The Calm Before the Storm

Lah'mu: 17BBY

Galen

Three years. Nearly three years on this perfectly ordinary backwater planet and Galen Erso still lay awake. His mind restless, full of fears and paranoid fantasies in which his old "friend" would come to find him and his family. Oh, he tried to convince himself every night that his dreads were unfounded. Lah'mu was an unremarkable planet in the Outer Rim territories, mountainous and green, with no indigenous life to speak of. Just over 500 settlers inhabited the entire world, mining or farming, and none of them having the aspirations to do anything else. Krennic would never think to look for Galen in a place like this, or so the aging man hoped.

A few years ago, Galen would've been of the same mind as his old friend. He craved work, craved the challenge of ever expanding sentient understanding of the universe. The Erso patriarch had indeed expected he would go mad with boredom when he ran here with Lyra and Jyn. But he never did. Oh, the pace of life was certainly something he had to get used to, but instead of encountering mindless hours of tedium, he enjoyed precious—

"Daddy" A quiet feminine voice called out.

It pulled Galen from his thoughts as he turned his head, almost with instinctual attentiveness, and saw his little Jyn in the doorway to his and Lyra's bedroom.

The ex-scientist got to his feet. "Did you have a nightmare, Stardust?" he whispered. She nodded in the affirmative.

The elder Erso then kneeled to her level. "Do you want to hear another story about your uncle?" He asked.

"Yes!" She exclaimed softly.

Galen then walked with his daughter to her room and sat down at the feet of the bed and began with another about Kento Marek, Lyra's brother. He knew his wife did not love the stories he told their daughter about him, but if old half-true stories of a Jedi of old made his Stardust sleep, he could live with his wife's disapproval.

Space Above Lah'mu: 17BBY

Krennic

Unbeknownst to Galen, he was not the only one experiencing an early morning. Hundreds and hundreds of metres above the grey tranquil skies of Lah'mu, a Venerator-class Star Destroyer had made its harbour. Aboard, the entire morning-shift crew was abuzz in scuttlebutt. Lah'mu was a galactic backwater, full of moisture farmers and hermits. 'Why would the Director come here?' They all thought. The crew of the Avenger was used to secrecy, more than most details their Academy comrades were given, but that usually manifested in travels to hidden bases, roundabout hyperspace jumps, and wiping the navicomputer history. Not travelling to the humid version of Tatooine. Any whisperings though, shrunk to complete silence at the sound of black clickity clack boots and the swish of a cape followed by the sight of their grey-haired commander, with the most piercing cold blue eyes any of them had ever seen. Director Orson Krennic was not the type to suffer gossip or idle chatter.

Soon the authoritative man had finished his trek to the bridge and found himself, as he had frequently over the past years, genuinely puzzled.

"Report" he demanded.

"Reconnaissance probes have confirmed a match with what the cargo pilot told us" his First Officer began. "No organised defences of any kind, no shielding around the domiciles, however with all these ionic storms it will take at least an hour and a half before we can send anyone down to the coordinates"

"Ionic storms? The pilot said nothing about atmospheric interference"

"I don't think he knew" The FO replied "While he mentioned bad weather, the ionic nature was barely detectable to even our scanners. His ship likely never picked it up."

"He got lucky and dropped the targets on a clear day" the Director surmised. "You have an hour fifteen to oversee the preparation of my landing squad Delain, make sure it's ready to depart as soon as we have an opening."

The commander nodded and left. Krennic then turned his attention to the view screen

'Are you really here, Galen?' he wondered. What puzzled him so much, and what infuriated him so much, was how simple the solution to his problem was. Krennic assumed Galen would have scurried off to Mon Cala or Bothawui, somewhere where he could be protected and have facilities to work, to keep that mind of his busy. But no, now he realised how little sense that made to a short-sighted man like Galen. A man with with all the brains…but none of the ambition to use them. That had been Krennic's failing, funnily enough; he had assumed his old friend smarter than he was. Now he was here, and the Director would find out in soon whether the cargo pilot's words spoke truth. He scoffed in incredulity. To throw away ultimate glory for family. He would never understand. He swiftly turned and, with a swish of his cape, was gone from the bridge.

Kashyyyk: 17BBY

Kento Marek

Kento Marek was never a man who slept well. When he was a pupil at the Jedi Temple, his instructors would chastise him for falling asleep during meditation. Later on, into the Clone Wars, his problem got worse. He witnessed things no Jedi, that no sentient should see. His restless nights turned to sleepless nights during those years. The ex-Jedi often wondered if his little problem had contributed to him leaving the Jedi Order. Sure, plenty of Jedi found themselves in romantic yearnings like he had, but seldom abandoned the Order because of them. He was one of the few friends of Obi-Wan that knew of his intense attachment to Siri Tachi. But, like a good Jedi, Kenobi conquered those feelings and continued serving the Code. It was this thought, when he first had it, that revealed to Kento that he was not a good Jedi. He was tired of war, of politics, of half-finished missions that always resulted in more death. All he needed was to meet someone like Mallie on Talus, and he had all the reason in the galaxy to leave the Jedi behind.

In the tranquil forests of Kashyyyk, in this humble abode, Kento felt more at peace with his wife and small son than he ever had within the pristine hallowed halls of the Temple. There were still plenty of nights were he could not sleep, but the presence of his family always helped soothe his anxieties…

Except for today.

The Marek patriarch was never gifted in the more obscure talents of the Force, but the cold chill he felt throughout his spine gave him the feeling that Darkness was coming and that it was coming soon. Disturbingly enough, said darkness was centred around his baby sister, Lyra

So the old ex-Jedi Knight lay in bed next to his slumbering wife, full of unease and pained love for his sister and her family. A storm was coming, he knew. He wondered if he'd be ready when it did.