Cassian Andor's eyes shot open, his mind instantly alert as he regained consciousness, as it always had the last few years. There was no time to for grogginess, to slowly enter the world around him. There was too much death for that. His eyes peered down, looking at his legs, a panic setting in as he realized he was unable to move them. Letting out a terrified scream, he tried to take in his surroundings. It appeared to be some kind of medical bay. It was sterile and cold, but worst of all was that Cassian had no idea how he had gotten here, or who had taken him.
"Cassian," a feminine voice said, the voice strong but soothing. An orange woman, a Togrutan, he recognized, with large white and blue head tails, entered the room, followed by another woman. A human. Jyn.
"You're okay, Cassian," Jyn assured him, placing a hand on his shoulder, though he was unable to tell whether she was lying more to him or to herself.
"I can't move my legs," he answered back, looking at both women.
"We're working on that," the Togrutan told him, "Our medical personnel is, well, limited, but you should regain use of them. Eventually." Somehow, that was not very reassuring. "I'm Ahsoka Tano."
"How is this possible? I-" he paused, before motioning his hand to Jyn, "We should both be dead."
"When the Death Star fired upon Scariff they lowered the shield generator. I was given instructions by Mon Mothma to retrieve any of the rebels who had joined the illegal mission aboard Rogue One."
"Where are the others?" Cassian asked, though he suspected he already knew the answer to that question. As Ahsoka looked down to the ground, she confirmed that suspicion.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't able to save your friends."
"They weren't my friends," Cassian spouted back quickly, a little too quickly. "And they understood the risk we were taking." The room was silent for a moment. Jyn felt the urge to admonish Cassian for dismissing the lives of Bodhi, Baze and Chirrut, but held her tongue. She knew that their loss hurt Cassian as badly as it did her, even if he refused to acknowledge that now. "Were we successful at least? Did the plans transmit?"
Ahsoka nodded her head, smiling softly. "Yes, you were. Admiral Raddus received your transmission." It was true, but Ahsoka avoided telling Cassian any more. If he knew that the plans had been aboard a captured Rebel ship, it might set back his recovery. And the rebels had other plans for him.
Cassian smiled and Jyn placed an unusually gentle kiss on forehead, "You should rest, Cassian."
The medical bay doors slid open as Ahsoka and Jyn exited, allowing the medical droid to tend to Cassian. The women walked together toward a small window, looking out at the intimidating city scape, the impossibly tall buildings that were once home to Ahsoka. In the distance, the imperial Palace glowed magnificently in the night, a statue of Emperor Palpatine peering menacingly in their direction.
"Do you think they know we're here?" Jyn asked.
"No," Ahsoka replied, confidently. "If they did, we'd already be dead."
The planet, Coruscant, once the most brilliant, shining jewel of the Galactic Republic had gone dark. It would be their job to light it up.
Mon Mothma stood with her long-time friend and ally, Bail Organa on a jet bridge, not far from where Ahsoka, Jyn and Cassian resided. The time had finally come. There could be no more delay. It was time for her to lead the fight, to rebel against an impossible enemy, even if it cost her everything.
"I wish I could go with you," Bail offered wryly.
"We both know that's not possible. Not now, especially if it's true that Luke's ship was boarded by Darth Vader." It was a more crippling blow than anyone in the Empire could possibly have realized. Bail had entrusted his adopted son aboard the Tantive IV with the Death Star plans. He was confident Luke would have been able to get them off the ship prior to the Empire boarding, but that still left his beloved son in the hands of the Empire, likely aboard the battle station they were seeking to destroy. "Besides, we need at least one incorruptible soul on Coruscant."
"I'm not sure there will be a Senate much longer," Bail answered grimly. Ever since Palpatine had declared himself Emperor, the powers of the senate had slowly been eroded, piece by piece, until all that was really left was nothing more than a bureaucratic headache. "But you're far more suited to this than me."
"I can only hope to be up to it," she replied, quite seriously. "I hope the next time I see you it's in better times." With that, Mon Mothma turned to board her ship. Standing next to Captain Syndulla, she gripped the wall before nodding her head. As they rose off the ground, heading toward outer space, the woman turned on her holographic projector. Her image would be broadcast across a number of outlets on Coruscant, but most notably, the Senate floor.
"When you're ready," Captain Syndulla told her.
"This is Senator Mon Mothma," she began, her voice strident, sturdy and unwavering. "The Emperor himself has insinuated that I am a traitor to the Empire, that I am disloyal to the government in which I call myself a senator. Tonight, I tell you that he is correct. My loyalty lies not with a corrupted senate, or with a heartless Galactic Empire. That is not who I am, and I know it is not who you are either. I tell you that I am resigning from the Senate to stand for the Republic we once were.
Long has the Emperor feared a growing uprising, that the disconnected band of rebel cells could one day stand as a threat against him. That time is now! To all those fighting for the values we once held, it is time for us to stand together and to be the rebel alliance the Emperor fears. Join me!"
The hologram ended, and Mothma inhaled deeply, nearly collapsing into her seat. "That was very brave of you, Senator." Captain Syndulla offered, quickly making the jump to hyperspeed.
Having entrusted the Death Star plans to the trustworthy droid, R2-D2, Luke Organa was prepared for the Empire's worst. They could torture him, threaten him, do whatever they wanted to him. He knew his resolve was durable enough to withstand any of it. His father had instructed him to give away nothing, no matter the cost and Luke was prepared to do just that.
Still, for all that bravery, when the stormtroopers marched him in front of the ominous black figure, Luke was not quite prepared. He looked half-man, half-robot. There were rumors that he was trained in the Force, but Luke had always assumed that was propaganda until he stood before him. Now he believed it. The air around him seemed cold, nearly causing Luke to lose his stride.
"You look surprised, Senator," a booming voice taunted him. Still, Luke was well-versed enough not to allow himself to be overtaken by even the presence of the dark lord.
"Only that you think you'll find anything of value aboard this ship, Lord Vader. We're simply on a diplomatic mission to-"
"Do not bore me with your deceit, boy. Sensitive Imperial information was beamed by rebel spies to this ship. In the wrong hands, they could cause a great deal of disorder." That voice again. It could not possibly have been fully human. "If you will not tell me freely what you've done with the information, the Empire has more effective methods of extracting the truth. Take him to the ship," the dark lord, Darth Vader commanded the stormtroopers as they marched the Senator from Alderaan to the Imperial command ship. Beneath his mask, Vader's eyes followed the boy, feeling something, a curious disturbance in the Force that he was not quite able to place.
"Sir, according to the ships logs, an escape pod was jettisoned from the ship just after our boarding commenced," a command trooper informed him. "Based on our preliminary projections, it appears headed toward the outer-rim system of Tatooine." There was little the caught the dark lord by surprise now, but the name of the system caused him to pause. "Should we send a fleet to investigate?"
Vader paused for a moment. He had done a great deal of work to burn out the memories of his old life, to forget that Anakin Skywalker, the weak creature that he was, had ever existed, but Tatooine, those memories were the most difficult ones to erase. It was the place where he had first tapped into a true darkness as he slaughtered an entire village of Sand People in an act of revenge, and the first place Anakin Skywalker had met the woman who he would eventually marry.
"Yes, and prepare my ship. I will join them."