AHSOKA TANO

A few minutes later, Ahsoka ran down one of the hallways in the lower section to the closest elevator. By now, the alarms had begun to sound, and the red lights, stationed every ten yards or so, were flashing an accompaniment.

Both had been salvaged from an old Republic cruiser crash site on a nearby planet. The ones from the new Imperial cruisers rang with a much more somber tone, and the older ones brought back memories of epic battles, heroic and selfless actions, and the better moments of the Clone Wars.

She had a habit of running down the New Jedi Temple’s hallways, but the systems blaring out alarms and her dark facial expression told a different story than usual to those who were accustomed to seeing her run. Soon, as was part of his job description as Lookout Operator and the person in charge of surveillance, Lux’s voice rang over the Temple loudspeakers.

“Attention. Attention. All padawans and younglings report to the main entrance in five minutes. This is an emergency. All padawans and younglings report to the main entrance in five minutes.” He repeated this a few more times.

Ahsoka passed two padawans standing in the hallway, who were clearly confused. “Is it another drill?”

She slowed her pace a little to talk to them. “This is not a drill! Get to the main entrance pronto!”

All doubts cleared from their minds, they said at the same time, “Yes Master!” Then they took off down the hallway in the other direction.

As she reached a more quiet stretch of the hallway, she heard a yell from behind her. “Ahsoka! Wait!” It was Lux.

“Lux! What are you doing here? Who’s doing the announcement?”

“I put it on a loop,” he said, smirking at his own ingenuity. Then his expression became more caring. “I had to find you.”

She knew that tone.

“Look, we might not make it out of this, but–”

Ahsoka cut him off. “We will. Don’t worry.”

“It became my job when I first fell in love with you to worry about you. It was part of the contract I signed.”

She smiled, and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around him. “Sure. And I signed one to keep reassuring you. But this time, I promise it’ll work out.”

He kissed her on the forehead. “I believe you. I love you so much, Ahsoka.”

She leaned up towards him, until their faces were just a few inches apart. “I love you too.”

He kissed her sweetly on the mouth, and for a few long seconds, they forgot about the danger, the alarms, and their responsibilities. They just enjoyed the feeling of having their lips in contact. They were together, and that was all that mattered to them.

Eventually, Ahsoka pulled away, and with a last look at him, ran towards the elevator. She got in, and sped off, down towards the main entrance.

WILHUFF TARKIN

Admiral Tarkin looked out the large windows of the bridge of his Imperial cruiser at Coruscant far below. As the ship sailed further away from the Imperial Capital, it slowly broke free of the planet’s gravity and was ready for the jump into hyperspace.

One of his captains, a good soldier and military strategist named Jenevan, who was in a separate cruiser, suddenly contacted him by holo-transmission. “Admiral,” the man said, standing to a strict attention. “The fleet is ready to engage lightspeed. What are your orders?”

“Prepare to engage. Upon our arrival, make sure the Imperial probe droids are ready for deployment as was planned.”

“Yes sir.”

As the transmission ended, one of the officers by the computers below his feet and the walkway he was on looked up and said: “The coordinates have been set. Ready to engage lightspeed on your command, Admiral."

“Engage,” he said, and, his arms crossed behind his back, watched the surrounding stars blur into the white-blue reaches of hyperspace.

*New POV! Tarkin is probably going to be one of the main antagonists, along with another one that I'm still working on... Vader and the Emperor might appear occasionally to give Tarkin orders, but he's going to be the the one causing the New Jedi Order problems directly, not them. Tarkin's POV will be reoccuring, so you were warned. The next chapter is coming soon!*