Last time: Cien breaks down as she has stayed strong for so long. Kyr's condition is worsening.

Now: Hope finally arrives.

Chapter 18- Tac's Message

After the sparring earlier that day, Sasha and Viran had wanted to go check on Cien and Oppie after the fight was over and the two had run from the room. But something deep down told them to give them a moment alone and some space before checking in with the both of them. So instead they decided to distract the Copperheads by offering to order a round of drinks at the canteen for them. They were there for a while, enjoying a few drinks and some snacks while telling of old war stories in the fight against the Empire before Oppie had arrived to join them.

A little while later, though, Sasha noticed Cien arrive at the canteen. She raised her hand and waved her over to the large table they were sharing with the Coppers. Cien walked over and took the seat that had been saved for her between Oppie and Sasha.

"Hey." Oppie said, glancing up to her as she took her seat, "doing okay?"

"Yes." Cien said as she settled into the chair. "Thank you for the spar earlier, it was helpful." She admitted.

"No worries." Oppie replied with a slight smile.

"Well now that the gang's all here should we go get dinner before the rush grabs all the good stuff?" Nova said with a smile as she rubbed her hands together eagerly.

"Sounds good to me," Kelce said as he stood to go grab food.

Shades looked between Kelce and Nova. "Man, you guys are so synchronized with each other." Nova shot a glare at her as she stood from the table. Kelce didn't notice.

Sasha reached over and grabbed Viran's arm. "Would you be willing to grab me something?" She asked, giving him a knowing look. "I can hold the table." She wanted to talk privately with Cien for a moment and this was kind of the perfect moment.

Viran nodded and glanced over to Op with the same look before looking to Cien. "Hey Cien, can we get you anything?" Viran asked her.

Cien nodded, "whatever you were going to get for Sasha is fine. Thank you." She replied, thankful that she didn't have to go up into the press of people that were converging on the cabinets as the shift change was allowing a flood of people to come in for dinner.

Viran nodded before following the others to get food for them. Sasha watched him go before looking over to Cien. She leaned in a little closer so that she wouldn't be overheard.

"Hey, I never got a chance to talk with you after the sparring," Sasha said quietly to her. "Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah, the spar actually helped a little." She admitted. "I'm okay."

"I'm glad to hear that," Sasha said with a nod. "And if you ever do need to let off steam, just let Op or Viran or myself know. Any of us are willing to listen or spar if you need it. I know that we would go to each other when we needed to let off steam too. That's what family is for being there for each other when we need to let out the pressure and stress."

Cien looked at her a little surprised, "you guys would have to let off steam?"

"Once in a while, but not often," Sasha explained. "But yeah, we have needed to before."

Cien grimaced slightly. "I thought that was because I was a Sith. I was worried that I was slipping back to the darkside and that I was doing something wrong."

Sasha chuckled lightly at that. "Look we might be Jedi, but even we have our moments of where we need to let out our anger and stress and even tears sometimes. That's just a part of being human. There is no harm in that," she explained gently.

Cien considered that for a time. "I have such a hard time trying to figure out what the right thing is sometimes." She said quietly, "especially now when I feel like I am always on the cusp of lashing out at everyone around me."

"I understand," Sasha said. "But if you need to vent, just let me know."

Cien nodded and just sat silently for a moment, not really having more to say. The last few weeks it had felt like she had vented, she had talked. And she was growing so very impatient waiting for a chance to actually do something. At that moment the others returned with food for themselves. Viran had a tray with food for himself, Sasha, and Cien. He set their food down before them before taking a seat next to Sasha. Oppie sat down next to Cien, and as Cien leaned forward to look at the selection that Viran had made for her, she was a little surprised when another, small arm swept between them, depositing a parfait. Cien looked back to see Wynnie quietly step away, and Cien looked at her with surprise.

"So Cien and Op that was quite a spar you two did earlier," Kelce said, breaking the awkward silence that built as people started digging into their food. "It was very impressive."

"Yeah, that lightning thing, is it a weapon built into your gauntlet or something else?" Shades asked.

"No, it's a Force power." Cien replied.

Shades looked between the four Force users sitting at the table. "Can all of you do that?"

"No," Sasha said with a shake of her head. "It's an ability that only Cien knows."

"Something you could learn though?" Shades prodded, curious about it.

"No. It's a power they shouldn't use." Cien cut in. The abruptness of her tone brought an end to that conversation as Shades blinked and nodded, hoping someone else at the table might be able to continue the conversation more gracefully than she.

"We don't know much about the Force," Kelce interjected after a moment. "Would you guys be willing to tell us more about it?" He asked curiously, but also cautiously as he wasn't sure how they would respond.

Oppie looked at the other three around the table, "I don't think we mind, do you have any specific questions? It's a pretty broad topic." He replied with a smile.

"I guess start at where you get your abilities," Nova said with a shrug. "Or how the Force helps with your abilities?"

"Well for a Jedi or a Sith, the Force exists in all living beings, but more so for us," Sasha started. "Due to our strong connection to it, we are able to use it as a tool for defense or offense depending on the situation. But there are rare or less common abilities that derive from the Force that we could learn to use, but some are more… taxing than others." She explained as well as she could.

Oppie nodded, "for us it's just another sense. We can mostly use it for telekinetic abilities, or to enhance our senses. That's how Cien and I were able to keep up with each other during our fight." He said nodding to her, as she was absently picking at her food. "It helps us know when and where danger is coming, or sense distress in others," he pointedly did not look to Cien then, "so it also gives us a little bit of empathic ability. Some of us more than others, since our gifts manifest differently for each of us." He glanced at Sasha and Cien at that point.

"Ah now that's cool," Kelce said.

"Now kind of a change of subject, but how did you get your lightsabers? I have heard that Jedi have to go on a quest or something in order to build them," Nova asked next.

"It's true that a Jedi gets their sabers from a trial known as the Gathering, but only Oppie got to experience that," Viran said, nodding towards Op. "Sasha and I got our lightsabers later."

"My lightsaber used to belong to Oppie's Master Redika, and Oppie after him," Sasha answered.

"And mine I actually inherited from a great great uncle. Or so Kyr said." Oppie added, "I lost my original saber years ago."

"As for mine, I found it aboard the ship Cien used to… live on," Viran explained as delicately as possible. "It had been stolen from its owner and has been with me since. We believe it belonged to a Jedi we found on a mission we were on several years ago."

Cien looked up when he said with a worried look on her face. "I never knew that." She admitted. "From Kopesh?" She asked, turning her head slightly to the side.

Viran rubbed the back of his neck with a slight chuckle. "Yep."

Cien swallowed nervously, "at the…" She started, not sure if she should ask. "The former owner was at the shattered temple?" She asked for clarification.

"Yeah," he nodded as he dropped his hand.

"Oh." Cien said simply, looking back down to her plate. "I'm glad you recovered it." She added after a moment.

Viran nodded. "Me too."

"What about you Cien?" Scamp asked curiously. "How did you get your lightsaber?"

Cien looked up at him, trying to figure out how much to say. "I…" She started, "I acquired my Kyber crystal in a manner traditional to the Sith, and I built it over the course of two days." She said simply.

Sasha glanced at Cien on that, and Cien pointedly did not meet her gaze.

"So they can cut through anything?" Wynnie pipped up. "Except beskar?"

"Most things." Cien answered her out of reflex. "Some materials can stop them."

"That would be fun to see. It would make breaching rooms a lot easier." Wynnie said.

Nova scoffed at that. "But what about my breaching charges or tape? Or any of my other lovely explosives that can help us make a grand entrance?" She asked, almost hurt by that.

Shades patted Nova on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'm sure we can find another job for you. Maybe Kelce will need a new assistant from all the new injuries once all you ground pounders start flailing around with lightsabers." Shades said comfortingly.

Nova blushed heavily at that. "Shut up, Olympia," she whispered harshly at Shades.

Kelce looked at the two of them, noticing Nova's blush and feeling his own cheeks redden slightly at that. "If you ever want to learn Nova, I would be willing to teach you about first aid and such," he offered genuinely.

Nova's blush turned redder and avoided his gaze. "Thanks, Kels."

Cien looked between Shades, Nova and Kelce with the stirrings of the first smile she had felt all day. "It would never hurt to -" She stopped short. Her left gauntlet was buzzing just slightly and her glance shot down to it. It only ever did that if Tac was trying to contact her privately. Her heart pounded as she tried to figure out what it meant. Without a thought to the others at the table, Cien retrieved her helmet from where it was magnetized over her shoulder and put it on her head.

Greetings, Kyr'Prudii and myself require immediate exfil from the following coordinates. Spatial grid 21454864.132484 by 74874544.354487 by 3247831.345487. Please expedite rescue quickly. Thank you, T1C-TAC5FG-000KC.

Cien shot to her feet and her chair shoved backwards, nearly clattering backwards as she stood.

"Cien, what is it?" Sasha asked as she looked startled by Cien's sudden reaction.

"Tac." She said in a whisper, and she turned to leave, almost shouting over her shoulder. "Tac just sent me coordinates!" She said heading for the bridge.

"What?" Viran and Oppie exclaimed at the same time, and didn't even look at eachother for doing it.

Sasha shot out of her chair and ran after her, Viran and Oppie close on her heels. Scamp even stood up and followed them, leaving the rest of the Coppers at the table.

"Should we follow 'em?" Shades asked, looking down at her half finished dinner.

"I'm not sure," Nova admitted.

"Let's finish up here and then head up," Kelce advised.

"Yeah, if we've got a rescue in a few hours then we probably want dinner first." Shades observed as she started eating quicker.

Review! End of Part 1