Riyo sat across from Chairman Papanoida – Chi Eekway, that was – she had succeeded her father for the title several years prior. Chi's office was situated atop a tall building in the center of Pantora's capitol, with wide windows looking out over the beautifully designed city. It was a breathtaking view, to say the least.

She'd known Chi for years, since her early days as a senator. That made this whole thing somewhat easier.

The woman smiled at her, "I wasn't expecting you back from Coruscant so soon, Riyo." She quirked an eyebrow, "Your… er… outing with that Grand Admiral has been feeling the news outlets here…"

Riyo frowned. "Yes. Well. I encourage you to ignore the reports, it was nothing."

She tapped on a datapad, "I thought it might be something we need to discuss. This man has quite the reputation. Have you seen how many times he's been court marshaled? I mean…" She paused when a candid photo of Riyo and Thrawn at the event flashed onto the screen of her datapad. "Well. I guess I can't really blame you too much… He's certainly... appealing... What's wrong with his eyes?"

"Chi." She swiped the pad from her hands, turning it off. "That's not what I'm here to discuss, but if you'd like some sort of closure, I can assure you it's nothing you will ever have to worry about in the future."

Chi looked at her across the desk for a moment. "That bad?"

"This topic is no longer up for discussion. Chi, I'm here to resign my position as Pantora's senator."

Her voice dropped. "What?"

She spread her fingers on the desk, "I know this seems sudden…"

"Sudden? Not at all, really." She started talking faster, excited by the prospect. "Riyo, you know Pantora has been split on staying with the Empire or leaving for quite some time. You've been such an outspoken proponent of staying – if you're now changing your mind, I think the people of Pantora will follow you. This could be what we need to…"

"No." Riyo cut her off. "Pantora needs to stay with the Empire."

Her mouth hung open for a moment. "What? I'm sorry Riyo, I'm terribly confused. Why exactly are you resigning?"

Riyo inhaled deeply. "While I was on Coruscant, I began to have… concerns about the direction the Empire is heading in. Very deep concerns. You know very well this has been on my mind for some time. I was very convinced that it was time for Pantora to leave the Empire. So I went to seek some advice from an old friend – do you remember the Alderaanian senator, Bail Organa?"

Chi nodded. "I do."

"Chi… I want you to know that I only bring this up with you because you are one of my oldest friends. I know I can trust you. And I also know that you have been a heavy proponent of leaving the Empire for some time. There are… a few worlds out there who operate under the Empire, but lend aid to the Rebellion."

Chi leaned forward on her desk, raising her eyebrows. "What are you suggesting Riyo?"

She lowered her voice – not that she needed to, but for some reason it made her feel better. "Listen, Chi, you and I both know the Empire cannot last. There's so much instability as is. And our people – they deserve better than this. But sometimes… sometimes it's most efficient to tear a machine apart from the inside."

"You're saying Pantora should remain allied with the Empire publicly, but work with the Rebellion?"

"Alderaan has been operating as such for some time now. The Rebellion needs resources in this area. They need ships, and they need a base."

"Riyo, where would we possibly harbor something like that? Pantora is relatively small…"

She shook her head, "That's the best part. Pantora doesn't have to host them. The Empire left a massive, deserted mining operation on Oro Plutonia. And god knows the Talz aren't fond of the Empire – they'd be more than willing to lend their resources."

It was a good idea. Chi knew this. She leaned back in her chair, tilting her head up a little. "That is… interesting."

"Here is my proposal: I will officially resign my position tomorrow. We can spin some story that I was asked to leave – make it look like the government of Pantora isn't pleased with my actions as of late. Say it has something to do with my appearance that that event. I don't really care. Then replace me with someone passive, someone who won't rock the boat in the Imperial senate, someone more or less invisible. I'll "retire" to some humanitarian position – people will buy that. In reality, I'll act as a liaison between the people of Pantora and Oro Plutonia, and the Rebellion." She shook her head. "We can aid the Rebellion right under their noses and they'll never know until it's too late."


Immediately after her resignation, there was a flood of press. Everyone wanted to know – why? Was it her decision? Was it the decision of the Pantoran counsel? She kept a good face about it publicly, but left an open implication that she had not left the position by her own will. The rumor caught, and took months to die down.

She kept her head low and became the face of a charitable organization that "worked to provide medical relief to remote and poverty-stricken areas". What her organization really did was give her a free pass to travel back and forth to Oro Plutonia as often as she needed, without arousing any suspicion.

The Talz, as she expected, were completely in support of lending the abandoned mines to the Rebellion. And in less than two years, they had an entire operation up and running. A fleet of Rebel ships stayed stationed around the planet, and a full base operation ran out of the old mines.

Pantora lent aid as it was able to – while they'd never excelled in defense, they could offer medical aid, political influence, and that all important resource: money.

It was, without a doubt, the most rewarding thing she'd done in a very long time. She felt alive again, working for a cause that she knew, at the very core of her being, was right.

And it was rewarding in another way as well, in a way she never would have expected in her wildest dreams. It came in the form of a rekindled friendship, with someone she thought was long gone. She couldn't believe it, when she saw the Togruta woman standing before her. It couldn't have been Ahsoka. Ahsoka had died years ago, along with the others. Surely it was just a similar woman… with the same coloring… and the same montral markings…

She grinned at Riyo.

Oh stars, it was her.

"Y… You're alive?"

Ahsoka scooped her into a tight hug, "Yes… Riyo, it's so good to see you again…"

Riyo could barely speak. "No. No, it's good to see you." She stepped back from the woman, feeling dizzy. "How… where… what…"

Ahsoka grinned, "I thought you were supposed to be a good speaker? Or have your skills gotten rusty since you gave up your position in the Senate?"

"I can't believe you're alive. I thought…" Her voice caught and she made herself stop.

True to form, she laughed. "Sometimes I can't believe it either." She shrugged. "But hey, I'm going to be here for awhile. So I think we're going to have plenty of time to catch up."


Riyo hurried around her apartment trying to get ready for the day. She had a full schedule ahead – she needed to swing by the headquarters of her charity for a brief appearance, then needed to make her way to Oro Plutonia with a stash of medical supplies, after which she was slated to meet with the admiral of the base to discuss further expansion of the Rebellion's presence in the area. And after all that, she and Ahsoka were supposed to meet for drinks and stories. They'd spent a good deal of time the past few weeks since she'd reappeared swapping stories, but Ahsoka had once been her closest friend. Twenty years of catching up took time.

Sitting on her counter top, her datapad lit up with a message. And another. And another.

Evidently, she was much needed today.

She checked it – it pinged with a fourth message. All four from the same source – not a recognized contact in her system, but a random number. She ignored it and went to find her hairpiece.

It buzzed with another message. And another. And another.

She pinned her hair back with the golden hairpiece and grabbed the datapad as she walked to the door. It received another message. All of them were from the same unknown number.

Curiosity overtook her as her transport made its way to the headquarters. She'd received three more messages from the same number in the time it took her to get seated. She clicked the first message to open it. It contained no text, not even a signature block. All that it had was an attachment, labeled with one word: Batonn.

She opened another message. It was the same thing. All the messages contained the exact same document.

Batonn. She'd tried to forget about it. More than anything, she wanted to put it all behind her. Batonn and Thrawn. And the years she'd spent with him. It was all in the past. She didn't want to remember any of it.

Another of the same message came through. She turned off her datapad.

The trip from Pantora to Oro Plutonia took three hours. She kept herself busy for the first few hours, but toward the end of the trip things died down and curiosity overcame her. She turned the datapad on.

She had 67 more messages from the same unknown contact, all with the same attachment. She moved to a private room on the ship and opened the attachment.


"Miss Chuchi, it's wonderful to see you again." The Lieutenant greeted her as he always did when she stepped off the ship and onto the Rebel base. She barely noticed – her mind was buzzing, reeling from what she'd just read.

"Tano. I need to speak to Tano. Do you know where she is?"

He looked at her blankly. "Er… yeah, I think I saw her working on a ship earlier near the launch pad…"

"Good. Take me to her. Now."

They hurried off.

Ahsoka frowned when she saw Riyo. "What's wrong?"

Riyo felt her mouth hanging open. Where to even begin? "Ahsoka… I need to ask you a huge favor."

She hesitated. "Of course. What do you need?"

"I need you to get me onto the Imperial base on Lothol."

Her frown deepened. "Ah… what? Lothol? What do you need to go to Lothol for?"

She shook her head, "I owe someone very important a very big apology…"