Forces of Destiny—Ahsoka & Padmé

Forces of Destiny—Ahsoka & Padmé is a canon one-shot and the fourth issue of the anthology miniseries Star Wars: Forces of Destiny. It was written by Beth Revis, illustrated by Valentina Pinto, and first published by IDW Publishing on January 24, 2018.
==Publisher's summary==
The Star Wars Forces of Destiny initiative celebrates the inspiring stories of iconic heroes from a galaxy far, far away….
Star Wars Adventures has joined the festivities with an exciting weekly series of comic books that explores all corners of the Star Wars universe, showing how choices both big and small ultimately shape the destinies of beloved characters, such as Princess Leia, Rey, Padme, Ahsoka, and Hera along with your soon-to-be favorites from The Last Jedi, Rose and Paige!
Fans will be excited to discover these stories told by talent from across Star Wars novels, comics and animation, including Delilah S. Dawson, Elsa Charretier, Beth Revis, Jody Houser, and Devin Grayson!
== Plot summary ==
In the Jedi Temple, Jedi Padawans Ahsoka Tano and Barriss Offee duel each other with lightsabers as part of their training, and when Ahsoka is knocked back with the Force, she throws one of her lightsaber hilts at Barriss’ head, allowing Ahsoka to leap over her and force her to yield. With the match over, Ahsoka compliments Barriss for a good fight, but Barriss doesn’t see eye to eye with Ahsoka on this due to her throwing her lightsaber. Barriss believes that training sessions are about training them for the real world and battles that they will face, and not to win by whatever and unrealistic means. When Ahsoka reasons that she saw an opportunity and took it, Barriss doesn’t think Ahsoka should have since she learned nothing from it. As they leave the training room, Ahsoka brings up the fact that her master, Anakin Skywalker, says that it doesn’t matter how you win as long as you do, but Barriss points out that their masters have very different training styles as Master Luminara teaches her that form requires patience. With this, Barriss takes Ahsoka’s lightsabers and demonstrates the forms that Ahsoka had forgotten to focus on in practice, and after agreeing that their master’s have different ways of training and that no one is like Anakin, they thank each other for the match and head their separate ways. 
Afterwards, Ahsoka heads to her room to meditate in order to clear her mind, and when she thinks to herself that she has to think like a Jedi and isn’t good enough, someone knocks on the door. Senator Padmé Amidala enters and informs Ahsoka that she’s hosting a dinner party for the Arthurian delegates the next day, to which she wants Ahsoka to attend and keep an eye out due to its importance. Ahsoka is hesitant because she believes that someone more qualified than her should have this job, but Padmé persuades Ahsoka once explaining that Anakin is away on a mission and she trusts her. She also reassures her that while Dormé has returned to Naboo for a family matter, Captain Typho will still be there. The next day, Padmé addresses all of her handmaidens before the dinner party and stresses the vital role that each of them will play. She explains that Arthurians are highly concerned with proper etiquette, and are considering joining the Republic due to the Separatists being disrespectful to their planet Arthuria. Formal dress will be required, white is a colour of respect only worn by authorities, they have taste buds in their hands so utensils are insulting to them, and eye contact should only be made when speaking to them. While she confirms that they can all be trusted with this, Ahsoka patrols the perimeter and secures the area to make sure that it is clear of any threats. 
Regrouping with Padmé, Ahsoka notices that utensils have been set out on the table and questions their presence, and when the handmaiden Karté starts walking away, Padmé orders her to stop and questions the meaning of her actions. However, the handmaiden pulls a blaster on them and opens fire, but Ahsoka gets Padmé to safety behind the cover of a table she’s flipped over. As Ahsoka uses her lightsabers to block the blaster fire, one shot is deflected back into Karté, and once on the ground, she’s revealed to be an imposter as her face changes back to her normal form of the Clawdite bounty hunter Cato Parasitti. When Ahsoka approaches the incapacitated Cato, the bounty hunter ditches the handmaiden clothing and throws a thermal detonator onto the table, however,  Padmé kicks the table to Ahsoka who uses her lightsabers to cut out the area of the bomb and throw it out the window using the Force. Padmé then finishes the job by knocking Cato out after hitting her over the head with a decorative vase. Two handmaidens enter the room and inform them that Karté was found unharmed with her robes stolen inside of a storage container. 
Ahsoka and Padmé then discuss the events and say that they remind each other of Anakin, with Ahsoka especially having the same unflinching desire to help others. Ahsoka questions whether this makes her enough, and Padmé assures her that it is her passion that makes her a good Jedi. Ahsoka still isn’t too sure since that makes her impulsive, but Padmé reminds her that Anakin is impulsive too but that’s used to his advantage. What’s important is that she takes a stance, knows what to fight for, and never gives up. The two then make a toast to peace and friendship. 
==Media==
===Editions===
*UPC 827714014624; January 24, 2018; IDW Publishing; First printing
**00111; Cover A; Valentina Pinto
**00121; Cover B; Elsa Charretier & Matt Wilson
**00131; Cover C; Animation art
===Cover gallery===
File:SWForcesOfDestinyAhsokaPadme.jpg|Cover A
File:SWForcesOfDestinyAhsokaPadme-NotFinal.jpg|Cover A (not final)
File:SWForcesOfDestinyAhsokaPadme-CharretierWilson.jpg|Cover B
File:SWForcesOfDestinyAhsokaPadme-variant.jpg|Cover C (full spread)
==Appearances==
==Collections==
*Star Wars: Forces of Destiny TPB
==Sources==
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==Notes and references==
==External links==
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