Yavin 4 was a peaceful moon. The majority of the surface was covered in expansive, green forests and blooming vegetation. Its rich plant life made the air more than breathable to humans, in addition to providing little in the way of natural threats or risks. Despite this, and in much part to it's galactic obscurity, it was not vastly inhabited. The highest level of activity the moon ever saw was when the Rebel Alliance had called it home. Since then, it had returned to as peaceful a place as ever. But, based on their intel, it seemed the First Order was trying to change all that.

They had hit the moon mid-day, leaving them with only a few more hours of sunlight to take in the lay of the land. Moira and Cassian had gotten about thirty minutes north of the ship when M suddenly broke the silence that had began to sprout between them.

"He'll… be okay, right?"

"What?" Cassian mumbled back. He was following Moira at a rather cursory pace, attention consumed by the holodisk in his hand as he read incoming mission prompts.

"Kaytoo," she called back. "Will he be alright? I feel bad leaving him on the ship."

Cassian chuckled and shook his head. "You pilots and your droids. He will be fine. Kay's a lot tougher than one of your little astromechs."

She threw her arms out into an shrug before they disappeared back under her newly adorned poncho. "Whatever you say, Captain."

"Trust me, having Kay stay on the ship is better for everyone. Taking him with us would just cause suspicion."

"Yeah, I get it. It's gotta be hard to pass off a seven-foot enforcer droid casually. He's not as inconspicuous as, you know, an astromech or something."

Cassian's eyes flashed up from his holodisk. He found himself inexplicably smiling at the bouncing mess of hair ahead of him. "How much further do we have to go?"

"There's a clearing up on the top of this hill," she told him, pointing upwards in the direction they were already headed. "If I remember right, it should give you a decent view of the old rebel base."

"And then how much further to the compound?"

"Maybe half a click. It's pretty close now."

Cassian nodded, picking up his pace to stride beside her. He pushed his pack off of one of his shoulders, reaching in to exchange the holodisk for a pair of macrobinoculars. "Once we get up there, stay quiet and low. We don't know how wide of a perimeter they've set."

Moira nodded, allowing him to take the lead up the mound.

The temperature change in the clearing was brutal. The sun had been out in full force that day, and if weren't for the excess of canopy cover, they would have certainly fallen victim to heat exhaustion already. However, it was a small price to pay. Their view of the Great Temple was more than decent; it was astonishing.

The pair took position behind an old metal slab that sat in the center of the clearing, slowly being consumed by plant life. Moira readied herself, keeping an eye out around them and actively awaiting Cassian's next instruction. But, after catching a glimpse of his expression, she realized it wouldn't be so prompt.

Cassian's mouth sat ajar as he stared out over the horizon at the series of temples laid out before them. Each stone creation was as remarkable as the next, but the Great Temple stood out with particular magnitude. The corners of his mouth tugged upwards as he took it in, his wonderment almost child-like. His eyes rabidly consumed the image of the highly romanticized and legendary rebel base. An odd feeling sat in the pit of his stomach - one that he couldn't quite place. He decided, if anything, that it was a mix of reverence and nostalgia.

Moira smiled at him, all too knowingly. "There's nothing like seeing it for the first time, huh?"

He turned to her slightly and nodded, still in a slight daze. There was a flicker of elation in his tired eyes that seemed all too rare. "It's… bigger than I expected."

Moira chuckled and looked back out at the temples. "Just like the Rebellion. But I know what you mean. I can't tell you how many times I got lost playing in there as a kid."

Cassian shot her a curious look, but forced himself to swallow his interest, remembering the mission at hand. He mentally kicked himself for allowing his distraction to last so long. "I'm going to get a closer look. Watch my back." Cassian began leveraging himself atop the steel remains as discretely as possible, bringing the macrobinoculars to his eyes as the heat beat down on him.

"Aye, aye, Captain," Moira mumbled as she turned her back against the slab.

At first, glance, the temple seemed deserted - as he assumed it was supposed to. But the harder Cassian looked, the more peculiarities he noticed. Tucked in the outer corners were piles of debris, not unlike what they had encountered earlier, that looked as if they had been dragged out from within the temple. In addition, subtle pathways had been made in the surrounding vegetation, heading out in various directions about the base. But most incriminating was the quick glimmer of light he caught within the hangar. Increasing the magnification, Cassian stared into the dark, bottom section of the temple, desperate to reassure himself of what he saw. Moments ticked by as he held the macrobinoculars steady to eyes. Moira began to stir beside him. Then it finally came again. The glint was unmistakable.

"Stormtroopers."

Cassian almost nodded, prematurely processing what Moira had said. He immediately pushed off the rubble, dropping the binoculars to see her looking more than alert. She was stuck somewhere between a crouch and preemptive running position.

"Where?" He whispered, leveling with her.

Moira pointed across the clearing, towards the woods in the back.

It took him a moment, but he saw them, still far enough away that only occasional glimpses of their white armor came through the trees. Cassian counted two, rounding the wooded section and heading towards a natural opening into the field.

"Looks like a patrol," Cassian confirmed, quickly stuffing the rogue macrobinoculars into his bag.

"What's the plan?" Moira asked, eyes wide as she bounced on her toes. "Run or fight?"

"Neither. They'll see us if we run. And if we start firing at them them, they'll just send for another patrol, probably with more men."

"Then what do we do?"

Cassian smirked. "We improvise. Take off your pack." He began to quickly unbutton his shirt in front of her while she just looked on, perplexed. Cassian reached out and ruffled her hair. "Trust me, Dehaan."

Moira only hesitated for a moment more before dropping her pack on the ground, continuing to mess up her hair.

Cassian nearly threw himself down on the glade before motioning Moira over. She slid down beside him as the Stormtroopers began to round the bend into the clearing.

"Just play along," he muttered.

Then Cassian was up against her, forcing their bodies down on the ground in an entangling of arms and legs. She quickly latched onto his idea and wrapped her arms around him, running one hand down his back. Cassian pressed an arm into her hip, forcing his way under to get a full grip on her waist before burrowing his head into her neck. His lips just barely grazed her skin as he got adjusted, sending a chill down her spine despite the overwhelming heat. An embarrassed thought reassured her that it was just due to the stress and adrenaline of the situation and nothing more.

"Hey! What's going on over here? Break it up."

"Here we go," Cassian muttered as he pulled away from her.

They both carefully sat up, Cassian making sure to keep both hands tight on her and hidden beneath the cloak.

"What do you think you're doing?"

He put on a scarily genuine smile. "Sorry, sir. My wife and I were just on our way to visit some friends when we got a little... distracted." He playfully nudged Moira, readjusting their positioning so that one of his hands rested atop the blaster on her thigh.

"This is a restricted area," the Stormtrooper continued. "You can't be here."

"I'm so sorry, sir. We didn't know," Cassian replied, carefully unholstering the blaster. "We're just travelers, passing through."

Instinctively, Moira clutched the hand that still rested on her waist, her palm clammy as she sat, subject to whatever choice he would make.

The Stormtrooper stared back, taking in their statement, as the other scanned the field.

Beneath her cloak, Cassian had fully aimed the blaster and sat waiting.

Moments that felt like minutes passed, filled only with the intermittent sounds and sizzling heat of the environment around them. Then, finally, the first Stormtrooper spoke. "Alright, just finish up here quickly and be on your way."

"Yes, sir," Cassian responded. "Of course."

Yet the Stormtroopers hesitated.

Moira cleared her throat. "Don't worry, boys. He's always quick."

Cassian's grip on her waist became tighter and she swore she heard him mutter something under his breath.

A light chuckle arose from the second Stormtrooper. He gently tapped his buddy on the shoulder who waived him off. He shook his head and readied his weapon in his hands.

"Alright. All hail the First Order," stated the trooper, sounding copiously exhausted.

"All hail the First Order," replied Cassian and Moira, mirroring about the same level enthusiasm.

The trooper gave them one final nod before motioning his counterpart onward with him.

The two of them remained utterly still until the Stormtroopers were clear of the area. When Cassian pushed her blaster back into it's holster, Moira took it as a sign that she could breathe again.

"Next time, let me do the talking," Cassian said, shooting her a thin look of annoyance.

"You told me to play along. I played along."

Cassian's expression was deadpan. "You did so dangerously. Not all Stormtroopers will be as blasé as those two were."

"They seemed tired," Moira noted. "Maybe overworked?"

Cassian conceded a nod to her. "The First Order may be spread thin here. Whatever this is, it feels off the books to me."

Moira furrowed her brow. "The First Order doing things off the book? Why?"

"You'd be surprised what their officers will do to try and get ahead." Cassian straightened himself, preparing to stand, when his eyes shot down to Moira's cloak and lingered there.

Cassian found an odd pleasure in watching her transition from confusion to realization as her cheeks turned a violent pink. She flippantly released his hand from against her, scooting away as if he were diseased. "S-sorry. I didn't realize that I was still…"

"It's okay," Cassian stood, dismissing her with a wave of his hand. "I won't tell your boyfriend."

Moira followed suit, brushing the particles of dirt from her legs as she rose. "I don't have a boyfriend."

Cassian shot her an incredulous look as he slung his momentarily abandoned pack over his shoulder. He grabbed Moira's from the ground and thrust it into her arms. "If you say so."

"I am saying so," she reaffirmed, resuming her lead. "No boyfriend. Just boy friends."

"Ah. Then earlier, what I saw was just you being friends with the commander?"

Moira's step caught for a second in the brush. "Yeah. It was. We're good friends."

"I should warn you that Dameron has had quite a lot of 'good friends'."

Moira smacked a low hanging branch out of their way as they reentered the canopy of the forest, the broken limb splintering to the ground. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Cassian snickered and shook his head. "I've been with the Resistance a lot longer than you. I know my fair share."

"Alright, then what is it exactly you've got against Poe?"

There was a tempered silence between them as Cassian formulated his response.

"I have a certain respect for Commander Dameron and what he does for the Resistance."

"But?" Moira inserted for him.

"You won't like what I have to say," he warned her.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," she replied with a dry sarcasm.

"Fine." Cassian let out a shallow sigh. "He's horribly problematic. He's an ace pilot, yes - maybe our best. But he's arrogant and reckless. Every mission he completes, he deviates from the mandate somehow, then writes it off as 'unforeseen complications', leaving someone else to clean up the mess. Not only that, but he takes unnecessary risks with his own life and the lives of everyone who flies under him. The spirit he encourages is not a courageous one, like he boasts, but a wild one; a dangerous spirit that serves to ail the Resistance and its easily influenced members."

Then there was silence between them once again. Moira's steps became a bit more vigorous as they continued through the forest.

"I told you that you wouldn't like it," Cassian reminded her.

"People are allowed to have different opinions," she grumbled. "This is just one point we greatly disagree on."

"So what's your argument for Dameron then?"

Moira threw a look back at him. "I don't want to debate. I like him, you don't. It's fine."

"The way you're acting; it doesn't seem fine."

"Well it is," she hissed, sliding through some trees down a decline in the path.

"So you vehemently call him your friend, but can't produce a level headed defense of him?"

She didn't respond, but instead increased her pace.

"Really? Nothing?" Cassian pressed. "I see. Looks like deep down you probably agree with me, but you're too afraid to admit it to yourself. Too blinded by your love for him. I promise, whatever you think you are to him, you're not. He's just using you to satisfy his ego. Once he gets what he wants, he'll toss you aside like all the other girls."

Moira stopped dead in her tracks and turned on her heel, marching straight up to him. Her hands balled into white-knuckled fists as she glared up at Cassian, a small stream of sunlight casting an amber gleam in her eye. "Listen. You don't know a god damn thing about Poe and I," she seethed. "You have no clue what we've been through together. You clearly do not know him and you certainly don't know me. So shut the hell up about it."

Cassian glowered back at her, expression cool as ever. "Or what?"

Moira did not respond right away. Instead she let out several sharp exhales, her chest rising and falling with each humid gasp of air. She stared into Cassian's dark eyes, her anger dissipating with each steady breath as she read into him. "You're pushing me on purpose, aren't you?"

His eyes flickered with what she hoped was surprise. Cassian didn't say anything but he didn't deny it either.

Moira simply shook her head. "Unbelievable. What kind of fucked up mission is this?" She raised an arm, pointing off towards the quickly darkening side of their path. "The compound is behind that tree cluster over there. Code to get in is one-one-three-eight." She retightened the satchel on her back and pushed past him.

"Where are you going?" Cassian demanded as she trudged away.
"To talk to my parents. At least I know they won't try to manipulate me."

Cassian sighed and watched her go. He was just doing as his mission mandated him to. Simply challenging her wasn't even comparable to the ruthless, unconcerned acts he had to pull on other missions. But, even after reassuring himself with such a reminder, he found a heaviness settle into the pit of his stomach. For the first time, in a long time, Captain Cassian Andor felt truly guilty.