Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to Star Wars: Tales of the Infinity's Odyssey.
Thank you all for your wonderful patience support. I deeply appreciate it.
For those of you wondering, this is an earlier short story that I was going to publish, but didn't for some reason. As such, I'll be posting this short story today, and I'll be posting the follow-up to the previous short story on Thursday.
As always, leave a review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Halo or Star Wars franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Studios, 343 Industries, Bungie, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox, Disney Films, etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to its original composers and/or artists.
UNSC Infinity
En Route to Yavin IV
April 12th, 0BBY, 0900 Hrs (October 27th, 2558, 0900 Hrs)
As Dr. Halsey left the recovery room for the Infinity, Cassian couldn't help but think back over that question that was still bouncing around inside of his head. Why would everyone be so tense around an elderly woman? he thought. It doesn't make sense, unless there's something about her that other people know that I don't. It was a question that continued to nag at him, even as he lay in the bed he was in.
Absentmindedly, he checked the wound on his shoulder for the third time. There was some nagging pain that was coming from the wound, but beyond that, he felt perfectly fine. Those doctors really know their stuff, he thought. Still, he couldn't help but find that his mind was, once again, drifting back to Dr. Halsey. He idly looked at the clock, which showed the time as 0900 hours. I could use a light doze. He closed his eyes and settled in, feeling woozy from some of the medication.
The sound of the recovery ward's door opening woke him up. It's only been an hour, he noted as he glanced at the clock, then at the door. In walked two men that were dressed in dark gray and black uniforms. One had dark brown hair and green eyes, while the other had blue eyes and black hair. Both men had tanned skin, and both of them looked grim. Both also had a symbol of a diamond on their shoulders, with one side being black while the other was white. A number of letters and symbols were on the patches in question, though Cassian couldn't tell what they meant.
As soon as they were close enough, one of them asked, "Are you Cassian Andor?"
"Is there another Cassian Andor?" Cassian asked. When the men didn't give a response, he said, "Yes, I am. Why do you ask, if I may ask?"
"We would like to have a discussion with you, Andor," one of the men said. "However, given your condition, we will need to speak to your doctor. Don't want to exacerbate your injuries after all."
"No need to wait on that," came the voice of Cassian's doctor, Dr. Richard Hives. While most doctors were quite tall, Hives was the exact opposite. The man was just three feet and nine inches tall, courtesy of the fact that he was born with achondroplasia, resulting in him becoming a dwarf. While his condition hadn't been cured in time to stop his dwarfism, he had all of the other complications fixed, resulting in him being relatively normal and healthy despite his small size.
As such, when he walked into the room, he was able to walk towards them with a vigorous vitality that few had. Looking at the two men that were at Andor's bed, Richard said, "Aside from his shoulder wound, a couple scrapes, and a few minor contusions, he's the picture of health. If you wish to speak with him, you can do so. Just do what you can not to exacerbate his mended shoulder."
"Very well," the second of the two men said. "Mr. Andor. If you could come with us?"
"Sure," Andor said. "Before we go, mind if I ask who you two work for?"
"You will learn who we work for once we arrive at our destination," the first of the two men said. "We would also like to remain anonymous."
"All right," Andor said. He was already suspicious of who the two men really were, but given the state of his injuries, as well as the fact that causing a fight would cause trouble, he really knew he didn't have a choice. "Mind if someone help me up?"
"Sure," the first man said. The two men advanced and helped Cassian up, while taking care not to exacerbate his injuries. Once Cassian was on his feet, and had his hospital outfit snugly on and fitted, the two men helped him along as they moved through the hallways of the onboard hospital.
As they moved along, Andor noticed the reactions of everyone that saw them. Some of them stared at the officers, while others frowned. Others still pretended that they hadn't seen the two men, and thus continued about their daily business. That might not be good, Andor noted as they moved along. Somehow, I've gotten myself into another mess.
Eventually, they came to the tram, whereupon they boarded it and began traveling towards another section of the ship. Once they came out, Cassian noted that the section of the ship they were at more closely resembled a prison than a normal part of the ship. Looking at the two, he asked, "Am I in any trouble?"
"No," the first man said to him. "If you were in trouble by now, Mr. Andor, we would've informed you by now. As it is, we wish to ask a few questions."
At that, Cassian realized who he was talking to. Looks like the UNSC has an intelligence service of their own, he thought. Well… given that we were basically about to have our butts handed to us when the Infinity showed up, not giving them any answers wouldn't be a good idea. I should've seen this coming a mile away. There was little he could do now, though. All he could do was wait and see what happened next.
The two men continued to help him move along down the hallways of the part of the ship they were now in. They came to a pair of doors, one of which was opened to reveal a room with gray walls, a table with two chairs and what looked like a mirror. A gentle push at his back led to Cassian sitting down in the room, with Ian sitting down on the other side of the table as the door was closed.
Cassian expected Ian to begin asking him questions immediately. Instead, Ian sat down and began reading a document on his datapad. OK, Cassian thought. This is not normal. Part of him wondered if this was a new interrogation technique, or if this was something abnormal. He shifted slightly in his seat. Well, if this is a waiting game, then I'll win. Eventually, Cassian was counting the amount of time since their arrival.
He was about to reach the twenty minute mark when the first man spoke up. "When you came onboard, we were quite surprised to hear that you were a Rebel agent. With that in mind, we would like to ask a few questions. You don't have to answer if you don't wish to, but we would appreciate it if you could. With that in mind, I would like to ask the first question. How large is the Rebel Alliance?"
Cassian frowned. Much of the information inside of the Rebel Alliance was compartmentalized. It was a security measure that ensured that, even if a Rebel Alliance agent was captured and interrogated by the Empire, the entire Rebel Alliance wouldn't be blown. As such, when asked a question like this, Cassian knew he could say, with full honesty, his answer. "I don't know," he said.
"Why?" Ian asked.
"Compartmentalization," Cassian said. "Members of the Rebel Alliance are often told only what they need to know. If the Empire captures one of us as a result, we can't tell them everything about the Rebel Alliance or any information about particular locations and the like."
Ian nodded. "That's understandable. We perform a similar task in our organization."
"Speaking of which, mind if I know who you work for?" Cassian asked. "If that's too much, then I apologize." Deep down, he knew he was risking much more than just a simple reprimand by asking this question.
"No," the man said. "We are agents of the Office of Naval Intelligence. However, we will keep our names anonymous for the duration of this meeting. You understand, of course, yes?"
So that's who they're working for, Cassian noted. I figured that they were part of an intelligence agency. "I understand," he said. "Anonymity is a powerful tool for an intelligence agency."
"Yes," the man said. "With that in mind, we would like to ask you another question. What rank are you?"
"A Captain."
An easy question that's answered easily, Ian thought. "Who is the leader of the Rebel Alliance?"
Again, Cassian frowned internally. Officially, Mon Mothma was the leader of the Rebel Alliance, but in reality, Cassian knew that the Rebel Alliance really had dozens of leaders, especially given the fact that the Rebel Alliance was really a collection of individual insurgent cells that had a common goal. "I don't know," he said. "The Rebel Alliance is more like a collection of like minded insurgent cells, not a full organization." He shrugged as he said that. "I do know for certain that Antoc Merrick is in charge of the Star Fighter Corps, while Admiral Raddus is an Admiral in the Navy, though not the person in charge…"
On the other side of the table, Ian frowned. Both he and Richard knew that Cassian was likely an intelligence agent, mostly due to his responses to their questions so far. There are a few indicators of deception, but there are also indicators of honesty as well, he thought. It's likely that Cassian doesn't really know the answer to those questions, and is just giving what he thinks is the best answer. Happens often in our line of work. "What different branches are in the Rebel Alliance's military?"
"That's easy. There's the Army, Starfighter Corps, Intelligence and Navy. The Army generally does ground combat, while the Navy provides transport for the Army and fights naval battles. Intelligence provides the military with information they need to fight the empire and the Starfighter Corps assists the Army and Navy in their battles."
"How large is the Navy, Army and Starfighter Corps? How many ships do they have? How many personnel? What is their standard equipment?"
Cassian frowned. "I don't really know, to be honest. It's all a hodgepodge of various assets. I couldn't tell you unless you checked with the guys that made the equipment."
"Why did the Rebel Alliance attack Scarif?" Ian asked.
Cassian's frown faded. "To get at the plans for the Death Star," he said. "Your friends in the UNSC were down at Scarif and they could see what we were doing. Besides, Scarif was also the home of the Imperial Center for Military Research. It's an obvious treasure trove."
"So you attacked it because it was a strategic target?"
"Yes," Cassian said.
"I see," Ian said. Makes sense, he thought. They'd want intelligence on the Empire's projects, as well as their strategic locations, attack one of their bases. He knew from experience that it was a textbook maneuver that ONI conducted all of the time. Now, he wanted to ask a more personal question. "Why did you assist Jyn during the attack?"
Hearing that, Cassian realized that the man before him was questioning him as to why he had decided to help Jyn in the battle. OK… he thought. Should I really tell them the truth, or should I come up with a lie? He fidgeted slightly, before saying, "I helped her because I believed her when she said that attacking Scarif was the right call to make. If we hadn't, we would never have acquired the Death Star schematics."
"I see," Ian said. "So, can you explain to me then why the Rebel Alliance was thinking of arresting Jyn, then?"
That caught Cassian off guard. He looked at them with widened eyes. "What?!"
"Why was the Rebel Alliance thinking of arresting Jyn?"
"That's not right!" Cassian said. "From what I recall, they were thinking of pardoning her for her crimes if she worked with them to locate Galen Erso. Why?"
"We received intelligence that indicated that Alliance Intelligence was likely going to go back on their deal with Jyn Erso," Ian said. "Is this true?"
"I don't think so," Cassian said, a confused frown on his face. "If they went back on their deal, Jyn would likely get herself free from the prison and go after the people that tried to arrest her. That doesn't make sense... except..." Then his eyes dawned with realization. "Davits and Jyn had an argument shortly after she told Alliance High Command of the Death Star and where the plans for it were. I think that's one reason why he would've wanted to arrest her."
Ian remained quiet. So Davits wanted to arrest Jyn for causing a argument, he thought to himself. Hhmm… I'll have to cross reference that with the Alliance once we get agents inside of the organization. He'd also noted the genuine worry and shock in Cassian's voice. Jyn might be close to him. Taking a deep breath, he let it out in a sigh and leaned back. "I see," he said. "We'll check on that when we have the chance to do so. That being said, I would like to ask another question."
"And that would be?"
"Why did the Rebel Alliance give you a kill order for Galen Erso?" Ian said. "From what I recall, we at ONI would consider such a man to be an extremely valuable asset. To kill such a valuable asset would be an offense of the highest order, enough that we would be fired from our jobs and forced to look for employment elsewhere."
"To be honest, I disagreed with that order too," Cassian said. "General Davits gave it to me despite his initial orders to have us recover Galen Erso alive and well. I chose to disobey it because I figured that there was more going on than we thought there was. Still, it was all for nothing, as he was killed during a bombing run on the facility."
"I see," Ian said. "Well, whoever ordered that bombing raid should turn in their rank badges and get a job in another field entirely." Standing up from his chair, he asked, "Would you mind if I talked with my colleague for a minute or two?"
"Not at all," Cassian said with a shrug. "It's your ship, after all. You can do whatever you want onboard this thing." With a nod, the two men walked outside of the room and closed the door behind themselves, leaving Cassian to his own business for the time being.
As soon as the two ONI Agents were inside of the recording room on the other side of the one-way mirror, Ian said, "Well, that was enlightening."
"It was," his colleague, James Wright, agreed. "From the sounds of things, the Rebel Alliance is far more disorganized than we initially believed. If that is the case, then it makes sense as to why Jyn was distrustful of Alliance High Command."
"Agreed. What gets me is that they were unwilling to attack a perfectly soft and exposed target despite having enough firepower to get the job done. From what we recall on Jyn's conversation with Lasky earlier in the day, it seems as though their leadership is highly divided. We could use that to our advantage."
"Indeed," James said. "If we play our cards right, we can sneak people into the Rebel Alliance without them knowing about it. A few additions here, some modified paperwork there, and we could have spies within the Rebel Alliance before you could say 'jacknife.'"
"You sure Lasky would approve of that, or Dare for that matter?"
Wright shrugged. "Possibly. You know what they say, 'knowledge is power.' The more information you have on an unknown faction, the easier it is to predict exactly what they're going to do and counter those action. We now have information on the Rebel Alliance, which means that we have power over them. We just have to know how much power we've got in the first place."
"Makes sense. Still, I have trouble believing that the Rebel Alliance wouldn't arrest Jyn Erso. From what we can tell, their intelligence officers were more than ready to have her arrested and dealt with. That could play into the divided leadership that is going on."
"That would fall in line with what we know so far," Wright agreed. "The one thing that irritates me the most, however, is that they were perfectly willing to terminate a valuable asset that was not only working on the inside to assure them victory, but would've had intimate knowledge of other Imperial projects. Killing Galen Erso in the bombing raid was a colossal error in judgment."
"I agree," Ian said. "Personally, if I meet their intelligence officers, I would definitely give them a reaming out for their utterly stupid decision. If I could, I would've demoted them on the spot or even court marshaled them. You don't get rid of an asset that could be useful in the long run."
"I agree," Wright said. Looking inside at Cassian, he asked, "What do you think, though. Could he be telling the truth."
"Possibly," Ian said. "You can never fully tell if someone is telling the truth. Memory is, at best, a fickle thing and often proves unreliable. I can say, however, that he was giving off indications of practicing honestly, as well as deception at times. Given that he's likely an intelligence agent, it wouldn't surprise me if he had his own fair share of secrets."
"Same here," Wright said. "It's a shame that he's still working for the Rebel Alliance. If he broke away from them and joined us, he could, after some retraining, become one of our best agents in this brave new galaxy. Given that he infiltrated an Imperial base, it's obvious that he has intimate knowledge of Imperial protocols, as well as knowledge on how to pose as an Imperial Officer. Both of those skills are highly useful in our trade."
"Yeah," Ian said. "In fact, speaking of him being honest with us." Looking up slightly, he asked, "Cortana, Roland, are you two present?"
"We are," Cortana said. "What do you need?"
"During our interview with Cassian Andor, we noted that he was, at times, practicing deception and honesty. What we were wondering is if that really was the case, or if we were just being paranoid."
"A bit of both, actually," Cortana said. "Cassian was definitely being honest with the two of you, but I think that he might not have all of the information that you were asking for. He said it himself. Information in the Rebel Alliance is likely compartmentalized so that, in the event one of their own is captured, the entire organization isn't exposed. Given that Rebel Alliance agents likely work without support, I can say that those indicators of deception are really indicators of ignorance. I didn't detect any increased activity or blood flow in the parts of the brain that are used in practicing deception."
Ian looked at Wright. "There you have it. Cassian was likely ignorant when it came to some of the questions that we were asking. Not too surprising, though. Information like what we were asking is, sometimes, on a 'need-to-know' basis." Looking at Cassian again, he said, "I believe that we should have him return to his bed in the recovery ward. I'll go speak with him."
"Sounds good," Wright agreed…
Inside of the interrogation room, Cassian was starting to wonder what was taking the two men he had been talking to so long. It's not like I'm combat ready right now, he thought, wincing as he felt the wound in his shoulder starting to act up again. Right now, I need to rest and let the wound recover, otherwise, well… it'll be a while before I get to work for Alliance Intelligence again. He was about to get up himself when the door opened, with both of the men that had been speaking with him walking inside. "So, what now?" he asked.
"We were just finishing up a discussion with each other," Ian said. "We appreciate you taking the time to speak with us, Mr. Andor. We were, however, concerned that your injury might be starting to act up again. As such, we've decided to end this interview and return you to your recovery ward."
"Thank you," Cassian said. "And you're right. My shoulder wound is acting up again."
"Then we'd better return you to the ward posthaste," Ian said…
Before long, the trio of men had returned to the recovery ward, with Dr. Richard smiling as the trio of men walked inside. "So, did everything go well?"
"Yes," Ian said. "However, we needed to cut the interview short. Mr. Andor needs to rest and recover from his shoulder wound."
"Thank you," Dr. Hives said. "I'll get him started on some ketamine and a few other painkillers. Still, I thank you for being considerate."
"You're welcome," Ian said.
As the two ONI agents left, Dr. Hives looked at Cassian. "You're really lucky," he said. "Those two men were ONI Agents. If they really wanted to cause you trouble, you'd be dead by now, or worse."
"I thought as much," Cassian said. "They just wanted me to answer a few questions for them, nothing more, nothing less."
"Good. Now, I'd best get to work making you comfortable once more."
. . .
A few days later, Cassian was able to walk on his two feet once more, with the experienced Alliance agent entering the structure housing the Alliance's High Command. His arm, now in a sling, was starting to feel much better now, especially since he had a bacta patch slapped onto the offending wound. It's good to be back, he thought to himself as he moved along. Still, I wonder what what's been going on in my absence. From what I heard, Captain Lasky gave the Rebel Alliance something of a chewing out, even going so far as to refuse to join.
Still, from what he heard, Lasky hadn't joined for two reasons: the first being that the Rebel Alliance was highly disorganized, and the other being that joining them would be considered high treason to the UNSC. Makes sense, Cassian thought. You don't want your military forces to be joining with other factions willy-nilly. Still, from what I hear, he wasn't very diplomatic about it.
As he moved towards one of the hangar bays, he spotted something highly unusual. At the end of one of the walkways outside of the structure housing High Command, he could see a long line of people that extended all the way to the VTOLs that the UNSC used. Tapping the arm of one of the technicians in the hangar, he asked, "What's going on?"
"Don't you know?" the technican asked. When Cassian shook his head, the man sighed and said, "Well, given Lasky's refusal to join the UNSC, as well as his dressing down of Alliance High Command, a lot of people have decided to leave the Rebel Alliance. That long line of people goes to show how many of them are wanting to leave right now."
Cassian frowned. He knew that some people didn't like the way the Rebel Alliance was running things, but even this was a surprise. Out of curiosity, he asked, "Do you know where Jyn is?"
"No need to ask him that," came a familiar voice. "I can tell you myself."
Turning around, Cassian watched as Jyn came out into the open. "Jyn," Cassian said. "Is everything all right?"
"No, but thanks for asking," Jyn said. "I take it you don't know what's happening."
"Yeah."
"Well," Jyn said. "I'm giving it to you straight. I've decided to leave the Rebel Alliance and join the UNSC."
Those words were like a bombshell going off in Cassian's mind. The experienced Alliance Intelligence agent looked at Jyn with an expression of shock. "Y-You're joining the UNSC?" he asked. When Jyn nodded, he asked, "Why?"
"For a number of reasons," Jyn said. "For one thing, I'm tired of being treated like trash and being ignored. You saw what happened when I suggested we attack Scarif; the Alliance High Command wanted to bury their heads in the sand. Worse still, they wanted to scatter the Alliance to the wind. For another, as you've likely noticed, the Rebel Alliance is highly disorganized. I'm surprised that we were able to pull off the attack in the first place, especially given how disorganized we are." She paused for a second. "I don't mean to make you upset, Cassian. I..."
Cassian nodded. All of Jyn's reasons for joining the UNSC were valid ones. "I understand," he said. "They did give a bad first impression while you were here the first time around. Still, it's quite a surprise, really. I thought you'd just leave and strike out on your own. Why not do so?"
"Because the UNSC might be where I need to be. They can go practically anywhere, and I get paid for what I do. On top of that, I've never worked with people from another galaxy before. Why pass up the opportunity?"
"Agreed," Cassian said. Looking at her, he said, "Still, I hope this doesn't put a gulf between the two of us. For all it's worth, Jyn, I never once doubted you. It's why I went with you when they refused to attack Scarif. You were right, and all of them were wrong. I just wish I'd seen that sooner rather than later."
Jyn's expression softened. "It's all right," she said. "I'm not angry at you, Cassian. You've been a good friend, and an excellent squadmate. The only people I've got a quarrel with is Alliance High Command, mostly for their incompetence and cowardice. Perhaps we might meet again some day."
"Perhaps," Cassian agreed. "So, I take it this is goodbye for now?"
"Yes," Jyn said. "For now. I do plan on meeting you again in the future, though. For now, however, I have to report to my new superiors." As she turned to leave, she stopped and said, "May the Force be with you, Cassian."
"Same here," Cassian said. "May the Force be with you, Jyn." As he and Jyn left, he turned to look at her one last time. Now I understand why I was worried for her at Scarif, he thought. I'm in love with her. I just hope she reciprocates that someday. I just wish I was faster in asking her if she could be with me. Now, she's another world away, and I can't get to her now. With a frown and heavy heart, he continued back inside of the base.
