Fandom Star Wars: Demesne [Closed]

[cleopat]

Skye wanted to be the one to pilot the TIE Fighter. She wanted to say such, but it would look suspicious if a Purge Trooper was piloting one, while two Stormtroopers dealt with the ‘prisoner.’

One day.

“One person in the TIE will still work for that distraction or a getaway.” Several of them could cram in there, and if need be, and if she was able to, Skye could steal another ship that happened to be in the vicinity.

Hera still had a bad feeling about all of this, but they’ve had worse ideas that turned out okay.

“Okay now the question remains, how are we going to steal that Imperial transport?” Grenades and sabotage, most likely. That was the best answer for anything related to stealing Imperial equipment.

~~~

Cora felt immediate relief when Faro arrived, but that relief dissipated when Faro questioned the lack of dress or skirt. She did not immediately catch on to the subtle joke, and Cora looked at Faro with some panic. “Do I need something fancier?”

Then it clicked. Faro was just teasing her.

She relaxed her posture and sighed, shaking her head. “I guess when I’m just having a casual day planetside, maybe shopping or generally hanging out with friends.” Cora couldn’t think of anything more casual she would own that wasn’t used for exercise or sleepwear.

She blamed her mother for that one.

~~~

Once everyone was aboard the ship, Ahsoka closed the ramp and prepared the ship for Lothal. There was no surprise that Ae’lia immediately wanted to inquire about the situation on Lothal, and so as soon as she got the ship in lightspeed, Ahsoka left the cockpit to walk back out in the main area with Lin and Ae’lia.

They both needed to know.

“Skye and Adlai were sent to Lothal to retrieve the Ghost team and leave the planet as fast as possible. Complications arose before they even got to the planet when Kanan Jarrus was captured by the Grand Inquisitor.” Or, Caleb Dume, but for sake of habit, she maintained his alias.

“I had to make the difficult decision to tell the Ghost crew to go ahead and leave. There’s a bigger picture at stake, and already they risk drawing too much attention to their rebel cell. I hated making that decision, but it was one I felt was necessary.” She sighed and shook her head.

Ahsoka was secretly relieved that they disobeyed her.

“Once Skye and Adlai arrived, they all unanimously made the decision to ignore my orders and attempt to infiltrate Governor Tarkin’s ship and rescue Kana.” She hadn’t been told yet the ship was headed to Mustafar.

 

[Lucyfer]

Thankfully, that question of stealing a transport had multiple answers, and while they preferred stealth, it ended up being as easy as walking Zeb in with binders, and demanding the transport to take Zeb in. On learning that Tarkin’s craft had already left for Mustafar, they would just have to follow it.

Now they would be expected, but that didn’t seem so terrible – all things considered – and they had a rare TIE that could use the lightspeed function.

Ghost would just have to stay undercover while they brought Zeb in.

Tarkin’s ship would be open for them, in anticipation of receiving the lasat who was a known rebel alongside Kanan.

“Everyone ready?” Adlai asked as they started to enter the hangar, the group consisting of himself, Ezra, Skye, Zeb, and Chopper – Sabine had gone ahead to take the TIE.

~***~

Faro was amused with Cora not understanding at first, and once she got it, Faro laughed. How could she not? Cora was clearly very wound up about all of this. At least the attire was something she’d wear while out shopping with friends, with Faro considered good enough, considering Cora’s lifestyle.

“That should work fine, then,” she said, trying to hamper some of the amusement in her voice as she heard another ping from her datapad.

She ignored it for the moment, “What else are you fretting over on this date with Eli?” She couldn’t help the playful emphasis, as she tried to figure out what else Cora may have been panicking over.

She didn’t see anything else thrown about the room.

~***~

‘Oh.’

The situation on Lothal was indeed notable, with Kanan getting kidnapped before the Ghost crew could get out of there, and the Grand Inquisitor already in play alongside Tarkin. That was a dangerous mix, and Ae’lia couldn’t blame Ahsoka for that order.

Shay would have done the same.

Ae’lia would have done the same.

But she understood that now that the decision had been made, they had to go in and help. “I understand. I suppose it is good you now have us along to help,” or at least, her. Lin might be left in the ship with the baby – though having someone piloting the ship could help out a lot, too. “I guess I won’t be changing out of this attire anytime soon.”

Although everyone probably knew that First Sister was dead, which this outfit mimicked.

 

[cleopat]

Some days, Skye really questioned the intelligence of many of the officers in the Empire. Just letting the group...get on an Imperial transport with Zeb in binders, no questions asked?

Well, it probably helped that she was in a Purge Trooper uniform. Many seemed to be intimidated by her because of it. Good.

And Hera would stay behind them, hidden, waiting for their call or signal for help.

Everyone, except Zeb, had their disguises on, shielding their faces from view of the Imperials that would greet them in the hangar. When Adlai asked if they were ready, she did speak up on an issue she had been stewing over during their ride there.

“Wait, Adlai,” she approached him, “in the chance you have to face the Inquisitor, as the enemy, I want you to have these. They’ll probably help you out more than a blaster.” Skye drew out her two batons and handed them over to Adlai. Electrobatons may not be typical of a Stormtrooper, but normal batons were, and simply clipped into his uniform, the batons wouldn’t stick out.

“Wait, what about you?” Ezra asked.

Even if he couldn’t see her face, Skye smiled. “I have a few tricks up my sleeves.” A few tricks she was fully prepared to use.

~~~

Cora felt her face heat with Faro’s laugh, as she realized how ridiculous she was being. She hadn’t quite reacted this way to other dates she had been on in the past, so why now? Why with Eli?

So when Faro asked her why she was fretting so much over this date with Eli, Cora didn’t know how to answer. “I’m not sure,” she shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. “I guess this is our first time actually spending time together, alone, without a mission hanging over our heads.”

There was that one day they had spent together, the day after Thrawn’s promotion ceremony, but they had spent it as friends, without romantic undertones, so it didn’t count, right?

“I guess I’m just nervous that he may change his mind about going out on another date, that I’m too boring or something.” Even if it was a silly thought, they never seemed to have awkward silences before, Cora still couldn’t get the idea out of her head.

~~~

Lin chuckled, his attempt to lighten the somber mood. “Yeah, I guess I’ll stay in this just in case we’re needed,” he motioned to his own Purge Trooper uniform. If he wasn’t seen with Eira, or her in the First Sister uniform, he may be able to get further than she could right now.

He was sure Tarkin knew of what happened on Corellia.

Ahsoka shook her head. “As of right now, I’m not planning on intervening into their mission unless absolutely necessary. I’m hoping to just act as a quick getaway for them, if they need it.” They didn’t need the Empire to potentially have more Rebels on their ship, within grasp for capture, especially two who were once a part of the Jedi Order.

Of course, if the Ghost crew needed actual rescue, Ahsoka would have no way of knowing this, unless Chopper could send her an SOS message. She just hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

 

[Lucyfer]

Adlai was already fairly used to Imperial incompetence. Walk with enough confidence, and it was easy to get away with things from plenty lower officers and Stormtroopers. It was people like Tarkin that were…difficult. Thankfully, they weren’t the majority, or they’d all be doomed.

Or the Empire would have imploded due to competing wills.

Adlai took the batons without any question, knowing what weapon Skye had in reserve. “These absolutely will,” he agreed as he clipped them onto his belt, “and don’t worry, I know Skye – she can handle herself,” he added to the concerns voiced, confirming she had tricks and she would be ready to deal with anything that came her way.

He flicked a switch, “All right, ramp should be lowering, let’s escort our prisoner out,” Adlai said as he rose from his seat to grip one arm of Zeb.

Zeb hardly looked pleased, and rolled his eyes, but knew he’d have to act a bit better once they got out there. More angry, less exasperated, as he was led out onto the metal floor.

~***~

“Or you might change your mind about him,” Faro said dismissively, “That’s what this is all about, Cora! To find out if you’re compatible or not,” she grinned, “Besides, it’s a movie – that doesn’t offer too much room for talking, so much as cozying up next to one another,” Faro teased.

Risks of being boring during a movie were slim, given the film being present.

Potential to look like an idiot was there if she didn’t catch what was going on in the film, though, and asked a stupid question.

“Are you two doing dinner, too, or just snacks?” Faro asked, figuring it was the best way to determine the ‘snack’ issue for Eli.

~***~

Ae’lia could accept that, and she found a seat once more, loosening her grip a bit on the baby so he could roam the couch, which he now seemed inclined to do. Apparently, he didn’t need much of a nap. He was already fumbling his way off of her lap, “Let’s hope they don’t need any help.”

She had faith in Adlai, and Skye.

She wouldn’t confess why she had faith in Skye right then; she wasn’t there to out people. Though, Ahsoka might figure it out, if she’d had her suspicions about Ae’lia already.

“How…long have you been doing this, Ahsoka?” While they had downtime in space, Ae’lia figured it was a good enough time to ask, to learn how long the Rebellion had been growing, and how long Ahsoka had been a part of at least one aspect of it.

 

[cleopat]

Even if Adlai couldn’t see it, Skye smiled at him, pleased and touched he was so willing to back her up, even if he had only seen her fight once, without her lightsaber.

Ezra again hesitated, looking at the woman with a questioning glance. Too bad their heads were covered, and that there was no time for more answers as the ramp lowered, and they got into position.

He stood near Adlai, appearing like the young Stormtrooper in training, while Skye stood on the other side of Zeb, her blaster in her hands to ‘appear’ threatening to Zeb, daring him to slip up.

In reality, she was daring anyone of the Empire to challenge them.

An officer was there to greet them. “Here is the Lasat,” Skye announced, mustering disgust to lace her words. “To ensure a successful transfer, we will escort him to the cells ourselves.”

~~~

Cora frowned, as she hadn’t considered her being the one to change her mind about Eli. She couldn’t see that happening though. In such a short time they had already dealt with so much together, in varying circumstances, and if anything, it made her like him even more, seeing the leader he was clearly meant to be.

Did he view her in a similar light?

“I guess you’re right,” she chuckled. Cozying up to one another, after their day, sounded like a perfect evening.

But she hadn’t considered if they were doing dinner or just snacks. Dinner wasn’t mentioned, which made Cora believed they were only watching a movie, and nothing more. “Snacks, I think. We hadn’t talked about dinner.”

~~~

Lin joined her on the couch, on the opposite end, so he could distract the Child and play with him a little, causing a small bubble of laughter from the baby.

Ahsoka smiled slightly at the display of innocence, before she refocused on Ae’lia’s question. “I first talked to Bail Organa about a rebellion around a year after the fall of the Order.”

It hadn’t been hard to get him on board with the idea. He was never afraid to do what was necessary for the betterment of the galaxy, and, fortunately, his wife and daughter were very much similar.

“And now I think we’re finally have the resources and organization to scare the Empire and actually do something.” More Jedi were coming out of the shadows. More rebel cells were uniting with them. Something could finally be done.

 

[Lucyfer]

The officer wore what Adlai assumed was a near-constant sneer as he took them in, standing taller than most, save Zeb. “I will show you to the proper location,” the officer indicated, “We do not want him too close to his companion.”

Zeb didn’t offer a look of panic, but he was worried as he heard that.

He was worried about the others figuring out what to do about this, too, but he wouldn’t do much more than offer Adlai a bit of a struggle as the Count pulled on his arm to bring him along.

Conversationally, Adlai asked, “Has the Jedi said much?”

The Officer scoffed, “That is above my paygrade, and far above your, Trooper,” the man stated as he led them on through the belly of the ship, to put Zeb into another grouping of holding cells that wouldn’t be near Kanan.

~***~

Faro wasn’t surprised about that. So this meant at least Cora would be anticipating snacks, somewhat. That was something useful for Eli, “Did you guys even talk about snacks?” Faro knew that was going to be a ‘no’, and she was still trying to think of a way to word an additional query without giving away that Eli was asking about that.

She didn’t know nearly enough about Cora’s tastes to just guess at what it could be, although she did allow, “There aren’t too many snacks I’d think of available on the Chimaera.”

That might lead her into considering what there was. A moment of musing over options she might think were good, was good enough for Faro, really.

~***~

It was hard to ignore the Baby, and Ae’lia did allow her gaze to drift to the child and Lin even as Ahsoka spoke. She didn’t let it detour her thoughts, or her understanding of what Ahsoka was saying, though.

She’d been at this far longer than Ae’lia had been.

Not a surprise, somehow, and yet it did stir in her that guild that she could have been doing more, all this time. She could have found so many more ways to try and stand up to the Empire, earlier on.

“I’m glad you two found each other,” Ahsoka and Bail, “I would not have thought to go to him,” to be fair, she hadn’t thought of Adlai, either. Things just happened. Her group was piecemeal more than intentional. “Not that he isn’t…obvious in some ways, only that so early, it wouldn’t have crossed my mind.”

But Bail was obvious, now. Not as a rebel, but as someone with criticisms towards the Empire that lingered on dangerous. “We’ll all look forward to helping you take down the Empire.”

 

[cleopat]

Ezra immediately did not like this officer. His smug sneer was typical of most other officers he had encountered in the past, but his condescension attitude was annoying.

Skye didn’t worry as the officer announced he didn’t want Zeb and Kanan too close together. As long as they were in the area with the cells, she felt like she would be able to find Kana, if the kid couldn’t.

But even still, she couldn’t help the quip, “If you’re afraid of those two getting into trouble if they get too close, then maybe the security on this ship needs to be reevaluated.” She also wanted to add in that knowing what the Jedi has said may not be above her paygrade, as she was the Purge Trooper, but she didn’t.

She could bite back some of the snark. Some.

The officer scowled, but he didn’t make any additional comments (to him, the Purge Trooper was too heavily associated with Darth Vader, and he didn’t want to deal with him), as they approached the cells, and he motioned them towards an empty one. “Put him in here.”

~~~

Cora shook her head, confirmed that they hadn’t even talked about snacks. She hadn’t even thought about that possibility until Faro brought it up. Was it something to think about?

Should she bring something?

No, there weren’t too many snacking options available that would be great for a movie. She shrugged, “I guess there isn’t. Snacks during this movie isn’t the most important thing.” What if there was popcorn, and she got a kernel stuck in her teeth?

Oh that would just be embarrassing.

~~~

Ahsoka chuckled. “To be quite fair, I didn’t think of going to him either. Rather, he came to me, and then I snuck aboard his ship. Twice.” And yet, either time Bail Organa hadn’t been surprised, but he had been quite pleased to finally find her.

To start talking of their rebellion, to start plotting how they could gather more rebels, how they could find more Jedis, to bring down the Empire.

Ahsoka smiled at Ae’lia, then nodded. “There are a few other rebel cells we hope to get in contact with soon, but there’s hope.” Hope in numbers. Hope that more Jedi were coming out of the shadows.

The Child interrupted her thoughts with a loud giggle as Lin made a silly face. “And hope that we can protect other Force sensitive children, like this one,” she added, a soft expression on her face.

 

[Lucyfer]

Adlai didn’t push Zeb in the cell when the doors were opened by the officer.

He pushed the officer into the cell, hard, so that he stumbled and fell on his butt. “What is the meaning—”

“Sorry,” Adlai said, stepping back with the comm device he’d snatched off the officer’s belt, “We have some other matters to attend to, first,” and with that, he shut the door and locked it behind the officer, before glancing at the other two. “Well?”

He didn’t know if Skye could sense Kanan, but he hoped. If not, they had the comm to try and use for information.

Zeb lifted his hands, “Can I be free yet?”

Adlai considered, “I’ll unlock them, but keep them on. We can give the appearance we’re transporting you, still.” He said, moving to unlock the binders to help Zeb out.

~***~

No details about what snacks she did or didn’t like, just the indication that they weren’t the most important thing. Faro supposed she could go with that for Eli, though it really wasn’t much at all. At least Cora wouldn’t be upset to see snacks, right?

Eli could probably play it safe, then.

“Are you kidding? That’s the most important thing about the movie, besides the movie,” Faro said, with a chuckle, “at least when it’s not a date, I guess.” When it was just a movie for enjoying a movie, that was a different ordeal.

Faro wished she had more experience with that herself.

“Okay, so we have clothes, then. Are you worried about anything else?”

~***~

Ae’lia grinned as well as she saw Lin and the Child playing, Lin clearly enjoying his job right then as babysitter. “Yes, there is hope,” she confirmed, “For many things,” but most of all, for the future, which contained all of these many things.

Even if some hopes were lost.

‘Mitth’raw’nuruodo….’

She still couldn’t forget he was working, actively supporting, a Sith. That he knew it.

And of course, she’d gotten herself right in that mess by getting to know him.

“I’m glad that you two have done so much to advance this.” She added, trying not to linger on the hopeless thoughts.

 

[cleopat]

Skye grinned at the scene, happy to see the smug officer stumble into the cell. She would prefer if they could also shoot him, to at least stun him, but this would do. Now they just needed to hurry.

Naturally assuming he was the one that would be leading them to Kanan, not knowing about Skye yet, Ezra focused, trying to ‘feel’ the Force, as Kanan always instructed him, to lead him to his Master. He could feel the Jedi, but…”I’m not sure which way to go, but I know he’s here.”

Skye, already sensing Ezra’s hesitation, had begun to map a pathway to Kanan, allowing herself to truth in the Force to lead the way for her, directly to Kanan’s cell. “I do, follow me,” she instructed as she continued down the corridor.

“Wait, how do you know?” Ezra demanded, the look of suspicion from earlier back on his face.

“Just trust me,” was all she said.

~~~

Cora chuckled, and shrugged. “I mean, popcorn during a movie is always fun, don’t get me wrong.” It was such a typical snack, and yet a tradition to always enjoy some popcorn, and she certainly enjoyed the buttery treat on occasion.

Would it get too messy? Would she get pieces stuck in between her teeth? Stop overthinking every little thing.

“I guess I’m just worried about things somehow not going well. We’ve spent a lot of time together in the past few days, and I really like him. Stars, we’ve even slept in the same-” Cora froze, realizing what she was about to tell Faro. Faro, who didn’t know about the bed sharing incident.

Her face turned beet red, and she moved to look down at the outfit picked out on her bed. What a lovely outfit. “Anyways, yeah, I just want to make sure everything goes well this evening.”

~~~

“Some days I feel like we have not done enough,” Ahsoka said with a slight shake of her head. “There’s always more we can do, but for now, we’re doing what we can with the resources we currently have.”

And without alerting the Empire to any rebel activity of some of the more prominent senators and politicians.

“And there are some other Jedi we suspect are still alive, and in hiding, that I hope to find.” She felt comfortable confirming such a thing around Ae’lia and Lin, but she hesitated on mentioning who, exactly, may still be alive.

Maybe if Ae’lia asked, she would reveal that information.

Maybe bring her into another room, and leave Lin distracted with the baby, as this wasn’t something he needed to know. Not yet anyways.

~~~

Thrawn leaned back in his seat with a heavy sigh. He would never show it, he would never admit it, but he wondered if obtaining the information Tarkin wanted about Eira in a relatively short time frame was plausible. In any other case, he wouldn’t have had the same doubts.

But he knew this time, even if he didn’t want to admit it to himself, that he may be becoming compromised.

Thrawn would have to fight against it, if there were any chance that Eira Nevan was a rebel, and as he told Tarkin he would be meeting Eira soon, he had to make good on that promise.

So with that thought, Thrawn pulled out his datapad and wrote up a message for Eira.

Eira,

If I recall correctly from a lost game, you owe me an outing of my choice. Are you free tomorrow evening?​

 

[Lucyfer]

Zeb also seemed confused as Skye suggested she knew, while Adlai held onto the comm device, “Hey, uh, maybe we should listen to the kid? He and Kanan have a…thing,” Zeb didn’t understand it, but he knew that it was true. He knew what Kanan was, and what he was training Ezra to be. “If anyone might know without asking any questions—”

“We’ll follow Ezra if he gets a feel for it,” Adlai cut in, earning a gruff huff from Zeb, “for now, trust us in knowing a bit about how things work with Imperial ships.”

“You mean how they have multiple cell divisions and the one where Kanan is, is probably on the other side of the ship?” Zeb grumbled, but he would follow along, unaware of what Skye was.

Chopper at least also complained, and reminded them he could literally plug into a wall to get the information. Not that anyone was listening to him, either. He beeped more complaints in a low tone.

And they were all unaware of another who had caught on to the searching tendrils in the Force.

~***~

Faro made to check her datapad as if she’d noticed an alert, and opened the message Eli sent, before Cora mentioned the ‘sleeping’ bit. She looked away, startled, a laugh bursting forth in surprise before she blinked a few times and shook her head.

“Hold on, hold on, you and Eli have already slept together and you’re worried? Usually sleeping together before a first date, means no dates!” Faro had clearly taken the other meaning for this, “If he still wants to build a relationship with you after that, I think you don’t have anything to worry about!”

Though Eli did seem like the more respectable type in general, he certainly didn’t seem like some of the officers who just slept around whenever they were around a new planet. Faro knew a few who had ‘goals’ to sleep with someone new on every planet they went to.

Faro supposed it was their life to slut it up, but that wasn’t her style. Or Eli’s.

She didn’t think it was Cora’s, either.

~***~

Ae’lia could relate to that feeling. She still felt there was so much more she could do, but of course, there were plenty of things she was also, simply, unwilling to do. Mostly, she knew she couldn’t risk the Empire actually finding out who her associates were, and ideally, they’d never find out who she was, either.

‘More Jedi?’

How many more? Who?

Ae’lia wanted to ask that, taken from the hopeless musings with hope again, but her datapad pinged. She looked a bit startled, but took it out, and her expression fell. ‘Oh.’ Right. She still had to go back to this life.

Be Eira again.

She sighed, shut her eyes, counted down, and then opened her eyes again. Like taking on a role, she’d reverted to Eira, and smiled as she saw the message and typed back.

I thought you’d forgotten that! Yes, I am free tomorrow evening. Where should I meet you?​

“Sorry, Ahsoka,” she said, to explain the momentary interruption of the conversation. “Thrawn.” Which had to sound odd, all things considered. She set the datapad aside, but close.

And she opted not to ask for anything more that could be damaging to the fledgling Rebel Alliance. “I thought he could be an ally to us, eventually, before Corellia. I know better now.”

 

[cleopat]

He and Kanan have a thing. That Skye knew was very true. A Master and a Padawan, but she couldn’t imagine that Ezra had been training for very long. He still had much to learn, much confidence to gain.

Skye ignored Zeb and Chopper for now. She focused her concentration on the Force, where it was guiding her. Kanan wasn’t far, certainly not on the other side of the ship, which was only better for them.

They now ran on extremely limited time.

“I feel him growing closer,” Ezra said, now walking in the direction Skye led them with more confidence.

“See? You just need to trust me. I’ll answer your questions later.” She had a feeling only more questions would pop up soon.

And then she began to feel something dark. Something cold. It has to be the Grand Inquisitor. “And we need to hurry.”

~~~

Cora’s eyes widened when she realized the assumption Faro made from her slip-up. If possible, her face flushed even redder, and she rapidly shook her head. “No no no, that’s not what happened at all!”

Not that she didn’t find Eli attractive in that way, she just didn’t want to give Faro the wrong impression!

“What happened was when we were sent on the mission to Cartao, and we had to stay the night at this little hotel, but between myself, Eli, and Officers Tobias and Ortell, there were only two rooms, with one bed in each room.” And they did so, innocently enough, with nothing happening between them.

“That was it. We had to share a bed. Nothing more.” Except for waking up in each other’s arms, but still, nothing had happened. It was an accident.

~~~

Lin could easily sense the shift in Ae’lia’s mood. They had been rebels and actors together for a long time; he liked to say he knew her well enough by now.

His silent wonder was answered soon enough, as she explained who had messaged her.

He wasn’t pleased, and Ahsoka frowned at the information of her messaging Thrawn. While she wasn’t pleased that Ae’lia was talking to a Grand Admiral, she had to wonder at why she was doing it to begin with.

“Why did you believe he would be an ally to us?” Many rumors swirled around the only alien admiral in the Empire, enough for Ahsoka to know he was, indeed, different, but how different?

~~~

Thrawn was pleased in the relatively short time Eira messaged him back. Hopefully, he hadn’t disturbed her then.

Of course not, I forget nothing. Let’s meet at the fountain right outside Traviatta’s Diner.​

He assumed that would be a reputable enough establishment for them, but while he had learned much about human behavior over the years, he still didn’t fully grasp many human conventions and societal norms.

Like how that restaurant was definitely more suitable for a date than two friends dining together, and he wouldn’t think anything of the sort as he sent the message.

 

[Lucyfer]

Eventually, Skye would get them to the cell where she thought Kanan was, and Chopper would work his magic to free Kanan from it, revealing to them Kanan strapped to one of the interrogation chairs, still alive.

Zeb let out a sigh of relief, even as Chopper immediately broke into complaints about Kanan being reckless.

Adlai stepped forward, palms up in a gesture of surrender, “Hello, I am a friend, I’ll explain more as soon as we have you down,” which they definitely had to hurry to do, “We have another set of binders, we’re going to pretend we’re moving you to another area. And Zeb. We may have to split up for that.”

Seeing as they were not inclined to have the two together.

“Wait, what?” Zeb had heard no splitting up plans before. “No way, not now.”

Adlai ignored him, as he went to the console, then sighed and gestured for Chopper to help get Kanan free of the chair.

~***~

Faro lifted her brows as she waited for Cora to say what had actually happened. It was far more innocent than what she assumed, and she let out a ‘hmph’ as Cora concluded, “A likely cover,” she teased, but accepted it, “I guess I’ll believe you, that’s too lame a cover-up to be anything but honest.”

And too incriminating at the same time, so she supposed she’d let it slide. “How long after that were you two telling each other your feelings, though?” She couldn’t help but tease.

It couldn’t have been too long after that, given the mission wasn’t that long ago. As she waited for Cora to clue her in, she did type back a little message to Eli about popcorn, and Cora not being huge on snacks, so she probably wouldn’t mind too much if the selection wasn’t varied.

Just be basic.

Simple.

If only these two could understand that.

~***~

“The Grand Admiral is among the few aliens even within the Imperial military, as I’m sure you know,” Eira noted, seeing the flash of a new message. She lowered her gaze to it, “outside of that, he comes from a place unknown to the galaxy proper, and I have it on good authority he has not provided the Empire with the information to locate his home.”

Shay, more than Thrawn. ‘Mitth’raw’nuruodo!’ She ignored that desperate plea to assume things were normal in her head.

“There have also been incidents with other rebel factions, notably Nightswan, that have seemed…off. I thought he may have more loyalty to his own people, over the Empire, but now that I know he’s aware of what Palpatine is…I have my doubts.” She had hoped if he saw what the Empire truly was doing, what it actually was, he might realize his own people were in danger.

She thought he had an inkling of that already.

Now, she wasn’t so certain.

She still typed away her response, aware of the place, and aware of how high-profile it was. It didn’t phase her, right then. She already suspected Thrawn’s attraction, after all. She’d felt similar.

‘A pity.’

“He likes arts, and he studies other cultures – he seems to want to preserve them, even.” But she shook her head. That desire to preserve wasn’t enough for him to stand against the Empire.

I can meet you there around 19:00 tomorrow, if that time works for you. I know the location well. ​

 

[cleopat]

Ezra breathed a deep sigh of relief when they found Kanan, still alive, but he looked a bit out of it. No doubt from whatever torture they did to him. “You can trust them, they’re here to help you get out of here,” he added after Adlai tried to assure him.

Kanan indeed felt out of it as Chopper undid the restraints to his interrogation chair. He blinked, and slowly nodded, understanding what was going on, but not really being able to add in much more at the moment. As soon as they started moving, his head may clear up some.

“He’s right,” Skye said. “It would be suspicious if we were seen transporting both you and Kanan, as it was made clear they want to keep the two as separated as possible.” They would have to separate, if only temporary, until they could get transport off the ship.

Ezra didn’t like the idea either, but he was more accepting of it than Zeb was, as he saw the logic behind it. “How are we going to split up then?”

~~~

Cora whined at Faro’s tease, but she was happy that the woman at least believed her. It was kind of lame, but she was telling the truth! And she knew she may die of mortification if Faro demanded any more details of that incident.

“It was that same day,” she admitted with a light shrug. “On the flight back, we started talking about wanting to hang out more outside of missions, and we both admitted we wanted to spend more time together, just the two of us.”

Somehow they had come upon that discussion, and Cora couldn’t be happier about it.

She noticed how Faro seemed to be busy with something on her datapad and asked, “Am I keeping you from something? I don’t want you to feel like you have to stay if there’s something else you need to get done.”

~~~

Ahsoka mused on what Ae’lia told her. Thrawn was very much an outsider in an extremely xenophobic Empire, obtaining his position by both sheer luck and extraordinary intelligence and tactical skills.

Every little step he takes would be carefully monitored by the Empire, no doubt.

She just wondered if there was more to the story than even Ae’lia knew. No one knew of his homeworld or his people, after all. Could Thrawn be even one step ahead of the Empire?

Maybe Ahsoka was giving the man too much credit and only relying on stories she heard. “Maybe there’s more to him beyond what even you may see,” she offered, just to give Ae’lia a chance to think it through. Not that Ahsoka would defend this Chiss, but...an alien in the Empire was interesting enough.

“Just don’t tell Shay any of this,” Lin said, looking up from the baby. “All that on top of your newly revealed secret? I don’t think you’re going to have a very good time with her.”

~~~

Thrawn instantly read the message as it was sent his way. There was nothing urgent he had to attend to during that hour, and anything that did come up, he was more than likely able to send it someone else’s way, like Faro. He would have to give Eli some time to rest. It was the least he deserved.

That time works well for me. I look forward to meeting you then.​

There was a pang of guilt in his chest as he sent the message. The diner was to acquire any new information he could about Eira for his mission, but deceiving her for that sole purpose? He didn’t like it, but he had to do it.

If only for Tarkin, so that he didn’t have any reason to start questioning his leadership and capabilities.

 

[Lucyfer]

Adlai did reach out to put a hand on Kanan’s shoulder to help hold him steady and keep him upright. Skye at least agreed with his sentiment, and though he didn’t like it much either, he knew it was for the best for avoiding suspicion.

He then took the binder he had at his hips, and put one into Kanan’s hand, “Wear it unlocked, with the open part facing you, and no one will be any wiser,” he suggested, speaking a bit slower so Kanan would understand, before he let go of Kanan.

“Zeb, myself, and Chopper will go together. Skye, Ezra, and Kanan will be the other group. I’m sorry, but it makes more sense for a Purgetrooper to be with the Jedi,” and he doubted he was separating Ezra from Kanan right then.

Chopper would be as good a map as Adlai needed, and the others could…well…use the Force.

Maybe.

“You three should go first,” he added, “if we get stuck behind, we have Chopper to open a way out.”

Chopper agreed wholeheartedly with that.

~***~

Faro’s grin widened a bit as Cora did confess it was that day, and shortly after. As soon as they had a break from the mission, it seemed. “Awww.” She couldn’t help it, the two of them were precious with their interest in each other, and paranoia about messing it all up. Both of them, although she wouldn’t be mentioning Eli anytime soon.

Maybe later, to tease them both over this ‘first date’.

Faro chuckled and just shook her head, “No, just have things to respond to,” she said as she looked back up, “dinner plans with a few others on the ship, since apparently I won’t be having dinner with you and Eli this time.” She teased again, “but if there’s nothing else you need my help with, I can head out and leave you to your panicking.”

She didn’t know if there was really all that much Cora needed her help with from there.

~***~

Ahsoka’s words were certainly things that Eira wanted to hear, that there was more to it than she was perceiving. It was possible, of course, but she couldn’t forget that he’d admitted to knowing Palpatine was a Sith, and was still on that side. If there was something to hope for, than Thrawn, ‘Mitth’raw’nuruodo.’ was possibly the greatest fool of them all.

Or the greatest genius of them all, if he could outplay a Sith lord of Palpatine’s degree, and intelligence.

Ae’lia was having enough of a time doing that herself, in maintaining her identity as an actress in the public eye. ‘It’s possible, isn’t it?’

She didn’t know, and so she just gave Ahsoka a wane smile as she considered it. “Thank you,” she said, before chuckling a bit at Lin’s assessment. “I’m used to Shay being mad at me,” she said, though she knew this was going to be on a different level.

“I just hope she’ll understand,” Eira sighed, and looked back down at her newest message.

The time worked for Thrawn.

I will be looking forward to seeing you soon!​

 

[cleopat]

Kanan was beginning to become more aware of his surroundings, aware of what the strange Stormtrooper told him. Aware that there was also a Stormtrooper-in-training in there, as well as a Purgetrooper. If he didn’t already figure out they were there to help him, then Zeb and Chopper would’ve led him to figure it out.

“Yeah, okay,” he mumbled in agreement. Wear the binder, but unlocked. Give the Empire the illusion he was merely being transferred somewhere else. “Got it.”

Skye placed her hand on his arm, to which Kanan looked down at her with furrowed brows. “I know you, don’t I?”

There was a soft laugh. “It’s been a long time.” Now Ezra was really confused, and he stared at Skye through his helmet, but she would ignore him. Questions later, she had said.

Skye glanced back at Adlai, and paused. Should she say anything before they separated? Nothing seemed right. “Be careful,” sufficed, and with those parting words, Skye led Kanan and Ezra out of the cell and down the corridor.

~~~

Cora rolled her eyes with a huff at Faro’s teasing, but her face remained warm. The situation was a bit ridiculous, she had to admit, with the other woman over because Cora didn’t know what to wear to watch a movie in Eli’s quarters.

Oh she was so happy her siblings would never find out about this.

She chuckled, “I think you can manage for tonight. It just means next time you’ll get all the details,” she promised. With how much she’s stressing over this, she knew Faro would want to know as soon as possible how the evening went, and Cora will have to tell someone.

“But I think that’s it,” Cora said, a little unsure. Was that it? Was she really just worried over an outfit? Or the prospect of the date, and messing it up somehow? “Thank you for helping, even if my panicking was a bit silly,” she said with a chuckle.

~~~

“I’m sure she will,” Ahsoka assured with a smile, even if she herself wasn’t so sure. She had only met Shay once before, and she had the impression of a very headstrong leader.

She did shoot at Ahsoka before they even exchanged their first words.

Lin scoffed, before chuckling and shaking his head. “No, let’s just hope that something else happens in the meantime that will distract her.” Like whatever is happening, or will happen, on Lothal.

Just nothing too bad. They didn’t need anyone injured, or killed. Or worse, exposed.

~~~

One more message popped up by the time Thrawn decided to head to his personal quarters for the evening. The past few days had been draining, even by his standards, and if he were to be up to the task of reading Eira tomorrow, he needed some rest.

Once he reached his room, Thrawn responded back to her.

And I to you as well, Eira. Until then.​

He was both looking forward and not looking forward to their dinner together.

 

[Lucyfer]

“We will,” Adlai murmured, letting them get a headstart, until he couldn’t hear their steps anymore. “Okay, back to the transport,” he murmured, and led the way out.

Of course, not far from the cell, an alert began to go off in the ship, and his stolen comm began buzzing with activity. He lifted it so they could all hear it clearly.

“Looks like they found our officer,” Zeb muttered darkly, “Guess I don’t need the binders anymore,” the whole ship was going to know what was going on, and before Adlai could protest it as a way to confuse, he had tossed them aside.

Chopper, at least, had the sense to say they could have tried to trick the Stormtroopers that they’d properly arrested him this time around. “Yeah well,” he shrugged, “Let’s just stick to the shadows and get out of here.”

They could at least monitor some activity on the comm – and so, they moved.

~***~

The Grand Inquisitor was not surprised to hear the alerts, given the fact he sensed more than Kanan on the ship now. He made his way leisurely after them, knowing the ship far better than any of them.

He found them, not in the hangars, not in a hall, but making one of those foolish gestures so common of rebel scum – in a power cell room, with lots of hanging platform bridges. Most of the crew had cleared out of the area by then, as it was usually not a heavily active location on a ship.

Stars knew why rebels liked to head into these areas, but the Grand Inquisitor spotted them just as they reached one of the circles – moving towards the exit he had entered through.

He didn’t bother with words – there wasn’t really a need. He could guess that one of them was Ezra, and the other was an unknown, but soon to fall, former Jedi.

He reached back for his lightsaber as he crossed onto the bridge to block their path, and lit one end.

~***~

Faro chuckled. Yes, she would manage for tonight, she did have other friends and acquaintances on the ship. She was interested in knowing what Cora and Eli did, how stupidly adorable they were, but that could wait.


They wouldn’t do anything if she was constantly hanging around, after all.

“I’ll look forward to hearing them! And analyzing them with you,” for she was sure that Cora would want to overthink everything – and probably need a rational, outsider to look at it with her. And tease her about it to make her realize she was, in fact, overthinking and being irrational. At least a little.

“I’ll go then – you two have a good night!” She gave a wink before she walked out and left Cora on her own.

~***~

“Let’s not hope that, Lin,” Eira laughed as she shook her head, trying not to think of what that something ‘else’ could be. It was only too obvious, given where they were heading, after all. There were very few things that would be as noteworthy as a Jedi in their ranks.

Two Jedi would be noteworthy.

So would something bad happening to their allies in Lothal.

At least, Ae’lia didn’t sense anything through the Force. No loss of life of those she knew and held dear.

She looked back down to see Mitth’raw’nuruodo’s latest message. It was nothing she needed to respond to, so she darkened the screen and returned it to her side on the Inquisitor belt. She really couldn’t wait to get out of this thing. “Unless the thing that distracts her is Palpatine dying of a heart attack.”

 

[cleopat]

Why did we have to go into a power cell room, Skye thought, looking down at the seemingly endless chasm underneath their current platform bridge. That was only a thought that started screaming in her head when the Grand Inquisitor made his appearance, blocking their exit. Shit.

“I suppose it will be useless to tell you that we’re just transporting this prisoner,” she said sardonically, just as Kanan rid himself of the cuffs. They were useless now, as the glowing red of the Inquisitor’s lightsaber served a silent threat.

“He has my saber,” Kanan said, reaching one hand out to Ezra. “Let me borrow yours.”

Ezra thought to argue, that he could do just fine in a match, but he thought against it, as there were now two in there defenseless against…

Or maybe not.

At that moment, Skye pulled out her lightsaber, holding it before her as both ends lit in a vivid violet color. “Um, okay,” Ezra said dumbfoundedly, handing Kanan his saber.

~~~

Cora appreciated Faro, and how she already knew Cora would need someone to talk to sometime after the date, to overanalyze every little detail and make sure she wasn’t making any irrational thoughts or assumptions.

She bid Faro bye as the woman left, and soon after that Cora would go ahead and get dressed into her new outfit, and took care to make sure her hair looked nice, but she would purposely try and avoid overdoing it. No makeup was necessary, she felt, and her thick hair hung loosely down her back. No regulated bun for tonight.

As she finished getting ready ahead of schedule, Cora waited around her quarters, passing the time with mindless browsing on her holopad until the scheduled time she and Eli had agreed on.

A few minutes before their agreed time, Cora left her room and walked to Eli’s. Her hands were definitely not shaking. Her heart was definitely not fluttering. Nope. And when she arrived, she took a deep breath and knocked on Eli’s door.

~~~

Lin laughed at the mental image Ae’lia provided for them, and even Ahsoka let out a chuckle. Of all things to Kill Palpatine, a heart attack would have to be the most hilarious, if only because it was the least likely.

With the other laughs in the room, the baby let out its own childish laughter before it stood up on the sofa and attempted to make his way over to something shiny on Ae’lia’s belt.

“No, no, don’t touch anything,” Lin chided, picking the Child up and putting him on his lap. The baby looked up at him with wide begging eyes. “Oh don’t look at me like that,” he sighed.

“It looks like this baby already knows how to get what he wants,” Ahsoka chuckled.

 

[Lucyfer]

The only reason they were able to make it to the transport was thanks to Sabine – which, really, was not a good thing. Sabine was in another hangar, having crashed the TIE rather than land it properly to create a distraction, and try to make herself seem normal…just a bad pilot.

It apparently hadn’t gone well, according to the comm that Adlai, Zeb, and Chopper were listening to within their transport.

Sabine had been unmasked, and word now was that the Grand Inquisitor had found three Jedi. Adlai was trying to convince himself not to rush out there.

“What do we do?” Zeb hissed, irritated. Their own hangar was now in lockdown, so any attempt to leave would be difficult.

“I don’t know.” Adlai said, as Chopper just rolled off to do his own thing. Neither of them even thought about it.

~***~

The Grand Inquisitor allowed his eyes to widen ever so slightly as Kanan took a lightsaber, and the other Purgetrooper took one of her own, illuminating two blades. Not a common style amongst the peace-loving Jedi, even without the ability to rotate it quickly. “At last, a fight that might be worthy of my time.”

He lit the second end of his own lightsaber, and rather than let either Kanan or the unknown Jedi move forward to attempt to flank him, he intended to keep the fight on the dangerously narrow bridge.

He would open with a wide sweep meant to force them back, and with any luck, knock into each other, before he’d make a thrust at the one that remained closest to him with one end of the blade.

~***~

Eli had taken what little he got from Faro and set up his room to be cozy. A couple of pillows leaning against either arm of the couch, a blanket that didn’t clash folded on top of it, and two bowls of popcorn – just in case – a sweeter variety, and a normal variety. Faro didn’t think it mattered too much, but had mentioned popcorn as a thing she liked.

He’d dressed in what he thought would be nice enough, dark slacks and a nice navy button-down. He’d been told before he looked good in blue, before meeting Thrawn.

He’d been uncertain about comments after that, from certain individuals on the Chimaera.

He heard the knock, and double-checked that the holofilm was ready, before he went to the door to greet Cora, who for once had her hair down, and was also out of uniform. He took a moment to enjoy the sight, nothing too overdone. “You look really pretty.”

Then he remembered he was standing in a doorway and she was in a hallway.

“You’re right on time!” He said quickly and stepped aside, “I have everything set up!”

~***~

Some levity had returned with the thought of the worst way Palpatine could die, and the child’s actions. Ae’lia hadn’t quite caught on to what the baby was trying to get at, but apparently it was something she had. She chuckled as Lin scooped him away.

“I’m sure he’ll be a master at the mind tricks when he’s older…if he even needs it,” which it seemed like right now, he did.

There was an alert that chimed in the ship, not for Lin or for Ae’lia, but for Ahsoka. Ae’lia still took a moment to glance at Lin, and her own datapad, just to make sure, but there was nothing waiting for her there. Not even a message from Shay, yet.

She wondered how long until that happened.

 

[cleopat]

“Funny you should mention, I was just thinking the same thing,” Skye said with a derisive chuckle. If the situation wasn’t so serious, Kanan may have chuckled as well, but his eyes narrowed on the Inquisitor, so calm and collected as he approached.

Both stumbled a bit with the attempted sweep, but they didn’t fall or knock into one another. Ezra, a few steps further back, focused on reaching out with the Force for Kanan’s lightsaber attached to the Inquisitor’s belt. If he could get it, then that would be three against one.

On a stupidly narrow bridge.

Kanan remained closest to the Inquisitor, and so he moved to block the attack. Skye wanted to crowd the Inquisitor on either side, so with the aid of the Force, she took a giant leap over him, landing behind him and moving to swipe.

~~~

Cora didn’t have to wait long before Eli answered the door, and she felt her cheeks flush with his compliment. “Thank you, you look great yourself.” The navy button-down worked great against his skin, and dark slacks were always a nice choice.

As he stepped aside, she stepped inside his quarters, and immediately she could see that her earlier assumption had been correct. His quarters are larger than mine. He even had a sofa! I want a sofa.

And there were two bowls of popcorn, which Cora found slightly amusing. Did he talk to Faro as well? She couldn’t blame him, if she freaked out to Faro.

“It looks very cozy,” she said with a teasing smile. And how comfortable would they get on the sofa together? It was a pleasing thought, and with that, she moved to sit on the sofa

~~~

“You mean he’s not using the mind trick on me right now?” Lin asked in feign shock. The big eyes staring at him sure did feel like it, as Lin wanted to give the baby anything he wanted to make sure he stayed happy.

Sounded like a mind trick.

The chiming of an alert distracted them all, and Ahsoka frowned when she realized it was for her. “Stay silent,” she requested, throwing her hoodie over her head to disguise her identity. She didn’t know who was contacting her, after all.

But no living creature was on the other side. It was Chopper, Hera’s cantankerous little droid. She furrowed her brows in confusion, but the droid beeped off their issue before she could ask.

On Tarkin’s Star Destroyer over Mustafar. The Grand Inquisitor fighting three Jedis. Their transport stuck in the hangar. None of it sounded good. “We’ll be right there,” Ahsoka said, ending the call soon after Chopper demanded for her to hurry.

Ahsoka would hurry as fast as she possibly could.

“Change of plans,” she said to Ae’lia and Lin, “It seems that we’re redirecting to Mustafar.” With that, she took her seat back in the pilot’s chair and entered the new coordinates to the fiery planet.

 

[Lucyfer]

The Grand Inquisitor wasn’t paying much attention at all to Kanan’s lightsaber. The fight was a bit more important than that. As Kanan blocked, the Inquisitor made to unleash a barrage of attacks against Kanan, rapid-fire to try and keep from deadlocking, before the Purgetrooper jumped.

He adjusted his stance so he was in profile to both combatants, but before the Purgetrooper got close enough, he used his free hand to try and Force Push her backwards.

He’d attempt to disengage Kanan in either case, by slashing his lightsaber across the bridge on their side to hopefully mess with the integrity on Kanan’s side – even his own, if necessary – to go after the one with armor.

He had a feeling she was at a disadvantage in the armor, and would be easier to take down first.

Then Kanan.

Then the padawan.

~***~

Eli felt his own cheeks warm as Cora returned a similar sentiment. He tried not to think that she was just returning it for the sake of returning it. She wanted to be here, too, after all. She wanted to date him. He wouldn’t let his head spin too much as he thought on that again, just smiled as the door shut behind her once she’d stepped in and had a look around.

Eli let her go to the couch as he went to the holoprojector to get things started, before he’d also move to join her on the couch.

“These,” he gestured to the lighter bowl, “are sweeter, and these are more like normal theater popcorn,” Eli said, so she knew what was available as the introduction to the companies that funded the movie began, “I wasn’t sure what you’d like, so I’m sorry if you don’t like popcorn at all.”

Though Faro had reassured him that popcorn would be just fine.

She might be trolling.

~***~

Ae’lia could only laugh as Lin wondered if the baby was using the Force on him. She almost wanted to tease that she could show him how it worked, though she had a moment to reconsider. The Child might pick that up too quickly for either of them to want that. And then they’d be slaves to the adorable thing.

Which, wasn’t a bad fate. Exactly.

‘Damnit, you are not going to start thinking about kids, or having a padawan, or anything like that, now.’

Ahsoka’s return brought information that made Ae’lia go cold, and lose any semblance of happy thoughts. The Child cooed, no doubt sensing the way the mood had changed in an instant. She rose to her feet and took a few steps towards the cockpit. “Ahsoka, what’s happened? Why are they at Mustafar?” She could feel her panic rising.

Was Kanan okay?

Hala?

She didn’t sense any change in Hala, no loss, no loss of Adlai, either – but Mustafar?!

She didn’t want to go to Mustafar.

 

[cleopat]

In the midst of the blur of the sabers, Ezra managed to pull Kanan’s saber free from the Inquisitor’s belt. “Yes!” Immediately the blade was lit, and he joined Kanan’s side in blocking the Inquisitor’s attacks.

Skye saw his hand raise, and as she quickly predicted he was about to use the Force on her, she braced herself against the push, only sliding back a few inches. But it had been enough to distract her momentarily.

Both Kanan and Ezra stumbled and instinctively took a step back when the bridge shook with its new instability. They would need to find a new way to get on the same side as Skye, or wait for a moment where the Inquisitor was distracted by her long enough for them to jump behind him and offer the element of surprise.

“You know, you’re really annoying,” Skye muttered, charging after the Inquisitor.

~~~

“Oh no, this is perfect,” Cora assured Eli with a warm smile. “Popcorn is always perfect during a movie, though I must say, I don’t think I’ve had sweet popcorn before.” At that, she leaned forward to take a popped kernel and tossed it in her mouth.

Her eyes lit up at the pleasant taste. “Oh, I like that.” Cora leaned back after she grabbed another piece of popcorn and popped it in her mouth.

She would try not to think too much of how close she and Eli were sitting next to one another. Not quite touching, but it wouldn’t be too difficult to reach out and rest a hand on him. But that would be too forward, right?

Maybe later on during the movie, if it was obvious they were relaxing. Or was that a next date thing?

Oh why did this have to be so hard. Because you don’t want to mess things up.

~~~

Lin easily picked up on the mood shift, unlike the baby. “Wait, what’s Mustafar? What’s going on?” Why weren’t they on Lothal?

“The Empire is taking Kanan to Mustafar,” Ahsoka answered Ae’lia first, before shifting to Lin’s question. “Mustafar is the place where Jedi go to die.” A solemn expression settled on her face, and she shook her head. “They’re currently in orbit over Mustafar, and apparently they’ll need a little help in escaping.”

She sighed, and stood back up. “They rescued Kanan, but he’s currently engaged in battle with the Grand Inquisitor with two other…” she trailed off, brows furrowing as she came to the realization.

She had only known of Kanan and Ezra being Jedi.

Ahsoka gave a questioning look at Ae’lia as she finished, “With two other Jedi.”

“Wait what?” Lin interrupted, overhearing the entire conversation. “Is there another Jedi we didn’t know about?”

 

[Lucyfer]

Eventually, one of the two on the other side would attempt to jump over. The Grand Inquisitor knew this, and was waiting for it, even as he engaged the Purgetrooper. The one who jumped, he intended to see fall to the lower levels, before he’d cut the other in half in their shock. Pushing someone out of the air was easier than it was when they could brace themselves.

Like this Purgetrooper, who met him with aggression.

It brought a touch of a smile to his lips as he artfully moved his own blade, catching hers with each strike she made, malevolent grin never ceasing.

He was trying to figure out who she had been, without her face in play. With only the lightsaber style, color, and some assumptions he could make based on her voice – even through the modulator. “You are far more aggressive than a Jedi has any right to be,” he noted, rather than comment on being annoying.

He was going to be even more ‘annoying’ soon, as he let her assume a lead and him on the defensive with each parry.

“A Knight, certainly, though those seem to be the only ones that survive,” a touch of a wry grin, “I think I remember you,” because he had been a Temple Guardian, and he did recall those few who were enamored with the double-bladed sabers. The Guards didn’t use those, but they used similar, all in that vibrant hue.

And many who did, had wanted to be a Guardian.

He remembered one such female in his time, young enough to be the owner of the young voice. “Your Master was Parsa, wasn’t it?”

He’d let the name only have a moment to take root, before he’d attempt to take his parry and turn it into a counter by flinging her blade – her wrist – up with the force of his own swing and then sending a kick to her gut.

~***~

Eli couldn’t help his own pleased smile as Cora enjoyed the popcorn that was sweeter. It was more to his tastes, rather than the salty, buttery confection offered in most places. The sweeter was somehow better, even if it was lighter.

“I’m glad – it’s more my style of popcorn,” he said, as he took his own handful, to eat more at his leisure without needing to lean forward every time to grab a singe kernel.

The movie had begun, introducing them to the terribly inept Black Nerf, and his current mission which seemed to involve halting a femme fatale figure. He was terrible at it, but it seemed the joke was that his awkwardness ended up putting him in positions where he succeeded at the mission.

Even if it wasn’t the most dignified way.

Eli was partially aware of the movie, enough to be amused by it, but also aware of how close he was to Cora, and that neither of them had reached out. Should he? Was it too bold right now?

He tried to keep those thoughts at the back of his head, but of course, they kept reoccurring.

This was a date…right? Of sorts?

‘Okay, but don’t do anything stupid.’

The stupid he was thinking of were those moves in films he’d seen where someone stretched and just let their arm fall over their partner. Of course it worked in films, but this was real life.

And in real life, Eli just inched a little closer, and let his knee bump hers, and held it there, to see if she scooted away or not.

~***~

Battle with the Grand Inquisitor was not where Ae’lia wanted any Jedi – not Caleb, not Hala, not…who was the third? Ae’lia was just as confused by that, even if she knew the one that Ahsoka didn’t. Her brows knit, as she tried to ignore the sensation of dread about the fates of the Jedi on the ship.

Ahsoka’s question was obvious in the way she trailed off, and she looked towards Lin as he voiced his own confusion.

“I know one of them,” Ae’lia hedged, before sighing, realizing her ability to hide Skye’s secret would be impossible, “Hala Cormin, going by Skye Vind. I…don’t know the other,” she said, though she assumed that Ahsoka might.

Unless this was just an entirely new Jedi who had shown up out of the blue. Ae’lia wouldn’t be upset about that in the least.

 

[cleopat]

Ezra in a moment of bold action had been the one to jump over to engage the Inquisitor as he fought Skye, but he didn’t expect to feel the pressure of the Force to knock him out of the path and off the bridge. He landed on a platform beneath them with a loud thud, and for the moment, he was out of the fight.

“No!” Kanan cried out, assuming the worst for his Padawan and losing his focus on the battle for only a second. He couldn’t lose his focus. There was a larger picture to think of, and he could channel his grief into the battle.

Mourn later. Destroy the Grand Inquisitor now.

Skye hardly noticed what had happened with Ezra, not when the Inquisitor taunted her. She easily took the bait, remaining on the offensive with each strike and twirl of her saber in a blur of violet. He seemed to want to guess at who she was, which she tried to ignore.

Until a very familiar name was mentioned.

Skye faltered at her Master’s name, enough for her to realize her mistake as the Inquisitor kicked her, sending her sprawling backwards and her saber rolling on the platform behind her. She wouldn’t let that keep her down. She rolled and twisted back onto her feet, calling her saber back into her hand with the Force.

Meanwhile, Kanan jumped behind the Inquisitor to deliver a series of strikes while Skye got back to her feet.

~~~

The movie ended up being more amusing than Cora thought it would be. At least, the parts that she could concentrate on, when she wasn’t hyper-fixated on Eli sitting beside her, or how close they were. Should she scoot closer? Should she wait for Eli to make a move?

And then he did, inching just a little closer to her. She allowed a smile at the small gesture, and she wouldn’t move for a minute as she ‘watched’ the movie.

Only then did Cora allow herself to lean a little into Eli, her shoulder touching his. She only ‘shifted’ to ‘get more comfortable.’

Was Eli paying attention to the movie? She certainly couldn’t, not anymore, but she pretended to, and occasionally was still able to pick up on the jokes.

~~~

Lin’s eyebrows shot up as his eyes widened in surprise. “Wait, Skye is a Jedi?” He paused, nose slightly scrunching as he thought back on what he did know of her already. “Huh, I guess it does make sense, especially in how she was able to get into our group so easily.”

And how she was easily able to fight off those mercenaries at the gallery.

Ahsoka also looked mildly surprised with the news with a smile appearing on her face. “That is certainly unexpected, but I am relieved to hear she is still alive.” And continue to be so, because the three Jedi will defeat the Grand Inquisitor. They had to hope. “She was one of the Jedi I had been searching for in hopes she was still alive.” And to bring into the Rebellion.

It seemed the Force had led Ae’lia and Hala together first.

“The other is the Padawan of Caleb Dume,” Ahsoka then answered. “You may know his name, Ezra Bridger.” Or she would know of his parents, who had been causing quite a bit of trouble for the Empire for years.

 

[Lucyfer]

The sorrow, the anger, the fear – all of it swirled around the Grand Inquisitor as he found his ways into the minds and hearts of both Kanan and Hala, as he now recognized her. He smirked as she went backwards, and as Kanan landed on the platform, the Grand Inquisitor turned his attention to him.

He knew Hala would be regaining her footing.

He had to deal with the emotionally compromised one while he could, using the spinning of his blades to take back the offensive from Kanan and try to walk him back towards the ledge of the broken bridge so he could find a way to use his balance against him.

He didn’t think two emotionally compromised Jedi were going to be that big a deal, unless they decided to give him a bigger victory, and slip into the dark side.

~***~

Cora didn’t move away, but leaned into him shortly afterwards, and Eli felt a smile bubble onto his lips. He stole a quick glance at her, before averting his eyes back to the film. He was still following it, even if he was aware of his distraction and his thoughts running circles in his head about what he should do.

Cora didn’t seem to be enjoying it as much.

He might have to reconsider genres next time.

At least it wasn’t a movie he especially liked – he supposed that was one intelligent decision he’d made here.

So he leaned a bit more into her, too, and glanced to see if one of her hands was an easy place to ‘grab’ or ‘rest on’.

If so, he’d lightly put his hand over hers, and meld his fingers between hers.

~***~

Ae’lia glanced down a moment as Lin assessed how easily Skye got into the group. That sort of thing wouldn’t have happened without significant reason to believe that Skye was one of them. “We were hoping her being with Adlai would quell too many of those questions,” Ae’lia noted. It probably had, but now that Lin had the facts….

And it seemed Ahsoka knew she had been alive, or suspected.

Ae’lia didn’t know how Ahsoka was aware of who might be, or might not. She supposed the Empire might have kept a list…if so, then Ahsoka must have seen it once, and knew some on it who’s fates were unclear.

She’d hinted at knowing others could be.

And Bridger. That brought a smile to her lips. “We know of his parents – they were a huge inspiration, more on Shay than any of us, but still…I’m glad to hear he’s alive, and in good hands.” She hoped.

But she didn’t let go of the thought that followed Ahsoka’s words. “Is—” she bit down a moment on the question, and then let it come forward, “Master Vook – Delkan Vook – do you know if he’s a possibility for being alive?”

She had…so much to apologize for.

 

[cleopat]

Kanan quickly caught on to what the Inquisitor was trying to accomplish, and he did what he could to prevent himself from backing up to the ledge and either losing his balance, or being forced to jump onto another platform, further away from the Inquisitor and Hala.

Hala had regained her footing, and she charged forward once more, aiming a swipe at the Inquisitor’s legs before bringing her saber up and aimed at his wrist, hoping to either disarm him or even to injure his wrist.

If successfully distracted from Kanan, the other Jedi would temporarily disarm his saber to use its unique design to shoot several blaster bolts at the Inquisitor, before turning it back on and swiping at the man as well.

Surely this Inquisitor couldn’t last long against two Jedi, could he? At least, that’s what Kanan hoped for, as he still felt regrettably weak after his interrogation torture.

~~~

Cora had managed to refocus on the movie a bit more, laughing at some of the truly comedic scenes at the expense of the awkward spy.

But then Eli leaned closer, and all she could think about was how great he smelled. And how his fingers were now laced with hers. She nearly wanted to tell him he could wrap an arm around her if he wanted to. No doubt if she was feeling this nervous, he had to as well, right?

She didn’t though, in case that would be weird. She would just enjoy his hand in hers and the warmth of his closeness.

And after a few minutes, Cora rested her head on his shoulder.

~~~

Lin shook his head and looked back down at the baby. “If Shay didn’t know about this…” he trailed off, leaving the implications hanging in the air.

Oh they were all going to have fun with her soon.

Ahsoka redirected her attention back on Ae’lia, and her expression softened when she realized what she wanted to ask before finishing her question. “I’m not sure,” she answered truthfully. She didn’t want to give Ae’lia false hope.

“We only know of those whose deaths have been confirmed. His is currently not one of those, so we have been looking to see if we can find him, but there are no leads so far.” But there hadn’t been any leads on other Jedi either, such as Hala, until they fell right into their laps.

But Master Vook and that one Jedi she had always seen near Hala, Kai, were unknown to her. But if they remained unknown to her, then maybe it meant they could stay hidden from the Empire. Stay safe.