Author's Note:

To everyone who waited: alas, your wait is over. It's FINALLY HERE! In all seriousness, you guys are the reason my first fanfiction ever took a step past "chapter 1." I was so nervous about publishing it because I thought no one would pay notice much less read any of it...and now, I've met tons of awesome people and made fantastic friendships since then. Your encouragement and support has been more than I ever could have hoped for. Thanks for all your love and kind words and the great things you've given me over the years. This story is written for you. I love you all SO MUCH!

To everyone who is new to this story: "Wake the Ashes" is a sequel to a previous fanfic I wrote titled "Space Bound," which followed various bounty hunters but mainly Cad Bane during the last days of the Republic and the fall of the Jedi Order. I finished it in March '13, had to take a break from Star Wars fanfiction for a while, but now I'm back with a continuation of the story.

This fanfiction is going to be set almost entirely from 18 BBY to 9 BBY. The main cast features Cad Bane, Boba Fett, Embo, and various canon characters and OC's. Expect themes such as the Empire's humanocentric speciesism, the early stages of the Rebellion, and a lot of character backstories intertwining together.

Just a safe disclaimer: if you have read some of my earlier fanfiction, you already know what to expect. If you haven't, I'll warn that they can become very serious, dark, and mature at times, and "Wake the Ashes" will be no exception. In "Space Bound" I went very far with how I decided to write the characters. Now I'm taking everything to the next level up. You'll understand what that means in time.

Although Disney/Lucasfilm recently released a "new" form of the Star Wars timeline, apparently, I'm still sticking to the classic "BBY-ABY" that everyone is familiar with, just to avoid confusion.

Feedback/comments/questions/praise/critique in the form of reviews are highly appreciated and welcome.

"Wake the Ashes" is rated M for strong violence/gore and intense situations, mature themes, and Terran profanity.

"Wake the Ashes"

Chapter One: Ashes

"Takira, tell me how to love

Takira, show me how to bloom

Somehow you rose from ashes

Will you let me rise with you"

-the Takira song

"Peace!

After a perilous three years that swept the galaxy into a bloody civil war, the Republic, in all its glory and splendor, at last put an end to the violence. All conflict has been resolved, and justice has been restored.

Now everyone may enjoy their lives in happiness, prosperity, and security, under the new Galactic Empire!

The betrayal and attempted uprising of the Jedi Order was put to an end by the Emperor. Now we are stronger than ever—dedicated to the safety and well-being of each and every citizen. The old form is done away with. All things are new, and all things are well.

The Empire is one thousand times stronger than the old Republic. With the support, gratitude, and cooperation from all citizens, we will remain strong and at peace for a thousand generations to come.

Let everyone trust the Empire to protect them, keep them secure, and allow each citizen to live according to the law so conflict will never rise up again. Let the Empire decide what is right for each and every citizen so we may remain in harmony with each other. Let the master and most supreme of all galactic species, the Humans, bless us with their higher intellect, rationale, and goodness, so the non-Humans may learn to follow their ways and become better species themselves.

The Empire will never fail us. The Empire will never fall.

There are those who speak of yet another civil war. Do not listen to them. Do not let them sacrifice your children to a nonexistent cause. Do not let them warp your mind into believing the Empire will threaten you and your family. These are all lies fed to you by those who only desire more bloodshed and chaos.

Instead, embrace the truth that the galaxy is more secure and prosperous than it has ever been before. Remain strong through your Empire, follow the ways of the master Human species, and listen to your superiors. Do these things, and all will be at peace.

Long live the Emperor!"

18 BBY – 1 year after the birth of the Galactic Empire

Outer Rim, Tatooine system – approximately 1200 miles from Bestine

.

"Goodnight, Tee," he said.

He gently tucked the blanket under her chin. Then he pulled the drapes closed so the sunlight would not hit her when she awoke.

As he stood over her, his body froze for several seconds. Just so he could look down and ponder what she might be dreaming about, as she soundly slept with the faintest trace of a smile. The trouble was, he could not really think of anything she may have been dreaming about, save a memory or two they shared.

Judging by the state of her blankets, pillows, and the small pile of dishes he found at the foot of her bed, the butler droid had not done as decent a job as it supposedly had been programmed for. Nevertheless, when he came home to find her that night, it was clear that Tee had been well-fed, finished her holobook, and went to bed at an early hour. And these were all good signs, because he still did not fully know how to work on those droids all on his own with nothing but raw tools.

The night was late and dawn would be striking the lonely desert with light before the end of the next hour. Cad Bane, who had not slept for three standard days in a row, made his way through the darkness of the room. Tee's bed was behind a curtain, which blocked the view of her growing collection of, what Tee liked to call, trinkets. Bane thought the term useless small pieces of garbage and debris was more appropriate, but he kept that to himself. On the other side of the room, a large bay window looked out to the desolate land beyond and surrounding. There were two chairs, a dejarik table, a caf pot, and a medical droid that was still not done being built. A wooden floor sagged in the middle. The only light was from the glowing, flashing controls and buttons against the wall, which servedthe third-level security system Bane had installed over one year ago.

Bane opened the door to his own room and stumbled inside. An unmade bed had never looked so warm and welcoming. He rubbed his eyes, using caution on his left so not to inflict a sting in it. With the last of his energy, and not even knowing if he was truly doing it or not, Bane pulled off his duster and let it fall on the floor. It was enough of a comfort. He did not even bother to dismantle anything else before he fell down on the bed, landing on his back. He let out a long sigh, marinated with exhaustion and topped with the remnants of a previous pain-killing medicine.

And he felt very tired and very out of place. It had been a year, but he still couldn't get his head around it...that every time he returned home he had a little girl to watch over and make sure she was all right, and then the next morning he would have to take on the role of every adult figure who should have been there for her a long time ago but never showed up. So whatever happened to them all, from the loving parents to the schoolteachers to crazy uncles and cousins, whether of not they were of the living, they could go fuck themselves.

Before he let himself go to sleep, Bane stretched one hand out into the darkness toward the shelf on the wall, rummaging around without so much as bothering to lift his head and save himself the trouble. When he finally found what he was looking for, he pulled down his medical kit. He opened it up and the hololight on the underside of the lid illuminated the medicines and bandages. He grabbed a bacta patch and put it on the side of his head.

What was Tee smiling about in her sleep, he still wondered. She could be dreaming about that infant anooba she saw in town two weeks ago. Bane, who knew that keeping Tee indoors constantly would stunt her physical and mental growth, opted to allow her on a trip with him to the nearest town every so often. Not that it was much of a town anyway—just a place for the local farmers to get drunk and load up on supplies. It served very few other purposes. The traveling merchant had been selling exotic pets, and when Tee laid eyes on the small creature with its brothers and sisters in the cage, she yanked on the sleeve of Bane's duster. He had been used to the gesture by then, and he had not been startled. Bane had just shaken his head and waited until they were alone when he could explain in full why it was an absolutely ridiculous idea that they should get a pet. Once he had listed off the top five, he let it settle at that. Still, Tee told him that once she was old enough she would save up enough credits to buy one anyway. More head shaking on his part.

Or in her sleep, she could be humming a song. Particular, the song.

Tee insisted it was her song, but it wasn't. Bane remembered. The first time he sang it to her was not even a week after that day. The day they first met, where they were surrounded by ashes as rain poured down to wash it all away, and she had covered her head with the poncho Embo gave her. That poncho was the curtain shielding her bed right now.

19 BBY – one year ago

.

Few words were spoken between the three of them—Embo, Bane, and the little green Twi'lek girl. Ryloth was frightfully silent, the only sound being the small patter of rain onto the ashes and the surface of Embo's ship. The graveyard was gray and it was quiet and no one spoke a word. Whether lack of words was out of respect, numbness, or timidity was up to the individuals.

Once they were in his ship, Embo took them to the nearest medic bay, according to him, for two reasons. First, he did not have enough proper supplies to treat Bane, and did not feel he would have fulfilled his end of the bargain until he knew Bane could walk away on his own. Second, Embo wanted to be certain the little girl was not suffering from illnesses or internal injuries of any sort.

Fortunately, Embo's precautions regarding Tee returned negative. The once retired doctor named Ihtak, still hiding away on his small moon, welcomed them in at a price Bane insisted on paying. Tee had suffered minor traumatizing over a period of several months, but Ihtak assured he had seen younglings her age recover from far worse. Embo left when and only when he knew that both of them were in good hands and could get on by.

And so the Kyuzo bounty hunter left quietly without so much as saying goodbye. He forgot his poncho.

Bane was resting on a mattress in a cold, bright room. He held a cold cloth with soothing disinfectant on the gash over his left eye. His dislocated knee was wrapped in a bag of ice. The little Twi'lek girl, arms crossed beneath her poncho, sat down next to him. A slight startle rippled through him at the touch, and he looked down at her.

"I just learned something," the little Twi'lek girl said softly.

"What's that?" he asked a long pause later.

"I know your name because you told me, but you don't know my name."

"Not a good thing?" Bane guessed.

"No, we're supposed to know everybody's names."

"All right...go ahead. What's your name?" He switched hands and leaned his head back against the wall. An image flashed in front of his eyes and his throat began to throb. Two days ago; it had all happened two days ago.

"My name's Tee."

"What's it short for?"

"No, just Tee," the girl said, almost in self-defense, and not knowing exactly what he had meant.

"Well, that's no good. That's got to be short for something."

She hugged her knees a little tighter. Bane looked down at her; she was licking her upper lip. Another half a minute passed before either of them spoke again.

"Like what?"

"Anything you want. Doesn't seem fair someone else should pick it for you."

Tee did not choose a name at first. Before one standard week had passed, Bane decided they had hung around Ihtak's long enough. So one day Cad Bane took Tee with him to town, where they bought a ship that would take them to his hideout on Tatooine. Because Bane left sooner than he should have, his knee did not heal properly from the dislocation, and by the end of the year he realized he would be walking with a limp, most likely, for the rest of his life.

The first night in their new home was the hardest. Bane, of course, did not sleep at all. Tee found a corner where she stuffed a few pillows, wrapped herself in her poncho, and closed her eyes. An hour later she woke up screaming.

"Stop touching me. Stop touching me," was the most frequent sentence Bane could make out between Tee's sobs and whimpers.

And the fact that as soon as she said those words Bane knew exactly why she was saying them, was what made his stomach tingle with nausea. But most first nights are the hardest, after all.

To stop Tee from thrashing and scratching her arms open, Bane held her close to him, firmly but gently. When Tee had stopped screaming and settled down to crying softly, she asked him to sing her something. And he sang the first song that came to mind, which was a lullaby written for a particular type of flower that grew on systems like Naboo, Alderaan, and Rodia. The flower was called the Takira flower, and the next morning, Tee woke up and told him that she had decided what her real name was going to be.

And from then on, Tee was the little Takira flower. A bud, bruised but persisting to grow still, and reach for the sun.

Ever since then, she used the name Takira to sign her holobooks and other such assigned reading. So perhaps, tonight, she was hearing that song in her sleep and that was what kept her smiling. Because for over a year, it was the only song she wanted to hear on the nights that were hard.

Bane kicked his boots onto the floor. The medical kit was returned to its place on the shelf. He used his teeth to pull off his gloves, which he tossed next to the boots. Then he finally closed his eyes. He felt that he could sleep for a week. If he were to open his eyes and glance to his left, a rifle would be propped against the wall ready to be drawn, loaded, and aimed at any second's notice. And as Cad Bane mulled over the events spanning the past several days, he also considered the number of living beings that had been killed by that rifle. When he purchased it one year ago, it had only been fired at targets and holo-simulations. Since then, it had taken care of more than its fair share of any creature who had come too close to the premises, such as krayt dragons, wraids, and the occasional rogue Tusken. Bane made a mental note that when he awoke he would investigate the small death trap outside to see if it had caught anything during his absence. If the hypothetical victim was still alive by then, and as long as Tee stayed behind, he could have a bit of fun.

After he took in Tee a year ago and they made a permanent stay at his hideout on Tatooine, the entire game play changed for him. Where once Bane had no problems with journeying from one side of the galaxy to the other for the sake of his work, now a strong barrier had been set in place. It was not as simple as trusting Tee's safety, well-being, and entire life in the hands of a few machines. Even if said machines were as professional and up-to-date as Bane could get them.

For one entire year, he had disappeared from the rest of the galaxy. He cut off all contact with what was happening in the outside world. He made himself invisible to all of his employers, erasing availability to any job offers. No one else knew their whereabouts or about what happened on Ryloth. No one else save for Ihtak and Embo even knew he was alive. For one year the rest of the criminal underworld most likely speculated as to why Bane had suddenly vanished days after the birth of the Galactic Empire...as if any of them really gave a shit. And for one year, Bane killed nothing but the critters and creatures that wandered too close to the house, and his only company was the ten-year-old little Twi'lek girl named Tee.

Who knows why he decided to disappear like that. Maybe there was just something wrong with him and he had lost some of his spine after that day. Maybe everything changed a little too quickly for him to keep up. Maybe pointing a gun at your own head and pulling the trigger, then opening your eyes after you thought you'd never see the light again, did something permanent to your soul, and no matter how you tried you were never going to be the someone you were before.

How did one return to the way things used to be before, after all that had conspired? How did one go back to normal as if everything had not changed? How did one walk away from that without a different perspective?

Whatever it was, it was enough to force him off the scene for that period of time. Now Bane knew for sure. Scum like his kind would have been better off if the Empire wiped them all out in a clean sweep, just like with the Jedi Order. They should have all died the day the Republic died. None of them should have lived past that day, and none of their names should have been remembered a day after. It was all just one big fucking rat race. He knew that, now.

And by the time that year-long break was over, he found that he was quite tired...tired of the bounty tallies. Tired of looking up to who was higher on the ladder so they could be dragged down. Tired of forcing one's self to forget the people were benefiting from your services, the kind of people who should have been castrated and immobilized while they were still younglings. It all made him tired and he had not even realized he was tired until the day he and Tee walked into the hideout deep in the deserts of Tatooine that he had neglected up until then. Not until he spent nearly a fifth of his bank account to install a security system in the hideout, as well as tidy it up to make it more welcoming for a ten-year-old girl. That was when Cad Bane felt tired. Very and inescapably tired.

Bane's bank accounts were still stacked up high from all he had earned during the war. With this he spent double, triple what he normally would have on a security system for the house. That, and letting Tee browse the HoloNet for all the clothing she wanted, which were promptly delivered to a spaceport roughly four-hundred miles away. The rest of the money was saved away as backup for necessary materials. And for a year, this backup supply deteriorated bit by bit, until one day Bane realized he had to return to his old work if he was going to keep food on the table.

But by the time he returned, his agenda, too, had changed. No jobs outside of Tatooine or any surrounding systems. None. No exceptions.

Needless to say, a lot was different from there on out. Running to the nearest repair shop to fix a technological device or speeder that stopped working? Spending credits left and right on new weapons? Developing the same post-war reputation as a galactic freelancer Bane's peers were fond of these days? All out of the question.

Times were not so easy anymore, both because of the end of the war and because he would only take work that was not far away from Tee. They were only going to get harder in the years to come, and Bane knew that. For his kind, in their particular predicament, the days ahead looked long and full of drought, struggle, and sweat. The old times of fortune and fame were mere memories, now.

But when he looked at the alternative, the days ahead seemed far brighter.

The alternative? A trust broken, a pair of loose lips...Tee dead in his arms.

That would never, ever happen again. Not with Tee.

There were many things he once thought were true that maybe were not so true anymore, but that much would never change.

This was Bane's final thought before exhaustion overcame a wandering mind, and he fell asleep just as the first ray of daylight was approaching that small, black house and its two living inhabitants.