Foreword by Lux's Sister
Hello everyone, and thanks for checking out the rewritten version of While Others Fought for Justice. You may be thinking "Wait, doesn't this story already exist on LS's profile? Why is there a second version?" Well reader, you would be correct – I originally wrote While Others Fought for Justice in 2015, when I was churning out stories about the Onderon Con Men left and right. I wound up taking a break from the While Others series, and during that time I met my co-author and dear friend DuchessKenobi.
Turns out I couldn't leave the con men alone, and when I returned to them I proceeded to suck DK down the criminal rabbit hole. Together we've penned further adventures for the Onderon Con Men and their fence, Mollymauk. However we realized that our stories were missing one thing: context, that you could only get from reading my ancient stories.
It was DK's idea to give this story a makeover for a new audience. The point of view has changed to better suit later stories, and we've added a few new scenes and details. If you'd like to read the old version it's still on my profile. But for now, we're thrilled to introduce While Others Fought For Justice, version two.
ONE
In the makeshift nursery on Piece of Crap, Ahsoka Bonteri sings as she rocks her infant son, hoping the motion and the sound of the ship's engines would be enough to lull him to sleep.
Tavin isn't old enough to understand her words, but the effect is the same.
"The sooner you fall asleep, the sooner we can start the briefings for the con," she sang, finishing off her last lullaby. "And if we get that over with quickly enough, then Mommy might get a chance to nap too!"
Tav whines in reply. The teething's especially bad since he's getting sharper Togruta teeth, and Ahsoka can feel tiny montral buds on the top of his head. She's not sure how far they'll develop. If he was going to get a full set like his momma wouldn't they have come in already? Not that she's not happy that he looks like his daddy, she thinks as she strokes his hair. Do all parents worry about stuff like this?
Ahsoka rocks for a few minutes before she dares to look down at her son's face.
His eyes are closed, and when she carefully puts him down in the crib they stay that way.
Love you! She mouths, tiptoeing out of the nursery and shutting the door behind her.
Lux comes from around the corner. "Is he asleep?"
"Hopefully, he'll nap through the briefing and then some," She whispers, allowing her eyes to close. "I need to sleep."
"Hutch thinks it'll be pretty open-and-shut. I can take care of Tav while you sleep. After all, he's my son too."
"Words cannot describe how wonderful that sounds."
Lux pats her on the back. "Just keep your eyes open a little longer and then it's you and your pillow."
"Amen." Ahsoka sighs. She's just managed to scrounge up the energy to head for the common room when the click-clacking of stiletto heels announces a new arrival.
"You guys had better hurry up or we're going to start without you," Sierra announces, not breaking stride on her way to the common room. "What took you so long, anyway?"
Lux shoots her a look. "If you'd like to try putting Tav down, be our guest."
"Yeah, not exactly the mom type. Why take care of a baby when you can steal stuff?" And then she continues on her way.
Lux sighs. "Sometimes, I think she enjoys this life of crime thing a little too much."
…
For the record, none of the people who now called themselves the Onderon Con Men had intended to become a crew of thieves. They were just a former Jedi, a clone defector, a family recently reunited after being told they were dead, two rebel leaders who were most decidedly not dead despite cliffs, clone squads, and evil kings, and a former Reddy Mart cashier who just wanted to play on his computer and eat his wife's cooking.
Unfortunately, the galaxy had other ideas. Turns out the new Galactic Empire didn't take kindly to those who would rise against it and … well, there aren't many career paths that take a bite out of the Empire and put food on the table.
The entire team jockeys for sitting space in their common room. Seated serenely in one of the chairs is Mina, a virtual political encyclopedia and the galaxy's biggest Mama Bear. She may only have given birth to Lux and Sierra, but in her book every child is hers.
Ex-Captain Rex takes the seat beside her. He may not think like a stormtrooper, but he can pretend to be a pretty good one when he goes undercover.
Tandin sits beside them, muttering something about regretting previous career choices. It's all baloney; he would do anything for the crew and especially Steela.
"Steela" being Steela Gerrera, the thief whose first heist was not a wallet, not a jewel, but a tank. From mints out of her nurses' pockets when she was recovering from being pushed off a cliff to Governor Tarkin's good name, it would be impossible to count everything she's stolen.
Her brother Saw is the group's resident muscle. Saw loves a good fight, and stands six standard feet tall. It's a perfect fit.
Next up is Hutch: a former Onderon rebel and Reddy Mart cashier turned hacker. His computer origins may have been humble, but his tricks certainly aren't. He's married to Hero, probably the best cook in the galaxy.
And then there's Sierra, Lux's sixteen-year-old sister. It's her job to talk to the marks and get them to swallow a lie hook, line, and sinker.
"I like acting." She announced when anyone asked her how she could possibly do it. "Plus, there are perks: I get to have lots of clothes and shoes."
Sierra has six pairs of shoes. Ahsoka, for the record, has two.
Following her is Katooni, the youngest, plunked between her adoptive parents and wearing a pink and orange paisley shirt.
"That's a pretty shirt. When did you get it?" Hero remarks, taking a pinch of the fabric between her fingers.
"It was a hand-me-down," Katooni explains.
Just then Sierra walks into the room. "Has anyone seen my paisley top? I can't find it."
Katooni crosses her arms over her chest. Alas, the top has sleeves.
"You could have just asked." Sierra grumbles.
"I didn't know you could fit Sierra's clothes." Mina says.
Katooni relaxes, and only then does it become apparent how baggy the shirt is on her. "I can't. But it's just so pretty!"
"Next time, ask." Sierra huffs as she takes a seat next to Steela. Big mistake.
Steela turns up Sierra's shirt collar and reads the tag.
"I thought it was my job to be the thief, whereas your job is to ask for things and have the mark hand them to you."
"I did ask you," Sierra says. "Remember when I asked you if I could handle your laundry?"
"Doesn't count, girlfriend."
Lux and Saw start laughing, but it fades out when Steela fixes them with the look of death.
"I want my clothes back." Steela says.
Hutch clears his throat. "If everyone's done with the shirt drama, I'd like to get this briefing done so I can watch my show," he says and turns on the hologram projector.
"This is Lower Moff Ichabod Crossway. He runs the Empire's finances in the Carida system." He says. "Now so far this guy has been pretty lax about Imperial rule, but he's starting to tighten his fist a little bit in the healthcare department."
"Why healthcare first?" Ahsoka asks. Most Moffs go after politics, then commerce, and then work their way down to things like healthcare.
"I thought about that too," Hutch says. "And here's what I came up with. Crossway used to work with the Republic Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease, but they booted him out of that field because he got a little extreme when it came to epidemics. This guy thinks there's no such thing as too much preparation. A few years ago, he tried to pass an incentive to supply all public buildings so they could become emergency treatment centers and give everyone in the galaxy specialized training to combat infections. The proposed budget was 78 billion credits."
"Not afraid to throw money around. I like this guy." Saw observes.
"Me too, especially because the Empire just gave him a huge budget. And by a huge budget, I mean 250 million credits."
Rex whistles. "The 501st never got more than 3 million!"
"I know, right." Hutch crosses his arms. "Lux, what are you thinking?"
Lux nods. "He loves nothing more than spending money. Why not spend a little on us?"
"How are we going to do that, Mr. Mastermind?" Hero asks.
"I have a couple ideas. Sierra, how's your corporate bulldog?"
…
Sierra's corporate bulldog is "awesome."
That's wonderful news for Ahsoka. It means the crew gets to go with plan A instead of frantically coming up with something that might work, and she can crash into bed in one hour instead of three. She just has to shower and brush her teeth, and then the
Steela opens the door to her room. "Is Tav still asleep?" she asks, stepping aside to admit Ahsoka.
"Lux is taking care of him when he wakes up. Mommy needs a nap." she announces. "I haven't seen you in that sweater before. It's pretty."
"Thanks. It's Hero's."
Is it possible to live in an eternal slumber party and not go insane? Ahsoka muses. Guess we're about to find out.
She cuts to the chase. "I need to borrow your soap. I forgot to get some when we last went shopping, and I'm all out."
"Sure," Steela agrees, rummaging through her shower caddy and grabbing her body wash.
Sierra looks up from filing her nails. "How's he doing?"
Ahsoka shrugs. "He's tired, but aren't we all? He's also a little confused about some of the finer points of fatherhood…"
Lux, I may love you dearly but you put Tavin's diaper on backwards. Again.
Sierra shrugs and goes back to her nails. "He can be a dolt sometimes, but he's a lovable dolt."
Ahsoka changes the subject. "Do you have your alias planned out?"
Sierra nods. "Yup. Hutch made it a long time ago; this one's good."
Hero turns from Steela's vanity, half her makeup on. "They're all good. They just don't last long because you go through aliases like popcorn, sweet cheeks." She announces before going back to doing her eyeliner.
Sierra rolls her eyes.
"Who are you going to be?" Ahsoka ask Steela.
"Mail room worker named Deanna." She says. "And you?"
"I'm working the phones with Hero."
Hero gives a thumbs-up with her free hand. "Hooray. We can keep Hutch and Lux from driving us insane."
Ahsoka grabs Steela's body wash and turns to go take her well-deserved nap, when a baby's cry comes from her and Lux's room.
"Lux has it handled," she says to herself and makes her way to the shower.
...
"Waaaaaa!"
Lux bounces Tav on his hip while mixing up the formula with one hand.
"Shh…shh…" He croons, putting the bottle in the microwave. "It's okay, Daddy's got you."
Tav's wails only increase in volume while the timer on the microwave moves at a snail's pace.
What did Ahsoka do to get the baby to quiet down? Lux's mind ran through everything he'd seen his wife do and finally hit on something. "Hush little baby, don't say a word. Uh…Daddy forgot the rest of the words."
"WAAAAAAA!"
He shot a prayer up to the baby formula gods: Please, please let the formula heat up to just the right temperature, and that Tav's hungry and not just cranky.
The microwave dings. Thank the Lord.
Lux squirts a little bit of formula onto his arm to test it, and then places the teat at Tav's lips. He takes it and starts sucking hungrily.
"Is that all you needed, buddy?" He asks and lowers himself into a chair, Tavin's warm body resting against his.
"It better be," Saw says, removing his headphones from his ears now that the crying is over. "Yeesh Bonteri, that kid is an eating machine. I can see why Ahsoka got so hungry when she was pregnant with him."
"He's worth every minute of it, though." Lux snuggles the baby against his shoulder.
"He's cute." Saw concedes. "So, about the con. How many people am I going to be beating up?"
"As few as possible."
Saw looks down at his knuckles. "Shoot. I was hoping to get some practice in."
"We have a punching bag."
"Punching bags don't fight back."
"We also have Rex and Hutch."
"That's just sparring."
I roll my eyes. "If you want to start a real fight with Hutch, tell him that Hero's ugly. Or Katooni's a brat. Or that the University of Onderon is the worst team in the galaxy. Actually, just diss the Rupings and he'll be ready to go."
Saw stands up. "You know, I think that'll work too."
Lux tenses up, almost dropping Tav's bottle. "Saw, I wasn't serious!"
"Thanks, Bonteri!" Saw cackles as he leaves the room. "Hey Hutch! You wanna know the difference between the University of Onderon and cereal?"