Mara POV...
Aiming a massive cannon down at us, the Decepticon let it charge up with a bright glow, firing a quick blast. We instantly scattered out of the way as the red energy bolt slammed into the ground, creating an explosion.
"Yeah, definitely not on our side!" Boil exclaims.
I shake my head and look up, spotting the Decepticon about to fire his cannon again. Luckily for us, Elita jumps out from behind the canyon wall and charges for him.
"Right here Blast Off!" she yells.
Blast Off barely has time to look over before Elita tackles him to the ground. The rest of us look up and take the time to recover from the surprise attack.
"This is madness!" Cham exclaims, still surprised at the sight of a Cybertronian, much less two.
"Who is that?!" Numa asks, gesturing to be Decepticon, which Elita apparently called Blast Off.
"I think that's a Decepticon, one of Elita's enemies," Boil answers in reply.
"Well, we have to help her!" Sabine states firmly.
"How?" Zeb asks incredulously.
"No, we have to go get Hera and Ezra!" Kanan replies.
"He's right. You guys should go do that, I'll stay and help Elita however I can," I tell them.
"By yourself?" Cham questions.
"She won't be alone," Boil says.. "Me and Rex can help as well."
"But-" Sabine starts to protest.
"We don't have time to argue, the clock's ticking!" Kanan interrupts.
"He's right. We must go and save the others," Cham says in agreement.
"Be careful," Numa tells Boil, giving him a quick hug.
He smiles at her in response, and then she and the rest of the group turn and run out of here, further down the canyon in the direction of the rest of the Ghost. Boil, Rex and I all turn to face the ongoing battle, watching Elita face Blast Off.
"So... how are we gonna do this?" Rex asks.
"Come on, you guys are the experts on taking down droids. This can't be too different," I try to reason.
"Well that's motivating," Boil remarks, holding up his blaster.
Elita POV...
I charge forwards with a war cry and tackle Blast Off to the ground. We both tumble across the rocky surface for a few moments, and he grunts angrily before shoving me off. I flip up to my feet behind him and then whip around, kicking out a leg. I manage to kick him in the helm, causing him to growl in response. I then bring a fist back to punch, but he grabs my forearm before I could connect the blow. We both shove against each other, red and blue optics glaring.
"So you fight for insects now?" he growls.
"No," I retort, shoving him away. "I fight for their freedom!"
I dash forwards and jump into the air, bringing a fist down. He evaded the blow, and we quickly enter a hand-to-hand brawl, punching and dodging to try and offset the other. Blast Off then transforms his arm into his blaster and then punches upwards, also firing at the same time. I quickly backpedal to evade, but then he raises a foot and kicks me to the ground.
I roll backwards for a moment and then scramble back to my feet, jumping forwards in a downwards kick. However he catches my leg and then yanks hard, slamming me down into the rock behind him. I grunt in pain as he then kicks me in the abdomen, knocking me away s good distance.
"You're even more pathetic than I remember," he comments.
I groan in both irritation and exhaustion, pushing myself up to my feet. It doesn't feel like six thousand years have passed, but apparently my joints would disagree.
"Hey, ugly!"
A blue blaster bolt then slams into Blast Off's helm. Other than an irritated growl, he barely gives any reaction as the bolt dissipates into harmless sparks, and he turns his red optic glare to the offender. I look over as well and spot Boil standing there, blaster raised.
"Why don't you bugger off and take your problems somewhere else?" he challenges.
"Boil, run!" I exclaim in alarm.
"Disgusting," Blast Off scoffs.
He raises his blaster cannon and aims it at Boil, but then another few blue shots patter against his chassis, and he turns his attention elsewhere.
"Over here!" Rex calls out.
"Frag off insect," he growls, aiming at Rex.
Mara then jumps in from a ledge nearby, latching onto Blast Off's back, stabbing her lightsaber through. He yells out in pain and surprise before twisting around violently in an attempt to grab her. Mara just barely manages to hold on, but a harsh twist from Blast Off dislodges her. She manages to soften her fall a little bit, tumbling across the dirt.
"How dare you!" Blast Off roars.
Seeing him about to step on her, I get to my feet forwards, slamming into him with my shoulder. He goes tumbling across the ground, and I look at the others.
"What are you guys doing? This is too dangerous! Fall back!" I order fiercely.
"No way Elita. We're helping you!" Mara retorts, Boil and Rex rushing up to her side.
"No offense, but how do you expect to do that?" I ask them.
"Ha- we just did!" Boil chuckles.
I falter for a moment, sighing in agreement. Very true, they did help out just now.
"How cute. The great Autobot Commander needs a pack of her tiny insect friends to protect her," Blast Off says, stomping forwards.
"At least I have friends," I counter.
He stops for a moment, glaring furiously at me and growling. I get into a battle ready stance, whipping out my wrist blades while the others ready their own weapons.
Tann Province; Ryloth
3rd person POV...
Hera and Ezra were both sitting on the ground in their cell, the former filled with guilt and regret.
"I'm sorry, Ezra. It was selfish of me to go after my Kalikori," she apologizes sadly. "I put you and everyone else in danger for a personal mission."
"But we wanted to help, because it was important to you," Ezra disagrees, trying to reassure her.
"But we weren't ready for Admiral Thrawn," she retorts, looking down guiltily. "I should have known better. Mara warned us about him! If he was able to outsmart Jarik, than how could I expect any different?"
Ezra looks at her sadly, but then glances at the door with a frown. Hearing some muffled beeps approaching, he crawls over to the door and puts his ear against it, listening. He hears the sound of frantic beeps and the sound of an astromech socket being turned, when the door suddenly opens. Chopper then burst through loudly, slamming into Ezra and sending him sprawling on the floor.
"Chopper!" he groans weakly.
Chopper ignores him and beeps over at Hera, who widens her eyes in surprise. "My father's actually surrendering?"
"To free us," Ezra says, rubbing his head. He then looks over at Hera with a small grin. "Well, they can't make a prisoner exchange without prisoners. Let's go."
"Not yet. We won't make it out. There are too many guards," Hera says before he could leave. "We're going to go through with this exchange, but on my terms. Chopper, I want you to raid the Imperial armory and get as many explosives as you can."
Chopper beeps excitedly while Ezra looks at her uncertainly. "You're... You're gonna blow up your house?"
"My home is my crew and family," Hera says.
She stands up to her feet and lays a hand on Ezra's shoulder with a smile, and he smiles back.
Elita POV...
Throughout the fight with Blast Off, things have not been going as I would've expected them too, and it was proving rather challenging. Being frozen in stasis for six thousand years has left my body out of shape, gritty and slow, even though my processor isn't. I just can't seem to get any proper strikes in on him, and I'm moving annoyingly slow. I'm the Commander of the Femme Bots, and a skilled warrior at that! I should be able to take on one of the Combaticons just fine, yet even that is giving me trouble!
I backpedal away from some of Blast Off's punches and the duck underneath the next one, moving in for an uppercut. However he manages to shove my arm to the side and then slams his fist against the side of my helm. I stumble back, and he kicks me away. A purple lightsaber comes spiraling by, courtesy of Mara, but this time Blast Off manages to lean his head out of the way, and raises his blaster. He fires off a few quick shots, forcing Mara to jump out of the way and take cover behind a nearby rock, her lightsaber spinning back to her.
Boil and Rex were attempting to help by firing their own blasters, but they just didn't have the firepower to cause more than a burn mark. In fact, all they were doing was making him more irritated and upset.
"You insects never learn," he snarls, whipping his blaster towards them.
Rex and Boil both take cover as he opens fire, and I quickly dash forwards. Grabbing Blast Off's blaster arm, I shove it upwards to shoot harmlessly in the sky and then wrestle with him. We push and shove each other, and I deliver a swift head butt to knock him off balance. Grunting, I yank him around and then slam him against the cliff wall, cracking the stone. He growls, smacking my arms away from him and then spinning around with a kick, catching me off guard.
I stumble backwards, and he quickly charges forwards, using his jet thrusters to his advantage by leaping into the air and then slamming a fist down on my helm. I collapse to the ground with a cry of pain, and he aims his blaster at my helm.
"Say goodbye Autobot," he says triumphantly.
Yelling back at him, I smack his blaster to the side just as it fires. I then raise my legs up and kick him in the chest with full force, shoving him away. Mara then dashes forwards and takes a few quick slashes at his pedes as she runs by, and he snarls in pain and rage, hopping for a moment. Taking the chance, I charge forwards and spin around, slashing my wrist blade across his chassis and then kicking him against the wall.
"You can say goodbye to Onslaught when you go back a failure," I retort with a glare.
"Get fragged scum!" he roars.
Blast Off attempts to charge forwards, but a small grenade is suddenly thrown in his path, exploding in a small discharge of electrical energy. The blue wave hits his right leg, and he stumbles for a moment before collapsing to the ground with a surprised growl. I look over as well in surprise to find Rex grinning, Boil coming out with a smile as well.
"Ha! Can't believe that worked!" Boil exclaims.
"What was that?" I ask him in surprise.
"Droid popper! Never thought I'd have to use one of those again!" Rex says.
"And you won't be using anymore!" Blast Off roars.
He shoves himself back to his feet, his leg quickly regaining movement, and fires a blast in Rex and Boil's direction. They manage to duck out of the way just in time, but the force of the explosion sends them tumbling across the ground with pained groans. Narrowing my eyes, I charge forwards and whip out my own blaster, shooting him. The blue energon bolts slam against his chassis, causing him to stumble backwards heavily. Jumping forwards, I then kick my foot out and into his helm, sending him crashing heavily against the cliff wall.
The sound of crack rock gets my attention, and I look up in time to see Mara slicing her lightsaber all the way through a particularly large pillar of rock, which falls down on top of Blast Off. Getting the idea, I aim my blaster up at the cliff as well and, once Mara is clear, begin blasting away. Large quantities of rock come falling down on top of Blast Off, and he yells in fury before a particularly large one slams into his helm, knocking him into a daze.
"Well, that went pretty well," Mara comments, breathing heavily.
She jumps down to my side, deactivating her lightsaber just as Rex and Boil get back up with a few groans of their own, and we look over at the dazed Blast Off. He's not fully buried, just a little knocked out from the boulder that struck his helm.
"Poorly for me," I mutter to myself, glancing down at them. "We should get going. He's bound to have others coming soon."
"Not to mention we have to get back to the others," Rex adds.
With the plan set in place, I transform down into my vehicle mode and open the doors for them to climb in. They all glance at each other momentarily before doing so, and I take off at full speed away from Blast Off and to the other's location before Blast Off can get himself back up.
Imperial Command Cruiser; Ryloth
3rd person POV...
From the bridge of his small cruiser, Thrawn looks down at the Tann Province, Kalikori held in his hand. He observes it thoughtfully, looking over the details of the art, yet also admittedly a little distracted. He wasn't blind to the reports of this strange machine supporting the rebels along with Mara Jade and Cham Syndulla, which further leads to him suspecting an alliance between the rebels and some unknown group of the wider universe. Thrawn looks up and out the viewport as the Ghost flies by, and observes the upcoming confrontation.
"Alright Captain Syndulla, let's see how you respond," he remarks calmly.
Thrawn is certain that the rebels will escape with everyone accounted for, in one way or another. That's precisely why he put Slavin to the task, as he knows he will fail to secure the capture of Cham Syndulla. But it matters not, because he has a far greater objective in mind for the capture of all the rebels, not just some simple Twi'lek resistance fighter battling on a single planet.
Thrawn then spots something else approaching the Tann Province, and notices it to be in the form of a pink colored four-wheeled vehicle. Narrowing his eyes, it takes him only a few seconds to spot the similarities between the vehicle, and the large humanoid machine that fights with the rebels. So not only are these new beings huge and mechanical, but they can also change into vehicles.
"How interesting," he remarks quietly. "Your move... transformer."
Tann Province; Ryloth
Sabine flies the Ghost in for a landing on the main courtyard of the structure, where Slavin was waiting with Hera and Ezra. A whole platoon of stormtroopers were waiting as well, along with an AT-DP scout walker.
"Steady. On my command," Slavin tells his troops.
When the Ghost lands in the courtyard, the cargo ramp opens up to allow Cham and Kanan to disembark. Kanan waits on the ramp while Cham takes a few steps forwards, glaring at Slavin.
"Syndulla. At last we meet face-to-face," Slavin declares. "Step forward, alone, and turn yourself over as promised."
"Not until you release them," Cham retorts.
"We'll make a simultaneous exchange," he offers in reply, pulling a blaster out and pointing it at Hera and Ezra. "Start walking."
Her and Ezra glance at him with angry frowns on their faces before walking forwards. Cham also begins to walk forwards at the same time, the two coming closer and closer. The door into the house then opens, allowing Chopper to roll out, having gleefully placed on the charges throughout the building. He looks at the exchange happening, and then rolls forwards towards the Ghost.
"Droid! What are you doing?" Slavin demands angrily.
"I am sorry, Father," Hera says once they meet in the center.
"It's all right, Hera. Even I have been captured before," Cham replies reassuringly, laying a hand on her shoulder.
"Nah, I'm sorry about the house," she replies with a small grin, turning around. "Chopper!"
Chopper then faces the house and whips out the detonator, slamming his claw into the button. Immediately, dozens of charges all placed throughout the house explode at once, blowing outwards and sending the Imperial forces flying with startled cries. Slavin collapses to the ground, and Cham, Hera and Ezra also duck down to avoid some of the debris.
*:*:*
From the bridge of his ship, Thrawn watches the explosion with a smirk on his face, taking into account the fact that Captain Syndulla was serious about destroying her history instead of letting him possess it.
The transformer, as he's deciding to call it, is now nearly at the building, about to make a move. He watches it go with interest.
*:*:*
Cham looks up with wide eyes, shocked at the destruction that just occurred.
"What- you were serious!" he exclaims in bewilderment.
Nevertheless, he follows after Hera and Ezra as they begin running for the ship, Chopper rolling by on his wheels. Kanan activates his lightsaber and starts deflecting blaster fire from the Imperials. Recovering from the explosion, Slavin looks up and widens his eyes upon spotting the group escaping into the Ghost.
"Stop them! Stop them!" he cries out.
More stormtroopers begin focusing their fire, and the heavy artillery moves in. The scout walker begins firing its turret, marching forwards in the direction of the Ghost.
Before anything else could happen however, Elita comes racing up into the courtyard in her vehicle form, moving straight for the scout walker. She transforms into a roll, allowing Mara, Rex and Boil to roll out in the process, and then jumps into the air. She spins around and delivers a swift kick to the walker, sending it smashing against the side of the building. Slavin widens his eyes in shock and stumbles back fearfully.
The stormtrooper with the rocket launcher instantly turns to aim at Elita and fires. Before the shell could hit however, it's suddenly redirected midair and goes slamming down into the wall, causing more debris to fall and take out a few stormtroopers. Slavin looks over to see Kanan giving him a salute with Mara standing beside him, and the clones behind them as well.
Elita grins at Kanan and then transform back down into her vehicle form, quickly backing into the Ghost as it starts lifting off, the ramp closing afterwards.
*:*:*
"How interesting..." Thrawn murmurs to himself.
This is the first he's seen it in action with a clear view, and needless to say he wasn't disappointed. These mechanical beings are not only large and powerful with impressive weaponry, but are also capable of transforming into vehicles, and possess skilled fighting techniques based on how the walker was taking out. Clearly these transformers are far more advanced than anything the known galaxy could create.
"They are in range, sir," an officer says, the Ghost flying closer.
"Hold your fire. They've earned their victory today," he says, watching the Ghost fly away.
"Admiral, the rebels and that machine are getting away!" Slavin exclaims, appearing on a hologram.
"Oh, not to worry, Captain. I've found this whole experience to be very enlightening," Thrawn replies calmly with a smile.
"Sir, we have an incoming Fighter at sector 3," one of the officers then reports.
"Bring it on screen," Thrawn orders.
The hologram shows a live video feed of the Ghost moving further up into the atmosphere, and another starfighter was shooting down straight for them. Thrawn frowns for a moment, before his eyes glint up in recognition.
"There's our Imperial attacker..." he murmurs.
*:*:*
"Nice to have you back Hera," Sabine remarks, stepping aside to allow Hera the pilot's seat.
"Nice to be back Sabine," she replies with a smile.
Mara steps into the cockpit as well, followed by Kanan and Rex. She smiles at Hera and Sabine before frowning, looking up ahead of them. Rex soon notices the same thing, and points it out.
"Guys, we have incoming," he reports.
The five of them look out of the cockpit to see a starfighter shooting straight for them, and a sense of alarm fills the two Jedi.
"Oh don't tell me..." Kanan groans.
"What is it?" Hera asks in confusion.
Moments later, the starfighter then transforms into a large mechanical figure, which shoots towards them with its arms pulled back, ready to attack. It's armor glinted dark silver and violet, and jet thrusters on its back keep it in the air. The Decepticon's optics glow a menacing red.
"It's a Decepticon," Mara sighs.
"Move!" Sabine exclaims.
Hera just barely manages to swerve out of the way of Onslaught as he comes in with a swinging arm, attempting to smack a ship out of the air. Twisting around, Onslaught reverses his direction and begins heading after the Ghost. He transforms his arm into a cannon and aims, letting off a shot. Once again Hera swerves to evade, the large energon bolt just barely skimming by.
"Who is this guy?!" Hera exclaims.
Ezra then rushes into the cockpit, looking around wildly. "What's going on?"
"We've got a Decepticon on our tail," Kanan explains.
"What?!" he asks on surprise. "You mean those guys Elita mentioned!"
"Yes, those guys!" Mara says.
"I need you guys at the turrets to buy me some time. I'll do my best to get into hyperspace!" Hera says.
"I'm on it," Sabine replies.
She, Rex and Ezra rush out of the cockpit, and Kanan sits in the copilots seat. The ship shakes violently as an energon bolts slams against it. Luckily the shields manage to hold, but just barely. Mara's comlink then flares to life, and Elita's voice is streaming through.
"Mara, I'm reading a Decepticon signal on my scanners. Is that what's going on right now?" she asks in concern.
"Yeah, it's a Decepticon! Colored a dark purple and dark gray color," she replies.
"Oh no... I know who it is," she says grimly.
"Any ideas then?" Hera asks, jerking the ship to the side as another shot shoots past.
"Yeah, jump to lightspeed!" Elita exclaims.
"Working on it," Hera replies in aggravation.
"This guy is really hard to hit!" Zeb shouts over the com.
"Just keep it up Zeb!" she shouts back. "I'm almost ready!"
Outside of the ship, Onslaught chases after the Ghost with narrowed optics, detecting the Autobot signature inside. How Blast Off managed to fail so ridiculously against a single Autobot and her human pets is beyond him, but he'll deal with him later. Blasting forwards with a burst from his thrusters, he swings his arm and then punches one of the ship's engines, causing it to sputter and short out.
The ship jerks around into a spiral in response, and Onslaught quickly angles himself to continue falling, whipping out his plasma cannon. The ship's turrets continue to fire at him, but there were no more than an annoyance, as all he had to do was block them with his forearm. Aiming his plasma cannon at the ship, he allows it to charge up and then aims for the engines... and fires.
Unfortunately for him, the ship streaks away into nothingness just before his energon blast could hit the back, meaning his prey escaped. He yells in frustration, staring out at the black gulfs of space with an irritated glare, optics narrowed.
~Slagging Blast Off, you fool.~ he growls.
Thrawn was still standing at the bridge of his cruiser, having observed as the new arrival attempted to bring down the Ghost, which managed to escape into hyperspace just in time. He frowns thoughtfully, mulling over what he knows of these creatures. The door behind him then opens, and Second Sister steps through.
"Are we going to capture the machine, Grand Admiral?" she asks.
"No, we'll leave it to its devices for now. That transformer's target is most likely the pink colored one that is allied with the rebels," he replies.
"Transformer?" she asks in confusion.
"A name which I believe fits these beings. They can transform into vehicles it would seem, being either ground or aerial," he explains.
"And what of the Jedi? Lord Vader and the Emperor expect me to bring them in," Sister states, obviously irritated.
"Patience, Second Sister. Soon we will have not just the Jedi, but all of their allies as well," Thrawn reassures her.
Mara POV...
After our quick escape from Ryloth and Onslaught, we were hovering around in space for a little bit, waiting until we were certain that the Decepticon's wouldn't find us before returning to drop of Cham, Numa and Gobi. I was sitting with Cham, Kanan and Hera at a table, while the others were messing around with each other.
"I have learned not to underestimate you," Cham remarks. "Fortunately, the Empire has not."
"At least, not yet," Hera says grimly, looking over at me apologetically. "I'm sorry I didn't take your warnings seriously enough Mara. I thought I could do this mission as well as any other, but I let myself be blinded by how typical Imperials act. I wasn't ready for Thrawn."
"It's alright Hera, it's not your fault," I reassure her. "If I were in your position, I probably would've felt the same. Unfortunately, Thrawn always seems to be a step ahead, even when we think we're ready for him."
"You seem to speak from experience," Cham notices.
"Yeah," I admit with a sigh. "Before Malachor... a series of events led to having him and one of his officers temporarily on our ship as prisoners. Dad thought he was prepared for Thrawn's perceptiveness that time but, he still caught us off guard and escaped."
"We'll make sure not to underestimate Thrawn next time then. I have a feeling we'll be seeing more of him," Hera remarks, and I nod in agreement.
"I'm sorry about the Kalikori, Hera," Kanan apologizes.
"I thought I needed it to keep my mother's memory alive, but I have you, I have my father, and I'm surrounded by my family every day," she replies, smiling up at the others.
Zeb is messing around with Ezra in a headlock, while Sabine and Chopper watched on. Rex was chatting with Gobi, while Boil and Numa were talking to each other as well, smiling.
"As long as we hold on to that, and don't let go of it, she'll live on," Hera says.
I smile as well, before dropping it and looking away at the thought of my own mother, the one who's taught me so many things that I know today. Bendu has hinted that she may still be alive but... it's hard to believe so. If she was alive, why would Dad not have his Force bond with her anymore? And if she somehow blocked it off or something... why would she stay away?
Temple Island; Ahch-To
Jarik POV...
Letting go.
Something that all Jedi were taught at one point or another. To let go of our fear, of our anger, of our worries, of our emotions, and more. We were taught to let go of it.
'Train yourself to let go... of everything, you fear to lose.'
Yoda's voice filters through the air, and I glance down at the Mirror Cave, sighing to myself.
"Yeah..." I murmur quietly.
I turn away from the cave and begin walking away, my footsteps crunching the black vines. The ocean slams violently into the rocky cliffs behind me as I walk up to the pathway, heading back to the Jedi village.
If there's a chance to save Ahsoka from whatever predicament she's in, should I take it?
...like Anakin did for Padmé?
*:*:*
Staying on Ahch-To for the last few days to try and figure out the mystery of the Keeper has led to nothing but more questions and uncertainty and doubt. If that really was Ahsoka's spirit reaching out to me, why would she want me to let her go? I look at Ahsoka's old green lightsaber, which I'm holding in my hands, and clench my fist tightly around it. I don't want to let her go!
'You think that you will ever achieve happiness?'
Yes, I do. And I want her to experience it as well.
'You offered me nothing me nothing but distrust and lies!'
No I did not. You betrayed us.
'And you believe that?'
I wanted to help you, we all did. But you listened to Palpatine more, and he corrupted you, fed you lies.
'You don't know the power of the dark side.'
I know the nature of it.
'He had such a knowledge of the dark side, he could even keep the ones he cared about... from dying.'
I will not be swayed by the Sith, much less Palpatine's words!
'It is unavoidable... it is your destiny.'
"No it's NOT!" I yell.
I jump to my feet and lash out uncontrollably, throwing Ahsoka's lightsaber across the room. I breathe heavily for several long moments, shaking my head with a few gasps as I try to shove away the sudden surge of the dark side. Once it's a little more contained, I look up with wide eyes and look over to the lightsaber, which is laying on the ground on the other side of the hut. Part of the stone wall is cracked from where it hit, and her lightsaber...
I rush over to it quickly and lean down to pick it up, looking at it worriedly. Part of the hilt now has a thin crack running from the pommel, halfway up it. A lump forms in my throat and I shut my eyes, gritting my teeth in frustration and helplessness.
"Kriff it all," I whisper to myself.
I swear I'm going insane without Ahsoka... am I even safe to be around at this point? Without her to keep me rooted to the light I'm slowly falling into darkness. Even the light of Ahch-To and the Jedi Temple isn't stopping it! Am I even fit to continue supporting the Rebellion in this state? What if I make a bad choice that dooms them all?
"Sometimes we can never know what choice is right or wrong, only what we must do."
I open my eyes in surprise, looking at the lightsaber, seeing a very dim green glow through the crack.
"But my choices could lead me on the path Revan took," I say nervously.
"I care about you too much to stand watching you worry yourself to death over these things!"
"But I have to! What would I do otherwise to save the galaxy?"
"You don't have to look tough, to be tough."
"I don't..." I say slowly with a frown. "What would you think then?"
"Maybe one day we could have an even larger family... away from the war."
I consider her words, mulling over the many thoughts and ideas running through my head. I just don't know what to do about all this kriffing stuff that's been going on. Mara is out with Elita and the Ghost Crew fighting the Empire, while I'm here just thinking about... I don't know.
"You'd need to be here for that to happen," I murmur with a humorless scoff.
"We'll see each other again... I believe that."
I look back down at her lightsaber, shut my eyes for a moment and then reopen them with a firm expression.
"I'll try and make that happen... I won't let you go," I say reassuringly.
I just couldn't.
*:*:*
I pull up my comlink and then send a call out to Mara. As I wait for her to answer I glance around my hut carelessly, letting my mind wander. My gaze falls on Ahsoka's lightsaber, and I falter for a moment, upset that I cracked the hilt. Then Mara receives the call, and I return my attention to the comlink, a hologram of her showing up.
"Hey Dad," she greets.
"Hey Mara," I reply. "Listen, could you possibly come back soon? I need you for something."
"What do you mean?" she asks in confusion.
"I have an idea about how I could possibly work the holocrons to rejoin them, but I'd need you here to do it," I explain.
She looks at me uneasily, glancing off to the side before replying. "Well, do you think it could wait a little bit? Rylla just sent us intel about ammunition and supplies on Agamar. We're about to leave."
I look away for a moment, sighing quietly to hide my frustration. I want to see if I can learn how to reach out to Ahsoka but... I suppose it can wait. Mara's mission sounds important for the Rebellion.
"Alright, sure, you can do that," I tell her.
She looks at me with some concern. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I ask her, furrowing a brow.
"You seem stressed," she points out.
"I'm always stressed!" I retort.
"More than usual," she shoots back just as quickly.
I glance down and after a few moments, nod my head to concede her point.
"Maybe you're right," I admit reluctantly.
"Alright well, I'll be back with R5 when the mission is over. I'd imagine Elita may want to come back as well," she says.
"What for?" I ask.
"I don't know," she replies with a shrug. "Well, see you later Dad!"
"See you," I tell her, ending the transmission.
I really hope this goes well.
Decepticons have now made themselves known to the "public" view of both opposing sides of the fight! Thrawn is interested, and the rebels are really concerned, Elita most of all.
Jarik isn't faring any better, and is worried that he's slowly losing his mind to darkness without having Ahsoka by his side. Is he?
Fun fact: All of those voices were quotes spoken at some point in the past! (one is in the future) :O