Girls

  © & TM 2017 Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Disney • Lucasfilm Press, an imprint of Disney Book Group. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. For information address Disney • Lucasfilm Press, 1101 Flower Street, Glendale, California 91201.

  ISBN 978-1-368-01325-3

  Visit the official Star Wars website at: www.starwars.com.

  CONTENTS

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Part 1: Ahsoka

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Part 2: Leia

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Part 3: Jyn

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  About the Author

  A Message from Maz:

  You are listening, my young friend? I am glad you have come to see me, Maz Kanata, by my fire here in the forest. The forest is home to many creatures that like the velvety dark night and the friendly crackle of a fire, like me. And that like stories—like you. Many, many wanderers across the years have come to me for help. I do help them—why would I not, when I have lived for so long? And I will help you, too, friend. But you must listen carefully.

  What’s that I hear, croaking nearby? Ah, it is a flurrg. Come here, little friend! And another one of you, too! Word travels fast among you flurrgs. Come closer to the fire, Flurrg Two. My, these stories are getting popular. Of course, there are as many stories about heroes as there are stars in the sky. Gather round now. I’ll tell you of heroes who never let a problem stop them, no matter the size or the shape. And remember, the choices we make, the actions we take, the moments—both big and small—shape us into forces of destiny.

  Ahsoka Tano ran through the streets of Coruscant, a planet that was one big city.

  Above her towered the thousands of skyscrapers in which the wealthy watched over the city from their high perches and breathed their own supply of clean air.

  Levels below her was the massive underworld in which the poor and criminal lived in filth, the air filled with toxic fumes from the Coruscant factories. But that day, on the middle level of the planet, sun filtered its hazy way onto the streets, speeders whirred past, children ran by laughing and playing, and Ahsoka Tano was late.

  When you’re a new Padawan and your master and Master Yoda are waiting for you at the Jedi Temple, and when you’re a Padawan who has been told too many times to count that you have a long way to go before achieving Jedi Knight status—well, it’s just not a good idea to be late.

  Ahsoka’s comlink crackled on her wrist.

  “Ahsoka? You on your way?” Anakin’s voice cut through the static.

  He hadn’t wanted an apprentice at first—he’d made that abundantly clear—and she hadn’t particularly wanted to be his. But their relationship had shifted. She and Anakin were good together as Padawan and master. Ahsoka had been working hard. She felt a sort of peace settle in her as she continued to develop the Force. She’d learned how to focus and calm her mind.

  Her comlink crackled again and Ahsoka raised her wrist to her mouth.

  “I’m on my way, Master! I just finished patrol.”

  She could tell Anakin was tense; he didn’t want Master Yoda to be kept waiting.

  “Well, get back here, and hurry! I’m waiting for you.”

  The comlink went silent. Ahsoka winced and ran a little faster. She just had to make it to the Jedi Temple, which she glimpsed in the distance. She could see its five white spires rising high into the hazy afternoon sky.

  Anakin Skywalker tapped his foot on the white stone floor of the Jedi Temple courtyard. The sound echoed. Yoda, standing quietly in front of the Great Tree, looked over at Anakin.

  Anakin stopped tapping. He paced over to the ancient Jedi Master. The thought suddenly flashed through his mind that the gnarled and twisted trunk of the Force-sensitive tree was like Yoda’s gnarled and bent body. Both were as old as the ages; both had seen more than he ever would.

  “Master Yoda!” Anakin bent his head in respect.

  “Ahsoka will be here soon. I know this ceremony is very important to her.”

  The last part he was sure of. He just wished he could be as sure of the first part. He struggled to stop the doubt and irritation that twisted suddenly inside him. He’d been so sure Ahsoka was ready for the ceremony to receive her Padawan beads. But the tardiness—was he wrong? Lateness was a sign of selfishness—not a characteristic of a Jedi Knight.

  Yoda’s raspy voice broke through Anakin’s thoughts.

  “Deserved your Padawan is of this honor, young Skywalker.”

  Anakin looked at his master, surprised. Once again, Yoda knew what he was thinking. Now if only he could be sure the old Jedi Master was right.

  Ahsoka was beginning to pant as her booted feet pounded through the streets. The sun was strong overhead. She wiped a trickle of sweat from the side of her face. It wasn’t so bad, she told herself. She was only a few minutes late.

  “No! Oh, no!” A voice came from somewhere nearby.

  Automatically, Ahsoka slowed and listened. The buzz of speeders, chattering of shoppers, clanging of metal from some workers on a building behind her. Maybe someone had just dropped something. She picked up the pace again.

  But she’d only gone three more steps when the scream came again.

  “Nooo! Get away! Someone help!”

  There was a crash and more screaming. Ahsoka skidded to a halt, listening hard. The commotion was coming from one block over. She sighed and looked north. The Temple spires were so close.

  Ahsoka clenched her hands, then turned and ran toward the screaming.

  She darted across the street, dodging speeders, and dashed over to the next block. She was almost driven back by a flood of people running the opposite way.

  “Get back!” someone shouted. “It’s gone crazy!”

  What’s gone crazy? Ahsoka wondered as she ran past a row of offices.

  She soon had her answer. In front of a clothing shop, an industrial cleaning droid was malfunctioning—badly. It spun wildly, crashing randomly into waste bins and light poles. The street was so crowded, the people nearest the droid were trapped against each other, with everyone struggling to escape. Ahsoka skidded to a halt with the screams of the crowd flooding her head. She looked around for a Coruscant police officer, but there was none. This one was going to be all her.

  The droid let out a series of earsplitting beeps and suddenly charged into the crowd. It was going for something—then the crowd parted and Ahsoka saw a fishlike Aleena woman crouched against the wall of the clothing shop, clutching a similarly fishy-looking toddler in her arms. The droid was heading right toward them, swinging wildly with its outstretched claw arms. She could see they were trapped by a wall on one side and a stack of heavy crates on the other.

  Ahsoka stretched out her arm, fingers wide, and focused her mind deeply, calmly, completely. She bored into the droid with her eyes, feeling the Force welling from her mind, flowing down her arm, and bursting out through her palm—straight toward the droid.

  The droid flew backward suddenly from the Force push, away from the mother and baby, but its long metal arm whirred, rotating its claws like whirling blades and barely missing the faces of some of the people in the crowd. Ahsoka sucked in a breath. A blow from one of those arms would do some serious damage.

  Ahsoka leapt forward, but before she could do any more, the
droid smashed into the wall of the shop. It tilted from the impact of the blow, spun, and zoomed straight toward Ahsoka as if from a slingshot. Its arms clanged against a metal pipe that ran at shoulder level along the street, and slimy water sprayed Ahsoka from top to bottom.

  “Aaghh!” She yelled as the foul odor of the water rose around her. She swiped the slime from her face with her forearm. The dirty water was pouring from the pipe and pooling in the street.

  “Get out of here!” she yelled at the crowd.

  People scattered. The mother tried to drag her child away, but the droid turned and blocked her way every time she moved.

  The droid’s whir rose to a scream. It had spotted Ahsoka and was speeding straight for her. Ahsoka looked around wildly—there! A trash crate stood just to her left. Ahsoka jumped in and dropped to the floor of the crate, which sat just above the smelly, pooling water. The droid crashed into the outside of the crate, shaking it. People gasped. Ahsoka glanced up. Faces stared down at her from the top of one of the buildings, where the crowd had gathered.

  The droid backed away and then rolled forward and smashed the crate again. Not much time left.

  A bird tweeted softly in the corner of the Temple courtyard. A breeze stirred the leaves of the Great Tree. Yoda stood beside Anakin in the shade of the branches, his hands folded over the top of his stick. He cleared his throat. Anakin jumped at the sound.

  Yoda placed a wrinkled hand on Anakin’s sleeve.

  “Relax, you must,” he said.

  Anakin nodded and unclenched his jaw.

  “Don’t worry. She’ll be here.”

  He wasn’t sure if he was talking to Yoda or himself.

  Yoda nodded. “Know this, I do.”

  Anakin forced a smile. This was all a mistake. She wasn’t ready. She wasn’t ready! And now he was going to embarrass himself in front of Master Yoda, the greatest Jedi Master ever to have lived. How could Ahsoka let him down like this? He’d been so sure this was the right moment for her to receive her Padawan beads.

  From inside the crate, Ahsoka considered her options. She couldn’t risk an extended fight with the droid. There were too many civilians around. Someone was bound to get hurt. Whatever she did, it would have to be fast.

  The crate shook as the droid slammed into it again. Ahsoka peeked out. She noticed that the droid seemed to be short-circuiting, wisps of smoke coming from its controls. Her eyes drifted up to see a dripping water pipe overhead. She grinned. It was time to see what some water could do. Ahsoka bent her knees, braced herself, and pulled out her lightsaber. With a flick of her thumb, she activated it.

  The droid whizzed backward, through a big puddle just in front of the crate. Ahsoka waited. Every part of her concentrated, gathering her strength. The droid paused on its backward pass, gearing up to go forward again.

  The droid zoomed ahead. Just as it went under the dripping water pipe, Ahsoka leapt high out of the crate, jumped onto the droid, and used it as a boost to slice through the pipe with her lightsaber. Water soaked the droid, which immediately started to spark and fizzle. Ahsoka leapt off and landed safely on the ground.

  The droid continued to break down in a spectacular fashion. White lights popped with a terrific bang and a loud crackling. The crowd above screamed and covered their ears. The droid spun around and around, first fast, then slower and slower, until gradually it turned on its base one more time, then with a low whine dropped face-first into the large puddle of water and went still.

  The watching crowd burst into applause. Ahsoka let out a long breath. Her knees were a little shaky.

  The Aleena woman ran up to Ahsoka, clutching her child close.

  “Thank you for saving us!”

  The woman threw one arm around Ahsoka.

  “Who are you?”

  Ahsoka patted the woman on the back. “That’s not important. What’s important is, are you all right?”

  The woman nodded. Ahsoka looked into the child’s dirty, tearstained face.

  “And are you all right?”

  The child looked at Ahsoka with huge, solemn eyes, then opened her mouth wide to reveal a blue piece of candy on her tongue.

  Ahsoka laughed.

  “I guess that answers my question.”

  Then the spires of the Temple, visible over the buildings, caught her eye.

  “The ceremony!” she gasped.

  Thirty minutes. She was thirty minutes late!

  Anakin groaned inwardly. He glanced at Yoda for what felt like the hundredth time. The Jedi stood quietly under the tree, hands folded. The sun was almost directly overhead and the stone of the Temple floor was growing hot.

  Anakin shifted as the warmth seeped through the leather soles of his boots. This was a mistake. She wasn’t ready—clearly! They should just leave. He had opened his mouth to tell Yoda that when Yoda spoke.

  “Have faith in her, you must,” he said calmly.

  Anakin bit the words back.

  “I do,” he said instead.

  Or I did, he thought.

  Suddenly, the sound of light running feet echoed in the outer courtyard.

  “Sorry I’m late,” Ahsoka panted.

  Ahsoka skidded to a stop in the inner courtyard. Squinting against the sun in her eyes, she could make out Anakin standing under the Great Tree. He looked tense. Ahsoka could only guess how long he’d been waiting for her.

  “Ahsoka! What happened?” Anakin asked. He stepped forward, his brows knitting together.

  Ahsoka glanced down at herself—green muck splattered her dress, legs, and boots. She took a deep breath, opened her mouth…then closed it. She was already late. Best to keep this short.

  “Let’s just say…there were some complications.”

  She bowed her head. If the Padawan beads were coming her way, then they were. They symbolized her advancement in her study to become a Jedi Knight. If her lateness had cost her that, then it was already decided. There was nothing she could do at this point.

  She stared at her soaked boots. The heat from the stone floor crept through the soles. Then she saw a shadow—a small, short shadow—moving toward her. The shadow had big ears.

  She looked up.

  Yoda was standing in front of her, holding something in his closed fist.

  “Humble and brave, you are. A sign of maturity this is….”

  Ahsoka exhaled. She heard Anakin let out his breath at the same time. She watched Master Yoda. A huge grin spread across his face. Lightness flooded through Ahsoka.

  Yoda stepped close to Ahsoka and she knelt in front of him. He held his hand over her head and spoke firmly.

  “Outstanding growth you have shown, Ahsoka Tano. On the path to becoming a Jedi Knight, you are.”

  Ahsoka’s throat swelled as she thrilled at his words. She looked up at Anakin. Thank you, she mouthed. He had trained her right. At last, they both knew it.

  Yoda opened his closed hand. Padawan beads cascaded down from it, glittering in the sun. Ahsoka rose and accepted the beads. She bowed her head.

  “Thank you, Master Yoda.”

  She removed the jewelry string she always wore on her montrals and clipped the new Padawan beads to the end. Carefully, she replaced the string. She could feel the added weight immediately. It felt good—very good.

  Anakin stepped up to her. His wide blue eyes were twinkling. “I’m proud of you, Snips.”

  “Thank you, Master,” Ahsoka answered. And out of the corner of her eye, she saw Yoda still smiling, proud of them both.

  A Message from Maz:

  The fire feels nice, doesn’t it? Look at the embers flying into the sky. They look like stars, don’t they? Isn’t that right, my flurrg friends? I’m glad you’re still here, listening. Now, what was I saying? Oh, yes. There’s more than one way to solve a problem.

  What’s that, little flurrg? I hear your croak. Say it again, so I can understand. Oh! That’s very true. Lean close, my friend. As our flurrg says, you don’t always have to be big to think big.
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br />   Princess Leia Organa stood in the middle of the main hangar deck on Echo Base, pilots and workers scurrying around her as they went about their assigned tasks. She shivered and wondered if she would ever get used to how cold Hoth was. She even felt cold in her dreams at night.

  The cold is part of what makes this such a good hiding place for the Rebellion, she reminded herself. Focus on what’s important!

  She looked down at the plans on the datapad she was holding. The base was nearly ready. They just needed to complete some of the underground storage chambers and corridors, then stock them. She’d given orders for work on the corridors early that morning. Chewbacca had volunteered to do some of the digging, which she appreciated. His Wookiee strength would be a big help.

  “Princess Leia!”

  She looked up to see General Rieekan, the leader of the base, approaching.

  “I’m glad I found you,” he said. “I wanted to go over a few last-minute changes to our defense strategy in case of attack.”

  “Of course, General,” Leia said. “Let’s go to the command center.”

  She shivered. “It’s usually a little bit warmer in there.”

  General Rieekan grinned in agreement and turned with Leia to walk toward the command center. They were about halfway there when Leia spotted her friend Luke Skywalker on one side of the hangar.

  “Leia!” Luke called.

  He was crouched by the landing gear of a snowspeeder, welding something into place.

  “Have you seen Chewie? I need his help with this and he said he’d be here to give me a hand over two hours ago.”

  “He volunteered to help with digging tunnels this morning, but he should have been finished by now,” Leia said. “Did you say he was two hours late?”

  Luke straightened up from his work, his eyes darkening with worry.

  “Yes, two hours. And he’s never late.”

  “No, he’s not.” Leia’s brow creased.