Chapter 35: Clan Aku to the Bridge
The plastoid compartments were dull, cheap yet were comfortable and roomy. The walls were grey, the floors were black. The florescent lights played with the eyes thanks to the unnatural white light.
A small orange figure wearing a headdress and a small set of pajamas was walking through the halls with an apple in her hands. Ashoka Tano was alone in the dim lit hallways as it was after curfew. Yet she had ventured from her clan's den to appropriate a midnight snack.
Her big blue eyes trembled as she looked around, darkness was playing tricks on her. Things that moved in the corner of her eye, stayed in place when she turned to look. She felt eyes on her, even though there was nothing there. Closing her eyes, she focused. Cleared her mind, cleansed her thoughts.
A brave face appeared upon the younglings exterior expression, her big blue eyes staring forward. A vibe of confidence filled her eyes as she waddled along.
She knew there was nothing to fear within the ship she was now living in. She was safe from the slavers and knew even if they were attacked, they had what they needed to fight back. However, she also knew some of the people that were acquired from the planet of Kazarak weren't necessarily all innocent.
Smugglers, murderers and other offenders had been abducted by the Cooperative. These halls, while they held a form of safety, could also be a seen as a cage for a tiger's den.
Hearing foot steps, Ashoka quickly shifted behind a trashcan outside of an unmarked door and glanced around its rounded corner. Her eyes narrowed and continued to adapt to the low-lighting.
"Sector clear," a modulated mandalorian voice could be heard. It was just another one of those plastic-clad droids. "Curfew still in effect."
The droid would go on to march right passed the small humanoid, its gloved hand almost brushing against her face as he went by.
Ashoka immediately scrambled back against the wall, dodging the hand and watching the droid disappear around a corner before sighing. Peering out from behind the trash can, the coast was clear.
A small open grin formed over her tiny mouth as she made her way back towards the edge of Zone two and three where the force sensitive compartments were. Well, that was until she heard chatter from a partially open pocket door. She came to a pause and leaned against the wall by the door. She held the apple close to her face as she tilted her head to listen to the conversation that grasped her attention.
"There's only three of them," they didn't know that Jedi Master Fay had joined the ranks. "We can take the ship from the brats and gain control of the droids." An older man snickered, his tone was coarse and broken as if he was used to barking orders, he was in his late fifties yet had a full head of grey hair and a peppered beard. His eyes were as black as a crows and even had crows feet to match.
"You said it Kellog," Laughed the raven haired man with an eye patch and shaven face with a soul patch. "They'll never know what hit them..." He was missing a few of his teeth, it looked like they had been punched out years ago.
"They're capable of using the Jedi Arts. Even without the droids at their disposal, they could cut the few of us down without a problem. They'd probably even sense us coming," A woman said aloud, her voice sounded rather superior to the two others in the room.
"According to one of the girls that was here before us, this Katsure character is able to use his Jedi Arts to control the entire ship." This made everyone in the room widen their eyes as they looked at one another. The person who had spoke sounded like a young boy.
A low whine came from the bottom of one of the younger conspirator's throats. "Does that mean he's already heard us?" They all looked at each other with disbelief. This man could influence the entire ship with the Force alone? That was a scary thought.
"I doubt that he'll act unless we act, even if he knew our intentions." The one designated as Kellog stated with a scoff as he leaned back into a makeshift chair. "Ridding of us could cause the entire populace here to question him."
"It would also make them fear him, since there would be no privacy if he could hear us through all these walls." The woman shook her head and looked towards the door which hadn't closed all the way. Immediately her gaze narrowed on the child-like shaped weak shadow. Raising her brows, she gestured towards the door.
Ashoka turned her head slightly as she was suddenly troubled by the awkward silence. She heard the shuffling, they were approaching.
Immediately, Ashoka ran away from the door, in the opposite direction of her den. She didn't want to be seen, especially after what she had just heard. By the time she reached the trashcan, they were already peering out the door.
Looking both ways, the woman didn't see anyone. Her eyes narrowed on the trashcan, there was no visible shadow, nothing showing over the opening.
A droid rounded the corner, the same Mandalorian from before. It didn't look directly at her, but its hub highlighted her face. From the point of view of the droid, it could read that there was fear stricken across the the Togruta's face. And when he scanned the woman who hadn't noticed, she was suspicious of something.
"Curfew is in effect. Please return to your compartment," The droid said with its modulated voice, gesturing for the woman to leave the hall. "Please return to your compartment."
The woman glared at the droid, "Of course." The droid read anger, it rose suspicion. The droid remained standing there, by the trash can.
The woman gave the trash can one last glance before walking back inside the room, the door closing all the way this time. "We should make our move soon..."
Outside the room the droid remained standing there for a few moments before glancing over it shoulder towards Ashoka. "Ashoka Tano. Compartment Two, Queue Rank Three. Follow me." The voice of the droid had changed completely.
Blinking at the droid, she slowly nodded and walked beside the droid, lightly grasping at its three fingers which she couldn't really get a good hold on. "What's your name, big guy?" She asked as she bit into the Apple, rather happy that the droid had distracted the 'bad guys' whom were planning on causing a mutiny.
"BX-C34CE," The droid replied with a monotone expression, not knowing why she was asking for its designation. He looked down at the child for a few moments before looking forward again.
"Then I shall call you Casey," Ashoka proclaimed, chewing the piece of the apple she had in her mouth. It sounded muffled, but the droid understood what she said.
"Roger, roger." Was the only response it gave, it didn't have feelings per say despite its chirpy tone, but it was 'happy' to have an organic's name.
After a few moments of awkward silence, she looked up at the droid as they passed the compartments and entered a maintenance corridor which lead towards the core ship. "Where are we going, Casey?" Ashoka, as nonchalant as a four year old could get, bit into the apple once more.
"The Core."
The core? Ashoka Tano had never seen the outside of the vessel, so she had no idea that there was a massive core ship module. Though she and her Clan had planned on an excursion to map out their new home and learn more about it. They knew it was large, but they didn't know what it looked like.
Only very few could tell what class the ship was due to the interior decor.
Ashoka Tano remained silent, eying her surroundings. Everything looked darker and more intimidating than the more bland compartments they had been staying in. It was as if she had entered a completely different ship. Yet it was still the same one.
At some point she reached a corridor which had a viewport window, her eye widening as she saw the massive size of the ship, as well as the hyperspace lines dancing around their vessel.
"What kind of ship is this...?"
"Lucrehulk Class Advanced Electronic Warfare Command Ship. It's due to a retrofit in one and a half months." The droid shared the information that it had been given prior.
Nodding slowly as she heard the droid, her eyes were locked on the massive core module and the towers on top of it. "Are we going to the top?"
"Affirmative." Casey said as it flexed its free hand.
"What about the rest of my Clan?" Ashoka asked, confusing the droid with the term of clan.
"Clan?" Casey asked as it looked down at her, awaiting a more direct explanation of what she meant. Though its processor could come up with some solutions to fill in the blanks, it wanted validation. So it stood by, for Validation.
"My room mates," Ashoka said in simpler terms with a smug look on her face.
Casey turned its attention to the door in front of it. A blast door. "They're already there," The droid stated as the doors slid open and they entered the main entry way into the core module, which was rail driven tram car for quick movement back and forth.
Stepping into the vehicle, big enough for six people to stand in, the droid pressed the arrow button as soon as Ashoka stepped inside and the door closed.
Stumbling slightly from the jolt of sudden movement, Ashoka looked up at the droid with a raised brow before watching the ceiling and windows going flying by at a fast pace. "Woooow..." The interior of the tram didn't seem effected by the movement other than that initial jolt. She didn't even feel it moving along the rail.
Within minutes they would have reached the edge of the core where there was a set of lifts to headed to different locations. The droid lead Ashoka out and over to the one which lead to the main bridge. It was the closest one to the rail car, so it wasn't that much of a distance.
As soon as they reached the top after using the lift however, her eyes narrowed on all of her clan members who were gathered on the central bridge, staring out the viewport windows. Gasps of ohs and awes could be heard, a sarcastic protocol droid feeding them both true and misinformation through corny jokes.
Biting into her apple, she let go of the droids hand. "Thank you Casey," She chimed and waved to the droid.
The droid waved back, "Roger, roger."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone