A Useful Trick

It wasn't unusual for people to volunteer to join the Rebel Alliance, but it was odd to have one show up at the hidden rebel base. This one had just walked in, without anyone questioning her until she reached the central headquarters.

"I want to see Luke Skywalker," she said.

She was Togrutan, in her late thirties, tall and slender in a graceful way but with a fiercely haunted look in her eyes. But what brought Luke out of his quarters to see her was a sleek, shiny object she removed from her cloak pocket... a lightsaber.

He walked towards her with apprehension, followed by his loyal astromech droid, R2-D2.

Her wide eyes opened even wider. "Artoo? R2-D2?"

Artoo rotated his dome and chirped with excitement.

"I'm Luke Skywalker," he said quietly. "You know Artoo?"

"I used to. Are you related to Anakin Skywalker?"

"He was my father," Luke said.

"Is he here?" she asked hopefully.

"No, he's dead."

"I'm sorry. When I saw Artoo I got my hopes up," she said sadly.

"Who are you?"

"Oh! Pardon my manners. I'm Ashoka Tano. I was your father's apprentice."





"You're a Jedi. Can you teach me about the Force?

"I was only an apprentice. I can't teach you much, I'm afraid. I have hardly touched the Force in 20 years. I've been afraid to."

"Can you teach me to use this?" He held up his lightsaber.

"That I can do, " she grinned. "That looks like Anakin's saber."

"It is, or so Master Kenobi told me."
"Master Kenobi? Is he..."

Luke shook his head. "I'm sorry, he's dead, too."

She sighed. "It's all right, I'm used to having everyone I know be dead."

"Why aren't you dead?" he asked bluntly.

"I was badly injured during on battle during the Outer Rim Sieges," she said. Luke looked at her blankly.

"During the Clone Wars," she added. "I was sent to Shili to recuperate, I was there for nearly a year and then I heard about the Jedi Purge, so I just stayed there."

"You were lucky, then."

"Lesson one, Luke, there's no such thing as luck. But I guess you could call it that."




Luke brought her to dinner in the community dining room and peppered her with questions about the Jedi and the Force.

"Luke, please, I can't teach you much more than the basics. My study was interrupted by the war, and then I was cut off from the Jedi completely."

She waved her hand casually and the saltshaker rose into the air. Luke's eyes widened. "How did you do that?"

Then she Force pulled it into her hand, and he grinned.

"If you could teach me to do that with my lightsaber, it would sure come in handy," he said. "I'm always dropping it!"

"Yes, that's always a problem when you're learning," she said with a smile.

"We're leaving her to go to Hoth tomorrow," he said. "Can you help me while we wait?"

"Yes, I can teach you that. And it might save your life someday."