Chapter Text
19 BBY
Ahsoka stared out of the viewport window at the line of helmets that marked the graves of the clones she had finished burying just half an hour ago. Rex was long gone, having flown off to some undisclosed location in one of the ships they had repaired from the cruiser. Ahsoka knew she should be doing the same, but she couldn't get herself to tear her eyes away from the sight. Everything was a blur… her mind was spinning so fast she could barely process her own thoughts. Her chest felt empty, hollow. She was vaguely aware of the warm trail of a tear making its way down her cheek as she gazed out at the final resting place of her friends.
It was all a hazy mess. Recalling the day's events was a nightmare. Snippets of memories flashed through her brain like a collage of images that she couldn't quite make sense of. The attack, running through a narrow hallway towards the hangar, falling off the crashing ship, Rex and Maul and the droids… and Order 66.
Ahsoka's stomach clenched. She could still see Rex’s grief filled face as they fought through droves of his brothers, now turned mindless slaves to whatever evil thing had made the order. And the Separatists…
The Separatists had won. Even after all that fighting, after all the losses, after spending her entire life training to fight in the Clone War… they had still failed. She had failed.
And all those men, her brothers in arms, her friends . All gone. Ahsoka shifted her gaze along the line of helmets. She could still make out the markings painted on the helmets, customized to each clones liking, symbols of their individuality. All of that just… gone .
She blinked, forcing the tears out of her eyes.
No.
She couldn't keep doing this. She had to go. She couldn't stay on the planet forever, a sitting duck just waiting to be found by someone who more likely than not would be an enemy. Turning her head with difficulty, Ahsoka focused instead on the navi computers laid out on the control board in front of her. She had to go, but she couldn't imagine a place where she would be safe. Certainly not Coruscant; that was probably the first place that had been taken over. Actually, nowhere in the Core or Inner Rim would be safe. She couldn't turn to any planets that held high positions of power, nowhere that would be of any interest to the Seperatists.
Ahsoka sighed and flipped on the ship's power.
“Artoo, search for any Outer Rim planets that we can refuel and lie low on for a while.” she called, executing the startup sequence.
But no response came. No, of course it wouldn't. Artoo was long gone, probably still with Anakin. Ahsoka closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Okay. She was going to have to do this on her own.
Ahsoka sat forward, putting in her search manually instead. She smiled sadly to herself. That was going to take some getting used to. After typing in the parameters, she pressed a button and let the computer do the work. In a few moments a long list of planets appeared on the screen, each name joined by a brief description and a photo. While her terms had narrowed down the possibilities quite a bit, there were still dozens of planets to choose from.
Lovely.
She adjusted her position in her seat, getting ready to start scrolling through the long list, when she remembered something. It was a little trick Anakin had taught her years ago. She could still remember him laughing, saying ‘Hey, it’s not cheating. It’s just a little trick to get you where you need to go.’
Ahsoka closed her eyes. She’d only done this once, when Anakin was teaching it to her. Never thought she would actually need it.
Funny how that works.
She reached out to the Force, allowing her mind to expand, feeling rather than seeing the list of planets in front of her. She passed through the list of planets, lingering on each one for a few moments as she waited for the Force to give her some sport of indication that she had found the right one. The list scrolled on as she let herself go, let everything go, letting the Force encompass her entire reality. She pushed on, reaching further, feeling each planet then discarding them one after another until… there.
Ahsoka's eyes snapped open, looking at the projection of the planet that hovered in front of her.
“Kaller?” she muttered to herself. The description next to the image of the planet described it as a medium sized planet densely covered by forests, with the occasional mountain range. It had one large, semi-densely populated city, Plateau City, but other than that not much other than a number of villages scattered across the land. It was an unimportant planet, floating in the middle of nowhere.
Perfect.
Ahsoka keyed the coordinates into the computer, hoping against hope she had enough fuel to get there. The ship she had taken from the docking bay had been under repairs when she had found it. She’d filled it up as much as felt safe, but the meter was broken so she had no clue how much she actually had left. Thankfully, luck seemed to be on her side.
Once she received confirmation from the computer that the ship was ready to go, she strapped herself into the seat and initiated the launch sequence. As the ship rumbled, warming up its engines, Ahsoka gave one last long look to the tribute.
“I’m sorry.” she whispered, as if the clones could somehow still hear her, as if she could somehow make things right with just those few words.
But there was no going back.
Ahsoka let out one last shaky breath, turned her eyes to the controls, and lifted the ship up into the sky. She couldn’t allow herself to be distracted by stray thoughts and emotions. If the Jedi had taught her one thing, it was how to keep herself focused even when everything else was crumbling around her. And yet, as the window in front of her filled with the hypnotizing swirling streaks of white and blue that meant she had entered hyperspace, her thoughts strayed. How many Jedi had died because of the Order? She could feel it now. An empty, heavy hollowness that blanketed the Force around her. Usually when there was a significant death in the Force she would feel a slight dimming in her mind, like a single lightbulb on a massive chandelier had gone out. This was different. This felt like the sun had died, leaving a massive black hole in the place where a source of light and hope stood. A suffocating darkness seemed to snake into her very being, pressing in on her from all sides.
This- the Order- had happened everywhere. It had to have. There was no other reason why the Force would feel so... wounded. Ahsoka took a deep breath, trying to block out the swell of thoughts racing through her brain. Focus. She had to focus. There was no knowing what lay ahead of her. All she knew was that if she was going to get through this, her mind had to be clear. She could dwell on speculation later.
---
The flight to Kaller was uneventful. Ahsoka had taken the time to try to relax herself and at least begin the task of processing all the thoughts racing through her brain, so by the time she landed her head at least felt a bit clearer.
She had landed in one of the docking ports farther away from the heart of the city, hoping to avoid as much…. well, everything as possible.
Walking towards the massive, looming city, she felt a sensation of foreboding. Not from the Force, for once that actually felt right, but from her own instincts. She’d never been here before. Hell, she’d barely even heard of Kaller before now. And now here she was walking blindly into a city that she had almost no clue how to navigate outside of the few photos the log had given her. Right before entering, at the entrance of Plateau City, she gave her remaining credits to a kind old Twi-lek woman sitting in a run down looking stall in exchange for a single pear. Might as well. She placed the fruit in the pocket of the long black cloak she was wearing and, taking a deep breath, stepped through the gates.
She walked quickly down the rain-soaked streets of the city, the cloak drawn tight around her shoulders. There wasn't much risk of anyone recognizing her on a planet like this, but Togrutas weren't extremely common in the area. She kept her head down, her face cast into shadow from her hood, meaning to attract as little attention as possible. Luckily, the people around her seemed to want just as little to do with her as she did with them. This was the kind of place where if you didn't bother anyone, no one would bother you. But that also meant that if she got into any sort of trouble, she shouldn't expect help. She could live with that.
The city was surprisingly large for such a backwater planet. It wasn't anything you could find in the inner rim, but still. Since it relied on mineral and lumber trade it was filled with factories, trading centers, transportation lanes, the works. You couldn't walk five meters without seeing an advertisement for a job at the mines or a construction team. But it was also filled with smaller businesses. Hotels, restaurants, marketplaces… it would be almost homey if it weren't for the air of distrust and hostility that blanketed the streets. This was nothing new, of course. She had been to enough planets similar to this one where security was a luxury not many could afford. It was the perfect place for thieves, smugglers, and fugitives. The perfect place for her.
And yet, there was something weird about this city. A heaviness hung in the air that had nothing to do with the wave of dense fog covering the streets. It was the same feeling she had gotten back on her ship, that suffocating blackness in the Force. Less strong, but definitely still there. Something terrible had happened here. Something that had to do with the Order.
And if that was true, that meant there could be enemies all around her.
Ahsoka glanced around at the people walking along the street around her and drew the hood closer around her face. This wasn’t good. Maybe no one was directly looking for her right now, but as soon as she was recognized it would all be over. Why had the Force brought her here?
She quickened her pace. Everyone on the crowded street looked like an enemy. Every glance she got looked like a glare.
No. Stay calm, she told herself. No one’s noticed you yet, but they will if you keep acting like you have something to hide.
She couldn’t allow her paranoia to get the best of her. Not now, when danger could be all around her. There had to be a reason the Force had guided her here. Maybe she had done something wrong? It had been so many months since she had left the order, so many months since she had opened herself up to the power that flowed through everything. Maybe she was out of practice, maybe she had misinterpreted Its will…
Or maybe everything had gone just right. Maybe she was supposed to be here. To do what she couldn't say, but the Force never did anything without a reason. If she was here, it was because she was supposed to be. Ahsoka took a deep breath and slowed down to her normal walking speed. What she really needed was shelter. She could find some out of the way hotel to spend a few nights in and wait. If there really were people on the lookout for surviving Jedi, or worse, someone who might actually recognize her, she’d have to be a lot more careful.
She turned the corner onto a smaller, less busy street. There were only a few people milling around here, most hanging around a brightly lit, run down diner with a small neon sign labeled “Rista’s 24 Hour Diner: Food, Music And More!”. She walked past, ignoring the distrustful glares a few of the people hanging around gave her. She didn’t know exactly where she was going, but a roadside map she had seen a few blocks back had said that the apartment and hotel sector was in this general direction. And while Ahsoka was sure no one who had seen her recognized her, she didn't want to stay out in the open a second longer than she had to.
As she walked, she passed by multiple little side roads and alleyways. She made sure to glance into each one, making sure there was no one lurking around. Normally this was a job she would leave to the Force but… she didn’t even know if she could trust that anymore. After ignoring it for months, she couldn’t just re-ignite the connection she’d once had. And besides, it was unlikely that anyone would want anything to do with her, not while she looked like she had been sleeping on the side of the road for a week. Still, it had been a long time since she’d been on her own like this. It felt strange, not having someone, even a droid, by her side. It felt lonely. Well, at least this was probably only temporary. Soon enough she would be back on her ship, going out to find any remaining survivors of the purge. Soon, after everything had calmed down a bit. She was still clinging onto the hope that Anakin was somehow safe out there. She could normally feel his presence, like a whispering in the back of her mind, but it had gone silent when she severed ties with the Jedi. There was no way of knowing where he was, or if he was even alive. No, he had to still be alive. He was one of the most powerful Jedi Ahsoka had ever known… if anyone could get through this, Anakin could.
And then she felt it.
Ahsoka stopped dead in her tracks, her mind jolting back to the present.
What was that?
The sensation was gone as soon as it had come, but it had definitely been there . It was unlike anything she had felt in a long time… a tugging in her gut that she only felt when the Force was trying desperately to tell her something. She looked around the street, but it was deserted save for an old rodian woman sleeping on the side of the road. She spun around, making sure no one else was around… but it was empty.
What the hell?
She was almost ready to chalk it up to a fluke and keep going, some result of her paranoia, but then a loud thump sounded from the alleyway to her right, followed by a scuffling sound. Her hand immediately jumped to her belt, feeling for lightsabers that no longer hung there.
Great.
Ahsoka breathed in deep and took a cautious step towards the dark path, her eyebrows furrowed.
“Hello?” she said, peering into the alley.
The sound stopped. She took another couple of careful steps forward, her hands out and ready to fight. The feeling in her gut was back, this time even more persistent. Whatever this was, it was important enough to merit a sign from the Force. But what kind of sign was it? A warning to run, or a plea to investigate? She moved forward, her curiosity getting the best of her.
At the very end of the alleyway, in the faint glow of the moonlight, she could make out the sight of a dumpster with its lid open and trash bags scattered on the ground around it.
“Is anyone here?” she said again, softer this time.
And then she saw it. Next to the dumpster, almost completely concealed by the shadows, was another shape. A human shape. Furrowing her eyebrows, she moved slowly towards the person, her footsteps echoing off the close walls. When she got to be about three feet away from the shape, it suddenly moved. It bolted upright, jumping to its feet, shaking.
It was a child. A human boy with short dirty hair, no older than 14, wearing a long brown robe. He stood there, one hand on the wall behind him, the other hugging his stomach, his eyes wide and afraid.
“Get… get away from me!” the kid said, his voice hoarse.
The tugging sensation in her gut grew, and the Force whispered in the back of her mind. It felt like it was nudging her towards this boy.
“Are you alright?” Ahsoka asked, keeping her feet planted where they were. She wanted to do something, help the kid, but didn't want to scare him anymore than she already had.
“Get away!” he said again. “I… I’m not afraid to fight you!”
He straightened his back slightly, the hand that had previously been up against the wall now in a fist at his side. As he moved, a long, thin braid with a yellow band was caught in the glow of the moonlight. The kind of braid worn by a Jedi padawan. The Force screamed in her mind. This was why she was here, she realized. This is why she was sent. And as she and the boy made eye contact, she knew that he felt the same thing. Ahsoka saw his eyes widen, his hands trembling softly.
“I’m not here to hurt you.” Ahsoka took a small step forward, but stopped when the boy stepped back, pushing his back up against the wall. “Look…”
She slowly reached her right hand into her cloak pocket. The kid flinched, but she just held her hand out, holding out the pear she had bought upon entering the city. She presented it in the palm of her hand, her arm fully extended, offering it to him. He eyed it suspiciously, seeming to weigh his options in his mind, but after a few moments of contemplation his hunger won the fight. He grabbed the fruit from her hand, then quickly retreated back into the corner where he had been hiding. He devoured the fruit, juice running down his face and all over his hands, but he didn't seem to notice. He never took his eyes off of Ahsoka. When he finished he stood again, his posture a bit more confident, though his face still held suspicion.
“Okay?” She asked.
The boy nodded hesitantly.
Okay, she thought to herself. Now what?
They had to get to shelter, and quickly. Even if there wasn't anyone searching for this kid right now, there definitely would be once the sun came up. And judging by the way the sky had turned from an inky black to a dim purple, that was going to be soon.
“Where is your master?” Ahsoka asked, but the moment the words came out of her mouth she knew it was the wrong thing to say. The boy’s expression became even more frightened, if that was possible, and maybe a little bit… shameful?
He just shook his head slightly, avoiding looking into her eyes. Whatever had happened to him during the Order… she could only imagine.
Ahsoka kneeled down, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. “I know you’re afraid-”
“I’m not afraid!”
Despite herself, Ahsoka smiled slightly. “Okay. I know... a lot has happened, but those- the clones- they’re going to be coming to look for you soon. It’s not safe for you to be running around this city.” She glanced up at the sky again, her unease growing.
They were running out of time.
“I have a ship. We can refuel it here then leave, get us both to safety. I…” she hesitated. “I don’t know where we’d go… where we can go. And I can’t make this decision for you, but if you stay here they will eventually find you.”
The boy paused for a moment, turning the options over in his mind. After a couple seconds of contemplation, he nodded slowly, and took a step forward.
“What’s your name?” she asked, not wanting to keep thinking of him as ‘the kid’ or ‘the boy’.
“C... Caleb. Dume.”
Caleb Dume. The name wasn’t familiar to her, but that wasn’t surprising. There had been a lot of padawans while Ahsoka was still at the temple. Plus, most of her time had been spent training with Anakin and working on missions, so she hadn’t gotten much of a chance to get to know the others.
“I’m Ahsoka. It’s nice to meet you, Caleb.” she said. “Do you still have your lightsaber?”
Caleb nodded, reaching into his robes.
“No no, don't take it out here. Don’t let anyone see it. We can’t run the risk of anyone recognizing what it is.”
“Why not? Don’t we need to defend ourselves?” he asked, frowning.
Ahsoka shook her head.
“We need to stay as under the radar as possible. The clones are hunting Jedi specifically, so we need to make sure we are not recognized. ”
He took his hand out of his pocket. He was scared, that was obvious. His hands were trembling and his eyes were wide.
“I know this is a lot, but we can worry about everything later,” Ahsoka said softly. “But we have to go. Now.”
Caleb let out a shaky breath, and nodded once more. “Okay.”
“Okay.” She turned to the entrance of the alleyway, the street now basked in light oranges and pinks from the sunrise. “Let’s go.”
---
Fifteen years later
“Engine one is offline!”
Kanan ran towards the cockpit as the ship shuddered beneath him, red warning lights flashing through the hall. He burst into the room, jumping into the co-pilot's seat next to Ahsoka who was trying to keep the ship steady while taking in the dozen blinking lights on the dashboard in front of her.
“Hull took a pretty big beating, too. How are we on fuel?” he asked, glancing out the viewport window at the planet they were approaching.
“Just barely enough.” Ahsoka grumbled as she flipped a few switches on the board. “I’m redirecting the energy from all non vital systems to the shields. If we’re lucky, we can make it through this in one piece.”
The ship shook again, more violently this time. Kanan gripped the armrests of the chair, heart pounding.
“We refueled when we left Bavva. How in the worlds are we already out?” Kanan said, frustration creeping into his voice. It couldn’t have been more than 14 hours since they had left the planet, and he was positive he had completely filled the tank before they left.
“I don’t know, but we don't have time to worry about that now,” Ahsoka said. “Hold on tight, it's about to get real rough.”
Kanan just had time to brace himself before they entered the planet's atmosphere. Even then, it took everything he had not to be thrown onto the floor as the ship bounced violently. He hated flying. Even when he was in the pilot's seat, just the thought of the amount of things that could go wrong... statistically, flying was one of the safest modes of transportation out there… if you weren’t them, getting into gun fights every couple of months. And to be fair, it hadn’t actually been their fault. The dealer had gotten greedy and demanded more than his original asking price. When they hadn’t been able to pay him, he’d somehow sabotaged their ship.
And now they were hurtling towards the surface of Kuria in a ship that was falling apart every second it remained in the air.
The deafening sound of metal grinding filled the cockpit and the frantic beeping from the control board grew even louder. Out of the corner of his eye, Kanan spotted smoke billowing from the right side of the ship.
Ahsoka swore under her breath. “There goes half the wing... I need a place to land. Fast,” she said. Her knuckles were white as she clenched the steering, her eyes set determinedly on the planet as the surface came into view.
Kanan scanned the map of the planet on the screen in front of him. “There’s no way we’re making it to the city in time.” he shouted over the wailing, glancing up at the ground that was growing bigger and bigger every second. “There’s a field. Here-”
A holographic replica of the map on his screen lit up the space on the dashboard between them, flickering in time with the shuddering of the ship. He pointed at the location he’d marked on the map. “If we land here we can hopefully minimize the damage done to the ship.” he eyed the black smoke still swelling from their side. “Or at least cause as little further damage as possible.”
Ahsoka looked at the map, then back at the planet, her eyes scanning the land to find the spot. Suddenly she jerked the controls to the left, the ship creaking unhappily as it followed. The rumbling of the engines haltered and restarted, causing the ship to dip unsteadily through the air as they made their rocky descent to the ground. The surface of the planet hurtled towards them, growing closer and closer and closer until-
BOOM
A massive tremor hit them as the ship slammed into the ground, skidding across the field. Flecks of dirt coated the windshield as they tore through the land, bouncing violently each time the hull hit something. But, through the still clear parts of the window, Kanan saw the land speeding by begin to slow. The shaking became lighter as their momentum eased, and the metal capsule finally came to a rumbling stop.
The ship went quiet. Kanan stared at the windshield, his mind reeling from just how insanely lucky he was to still be alive. He glanced at Ahsoka, who gave a tiny laugh, her eyes wide. She looked back at him, looking just as shaken as he was.
“Well…” she said.
A loud beeping from the control board cut her off, knocking them both out of their shock.
“We’re going to have to abandon ship, fast. Protocol three.” Ahsoka said suddenly, jumping from her chair and quickly making her way to the door. “See if we can get out of here before someone comes to investigate.”
Kanan took a moment more to recover his senses. Then he forced himself out of the chair to follow her. Always on the move, it seemed.
Protocol three wouldn’t be hard to execute, at least. In the event of an emergency, they had put a plan in place to most quickly and efficiently wipe the ship of any evidence that they had been there and leave as soon as possible. He swiftly made his way through his few tasks, faint forgotten memories reappearing as he swept through the rooms. The late nights he and Ahsoka had spent training in the kitchen where he now packed the small storage of food and credits they had gathered into a heavy bag. Watching the logs of all the places they had visited over time being wiped from the ship's memory. It almost felt hazy, like his mind hadn’t fully caught up with what was happening. They were leaving. It was stupid, but Kanan had grown attatched to the ship over the years. It wasn’t their first, and it certainly wouldn’t be their last, but it was the one they had lived in the longest. Close to five years, if he was counting correctly.
And now, without a moment to say goodbye, they were leaving.
Finally, he made it to his cabin. It was a small room just big enough for a bed, a small dresser, and a box for the few changes of clothes he owned. He shoved those clothes into the bag, fitting everything around the cans of food, then walked over to the dresser. He opened the top drawer to reveal his lightsaber, separated into the two sections he always kept it in when not in use… which was pretty much always, unless he was training. When separated, it simply looked like random spare parts, which had so far managed to fool everyone who had seen them. He took the pieces and strapped them to either side of his belt, the familiar weight of the metal calming him ever so slightly.
He closed the drawer and, taking a deep breath, opened the second. Sitting in the middle of the wooden box was a blue glass cube with intricate golden casing. The cube was glowing slightly, casting a faint blue light onto Kanan's face. A feeling of sorrow that was all too familiar wormed its way into his heart. It’d been too long since he’d last looked upon it, he’d almost been able to forget. But as he gazed at the seemingly harmless cube, everything he tried so hard to forget, tried so hard to hide, came bubbling back up to the surface. He wanted to scold himself for feeling like this. It had been almost 15 years, he couldn't keep hiding from the memories. This was a painful reminder of that. And yet, he couldn’t help the anticipation he felt as he reached a trembling hand out to the holocron. As his fingers brushed against the cold metal, he heard an all too familiar voice echoing through his mind.
Run, Caleb! I’ll be right behind you!
It was the same voice he had heard a thousand times in his nightmares, yelling the same words.
Run .
He knew it wasn’t real, he knew that. But still… it sounded so clear, so real . His grip tightened on the cube, so much so that his knuckles turned white. He wasn't supposed to feel like this. That was in the past now. But in the past didn’t mean gone. The ghosts were still there.
They would always be there.
“Kanan?”
Ahsoka's voice interrupted his spiral of thoughts. He looked up at her standing in the doorway, a concerned look on her face.
He quickly shoved the holocron into the bag, zipping it up as he stood.
“I finished everything else, I was just finishing up in here,” Kanan tried to say as nonchalantly as he could, hoisting the strap of the bag over his shoulder. “Everything ready?”
He could tell Ahsoka wasn’t convinced by his act, but thankfully she didn’t have time to push it.
“Yes. I also checked the engine, and it turns out the reason we lost so much fuel is there's a leak in the main tank. I don't know why it didn’t show up during the scan,” she said, frowning slightly.
“Huh.”
“The good news is, it won't be a problem for us anymore.” Ahsoka nodded out the door. “We need to get going.”
Kanan followed her out the door, pausing momentarily to glance behind him for one last look at the ship. Goodbye, he thought as they made their way down the ramp and onto the dock.
---
Hera sat at the pilot's seat of the Ghost , leaning back in her chair as she watched the hypnotic swirling blue light of hyperspace out of the front windshield, her hands resting motionlessly on her stomach. The cockpit was empty save for her, so the only sound in the room was the steady thrumming of the engine. It was times like these that she really missed. Sure, it wasn’t impossible to find time for herself, but times like this where she could just relax without worried thoughts plaguing her mind, even just for a few minutes? Practically unheard of.
It’s not like she didn’t enjoy what they did, far from it. In fact, she really couldn’t see herself doing anything else. It was just that in the silence she was really able to reflect on herself, allow herself time to just… think.
Of course, the silence was short lived.
A message beeped on the dashboard, notifying her that they would be exiting hyperspace in two minutes. Thankfully, this was a pretty standard mission, so they should just be in and out in a few hours maximum if everything went well. It was probably stupid to hope that that would be the case. Things almost always curveball-ed in one way or another, but a person could dream.
Hera leaned forward in her seat and turned on the ship's comm system.
“We’ll be arriving at Kuria in a couple minutes. Prepare yourselves.”
“Roger that, Hera,” confirmed the voice of Sabine. “I’m all ready. Though you might have to come back here to get this lazy oaf-”
“Hey!” Zeb’s gruff voice cut in. “There’s nothing wrong with getting a bit of rest before a mission.”
“There wouldn’t be if you weren’t always lying around on your-"
They continued their bickering as Hera shut off the comms, smiling to herself. Siblings. The two of them always seemed to be fighting about something or another, and yet their bond had never been stronger.
They reminded Hera of her time back on Ryloth with her brother, before the war had really hit them. The two of them had been practically inseparable, doing everything and going everywhere together. Sure, they’d had their arguments. One time, Caelus had humiliated her so badly in front of her friends she’d refused to talk to him for three days straight. Still, at the end of it all, they still loved each other. Nothing was able to break the love they had for each other. She supposed it was just the type of unique relationship you could only really find with family.
What she wouldn’t give to spend another day with him.
The board beeped again. Hera reached for the controls and began easing the ship out of hyperspace, the familiar sensation of her insides feeling like they were scrambling inside her stomach as they returned to normal speed. It was a short experience you got used to after a while, but still not the most pleasant thing. She supposed it could be worse, though, seeing as they were slowing from the speed of light to almost nothing in a matter of seconds. The swirling patterns of blue and white were replaced by the view of the large planet in front of them. No nearby ships were showing up on the scanners, but Hera still didn’t want to hang around for too long. Nothing like ruining a mission before it even started.
She engaged the autopilot, allowing the ship to drift just outside of the planet's atmosphere as she unstrapped herself from the seat and made her way to the commons area, where she found Sabine and Zeb sitting on opposite ends of the table giving each other death glares.
“I hope you two are getting all your arguing out now. I don't want to be hearing it during the op,” She said, raising her eyebrow.
“Oh I don't think we’re quite done yet.” Zeb growled, leaning forward and crossing his big arms.
Hera snorted in amusement. It was unlikely they were ever going to be “done”.
“Well you can save it for later,” She said. “We’re here. You both remember the plan?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Sabine reluctantly quit her staring contest to look at her. “We go in, we steal the crates, we leave. Easy-peasy.”
Hera rolled her eyes. As smart as Sabine was, she had a habit of not taking these missions seriously. She got the job done in the end, which she supposed was all she could ask for, but often times it involved a lot more chaos and a lot more blowing stuff up than was planned. Hera couldn't help feeling concerned by her careless behavior.
“We can definitely hope for ‘easy-peasy’, but you’ve got to be prepared for anything,” She said. “And we have to try as hard as possible to do everything according to plan.” She emphasized the last words as she turned her gaze to Zeb, placing her hands on her hips.
He had the decency to look insulted. “What? What happened last time wasn’t my fault,” He protested.
“Well, just make sure it doesn’t happen this time. We’ve got a lot riding on this one.” Hera said as she walked from the room and back to the cockpit.
---
Landing the ship was a breeze. Kuria was a planet with relatively even ground, the only elevations being gradual hills save for the few mountains that popped up here and there. The three of them stood on the ramp of the now landed ship as Hera argued with Chopper.
“I know, but you have to stay here. If anything goes wrong we’re counting on you to fly in and get us out of there,” She said, her voice starting to show some of her frustration. She loved Chopper dearly, but his tendency to constantly argue if he didn’t get his way reminded her of a toddler. And he had a serious listening problem. It was only because she needed both Sabine and Zeb on this mission that she was leaving the droid unaccompanied on the ship. He had a… habit... of either finding some loophole in her words or flat out disobeying them.
Chopper beeped back in annoyance.
“I know,” Hera said. “But I need you to follow through with this. That’s an order,” she added as the droid started to make noises of protest. Disgruntled, the little astromech rolled back onto the ship, but not before making it very well known how unhappy he was, with a few choice words thrown in there for good measure.
Hera sighed and turned back to face the other two. Sabine had already donned her helmet so she couldn't see her expression. Zeb, however, made no effort to hide the look of amusement on his face. Hera shook her head. Sometimes she wondered why she even bothered arguing with the droid… with any of them, for that matter.
“Let's get going,” She said, stepping past them off the ramp.
The walk to the main city wasn’t too bad. The temperature was nice and the breeze was light. The terrain was grassy but flat, so the walk just felt like a nice stroll. By the time they had gotten to the city, only about 20 minutes had passed. They took their time walking around, trying to pass of as just another group of visitors. It wasn’t too difficult. After the Empire had taken over the galaxy, a good amount of the planets populations had grown a significant amount and become much more diversified. This planet, where once the population had been only the Kurin, was now filled with people of all different species going about their day to day lives. Still, it wasn't every day you saw a Lasat like Zeb hanging around. He got a few stares. And Sabine's brightly colored armor also drew some odd looks, but most people averted their gaze once they realized the armor was Mandalorian. A long stare from the lifeless vizor of the helmet was enough to get rid of those who didn't.
They had about ten minutes until the shipment was due to arrive, so they tried to casually hang around the right area. There was always room for it to be a little early or late. This planet was one of the lesser used locations for the Empire to have their shipments change hands, which made it perfect for this operation. They were less likely to see the attack coming.
Waiting wasn’t the difficult part. Hera had been through enough similar experiences to have built up a good amount of patience. The difficult part was the thoughts that ran through her head while they were waiting. Working in a field like this, anything could go wrong. They could screw up somehow. They could hurt someone innocent. One of them could get hurt, captured, or worse.
Or the information they received could have been bad altogether.
Of course she was grateful for having the opportunity to assist the Rebellion, but as they relied on spies and word of mouth for information, what they received could be… unreliable. Luckily, today they seemed to have hit the jackpot. Down the street, Hera spotted a small group of speeders being loaded with the crates.
“To the left, down the street. You see them?” she muttered into the comm, leaning casually against the wall of a large building.
“I see them,” Sabines voice came. Across the street from her, she saw Sabine push herself off of the wall she had been leaning on. Zeb mimicked her, making his way over to his position at the other end of the street.
Hera herself stayed where she was, keeping a close eye on the speeders. They were done being loaded up now, the riders mounting the bikes. She took a deep breath. This was it. The riders kicked off the ground, moving their speeders forward.
“Whenever you’re ready, Spectre four."
She saw Sabine across the street bring her left arm up and press something on the control pad that rested there.
Then, as the speeders passed through the empty side-street, a deafening explosion tore up the ground.