Jarik POV...
"...my solitude on Ahch-To has been very enlightening for me, yet at the same time has raised so many questions that need answers. The Force is a lot more extensive than I, or any other Jedi or Sith could have ever imagined. The teachings and writings of the Prime Jedi are full of knowledge that I will not write in this journal, but I take fully to heart, and I encourage anyone else who finds this place to do the same. Too much Light or Dark can be the undoing of life as we know it.
The native species on this world are unlike any other I have encountered. The galaxy is full of many different species of dragons, both large and small, but the dragons of Ahch-To are unique and special. And there is not just one type of dragon, but dozens. Several of these species have been influenced one way or another through the Force, whether it be the Queens and Kings with their ability to connect to the minds of others, or through other means. Three species of dragons have caught my attention in particular, having an unusual affinity for their Force in their fire. Interestingly enough, these three species were granted their natural affinity by an ancient and power entity of the Force, which is unknown.
Firstly, is the 'Monstrous Nightmare' dragon, so named by the local people of this planet. They have a natural affinity to wield the power of fire like no other dragon, so much as being able to wreathe their bodies in flame. The texts of the Force Tree label this as the Power of Sol, granted to them several millennia ago by a powerful entity of the Force.
Next are the rare but powerful 'Skrill' dragons, as the people have named them. These dragons use the Force to unleash their fury not through fire, but with lightning. They can pull electricity from the sky and within them to wield powers of the Sky, similar to how a Force Wielder can unleash Force Lightning from their hands.
Finally, the dragon species that grab my attention the most are the 'Night Fury' dragons, one of the most elusive of all the dragons. I myself have only seen one Night Fury in all my years. The Nightmare wields fire like no other, and the Skrill can wield lightning, but the Night Fury may be the most Force sensitive dragon I know of. The caretakers of the Temple say that a Night Fury can draw their power from the Voids of the Force, wielding it through violet void energy. Beyond that, the Night fury also has a natural affinity to sense people's thoughts and emotions, which I was able to experience through my brief encounter with one. They-"
"Jarik? You might want to see this," Ahsoka's voice called out, pulling me out of Satele's journal.
I blinked, slightly startled before sighing, closing her journal and setting it carefully on the desk beside me, getting up and walking towards the table that Ahsoka was seated at. She was looking at a datapad, glancing up at me with a raised eyebrow at my approach.
"Did I interrupt your history lesson?" she asks me in amusement.
"Yes, her journal is very fascinating," I grumbled. "Honestly, it feels like I'm reading an epic revelation every day in that book."
"Well, you can read it for later, because I just uncovered something you may want to see," she said, surprising me by how serious she sounded. She slid the datapad over to me, and I took it, reading over the report before widening my eyes slightly at what it said.
"This is real?" I asked, which she nodded in confirmation. "Oh man... then we have to figure out a way to get that."
"It is being held at Lothal at the current moment, they're just waiting to transport it," she says, hinting towards getting a message to the Ghost Crew.
I nod in understanding. "That's true... but they can't do this alone. They'd have two or three Inquisitors guarding it at the very least, something Kanan can't handle, much less Ezra."
"I know, but having us assist them would mean exposing us as Fulcrum, which we can't do just yet," she says wisely.
I frown thoughtfully. "Not exactly. The Empire still thinks you're dead, so you definitely shouldn't go yet, which leaves me as a choice, since I'm technically an unknown..."
"But if you were there, Vader would be on you in an instant," Ahsoka finishes with a sigh. It sucks to hear that, but it's true. Even if the Empire knew Ahsoka was still arrive, having her go would still be just as risky. Vader has it out for me, but he would probably be even more onto us if Ahsoka went in my stead. The Ghost Crew can't handle the likes of Vader yet, which leaves us out of the question.
"Unless..." Ahsoka says, giving me a knowing look.
I return the look with confusion before widening my eyes. "No!" I immediately protest.
"She's unknown, but not yet a target. Vader and the Inquisitors wouldn't think to target her. Ezra is in more danger than her," she replies with an eye roll.
"But she's still a thirteen year old girl! I don't want to send Mara into danger!" I exclaim in a panic.
"I've been training her very hard this past month, and with both of us teaching her over the years she's already become a capable warrior," she argues back sternly, although her look softens upon noticing my worried state. "Look, I'm just as worried about her as you Jarik, but she's going to face things like this sooner or later. The rebellion is still years away from being a credible threat to the Empire, and even then fighting back will be near impossible."
I look down sadly. "I get what you're saying, I really do Soka," I reply softly. "But that doesn't mean I don't worry for her. We've tried so hard to give her the life a young child should have, something we didn't get..."
She stands up with a sad look on her face, moving closer to me.
"I know..." she replies softly, giving me a reassuring hug, which I gratefully return.
"Wait, so I'm really, REALLY, going on a solo mission?!" Mara asks in excitement, practically bouncing on her feet in joy.
"Yes, you are Mara," Ahsoka replies.
"YES!" she shouts, pumping her fist into the air in joy. I cough into my fist to get her attention, and she stops cheering, looking at me sheepishly. "Sorry," she apologizes.
"Yeah yeah," I say with a roll of my eyes, feigning annoyance, although there is still a small smile on my face. "Mara, just remember that you have to take this seriously. The last few times you did something on your own, we were still nearby. This time we won't be there to help you."
"But you did say I will be working with the Ezra and the Ghost Crew correct?" she questions, and I recall her brief familiarity with Ezra. she met him on a simple hit and run mission a couple months ago. (Forces of Destiny chapter coming...)
"You will," Ahsoka confirms with a nod. "I've already informed them of this assignment, and you'll be meeting them in Old Jho's Pit Stop. And they'll know to look for a ally of 'Fulcrum,'" she explains.
"Right," she replies with a nod of understanding.
"Just remember to keep your identity as a Jedi a secret unless absolutely necessary Mara," I remind her. "That could lead to unnecessary complications that we don't want to happen. And also... they know where to meet up, but they won't know what you look like. So use the code phrase."
"'By the Light of Lothal's moons.' Yup I got it," she recites immediately, a small smirk on her face. "Doubt they'd be expecting a thirteen year old to be their contact huh?"
"That's why it's genius," I say with a grin.
"Ok. I'll get to the ship and fly to Lothal with R5 then!" she says, moving towards the door before turning back to us, quickly give us a hug. "Thank you! I won't let you down!" she promises with a wide smile, rushing out the door of the hut.
I watch her go with a sigh, and Ahsoka rests a comforting hand on my shoulder. Once again she shows that she's the wiser person out of the two of us, despite her still snippy attitude. "She'll do fine," she reassures me.
"I hope so. I guess I can be glad it's more of a raid, than a warzone," I admit, which was very true. While Mara's mission will definitely be very dangerous, there isn't too much risk of her being exposed to the horrors of all out war. There have been too many times where me and Ahsoka have witnessed gruesome injuries amongst the clones, from massive bloodied scars, broken bones, limbs cut off... victims of torture... things too gory to describe or think about... all when we were still less than 17 years old.
"Let's hope she never has to know of such things," she replies in agreement.
Old Jho's Pit Stop, Jhothal Outpost, Lothal
3rd person POV...
"Tell me why we're coming to Old Jho's again?" Ezra asked. "Don't get me wrong, Old Jho is amazing, but I was kinda busy."
Zeb scoffed. "Heh. Busy messing with your blaster saber? That thing looks weird."
"hey, that thing took weeks to build! It's a lot better than your bow rifle!" he retorted angrily.
Zeb growled furiously at him, turning around. "Now listen here-"
"Zeb, Ezra, just stop it! I know we're still annoyed with the whole Lando situation, but nows not the time!" Hera scolds them. "Trust me, I know how you feel."
"So... why are we here anyways?" Sabine questions, the team walking down the stairs to enter Old Jho's shop.
"Fulcrum contacted us with a mission, and sent us some help for assist." Hera explained.
"Wait, Fulcrum?" Sabine exclaims in surprise.
"Shh, not so loud Sabine!" Kanan says with narrowed eyes, to which she apologizes.
"Sorry. But why would he send us help? We get along just fine," Sabine says with a frown, more quietly this time.
"Can't even come out himself," Zeb grumbles.
"Zeb you know very well that Fulcrum's job requires secrecy, otherwise our intel is not as good." Hera reminds him. They all sit down at a large round table, several other customers giving them a small smile or wave, recognizing the Ghost Crew. Everybody in Jhothal Outpost liked them for how much good they do to help them through tough times, like stealing food and supplies for them to use.
"Fair enough. So who are we looking for?" Zeb asks, looking around the bar for anybody that could be their agent.
"We don't know." Kanan answers, much to their bewilderment. "But our contact will get in touch with us through the code phrase, 'by the light of Lothal's moons," he says.
"Oh yeah, that's so helpful," Ezra says sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. "I might as well really be Jabba the Hutt then."
"Well like it or not, that's our only way of getting in touch," Kanan retorted. "So stay on the lookout."
With that settled, Ezra, Sabine, Zeb and Kanan got up to various places around the bar, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Hera stayed seated, a neutral but casual look on her face as she propped her head up on her hands. None of them were aware of the silvery gold colored astromech watching all of them from the corner of the bar, just out of sight. The droid quietly beeped across a comlink that was heard by Mara, who was also in the bar, watching the group, her presence in the Force cloaked.
Ezra walked around the room, glancing around carefully as he felt a strange tingle in the Force, something familiar that he couldn't make out. He leaned against the bar casually, and a drink was placed next to him, courtesy of old Jho, nonalcoholic of course. With a nod of thanks, Ezra took it, sipping from the cup.
Kanan walked slowly around the bar, eventually taking a seat in a chair against the wall, leaning against the backside of the seat. He glanced around, hoping to use the Force to make out who their contact could be, but aside from a strange tingle, he wasn't getting anything. Then someone tapped his shoulder, getting his attention. He glanced to the side to see a red haired girl, a couple years younger than Ezra, wearing black clothing with a strange cloak of fur smiling innocently at him.
"Sorry to bother you sir but... I want to give you this," she said nervously, a small red tint on her cheeks. He looked at what she was holding out, surprised to see a couple of credits in her hand.
He shook his head, pushing her hand away gently. "No thanks, I'm good kid. You should keep it," he replies with a gentle smile.
However the girl persisted. "No, I insist!" she said, dropping it in his hand a little forcefully. "It's the least I could do for all you've done against the Empire!"
Before he could respond to give the credits back, she skipped away quickly, rushing out the bar's side door. "Hey wait!" he calle dout, but she was gone.
He sighed, glancing back down at the credits in his hand before widening his eyes in shock. Along with the credits was a small slip of paper, with Fulcrum's code phrase written on it.
'By the light of Lothal's moons.'
He quickly got up from his seat, looking across the room at Hera, who noticed his gaze. Tapping his hand against his thigh, Hera widened her eyes briefly before nodding, getting the message. She then began to gather the rest of the crew while Kanan headed out the door.
He exited the bar, looking around the street with a couple of people walking by. Behind him, the rest of the crew exited the bar, looking around urgently. "You met our guy?" Sabine asked quickly.
"It's a small red haired girl, she gave me a slip of paper with the code phrase," he responded, looking around the street.
"A girl? You must be joking," Zeb scoffed in disbelief.
"Wait, a red haired girl gave it to you?" Ezra questioned in surprise.
"I see her!" Sabine said, pointing to the end of the street, where that very girl was peeking around the corner, looking at them. A faint grin was on her face before she disappeared, the group giving chase. They ran around the corner, only to find a dead end, before a soft giggle above them got their attention. they all looked up to see the girl crouching on top of a tall pile of crates.
"Gotta be quicker!" she exclaimed cheerfully, leaping up and grabbing the roof of a nearby building, pulling herself up.
"How can she move that fast?!" Zeb exclaimed in bewilderment and annoyance. Ezra looked up wide-eyed.
"I don't know, just keep moving!" Kanan replied, climbing up the crates after the girl. Sabine and Ezra quickly followed, while Zeb and Hera went last, the latter two having slightly more trouble with climbing the crates. They jumped up and grabbed onto the roof ledge, pulling themselves up. Once they were all there, they looked around, seeing the door to a room on top of the building close shut. Sabine ran forwards, pulling open the door with the rest of them following, and they all entered the room. It was relatively simple inside, not to small but not big either, and there were no windows, ensuring a fair amount of privacy. Sitting in a chair at the far end of the room was the red haired girl, who beamed up at them.
"Hey, you made it!" she exclaimed.
"You're Fulcrum's agent?" Sabine asked incredulously, to which the girl nodded her head.
"Name's Mara," she replied.
"Wasn't expecting you to be the agent," Hera admitted with a frown.
Mara got up from her chair, walking towards a crate as the Ghost Crew spread out to get more comfortable, making sure there was no way for anyone to eavesdrop on them. "Well, that is the point. Who'd expect a thirteen year old girl to help a group of, 'insurgents?'" she says rhetorically, emphasizing with quotation marks.
Ezra frowned in confusion. "Er.. um, you look familiar. Have we met before?" he asks, causing the rest of the Ghost Crew to look at him oddly.
"What?" Kanan asked in confusion.
Mara looked over at him with a nod. "Yup. That stormtrooper patrol you ran into? I saved your butt," she said smugly, causing Ezra to widen his eyes in recognition at the memory.
"You almost got captured by a stormtrooper patrol?" Hera said with a raised eyebrow, and Ezra laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I got back just fine, right?" he said with a hopeful smile, which only made Hera narrow her eyes at him, and Kanan sighed.
"Key word; almost," Mara replied, biting into a piece of fruit she pulled out. "I beat up most of the patrol."
Zeb rolled his eyes, crossing his arms disbelievingly. "Yeah right," he muttered.
"So, you got the message from Fulcrum right?" Mara asked them.
"We did," Hera replied. "I understand how important it is to secure the cargo they're carrying."
"Speaking of which, who is Fulcrum? I'd like to know," Sabine asks hopefully.
"In your dreams," Mara giggled, causing Sabine to frown while Hera shook her head, looking at Mara again. "We're ready to carry out the raid whenever needed," she reassured her.
Mara smiles. "Good. So I'll be helping you with that."
Zeb scoffed disbelievingly. "How could a tiny girl like you help us raid an Imperial facility of that size?" he demands. Ezra widened his eyes nervously.
"Uhh, Zeb-" he starts to say in warning.
In a flash, Mara dropped the fruit and rushed up to Zeb before anyone could react, grabbing his arm and flipping him over to the ground, a small blaster pistol held in her hand, all the while that cheery smile on her face. Zeb yelled out in surprise, and the rest the crew jumped back in surprise as well, hands on their blasters, Sabine pointing hers at Mara.
"That's how I'm helping Zeb. I may be young, but I know how to fight. Plus, I'm really smart and quick thinking!" Mara says cheerily, although there is a hint of warning, which Zeb quickly picked up on.
"Ok ok, I get it!" he exclaimed with a quick nod of his head.
Satisfied, Mara let him go and put the blaster away under her cloak, prompting the rest to do the same. Sabine eyed Mara with suspicion, although a glitter in her eyes showed that she was impressed. Ezra started to snicker at Zeb while he got back up, causing the Lasat to growl threateningly at him.
"Not a word," he threatened, to which Ezra nodded quickly, although an amused smile still spread across his face.
"How'd you know his name?" Sabine asked with narrowed eyes.
"I work for Fulcrum. What'd you expect?" she retorted, to which Sabine frowned, but shrugged in agreement.
"So... when do we start?" Mara asked.
Imperial Complex, Captital City, Lothal
3rd person POV...
Agent Kallus walked through the hanger of the Imperial Complex, stopping beside the Grand Inquisitor, who was waiting for their visitor to arrive. The cargo they had was extremely valuable, and as such, the Emperor sent extra security to ensure that it would not fall into rebel hands. Eventually, an Imperial shuttle began its approach to the Complex, carefully landing in the hanger before the two. Eight stormtroopers were lined up in order, four on each side of the pathway before the shuttle, and the ramp lowered to unveil its passenger.
The red light and steam from the hydraulics outlined the figure striding down the ramp, who was an obviously female. She was garbed in dark clothing and armor, which sported the Imperial symbol on full display on both shoulders. Covering her face was a mask, similar in design to the Grand Inquisitor's piloting helmet. She strode up to them and stopped, kneeling before the Grand Inquisitor, who looked down at her.
"Grand Inquisitor," she greeted respectfully in front of her superior, her voice slightly muffled by the mask. Agent Kallus watched the exchange warily, unsure of how to act in the presence of two Inquisitors. he at least was on respectable terms with Grand Inquisitor, but this woman was unknown to him.
"Second Sister," he replied, which prompted her to rise. "I take it you understand the importance of you being here?"
The Second Sister nodded her head in understanding. "Yes. I will not let down our Emperor on this assignment."
"I'm sure you remember the price, the last time you failed a mission," Grand Inquisitor said with a small smirk on his face.
Reminded of the memory, Second Sister shivered in rage, touching the side of her mask lightly, unable to feel the scars underneath on her face, courtesy of the Emperor. "I will never forget," she said darkly.
Mara Jade is on her first big solo mission woo hoo! And yes, she's met Ezra briefly before, which will be explained through a Forces of Destiny (side-story) chapter coming soon. Check it out if your interested.
However the Second Sister has made a return to the story, and she is not willing to fail the Emperor a second time, especially with who came to assist the rebels. Things are getting scary for the Ghost Crew on the upcoming mission. Wonder what the Empire is so desperate to protect...?
