Chapter Ten: Through the Ashes

"Fenn Rau?"

Caleb looks at her, eyebrow raised.

"That's what I said," Depa replies simply, leaning against the table.

If she's heard the story before …

"He's —"

"Dead, I know," Depa interrupts. "Just hear me out."

Caleb relaxes in his seat but keeps the same expression on his face, arms crossed.

"If he somehow survived the attack, then don't you think they'd capture him instead of kill him?"

Yeah, but …

"I was thinking they'd keep him alive. For interrogation. So that means he might still be in the Complex's detention level."

Caleb glances out the window, where the lights outside had dimmed over time. He tilts his head to the side and mumbles, "There hasn't been an execution for him ..."

"See? He could be alive," Depa replies, smiling after he gets it.

He looks back at her with a frown. "Even if he's alive, how do you plan on getting in that place? It's suicide."

Depa's smile falls as she stares at him. "Well … I was kinda hoping you'd help with that. You were with the Resistance, right? They must've had some stuff on the complex."

"I wasn't with the Resistance. I helped them," Caleb points out. And look where it got me.

"Did they have any intel on the place?" Depa asks, ignoring his statement.

"Yeah … a little. But it would be at the old base," Caleb answers, scratching his chin.

"Great. You can take me there, and we can get the stuff before it gets dark … or whatever dark is around here," Depa says, looking out the window.

Caleb's eyes widen before he stands in front of her. "Now hold on a minute. When you asked for help, I thought you meant simple stuff. Like getting off this rock."

"I can't just go back to Coruscant empty-handed," Depa tells him.

"Empty-handed? You already know everything! There's a blockade, there's a big base, and there's a whole lot of bucketheads. Now let's go home." Caleb grabs her wrist and starts to walk off, but she plants herself next to the table and doesn't give an inch.

"No, Cal. There are rules I have to follow. Procedure," Depa says, sliding her wrist out of his grasp.

Caleb rolls his eyes and spins to face her. "Procedure … you never followed the rules back when I was with you."

"I grew up," Depa responds quietly, avoiding his gaze.

He stares with a brow raised.

She shakes her head before stepping past him, moving toward the door. "If you don't want to help, just give me the base's coordinates. You can go wait on the Phantom with Chopper."

What?

"Wait. Chopper's here?"

I haven't seen that droid in forever.

"He's hiding … which is something you like to do apparently. Now can you please give me the coordinates for your base?" Depa says, impatient.

What is her deal?

Caleb grabs his helmet off the table and walks over to her. "All right … I'll go with you. Because I trust you. But as soon as something bad happens, we're out of here."

"Fine. Lead the way," Depa says, gesturing toward the door.

Caleb frowns before stepping out of the room, Depa following closely behind.

— — —

"Here we are."

Caleb folds his arms across his chest plate as Depa takes a step in front of him.

The Resistance base, located in the lower sewers of the city, had been completely destroyed. There were scorch marks and carbon scoring along the walls, and the main entrance had caved in.

"What happened?" Depa asks, awed.

"Empire burned it to the ground," Caleb answers, moving to stand next to her. "I never came back here … I knew they'd target this place after the stunt we pulled."

"Did anyone make it out?"

He glances at her from behind his helmet, seeing the sad look on her face.

"Um … there were escape tunnels in the back. So I'm pretty sure some people got out." He doesn't tell her that any surviving fighters were executed.

She doesn't need to know that.

He sighs and walks forward. "Come on."

They enter the base through a large hole in the wall, and Caleb doesn't waste time looking at the debris. He makes sure Depa's right behind him, and purposefully avoids any bodies laying on the ground.

"There might not be much left," Caleb tells her, facing forward.

"If there's anything we can use, then this trip was worth it," Depa says.

When they reach the base's command center, Caleb's optimism vanishes. The room had been burnt badly, and the consoles against the walls were all broken. Some were still sparking.

"Oh …" Depa moves a little in front of him, her boots cracking the glass littering the floor.

"Told you. There's nothing here," Caleb says, glancing around. He didn't expect to find anything.

If there was anything left, the Imperials took it with them. They're thorough.

"There's gotta be something," Depa groans, kicking a broken console aside. She wipes ashes off of the main table, and sighs when there's nothing underneath.

Caleb watches with a frown, arms folded across his chest. Something was off about the place.

If the bucketheads have been here before, they'd leave something behind to make sure scavengers or merchants didn't try to take anything that worked.

"Did you notice any sensors or anything when we came in here?"

Depa perks up, glancing at him with a raised eyebrow mark. "Huh?"

"Don't you think the Imperials would leave some kind of monitoring device to watch this place?" Caleb asks, walking over to the opposite end of the table.

Depa stares at him for a moment before responding. "Yeah … I guess. What are you thinking?"

Caleb opens his mouth to answer, but then he hears a low whirring noise. He sees the surprised look on Depa's face before he even realizes there's anything behind him.

"Probe!"

The black droid fires its built-in blaster, grazing Caleb's shoulder pad as he attempts to jump out of the way. He cringes and stumbles into the nearby wall, leaving the probe facing Depa.

She doesn't draw her own blaster to disable it, instead extending her hands and slamming the droid into the wall next to Caleb. He shields his face before a miniature shower of sparks rains down on him. The probe crashes down next to his leg, smoke bursting from a crack in its armor.

"Are you all right?"

Am I all right?

Caleb looks at Depa with an incredulous expression as he lowers his arms. He glances at the smashed probe, then back at her.

"Did you just use the Force?"

Depa makes a confused face as she looks at his blank visor. "Yeah …"

I've never seen her do that.

He'd done something similar once, to save his partner. But he hadn't used the Force like that since, given the fact that he almost gave Kirra a heart attack.

"Never mind," Caleb mumbles, standing. "We need to leave. That probe probably alerted somebody that we're here."

"But what about —"

"We're leaving, Depa," Caleb repeats sternly.

Depa opens her mouth to protest, but then shakes her head and sighs. "Fine …"

I'm not risking anything … especially for her.

— — —

As soon as General Matok had seen the report sent in from the probe droid stationed at the old Resistance base, he'd headed straight toward the Terminus's bridge.

The bridge crew somehow got the message, and were already working faster than normal. The screens along the sides of the long room showed the Republic agent's last whereabouts, and officers traded datapads with reports from other probes and contacts on the surface.

As Matok walks toward the end of the bridge, he sees Volyk is still staring out the viewport from behind his helmet.

"My lord, we've received a new report from Sundari. A probe was able to spot the girl inside the Resistance base … and she wasn't alone."

Volyk turns to face him, and Matok quickly gives him the small, black device in his hands. The Vader lookalike thumbs a button on the side of the holoprojector, summoning a holographic image of a Mandalorian and the Twi'lek girl.

"There's gotta be something …" The Twi'lek kicks something that Volyk can't see, and he doesn't need to guess that she's frustrated.

The girl continues to look around rubble as the Mandalorian stays still. There's a moment before anyone speaks.

"Did you notice any sensors or anything when we came in here?"

Volyk glances at Matok, who's watching the hologram. "Who is the Mandalorian?"

Matok shakes his head. "We don't know. There aren't any records of him in the archives … it's likely the girl hired him."

"What are they looking for?" Volyk asks, firing another question.

"We're not completely sure. However, most of the consoles in that room contained information on our Central Complex …"

"They're trying to get inside." Volyk pauses, thinking. "Are there still any Resistance prisoners inside the complex?"

Matok frowns. "Um … Fenn Rau, I believe. Why? Do you think they'll try to contact him?"

"Probe!"

Volyk's eyes return to the hologram, where the probe fires a bolt into the armored Mandalorian's shoulder. He falls out of view, leaving the Twi'lek facing them. Her hands reach out, and suddenly the hologram blurs and disappears.

Matok nods while Volyk stares at the device in his hands. "That is what raised a red flag … we believe —"

"She is a Jedi," Volyk finishes.

Matok watches him, his helmet concealing all emotion.

Volyk places the mini holoprojector back in his hands and walks past him.

"Prepare my ship."