Chapter 4: Deployment

Phoebe met Padme' at the hangar nearly seven hours later and found that trailing Padme' at a distance was the Duro they'd saved.

She smiled. "HI!" she bubbly said.

Flan looked up at her and smiled shyly. "Thank you for saving my life."

Phoebe sheepishly waved it off, chuckling. "Oh, no problem. I save lives all the time."

Padme' laughed. "You defiantly couldn't be a Jedi, you boast too much."

Phoebe chuckled again. "Like I'd want you, the wardrobe is…HORRIBLE!"

Padme' smiled and threw her duffle onboard the small carrier vessel they were taking off planet.

"So…where are we going?" Flan asked.

Phoebe smiled awkwardly and looked from Flan to Padme'. Padme' nodded. "That's right. Master Windu assigned Flan to our team."

Phoebe's eyes grew big. "Great."

Padme' lifted herself unto the vessel and helped Phoebe onboard. Flan was the last to board.

"Forgive me for intruding, but may I ask you a question, Ms. Halliwell?" Flan asked.

"Call me Phoebe," Phoebe told him. "But what is it?"

"Why were you chosen??"

Phoebe's brow furrowed. "W-What do you mean?"

"I heard that there are three Halliwell sisters…one Earth, you're called the Charmed Ones, no?" asked Flan.

Phoebe nodded. "Yes, there are three of us—"

"Then, why are not all three of you here??"

Phoebe turned to Padme', whom was to busy with the pre-flight to listen. She then turned to Flan. "Well, my older sister"---she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear—"Piper, well…she's pregnant…with her third child, so I just thought that she shouldn't be out here, endangering herself or the baby. And my other sister, Paige—whom is younger then me, well…she just got married not to long ago. And it just wouldn't be fair to her, or her husband, to separate them for God-knows-how-long. So…I was the only one left."

Flan cocked his head. "Are you not with another human?"

Phoebe smiled shyly. "Well…I was dating a Cupid, named Coop…but, I just felt that it wasn't the best thing for me…right now. So, I'm single, and I had the most freedom to help the Jedi….So, when we, the Charmed Ones, were summoned, it made the most sense to send me."

Flan nodded. "Well…that makes sense…"

Phoebe smiled. "That's what my sisters said after I explained it to them."

Flan held up and hand. "One more question."

She grinned this time. "Sure…ask away."

"The other day, when you, Jedi Skywalker, and a host of others were saving my life…why didn't you deflect any of that Sith's attacks with your empathy ability?"

Phoebe sat up. "Well…for one, that wasn't a Sith, but rather a warlock. And two, I don't have empathy anymore…"

The Duro's eyes grew big.

"When my powers were stripped from me, then restored to me, empathy wasn't returned to me."

Padme' approached them from the cockpit. "Hey, you two, strap in, we're getting ready for takeoff." Then she returned to the cockpit and Phoebe turned her neck.

"Where are we going?" Phoebe asked.

"Taris," Padme' replied, and with that, she pulled the vessel out of the dock and took to the sky.