Awakening

Upon returning to the Guardian, Ahsoka Tano requested the use of a cargo ship, wanting to leave. While Sabine initially tried to talk her friend out of leaving, it seemed there was no way to stop her. Once the former Jedi Padawan made up her mind, it seemed like the decision was final.

Without much of a goodbye, to two friends hugged and departed from one another. Sabine staying on board the Guardian while Tano left on an Imperial cargo shuttle which had been retrofitted into a miniature Yacht.

This yacht was covered in black reflective paint and was protected against being conventionally scanned by other vessels. It was perfect for smuggling or migrating through hostile space. The interior had been redone, furnished with vintage wooden wall panels, silver trims and variety recreational decor.

Before she left, she was given a choice of what she wanted the ship named. Ahsoka herself was rather confused of why she was being given this cargo shuttle. It seemed expensive due to its retrofitting. Not only that, but it had a lot more facilities than she needed, it even had a relatively nice sized bedroom and a small galley.

In the end she named it 'Skyguy' as a way to honor her former master, Anakin Skywalker. The vessel departed once it was clear and left through the main hangar.

Following her current path, according to scan-com, Ahsoka Tano's current trajectory after entering hyperspace was most likely the planet of Shili. The world in which she was born, she was going home for the first time in almost forty or so years after Plo Koon had taken her into the Jedi Order.

Stasis caskets, pods and carbonite prisons were brought to the medical wing of the Guardian and placed in specific areas pertaining to the possible needs of the patients. All of them were being monitored as to make sure that they were to stay alive and were stable enough to release.

Medical corps officers dressed in white double breasted tunics, with cyan stripes down their sleeves, and black trousers, stood on standby. Each of them was prepped to take care of anyone of the patients that needed immediate care.

The first carbonite prisons were brought before the future Emperor, it was Piru and the two young girls. The Twi'lek and the human younglings.

Gesturing towards Piru, he was silently telling his officers to let the singular padawan out first. They nodded and moved on either side of the prison as a third officer would begin managing the controls on the slab.

Within minutes the carbonite began to heat up, the girl would slowly begin to move. A quiet groan escaping her lips as she slowly defrosted. Two of the officers caught her by the arms as she was about to fall to the ground and she found herself gently helped to her knees.

Sitting there with her hands now planted on the ground, the blind padawan reached out with the force, her body shaking as she did so. She refused to yield to the sickness which stained her for being kept in stasis for so long.

He stared down at the girl for a few moments before taking several steps forward. His presence immediately being known by her and she almost immediately, on instinct, pushed herself up to sit up right.

She was soaked, her body shook repetitively. She was blind and couldn't see. She was completely exhausted and dehydrated, too weak to hold herself up without support.

Even though she was virtually blind, she turned her head to look up at him as he towered over her. "Who... who... are you...? Where... am I?" She wasn't acting rash, she knew that this man could overpower her. She was blind so she couldn't see who it was.

Piru however could sense a familiar weapon on the man's belt. It belonged to a Jedi Master who had tended to the younglings by her side. Her lip quivered slightly at the thought of yet another friend gone.

Her question was left unanswered by immediately silence. However she could hear his pant legs brush against one another as he knelt on one leg in front of her.

She heard a pair of gloves being pulled off his hands and slap onto the metal floor between them. She opened her mouth slightly to speak, but quietly fell silent as she felt warm hands clamp down on the sides of her head. She immediately began to feel the revitalizing energies rushing into her body. She took in a sharp breath as the shock of sudden change went through her system. The person was using the force to heal her, her sight was gradually restored.

Within a few moments, she was staring into the eyes of two unknown brown hues. He remained holding onto the sides of her head, his palms rested on her cheeks. As he rose to his feet, she soon followed, but his hands moved to her shoulders and he 'forced' her onto her knees.

Blinking a few times, she stared up at the man, until her eyes trailed down to his chest and her eyes stared at the mantle. An inverted symbol of the Galactic Empire. The rank insignia was high up the chain of command.

Tobias smiled down towards her, "My name is Tobias Rune. Emperor of the Galactic Imperium," he stated as he drew the lightsaber of Master K'kruhk, a vibrant green blade.

She stared up at it with a frown on her face, it wasn't as prominent as her shivering eyes though.

Like in any knighting ritual, she found the weapon bouncing from one shoulder to the other. Then her Padawan braid was burnt off, and sent to the floor. He deactivated the lightsaber and presented it to her. "Rise... You have become a Knight of your extinct Order. You have a choice, join the Imperium as a member of the Order of Shadows, or to continue as a Jedi."

"...What is this Order of Shadows you speak of?" The girl asked as she looked up at him. Her eyes were filled with courage which was severely lacking earlier. Prior to being frozen in carbonite, her Master had advised her that it had been time to throw away the Jedi Teachings in order to survive. What did the teachings of this Order serve?

"It's an order similar to the Jedi, but their code is much more unique. Your High Council would have declared it a Grey Sect. Would you like to hear its code?" Tobias asked as he looked down at her, watching as she took the weapon which had been presented to her.

He would bestow a poncho over her shoulders soon afterward as her ripped shirt fell from her shoulders and onto the ground.

"There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no fear, there is power.

I am the heart of the Force.

I am the revealing fire of light.

I am the mystery of darkness.

In balance with chaos and harmony,

Immortal in the Force."

The more she heard the words to this code, the more she thought about the Balance. Balance could never be just one sided, otherwise it would tip the scale. The words here spoke of being part of both the dark side and the light. At the same time, it spoke of being immortal in the force. A capability which was known to be something done by ancient Jedi Masters and recent ones such as Qui Jon Gin, Jedi Master Yoda and even Obiwan Kenobi.

"Makes more sense than the Jedi Code, does it not?" The man asked her awaiting to see her response.

Piru only smiled hearing the code and his question which followed. Standing up before him, she would place the weapon at her side before pausing as she turned her head to the side. There were so many survivors here in carbonite prisons, stasis caskets and pods. The smile she had opened as she looked to the man.

"I will join your Shadow Order. As long as I get to stay with them." She pointed to the children and members of the Order in which she had cared for in the past.

Nodding, he smiled at the newly instated Jedi Knight. "Then you're now a Shadow Knight, and they are your disciples. Welcome to the Imperium, former Jedi Chase Piru. It is a pleasure to have someone with your courage amongst us." The man who claimed to be Emperor, bowed his head softly to the Knight, who was shocked but bowed her head respectfully in return.

Chase Piru then looked down at the weapon which rested in her hands. The weapon of Master K'kruhk. She could sense he died painfully, but he died in peace.

Sidirri would begin to defrost and quickly Piru turned her attention to the Jedi younglings as they were being released from the prisons. As Piru held the crying blind child in her arms, Tobias walked over and placed a hand on the girl's head.

Like before with Piru, Sidirri would feel the revitalizing and warm energies surge into her. She began to open her eyes and looked up at the older woman before bursting out into tears once again.

He then turned and looked towards the female Twi'lek who was being defrosted, released from her prison. He went onto his knees and caught her in his arms, the dehydrated and temporarily blinded alien girl, clung to him weakly. He placed a hand on her cheek, caressing her blue skin lightly.

Using the force to revitalize and heal her from the damage done by the hibernation sickness, she quickly opened her eyes and looked up at the unknown man. Coughing quietly to herself, she attempted to squirm out of his hold until her eyes focused on Piru.

"Piru?" Seddwia asked aloud to validate whether or not that was the Jedi Padawan she remembered.

Chase Piru nodded in response with a gentle smile as she was comforting the youngling already in her arms. "Yeah... I'm here. It's me."

Seddwia looked up towards the man holding her, her lekku brushing against the mantle on his chest and she immediately sprung from his arms as she noticed what it was. "Imperial Scum!" The girl shouted immediately and pointed at the man.

Tobias burst out laughing, "If Teron was alive, you'd make him cry."

Seddwia blinked a few times, as did the other two. Teron was dead? It was something they figured was what happened since he never showed up to give them supplies like he usually did.

"He died protecting you, as a true officer should." Tobias said with a somewhat sorrowful looking expression across his face as he stood up and placed his hands clasped in front of himself. "In any case... I have it busy for the rest of the day." He looked over at the others whom were frozen in various forms of stasis. It was time to begin his never ending defrosting of Jedi who were once captured by the Empire, placed into stasis on their own or other people.

Persuading the younger Jedi, such as padawans and younglings was the easy part. It was the Knights and Masters which were harder to convert. The keyword he used to recruit them was 'extinct' when describing the old Jedi Order. The code allowed those who had ideals and unorthodox thoughts, often children and those who hadn't completely conformed to the Jedi way or left it behind.

Jax Pavan on the other hand seemed relatively easy to recruit, though it was mainly due to the vergence in the force which the Grand Moff had. It wasn't something he saw everyday and he wanted to know its true nature. The best way to learn the nature of someone, let alone the nature of his connection to the force through this neutral vergence attached to him.

However when Master Qu Rahn began to defrost the life sign indicator began to go into critical. Within the moment he had completely been thawed out, the Jedi Master fell to his knees and collapsed to the ground silently.

The Jedi Master had been previously injured by the Dark Jedi Jerec before being placed into the carbonite prison. He let out small gasps, but it was clear he was going to die. The other Jedi present attempted to come to him, but he barked at them, telling them to stay where they were.

He wanted to die and within those seconds, he did. Fading into the force, the white robes deflated, leaving nothing behind other than the saber attached to the belt of his robes.