As the Dark Times fade.
Disclaimer: Skymaster23 has no connection to anything on RL television.
Before the half-dead Carlin is aboard the Drifting Dream, Jerec is choosing concept-holos for a massive flagship to rival another he's aware of when he glances in a certain direction. "...are they not to your liking, sir?" An Imperial shipwright asks him, but is ignored.
Jerec goes to his quarters, and a projection appears at the same time he sits down. "You felt it too, prophet."
"Yes. The Chandrilan you've been troubled by... brandishing a lightsaber against a beast-man; but i was cast out by a blinding light before i could ascertain which planet he was on." Kadann informed him.
"Even in death, the Jedi refuse to accept our superiority. Do you still have the premonition of him at Tansarii Point?"
"Indeed."
"Then he will have a guest awaiting him."
"That is also true."
Back in the Tarpals' conference chamber, Carlin's employers have decided. "Addin' what you've shown us tuh what we already know de empire has done... we seem tuh have no choice but tuh join your cawze." Jraan says to Mon Mothma. "But doan go gettin' us wrong, "chancellawh"; it's only becawze of dat condishun." He told her less formally as Carlin and Rhiss walked back in.
"While i, as any other Vurk, do not agree with the idea of responding violently, the empire relies too heavily on it... on the other hand; Jraan and i remember the republic. We don't miss those days one little bit." Ralth added.
As those three walk off, Carlin turns toward Mothma. "What did he mean by condition?" He asks as his Chandrilan accent fully returns, and is told that the owner of the Baobab Merchant Fleet has been an alliance sympathizer for several years. "Is he, now?" He asks next, inwardly lamenting that those four months of avoiding stormtroopers, slobbered on by Mynocks, electrocuted, and pulverized could have been avoided.
"In exchange for Capt. Iblon's cooperation, we've arranged for his and Mr. Ghireh's families to be transferred to the recently liberated Lothal system, where a new Baobab outpost will be constructed." She explains, and shows a projection of a cell lead by a Twi'lek. "It was the homeworld o-"
"Ez... Ezra Bridger." Carlin says as he pointed to the young man with orange and brown clothes.
"That's right. He can be said to be your predecessor."
"And what of me, Milady Mothma?" Carlin asks before kneeling. "I must apologize. For the longest time, even before the loss of the G'rho colony, i despised you. For that, and for the loss of Bentesh and Lokmarcha, i don't deserve to ask this of you; but please tell me how I'm still alive right now?"
"Just Chancellor, please." She tells him before crouching down. "Once i was able to cope with the murder of Viceroy Organa and so many of his people, i was informed that my presence was required in this system, so i left Yavin IV before the enemy arrived. The Princess had to hand out the awards herself while i was waiting among several secure locations."
"She's right. All these ships were already in orbit when we left Contruum's surface. Turns out that station you three were headed to has a few more imp spies on it after the latest attempt on Darth Vader's life." Rhiss says next.
"De crew just gotcha in dat bacta-tank befawh yuh lost too much blood. Should of told us about all dis when yuh popped outta de crate, seccer." Jraan adds.
"It's in the past, Captain Iblon... You had no way of knowing any of this back then, Carlin Deler." The Chancellor says to both, before offering a hand to the latter. "I will bring up every article of the Daily Messenger made after you left."
The three look at the projections until one is shown with the headline: Theater Owners Experience Real Drama. It goes on to show his parents being followed by a crowd of reporters and camera droids. "Mrs. Dele... out of the way... Mrs. Deler, can you verify that your deceased son's secret activities are the reason the Cavalcade was given new management and that your daughter was-" One reporter asks, and is shoved by Tab.
"Let it be known that from this day forward we have no son! We have no son!" Ibellia yelled to the crowd.
"That's enough, you people have what you wanted! Disperse!" They are told by a CCP officer Carlin recognizes as being from another shift while his three companions look on helplessly.
"That's as harsh as a junkslide on Taris. Guess i, uh... I'll take back what i said." Jraan says aloud between a sigh.
"What does that mean? Nirame! Why wasn't she with our parents?" He asks himself, and goes through the articles without waiting, only to find one made a few weeks later. Clearly, his fainting spell, apparent demise, and Hallem breaking up with her due to his being "posthumously dishonored for spice related crimes" was too much for the Deler's prestige... and his sister's sanity.
"You needn't despair. If you are indeed capable of using the force, even your sister's fate is reversible. Please stand, and show that your spirit cannot be wilted." Chancellor Mothma pleaded.
It took another two days for him to feel like speaking again.
Rhiss is wandering around before finding Carlin in the Tarpal's lounge. "The freighter crew you were with left for their home-port, Carlin. Were you that affected by what you found out?"
"If you mean about the other day, then I'm only half over it. The lesser problem is my getting back to being Chandrilan... did you know we operate around a 20 hour day?" He tells her while focusing on a datapad, and continues about how he was informed that his role has been decided. "After losing both Kanan Jarrus and Ezra Bridger in a single week, the Alliance council won't risk having me fight alongside that young man on Yavin."
"So they-we lose whoever he is, it'll be up to you to restore the Jedi." She replies, leaning over to read the pad, which causes Carlin to turn and freeze-up.
"...Quite a sight." He says under his breath as he sees how much "mass" she has through her shirt's collar, having been too preoccupied with everything that happened on Contruum to have considered it until now.
"Huh? Wanna repeat that?" She asks in an ambiguous tone.
"I-i said you're quite right!" He tells her, and changes the subject. "With the secondary bonus of the enemy not knowing which of us is which. I'll also be receiving special training prior to transfer to a salvaged Venator, where I'll joining the 35th infantry(1), under the command of a..." He says, as the scene is observed from another area of the ship by Chancellor Mothma, alongside two others.
"He doesn't handle the unexpected any better then Ezra Bridger did." She says to Ahsoka.
"I've seen people survive worse." The Togruta replies, which the other person balks at.
"We're going to need more than that if you and this "exile" want Plan Besh to be accepted." Col. Rieekan tells her.
Meanwhile, Carlin and Rhiss continue their conversation. "Anyway, you didn't explain who 'Casnirin' is." The latter says.
"Casnirin is a figure of historical significance. I know he was the first Chandrilan to visit Coruscant(3), but my history class left out how many millennia ago that was." Carlin explains. "As for today... I was saying my commanding officer is a Sergeant Major named Cal Alder(1). What of you?"
"Just because I lived on nine planets, they made me an urban survival advisor." Rhiss replies in an annoyed tone. "Since Chandrila isn't one of those nine, what's it like?" She asks while sitting down, and he smiles as he describes his homeworld.
"It's wonderful, Rhiss. Every structure has a little piece of nature in it. Plains of the softest grass that go on for miles. The Silver Sea of Hanna and it's spectacular coral reef. The nearly bottomless crystal caverns glittering from both moons shining upon them. According to legend, there's an old Jedi tomb hidden within the tunnels; but not even the empire has found it." He tells her, and the smile dims. "Unless-"
"You sure talk like you lived in a theater." She replies, noticing the change. "Keep at it, and i might show you the rest of me." She whispers to him, having figured out what he's at eye-level with.
"Er... M-most sentients prefer not to be like us for some odd reason, and we're one of the least violent of the human worlds. You'll love it there." He says, so as to change the subject, and she gives him a few stories.
"I took part in a match on Rodia against Zan Pike four years ago. I would have won if she didn't have a grav-plate in her shoe." She tells him. "Some time after that, i worked at a gambling hall on the back of a Gampassa-"
"The same one from "Hard Ticket to Glee Anselm"?" He asked, referring to one of Starflare's holofilms, and got a playful shove.
That night (by Mon Calamari standards) Carlin suddenly wakes up and feels the need to enter a storage bay. "You knew what was going to happen to me on Contruum." He says aloud.
"Just as you knew i was aboard." Ahsoka says while walking out from behind a container, but stays partly in the shadows. "Does this anger you?"
"I won't say never. I did, however, experience some things there akin to what you and Naughlen showed me."
"You heard that girl repeating your words..." She replies, and he nods. "It was a mind trick; a Jedi trait."
"As was my feeling everything that Cathar felt when i took his arm?"
"Yes. It's one of many sensations you will have to learn to negate. A lesson i will not give." She says, causing him to tilt his head.
"I beg your pardon?"
"I'm the least qualified to be a mentor, to be honest." She tells him, and points to his side. "The lightsaber i gave you. Examine it."
Aside from what he already knew it could do, it looked less interesting than the tools he'd hidden it amongst. "All i see is that it's curved like those two you showed back at Bentesh's hideout. I've noticed Vader's on the rare occasion that holos of him are shown on Xof and acquaintances, but-"
"20 years ago, Viceroy Organa sent some of his men to accompany two survivors of the purge to The Temple(4)." Ahsoka tells him. "They collected the lightsabers of 27 victims, downloaded 441 years worth of profiles, and the security recording of the massacre Darth Sidious ordered. They were all intended as evidence of crimes against civilization in the event the Republic does return."
"Darth Sidious? The emperor used that title first?"
"It's far older than that. But nevermind; most of the lightsabers were lost to the empire over the years as The Committee of 2,000... the original rebellion, who were entrusted with them, were caught. The Jedi profiles, along with one of the 27, are being kept by Garm Bel Iblis of Corellia, who is the second remaining member of the 2,000. As for the recordings, they were in Organa's palace." She finishes, then activates one of her weapons and rushes at him.
"Wha-watch it!" He shouts as he narrowly avoids it. "Have you lost your... why didn't i have another premo-whatevers?"
"I didn't intend to kill you." She explains, and goes on to say that The Force enables a Jedi to see the future to bolster their self-preservation instinct. "What all this has to do with lightsabers is because that hilt is curved for efficiency in the second form of lightsaber combat, which is known as Makashi. Of the six forms, it may be the fanciest, but is just as much lethal... as proven by it's most well known practitioner before my former master, Anakin Skywalker, defeated him days before he ended the clone wars."
Carlin recalled that name from Berchest. "And who was this practitioner?" He asks despite of the feeling that he doesn't want to know.
"Count Dooku; the la-." She says, making him narrow his eyes.
"I know all i need of him." He says as he tosses the lightsaber away in disgust.
Before it gets very far, she raises a hand, and it floats back towards him. "This weapon is your life." She tells him calmly. "Don't forget that we told you that Darth Sidious was responsible for your father dying."
"Dooku still helped tear three families apart." He replies, referring to his, Nirame's, and Tab's.
"He can also be said to have put one together." She points out. "If you truly intend to be a Jedi, you must accept that even the emperor was innocent at one point in his life."
"...Very well. Continue, please."
"Count Dooku was a fallen Jedi who took the name Darth Tyranus, and taught this style to an apprentice of his named Asajj Ventress. Anakin and i faced them enough times for me to memorize it." She says as she takes a stance. "Makashi is only about precision strikes against other lightsabers as opposed to defense against blaster bolts, so don't bother using it against stormtroopers." She tells him before raising her lightsaber. "As for me, i am a user of the fifth form, which is actually two different types... one for use against either type of opponent. Shien for blaster blocking, and Djem So for dueling." She explains before activating it. "Let's begin with the latter."
"B-before that... how is that one a different color from mine?" He asks, and gets an amused huff.
"You said you saw Darth Vader's blade; the red color was because the sith created a method to "torture" Kyber crystals. I recovered these weapons from someone who served him, and was able to heal them... maybe a little too well." She says as she resumes her stance.
Sometime later, Carlin leans against a wall. "I don't supp... ose we could take a... a breather?" He asks while wheezing.
"It's only been an hour and a half, but if you insist." She says as she sits down.
"Only?!" He asks next after doing the same.
"I was once hunted by Trandoshans for five days." She replies, and he blanches.
"Conceded."
In response, she closes her eyes, and Carlin feels his fatigue wearing off. "Next is the Shien training. Col. Rieekan, send them in, please." She says aloud, and a few minutes later, five rebel soldiers enter the room.
"Tano?" He asks nervously as force fields appear on the walls and ceiling.
"It's better to observe first." She tells him while still sitting, and motions for the soldiers to shoot at her.
To his astonishment, she gets up and runs around in a blur of white and red lights as every bolt is deflected in evidently pre-planned directions, with not a single one hitting him or her "attackers". Once she's finished, the only damage is in the form of each rifle being slashed in half. "...It's that street in Emita all over again." Carlin said as he remembered the one Sakal found in the exact same condition.
After a week and four days, Carlin and Tano are sparring when she stops. "Step back, youngling." He suddenly hears from a voice that clearly isn't Tano's as she grabs a container right before the room begins to shake, causing another to fall where he was standing.
"What the blazes just happened?"
"That's the interdiction field we ran into." She tells, and a voice on the loudhailer verifies her before he can say he was referring to the strangely worded warning.
"Alert to all hands, Imperial ships have pulled us out of hyperspace near the Teardrop system. Enemy fighters and shuttles are approaching."
"It was bound to happen eventually." Carlin thinks to himself. He is about to fight the empire's troops again.
The two of them exit the room and watch a security squad passing by. "Let's show the spacetrash that they picked the wrong ship to mess with." The leader says.
"Aren't we going to follow them?" Carlin asks Tano, who is going in a different direction.
"They can handle it; all we need to do is get to the bridge."
"Oh, so we're headed to the lifts."
"We are headed to the Enviro-suit storage lockers."
"Right... No, it's not!" Carlin replies when what she's implying dawns on him before hearing blaster-fire from where the squad went, and from the levels above and below them. "I've a bad feeling about this."
"You remember that stuff Karrde said about a stolen Holocron? I wore one while riding an AT-TE on a separatist frigate's hull so we could get it back." She tells him. "My montrals were smaller back then, but still..." The two put the gear on and make there way to one door. "In here; this portion must have taken a turbolaser blast." She says as the blastdoors on each side of them activate, and she opens the exposed room.
Unlike Tano, Carlin flinches as the area decompresses. Among the remains is a datapad showing what appeared to be a prototype diagram of what barely resembles an astromech(5), but he lets it go when an X-wing disintegrates in the distance.
"Keep moving, Carlin. The enemy troopers will wait until all four of them are in position before cutting the bridge's viewport off." She informed him as she walked past a few bodies to the edge.
Both of them reach the outer hull, and make it 14 yards before Carlin sees a hole his wrist. Knowing this is another premonition, he steps back and activates his lightsaber. While he obviously couldn't see or hear the E-11 bolts, he knew where each of them were aimed. After what might have been a dozen minutes, he sees one of the spacetroopers floating before rocketing towards them. He briefly imagines the boarder as the Cathar descending on him. "Not yet... not yet... now." He says to himself as he switches off his mag-boots and twists around to slash the trooper's back.
As he tries to ignore the sensation on his own back, he hears a warning from Tano to turn his maneuvering jets on, and looks back to see a vaguely Orenth-shaped object heading in his direction. Instinctively, he shuts his eyes and holds his hands infront of him. When the expected impact isn't felt, he opens his eyes... and reluctantly looks down after seeing a suspiciously familiar looking panel infront of him.
Directly "below" that is an equally startled pilot.
He's standing on a tie fighter!
"Carlin, stay calm and listen." He hears from Tano as he goes prone, either from his comlink or in his mind. "Find your lightsaber and get into that ship." He is told as the pilot attempts to shake him off, during which he sees it embedded inbetween the viewport and the hatch. He also notices that the blade-end is parallel to the hatch, and that he's in no position to do anything about it.
While the fighter keeps moving erratically, he recalls that Tano had been waving her hand before the blastdoors started moving, and reaches for it, anyway. "That's it... let The Force be your arm." He hears from Tano, and a few seconds later, he sees it fly into his grasp. He immediately looks to the pilot, who chooses to eject. With him out of the way, Carlin heads into the cockpit and having once watched a documentary about one of the empire's first "counter-terrorist" campaigns that showed a tie-pilot's pov, presses the deceleration pedal.
A few minutes later, he sees a U-wing move alongside, which opens it's port-side door to show Tano and a random rebel. He drifts towards them and sits down. "Did i seriously just go through that?!" He shouts outloud at them.
He's known the adrenaline rush of high-speed pursuits... of fighting with blaster and fist against people sober or otherwise.
This did not give the same feeling.
Only the memory of killing those Stormtroopers at the Hanna spaceport did... of nearly dying so far from home for a woman he hardly knew did.
This wasn't a crime in progress, nor a holodrama of the war's of ages past.
It was the war of his age.
"Just be glad these suits are self-cleaning." She reminded him. As they returned to the Tarpals, she explained that the skirmish was caused by an interdictor formation intended for possible escapees from an ISB agent's attack against an unarmed city. "And there's one more thing..."
Once back onboard, Carlin heads for the sickbay, where Rhiss is lying on one of the beds. "You doing alright?" She asks him as he passes a wounded Gossam.
"Only my nerves." He replies as he looks at the bacta smear on her right arm.
"A damn grenade ruptured a power conduit next to me and a Gotal; he was closer to it, so i only got this and a twisted ankle." She explains. "I assume you're gonna say i look better without the tat'... like a proper lady of the core, am i right?" She then asks, to which he shrugs.
"Far be it for me to decide how you appear, Rhiss."
"Well, I've done just about everything else, so why not?" She asks rhetorically. "Not like we'll be serving together, after all."
"...There's this custom on Chandrila." He replies cryptically. "I will be the land that supports." He says while extending a hand with the palm up, and tells her the response.
"I will be the air that embraces." She repeated after placing her palm onto his.
After Carlin leaves Rhiss behind on the Tarpals, he is greeted by the crew of the Venator. "Welcome aboard the Iraida, Cpl. Deler.; I'm your new C.O." SGM. Alder tells him, and leads him to one of the barracks.
Inside, Carlin is introduced to the 35th, which is comprised of male members: Zosid (Tholothian), Jubbo Aldogh (Ortolan)(6), Hantor D'jek (Human from Balmorra), Bail Sylo (Human from Dantooine), and to his dismay, Geph Tunjas (Neimoidian). The female members: Vook Largetto (Aleena), Sate Wendik (Human from Naboo), and Au B'ree (Devaronian)(7).
"Yore thuh Jedi fella everybody says wuz ridin' uh squint out thayure, arncha?" Sylo asks while pretending to swing a lightsaber around, and slaps his knee after Carlin nods... as soon he is able to inwardly decipher the speaker's accent.
"Alright, people, intro's over; next stop is anywhere but here." The C.O. said aloud, and Carlin placed his meager belongings on his new bed. Once finished unpacking, the introductions begin.
After giving his story, he learns that Jubbo, the 35th's tracker, had been a slave miner on Fest until being freed by the Atrivis group.
Geph was a simple merchant who was brought in when his shuttle was stolen, with him in it, by a now deceased Captain named Cassian Andor.
Zosid was a journalist who, not dissimilarly to Carlin, was taken in after an attempt to kill him for finding out why coverage of the Icarii Campaign was ended so abruptly.
Sate was a factory worker who joined due to her grandfather's tales of life before The Empire. She attempted to get in as a pilot, but didn't meet the height requirement.
Bail's motivation was similar to Sate's.
Hantor was a reset'er, one who repairs the damage to the terrain inbetween weapons testing. He and a number of others quit after it was found that one Imperial client hid slaves in one of the target vehicles on the basis that they were no longer physically able to carry out their tasks.
Au managed the med-center for a small agricultural outpost before meeting Gen. Syndulla; a meeting that resulted in a reprisal after a ruse they set up was discovered. Fortunately, the outpost was evacuated by Syndulla's cell.
Vook was a park ranger on Carida before The Empire had to evacuate the region after one of it's moons was destroyed by a Service Academy student.
Before the SGM can give his story, they all sees an officer walking in. "Private Deler, I'm Lt. Commander Lokin. Are you done here?" The man says in what is clearly not an actual question, getting the attention of his new squadmates. Some looking amused, while others did not.
"Huh... Yes, sir?" He asks. It felt like ages since the last time he'd been addressed by rank.
"Good. Your presence is requested in the briefing cabin." The officer tells him. As the two make their way through the ship, Carlin gazes around as he wonders how many clones marched up and down the same corridors... how many battles they were a part of... and which of the Jedi served with them until the war ended in the worst way possible. "I hardly need to be like you to know what you're thinking." His escort says, bringing Carlin back to the present. "The commanding officer will tell you anything you wish to know."
"Like how not everyone here is happy that I'm here, sir?"
"It's understandable; don't forget that we weren't all on the Old Republic's side."
Chapter four.
(1) Replacing Capt. Rey since it turns out he's in a different branch.
(2) The name exists in the SW universe, but the character doesn't.
(3) Made up demi-deity.
(4) This didn't happen in ROTS, but it should have.
(5) Yet another part of the Disney Trilogy that will not be appearing.
(6) Jubbo will be the four-limbed Legends version of an Ortolan.
(7) Au will be the furless type of female Devaronian.
Mini-description of the 35th (in Earth terms): Cal Alder... Commanding Officer. Zosid, Sate, Hantor, and Geph... basic soldiers. Bail... Radioman. Jubbo... Tracker. Vook... Scout. Au... Medic.
