It wasn't hard to sense Bly's emotions, thought Aayla. In fact, they were so strong and changing so fast it almost made her dizzy. Stomach-churning fear followed closely by giddy relief and then fierce anger. Aayla approached cautiously, catching the end of Bly's sentence.

"- wouldn't find it so funny if I still was a Commander" Bly growled. "I'd court martial you on the spot for pulling a stunt like that!"

Aayla's confusion increased. The crowd thinned a little and at last she could see who Bly was talking to. It was Aayla's turn to feel shocked. Bly was talking to Sergeant Daze. But how was that possible? Wasn't he supposed to be far away, manning the garrison on Felucia?

"Well who would've thought Commander Bly doesn't like surprises?" he drawled. He spotted Aayla and nodded. "Good to see you General."

"And you, Sergeant" Aayla replied neutrally. She stole a glance at Bly. He seemed to have calmed down.

"It's been a rough week" mumbled Bly. "I don't really need surprises right now."

Daze grinned and patted Bly on the shoulder "Sorry 'bout that Commander."

Aayla looked around nervously. The facial appearance of the clones was not as well known as it could have been - clones were almost seen with their helmets on. But with two next to each other...

"We should get off the streets" she muttered. She spotted a reasonably smart looking cantina across the street. Aayla turned back to Bly and Daze. "Come on you two." As she walked, she scanned the crowd, stretching her Jedi senses to their fullest. So far so good. Everyone was intent on their own business – she couldn't detect any interest in their small party.

…

The cantina was around three quarters full, clean, with soft lighting and neutral furnishings. It was a world away from the grubby, dingy establishment back on Tatooine. Aayla slid into a booth near the back of the room. Bly sat down next to her and Daze took a seat opposite. Aayla opened her mouth, about to speak but she was interrupted by the serving droid.

"Refreshments?" it snapped brusquely.

Aayla saw Bly look up eagerly. "One mug of lum please." Bly looked at Daze.

"Same for me please."

Aayla frowned. The Jedi code didn't forbid alcohol but it did discourage it. Aayla had never been one to stick religiously to the Jedi code but, in this case, she had followed its teachings on intoxicants. "Just water for me please."

The droid was silent for a moment. If droids could change their facial expressions Aayla was certain this one would be scowling. Eventually the droid scooted off, heading for the bar.

Aayla turned back to Daze. "Bly and I owe you thanks" she said seriously. "I know it was you that called off the attack on Felucia."

Daze shrugged. "We were down to half strength, our CO was down. It was a hopeless fight - we were never going defeat a Jedi. Not without the element of surprise. I did the only sensible thing. I couldn't get my head around Order 66 anyway. I never saw a hint of betrayal in you." He paused. "So you went to Tatooine." It wasn't a question.

Bly gaped. "How did you know about that?!"

Daze looked grim. "It's been all over the news. The Mos Eisley Massacre they're calling it."

Aayla looked down at her boots. She thought she could guess what was coming next.

Bly looked confused. "What are they saying?"

"They didn't say anything about you, Commander. The story is that Aayla Secura and a gang of armed thugs strolled into a cantina on Tatooine, shot the place to pieces and killed everybody inside."

"No" breathed Bly.

"That's what they're saying" replied Daze. He turned to Aayla. "It's not just this story. You've been on the news all the time. They're trying to turn you into some sort of General Grievous type character."

Aayla felt crushed. This revelation made her situation real to her as nothing else had. All her life she had worked as a Jedi to help those who needed help, protect those who needed protecting, mediate where mediation was required. But now the Jedi order was dead - the good it had done already forgotten, swept aside on a tide of lies and hatred. And as for her own life, it was being twisted into a cruel mockery of everything she had ever stood for. Tears welled in her eyes.

Daze looked down awkwardly. "I'm sorry. I know it's not the truth. What really happened on Tatooine?"

Aayla's chest constricted, she was unable to speak, unable to breath. She looked desperately at Bly. He understood immediately and fielded the question. "We were in cantina when a bunch of clone troopers came along. The officer with them said that the planet was interdicted and that they were conducting an investigation. They saw Aayla and tried to arrest her. She took out the troopers but one of them must've managed to call in backup. We were just leaving the place when their backup arrived." Bly's voice shook slightly. "They opened fire. They weren't even aiming at us!" he exclaimed "They just decided they were going to kill everyone. Aayla and I and a few others managed to escape but everyone else was... blown away."

Daze shook his head. "I thought it might be something like that but I never thought..." His sentence trailed away. "I knew it didn't happen they way they said it did. I've fought with both of you. It was just too out of character to believable. To me at least."

"But not to the galaxy, not to those who weren't there" said Aayla in a small voice.

Nobody had anything to say to that. All three were so lost in though, they barely noticed when their drinks arrived.

Daze sipped at his lum. "So how did you end up here?"

"We hitched a lift on the back of a Star Destroyer" Bly replied. "There's a sensor blind spot behind the bridge."

"Nice!" exclaimed Daze. "I would never have come up with something like that." He took another sip of lum. "You must be wondering what I'm doing here."

Mutely, Aayla nodded.

"The Seps surrendered pretty soon after you two left. Right after that, we were ordered off Felucia. We had orders to assist in quelling an uprising on Naboo of all places. Bestine was only meant to be a stop off point. We were given a few hours leave and I didn't return. That's all there is too it."

As Daze told his story, Aayla gently touched his mind – searching for the traces of contradicting thoughts and emotions that would indicate lying. She didn't what what she was expecting. Daze's thoughts and emotions were unreadable. What's more, his mind was closed, inwards looking. Parts of it were completely inaccessible to her Jedi senses. Aayla had never sensed anything like it before. Had he suffered some sort of trauma? Daze couldn't be telling the whole truth she realised. Something more had happened to him since Felucia. Something he wasn't letting on.

…

Aayla couldn't remember when it was that they had decided to return to the ship. In fact, she could barely remember the walk back to the ship, so lost was she in miserable preoccupation. Even as Aayla was thinking about it, the Empire was busily running false stories about her, turning her into the galaxy's public enemy. She thought back to the events on Tatooine. A group had tried to capture her with the intention of selling her to the Empire. Aayla wondered if she could even expect that sort of treatment in the future if she was recognised. More than likely they'll skip the capture part and just kill me on sight she thought bitterly.

And then there had been the mystery of Sergeant Daze to consider. He seemed friendly enough, much the same as he had on Felucia. But something had happened to him. He could hide it from Bly but he couldn't hide it from a Jedi. But what had happened to him? Had the Empire captured him and tortured him? Aayla dismissed the notion. What use could he possibly be to the Empire? He didn't know anything of value. No more than the average clone anyway. Perhaps his escape from his superiors hadn't been as clean as he had implied. Aayla pushed the riddle aside for the moment. It could wait. She turned to Daze and Bly's conversation.

"So let me get this straight" Daze was saying "the Emperor is one of these Sith. A kind of anti-Jedi."

"Yeah."

"But there's a chosen one who is destined to defeat these Sith."

"The Jedi council apparently believed it was General Skywalker. We were going to go looking for him."

Daze looked excited. "Well I'm all for that. The Empire's only been in action for a few days and I've already seen more than enough. I want it gone."

Bly looked into space wistfully. "I want the Republic back."

"Yeah."

"Not the Separatists though. The clankers can stay deactivated forever as far as I'm concerned."

Daze laughed. "How can you be sure Skywalker is still alive?" he said more seriously.

Bly thought for a moment. "We can't be I guess. But if he really is the chosen one he's not going to go down without a fight is he? What would be the point of being the chosen one if you just die straight away?"

"True. So do you know where he is?"

"Well Aayla reckons he's on Coruscant."

Aayla noticed that an odd, haunted look passed briefly across Daze's face at those words. Bly didn't seem to notice anything. Whatever Daze was thinking, it didn't show in his voice. "Well the ship's ready. Are we going in search of Skywalker?"

Bly and Daze both looked at Aayla. Despite everything that had happened, she was still the General. This was her call.

– Notes: A Sunday update for you guys. I should say, thanks for the reviews so far. It's really good to hear from readers. The support means a lot. (I remember somebody mentioned the possibility of romance. I'm not going to confirm or deny that at this point.) The story is still taking shape in mind. On a different note, I'm quite pleased I wasn't writing action and battles for this chapter. The earlier chapters did seem a bit breathless on reflection. This is a chance for things to slow down a little. The character who tapped Bly on the shoulder has been revealed now. His role will become clearer later on. And as for Aayla, poor old Aayla! I actually felt bad for her just writing this. Hope you guys like this one. I'll update soon.

- Edit: Ignore the line in brackets. I've decided that there will be some romance in the story.