Ahsoka (novel)

"Ahsoka has a long history, and there is much more to it than the fans know."

- Dave Filoni

Ahsoka is a young adult novel from Disney–Lucasfilm Press released on October 11, 2016. The novel, written by E. K. Johnston, centers on Ahsoka Tano in the period of time after she left the Jedi Order and before she became an operative in the rebellion. The title's audiobook edition was narrated by Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Tano on both Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. The title will be given a paperback release on October 3, 2017.

Publisher's summary
Ahsoka Tano, fan favorite character from Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels'', will be the star of her own young adult novel from Disney Lucasfilm Press this October 11, 2016! Fans have long wondered what happened to Ahsoka after she left the Jedi Order near the end of the Clone Wars, and before she re-appeared as the mysterious Rebel operative Fulcrum in Rebels. Finally, her story will begin to be told. Following her experiences with the Jedi and the devastation of Order 66, Ahsoka is unsure she can be part of a larger whole ever again. But her desire to fight the evils of the Empire and protect those who need it will lead her right to Bail Organa, and the Rebel Alliance....''

Exposition
During the Siege of Mandalore, the former Padawan Ahsoka Tano led the Grand Army of the Republic's assault against Darth Maul's forces. Following a lightsaber duel, she manages to trap Maul inside a ray shield. A year after the establishment of the Galactic Empire, Ahsoka goes into hiding on the planet Thabeska. Adopting the pseudonym Ashla, she finds refuge and work with the Fardi clan, a powerful and wealthy local family involved in smuggling. During the Empire Day celebrations that year, Ahsoka decides to run away on one of the Fardi's freighters to avoid the attention of the Empire, which had begun to establish a local presence.

Hiding on Raada
Ahsoka flees to the Outer Rim moon of Raada, a remote farming settlement. Posing as a mechanic, Ahsoka finds lodging and work with a local girl named Kaeden Larte. Ahsoka settles into the abandoned home of Cietra, Kaeden's now married older sister. Her first job with Kaeden is to repair a damaged thresher. After chatting with Kaeden, she agrees to work for Kaeden in return for ration packs. While adjusting to her new life on Raada, Ahsoka reminisces about R2-D2 and having to hide her Force powers. Kaeden talks about the Togruta newcomer with her fourteen year old sister Miara Larte, the farmer Tibbola, and their crew lead Vartan. At Vartan's suggestion, they decide to invite Ahsoka to Selda's cantina.

Despite some hesitance, Ahsoka meets at Selda's and befriends Kaeden's farming crew including Vartan, the Sullustan woman Malat, and the twins Hoban and Neera. Ahsoka learns that Kaeden and Miara lost their parents in an accident and were taken in by Vartan. When Kaeden asks about her background, Ahsoka claims that she is an orphan. The manager Selda takes an interest in Ahsoka and asks if she is a refugee from the Core Worlds. Ahsoka remains nonchalant about her past. Meanwhile, the Imperial bureaucrat Jenneth Pilar ruminates about exploiting Raada's resources.

After returning home, Ahsoka gets to work repairing Tibbola's thresher. She reflects on her experiences during the Jedi Purge, which coincided with her duel with Maul. When the Clone troopers with the exception of her friend Rex turned on her, Ahsoka was forced to flee with Rex into hiding. Amidst the chaos, Maul escaped. After falsifying Rex's death and digging a false grave, the two agreed to split up and head to the Outer Rim. Ahsoka also wonders about the fate of her former master Anakin Skywalker.

As time passes, Ahsoka becomes the village's mechanic and develops a rapport with Kaeden and Miara. While meditating in the nearby cases, Ahsoka senses the arrival of an Imperial Star Destroyer; signifying that the Empire has come to Raada. After panicking that the Empire has found her, Ahsoka decides to stay calm. Later at Selda's canteen, she and the local farming crew talk about the new Imperial presence, believing they have come to exploit the moon's agriculture. Ahsoka learns to play the game crokin and witnesses an Imperial officer and stormtroopers visiting the canteen.

Building a resistance movement
When stormtroopers visit her place the following day, Ahsoka uses a Jedi mind trick to convince them not to reassign her on the grounds that her work is important to food production. Later, she goes to the local spaceport and manages to retrieve her starship after some haggling with an Imperial officer. After hiding her ship, she meets with her farming friends at the canteen. Ahsoka learns that Malat and her husband are moving to take up work on the planet Sullust. Ahsoka claims that her ship was stolen. She also learns from Kaeden that the Imperials have added two hours to every shift. She and the farmers then witness the ill-tempered Tibbola getting into a fight with an Imperial officer. Ahsoka and the others watch in horror as the officer executes Tibbola.

After the Imperials have left, Ahsoka advises Kaeden and the other farmers to resist the Empire by slowing crop production. Two weeks later, the slow crop production leads the Empire to increase the work shifts without increasing food rations or breaks. Ahsoka spends her days smuggling food, medical supplies, and water recyclers to the caves. She learns from Vartan that the new Imperial crops leach the soils, devastating Raada. Ahsoka briefs the farmers about her plans to smuggle supplies into the caves and start a resistance movement. Meanwhile, Jenneth Pilar reflects on his posting to Raada, regarding the moon as a backwater. Kaeden, Hoban, and Miara debate whether to support "Ashla's" plans.

Later, Ahsoka reflects on her reasons for leaving the Fardi family. She saved the youngest daughter four year old Hedala Fardi from being crushed to death by a crate by using her Force powers. To avoid arousing the Empire's attention, she decided to flee Thabeska. While "Ashla" is away, Kaeden and Miara talk about the Togruta offworlder's plans to start up a resistance movement. Miara is assembling explosives. Later, "Ahsla" returns with supplies. For the next two days, Miara assembles explosives while Ahsoka and Kaeden set up a door for their cave. Four days later, Vartan tells Ahsoka that eight crews (roughly forty farmers) are prepared to support her plan.

Uprising on Raada
Later, Ahsoka leads a team consisting of Miara, Neera, and the Rodian Kolvin in planting explosives on the Imperial walkers at the local spaceport. When Ahsoka discovers that Miara has planted a real explosive, she confronts the younger girl and asks if she is planning her own operations without her. After reuniting, they head to Selda's canteen and meet with Vartan. She discovers that Vartan has sent Kaeden and Hoban on an unauthorised mission to target the administrative building. Ahsoka orders them to return home. When Miara refuses to abandon her older sister, Ahsoka changes her mind and tells Miara and Neera to bring the charges.

As they approach the Imperial administrative building, the first of Kaeden's bombs explode. From Neera, she learns that Hoban split the group into three for each of the doors of the Imperial building. The insurgents are also armed with blasters. Ahsoka and Neera head to the Imperial tanks in an attempt to disable them. She soon finds Kaeden and her unit, who are pinned down by Imperial fire. Hoban is killed throwing himself at Imperial blasters. They are soon surrounded by stormtroopers whose lieutenant orders his men to execute the prisoners. However, Ahsoka uses her Force powers to fling the blasters to the ground. Ahsoka and the Raadians take the opportunity to flee. Kaeden angrily confronts Ahsoka about her secret.

Following the attack, the Imperial bureaucrat Jenneth ponders the loss of the Imperial walkers. Taking interest in the presence of the Jedi, he taps into his datapad. Back at the cave, the Raadian insurgents sedate the grief-stricken Neera. Ahsoka reveals her true identity to Kaeden and Miara. Kaeden is angry that she did not reveal her true identity earlier since she could have saved Hoban. While resting, Ahsoka is haunted by the face of Hedala Fardi. Ahsoka later learns from Miara that Kaeden has run off into town. She tells Miara to stay behind while she follows Kaeden. Meanwhile, Kaeden is arrested by stormtroopers outside Vartan's house.

In Imperial captivity, Kaeden is interrogated and tortured by Imperial interrogators. With Kaeden facing the death penalty, the Imperial commander offers to give her a merciful death if she reveals where her friends are hiding and the identity of the Jedi. Kaeden remains defiant despite sustaining a broken arm. Ahsoka manages to infiltrate the Imperial prison and rescue her. Using her Force powers, Ahsoka manages to carry Kaeden out of a high window. After escaping Kaeden counsels Ahsoka to take her ship and flee offworld since the Imperial commander wants to kill her. Ahsoka promises to return to Raada.

Back to the galaxy
In a flashback passage, Anakin Skywalker reflects on his past while on a battlefield during the Clone Wars. Elsewhere, Senator Bail Organa of the Alderaan sector studies a report about the recent events on Raada. He takes interest in the reported Jedi activity. His adopted daughter Leia Organa is in the same room, mesmerized by the fish in his aquarium. After deleting the report for security scenes, Bail contacts Captain Raymus Antilles to get back R2-D2 for a sensitive mission. He then spends time with Leia. Elsewhere, the Inquisitor known as the Sixth Brother is monitoring Hedala Fardi when he is recalled to deal with the Jedi presence on Raada.

After traveling through seven Outer Rim worlds, Ahsoka decides to return to the Fardis. Her secondary motivation is to check on the Force-sensitive Hedala. Upon returning to Thabeska, she is greeted by the elder Fardi who tells her that there is always room for a good mechanic at his home. Upon entering the Fardi home, Hedala tells Ahsoka that she sensed there was a shadow wile she was away. Ahsoka spends time with the older Fardi sisters Makala and Chenna who ask about her travels. Ahsoka tells them that she had not been unable to go into hiding because as a Togruta she sticks out.

Five days later, Ahsoka asks Hedala about the shadow. The little girl likens it to a dark sun with burning rays and recalls that it disappeared one day. Ahsoka advises Hedala to stay out of the shadow's way and to remain hidden. Ahsoka believes that the shadow is a dark side creature, recalling rumors of a dark lord serving the Emperor. Ahsoka decides to remain in the Fardi household until it is safe for her to leave. A week later, Fardi hires Ahsoka a pilot. She finds herself traveling to other cities on Thabeska and making offworld trips. During that time, Ahsoka also sees more of the Empire's oppression.

During an offworld cargo trip, Ahsoka picks up several human passengers from an escape pod. The woman tells them that their shuttle was attacked by pirates who took several prisoners and that they barely managed to escape. The woman tells Ahsoka that her business was underbid by a well-known firm for a large Imperial project. While they were reworking the numbers to see if they could match the lower bid, they were attacked. Ahsoka agrees to help get back the woman's people and travels to the coordinates. For once, Ahsoka feels good being a hero again.

Getting entangled
Meanwhile, the Sixth Brother arrives on Raada only to learn that Ahsoka had fled offworld. He decides to leave Raada and get the Jedi's attention. On Alderaan, Senator Organa hires the pilots Chardri Tage and Tamsin to find Ahsoka and then rendezvous with him. Later, Ahsoka returns to the Fardi household on Thabeska. The Fardis have been visited by several stormtroopers. The Fardi elder vouches for Ahsoka and claims that she is his mechanic. Hedala reassures Ahsoka that she did not sense any shadows today. When the Imperials search her room, they find scrap metal but deem it harmless.

Following the Imperial search, Fardi apologizes to "Ashla" for the Empire pinning their activities on her. He tells Ahsoka that he is aware that she has been using his ships for mercy missions. To avoid further trouble from the Imperials, Fardi advises Ahsoka to leave. She also tells Fardi that his daughter Hedala is special and to keep an eye on her. Before leaving, Ahsoka bids farewell to Hedala. After departing the Fardi household on her ship, Ahsoka travels to a remote world. She lands her ship but is soon followed by a starship belonging to agent Black Sun.

On Tatooine, the fugitive Obi-Wan Kenobi meditates in the Force. He is haunted by memories of the past including Anakin's betrayal until the Force ghost of Qui-Gon Jinn counsels him to let go of his attachments. After traveling offworld to investigate sightings of the Jedi fugitive, the Sixth Brother returns to Raada. In order to lure Ahsoka out of hiding, he decides to hunt her friend Kaeden. Meanwhile, in the mounts of Raada, Kaeden and her sister Miara are hiding in the caves. They sense an approaching figure and decide to retreat deeper into the caves. Elsewhere, the Imperial bureaucrat Jenneth Pilar makes preparations to pack since the harvest is approaching.

Meanwhile, Ahsoka rebuffs the Black Sun agent's attempt to recruit her and flees on her freighter. The Black Sun agent pursues her in her ship. A larger third ship arrives and attacks the Black Sun vessel. Ahsoka then tries to flee into hyperspace but is caught in the tractor beam of the third vessel. Back on Raada, Kaeden, Miara, and the others hide from the Sixth Brother. The Inquisitor manages to force Kaeden out of hiding by threatening to kill her companions. Miara attempts to follow her sister but Neera stuns her with Kaeden's consent. When she surrenders, he reneges on his promise and kills many of her fellow farmers with his double-bladed spinning lightsaber. Kolvin and Neera are killed but her sister Miara survives. The Sixth Brother then takes Kaeden prisoner.

An old ally
Ahsoka's freighter is drawn into the hold of Chardri Tage's ship. Tage and Tamsin greet her but Ahsoka knocks them out, believing them to be hostile. She soon encounters R2-D2 aboard Tage's ship and convinces her old friend to release the tractor beam on her ship to escape. She also gets Artoo to transmit the coordinates of the ship he is traveling in. After receiving Tage's report, Senator Organa travels to the coordinates in his CR90 corvette Tantive IV. He rendezvouses with Tage's ship and picks up Artoo, reuniting him with C-3PO. Bail then discovers that Ahsoka has smuggled herself aboard the Tantive IV.

She tells a bemused Organa that Artoo opened the hatch for her as soon as he got onboard the Tantive IV. Ahsoka had hidden her ship on one of the asteroids in the system. Ahsoka tells Organa that she did not come with Chardri Tage because she does not trust someone who employs a tractor beam before a hello. Bail informs Ahsoka that he is forming a Rebellion and is recruiting people to fight against the Empire. Ahsoka is haunted by memories of the Clone Wars but Bail reassures her that she can join forces with him. Bail agrees to help her protect Force-sensitive children before assigning her a new mission.

Senator Organa briefs Ahsoka about the Sixth Brother on Raada. After meditating in the Force and recalling her experiences as a Youngling forging her lightsaber on Ilum, Ahsoka tells Organa about her plan. In an interlude chapter, kyber crystals are shown growing on the ice planet of Ilum. It is revealed that dark side crystals are made by using the Force to bleed them red. The Galactic Empire sends ships to plunder Ilum for its kyber crystals. However, other crystals grow in the wilderness untouched by the Empire.

Evacuation of Raada
Following the briefing, Ahsoka travels to Raada on her freighter, turning down Organa's offer to provide backup. When Ahsoka tells Organa that she is not a Jedi anymore, he tells her that she sounds and acts like one. On the way to Raada, Ahsoka visits Ilum and discovers that the Empire has carved up great chunks of the planet for some unknown purpose. Returning to Raada, she lands her ship on the opposite side of the moon from the main town. Ahsoka heads back to the caves and encounters a distraught Miara. Miara tells her that the others were killed and that Kaeden was taken prisoner by a "gray creature." Miara agrees to help Ahsoka rescue her sister by acting as her lookout.

Ahsoka discovers that the Empire's over-harvesting has ruined Raada's fields. Ahsoka sends Miara to get to Selda while she heads towards the Imperial compound. In the main street, Ahsoka encounters the Sixth Brother. Following a verbal exchange, Ahsoka engages in a lightsaber duel with the Inquisitor. During the fight, the Inquisitor tries to split his double-bladed spinning lightsaber into two swords. However, Ahsoka cracks the cylindrical hilt with the touch of her hand, causing it to explode. The Sixth Brother is killed during the explosion. She retrieves the kyber crystals from her fallen foe. After meditating with the Force, she succeeds in turning them back to their natural color: the brightest white. These crystals are used to forge her new white lightsabers.

Ahsoka then fights her way into the Imperial compound and manages to rescue Kaeden from her cell. After contacting Bail Organa, she and Kaeden head to Selda's canteen where they reunite with Miara and Selda. Ahsoka tells her friends of her plan to evacuate the town. As they evacuate the population, Organa's A-wings assault the Imperial compound, shooting down several Imperial fighters. Two A-wings are shot down with one pilot managing to eject and the other killed when his craft ploughs into the Imperial compound.

Bail lands three ships and they begin evacuating the villages. Three Imperial tanks bombard the evacuees. Armed with her twin lightsabers, Ahsoka slices through one of the tanks, causing it to explode and overturn a nearby tank. Ahsoka heads towards the third tank but is too late to stop it from wounding Vartan. She uses the Force to rip the tank's turret apart. Ahsoka and Bail evacuate the wounded Vartan on a stretcher. Once aboard, Ahsoka reunites with Kaeden and promises to meet again.

Joining the Rebellion
Following the evacuation of Raada, Ahsoka smuggles her way aboard the Tantive IV for a second time. The two discuss the recent events on Raada including Captain Antilles' report that they only sustained fifteen casualties including one A-wing pilot and fourteen evacuees. Vartan survived his injuries due to treatment from Antilles' medical staff. Senator Organa has settled the Raada refugees, who number a few hundred, on Alderaan. Ahsoka also shows Organa her newly acquired lightsabers and explains how she healed their kyber crystals. Senator Organa inducts Ahsoka into the Rebellion and she adopts the nickname Fulcrum.

Elsewhere, the Grand Inquisitor surveys the charred fields of Raada. After inspecting Ahsoka's work, he sets a course back to base and tells his crew to inform Darth Vader that they have found evidence of another survivor.

Development
"I have always worked on her story, even parts that I know we will probably never see on screen. By broadening her story from the animated series to the written page, I feel we have a real opportunity to provide fans with details about her character that they would not know otherwise. We are also responding to the strong fan support that we have seen Ahsoka receive over the last eight years. The fans want more Ahsoka and we are going to give it to you, and since I've been there since the beginning I am dedicated to working with publishing to help make this book as authentic a part of her story as if we filmed it for the series."

- Dave Filoni

Ahsoka was announced on March 31, 2016 as a young adult novel set between the events of "The Wrong Jedi," in which Ahsoka Tano left the Jedi Order, and her reappearance in Star Wars Rebels. Series producer Dave Filoni said that there is much more of her long history to be told, including parts that will never be seen on screen. A novel gives fans the opportunity to learn more about her. Author E. K. Johnston said that it was a tremendous opportunity and a dream come true to write for Ahsoka and flesh out more of her story.

The cover art was released on July 15, 2016 at the "Ahsoka's Untold Tales" panel at Celebration Europe.

Kirkus Reviews published a brief positive review of the title on August 2, 2016. The review reveals that while on the run, Ahsoka takes on the name of "Ashla" and that she for a time worked as a mechanic on the farming moon of Raada.

Editions

 * ISBN 9781484705667; October 11, 2016; Disney–Lucasfilm Press; US hardcover
 * ISBN 9781484782316; October 3, 2017; Disney–Lucasfilm Press; US paperback

Behind the scenes
Chapter 9 of Ahsoka contains an editing error, in which Vartan refers to Ahsoka Tano as "Ahsoka," rather than by the assumed name he knows her as, "Ashla." This however, was corrected in the UK Paperback edition.