Chapter 1

"So you're telling me that there's an organisation out there that are worse than the Separatists?" Ahsoka asked, walking beside Anakin, trying to keep up with his long strides. They were on their back to their shared quarters after a training session in the sparing room. Their topic had drifted onto the Separatists and all the bad people in the universe.

"Well, they definitely don't have as much power as the Separatists or even Death Watch. I just think what they're about and what they do is worse." Anakin said, gritting his teeth as he thought. He was getting sick of all these organisations causing trouble. "But we don't know much about them at all – they're pretty secret. That's how they like to keep it."

Ahsoka raised a brow, curiosity getting the best of her, "What do we already know about them? This is the first I've heard about a new organisation." Perhaps down to the fact she'd been out on mission's non-stop recently. She'd only recently returned from her mission of guiding younglings to the caves of Ilum and then she was out again on another mission after recovering from the fatigue and malnourishment. The council really did like stacking missions on top of her and Anakin.

The master and Padawan rounded a corner, "They aren't new, Ahsoka. They've been around a lot longer than we had thought. Only recently we received information about them – before that we didn't even know they existed. All we know is that they're some kind of organisation who stalk certain people and kidnap them. We know that the people who have been taken get tortured but we don't know why or how or where. We have no idea where they are based or how big they are or their intentions. But there's more," He paused.

"More?" Ahsoka questioned. She didn't like how this group sounded – it seemed terrifying. Whoever this group were – she didn't even know their name – she didn't want to encounter them. But from what she was hearing she felt a small burning determination to take these guys down and burn them to the ground. She hated people who cause others pain for no reason.

"Yes." Anakin stopped and looked at her seriously, "The leader is said to be a complete psychopath. He keeps the victims in some sort of house – but that's all we know. He 'looks after' them while they aren't in the torture chambers. We've seen pictures of some of the chambers… What those victims would have gone through… I can't get the images out of my head. There's a reason only a few select people within the republic have seen them. I've seen holo images of children chained to the wall with missing limbs, broken bones. They target certain people but no one knows why. It's awful."

Ahsoka looked at him, concerned. It wasn't often Anakin went quiet or showed how the war affected him. They were both very similar in their personalities and they both hated to show weakness. Sometimes it was tough when one of them was upset – they were both stubborn as hell and it could be frustrating.

Ahsoka sighed, "I don't like the sound of these guys. What are they even called?"

"The call themselves the Strangers."

Ahsoka raised a brow, "The Strangers? Sounds like some sort of lower level gang." Ahsoka said in disgust.

Anakin shrugged his shoulders, "Who knows, maybe they are. We have no idea where they are based. We know nothing apart from what I told you."

"They sound like scum. They do that stuff to kids? It's disgusting… What do they even want with kids? It's not like they are going to have any useful information anything." Ahsoka pondered as she and Anakin entered their quarters.

Anakin leant against the counter in the small kitchen area, "Exactly. You have to be sick to want to harm kids…" Anakin stopped for a moment and cleared his throat, "The Jedi are trying to come up with a plan to take them down. We're sending out research teams to planets with high crime rates to see if we can gather any information about them. A team is setting off to the lower levels of Coruscant tomorrow and more will be dispatched shortly to other planets. The Republic are doing everything they can to hide this from the public – if word gets out, things won't go down well. The rates of missing people have raised a considerable amount over the past standard year and we fear it's the Strangers. Children, men and women are just disappearing out of nowhere, never to be heard from again."

Ahsoka blinked hard and sat down on the couch, with her head in her hands, deep in thought. These people were sick – there was no doubt about that. How anyone could hurt innocent people, she didn't know. Just thinking about this group made her anxious – no one knew of their intentions. Anakin had said they didn't have enough power to amount up to the Separatists but that didn't put her mind at ease. From what she had been told she would much rather be in the Separatists' clutches than the Strangers'. Not that she'd like to be in any, anyway. Seeing the way that it had affected Anakin, she knew this organisation were something to be afraid of. The 'Hero with No Fear' had looked borderline haunted while discussing the images he had seen.

But why? What would possess people to such a thing?

Ahsoka lay her head down on the arm of the couch and curled into herself. She imagined the fear and the terror the victims must have felt during their torture and torment. Who knows what those sicko's were doing to those poor people.

Anakin watched his Padawan and felt the negative emotions through their bond, "Ahsoka try not to think about it too much. I only told you because it's possible that we may have to escort some of the research parties. I'd rather you hear it from me instead of the council. Judging from how many missions they've thrown at us over the past few months, it's likely that we'll be chosen." He sat down next to her on the couch and patted her leg in a small effort of comfort.

Ahsoka sighed, "I just don't understand how someone could do that. They formed an organisation just to torture people? What do they get out of that? Entertainment? Money? It's pathetic… It's disgusting." She spat. They were worse than slavers – worse than the Separatists. She wished they had been discovered sooner so they could have ended them before they even got started.

Again, he rubbed her calf in a comforting way, "We don't know, Ahsoka. But we're going to take them down. I don't care how, but we'll do it."

With the comforting thought of destroying the organisation and Anakin's soothing voice, Ahsoka drifted off to sleep.

….

Ahsoka awoke early in the morning, as usual. Thankfully she had had no dreams about the Strangers – however, as soon as she opened her eyes, thoughts of that disgusting organisation flooded her mind and she felt her heart drop as she remembered everything Anakin had told her the day before.

She wasn't shocked to find herself curled up on the sofa as she remembered falling asleep there. She couldn't sense Anakin so she figured he'd already left.

Since Ahsoka wasn't assigned any missions she figured she'd visit the sparing rooms or do some physical training. Days off didn't mean she could just sit around and relax – she liked to keep busy and keep on top of her training. If she wanted to be Knight she'd have to work for it.

She wondered who else knew about this torture group. Would any other of the Padawan's know? Maybe the older, more experienced learners? After all she was only sixteen and had only been an apprentice for two years. Surely the most experienced Knights and Padawan's would be taking over the mission involved with the Strangers.

Then again, there was a reason Ahsoka had graduated to the rank of Padawan early. The Jedi wouldn't make her a Commander in the war if they didn't think she was good enough.

She'd been tortured before - when she'd dressed as a Togrutan princess slave on Zygerria. It was an unpleasant experience but it was nothing compared to what the Strangers apparently did to their captives - just thinking about sent shivers down her spine. The only form of torture she had experienced from the Zygerrian slave workers were shocks from an electricity shock collar.

The Separatists – well, some of them – were bad people. From meeting Lux and his mother, she had realised that not all Separatists were supporters of the war. The military officers like Grievous and Dooku were the bad guys. They hurt innocents, tortured people and took over defenceless planets. She never imagined anyone to be as disgusting as them until yesterday.

Thinking about it all hurt her head but she just couldn't stop it. Images of blood stained walls and injured, helpless people filled her mind. She imagined the blades that sliced through soft skin, the needles that injected foreign chemicals, the binders and chains that kept the poor victims trapped and caged like animals.

She needed to stop thinking about it.

Her comm suddenly beeped and she bought it up to her mouth, "Tano."

"Ahsoka," Anakin's voice crackled though the comlink, "I just finished my meeting with the council, want to go and grab some food? I'm starved."

Ahsoka felt as if her heart had skipped. She bet that the Strangers starved their victims until they begged for food. She bet that they teased the captives and waved food in front of them like you do with a slice of meat when teasing an animal. Suddenly she didn't feel so hungry. "Sure, Master. I'll just grab a sandwich or something. See you in the canteen." She switched off her comm before Anakin could finish off his sentence. She didn't want Anakin to know how much this all was affecting her. She had been his apprentice for two years now but she still hated showing any kind of weakness. She still wanted to make him proud.

She met with Anakin shortly after their conversation. The pair sat themselves down at an isolated table in the back of the canteen. There was an absence of the usual buzz in the food hall. It was like that a lot these days – so many missions and things to do, everyone was always out. Ahsoka constantly felt she was stood on a floor that moved, as if she were passing through life so quickly. Almost every day she was out on a mission, fighting on the battlefield. The days just rushed past her, like a blur.

Ahsoka picked at her sandwich, not really eating it. "What was your meeting about, Master?" She placed her sandwich down, telling herself to either stop fiddling with it or to just eat it.

Anakin tapped his knife on the table while he spoke, "Some research specialists are going to the lower levels today. Tomorrow another group are going to Takkar and another to Kantoo. We need to take these guys down – who knows who could be the next victim? They could be targeting a Senator. The council are also discussing assigning certain senators a bodyguard. Padmé will most likely need one – she's done a lot for the Republic and she used to be the Queen of Naboo." Anakin put down his cutlery and spoke seriously.

Ahsoka pushed her plate to the side and leant forward, speaking quietly, as if they were being watched and monitored, "I thought we didn't know what side they were on."

Anakin mimicked her actions and slid his plate away, folding his arms as he moved closer, "We don't. The council are narrowing down potential targets, people who have affected outcomes of battles, referendums, anything like that. Remember when Padmé was shot? That's why we need to keep our eyes peeled and keep an extra eye on some Senators and other important people."

Ahsoka leant back against her chair, deep in thought. Anakin had a point; there was no doubt about that. But no Senators had been reported missing. From what she had heard it seemed to be regular civilians who were taken. Ahsoka blinked, "Who do you think they want next?"

Anakin signed and put his head in his hands, clearly stressed about the whole situation, "I don't know, Ahsoka. I don't know."

….

So I know I'm supposed to be focusing on my other current story but a dream I had completely inspired this and I had to get it out. If you have read my pervious story, Torture and Trust, you'll see that this one is very similar – so I'm sort of classing it as a rewrite but I'm changing some big things. But basically, before my dream, I was just browsing the internet and I watched some youtube videos about the deep/dark web. Now obviously, I have never been on that side of the internet and never will, but the topic itself does interest me greatly. I think a lot of the stuff that is on there is disgusting but like I said, it really does interest me so I like to spend reading about it and stuff. I watched a video about horrific things that people have witnessed on the deep web and one of them was about torture with a rather detailed description of what happened in the video on the deep web. So I fell asleep not long after watching the video and I had a really terrifying dream about being held captive in a 'torture school' or something and being tortured and it inspired me to write this – like I said, I'm going to class this as a rewrite of Torture and Trust BUT there are going to be some major changes so It'd be great if you still read even if you have read the original story. To add to this, I wrote Torture and Trust when I was about 12/13? So obviously this will be better in terms of English writing skills. This story will obviously be a little different from my crazy dream. Thank you, please review and let me know if I should carry on!