place bought for you. I've had a third party buy it under an alias so neither of us can be traced to this. And don't worry about the third party, you remain anonymous to them. They only know we're hiding someone from the Empire."
"You're taking an awful risk, Senator," Ahsoka replied. "There's not much you can do in the Imperial Senate, it's function is just ceremonial at this point. Honestly, it would be best if you just resign and-"
"Out of the question," Bail replied. "At least, until I can make sure I can get a good successor, if and when that time may come."
"You've compromised yourself by coming here," Ahsoka continued. "If they find you-"
"Relax. So far as the Empire knows, I'm simply visiting an old friend on Dantooine."
There was a pause.
"Forgive me," Bail continued, "but I must ask: you do know what happened to your master, right?"
Ahsoka nodded her head slowly, and Bail sighed.
"Darth Vader," Ahsoka replied quietly.
There was another pause.
"I need to make sure of something," Ahsoka said. "You would die  before you gave anyone my location, right?"
"Even if they found out about my treason, they have no reason to suspect I had anything to do with your disappearance. Trust me when I say they'll be so busy on interrogating me on everything else, they won't even think about you."
"That doesn't answer my question," Ahsoka continued.
"Well then the answer to your question is 'Not Applicable.' Because I'll never be asked that question."
Ahsoka tensed up, but Lux put his hand on her shoulder, and she calmed down again.
"I have some gifts for you," Bail continued, abruptly changing the topic. "Food, droids, fuel, a speeder, seeds for crops, everything you'll need for your stay here on Hollastin. If you want anything else, send me an encrypted message. And if for some reason, you want to head into the city, I have your shuttle registered by that third party, so it won't get impounded."
"It's an old Republic military shuttle," Ahsoka pointed out. "Wouldn't it be hard to not notice a ship that... weird?"
"Bold of you to assume that a Republic military shuttle is the weirdest private-owned ship that comes through Hutt space," Bail replied.
Then, Ahsoka heard footsteps outside, but she couldn't sense anyone's presence.
"Who's that? I don't sense anyone."
The door opened, and through it came a plethora of droids.
"Ah. See, these were the droids I was talking about!" Bail said with a big smile on his face. "A protocol droid, a caretaker droid, a reprogrammed Separatist B2 droid if you need defense from roaming gangs, a Gonk for power storage, A Treadwell repair droid... and an old friend."
There was a frantic series of beeps and boops in droid binary as a familiar Astromech droid rolled out from behind the B2.
"R7!" Ahsoka exclaimed.
Her old Astromech droid quickly rolled right up next to her and bumped against her leg.
"Yeah, I missed you too, buddy," Ahsoka said, squatting down and putting her hand on the droid.
"I knew you would like a lot of droids to make farming a lot easier, and since we already had R7-A7 in our possesion, it was impossible not to give him back to you."
"Thank you," Ahsoka said. "Geez, I've never owned this many droids before."
"It makes farming that much easier," Bail replied. "Also, don't worry. This place's power grid is more than well-equipped for charging these droids. And if anything bad happens, just use the Gonk.
"Gonk?" The droid let out a noise the closest it could get to a "what?"
Ahsoka giggled. "We'll take care of them all."
"Look who's finally starting to lighten up," Lux said with a smile.
"Hey, pardon me for asking," Bail continued, "But are you two- well, you know-"
"Yes, Bail, we're together," Ahsoka replied, rolling her eyes.
"Well, I did say 'pardon me for asking.'"
"Point taken," Ahsoka admitted.
"Also, one last thing," Bail continued. "How would you like to assist us in building a Rebellion against the Empire, as an intelligence agent?"
"What?" Ahsoka asked. "That's impossible. I've worked with the Empire for years, and they're unstoppable. It's a noble cause, but one that will fail."
"You are confusing the strength Empire with the strength of your former master," Bail said. "The rebels on Onderon held their own against the Empire for this long, and Lux Bonteri here is a testament to that. And Darth Vader,  despite his strength, isn't unkillable... or irredeemable. And besides, last time I checked, Ahsoka Tano wasn't one to back down from the right cause, no matter hopeless it was."
There was an aching silence between the both of them.
"I'll... give you some time to think about it," Bail contined. "I have to go now, before the Empire starts suspecting anything. If and when you decide to accept my offer, or deny it, then just call me."
There was still silence.
Bail got up and started walking out the door.
"Hey," Ahsoka said, causing Bail to stop dead in his tracks. "Thanks for everything."
"You're welcome," Bail replied. "I hope you feel better soon."
He walked out the door.
Ahsoka looked at Lux, and he smiled at her. She smiled back.
There were assorted noises from all the droids as they left the room, except for R7, who stayed by Ahsoka's side.
"I guess this is our life now," Lux said.
"Much better than it was with the Empire," Ahsoka replied.