Fandom The Rescue: A Star Wars Story [Closed]

[lostsouls]

Cal let out a sigh of relief when Cassian agreed to contact his superior. Maybe they would actually make it to where the rebels were hiding and then he would have enough time to talk with Fourth Sister. He had so many questions that he wanted answered and he felt the need to help her like no one managed to help Trilla when she was still alive. He nodded at Cassian again, as a sign of gratefulness that he at least tried.

The door to the ship eventually opened and Greez stared at them with relief and then with pure shock written across his face. He leaned against the door with one hand and shook his head. "She is not getting on my ship!" He protested and pointed to the Inquisitor, then looking back to Cal. "Did you completely lose it now?" He asked while Cal could only shake his head and pushed the Inquisitor further up the ramp. "We will drop her off at the Alliance base if possible. And we'll stay there for a while," he explained briefly and then pushed Fourth Sister further into the ship roughly. "We're doomed," Greez mumbled to himself, turning around again and shaking his head in disbelief.

Cal sat the Inquisitor down at the very far end of the sitting bench in the ship and then leaned against the small table while he looked at her. "I hope you are willing to talk a bit, eventually..." he said slowly.

Aria just stood there as if nothing of this was real. When Cassian agreed to Kestis' plans of madness though, she shook her head, grabbing the man's arm. "Better be careful with your new found prisoner," she hissed and then let go of him before she looked to K-2SO. "I appreciate your honesty and that you seem to actually care about if she murders us all or not," she pointed out, following Cal into the ship where she couldn't keep herself on her legs anymore and sat down in the closest seat she could find.

She took a moment to look around the ship, but avoided to make eye contact with everyone she didn't know from her rescue mission. If she was honest, she wasn't in the mood for making new friends or whatever and it was enough for her that she had to sit in the same ship as the woman who had imprisoned her and would have probably killed her eventually.

Greez did try his best for his friend though and motioned for the new man and the droid to come in. If Cal trusted this imperial droid, it couldn't be too bad, right? "No one throws anything over, please, thank you. And keep your head low, droid," he said, aware of that he might hit his head somewhere on the ship.

 

[Lucyfer]

The continued anger that greeted Fourth Sister was almost amusing, if she wasn’t so frustrated by the fact she was alive, and trying to actively think of a way to remedy this situation once she got to the base. She’d need plenty of information to make up for not killing two Jedi. Leaders. The location. Equipment. Plans.

That wouldn’t be too hard to get if she could get out of a cell. She had skills with the mind-trick, more than most.

Cal had been mistaken – the Knight path wasn’t hers.

Still, despite the protests all around, she was shoved onto the ship, and onto a couch, rather than some locked room. No one seemed pleased with this, and she looked around, feeling things out a bit with the Force. ‘Others.’ One had a rather dark taint that felt almost natural. Rumors had flown of a Dathomirian Witch in Cal’s company, but that seemed hard to believe.

And another. This one had a dark streak that was unnatural, like a wound, a darkness that Fourth Sister was far more familiar with feeling – but there was something familiar to it, as well. She removed her focus from it as Cal spoke to her about talking. She just stared at him through the answer, rather than even offer him a word of denial. Silence was the best answer to requests to speak, after all.

He’d regret this.

They all would.

She did turn her head as Aria came onto the ship, clearly still quite wounded from their earlier fight. She felt some small satisfaction at that.

Even if, Aria would no doubt soon receive medical attention. In fact, a much smaller droid hopped up on the table that Cal was leaning on, and beeped out a query, offering a stim to the Jedi to help her, as Cassian and K-2SO stepped onto the ship as well. K-2SO wouldn’t sit, of course, but went to go find a place to stand, “This ship is short,” the droid noted, having to bend a bit to get in.

He would indeed keep low.

Cassian chuckled a bit at his friend, even if it was somewhat lacking in true humor. He was still embittered by the situation, but nonetheless, he introduced himself to Greez, “Cassian Andor,” he said, “that’s K-2, he’s safe.”

There was a sudden collapse of a bowl from the kitchen area, off the counter where K-2SO had gone to stand. Cassian looked at him harshly. “It was not me.”

And it wasn’t, of course.

Fourth Sister wasn’t exactly disconnected from the Force in cuffs. Greez’s comment just made her want to fuck something up, however small. So, she threw a bowl over. It was petty, but then again, petty was how she got this far anyways. She couldn’t nurse positive emotions. Those only led to weakness and death.

Cassian wasn’t sure to believe K-2SO or not. The droid had a petty streak, so he just looked back to Greez, “As soon as we’re out of this planet’s atmosphere, I can call my base,” he said, so Greez knew they wouldn’t have a heading immediately. He then looked to Aria and the droid, and said, “She might need more than the stim that droid can offer.” If there was first-aid somewhere, he could go fetch it.

 

[lostsouls]

Cal had probably been a bit too optimistic when he actually thought Fourth Sister would even say a word to him, especially here, surrounded by so many others. He would have to wait until they hopefully reached the base of the rebels. He gave BD-1 the go to help the Jedi before speaking up

“It’s alright, we’ll get to have a little chat soon enough,” he said and then wanted to turn away and sit down opposite of her to keep an eye on her but also not sit pressed up against her when he remembered her helmet. He had witnessed so many times that people hid behind their helmets and kept their courage up through it. Even though he doubted he’d make any progress by removing her helmet, it was worth a try at least.

Cal turned around again and then grabbed the sides of the Inquisitor‘s helmet. “It’s gonna get a bit too warm in here for a helmet,” he remarked and then slowly pulled it off her head, placing it down on the table. He searched for eye contact with the woman then, trying to find something he didn’t previously notice while he looked into the orange, almost yellow turning colour.

It was unusual for him to have so many informations being brought to him through the force, but he could still identify what came from Fourth Sister. “You’re insecure about some normal things...” he pointed out.

Cere watched from the sideline almost, leaning against the wall and keeping her eyes on their guest, prisoner , whatever the Inquisitor was now. She wouldn’t appreciate her as a guest, but as a prisoner, she could find her purpose. But something else was going through her head. She knew her from somewhere and she didn’t know the exact moment yet, but she would soon find out. At least they had enough time to be on this ship together.

Greez was about to go back to his seat and start the ship when he heard the bowl fall over. “Who was that?!” He asked annoyed and turned around. “I told you, it’s not a good idea to let so many people onto this ship. The poor thing,” he huffed and walked over to the kitchen to pick up the bowl and place it where it belonged. He gave K-2SO an angry look as well, before marching away and starting the ship to get out of the atmosphere of the planet and let Cassian contact his superiors.

the sooner the people would be off his ship, the better.

Aria leaned her head against the cold metal of the wall behind her and took a deep breath in and out. When the droid came over though, she looked at the cute little thing and then hissed involuntarily when she got stung with the stim. But she quickly felt at least a bit better and gasped softly. “Thank you,” she thanked the droid with a genuine smile. It still didn’t change anything about her back and the scratches and wounds, but it helped with the headache and all the pain elsewhere.

She slowly got up again, a bit safer on her legs and walked over to the First Aid Kit herself. Aria carried it back to her seat and sat down, putting her hair back which exposed her fake ear more, but she couldn’t care less right now. Too proud to ask for help from Cassian or even one of the droids, she put the bandage into her mouth and cut it quickly before she tried to wrap it around the wound on her arm.

“Sometimes I’d like to be a droid, so I at least can’t hurt myself like that...” she mumbled to herself or maybe the droid, maybe even Cassian. She was just relieved her headaches had stopped and that she’d hopefully be in a better shape soon enough.

so that she could kill Fourth Sister if needed.

 

[Lucyfer]

Fourth Sister tried to pull away when Cal grasped at her helmet. She even tried to hold it in place with the Force, and was tempted to kick out at him, but she resisted that temptation. She’d rather remain conscious. Still, when the helmet came off, she fixed him with a glare for the action, no longer seeing him through the visor that painted everything red.

She much preferred that sight.

She preferred forgetting how people actually looked.

How she looked.

She could also feel his attempt to probe again with the Force, and she bristled further, pulling up guards and drawing in, rather than continuing her own search for the vibe of things on board. She wanted to demand her helmet back, but also didn’t want to appear weak. That insecurity he’d probed. ‘Fuck you.’

She looked away first, clenched her fists in their cuffs, and glared at a wall instead. As if removing the helmet was really going to make it less hot in there, given the all black armor she wore. Cal was just an asshole.



Cassian eyed the situation with the Inquisitor momentarily, almost surprised something even, well, living was under all of that. Yet it was a human, maybe. The eyes were strange. He didn’t think humans had eyes like that, then again, he didn’t know how the Force worked or corrupted people. Cal seemed to be getting to her, though. That was obvious with the glare, and the look away.

He almost wanted to caution Cal to cool it until they had made it to base.

It wouldn’t be good if they were all killed because she threw a fit and just destroyed the ship. If she could do that.

“Hey, uh—” he started to speak when the Jedi got up from her seat, wanting to intervene a moment, but she seemed capable enough after the stim, and found the first aid kit he hadn’t know where to look for – it seemed she was comfortable enough in the new space to just get up and grab things. His expression settled a bit, a touch of a smirk there as he saw her return and try to patch herself up on her own.

BD-1 still offered to further assist her, clearly worried, and anxious, over her condition.

“Trust me, droids need just as much maintenance as we do,” Cassian said, as if that might change Aria’s mind. He noted the earpiece, but saw no reason to comment on it. There were many he’d seen with cybernetics to continue doing what they did.

He knew of what Saw Gerrera had undergone.

It was the unfortunate realities of war.

“And they don’t get to enjoy how food tastes,” he added, noting they had risen up into the atmosphere by then, so he walked away from the seating area, gave a nod to the woman he didn’t know, “Just going to make my call back here,” he was referring to the hallway, away from the others, which he stepped into then and put some distance between himself and the others, before he called ahead to Draven.

It didn’t take long for the general to answer.

“Andor. I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon.”

“I have good news, and bad news,” he said, keeping his voice low, “good news is, the Jedi is safe. Needs medical treatment, if you could have some people prepared.”

Draven’s eyes widened a bit.

“Bad news…we connected with the Mantis crew, but they’ve taken a prisoner. An Inquisitor. They’re wanting to come on base with said prisoner.”

“How is this bad news, Andor?” Draven sounded astonished, “We’ll have preparations in place for the Inquisitor’s arrival and the Mantis.”

Cassian wanted to explain, but figured it was better to just hope Draven knew what to do with an Inquisitor. “We’ll be there soon,” Cassian said, and dropped the call.

 

[lostsouls]

Cal sighed again when it was clear that Fourth Sister wasn't going to talk. "It's a lot different without your helmet, isn't it?" He asked and rubbed over his thighs. "Come on, all of this could be so much easier if you'd just be willing to talk. I told you I don't plan on killing you and I don't plan on torturing you either," he assured her and tried to ignore Cere's stare burning into his back. He would probably have to talk to her sometime soon.

"But at the same time, you don't really have a chance to fight your way out of here, so you could also just collaborate," he admitted and sighed again. "I'm pretty sure you don't even know how to talk to a human normally anymore. I bet it's that bad," he mumbled, sitting down on the bench and keeping his eyes on her. He was slowly running out of comments or things to say to maybe make her talk until they'd reach their destination.

He just hoped that when they arrived at the base that they would actually be able to talk and he didn't have to intimidate her, even though he doubted he could even manage to do that.

He looked up slowly and met eyes with Cere who was shaking her head slightly and then walked off to the back of the ship. She knew now that Fourth Sister had gone through the same as Trilla did and she had once been trained to be a Jedi as well. Cere had known her master, but she would wait until she would tell Cal that.

Aria finished up with her bandages, eventually letting BD-1 help her a bit, before she slowly got up, one hand on her back, but taking it away to not show too much weakness. She walked over to Cassian again, having so many questions. Was she supposed to stay with the rebels now? Was she supposed to help in this rebellion? Would they force her to stay? Did they want to know the locations of more Jedi? She didn't even know any other living Jedi.

"Can we talk?" She asked and pointed to the kitchen area, where K2 still was. "I'm not too sure how you expect all of this to go now," she admitted and rubbed over her arm. "Why did you even try to rescue me? It had to have a reason and I hope it's not to recruit me for your cause," she pointed out and tried to not sound angry. She also wasn't upset, but she was worried they had saved her in hope of getting help, but she was sure it was better if she stayed out of this fight.

"I of course appreciate the help anyway. I could be dead now," she pointed out additionally, showing her thankfulness.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘I could kill you and everyone on this ship.’ Fourth Sister thought, but didn’t say, keeping her gaze off of Cal as he continued his attempts, trying to get her to talk. He wasn’t even asking any questions right then, he just wanted her to talk. She still got some spiteful pleasure out of denying him a single word, but frustration nagged at her, as well.

He should have killed her. This was worse. Somehow, this was worse, and yet she couldn’t take the actions that would see an end to everything. ‘So maybe it isn’t worse.’ Maybe she just wanted it to be worse, because the alternative was terrifying. Still unthinkable.

Hope.

Such a damned, cursed thought. Although, Cal was certainly right. She didn’t really know how to have so-called normal interactions. Inquisitors didn’t exactly have hobbies. They didn’t make small talk. They just…did their job. That was it. And she’d been doing it for years, her socialization skills outside of Imperial settings and commanding Troopers was down to nearly nothing.

“What exactly do you want me to talk about? How annoying you are?” Fourth Sister tried to keep the irritation out of her tone, and keep it dry. The lack of helmet didn't help; the voice modulation was gone. ‘You talked.’ She cursed herself.



Cassian had returned to inform Greez of where to go, offering the pilot the coordinates, before he strode back into the main area as Greez got them into lightspeed. It seemed as he stepped back in, Aria had risen from her seat, and wanted to speak with him. He nodded, and would step aside with her, not at all displeased to move further from the Inquisitor, even if he tried to spot where the woman from earlier was.

He knew there was nothing to really eavesdrop on, but nonetheless, he liked knowing where people were in relation to himself.

At least K-2 was closer now.

Aria had questions – rightfully so. “Any enemy of the Empire is a friend of ours,” well, mostly. Saw wasn’t exactly a friend anymore. He sighed, though, “I’m not going to lie to you, Aria. We’re hoping to get your help. We’d prefer you to join our cause and fight openly with us, but there are ways to do that in hiding, or in secrecy, too.” He was a spy, he knew everything about that.

Although, a Jedi would be better in the open.

They were a symbol of hope. “You can’t want to see the galaxy continue like this, and have to live in fear every day, can you? Fear, just for existing? For living?” He didn’t understand why she wouldn’t want to join a larger group. She knew now that the Empire would find her.

He kept his voice low so it wouldn’t carry, though.

 

[lostsouls]

Even though she had basically insulted him it was a step closer to what he wanted to achieve. She was at least talking now.

Cal got up again and stood in front of her. “Well, there are worse things in this galaxy than me annoying you right now. I think it would be far worse to be dead now,” he admitted and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “What’s your name? Your real name,” he asked. The chances she would tell him that were basically zero, but he had to try. One thing he had learnt since fleeing the Jedi temple was that he had to keep trying, even in the worst of situations.

“I’m not gonna introduce myself to you, since you probably know enough already,” he sighed, thinking back to what he had done years ago and the smaller incidents he had caused in the span of so many years. “You were going to be a normal Jedi, weren’t you? And then you got turned into... this.” He felt a bit bad having to describe her current state as something so vague, but he couldn’t find another word for what the Empire did to these formerly good people. Or he hoped she had been one of them at one point.

Cal was grounded enough to know that some Jedi also chose the Dark Side by choice, but he was pretty sure most Inquisitors didn’t do that and the Empire had their way of dealing with things, even minor issues were met with big actions and terrible actions in particular.

“Anyways, it’s Cal for the record,” he added anyway, trying to seem a bit more friendly. Even though friendly was the last thing he had in mind while he looked at the Inquisitor and her stunning, yet terrifying eyes.

Aria stared at Cassian, not knowing what to say at first. Of course she didn’t want to see everyone suffer like this and she would love to help, but she would only bring the people around her into more danger.

“I don’t think you understand, Cassian,” she said and shook her head again.

Aria looked over to where she could see a bit of the Inquisitor and Cal. “I don’t want people like her bringing horror over the galaxy or to see so many families torn apart, but what you imagine, me helping you, that’s... that’s more of a risk than so many other things,” she admitted openly.

“If I fight openly with you, I’d be a sign of hope, but also a big target. Wherever I’d go to fight, I’d draw so much attention over to us,” she added, shaking her head again in shame. “And I don’t think my greatest use would be as a spy exactly.”

Even though she had her doubts about this, Cassian’s words still got to her. She didn’t want to live in a world where fear ruled everything and she also didn’t want others to endure that. And now was the best chance. Instead of hiding away, she could... do something.

 

[Lucyfer]

“I know who you are. You killed Second and Ninth sister, and it must haunt you, Jedi, to think of sparing me now.” Again, no names, though she hadn’t forgotten how he’d made himself known to her in the cell by speaking of Trilla, by name. A name he shouldn’t have known. Had he known Ninth Sister’s name?

Perhaps not.

Perhaps Second Sister was the only weak link.

“We all saw the error of the Jedi.” Fourth Sister stated, not giving her name, ignoring that question entirely. “At worst, warmongers who take children from loving homes to turn them into soldiers, and at best, pawns of a corrupt government who were destroyed with that government.” And good riddance to them, too. “They took you from a family, somewhere. Do you ever wonder what your mother called you, Cal? What your real name is?”

Of course, the Jedi claimed they came with their birth names, but she had her doubts about that, now. Of course, she had her doubts about everything good that was related to the Jedi, everything she’d ever been taught, everything she was ever going to be. “I imagine you’ve never thought of it, you just believed what you were told.”

Why not go running back to his parents after the purge, after all?

She’d just run to all the wrong places, trusted the wrong people, and ended up here. Perhaps she should have sought parents, but it had never crossed her mind to even think of them .

~

Cassian folded his arms over his chest. He knew he couldn’t understand her perspective, exactly, but he did know what it was to lose nearly everything. He knew the Jedi had lost themselves in the purge, and he could imagine the trauma. “No, I guess a child thrown into the Clone Wars, losing his home, and his family, couldn’t understand what it is to lose everything and have to make decisions and keep living after that.”

Of course, he’d chosen to fight.

He didn’t meant to be harsh, and for a moment he sucked his bottom lip between his teeth as he looked away, looked to where Cal seemed a bit more energetic now. He wasn’t sure that was a good sign. He sighed, let his lip back into place, and looked back at her, head tilted just a bit, “You’re giving up before you’ve even seen what we are.”

She was already saying no, in claiming she’d be a larger risk. “You think we don’t hide high priority people in our ranks? You think we don’t know what it’s like to do that? We do. Constantly.” Mon Mothma and Bail Organa were not yet known as rebels, nor many others who stood in the public light.

They could hide one Jedi.

“We won’t force you. There’s no point in that,” he said, “we’re all volunteers,” doing this, not for a paycheck, but because it was the right thing, “but as you take your rest and recoup, at least give the Alliance a look.”

 

[lostsouls]

Cal listened to her, let her speak, but his fists tightened a bit and he dug his nails into his hand. What she was saying upset him, even though he didn’t want to admit it. The past few years, he had often been confronted with “What if” questions and if somewhere out there, he had a family he didn’t know about and that knew about him and assumed he was dead.

But the Jedi had taught him all he knew now,had given him access to the force and had granted him a balance he could have never learnt to have if he didn’t get the training by the Jedi.They did have their flaws and he didn’t deny it, but he also wasn’t despising them. They protected so many people in their best times and even in their worst, they were needed after all.

“Of course I thought about it. But I realised that it’s been too long and they are convinced I am dead or something else. The Jedi have done enough good things in this world and yes, they Would have had to change a lot still. But you are one of the things we both have been trained to fight, so don’t try to set me up as a man who can’t think for himself,” he said, more angered now and pointing at her in his rage.

If it wasn’t for the already trained Jedi that then turned into these dangerous Inquisitors, a lot of things would have been easier in this war. And while he wanted to help Fourth Sister, he didn’t want to be portrayed as someone who was blindly believing in all the things the Jedi had wanted them to believe.

Aria gulped, glancing over to the droid to give herself a moment to think about what she was going to say next. Hearing Cassian talk about a story like that, maybe even his own, she had to remember that there were so many stories like that out there in the world. And only a few like her own and she had once tried to become someone who prevented those stories from even happening.

Suddenly, she felt like she was confronted with something she didn’t think about for so long. The Jedi fought the Sith for thousands of years and kept the peace in the Galaxy. How could she refuse to help now if this was laid out for her?

She had to get some sleep and think about it, but she had survived Order 66 and now wasting her time in hiding was not what she had survived for. Since she highly doubted she would ever be needed if the Jedi ever tried to get back to their former glory. If Jedi would even exist after the last ones that had survived the purge.

“I am impressed by how far you and the Alliance have come and I’ll think about it. The worst that can happen is that we all die, isn’t it?” She said, laughing nervously and forced.

“I would tell you about other Jedi if I knew about them. But except Cal over there, I haven’t seen one in years,” she admitted, keeping her voice low now. “But they’re surely out there.”

 

[Lucyfer]

Cal’s anger built with each word, until he broke his calm façade, pointing at her in his frustration, trying to reclaim his agency in everything instead of being viewed as just another broken and discarded pawn of the Jedi Order. He thought they had done good. He seemed to think they had made mistakes, but then, what Jedi didn’t? Every Jedi she’d encountered before, if there was time enough to ask such questions, believed that. After all, it led them to where they were – hunted like animals across the galaxy, never a moment to pause and catch their breaths.

The Jedi had ruined countless lives.

Hers, included.

“You’re incorrect. We were trained to fight Sith, and then droids. Nothing like me.” She was neither, unable to be a Sith – not good enough, not skilled enough, and certainly no match for the likes of Vader. She led no droid armies, either. She was something the Jedi weren’t prepared for, a distorted mirror, and it was why so many failed. “And if you can think for yourself, then tell me, what is it you’d do differently?”

Her face, so used to the mask, did little to hide the smirk. “It isn’t like there’s a Jedi Order to challenge you if you wanted to restart things, and set it off better.”

~

“Heh.” Cassian couldn’t force the same laugh that Aria did, but he supposed that was progress. She was going to consider it, which meant she would give things a look and see if she could fit in, and contribute to their cause. He gave a nod, “Yeah.”

“No, there are worse things.” K-2SO said with some certainty, and when Cassian looked over at him, he indicated, “ISB Agents are experts at finding out those things humans consider worse than death, not me.”

“Thanks, Kaytoo,” Cassian sounded annoyed by that kind of response, though he hadn’t been sure what to expect from him. He looked back to Aria, and shook his head, “I wasn’t going to ask.” Others might, but he wasn’t going to do so. He had one here, and she would help or she wouldn’t.

He wouldn’t blame her if she didn’t want to get others involved. This was her decision, just as it would be Cal and his crew’s decision to join with the rebellion, or not. “Others may,” he said, “I don’t think they’ll doubt you.” After all, the numbers of Jedi had dwindled significantly. Finding even two together would be considered next to impossible, when finding even one was this hard.

So finding her, as well as Cal, was indeed something of a miracle.

 

[lostsouls]

Cal didn't know how to react to the little bit of emotion on her face. The smirk was probably one of the only indicators she could feel something that wasn't pure hatred. Even though it was not a smirk out of a positive feeling.

"The Jedi Order is no more, you're right. And it shouldn't exist the exact same way as it used to be," he admitted, keeping his voice a bit low now. This was a conversation between them, since they had both grown up in the same environment.

"We were trained to fight Sith and they are monsters. You are not far from that either, but compared to them, you could still be saved from a terrible fate," he added and stared at her.

He still had no answer to the question of what he would do differently if he had to change the ways of the Jedi. He wouldn't tear the kids away from their family. But he knew that emotional connects could be dangerous for a force user. Still, it was cruel what the Jedi did to these children and also keeping them so unaware of their family, of someone that should have actually raised them.

Cal suddenly felt overwhelmed, being confronted with all the critical parts about his past and the way he had been raised and trained.

"Do you wonder what your real name is? Do you even know the name you had before you became Vader's puppet?" He asked instead, looking right into her eyes.

-

Aria sighed and nodded. She understood that the Rebellion was hoping for Jedi to join them, since they would definitely be a more than good addition in fights and so many other things, but she doubted a lot of the Jedi had survived up until this point.

Years had passed since Order 66 and a lot could have died in the years between that terrible day and today.

She leaned against what seemed to be the kitchen counter while she looked at the droid again. "So, how did you get an Imperial droid and change his programming? Is that some special spy tactic the Rebellion needs?" She asked with a smile. "Nothing against you, K-2SO," she pointed out still.

She was really starting to wonder how many tricks the Alliance got up their sleeves and how well formed they actually were. In her head, she had always imagined them as a group who worked with whatever they got, but after Cassian's brief description, she started to wonder how well prepared the Alliance actually was. Maybe they really stood a chance against the Empire.

On different planets, she had seen what a force the Empire was and how many stormtroopers they had, how they tore apart city after city and used the planet for whatever they needed at that time. It was horrible and putting an end to it with the help of others became more and more tempting.

 

[Lucyfer]

It seemed Cal didn’t do much thinking, despite his proclamation of being someone who was thoughtful. That wasn’t unexpected of a knight, in her experiences. He was overwhelmed when made to question. It was why so many Inquisitors had been knights; they were more suspectable, once the truth was shown to them, once they did begin to think through the lies that the Jedi had fed them all of their lives. And then? They were powerful darksiders.

He agreed with her so far, though. A dangerous thing for him to do, really.

Especially when he didn’t seem to have answers to how the Order could be improved. What was so wrong, then, with Inquisitors? They were taking out something that didn’t belong, and through which he could come up with no redemption.

“I don’t wonder any longer,” she said, “and I remember what the Order called me. Why is it so important to you, to know that?” He had come back to it, again and again, Holdngi it from him was now almost powerful. He wanted something so badly to humanize her with, like Trilla, perhaps. Something so he could try to see what she’d once been.

To hope she could be that again.

Fourth Sister already knew, the pieces of herself, would never fit back together that same way.

~

The subject of her joining the Rebellion was dropped, for now. Cassian wasn’t upset with that, there wasn’t much more to say, after all. She had to see what was going on with the Rebellion first before she could decide anything. He looked to the droid as she asked about him, and chuckled, “Not exactly. K-2 had information that the Rebellion needed. Ordinarily, we would have just taken him in, gotten the information, and deactivated him.”

“I am not sure losing my memories and identity are any different than death,” the droid pointed out.

It was certainly a moral debate that Cassian wasn’t getting into, “I found him on Wecacoe years ago, and he attacked myself and others with me, tried to arrest us, but we were able to deactivate him, and begin the process of getting him on board. He was a bit…difficult. In the end, we had to most of his memory, and remove his base layer of programming.”

“And so went the information I may have had.”

Cassian sighed. “But his systems remained, and we were able to reset him to default standards, and rewire him from there,” which meant certain compatibilities with Imperial systems, and he’d been upgraded since that point, as well. “He’s come in handy.”

“Regardless of my desire to be handy,” K-2SO added. “Droids don’t get to volunteer for service, unlike you.”

 

[lostsouls]

Cal sighed and didn't know how proceed in this conversation. Every step felt like he was just playing into what the Inquisitor wanted, but he also couldn't just leave the conversation where it was and then wait until they reached the base of the Alliance. He had to move forward, but he was fearing to be fooled by her left and right without even noticing it properly.

"It makes you look more like a human person again," he admitted and bit his lip. The Inquisitors being called nothing more than 'Fourth Sister' or 'Second Sister' took away their connection to actually being human and not a monster. Even though he didn't doubt there was an actual monster sleeping inside them.

"I don't think it's impossible for you to redeem yourself. Or be any part of what you have once been. No one is born evil, but I also don't think you were always meant to be... this," he admitted and gestured to Fourth Sister's clothing and then her lightsaber. "So I also don't think all good is lost inside you."

He would get a lot of critique for this if anyone else would take part in this discussion. Cal was maybe seeing things a bit too light, with a bit too much hope as some would say. He was naive, but he couldn't stop with it.

---

Aria listened to their story with a smile and nodded every now and then. She didn't get to listen to many stories with good endings in the past few years. Most of them ended with a tragic death, a lost person or her having to run away again in the next moment.

"I don't think we treat droids well enough sometimes," she admitted and looked up at K-2. She was really surprised that a friendship had seemed to develop between the droid and Cassian, but when she thought about it, it was completely understandable since droids had advanced enough to have a bit of personality.

"And what do you two do for the Alliance?" She asked then, not really expecting an answer. "Are you stealing weapons or are you just responsible for special information?"

Aria was really wondering how the Alliance worked in itself, but she still had no idea if she would fit into this. But it looked like she would surely find out soon enough.

"I'm just a bit surprised as well that K-2's imperial droid... appearance hasn't caused any of you to die yet," she pointed out. Normally, people would shoot at imperial droids if they weren't allies of the Empire. She had been too tired and exhausted to care about that when she had first seen them.

"Technically, you really are an odd sight," Aria added as well.

 

[Lucyfer]

At least Cal admitted it. He wanted it to humanize her. He believed there was still some light in her. She could argue, no doubt, that what she was doing was good, even if she drew on the darkside of the Force. In fact, she’d tried those arguments on herself for years. And yet….

‘The Jedi are warmongers.’

She was no better.

She knew what she was doing in killing, she knew what the Empire was doing. She had become that which she detested, that which she thought the Jedi were becoming, which Bar—First Sister had spoken out against, before she was removed from the Order as a padawan for revealing it all and framing another padawan for her actions.

“Have you considered I do not think that I need redemption, Cal?” Oh but she did; even if this was for the greater good, her own acts were atrocious and she knew how many rivers of blood ran from between her fingers. “Have you considered I think what the Empire is doing is good, and I willingly sacrificed who I was for their ends?”

Except she hadn’t.

She lived, when she should have died, back on Altratonne.

~***~

K-2SO certainly agreed with Aria on this. Droids were not given enough respect or agency for much of anything. He had the programming to understand this, which was something of a curse, given he had the programming to do nothing that would defy this, either. There were talks of ‘ghosts in the machine’ and droids overcoming programming, but K-2SO had never seen evidence of it.

Then again, humans also had their own programming, in their biological make-up. They just denied it, assumed free will and nothing was dictating their choices. Unless they believed in the Force. Some of them assumed that guided them.

Which, well, might be hard to deny the Force at this time, even if its influence was debatable.

“We spy.” K-2SO said.

“And whatever we can do, based on the information received,” Cassian added, “we infiltrate the Empire when we can, as we did to save you,” and as they’d done a host of other times to gather information, release prisoners, or mess with the Empire in other ways. “Time and risk are calculated, but we do what we can. Not many in the Empire are going to shoot at an Imperial droid.”

“Those on base know who I am.” K-2SO added, “and civilians don’t shoot droids.” They just submitted to the Empire. That was it.

 

[lostsouls]

Cal shook his head slightly, trying to ignore the anger coming up inside him. He was angry at himself, for being so hopeful with this mission and he had probably been hoping for Fourth Sister to cooperate as if the force would push her to do it. But he wasn't this lucky and life usually wasn't that easy.

"I don't think you sacrificed everything willingly. No one would for what they did to you," he admitted and was about to take a step closer, when he heard Greez almost yell through the ship.

"I hope everyone is holding onto something because we're landing in exactly one minute. I don't need to tell all of you the weather conditions, right?" Greez groaned and then started to get the ship ready for the landing.

Cal hurried to the windows and looked out to see a large makeshift runway. He could see an old building a bit further in the distance, with so many ships and X-Wings in front of it. This was the Alliance base and he had never been here before. He knew the infamous ships though, also spotted a few people in the Alliance attire.

Before he could react, they touched the ground a bit rougher than planned and Cal was forced to quickly hold onto an empty seat before falling over. He groaned and glared at Greez. "You usually land a lot lighter," he complained to him, before turning around to his prisoner. "We arrived," he pointed out, even thought it was so obvious. Maybe he also tried to escape the conversation for a bit, so he could think about his strategy.

Cal grabbed Fourth Sister's arm and then dragged her to the exit of the ship, walking down the ramp when it opened.

Aria had been able to feel her heart beat a thousand times faster ever since Greez had announced that they would land soon. She was not only excited to see what the Empire had to deal with and if the forces were effective enough, but she was also nervous to be blamed for her past actions of just hiding away instead of helping.

But surely people would understand, right? They had to. She didn't know how to explain it except for that she was afraid and would have caused more chaos.

She gave K-2 and Cassian a small smile, as a sigh of showing them that she had still listened and was definitely up to hear more about their adventures sometime soon. But she couldn't help but follow Cal and the Inquisitor as soon as the ramp opened.

Aria looked around, seeing some droids move over the platform, people shouting at each other to bring over new pieces to repair their ships. "And what is your plan with her now?" She asked, turning around to Cassian while slightly nodding into Fourth Sister's direction. "You won't let her walk around with him, will you?" She asked, referencing to Cal. Her question was quickly answered though as soon as she turned around again.

Draven recognised the ship quickly. When the ramp had opened, he couldn't actually believe that Andor had managed to bring an Inquisitor and two Jedi. "Take her," he said coldly to the few men next to him who were eager to walk over and rip the Inquisitor out of Cal's grip. Cal was a bit stunned by it and looked at Cassian confused. "She was my prisoner."

 

[Lucyfer]

Cassian expected the Mantis to be recognized, and thankfully, it was. They weren’t shot out of the sky, but given room to land, and he was quick to follow the others off the ramp and down onto the ground, on the familiar world of Yavin-4. Before he could answer Aria’s query, Draven was already moving forward and issuing commands.

More or less, what Cassian expected.

They were all likely somewhat lucky the Inquisitor wasn’t trying to fight, and moved with the Rebels dragging her away from the ship. “And she’s going to a cell,” Cassian stated, not surprised by Cal’s outburst, but annoyed by it. Aria’s question at least tipped him off that she thought Cal might be the sort to argue.

Fourth Sister only looked back once – and all of that hatred was back in her look towards Cal. She was here, only to be locked up in another cell, only to be tortured again…she’d known it, but it didn’t stop the resentment from flooding her anyways.

Cassian took no note of the look.

“You wanted to bring her here. Now she’s here, and one way or another, we’re getting information out of her.”

Cal had hung that over his head – that the Inquisitor had information, and that was why Draven even allowed her here. Draven stepped forward, “Cal Kestis?” He didn’t bother to wait for an answer, assuming it, “I’m General Draven,” he introduced himself, “If you want to start out handling interrogation of the Inquisitor, I’m willing to negotiate terms with you on that, but she is now our prisoner. The information she has is too valuable to the Rebel Alliance, but we know there’s some…history with Inquisitors and Jedi.”

A complicated, messy history, but he wasn’t a General because he was unaware. He knew little about the Inquisitors, but he knew they were all Force Users, and he knew they hadn’t just appeared out of the blue. Fulcrum had confirmed the identity of some of them, confirming a theory that they had all, once been, Jedi.

“We’re willing to let the Mantis stay docked here as well, and refuel. We would like to discuss more about aid and assistance in the future, but I understand if right now, that’s not a priority.” He knew Cal was upset. “I will need to know how many are a part of the Mantis, though, so I know what to inform our base.”



Cassian let Draven handle it, and put a hand on Aria’s back to lightly guide her a few steps away from Draven for the moment, saying in a hushed tone, “That’s General Davits Draven,” who Cassian reported to, “He served in the Republic during the Clone Wars. A strategist, now intelligence here.”

“Cassian’s boss,” K-2SO clarified.

Cassian rolled his eyes. “We’ll give him a minute to get things cleared with Cal, then we’ll introduce you, and find out about your lodgings, and see if we can get you checked in with medical,” then they could do a tour, maybe that night if she was well enough after medical, but certainly the following day.

 

[lostsouls]

Cal was really angry now. He had taken all this risk for his prisoner to be taken away like that. But he wasn't going to argue loudly with anyone, he could do better than that. He'd stay focused and make sure he got where he wanted to get. He wanted to help and save a life.

Cal turned a bit to look at Fourth Sister, seeing her being taken away, but the look she gave him seemed to burn itself right into his mind. He knew the Alliance wasn't as open minded and understanding as he was and he could only imagine what would happen to her now. But here, no one would follow his command, so he was forced to get to her again fast enough without causing a scene.

"Thank you for the refuel and your assistance, General. I understand the information the Inquisitor has can be very important for your cause, but I will allow myself to say that I am the one who managed to capture her and I should be in charge of what happens with her. It might also be easier for me to get the information you need. I don't think you're too aware of what she could be capable of doing," he said politely and looked at the General. Not all of this was a way of just getting to talk to her again. He really had no idea how the Alliance would keep her imprisoned and if she would be able to hurt any of the guards by using the Force to her advantage. Enough people wouldn't be informed about that way of combat.

Aria looked over to Cassian, then back to Cal and the General. She would not interrupt this to ask for when she could get her revenge on the Inquisitor. Some medical treatment, rest and time to think would help her a lot more now.

"Your boss seemed very keen on taking Kestis' prisoner as his own. I don't think he knows everyone wants a piece of that cake. I was still the one being imprisoned by her," she admitted, following Cassian nonetheless. She looked to the side as well then, watching the soldiers take the Inquisitor with them. Aria assumed they would lock her into a cell and then let her stay there for a bit.

"The General seems very... well.. I didn't expect any less of him," she shrugged and crossed her arms in front of her chest, a sharp pain running through her back that made her flinch. Aria took a deep breath, looking up to K-2SO, before turning back to Cassian. "How long did all of this take you? To build it up, I mean. I assume you've been fighting for this for a while now. That's what it sounded like for me," she admitted. He had probably been out there, fighting, while she had been hiding herself from everything. She gulped and had to look away, rather watching Greez, Cere and the witch woman step out of the ship.

Cal turned to his crew, before turning back to Draven. "We're four people on the Mantis usually," he said simply. "Plus a droid," he added and let BD-1 jump onto his shoulder again.

 

[Lucyfer]

Draven gave a single nod to Cal’s demand, “We are willing to let you question her and keep watch of the Inquisitor.” They had their cameras, so anything Cal did get out of her, would be known to the rest of them, so long as those cameras weren’t broken. He didn’t suspect they would, though he added, “I’m not entirely unfamiliar with what she’s capable of.”

He knew of the Force, he’d made battle plans using it, even if he didn’t personally use it. He hadn’t worked directly with the Jedi during the Clone Wars, but nonetheless he’d been in charge of creating strategies and seeing it run by them, as well. He knew those binders and a cell wall wouldn’t really hold an Inquisitor.

And they didn’t have what would; the threat of Cal was more useful than Draven wanted to admit. “You can follow the guards if you’d like to know where she’s being taken, and then either one of them will be happy to show you around the base while I work out arrangements for refueling and restocking with the rest of your crew.”

He didn’t imagine he’d hold Cal there that long, and now that some of them had stepped out, he figured he could start with that.



Cassian chuckled a little at Aria’s remaining wrath towards the Inquisitor. He wasn’t surprised, given her wounds and her own state. It may not be what he expected of a Jedi, but then again, he hadn’t known any Jedi personally. “I’m sure he knows there are plenty of people who’d like to take some revenge on an Inquisitor,” her specifically, or in general.

The Inquisitors weren’t exactly looked well upon by anyone in the Rebellion.

Most of them were lucky to never have to deal with one, let alone see one.

As for how long it took, Cassian could only shake his head. “This is a continuation of the Clone Wars,” he said, “it never really stopped since then,” although it was hard to believe, and things had shifted drastically, it had more or less been ongoing since then. The Separatists had been mistreated by the Empire, and remained defiant.

Ryloth, as well, remained opposed, as did Mandalore.

Then, the allies in the Republic began to reveal themselves, and work to make amends behind the scenes with their former Separatists enemies who had also been played by the Sith. They had a common enemy. They always had.

Cassian’s eyes moved to the others. He’d seen one of the women before, but the other he didn’t know, and he couldn’t quite stop the shiver that ran up his spine. There was something familiar about her, although he couldn’t place it. He hadn’t seen anyone like her before, but he still felt that he knew what she was, or who she was. Something from childhood horror stories, no doubt.

 

[lostsouls]

Cal looked into the direction the guards had taken the Inquisitor. He was grateful that he got the chance to see her and also communicate with her again. Even when it would just be a little bit to get a better look at the overall situation. They could have also tried to keep him as far away as possible and just forget about his plans with Fourth Sister.

In some way, he hoped they would keep her in their safest cell, but on the other hand, he wanted to make sure she wasn't being mistreated, since he had spared her life and he didn't want it to be for nothing or for her suffering more than needed. That was not what he had risked his life for in some way and had also robbed Aria of her revenge and probably all the other people who would have been happy to mark another Inquisitor as dead in their files.

He followed behind the guards with enough distance to not look too desperate or too worried about this situation. He was sure the Alliance wouldn't welcome it if he openly doubted their ways even though they let him stay for basically nothing.

After the guards threw the Inquisitor into a cell with a thick layer of glass separating it from the hallway, Cal stared at the woman and wondered how he should go about this. He didn't dare to just go into the cell and then eventually be chocked or something. There was far less room to put distance between them or even properly fight if it came to that. And he didn't want to die in a cell like that.

"Could you leave me alone with her a bit?" He asked the guards and after a few minutes of them discussing that with each other, they did eventually leave. Probably out of fear what Cal could do if they didn't leave. He stepped forward eventually, getting closer to the glass. "So, I hope they treat you with some decency..." he admitted slowly.

--

Greez watched Cal walk away, probably off to look after his prisoner again. He was still not sure what to think about this whole thing if he was honest. They had really taken that risk to bring an Inquisitor right into the base of the Alliance even though she could have killed them on the ship already if she had had the chance to. Even the smallest one she would have probably taken.

"Thanks for letting us refuel the ship. Can we also get supplies like food and water? Perhaps some more med kits?" He asked politely and looked at Draven. He didn't have much to discuss with him except that. "And then we would like to know when Cal comes back. We are going to stay on the ship to avoid causing more stress for your people."

--

Aria nodded slowly, her mind drifting off a bit. Cassian was right. All of this was a continuation of the Clone Wars, but it seemed even bigger, even more brutal. Back then, the Republic had a firm grip on the galaxy, but lost it over the years and now the Empire reigned in terror for everyone. Her heart beat a bit faster, a bit more nervously, at the thought. What if they would all have to live like that for many more years and there would never be a light at the end of the tunnel?

But wasn't that what the Rebel Alliance was all about. The light at the end of the tunnel? The hope in dark times? Technically, she did have the same hopes and expectations for the galaxy as they did and looking around, she saw so many people working hard for this cause.

"When will you have to leave for another mission?" She asked then, looking at Cassian. Maybe she had hidden away too long. Maybe she could do something now. But she still wasn't a 100% sure, so she wanted to ask when Cassian might go onto a new mission and maybe she could try her best there then and see how useful she could actually be for everyone.

"Maybe I could actually help," she added, referring back to their conversation on the ship. She would just have to find the right missions for herself or she would attract so much attention that the entire mission would have to be cancelled in seconds.

"And I'd need more training, get into better form again to properly be useful... it would have to be the right missions, but I guess that's hard since the rumours of Jedi and lightsaber always find their way around the galaxy," she groaned, a bit annoyed at that fact.

 

[Lucyfer]

Glass.

Glass.

They put her behind glass like a fucking animal. Fourth Sister was certain she could crack it if she wanted to, although she also knew this wouldn’t be regular glass. This would be like those used in viewports, but no doubt tougher. Still, what else did she have to do? ‘Trick a guard into letting you out.’ True, that would probably cause less problems.

She had time to figure it out.

Cal Kestis had followed, and Cal Kestis continued to try and be the ‘good guy’ by asking the guards to leave them alone for a bit. She couldn’t explain why his attempts bothered her so much, exactly. Why his belief in some good remaining, bothered her, but it did. She clenched her hands into fists and dug her nails into her palms.

Well, what she could. They were still covered by gloves, after all.

“Why?” She asked, but didn’t leave room for Cal to answer immediately, “Do you have any idea how many Jedi I’ve killed?” She asked him, “you could wash your hands of me now, and let them torture me. I assure you, I’ve endured worse than anything they can muster.” Not that she was looking forward to it.

Far from it.

One of the motivating points of her job was to avoid torture, after all.

~***~

Draven arched a brow at Greez’s desire to stay on the ship, “We really would like to talk to you and your crew at some point about how we might better assist each other in the movement,” he noted, but wouldn’t press it right then, “For now, I’ll make sure to have some people gather up the supplies you’ve mentioned,” and perhaps later they could actually discuss how they might help each other out.

He did want to think that the Mantis crew could become an arm of the Rebellion proper.

“I’m sure Cal will let you know when he’s returned,” they weren’t going to keep Cal from the Mantis, or intentionally bother him.

He would turn to start issuing orders on his datapad for supplies for the Mantis, while turning towards Cassian and the Jedi companion he had with him.



Before Draven had quite reached them, Cassian was shaking his head at Aria’s question. “I don’t know, missions like mine are not so typical,” they were opportunist, more than anything. He jumped at chances that arrived, and chased them. He would go when he was called.

“I am not sure that is a good idea,” K-2SO noted when Aria thought of joining them. She would stand out if she didn’t know what she was doing. “You have to blend in.”

“We’ll get to that,” Cassian dismissed K-2’s tone, for the moment. There were likely some places she could blend in just fine without too much practice or warning, but more important was her health, and getting her acclimated to the Rebellion. “We have a gym here, and training grounds to help you get back in shape, and plenty of people willing to run drills,” he chuckled. Some were a bit more militant about it, and a bit more insane with their practices, then he was inclined to participate in, but he’d learned a lot. “I’ll show you around to them.”

General Draven had reached them by then, and Cassian’s posture straightened a bit, “Sir,” he said, “This is the Jedi, Aria, uh…” if he’d gotten a last name, he realized he forgot it. “We need to get her to medbay, but she’ll need some lodgings, as well.”

“Oh?” Draven asked, “Have you decided to join us already?” Cassian almost kicked himself for that part, but wouldn’t speak for her this time.

 

[lostsouls]

Cal was sure that not even someone like Fourth Sister deserved to be tortured. He didn't think torture was ever the way to go and he would stand by that with everything he had.

"I hope they don't torture you. Or I will insist they won't, because I still want to talk to a somewhat sane Inquisitor," he admitted, leaning against the glass a bit.

"If you endured worse than what they can do... don't you want to have a better life again? Wthout someone torturing and forcing you to things? Don't you want to discover yourself again?" He asked, genuinely confused why someone like her wouldn't finally want her freedom after so many years as a toy of Darth Vader and just another key for war for the Empire.

"I think we should both be able to hope for a good ending of all this," he added, taking a few steps back and sitting down against the wall opposite of the glass. "Maybe it would be easier for both of us if you just gave in and started talking? It can help, you know? To be honest with yourself," he shrugged.

He still didn't really break through to Fourth Sister, but he wouldn't give up that easily. He was stubborn when it came to things like this.

"i am pretty sure you want to be honest with yourself as well and the first step to do that is to start... accepting what is changing for you and how grateful you can be to still be alive," he mumbled.

----

Aria looked at the General when he joined them, still thinking about what Cassian and K-2SO had said. She would have to blend in and that probably meant doing missions that weren't exactly based on what her special abilities were.

When Cassian introduced her, she cleared her throat and nodded a bit. "Aria Crazell," she said slowly and shook the General's hand, before being a bit stunned for a second. That definitely sounded as if she had already decided to stay and join their cause. But was she really that sure already?

It was a lot harder to tell a general about her decisions than just talking to Cassian. Especially since the decision would probably be definite. "I..." she started and glanced up to the large droid again, before looking to Cassian as well.

"I was hoping I could help," she lied. She didn't plan this, but at the moment, she might as well go through with it and help where she could.

People were still dying and suffering. If she could help, she would do it.

"So I guess that means that I am interested in joining you. I should be back in shape after some training and... medical treatment," she added.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘You’re not even with them.’ From what Fourth Sister had gathered from the little she heard with Draven, and others, Cal Kestis was not a part of the Rebel Alliance. It made sense. A Jedi in that group would only bring it down quicker, focusing too much attention on it. She wondered now why they seemed to be interested in the Jedi.

Did they know how few Inquisitors were left? ‘Likely…they are involved in Lothal.’

Fourth Sister still hated that she didn’t have her helmet. That Cal could watch her lower her gaze as he mentioned how she ought to hope for a better life. ‘I’ve only hoped not to be useless.’ And at times she had hoped for death, but it wasn’t something she would say aloud. She knew Cal would continue to press that, and insist she could have more than all that.

She could still be useful; she could still get the base information, and get back to the Empire. They might not kill her…they’d certainly kill her if she talked. “You don’t understand,” or so she wanted to believe, “there is nothing left. If I talk, I die for certain. The Empire won’t let an Inquisitor go free,” she hardly realized her language there.

“They are pursuing the Jedi still to this day. They will send Vader for a rogue Inquisitor,” it had happened before; she watched him cut down two of their own in Coruscant, killing them with their own lightsabers.

The Emperor wasn’t pleased with the PR mess of that, supposedly. “There is no peace, or anything after this, even when the wars end and the Empire stands triumphant,” then she was just…well…she should be rather grateful people like Cal and Aria were still alive. They kept her in a job.

~***~

Cassian’s brows lifted a bit as Aria agreed that she might be there for a while, she just needed some training and medical help. She’d get those things soon enough, no doubt. He wouldn’t interrupt, whatever got her lodgings, and some help, was for the best, even if he didn’t think she’d fully signed on just by talking to Draven.

This was his error of phrasing.

“Well, I’ll reach out about lodgings, I’m sure we have some available,” the general said, “I’ll send the details to Cassian’s datapad when I have them, and he can show you to them. We’ll find some additional clothing as well – I’m afraid we don’t have much in the way of tunics or robes,” this wasn’t a Jedi outfit, after all.

He didn’t think she’d be inclined to complain, though. “You take her up to medbay, and make sure she gets what she needs.”

“Understood, sir,” Cassian nodded. He also wasn’t inclined to argue with the direction of things right now. He didn’t usually go right out on a mission immediately, so he was expecting some downtime. He nodded to Aria, “Follow me,” and he would lead towards the pyramid structure to take her in to medbay.

 

[lostsouls]

Cal couldn't help but roll his eyes. Fourth Sister would really be stubborn until the last second He was sure she'd also be strong enough to resist the torture the Alliance might perform on her.

Would the Alliance do that on a very high level? He had always thought of them as the good, the holy ones almost, but all of them were in a war and technically all is fair in war.
Who was he to criticise their ways in a situation like this? They had a very valuable hostage now and they would probably use that. Which was their right after all.

"I don't think you see the options you have. Or you choose to ignore them," he said and bit his lip. "I don't want to tell you or pretend that it's gonna be easy, but if you really proved yourself to try and go on a better way, there would surely be more chance for protection against Vader. You don't have to die in this war without doing any good, because I don't believe you are just what they made you. It can't be," he admitted.

Cal didn't know how to actually convince Fourth Sister to let go of what had been before and try to find herself again.

He was stubborn, maybe a bit too much. He wasn't able to perhaps accept that there was nothing good left in some people, this Inquisitor included.

---

Aria followed Cassian without saying anything at first. She was thankful she'd finally get the medical care she needed. Also, someone should check on her fake ear, because it had been making weird sounds for a bit.

When they had put some distance between Draven and themselves, Aria turned to look at Cassian, still walking forward to where she assumed they were planning on going. "So, I need some lodgings? That was very... well, I didn't mind, but I guess it already implied I was gonna stay here," she pointed out.

She wasn't angry or anything, she had come to the conclusion she wanted, no, she needed, to help anyway. To be angry at Cassian for simply saying something inconvenient was too much for her right now. Even though she would have probably never admitted it and the stim she had received in the Mantis had helped her a lot, she needed a lot of rest and whatever the people at the Medbay would give her eventually. She could probably not sleep well with that back injury.

On their way to their destination, Aria took the time and looked around a bit, trying to get a bigger picture of the base.

Maybe this would be her new "work place" or a place where she'd spend more time than planned.

 

[Lucyfer]

‘I’ve done good. I’ve gotten rid of the Jedi scourge.’ Fourth Sister wanted to say that. She wanted to crush Cal’s parroting, vague positive statements with something as easy as that, to remind him that the Inquisitors did believe in what they were doing. Somewhat. She didn’t quite any longer, but she knew the alternatives.

“You’re a broken holocron, Cal,” was what she said instead, as if that insult would do her any better. “You do not even know who I was before. How do you know I was any good? How do you know this is so much worse?” He knew she was a Jedi, but that was it. She hadn’t given him the vital information he sought in a name.

She hadn’t even told him she wasn’t a knight.

“You know, the Inquisitors are named in the order they’re found,” Trilla had come before her, it was true, but being Fourth was no laughing matter. It still meant she was found early, that she’d been doing it, for quite a while. He’d taken out both Ninth and Second. “It’s a far better system than the Jedi had. Why do you think I am what the Jedi made me?”

A breath left her in a huff, “I’ve never been anything but what other people made me.” Brainwashed as a Jedi, brainwashed as an Inquisitor – she had no identity of her own. At least she knew it.

~***~

Cassian heard the question and felt the hair on his neck bristle, some level of fear and need to be defensive rising as she queried him about the matter of lodgings. He bit it down as she suggested she didn’t mind, but didn’t fully relax, the tension staying in his shoulders as she seemed to accept it, and he led them on into another building.
“I wasn’t thinking of you staying when I asked it,” he said, “I just thought you wouldn’t want to stay in the medbay the entire time,” he said, “you needed somewhere to sleep where you won’t be annoyed by droids and nurses the entire time,” he hadn’t meant it to sound so permanent, but he realized after the fact, it definitely had. “You’re still free to leave, no matter what.”

Of course, he wanted her to stay. He’d prefer that, he hoped she would find her fighting spirit and join their cause, that she would want to be part of the group trying to restore the Republic. It wasn’t as if there was much out there for her, anyways. Just a life on the run, from things like Fourth Sister, Darth Vader, and any other Inquisitors they may still have.

He was actually a bit curious on that.

They came to the medbay before too much more could be said, and black woman approached them, “You must be the Jedi we were told to expect,” she said, smiling kindly, “Why don’t you follow me? We’ll take it from here, Andor.”

“Oh, uh….” He had somehow thought he’d stay with Aria, but he would take the dismissal if that was what Aria preferred, too. Or at least, stay in the waiting area.

 

[lostsouls]

Even after the war, all the fights he had to endure, he was still certain that no being was ever completely evil. And he definitely couldn't believe that nothing good was left in Fourth Sister. Or maybe it was just him being really naive, but Cal would never really admit to that. Especially not when Fourth Sister had once been a Jedi or was meant to be one. It seemed so irrational to him that she could ever be completely evil.

However, when she admitted she had never been anything else than what the people had made her, Cal had to stop for a second. He took a deep breath and tried to organise his thoughts again.

"Then you could have the chance to be what you want to be now. Go by the name you were given at birth. Redeem yourself and become the person you want to be. Not the one the Jedi or the Empire wanted to make you," he suggested. It was a hot take, given that she might want to continue bringing chaos and violence everywhere, but maybe he could also reach her with the idea of finally becoming her own person.

"I am sure you could set everything right," he added, biting his lip as he watched her.

---

Staying in the medbay, surrounded by droids and nurses really wasn't the best place to stay in her opinion. So she appreciated the fact that she might get a more private and more comfortable space to stay in. When they reached the medbay though, she hoped no one would ask her too many questions. Throughout their little journey to Yavin 4, she had grown somewhat comfortable around Cassian and his droid, but telling random nurses details about this whole disaster was another story.

After all, she had been captured by an Inquisitor. That should have never happened. Maybe she would have been turned into a weapon as well if she hadn't escaped.

Talking about comfort, when Cassian was asked to leave, she glanced up to the woman. "Let him stay. I like some company," she admitted, giving the nurse a little smile as well. She didn't want to seem rude after all. As they walked further into the facility, Aria turned around to Cassian again. "If they drug me to make me sleep, expect some random chatter from me," she warned him with a wink.

They would probably have to do a few scans on her and also stitch up some more wounds, so she was expecting this to take a while. "Sorry for stealing your evening, in case you wanted to leave," she added as well.