(A/N)- Hhhnnnnn I need to step up my writing workload, I'm running out of pre-written chapters here.
Anyway, let's get some optimism up in this bitch.
Warning for a scene of drugging.
Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Star Wars. Darn.
Hopeful Glimmers
It was quiet in the room, the lights dimmed, indicators on the dashboard the only illumination.
Mart leaned over the slumped Kallus, carefully poking him in the side.
There was no reaction at first so he poked harder, more insistently.
Kallus jolted from his sleep, twitching harshly as he lay slumped across the communications panel, his head lifting blearily from his arms.
He gave a long groan.
"Ugh. What is it now, Ensign Mattin?" he asked, smearing a hand across his face.
Mart stepped back a bit, brushing aside unkempt hair and gesturing animatedly.
"Okay so I know you told us it was probably completely useless to keep combing through Imperial chatter," he began.
"Mattin."
"And that it was a waste of time for Sabine and I to make that filtering algorithm to narrow down the search."
"Mattin," Kallus groaned again, face pinching. His eyes blinked over at the cup by his elbow, wondering idly if there was any more caf in it.
"But I added some more keywords and I think..." He paused significantly, growing suddenly timid. "I think I might have found something?" he finished in a quiet, hesitant squeak.
"Go on..." Kallus droned, picking up the cup and squinting at it in analysis.
"Right, so I ran the search with the new filters and I didn't find anything at first," Mart explained.
Kallus nodded, grabbing at the pot Sabine had left for him on the console. The caf inside was probably ice cold now, but it was better than nothing. He poured it dismally into his cup.
"Of course," he acknowledged.
"So I backtracked a few days to right after Ezra went missing right? And expanded the range out to the Mid Rim."
"Are you getting to a point, Ensign Mattin?" Kallus said, a bit snipily, swishing the cold caf in his cup around with a dubious expression staring down into it.
Mart shoved an earpiece against Kallus's earlobe, expression suddenly very intense and angry.
"I found an audio log from the Imperial checkpoint at Ord Mantell. Listen," he ordered.
Kallus blinked slowly and did so, a confusion dropping across his features as he tuned in to the muttering Imperial voices close in his ear.
He listened for several moments, his eyes widening. Taking the earpiece from the boy he pressed it against the side of his head, making sure he was hearing correctly.
"Mart..." he said, slightly in awe, drawing the earpiece slowly away from his ear. "This... this could be exactly the lead we needed!" he exclaimed.
Mart beamed from cheek to cheek, then gawped as Kallus suddenly flung arms around him for a hug.
"Okay! Uh..." he said, flushing slightly, not entirely comfortable with this unusual display of affection from his superior.
Kallus just let go with a fond, "Good job." He hastily set his cup down, gathering up loose flimsi that had scattered across the panel. "Get this on a datachip, we need to get this to Kanan and the others right away."
"On it!" Mart volunteered, moving at once to comply.
-SWR-
The Ghost crew listened with rapt attention, every body ramrod straight as the recording played.
"D—Dockmaster Harran, please be advised..." a shaking woman's voice was saying. "There is an Imperial Inquisitor heading your way."
"An Inquisitor?" The man she was talking to sounded nervous, jittery. "Don't—Don't be absurd," he stammered. "They don't operate this far in."
"Well he has a red lightsaber and an awful temper and he's dragging a very frightened boy along as his prisoner. You tell me what I'm supposed to think," the woman replied.
Everyone in the room straightened a perceptible fraction. The faint humming of a lightsaber blade could be heard in the background, along with frightened exclamations. A loud bang sounded in the recording, and the humming grew suddenly louder.
"I-Inquisitor!" came the man's voice again, blubbering and fearful. "I apologize! We didn't know—"
A low, threatening growl could be heard from someone new. "You will grant my ship clearance to leave immediately. Do you understand?"
Kanan nodded in grim confirmation. "That's him," he said. He never thought he would be so relieved to hear the sound of Maul's voice, even if the quiet, terrified yelp he could hear in the background from Ezra sent pulsing fury coursing through his body.
Sabine was leaning back on her heels. "And he bluffed his way through that checkpoint by pretending to be an Inquisitor?" she asked, slightly incredulous.
"I'm surprised that worked," commented Hera.
"I'm not."
All eyes looked towards Kallus, who only frowned with a serious expression.
He raised his head. "I learned from... experience that when the mystics with the strange powers and the arcane laser swords show up, you don't ask questions, you just get out of the way," he explained.
Understanding nods circled around the room. Zeb punched a fist into his palm.
"Right, so," he said. "When do we leave?"
"Hold on," Hera cautioned, holding up a hand. "All we know is that Maul and Ezra were on Ord Mantell after he was kidnapped. It's a good starting point to look but we can't exactly waltz into an Imperial checkpoint and ask them nicely where they went."
"We don't have to go to Ord Mantell itself," Kanan suggested, rubbing a finger under his beard. "We can start in the adjacent systems first." He frowned suddenly, dropping his hand with a sigh. "But it's still going to be difficult to get into that sector. The Empire's got it locked down pretty tight."
Silence fell for a moment, and Kallus was keenly away of the straining expression on Sabine's face, hopeful and agonized.
Hera finally spoke up.
"I might have a way in..." she said, hesitantly. She cast an apologetic look up at Kallus. "But you're not going to like it."
Kallus just pursed his lips.
-SWR-
The flickering holo visage of Saw Gerrera's face chuckled from some deep, private amusement.
"You must be desperate," he said, the undertone in his voice darkly withering. "If you're coming to me for help."
Hera sighed deeply. She already regretted this. But the Alliance was stretched thin, their already limited resources pushed as far as they could go. They had already plied their contacts in the criminal underworld. They had called everyone they could think of. This was her last recourse.
"We are desperate," she admitted.
"Rebel High Command has denounced me, you know," he pointed out.
"With good reason," she heard Kanan mutter behind her, out of earshot.
Hera glanced behind her at the gathered company inside the cockpit. Kanan stood against the doorframe, arms crossed. Kallus stood behind her, his posture deeply uncomfortable but keeping up a bravely neutral expression. Chopper hovered between them, antenna extended to boost their private communications signal.
She turned forward again, placing her hands on the panel quietly. "This is about Ezra, Saw. I'm not asking you as part of the Alliance," she told him. "I'm asking you," her mouth twisted a bit on the words, "as a friend. All we want is to bring him home. Can you get us into that part of the Mid Rim or not?" she asked.
Another chuckle. "Sure, sure. I'll give you my intel on safe hyperspace lanes, Imperial patrols, spy stations, all that." He cast a suspicious glance back over Hera's shoulder. "Are you sure you want to share that information with the... present company?" he asked, eyes narrowing on Kallus. "He was working for the other side not even a year ago."
"I'm aware," Hera said flatly. "Kallus has proven himself several times over. I trust him."
She made a quick look back, seeing some emotion welling up in the man's eyes, a subtle little flicker of immense gratitude.
Saw gave a shrug. "Well I guess if you're convinced," he said dismissively, though his tone was deeply unsatisfied. "Stand by for transmission," he said.
Hera nodded, muting the audio. She swiveled in her seat.
"Make the final preparations. We're going as soon as we have a way in," she ordered.
Kanan nodded, uncrossing his arms and moving to go down the hallway. Hera caught Kallus's eyes, her face softening.
"Thank you," she said.
"For what?" he asked, genuinely confused.
Hera bit her lip. Replying 'everything' seemed a bit much, and still inadequate for the overwhelming surge of hope that had been steadily beating through her as soon as he'd brought them the audio log.
She settled for a simple, "For bringing us this lead. It could be the breakthrough we needed."
"Ensign Mattin and Sabine deserve most of the credit," he deflected. "They've been at this tirelessly, pinging our deep space listening devices, slicing into comm records..." He let out a heavy sigh. "I just... I do hope it helps. And," he added, that grateful gleam in his eyes again, "I am glad to hear that you trust me. I... wasn't entirely sure."
"I did have some lingering doubts," Hera admitted, straightening her glove out, tugging on the hem. "But whatever misgivings I've had about you don't matter anymore." Her eyes burned with determination. "I just want my son back," she said. "That's all that matters now."
He nodded in understanding. He shifted, leaning off the leg he'd been favoring. "May I... come along?" he asked. "If I can be of any help—"
She interrupted him with a smile. "I'm sure you can be. But Iron Squadron might have to stay here."
Kallus grimaced. "I'm not entirely certain I can dissuade them from coming," he told her.
Hiding her grin now, Hera turned back around, beginning to press buttons and flip switches on her console. "Well, give it your best shot."
The man smothered down a protest, but acknowledged that she probably knew a thing or two about wrangling stubborn and rebellious teenagers.
He clipped his heels with a nod and turned to follow after Kanan.
-SWR-
Maul swiveled the end of his poker in the glowing coals of the firepit. The red embers burned with a soft warmth to contrast the cold kyber in the walls.
Setting aside the poker he leaned over and picked up the remainder of his meal, glancing across at his apprentice as he brought it to his mouth and chewed thoughtfully.
The boy sat quietly with his legs folded underneath him and his hands on his knees, eyes closed in meditation, breathing softly. Maul watched him for a few moments, biting off a large chunk and mashing it up in his teeth.
Ezra had been... remarkably well-behaved the past two days. He said nothing and obeyed without question, and Maul had spent more of their daily duel that morning correcting his stance and technique than anything else.
He still hadn't tapped into the Dark Side again, though Maul goaded him often, but Maul was still pleased with his progress. It seemed he had broken the boy's will after all. His attempted escape after the beatdown and mind probe had worried Maul at first, but his quiet compliance after his punishment reassured him that it had been a last, desperate gasp at denying the inevitable.
It hadn't taken nearly as long as he'd thought it would.
Maul smirked privately, his eyes and thoughts drifting off.
I should begin making preparations to depart for Tattooine, he decided. Kenobi would not continue to evade him this time, especially now that he had the boy in tow. Kenobi's soft heart would not be able to resist a soul in trouble. He'd begin moving things back to the gauntlet once Ezra was asleep. They'd probably leave in the morning. Yes, it was all coming together.
He no longer had those traces of uncomfortable regret for forcing his way into Ezra's mind. It had been the right course of action, he was confident of that now. Ezra had accepted things. He understood his place. Maul was certain.
He was musing on the best hyperspace route around the Ord Mantell checkpoint when there was a sudden flicker in his danger senses through the Force and a vague flutter like the sound of padded feet in the periphery of his hearing.
He snapped up, tensing, keening his eyes and ears for the source of the disturbance.
For several long seconds the cavern was quiet.
Then, a noise like a low, growling breath.
Maul jerked to his feet, ramrod straight, swiveling his head slowly to pinpoint the source of the noise.
From the shadows of one of the side tunnels emerged a shape, slowly peeling away from the darkness, following behind eerie golden eyes that peeked out, hungrily.
Maul's feet scuffled the gravel as he shifted apprehensively.
The creature was feline in nature, curled low to the ground with its long limbs stretching slowly beneath its body. Gray-blue fur covered its lean, powerful shape, mottled and smooth-looking. An almost beaked snout disappeared into a rounded head, and the white fangs curling out from under it were sharp and drooling.
Maul's eyes narrowed at it, his brows furrowing. There shouldn't have been any native wildlife in this area of the mountain range. The Empire's mining must have driven it farther north.
The creature crouched, watching Maul with burning eyes, two-toed feet curling its long claws into the ice.
He drew his lightsaber out, igniting it in warning and preparation. He glared back at the creature, meeting its threatening gaze with his own. The lightsaber hummed steadily in his hand.
A hissing growl, this time from behind him, and a warning spike in the Force.
Maul whipped around in time to dodge under the powerful leap of another creature—this one a bit smaller, fur white and gray, the twin sensory tendrils on its back whipping around as it twisted in the air. Talons flashed in front of Maul's face as he ducked, the second blade of his saber igniting in a blink and striking the creature across the flank as it tried to come about.
It hissed, howling with fury, stumbling as it landed.
"Ezra, get back!" he shouted in warning, brandishing his saber and glancing it off the larger creature's snout as it pounced forward.
The animal spat blood, its head knocked to the side. Its smaller mate and recovered and lunged again, crashing into and splintering a supply crate when Maul yanked out of the way.
Maul battered aside the larger creature again, casting his eyes about for his apprentice.
Ezra was still seated calmly in place, his face serene, one hand outstretched.
Shock and bewilderment flickered through Maul before being replaced by an immediate and boiling hot surge of absolute fury.
Ezra hadn't moved, hadn't reacted to the creatures... because he was controlling them.
Maul's teeth gnashed in outrage.
You little—!
His lightsaber gashed one of the creatures as it charged again, and he flung a hand out to grab and lift the other one and throw it hard towards the cavern wall. Ice particles and snow dislodged as it slammed into the rock and dropped.
Both felines stunned for the moment, Maul whipped around with a harsh jerk, stalking violently towards his apprentice.
He seized Ezra's throat, yanking him up, continuing on towards the boy's cell and dragging Ezra along with him.
Ezra's eyes startled open; he choked slightly from the pressure on his neck as his connection to the creatures broke, grabbing at Maul's hand, his heels dragging on the floor.
Freed from his influence, the felines paused a moment, tilting their heads and snuffling in confusion. But normal hunger and predator instincts soon took over and they growled, snapping their jaws.
Maul pulled Ezra into the cell and dropped his lightsaber, slamming the control on his wrist. The dampening barrier sprang up just in time for the larger creature to bash up against it, yiping at the static charge it sent. Claws slashed several more times at the barrier, the growls and hisses slightly muffled behind it.
For a moment the ex-Sith and the boy were tensed, listening to the creatures rage and storm outside, finally giving up on the barrier and crashing around the campsite instead, with loud banging and snarling.
Still furious, Maul knelt down, slamming Ezra to the floor, both hands locked around his throat now.
"Call off the creatures!" he demanded.
Ezra looked up at him with a steely, burning glare.
"No."
Maul let go with one hand, punching Ezra across the face. Ezra grunted in pain, flinching. Maul's hands gripped him again, mashing the fabric of his collar, threatening to cut off his air.
"Call them off!" he ordered again, louder. The hot anger burned through him, a thrashing storm ready to burst.
Ezra lifted his chin. "Kill me," he hissed in challenge.
Maul was sorely tempted to, for a moment, his hands tightening a fraction around Ezra's neck, eliciting a quiet choke from him.
But no, that would make everything he'd done, all his work, all his efforts since taking the boy, a waste. He would be no better than Sidious. No better than the man who'd left him for dead without a second thought.
He fumed, his hands twitching around Ezra's neck as Ezra stared up at him with a defiant look of I know you won't.
He trembled with anger. The boy's rebellion infuriated him and Maul knew he had to quash it right away, or he would lose all control over his apprentice. Ezra couldn't be allowed to think he could provoke a confrontation and then get away with it.
His fingers pressed bruisingly into Ezra's skin, pressure increasing ever-so-slightly, as Maul lifted up his head, looking the boy straight in the face and speaking very slowly, carefully contained fury in every word.
"Do it... or I will drag you down to that Imperial garrison..." he told Ezra. A growl entered his voice. "...and make sure to leave you where they will find you," he threatened, deadly serious.
Finally, there was a satisfying flash of terror in Ezra's eyes, a spike of anxious emotion Maul could feel through their bond in the Force. His breath had hitched, the defiant posturing gone from him. His frightened blue eyes looked up pleadingly at Maul.
He made sure the boy found no compassion or mercy in his narrowed gaze.
Ezra wilted, squeezing his eyes closed, inhaling shakily through his nose... and nodded.
Maul loosened his grip a bit, reaching across to his left wrist, jabbing the button to shut off the barrier.
The creatures outside in the cavern raised their heads at the noise, growling low. The smaller one coiled tightly and then sprang forward, bounding towards them.
Ezra flashed up a hand frantically, a wordless warning ringing through the Force. Maul could almost hear it as audible words, a strong, panicked impression of Don't! and Danger!
The creature gave pause, stopping suddenly in its tracks. Its eyes seemed to soften suddenly, as if in concern.
Maul sensed Ezra push harder, sounding his warning again, begging the pair to get away before they were hurt.
They stayed frozen in that moment for a long heartbeat.
The larger animal gave a huff, loping around and padding out down a side tunnel. A moment or two later its mate followed, the sounds of its panting breath fading away into the distance.
Ezra kept his hand raised a moment or two more and then sagged.
Maul struck him across the face, heel of his palm slamming Ezra's temple, and threw him down, making him cry out.
He retrieved his saber and jerked stiffly upright, storming out of the cell, hands fisting at his sides. He practically mashed the button to raise the barrier again.
Anger still rang in his head, echoing through his skull, but he let the hot edges of it ebb away, cooling into something more controlled.
He glared down at the remains of the campsite, surveying the damage.
Everything was smashed, claw rips tearing jagged lines through supply crates, items upturned, the lantern leaking yellow liquid on the floor. The creatures had destroyed nearly everything.
He took quick inventory.
Most of their food, ruined. The binders, crushed underfoot, useless. The sleeping mat, slashed and in tatters, survival gear scattered in pieces. The food was the most worrisome. The ravenous creatures had somehow quickly eaten through nearly a month's supply in minutes, leaving barely more than scraps. Some of it he could probably replace with a quick trip down to the garrison, but it would be noticed quickly if it became a regular habit.
Blasted boy.
Peeved, Maul kicked aside some shredded ration bars with his metal foot. He was only fortunate the creatures hadn't damaged the barrier generator; at the very least he could still contain Ezra.
Frustration flared in him. The boy had been doing so well. Maul hadn't had to lay a hand on him for two days, had allowed him out of his cell practically all day yesterday. And yet the ungrateful brat had squandered all that good grace in less than five minutes with this childish stunt.
A low growl rumbled in his chest.
I've been too lenient on him, he decided. I underestimated his stubbornness and resilience. That ends now.
A shock collar should keep him in line.
Maul mused on the idea, a brief flash of memory coming to mind; that of a cold metal band clamping around his own neck as a child, his small fingers tugging at it with a whimper, punishment for some infraction he didn't remember anymore.
He pushed the thought quickly aside. It was necessary. Ezra had brought this on himself. However cruel it seemed, Maul knew the method was effective.
But that he definitely wouldn't be able to find on-planet.
Maul chewed on his tongue for a moment or two, glancing towards the cell. The vague orange blur moving behind the barrier told him Ezra was pacing anxiously.
It was risky to leave him behind, but it would be even riskier to bring him along. Too many factors, too many variables.
Maul made his decision, straightening, walking stiffly out of the cavern.
An icy wind blew sharply on him as he stalked through the blowing snow to the gauntlet, hidden away in a shallow pocket on the ridgeline. He lowered the ramp and strode up, shaking flakes off his arms as he went straight to the side compartment, pulling the last syringe out of the drawer, ironically the one thing he hadn't transferred over from the ship.
How fortunate, he grumbled to himself.
He returned to the caves, the frigid air of the night and the long walk back down the tunnels cooling a bit of his anger.
He crossed the room towards the cell, casually flicking off the barrier.
Ezra was still pacing, clearly anticipating some kind of punishment, his anxiety a static prickle Maul could feel in the Force. He froze when the barrier went down, his eyes wide and frightened, his elbows clutched tight as if to make himself smaller.
Maul pushed into the room and Ezra stepped back, swallowing, looking up fearfully.
The ex-Sith fixed him with an even glare.
"I am going offworld," he said. "I shall be gone a few days. You," he emphasized, pointing sharply with his free hand, "will remain here."
"You're leaving?" Ezra blurted out. His face filled with apprehensive confusion. Maul could see him trying to wrap his head around the words. "Wh—why?" the boy stammered.
"To fix your mess!" Maul snapped, some of his earlier anger returning.
Ezra flinched away immediately, the muscles in his neck tight.
Maul's teeth clenched a moment, before he spoke again. "Do not think you have escaped being punished for this," he said, threateningly. "You are in for it when I return, Ezra Bridger," he promised.
There was a satisfying tremble from him, vibrating up and down his thin body. Maul let the weight of his threat sink in for a moment. He was about to open his mouth when—
"Were... were you really going to leave me with the Empire?" Ezra asked, peeking up with timid eyes.
"Yes," Maul replied automatically with a growl, brows narrowing.
Ezra froze at that, trying to muffle a spike of terror that Maul could feel shooting out from him.
He rolled his eyes. "I would have returned for you, once you had learned your lesson," he said, sneering. "But my threat was not an idle one, Ezra. If I have to turn you over to the Empire for a while, to regain some perspective—" he spat, "—I will do so."
Ezra squished himself smaller, trembling again, harder now, ripples and echos of smothered panic reverberating across the bond.
Now that he'd made his point, Maul continued.
"I am leaving you whatever rations remain. I suggest you conserve them carefully." He jerked his horned head towards one of the walls. "Use the corner if you need to relieve yourself." He leveled eyes on Ezra. "Do we have an understanding?" he asked.
The boy pried apart dry lips, dropping his arms to his sides, eyes down. "Yes sir," he whispered thinly.
It wasn't 'Master', but it would do for now. Maul brought out the syringe and extended a hand, expectantly.
"Hold out your arm," he ordered.
Ezra backed up a step, shying away, covering his right arm protectively.
"Don't," he begged. "Please..."
The tortured look in his eyes sent irritation through Maul. As if the boy had any right to ask for lenience now. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't," he growled.
Ezra's face was pinched, expression pleading.
"You know I hate it," he said quietly.
Maul reached forward, grabbing Ezra's wrist, pulling him closer sharply and shoving up his sleeve. Ezra gasped, trying to tug out of Maul's grip, but with a firm pinch his elbow was held steady, and Maul pricked the needle under his skin.
"Then you should not have pulled that stunt with the creatures," he said, depressing the stopper quickly.
He pulled the needle out, letting go of Ezra's arm, and the boy clutched himself, breaths tight, face freezing in mute horror.
Maul stepped back, putting away the syringe, looking off elsewhere as he tuned out the pinpricky anxiety rising from Ezra.
"I'm disappointed, Ezra. I thought I had reached you," he said. He shook his head, grimly. "But it seems you still have much to unlearn."
He looked up, seeing Ezra begin to wobble on his feet, his balance unsteady, his eyes unseeing, filled with static as he stared past Maul.
An uncomfortable twinge passed through him. Maul took a deep breath, letting his annoyance cool.
"I did not want to do this," he told the boy quietly. "But you forced my hand."
His toes scritched the ice as he started to go.
Ezra stumbled after him, falling over, fingers clawing at Maul's arms and chest. Maul turned back, watching in concern as Ezra clutched at him, the boy's fear reverberating out from his head, washing over Maul's senses.
"Bastard..." Ezra hissed, even as he clung tighter, afraid to let go. His eyes were unfocusing, his knees beginning to sag. Maul patiently took hold of his elbows, holding him up as his strength sapped away. Ezra's frantic, panicky breaths were slowing. His gaze grew bleary. He looked so betrayed. "I... I hate..."
He didn't finish, trailing off as his eyes rolled slowly back in his head. He fell softly limp, knees bending, feet dragging flat on the floor.
Maul carefully lowered Ezra back down, catching traces of the familiar lingering panic drifting up from his unconscious body.
He shoved down the vague sick feeling rising in his stomach. Ezra was fine. He would wake up groggy and probably angry at him but so what? His anger would give him strength. The more Ezra hated him, the closer he would fall towards the Dark Side.
Something in him still felt... saddened by that. Somber and grim that Ezra would never, apparently, come to trust him. Ezra would never look at him again with the same innocent eyes he had on Malachor.
Little fool, he thought, pulling himself away, stepping back out of the cell. It doesn't have to be like this. It never did. You should have just come with me on Dathomir.
Remembering the boy's rejection stung like a hot brand inside his chest. He'd offered Ezra power, strength, a glorious destiny side by side with him, and he'd spat it back in Maul's face. And what had that led to? Nothing but pain and a broken mind, haunted by the unseen ghosts of his Imperial tormentors. And yet still he resisted the one thing that could help him. The one thing that could turn all his suffering around into power. For the sake of the people he called 'friends'.
Maul's teeth grit inside his head as he gathered up what little was left of the rations.
They could not have him back. They would ruin him. They had ruined him. Ezra was his, and Maul was going to make him accept his destiny no matter how much force he had to use.
"No matter what it takes..." he muttered to himself. His eyes darted back towards Ezra, eerie light in them. "You will see, you have to see..."
He had to, or it was all for nothing.
He made sure the dampening barrier was on, and then he departed, disappearing swiftly into the night.
-SWR-
Sparks popped off the metal as Hera welded the last seam together.
"How's that refuel coming?" she called down to Sabine, underneath the belly of Ghost.
Sabine kept her hands steady on the hose clamp, listening to the fuel gargle up through the tube. "Almost done!" she yelled back.
Hera finished and shut off her welding torch, pushing her protective goggles up. Standing up from her crouch she moved over to the scaffolding ladder pushed up next to the Ghost's hull, descending quickly as she pulled off her headgear.
Mon Mothma was standing there on the landing field, quietly watching, her expression neutral.
Hera nodded briefly at the woman as she put her tools away, pulling off her welders gloves and replacing them with her normal ones.
The woman spoke up.
"Are you sure you can trust Saw?" she asked.
Hera frowned grimly. "I trust him not to sell us out to the Empire," she answered.
That seemed to be enough. Mon Mothma shifted subtly, hands clasping formally behind her.
"Be careful," she told Hera. "And may the Force be with you."
Hera nodded again, turning swiftly, yelling at Sabine to finish up.
The ship's whine grew in volume and pitch as the engines revved, Hera methodically going through her pre-flight checklist with clinical efficiency.
Switch seven, flip, dampeners on, hyperdrive programmed with the coordinates.
The rest of her crew bustled up and down the ladder and the hallway behind her, prepping the ship for departure.
Hera fired up the repulsorlifts, guiding the freighter slowly up off the landing platform. She didn't let herself think about anything except the methodical process.
The Ghost lifted, sublights kicking on and propelling them up and up, out of the atmosphere. The blue sky turned slowly blacker as stars behind to fill her viewport.
Voices rose up from somewhere behind her, somewhat muffled, Kallus yelling hysterically and Mart, Gooti, and Jonner's shouts rising in protest. Apparently Kallus had just discovered that they were still on board.
Hera smiled privately to herself. Ezra certainly knew how to pick his friends.
No time to turn around. She gunned the hyperdrive, surging them forward into the streaking blue tunnel with rush of acceleration and speed.
-SWR-
Maul kept his hood up. He'd rewrapped his arms, hiding as much of his distinctive skin as he could, and stuck to the shadows as he made his way.
The shop was unobtrusive and hidden—a dimly lit hole in the wall with an entrance out of eyeline from the street—but Maul recognized it easily and slipped in.
His contact was busy chatting with another buyer when he entered, but Maul shoved the customer's merchandise off the counter, dumping his own bag pointedly in its place.
Both men looked as though they wanted to protest for a moment, but Maul fixed his contact with a steel glare, watching the alien pale and swipe a nervous hand through greasy hair as he was recognized.
A visible gulp stretched his thin throat. "Lord Maul!" he squeaked. The slaver wiped his palms on his clothes. "What—what an unexpected surprise."
"Spare me the pleasantries, Raggar," Maul growled. He dropped a datapad on the counter in front of the man and it clattered, uncomfortably loud in the small space. "Shock collars, electro prods, and Force suppressants," he listed. "I require them." After a moment of thought he added, "And a new set of binders." He sneered, pleased to have the slaver's full attention now that the man's customer had shied off in apprehension. "That shouldn't be too hard for you," he said.
Dun Raggar nervously hastened to assure him. "N-no of course not." A grimace spread his face. "Well, the suppressants are..." He glanced up at Maul apologetically. "...they might be a bit more difficult, my lord."
Maul's eyes were hard and firm on him. "You will accrue them for me, and I won't end your miserable existence," he repeated, the darkness seeming to grow stronger around him with his threat.
His customer now cowering against the opposite wall in terror, Dun Raggar had no recourse but to acquiesce.
"Y-yes sir. At once sir," he stammered.
Maul's expression smoothed into pleased satisfaction. His thoughts anxiously returned, as they always did, to Ezra, locked in his cell on a world far away, waiting for his return.
Soon, he promised the boy in his head.
(A/N)- Chapter noooooooooootes!
1. Finally, a lead! Our Ord Mantell detour was not in fact a narrative detour only there for more Ezra whump (okay yes it kind of was) but it was also plot important! (And will continue to be, as you'll see in later chapters.) Maul really should have covered his tracks better.
2. Dropping Saw Gerrera in like he's the Godzilla Threshold lol.
3. The seemingly defeated and broken Ezra strikes back with a vengeance and Maul is not happy. And his plans to come down harder on Ezra are making him have some unpleasant mental comparisons. Don't expect him to actually dwell on the fact that he's using tactics Sidious did, though.
4. By the way the creatures Ezra summons are called Asharl panthers, and they come from the Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG.
5. Will I ever get tired of Overly-Stressed Rebel Dad Kallus and his brood of rebellious headstrong kids? Nope!
6. Dun Raggar is another OC who previously appeared in my work. He's a slaver who had a particular obsession with Ezra. And now we learn that he knows Maul. Fun times.
See you next week readers, I'm looking forward to showing you how this all connects.