Kit pounded her fist against the door to Jax's bedroom, waiting impatiently for her friend to snap out of whatever slump he had slid into. She knocked again, but no response came the second time. She keyed in a code to the door's panel, and it slid open with a hiss. Jax was nowhere within, and she vented some of her frustration with a curse at the empty room.
She had spent fifteen wasted minutes trying to find him in the mess, the galley, his quarters, and in the quiet grove of trees that the Jedi had taken to meditating in, and now that she knew he was not in his quarters, her concern grew over where he had gone and what his mental state might be. Although she knew Jax was no fan of space travel, the only other place she could think of was the hangar, although she struggled to imagine why he would be hanging around there. She jogged off down the corridor, navigating the maze of stone passages hewed into the mountain's granitic interiors on her way to the hangar.
As she entered the hangar, she found herself drifting toward the Aldera thinking that she could at least begin planning her next step. As she strode through the hangar, she caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eyes. Kit slowed to a halt and turned in the direction of the movement, and her eyes tracked to a gleaming white Chiss shuttle that the Resistance had apprehended several months prior. It sat neglected in a quiet corner of the hangar, left alone after the Resistance techs had gleaned what little information they could from its systems and functioning. Kit recalled that the systems were fundamentally different from the tech used by the Republic, especially where the navigation systems – or lack thereof were concerned. While they could get the ship into the air and fly it around, they failed to gather any additional information that might have been useful. Another dead end, Kit thought to herself as her determination to act propelled her forward. But before she could move, another movement caught her eye in that quiet corner of the hangar. Her curiosity piqued, she switched course and moved toward the ship.
She reached the shuttle moments later, and she was surprised to find the boarding ramp down. Her first suspicion went straight to Panga Meesh, and suspecting treachery, she withdrew her blaster and entered the ship. The interior of the ship was just as clean, bright, and gleaming as the exterior – a jarring contrast from the dark, damp stone of the hangar. She crept through the shuttle's cargo bay, her ears and eyes strained for any sign of movement. A muffled clatter resonated from the direction of the cockpit, and she moved forward slowly, hoping to take the intruder by surprise.
She arrived at the cockpit and stepped forward, growling, "Don't move!"
She had expected Panga, but to her surprise, she found Jax attempting to navigate the controls on the ship's console. He jumped, surprised at her approach, and threw his hands up. Kit registered that his forehead was sweaty, and the look in his eyes suggested anxiety and guilt. Kit holstered her weapon, and asked, "What are you doing?"
Jax attempted to stutter his way through an explanation, but in his anxiety, his response was nonsensical. Kit got the impression of somebody who desperately wanted to escape the situation, which stirred her concern and suspicion even further. She asked, "You okay?"
His tension seemed to peak before giving way to a sudden deflation. He sat back into the co-pilot's chair and buried his head in his hands. Kit sat down across from him, frowning in concern. She waited a few respectful moments to allow him to compose himself before she asked, "What's going on, pal?" Then, she looked down on the ground beside Jax and saw a bag that appeared to have been packed in haste. Feeling hurt rising inside her, Kit said, "Were you trying to leave?"
Jax nodded, then took a huge steadying breath, and without lifting his head up, he said, "It's my fault the Phoenix got hit."
"How so?" Kit asked, her frown deepening.
"When Kira called to me, I felt her pain and her grief. I saw Leia dying." Jax explained, averting his gaze to avoid looking Kit in the eye. "I didn't relay the go order right away. Then Captain Kenlo got confused, and we wasted a bunch of time. . ."
Kit considered the information and recognized it as a missing piece that explained what had gone wrong. As she watched her friend wracked with guilt, she noticed a small part of her that felt anger toward him. She fought against the anger with some difficulty, recognizing that she needed him aware and willing, not defeated and defensive. Her thoughts drifted back to the debate that had raged between Leia, Kira, Akeyla, and Zhey'la prior to the mission. The thought had been for Zhey'la to remain on the Alabaster and for Jax to join her on Nal Hutta. Jax was a strong fighter, despite his struggles with other aspects of the Force. However, Akeyla and Leia had both made a persuasive case for bringing Zhey'la, given her experience. Kit had concurred, especially knowing that all Jax had to do was receive the order and say the word. Her anger subsided quickly when she remembered Kira's distraction and her own shock. It vanished altogether when she realized that nobody could have anticipated that Leia would abandon the mission to talk to Ben.
"I'm not sure anybody would have been able to keep their focus in that moment. Kira almost let the Phoenix go down over Nal Hutta, and she's been training for years," Kit explained kindly.
"I should have called the order right away," Jax said.
"But didn't you say Kenlo delayed too?" Kit responded before adding, "And the Phoenix blew moments before it jumped."
"It doesn't matter. Everywhere I go, whatever I do, I'm a liability," Jax said.
Kit frowned at his comment as she felt her impatience pushing hard against her desire to be supportive. She had never heard Jax talk like this. He had mostly kept to himself through the past year, working studiously at the tasks set for him by the ex-Jedi seeking to train him. She was aware that he had struggled, even though his training had been a group affair with Kit, Zhey'la, Cere, and Leia all pitching in. She remembered Leia saying that a person's demons could slow their growth in the Force, although to Kit that sounded like more Jedi nonsense.
"Jax, the only reason we know anything about this is because of you," Kit said as she tried to pull him out of his spiral.
"Yeah, but now that you know, what use am I? Nobody trusts me. Nobody believes in me. Most people think I'm a freak." Jax added, and Kit could hear from his voice that he was on the verge of tears.
Kit thought it over and lacking the kind of compassionate demeanor that Leia and Zhey'la had, she was at a loss for words. Instinctively, she reached for the one thing that consistently made her feel better – action - and she said, "I was looking for you because I have an idea."
Jax stiffened, but did not respond. Taking advantage of the pause in his self-blame, she continued, "I think I know how to decode the transmissions."
Jax lifted his head up, curious at what Kit might be thinking. His eyes were redder than usual, and Kit felt a fleeting stab of curiosity at how crying affected the Chiss. She was satisfied to note that he looked more curious than anguished. Kit took it as a good sign when he said, "How?"
"Well, all year long, we've explored every avenue to decode those transmissions. We've pursued every option we could think of." She paused, and a grin spread on her face as she said, "Every option but one."
"Kit, if you're suggesting we track down Ben Solo. . ." Jax started, but Kit interrupted.
"Not Ben, necessarily. Weneed the Falcon's computer, and I know just the person to help us find it," Kit said, her excitement rising as she considered the possibility.
"Who?" Jax said frowning as he wondered what she was getting at.
"Lando!" Kit exclaimed excitedly.
"That…" spoke a woman's voice from the shadows, "is a terrible idea."
Both Kit and Jax leapt from their seats, reaching instinctively for their weapons. Both were surprised to find their weapons missing. From the back of the cockpit, they saw a brief shimmer that preceded the sudden appearance of the armored figure of Panga Meesh. She stepped forward and removed her helmet, saying, "Relax. I'm not here to fight."
"What the hell were you doing spying on us?" Kit asked, her voice tight with anger.
Jax, who was more astonished than angry at Panga's sudden appearance, asked, "How did you do that?"
"I had a feeling you'd be up to something," Panga said to Kit. She then turned to Jax and explained, "It's easy to sneak up on the preoccupied." She then held out Kit's blaster and Jax's lightsaber, adding, "Plus, the armor blends in."
Kit rushed forward and grabbed the weapons, then stepped back to train her blaster on Panga. Panga rolled her eyes and responded, "Oh, we're doing this again?"
She then removed both of her blasters and placed them on the floor of the cockpit. She raised her hands in the air and gave Kit a pointed glare, saying, "There. I'm unarmed. You're armed. When you're ready to talk like a big girl, let me know."
Jax hooked his lightsaber to his belt, but Kit continued to point her blaster at Panga's face. Her nostrils flaring, she said, "And why should I waste my time talking to you?"
Panga responded with a derisive grin, saying, "Well, for one, your idea sucks. For two, you and blue over here are going to need help." She paused, and her grin dissolved into a hardened and determined expression. "And for three, I want Bolsko gone."
"And why would a bounty hunter care about anything other than her next paycheck?" Kit spat acidly.
Panga sighed impatiently, then explained. "Bolsko farmed out his problems to the Hutts for years, all under the table so it couldn't be traced. I know what kind of guy he is, and I don't want the galaxy under his filthy thumb any more than you do." Panga paused, and a hard, angry expression blossomed around her eyes as she said, "Besides. Slaves don't get paychecks."
Kit blanched as she realized the transgression in implying Panga got paid, but she recovered quickly. "Oh, so now you expect us to believe you care about what happens to the galaxy after you stopped us from exposing Bolsko in the first place?" Kit retorted disbelievingly.
"Get it through your head, Antilles: I was a slave. It was either do what I was told or get fed to a rancor. Maybe you think I had some choice in the matter, but that's easy to say when you grow up the daughter of a Republic admiral." Panga finished, glaring at Kit with her own suppressed anger.
Kit flushed slightly, and despite Kit's misgivings, Jax was beginning to think she had a point. He had been a slave to the Order of Ren, and his empathy was rising as he listened to her story.
"So, what do you say? Do you want to figure this out, or do you want to keep wasting our time pointing that blaster in my face?" Panga asked, growing bored of the standoff.
Kit lowered her blaster and placed it in her holster. Crossing her arms in defiance, she shot back, "Ok. Let's hear your brilliant idea."
"Great," Panga said, clapping her hands together. She knelt to grab her blasters, which she holstered. She walked over to one of the ship's consoles and switched it on. The screen blinked into life, and the computer began to initialize its systems. Watching the computer boot up, Panga began, "You say you want to find Lando Calrissian and get his help tracking the Millennium Falcon down?"
"That's right," Kit answered.
"You're a little behind the times," Panga said, still looking away as the computer came online. Before waiting for Kit to answer, she started keying different commands.
"What happened?" Kit asked, and she registered a trace of annoyance at the idea that Panga might be better informed about something than she was. She registered that Panga seemed to know how to operate the shuttle better than anybody in the Resistance had, and she added, "And how do you know how to do that?"
"The Hutts captured a few of these early on," she explained. She switched gears from discussing the ship and relayed the news about Bespin. "Last week, the Republic seized Cloud City and the rest of Calirssian's operations on Bespin. They claimed he was supplying the Resistance with tibanna gas, which was a lie. The real reason was to allow the Chiss to co-opt the operation," Panga said, and after keying a final command in, she removed a data card and slid it into the console. A series of charts sprang up, which Kit stepped forward to scrutinize. Kit looked back to Jax, who raised his eyebrows in curiosity.
"Says here that the Chiss Ascendency is now re-routing all shipments of tibanna gas out of Bespin, but nobody is really sure where it's going," Kit said to Jax, then added, "What do you think?"
"Mantos," Jax said as he felt a led weight drop in his stomach.
"Excuse me?" Panga asked, not recognizing the name.
Kit felt a lurch of satisfaction knowing that Panga was in the dark now. "Before you screwed up our attempt to kidnap Krax, Jax discovered the existence of an Order of Ren base called Mantos."
Jax interjected, saying, "Actually, I always knew it existed – I had been trained and processed there."
"Processed?" Panga asked, confused.
"The Order of Ren installs an inhibitor chip into everyone in their armies. It overrides our will and makes us compliant." Jax turned around and pulled down the hood of his robe to show the light blue scar on the back of his neck. Panga stepped forward to examine it. Jax felt a haunted, empty feeling as he continued his explanation, "I spent years fighting for them. I don't remember much from before - who I am. Where I came from."
Panga stepped back, and when Jax turned around, he could see some of her hardness softening toward him. An understanding passed between them, and Jax knew she understood what it was like to lose all sense of free will. "So, what's Mantos?" she asked, her voice softer than before.
"It's the hub of operations for training and processing the Order of Ren's army. It's in the Unknown Regions," Jax explained.
"The Order of Ren has been building up their forces for years there," Jax explained.
"And we learned after the Republic stopped the Nemsian invasion at Bilbringi that they were rerouting the refugees to Mantos to staff the new ships they're building," Kit added.
"Which would explain why they want the tibanna gas," Panga said.
"Precisely," Kit acknowledged.
Panga turned back to the screen and pondered the data a moment longer, then said, "Anyway, you can't just waltz into Cloud City and ask to see the admin. I heard he's being kept under house arrest and forced to continue running the operation. They've tripled their production in the last week alone," Panga explained.
"Which means the Order of Ren is planning something big," Kit said in response. Kit stepped toward the console, and Panga stepped aside. Kit exited the data report on Cloud City, and keyed in her own commands. Nothing happened, and Kit turned to Panga, saying, "How do you call out on this thing?" Panga keyed in the command, and the console began to initiate a holocall, which continued to attempt to connect. Kit began muttering under her breath impatiently, "Come on. . ."
After a full minute, the call connected, and the projected image of a familiar Wookie face appeared projected over the ship's dash. When the Wookie saw who was calling, he rumbled a greeting, to which Kit said, smiling, "Chewie!"
Chewbacca did not show excitement at the greeting, and instead appeared to be submerged in grief. He grumbled softly, to which Kit said, "I know Chewie. I'm so sorry."
Chewie launched into a rolling discourse, but Kit cut him off, saying, "Chewie, I'm so sorry to interrupt. I know how much this hurts, but we need your help."
Chewie hesitated, then as he appeared to get his grief under control, he uttered a short inquiry. Kit responded, saying, "Leia died attempting to apprehend a codebreaker named Krax. We needed him to decode information that might expose Bolsko and the Order of Ren for what they are. It could end all of this."
Kit swallowed, and Jax could tell how much her next words stung. "But we failed. Leia is gone. Kira is missing. Our only option now is to find the Falcon and get the computer to do the decoding."
Chewie uttered a mournful wail that evolved into a question. Kit responded, saying, "We think Lando can help us track down the Falcon."
Chewie cocked his head to the side, which Kit took to mean that he was thinking it over. Kit asked, "Does Lando have the ability to find the Falcon?"
Chewie launched into an elaborate explanation that Kit had a tough time following. "Chewie, slow down. I can't understand Wookie as well as. . ."
Panga interrupted her, saying, "He said that Lando's ship has a link to the Falcon's computer. Lando designed the Falcon's original nav system, and he backdoored a way to communicate between his nav system and the Falcon in case he or Han Solo got into a jam."
Kit looked back at Panga with begrudging appreciation at her fluency in Wookie, then turned back to Chewie, saying, "There's another problem. Cloud City is under occupation."
Chewie rumbled an angry grunt to show his displeasure at the idea of the Republic occupying another planet. His home planet, Kashyyyk, was still under Republic occupation as well as a full trade blockade, and Chewie had spent the last year running a covert food supply chain deep below the Kashyyyk surface to keep his people from starving. Kit nodded, saying, "I know. Lando is under house arrest, and we'll need to break him out."
The Wookie did not respond immediately, and he turned away momentarily before returning to the screen. He looked down as if plugging commands into his own computer, and then Kit saw a data file transferring from his computer to hers. When the download finished, a schematic of Cloud City came up on their screen. Panga and Jax stepped forward to examine the schematic alongside Kit. Kit asked, "Is this what I think it is?"
Chewie rumbled an acknowledgment, then provided another, lengthier explanation, which Panga translated. "He said that Lando built a number of tunnels when he got Cloud City back from the Empire. He told Han he never wanted to be caught flatfooted again."
Kit smiled, then looked to Chewie, saying, "Thanks, pal." Chewie rumbled a response, to which Kit said, "Yeah, we better go, too. Take care of yourself, big guy."
Chewie's projected face vanished, and Kit downloaded the schematic of Cloud City into her data pad. Her excitement rising again, she turned to Panga and Jax and said, "Alright, so we use this schematic to sneak in, break Lando out, and then find Ben."
"You're not planning on taking this thing, are you?" Panga asked.
"Too conspicuous," Kit said.
"Then how are we going to get there?" Jax asked.
"The Aldera," Kit answered confidently.
"Oh, that's not conspicuous at all," Panga shot back derisively.
"Fair point," Jax said before Kit could respond in the hopes of averting an argument.
"And I suppose you have a better idea?" Kit retorted.
"Yep!" Panga said, smiling. "The Harpy has a few tricks up her sleeve that I think you'll appreciate."
Kit was suspicious, but not seeing a better option, she agreed. They both turned toward Jax, who jarred himself out of his ruminations, looking uncomfortable. "What?" he asked defensively.
"You think you're up for this?" Kit asked.
"Guys, I don't know…" Jax began.
"Having somebody along with Jedi skills might be a big help," Kit said.
"But I'm not sure I. . ." Jax began, before he tailed off.
Panga turned to Kit, saying, "Is he gonna be able to keep his head on straight?"
Kit waved off her concern, saying, "Jax is the best fighter we've got."
"A fight is the last thing we want here," Panga said, suspicious. Jax was growing more uncomfortable as the debate continued. Kit turned toward him, an expression of impatient excitement on her face that said quite clearly - well?
"That's the thing. . ." Jax said, before faltering.
"What's the thing?" Kit asked, confused.
"Ben Solo," Jax replied.
"What about him?" Kit asked again.
"He killed Leia. If I see him…" Jax did not finish his thought, but his clenched jaw and narrowed eyes expressed his anger sufficiently for him.
"With any luck, you won't need to," Kit said. "All we gotta do is find the Falcon, find a way to stall him, and get everything decoded."
"I don't like this," Jax said.
"Yeah, I said it was a horrible idea," Panga said, her arms crossed.
"You have a better idea?" Kit spat venomously without looking at her.
"Fair enough," Panga said, and she looked toward Jax expectantly.
Jax looked at both women and swallowed. Kira would have been the right person for this, as would Zhey'la. Leia, Cere, Luke – anybody but him would have been the right person. But he was all that was left, and he knew that with the Order of Ren bulking up its fleet, it was only a matter of time before an all-out war began – a war they were in no position to fight after a year of proxy civil war that appeared to have taken a step toward a true civil war. A quiet voice in the back of his mind offered, Maybe you can begin to make things right.
Taking a deep breath, he said, "Let's do it."