The Rebel Twins

For 15 years I was alone. Fixing spacecrafts to numb the pain. The Clones' betrayal of the Jedi stole my brother from me. At the time, it seemed as if it would be forever. Reunited through this war of Imps and Rebels, Caleb...huh...Kanan wants me by his side again. The problem is...I can't bring myself to fight.

xxx

No Rest for the Wicked

This is something I'm playing with. Yes, I will still work on my Padawan Hunter series, but I want to try my hand at Rebels. I'm getting anxious. I want a bit of feedback from you guys. See what you think, what can be changed, things like that.

I remember it like it was yesterday. 15 years those nightmares kept me awake. I may not be force sensitive, and therefore was not adopted into the order like my brother, but the Jedi cared for me like I was there own. Taught me how to defend myself and wield a weapon. Staffs, blades, and other weapons. Not lightsabers. Unfortunately. HA-HA! Always wanted to hold one of those. Normally Jedi don't take in non force sensitive young ones. They made an exception for me. Given I had nowhere else to go. Senator Mon Mothma allowed me to stay with her. Provided, of course, I assist her here and there. I didn't need to think long.

My brother and I caused our fair share of trouble during our stay. Rebellious Twins, they called us. In spite of us being five years apart. Said our difference in age bellied our mirror qualities. The Clones helped me along as well. Blaster training, hand to hand combat - the works. They picked on me every step of the way. One big happy family. Something I haven't had in awhile.

My bond with them was strong. Even if I did spend most of my time in the senate garage. Loved playing with the huge space crafts, tuning up the protocol droids and astromechs, and doing a few maintenance jobs here and there. What? A girl's gotta have a hobby. Been a grease monkey since the day I could walk. Senator Mon Mothma seemed to like seeing me covered in grease. Said it added character. Lovely woman. Sad she's gone.

Two years I bid my farewells. Mon Mothma's cousin - Kendril, aka Ken - said he needed an extra hand in his garage over on Chandrila - her home world. He wanted to make me an apprentice. Help me hone my skills and be of greater use to the Republic. How could I say no. My brother was all for it. So was Master Quinlan Vos. So, gathering my courage, I said bye for now...and off I was.

The one day I return to Coruscant after being gone for two years...and ash is raining from the sky. Cries of pure terror and despair shrieked from the bottomless streets to the highest towers. Clones running rampant, killing everyone that was in their way. Jedi scrambling - escaping or fighting. Part of me - till this day - wants to think it a lie. A trick of my eyes. A horrible fabrication of my wild imagination. That the Masters weren't being struck down by the Clones. That the temple itself wasn't being desecrated and decimated. Guess it's true what they say? You don't always get what you wish for.

The Jedi Temple was on fire, crumbling to ruin. The dangers were orbiting around the entire planet, darting past me like bats out of Hell. I didn't care. All I could think about was getting to the temple. Finding someone to help. ANYONE!

"CALEB!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. Harsh smoke wafted into my lungs. Choking on the embers, gasping for air, I pressed on further into the temple. "KANAN! MASTER VOS! MASTER YODA!" I cried for them all. No one answered. No one would be able to hear me. Not over the sound of the temple collapsing.

One corner I turned I immediately wished I hadn't. Jedi Younglings lied dead on the floor. Horror forever frozen to their young faces. One at the door, a trail of others ending where I stood - the Younglings fled for their lives. The burns in their little frames - another Jedi killed them. Or...perhaps the Sith. Whatever or whoever was behind this...I fell to my knees. Tears spilled from my eyes.

"CAALLEEBB…" I howled and howled. Even when my voice felt like it would stop working, I screamed for my brother to hear me. No one came. No one friendly.

"FREEZE!" Gruff voices bellowed. My nightmare was only beginning. I hear blasters being clicked. I can feel the lasers at my back. Turning around, the clones were aiming at me. "ON YOUR FEET, JEDI!" Why? I asked in my head. Why are they aiming at me? Why threaten to kill a Jedi, despite my not being one?

"She's not a Jedi!" One protested.

"She's not?"

"No! She's the sister of a Jedi!" Another answered.

"Then she still has to die!"

"But...she's a kid…"

The Clones argued with one another. My life hung in the balance but I still sat there. I couldn't move. How could I? Soldiers that trained me, fought side by side with Kanan and the others, saviors of millions...were threatening to kill me.

They arrived at a decision. I was to die. As I closed my eyes, wanting to die knowing Kanan was waiting for me, I hear anguished groans. Helmeted heads roll inches from me. A lightsaber returned to its sheath. Master Yoda turned to face me. Master Kenobi ran up behind me. They both saw the confusion in my eyes. Could sense that I was breaking one piece at a time. Answers, answers I prayed. What was happening? Why were the Clones murdering people? Where were the Jedi? My brother?!

Master Yoda took me by the shoulder. Instead of answering me, he said, "No more is the Jedi Order. No longer safe, is this temple." He stated with defeat, and a deep sorrow. He put a hand to my mouth, stopping my sobs and my questions. "Back to Chandrila, you must go. Untouched by this chaos it will be." Untouched? He meant that Coruscant was not the only planet to suffer. Others were suffering as well. "Live, fight, be the light in the darkness. Drawn to you, others will be. Over, your battle is not."

Naturally I argued with the elder Jedi. Wondering what he meant. Master Kenobi ended my debated. He waved a hand before my face, putting me to sleep. The next thing I know, I awake in the Ken Mothma's garage, and I hear that the chaos on Coruscant passed. The Jedi were dead. And the Empire formed and made their claim on Coruscant.

Jedi were rumored to have survived. But one by one they were hunted and killed like animals. A Jedi Padawan or two found their way to Chandrila to hide. But when the Empire would rear, they'd vanish in the night, and I would never see them again. Emperor Palpatine was putting the Clones in retirement, and building his reign on the ashes and bones of the Jedi. I don't know why...but seeing that man press on as if nothing was amiss - casting the memory and service of the Jedi into the gutter - made me sick. My hatred for him grew. Him and everyone else in the Empire. I want them all to pay for what they've done! What they're still doing! How, is the million credit question. When...well, I can't afford that. But if what Master Yoda said was true, that my battle wasn't over, then I needed to show a little patience. As they said, patience is a Jedi's greatest weapon. Though...they never did say what to do when grief clings like a leech.

Grief, sorrow, and anger - not losing their luster - burn my eyes as I weep in the memory of the friends and family I had lost. Always fresh in my mind is that day. Millions believed that it was only the Jedi who suffered. They're wrong. Myself and hundreds more suffered a heavy and grave loss when the Jedi were killed. My brother - my only surviving family - was gone. I was alone. I am alone. No one looking for me. No one wanting me. Just me, my tools, and the garage Ken left me when he died.

Business booms on a monthly basis, sure. My Mech D8-V3, Dave, and my Nautolan Partner Grim, are the best sidekicks I could ask for. But...it doesn't satisfy me. No. That's not right. It's not that I'm not satisfied. It's just...I get the strangest feeling...something amazing is going to happen soon. Not sure what, when, or how. All I could think was...Master Yoda was rarely wrong.

xxx

"CHANDRILA TO KATERINA DUME!"

"AAHH!"

The woman lost balance on the railing, falling to her back on a metal walkway. A Nautolan man in a white shirt and overalls winced, then laughed at her expense. He had his seven headtails bound by a band. By the oil stains on his skin, he just got done with a project. The tails tend to get in the way a lot. The grimy camo green gloves curled to his hips as he leaned forward. "Nice landing. Not too crazy about the take off, though." He winked his scarred left eye.

While she appreciated that the were cloud free and of the most vibrant blue she'd ever seen, she puffed her semi-wavy brown bangs and growled mortified at her visitor. Her aquamarine eyes glistened when she's angry. "GRIM!" She rolled on her stomach. The V in her midriff sleeveless top showed off a pendant on her choker. "What have I told you about interrupting me when I'm daydreaming?!" She roughly re-fastened her long hair into a bun. She'd cut it, but doesn't have the will to sit still that long.

"Never on a leap year?" He shrugged, bouncing his brow playfully.

Katerina finished tying her overall straps at her waist. She flipped a wrench from her overall pocket, putting it at his chin. "That I would dock your pay the next time it happened!"

"C'mon, Katty! Don't be such a downer!" Grim casually removed the wrench. He's surprised she doesn't drop the thing wearing those thick gloves. "Your lunch break ended a half hour ago. Came up here to see if you were alright."

Grim wasn't joking. As of...46 minutes ago, Katerina was supposed to be on the floor supervising 15 other repairs, and simultaneously working on three. She didn't want to think about which ones were behind, or due in the next hour or day. She pinched the bridge of her nose, moaning exhausted.

"I must be wicked. I get no rest." She slapped her hands to Grim's shoulders. "You're the best partner I could ask for."

"I know this. Which is why I brought you this." He handed her an energy drink. "There is a 12 pack with 11 more with your name on it."

"If we weren't best friends, I'd kiss you." She was in tears when the tangy drink washed past her tongue and down her throat. He tan skin jaw tingled by a stream of liquid missing her mouth.

"I'll hold you to that for a later time."Grim opened a glass panel. One of thousands in the dome shaped skylight of the Mothma Garage. Katerina exited the skylight walkway. Leaving fresh air, sunshine, and bliss for the rowdy, befouled air, and musty garage overrun by workers trying to meet a deadline.

Looked more like an airport with racing nimrods late for their flights. It was crazy. Just another day in paradise.

"What'd I miss while in dreamland?"

"We just got in ten new orders!" Grim stressed. He pulled out his Data Pad, scrolling the protracted list. Just looking at it left him winded. "We've got a cockpit on a military cruiser that's lost all oxygen insulation! Two transport cruisers the die and hover in mid air!" He walked rapidly after the impassive girl. "One customer claims his hover bike doesn't rise two inches off the ground! And the rest...well…" He wanted her to see it for herself.

Katerina paused halfway on the ladder, looking at the last few orders. She scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "Those idiots who moved from Florum fed spice through their gas tanks? What? Was the Air Cooling System in their cruiser busted...AGAIN?!" This isn't the first time Florum's locals have ruined precious vehicles with their stupid stunts. Their obsession with their spice and determining new ways of using it was trying her patience, but it paid her bills.

"The first four are needed to be done by the end of the week." Grim moved them to the top of the list. "You can imagine the Wee-Stays will badger us for their vehicles first." Wee-Stays - a play on words, and name of the Florum gang running around Chandrila. "What do you want to do?"

"The same thing we do every day Grim." Katerina put a whistle to her lips and blew. The shrill tune made the bustling garage stop on a dime. Boxes were set down. The welders, suspended in mid air, lifted their welding masks. And the guys wearing the anti gravity boots hung around the ceilings and walls for a spell. Dave the astromech rolled beside her, handing her a com-mic. She whispered thanks to him. "ALRIGHT! Listen up!" The speakers carried her voice throughout the main garage, and the sub floors. We've got ten new projects that came in just this morning!" Groans of misery and dropping jaws echoed. Katerina bobbed her hands, understanding their pain. "I know! I know! However, those of you who are still currently working on projects…" Grim handed her the list, "Mills' Crew, Abby's Crew, Pit's Crew, and Mona's Crew - are to stay focused on their work!" She pleased two percent of the garage. "Manic's Crew will pair up with Hannah's Crew to finish inventory and stock!" Fists bumped in the sub levels. "The rest will be chosen at random for their next assignment. So don't expect your weekends to begin just yet! For four of them, I need ten bodies! The rest - two a piece should suffice! Carry on!" She put the mic back inside Dave. The garage's hustle lost it's bustle with the announcement.

"^I can't believe this, Katty! You were supposed to take me to Genna's for a buff and cleanse this weekend!^" Dave complained. He clattered his oval shaped body.

"I know, Davey. I'm sorry." She kissed her lips, petting his head. "But duty calls, and I can't abandon my work. You know my motto."

"Never leave a job unfinished." Grim recited.

"Exactly." Katerina decided to start by assigning herself to the cruiser. "This guy will be waiting for me in the air yard east of here. I'm getting to head out."

"Davey and I will join you." Grim volunteered them. "If oxygen isn't being sustained, it might have something to do with the O2 converters, or the Nitrogen Recycler." His specialty. He can fix the recycler and converter in a snap. Maybe add in an air freshening system while he's at it. Dave is also a master at spotting weaknesses in systems. He'd be perfect to spot any other damage before Katerina's team is asked to repair it again.

"Then let's grab our tools and go. Time's wasting."

"YES MA'AM!" Dave and Grim were gone in a flash. Katerina giggled at them. Maybe saying she's without family is a bit cruel. Those two are definitely brothers she's never had.

As Katerina sauntered for her quarters near the back of the facility, a startling jolt struck her spine. The face of a young man flashed in her mind. She twisted and peered to the blue sky looking down on the garage. Space, the stars, and planets opened up to her, carrying her heart and mind with the face she briefly saw.

A tuft of brown hair...same aquamarine eyes...a stunning blue lightsaber...

"Caleb?"

What do you think? Not very long, I know. But...