-Index-
"Speaking Basic"
"(Language) Speaking Alien"
"Sign Language/Morse Code"
Scene Change/Flashback
Vision/Dream
Vision Quest
Chapter 5
Mikal had just finished cleaning up the blood in sink and wiping his month of anything left on it. As he turned to leave the kitchen Mikal had found himself face to face with Adara. "Woah!" He exclaimed as he jumped back slightly. "When did you..."
"You okay?" The ship's medic asked. "I heard coughing."
"Yeah, sorry, my drink just went down the wrong way."
"Ugh, I hate it when that happens."
"Don't we all."
"Alright just as long as it's nothing serious." Adara said as she left the kitchen. The Amaran stopped just as she reached the frame, "You'd tell me if it was something serious, wouldn't you Mikal? I'm not just the crew's medic, but I'm also your friend, you can trust me with anything."
"I know I can." Mikal said. He waited for his friend to be out of earshot before speaking again, "There's just nothing you won't say that I haven't already heard before." The eldest Bridger brother let out a small sigh then quickly caught up to Adara.
The two met up with the rest of the crew and their new friends in the ship's main hold. Mikal returned to his seat next to Ezra, while gently ruffling the younger brother's hair, during which Adara had taken a seat between Lily and Zeb.
"Everything alright?" Hera asked Mikal. "We heard some coughing."
"Yeah, it sounded pretty nasty." Ríona added.
"It was just that some of my drink went down the wrong path." Mikal had answered while slowly taking a slip of his drink; not noticing Kanan had raised an eyebrow in skepticism.
"Hate it when I do that." Lily spoke with a look of annoyance on her face.
"Really?" Kanan pressed, "Caused it sounded like a lot more than lightly choking on a drink." Mikal's eyes narrowed in irritation, at the same time that Kanan's had a look of questioning mixed with slight concern.
"It was a big sip." Mikal spoke with confidence as Kanan's face melted with ease.
"Okay, as long as you say you're fine, then I guess there is nothing to worry about." The Jedi replied in a slight tone of hesitation.
"As I told Adara earlier I know I can trust you." Mikal paused and gestured to the others. "I know I can trust anyone here. Even though I barely know some of you, but if Ezra trusts you so do I."
A Few Hours Later
After Jet moved the Hawk closer to the Ghost to say both crews had bonded would be an understatement. Lily was the first to fall in love the droid known as Chopper, both she and Ríona became friends with the explosive expert Sabine, having bonded over their passion of the arts. Adara and Axel had bonded with Zeb over their love of fighting and had been sparring with each other since. Jet had spent the last few hours discussing both ship travels and navigations with Hera. V and Ezra had started Force training, while Mikal and Kanan sat on a nearby rock and watched them.
V had both of his swords drawn as he deflected Ezra's lightsaber strikes. "Okay, how are your swords not breaking?" Ezra asked the mute Jedi.
"These blades are made of phrik." V explained as his captain translated, due to Ezra not understanding sign language (Mikal was teaching him now). "It's one of the few metals in the galaxy known to withstand lightsabers."
"Awesome! where can I get some?"
"Good luck with that kiddo, it's incredibly rare, mined from the Gromas system." Mikal clarified.
"So how did you guys get your hands on it?" The Jedi knight asked.
"That's a long and interesting story, I'll tell you it some other time." Finished the non-Jedi as he continued to watch the sparring match. "You've taught him how to handle a blade pretty well." Mikal commented as the match looked like it was finishing.
"You're not so bad yourself from what I've seen." Kanan replied.
"You wanted to step in next?"
"Are you challenging me?"
"Yes, yes I am." Answered the older Bridger as he stood up and stretched. He glanced back over to the two young Jedi whom had ended their spar in a draw as they had been listening in the conversation. Mikal smiled and gestured over to the boys in jokingly mock bow. "After you." Mikal said as Kanan returned said mocking bow.
"Why thank you." The Jedi said, making his way pasted Mikal toward his padawan and new ally.
As Ezra walked past his master and older brother he could helped but look at his sparring partner in excitement. Although unable to see V's face it was obvious he shared the same look.
"Mind it I borrow one?" Asked Mikal pointing to V's swords. His friend nodded as he removed a sword to give it to Mikal. "Thank you." Mikal replied as he stood a few feet away from his opponent in a basic stance (chudan-no-kamae). "Ready?"
"Ready." Kanan confirmed as he ignited his lightsaber.
Inside the Hawk - Few Minutes Earlier
Ríona was in the middle of going from room to room of the Hawk as she looked for one of her crewmates. She finally stopped as she let out an exasperated sigh and began muttering to herself as the Zabrak continued her search. Ríona finally found her crewmate in the kitchen with Adara and Zeb. "Is your comm off or something?" She asked Axel whiling she stood in front of him.
"No," Answered the Half-breed. "It broke yesterday, remember? And with everything that's happened I haven't had the chance to fix it."
"Oh yeah, forgot about that." Ríona said as she recalled the events in question. "You have a transmission from your grandfather and some important dignitary, he says it's serious."
"Alright, I'm on my way." Said Axel as he headed off to the communication room. Just as he turned down the hall he heard the sound of two people running. "Hey! Be careful!"
The three in the kitchen shared a look of confusion as Lily and Sabine ran by the opened door. "Where's the fire?" Adara asked, slightly concerned.
"Ultimate showdown!" Cried Lily in pure excitement.
Everyone shared the same look and simultaneously ran out of the kitchen following Lily and Sabine.
With Axel
Axel stared down the hall as everyone bolted outside like the Empire was at their front door. "I don't even want to know." He sighed, shaking his head as he kept heading towards the communication room. When the Mandalorian hybrid entered he turned the holoprojector on and a blueish light filled the room. "Hey old man, how's my favourite Zeltron senator?"
"It's good to see you Axel." Answered the elderly Zeltron. "Sadly, this isn't a social call." The senator continued as Axel was about to say something and indicated to the young woman next to him. "I'd like to you meet Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan."
"Senator Organa's daughter?" Axel asked.
"I heard your crew is good at getting things done." The princess said.
"What do you need?"
Back at the Match
The sound of metal hitting lightsaber was getting intense; as the sparring match reached near the end. Kanan had the advantage as his and Mikal's blades clashed again. "You're really good at this." The Jedi said in tone of admiration.
"I had a good teacher." Mikal responded in amusement. "I mean, I've told you about him."
"Master Kuran taught you?" Came a surprised reaction, as Mikal smiled, seeing his opponent's guard drop.
Promptly Mikal utilized his right foot to perform a low sweep kick, and managed to knock the Jedi off balance. While simultaneously Mikal moved V's sword into a complete 180; and managed to knock the lightsaber low to the ground. Without missing a beat, the elder Bridger used his right hand and punched Kanan's hand. The impact of the hit forcibly caused the shutdown lightsaber to fall to the ground away from its owner. Kanan stood stunned for a moment as he realized he was unarmed. Mikal used Kanan's stunned expression to move his sword up against his opponent's neck.
"I guess it's a draw." Mikal said with a slight smirk. He gazed down and saw an inactive lightsaber hilt pressed against his stomach. "When did you get here?" asked Mikal as he noticed the rest of his and Kanan's crew watching. "And where's Axel?"
"V and Ezra called me on the com-link and may have gotten very excited." Answered Lily rather sheepishly.
"She ran down the hall crying out 'Ultimate Battle!'." Explained the Lasant in a mocking matter, as Lily lightly smacked his arm.
"Axel's grandfather called him." Ríona injected when her captain opened his mouth. "Old man said it was important, had some dignitary for Alderaan with him."
"Was it Senator Organa?" The Mandalorian artist asked.
"No, a young woman about Lily's age." The Zabrak continued to explain, seeing the confusion on the Ghost's crew faces. "Axel's grandfather is the senator of Zeltron."
"Talking about me again?" The man in question said as Ríona nearly jumped in surprise. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you might like me."
"Please…" Huffed Ríona in annoyance as she rolled her eyes.
"What did your grandfather need?" Asked the Zygerrian.
"Hired us for a job." Responded Axel. "Come on, I'll give you the details inside." He indicated towards the Hawk as the others followed. As everyone got settled in the main hold Axel turned on the hologram, which had an image of a city. "The city of Purkell located in the Skako Minor system. During the Clone Wars it was the headquarters of the Techno Union." Axel paused as V shifted in his seat slightly. "The Empire has recently taken control over the labs located there."
"If I had to guess, that can't mean anything good." Hera remarked.
"It's not." Axel proceeded, "It's reported that the Empire is looking into one of Union old projects."
"Most likely trying to resume the project." Adara added while Axel nodded in agreement.
"So what is the job then?" The Hawk's co-pilot asked.
"We need to find out what project the Empire's interested in and erase all the data in the computers." Axel finished as Lily raised her hand. "Yes Lily we can blow up the labs too."
"Yes!" Came thrilled yell as Lily stood up with her arms up in the air. "I got me some bombs to work on!" She cried out and stared at Sabine. "Wanna help?"
"Don't have to ask me twice." Sabine answered with an excited grin, as she followed Lily out of the main hold.
"I guess the meeting is over?" Ezra spoke in an amused tone.
"Looks like it." Responded Zeb in the same tone as Ezra. "Well, it's getting late. I'm heading back to the Ghost for some sleep." The Lasant finished with a yawn as he stretched.
"That's probably a good idea." Hera started. "We'll need to rest up and make plans for tomorrow."
"I'll walk you guys out." Mikal said as he and the rest of the Ghost crew stood up. "I probably wouldn't wait up for Sabine though, but don't worry, we have an extra bed for her in the girl's room."
"As long as we know where she is." The Twi'lek acknowledged.
At Night
There was human male standing far away, his face was hazy and couldn't be seen, but seemed familiar somehow. The ground was nothing but sand. The was a bright blue sky with two suns in it. A young human boy about seven years old was playing in the sand. He had dark brown hair with brown eyes and fair skin. "Dad! Look what I made in the sand!" The boy in cried out in satisfaction.
The older man came over to his son and examined the sand sculpture. "Wow! That's an amazing Sarlacc sculpture, looks like it's going to eat me at any moment." The father praised his son's hard work as the boy beamed with pride.
The scene changed from the bright dual sun to a windy sandstorm. The father desperately held his child hand as they tried to make it back home. The boy, now ten, felt his grip loosen as he tried to secure his grasp of his father's hand. When all of a sudden, a tremendous blast of wind caused the young boy to completely lose his grip. The boy knew his father called out his name but couldn't understand what was being said. The son was pushed further and further away from his father until all he could see was nothing but wind and sand.
V woke up abruptly from his dream in a cold sweat. He slowly got out of bed and went to the refresher. Once he the closed and locked the door, he swiftly turned on the sink. He splashed water on his face and looked into the mirror. All V saw in the mirror was himself. His dark brown hair with brown eyes and fair skinned self.
A/N: So V had memory of his forgotten childhood, perhaps the mission coming had something to do with that. And yes, no one knows Mikal is sick... yet.
And I had to put Princess Leia in this chapter somehow. Rest in Piece Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, may you be one with force.