Of course, everything that had been happening above the surface had been censored from the daily news reports underground. Other than the occasional shifts in the Force and updates from Anakin and Rex, Ahsoka was cut off from war information. Not that she minded, her day was a lot less stressful when she didn't have to worry about intergalactic warfare.

Not that she didn't have her own stresses. After multiple occasions of her having to act as an on-site medic, her reputation had spread. Almost once a week, now, she was getting some kind of call or request to help with medical issues. There was nothing she could do for things like viruses or infections, not without medicine, but with how many muggings happened down here there was plenty of stuff she could help with. Between the Force and the medical supplies she kept on hand, she was actually pretty effective. There had even been a time that Ahsoka was about to get mugged herself, but the perpetrator recognized her and left her alone. She had to admit, it was kind of nice.

That night, she was walking home from an early morning call. Someone had fallen off a ladder doing housework, and had called her come help. She thought she was done for the day, it was Sunday anyways, but she felt a familiar presence approaching, a Jedi. Master Windu. What is Windu doing in the Lower Levels? she thought, and she started walking down random streets, opting for the ones with no one already there. As she went, she dialed in on Windu's signature, trying to find clues about what was going on. The first thing she noticed was the Darkness in it.

This wasn't abnormal for him since Master Windu used Form VII, which made use of the opponents emotions to give the user an advantage. Not many people received approval to study Form VII, and those who did had a close eye kept on them. Ahsoka, and the Jedi, had gotten used to the slight Darkness in his aura to the point where no one even noticed it, usually.

Ever since her own brush with the Dark Side, though, Ahsoka was much more in tune with Windu's Darkness. It has piqued her interest the last time she saw him but she didn't say anything, due to the situation at hand. It was a careful streak, not always able to be sensed, laced in his signature. On most days, it was quite elegant and controlled.

This was different. It wasn't just a light stroke, like Ahsoka had felt before, but a churning pit at his center, not boiling over yet but definitely getting there. Something bad had happened, that much was for sure.

So what was it, and why did it warrant coming to her?

Ahsoka found an abandoned alley and decided to wait for Windu there. She sat on an old, rusty bench and set her bag at her feet. He would find her, if that's what he indeed was here for. Sure enough, three minutes later, a tall, cloaked figure turned the corner and approached her.

"We need to talk, Miss Tano," he began, not bothering to extend a greeting.

Ahsoka wasn't fazed. She merely raised an eye mark and commented, "At least I know it's you this time and not another Changeling."

As he drew close, Windu pulled his hood back and looked at her intensely, almost as if he was angry with her. The gold hint in his eye certainly suggested so, but Ahsoka still remained relaxed. He wasn't mad at her, she knew that. Instead, he pulled out something from the pocket of his robe. "How much have you been hearing about the war?"

"Almost nothing," she answered honestly. "I pick up things here and there, but not enough to be consistent about it."

Windu activated a small, handheld projector, and he showed Ahsoka the scene that had unfolded above Corellia a few days ago. It was just a still, but it was more than enough to get the message across.

Ahsoka stood up and took the projector, studying the layout of the battle. If it could be called a battle rather than a massacre. "Where was this?"

"Corellia, three days ago," he reported, watching her closely. "Separatists attacked the surface, terrorizing the civilians. When we came, an ambush was set up for us. If it hadn't have been for a last-minute save from Kenobi, I wouldn't be standing here."

Even from the still image, Ahsoka could tell it had been bad. "Who did you lose?"

He sighed, and Ahsoka saw his face soften for the slightest moment. "Other than two cruisers worth of clones? Rig Nema and Adi Gallia."

To her dismay, she recognized both of those names. Rig Nema hasn't exactly agreed with her during the Changeling incident, but now she wasn't even alive to disagree with. As for Master Gallia, Ahsoka was upset, but there was something else she had thought of. Someone else. "Jinx?"

"Alive, but shaken," Windu answered. "He will be assigned to a new master soon, but the Council doesn't want to deploy him again before he has regained control of himself."

"And two cruisers of clones?" She confirmed, handing the projector back to the Jedi. "All at once?"

"I don't like admitting it, but the loss took a toll on me as well."

"Well I knew that."

"Excuse me?"

Ahsoka gestured at him, aware she was being a bit snippy, but not really concerned. "Your Force signature is Darker than I've ever felt it before. I could tell something was wrong ten minutes ago when I first sensed you coming."

He did not look pleased with this fact, but he reset his face and stared her down. "I suppose you would know about the Dark Side, wouldn't you?"

Ahsoka nodded, not sure where he was going with this, but not afraid to own up to it. "It has its advantages. Not to mention, it comes in handy when a genocidal terrorist escapes jail."

"Or when the Chancellor is also a Sith Lord."

So he knows, Ahsoka realized. She wasn't surprised, not after the Sister's fight against Barriss, but it had caught her slightly off guard. Nevertheless, she kept her cool. "Especially then."

Apparently that wasn't the reaction Windu was expecting. "Do you don't deny it?"

"No," she shook her head. "Besides, I think I made that pretty clear when Barriss escaped. I'm sure the other Jedi that were watching have already figured it out, even if they haven't mentioned it."

"I'm assuming Skywalker already knew, what with him having reported your 'death'." He raised an eyebrow at her, crossing his arms. "How did you manage to fake the DNA scan?"

"I didn't," she answered, not wanting to make Anakin look bad, but knowing she couldn't lie out of this one. "I thought he was going to tell you and I was planning to leave Coruscant because of it."

"But you didn't? Why?"

Ahsoka thought quickly. She didn't know how much of this information Windu was going to pass on, but he had also come to her, alone, and probably without permission. The Darkness churning in him had compelled him to come, and Ahsoka still didn't know why. If she showed a bit of trust, perhaps it would be returned. "If Tyrannus had heard that I was alive, he would have hunted me down and I would have had to get as far away from people as possible. The only reason he hasn't is that Senator Amidala reported that the Inquisitor was dead. I have a better chance of hiding from him here than somewhere else. As long as I lay low, I won't endanger anyone else."

Windu gave her this look, trying to peer into her mind with only his eyes. It was hard to imagine this person as the same one who had earlier had red skin and black montrals, but she was fully owning up to her actions. Not all of them had been good, and Windu could attest to that, but she didn't look ashamed of it. "Are you sure? Are you not a danger?"

"I haven't committed genocide yet, have I?" she retorted, which earned a slight smirk from Windu. He still didn't look convinced, though.

"The Dark Side is dangerous, Tano," he warned her, folding his hands. "It's much more volatile than the Light, and it doesn't always seem bad. It needs to be kept in check, if kept at all."

"Is that you you've come, then?" she asked, pointing to him. "Can you not even tell what the Darkness is doing in you?"

He opened his mouth to object, but nothing came out of Windu's mouth. His eyes flitted around, looking for something to say, before deciding to move on from the matter. "That's not why I came. l need something else."

In Ahsoka's mind, the Sister was having a field day. Don't just let him get off the hook, dig into it!! Find out what's going on! If a Jedi is succumbing to the Dark Side without Sideous' help, that's a very bad thing. 

I am genuinely surprised you said that, of all people, Ahsoka quipped. I will, just wait. Let's see what he wants first, then I'll let you two talk.

"You used this same strategy against us, back when you went 'missing'," Windu reminded her, holding up the projector with the battle still on it. "I don't think it's just military strategy, I think it's a message. You led the Separatists, for a time. Is there anything you can tell me?"

Ahsoka racked her memory, before holding out her hand. "Can I see it one more time?"

He surrendered the projector to her, and Ahsoka looked at the battle scene again. It certainly did remind her of the mission to steal three of the Republic's hyperdrives, but that had been about crippling their fleet and to confuse Anakin even more about who she was. That message had been from Sideous, not Tyrannus. What was the new Sith Lord's play?

Six ships is a bit excessive, don't you think? she asked the Sister, since she was the one who actually remembered.

Well, for an actual battle, definitely, she affirmed. Tyrannus didn't want to fight here, he wanted to accomplish something, like I did. I just wanted to fool around, the battle was more of a distraction, but this...this is just brutality.

In her mind, Ahsoka snorted. Well that's nothing new. He never came across as the gentle type. 

Multiple memories from the Sister's training flashed by. Obviously, but this is the less obvious, at least to the Jedi: He won't be a gentle ruler, either.

Ruler?

Look at this, Ahsoka. This isn't war anymore, to him, this is conquest! He's following in his master's footsteps, more or less. Maybe he isn't trying to take over the Senate, but if he continues to plow through Republic cruisers like this, he'll destroy it all the same.

He wants to be Emperor.

He always did. The only reason he never tried to be earlier was because he was too scared of Sideous, like we all were. Now that he's gone, who is left to stop him?

Ahsoka looked at the Jedi, shutting off the projection again. "The war is at a breaking point, Master Windu. Dooku doesn't have any assurance from his master that there is control, so he took it himself. The Separatist Alliance may still believe in democracy, but I think Dooku is done waiting."

He stood up, taking the projector back. "Waiting for what?"

"Victory. That's what he, specifically, wants. Sideous had a lot of patience and was quite fond of a long, well thought-out plan, but Dooku is ready now. This isn't about being right anymore, it's not about politics or ethics. Dooku wants control, he wants power. This is just a taste of what he's willing to do to get it."

Windu didn't like the sound of that. "You're making it sound like there's nothing we could do to convince him otherwise."

Shrugging, Ahsoka crossed her arms. "I'm not going to be the one to try to talk him out of it. Not unless there's no other choice."

"So what choices do we have?" he questioned, opening an arm to the rest of Coruscant. "This system isn't far from Corellia, and Dooku is certainly capable of landing an attack here."

"So long as he can attack, yes," Ahsoka reminded him, a hint of a smile creeping onto her face. "But what if he wasn't capable of landing an attack anywhere?"

It took a minute, but Windu got where she was getting at. "That's a risky move, Tano. I like it, but it would take a lot to convince enough people to get anything done. Besides, we don't even know where the Separatist fleet is kept."

Ahsoka pulled a strip of bandage out of her pack, and grabbed a pen out of one of the pockets. It wasn't quite paper, but it was enough to write down a few sets of coordinates. "The first location is the capital planet for the Confederacy of Independent Systems, called Raxus. There's no value in bombarding the planet's surface, but up to ten Separatist cruisers are there at any given time."

That impressed Windu, and was exactly why he came to her. If anyone had this information, it would have been Tano. "And the second?"

She handed the strip to him, and he studied the coordinates. "The second is the place I was kept before Sideous used me against the Republic. Dromund Kaas. There's a large Sith Temple there, but only Tyrannus should be there if he is at all. There's no defense, no guard. Not even in the Separatist ranks is there anyone who knows it exists. The only reason I knew was because I wasn't allowed to leave it for nine months."

His eyes darted to her, and Windu saw that she was being serious. "Nine months? So that's were you were."

"Not willingly," she added, "but yes. The sooner you destroy it, the sooner I can sleep easier at night."

Windu folded up the bandage strip and stowed it away for the return trip to the surface. "That's more than I was hoping for. I wish I had a way to repay you, despite your absence from the surface."

"Oh, there is," someone said to him, but not Ahsoka Tano.