A.N.

I am still alive. Please enjoy my latest adventure and visit my profile page for the latest on my current situation.

Suspicion is rife within the Senate while war gradually engulfs the galaxy. The sacrifices of the Jedi Knights are increasing. Tales of their heroics continue to echo from beyond the Outer Rim and the outlying sectors of the Galaxy. Some return, while many fall.

One such hero, Ahsoka Tano, has been requested by The Senate to investigate suspected Separatist activity on the planet Uvena Prime. Upon reaching her destination however her ship falls under attack…

Chapter 1- To Fall a Hero

Uvena Prime, The Uvena System

It was supposed to be her first assignment on her own. It was meant to be her personal trial. It was her only chance to prove her worthiness to her Jedi Master and return triumphant; to make him proud, to earn his trust. She needed to protect him. She desired to rescue him for all the many times he did for her.

She wanted more than anything else to stand by him for all the times he stood by her. She could sense her failure in the Force. She felt it in the swarms of mercenaries that were boarding her ship, she could hear it in the cries and echoes of battle tearing her ship apart- destroying every critical instrument to her mission and every crew member who was assigned to it.

And now, it was only her left standing on the bridge with the brave few by her side. They may possibly be the last clones she would ever have the honor to fight with; to fall with.

"Steady men." She ordered- her voice hoarse and full of anxiety.

A clone raised his blaster, a bridge officer edged closer to the wall, and a heavy breath was reverberated over the abrupt silence. And then an explosion blew the blast doors apart.

Ahsoka's green lightsaber ripped through the thick smoke that engulfed the bridge. Bolts of flesh burning laser tore through the bridge officer. A clone charged into the thick of it, disappearing through the fog until his roar was suddenly changed to a cry and a gruel cough.

Soon Ahsoka knew she stood alone. Her guardians had been overpowered; their arms robbed of the very souls that kept them alive and breathing. Their struggle for their duty- which began within the cloning vats on Kamino had at last come to rest; a long overdue rest.

The smoke began to fade and she was counting her last breaths now. Which one of them was going to be her last, she wondered. Which of these bolts would be the first to strike her heart? Who of her many attackers would be her killer?

And then it happened…

A sharp sting; a terrifying burn grazed her shoulder from a bolt she was too slow to strike. She collapsed on a knee, her blade held high but she screamed and she was shot again- in the stomach this time, blowing the air out of her lungs. She dropped her lightsaber.

Is she dying?

Will this all end now and the unraveling of the sky be presented to her?

Her palms touched the cold durasteel and she breathed again. Her eyes blinked and time slowed, allowing her mind to catch up with her again. She wasn't dying…the sting was disappearing, but how? Stun bolts!

They were using stun bolts on her. They wanted her alive.

Reality returned with the sounds of boots clattering over her. She glanced up and for the first time her eyes gazed upon her opponents. In the Force she could sense the foul intentions that lurked in each of their hearts and it had a familiar odor to it…she recognized it instantly- Bounty hunters.

Her heart sank at the revelation. It was one of those moments when you discover the very thing that you've dreaded and feared from the start was in fact true. When every possible thing that can go wrong does and you know that there was no avoiding it from the start.

Her instincts said it, her heart sensed it, her mind calculated it and The Force reaffirmed it; now she found her lips dreadfully whispering it, "…no...how?...we were betrayed…why?...and why me?..."

A Jedi does not care if she dies. Everyone does, but when their sacrifice means the harm of others. When they can be used for the benefit of the Darkside or any other evil then... she worries.

But this was different. Here Ahsoka finds herself facing an unknown fate, wounded and broken under the blaster nozzles of countless different humanoid species and aliens she could not even recognize. Where had they come from? Who are they serving?

Fear- Ahsoka felt it gnawing at her. Her breathing was quickly accelerating. An energy that was fueled by anxiety was suddenly found. Her mind raced, she looked around to find her lightsaber- she did!

Quickly she pulled it to her and swung just as it activated. A shriek erupted and a limb clattered on the floor. Bolts sizzled at her, but she refused to fall. She refused to accept defeat. She cried , "No! No! No!" and swirled her blade across a mercenary's neck, separating his head from his body.

More bolts struck at her, disabling her leg and forcing her on to the floor. She crawled, she crawled fast, reaching for the blaster in the fallen deck officer's hand, but his limp fingers refused to let go. She tugged harder and swung on to her back, pulling the trigger and watched another mercenary crash before he could bring the butt end of his rifle to her skull.

Her world then became a blur, after she felt an excruciating shock sizzle her body- -instruments of torture known only to be equipped by slavers and bounty hunters.

Ahsoka slowly fell into darkness, her mind and her heart reminding her of the fear of a single truth- nothing was certain.

1- This story is separate from my other adventures in that it doesn't relate to them.

2- Stun bolts are basically laserbolts but with less charge so that it does not cause major injury. Similar to training lightsabers.

A.N.

I know a lot of you are wondering when I'm going to carry on with Beacons of the Ancient and Murder on Toledo. Rest assured- I have not abandoned my stories.

Please visit my profile to find out more on this story and the status of my other stories.