Precipice by shadowsong26


Milestones: Chapter 16

Bail arrived at the Crait base slightly behind schedule, but not enough to concern him-for an operation with as many moving pieces as this one, particularly the first time they tried something like smuggling a highly-visible politician onto a highly- invisible base-there were bound to be a few snags.

Besides, the delay had to do with heightened patrols at one of the waypoints Captain Antilles had planned, meaning they had to fall back on one of their alternate routes to reduce the risk of being tracked. Nothing they hadn't anticipated, or planned for.

What was a little surprising was that there weren't exactly familiar faces waiting for him when he arrived; while he picked out Ahsoka Tano easily enough among the half-dozen beings who had gathered in the hangar, he had expected Obi-Wan, or maybe Anakin.

Still, while he and Ahsoka technically hadn't met since the Clone War, and the years had made many changes to the teenager he remembered, they had long since become friends at a distance. And he had been looking forward to seeing her in person again at last.

"Commander," he said, with a slight bow-the Jedi had, among themselves, decided to keep the ranks they'd held during the War, until and unless there was a reason to change that.

"Senator," she replied, returning the gesture, a faint smile quirking at the corner of her mouth. "Any problems?"

"Minor traffic delays," he said. "I can fill you in on the details later, if you like. What about on this end? Everything here looks about what I expected. Better, even."

Meaning it was a functional hangar; there was a hum of activity in the background while the few fighters they had were being checked over between patrol flights, but it was quieter than most he'd visited during the War, or even the nominal peace that had followed.

Her smile widened a little. "We're doing all right, I think," she said. "A few minor issues, mostly straightened out. Anakin is off on Jedi business, but we expect him any time now, and Obi-Wan is following up on a lead from one of his contacts."

"Of course." Such things were time-sensitive, often enough. "I am glad to see you, though. And hopefully I'll be able to touch base with the two of them before I have to leave."

She nodded. "I'm sure they're hoping for that, as well. But in the meantime, I can show you around."

He nodded, and gestured for her to lead the way. "Please."

The next few hours were a flurry of technical explanations and introductions to base personnel; he did his best to commit names or callsigns to memory, particularly of the higher-ranking officers or the people he was likely to deal with the most on this or future visits.

Which was, really, the main point of him coming here, despite the risks. Not so much to inspect the base-although that was a part of it, too; he and Padme and Mon of course trusted their Jedi allies, but the military arm of their movement had to be accountable to the civilian leadership-but more to be seen himself, to establish and affirm communications and goodwill and trust.

In short, to make it clear that that civilian leadership of their growing Rebel Alliance wasn't idle. Wasn't ignoring the beings who had rallied to their cause.

The rest of the base was about on par with the hangar. As Ahsoka had mentioned, there were a few minor problem areas; a few things that weren't quite up and running yet, still being assembled and installed, but all of the key systems were in place. The officer in charge of the base itself-a Nautolan who introduced herself as Druthi-seemed well-respected and had the minor chaos under a reasonable level of control.

The tour ended with the three of them, as well as Captain Antilles, in a slightly cramped, unfinished conference room off of the main command center to compare notes and confer over what the next steps should be.

"I have to say, I'm very encouraged-impressed-with what I've seen here," Bail said, when the door slid shut behind them. "I know what resources we have to work with, and to see things so far along…"

Druthi shrugged, and smiled at him. "Most of us have gotten used to improvising over the last decade or so, so we've been able to fill in most of the resource gaps we've found one way or another. At least so far as the building goes. We had some technical issues with the shield and comms, but...honestly, the biggest problem, especially now that the grunt work's mostly taken care of, is figuring out how to play nice and share all our toys."

He laughed. "Well, I'm not sure I can help with that part, but as long as I'm here…"

The visit was an important opportunity for a much more specific and open conversation than they'd been able to have before, without the risks involved in any transmission. Bail had been making some mental notes about things he thought would be helpful as he'd gone through the base, and he was sure that Captain Antilles had, as well. The Captain's list was probably better; Bail had been to his fair share of battlefields and bases during the Clone War, but he lacked the direct knowledge and experience of his security chief.

Still, there was a difference between what the two of them might pick up on a walkthrough over a few hours, and what Ahsoka and Druthi had learned over the past few weeks of building and establishing the base. So, he'd opened the discussion, and pulled out his datapad to take more physical notes-he'd add his own prior thoughts afterwards, when he had a moment to compile everything into some kind of order.

"We're actually all right for weapons," Ahsoka started. "Between the contacts Padme's been cultivating and people our various groups know…"

"At least small arms," Druthi agreed. "But the stuff we're missing-more starfighters, maybe some big ground-based canons-is a lot harder to source. Not to mention smuggle in."

Bail nodded. "You're not wrong, unfortunately. But I'll discuss it with the others, see if we can come up with anything you haven't."

"We'd appreciate it," Ahsoka said. "But apart from that…" She looked over at Druthi.

"We are short on some computer equipment-data storage, things like that," the Nautolan continued. "It's hard, because we need things that are secure, but also easy to either destroy or carry with us if we need to clear out of a base really quickly. That wasn't so much a problem when we were in smaller groups, but the bigger we get, the more records we need."

"And the more we lose if we end up just having to do a total wipe," Ahsoka added. "So portable is better, if we can find it."

"Hm." It was a problem he hadn't considered, but once she pointed it out, it felt like it should have been obvious. Of course, this was hardly his area of expertise. Which is why we bring in experts to do what they do best.

"I'll discuss it with our friends in the Senate," he said, when a moment's thought didn't bring any immediate possibilities to mind. "Alderaan doesn't have that much tech industry, but some of our allies represent worlds that do. We'll come up with something." I'll start with Bel Iblis, I think, unless Mon or Padme wants to go a different route.

"In the meantime," Captain Antilles put in, "one of the officers on the Tantive has a pretty strong technical background. Maybe he can get together with your techs, and General Skywalker when he gets back, to see if there's a way to improve what you already have."

Ahsoka nodded. "Yeah, I think that's going to be Anakin's next project anyway. He's been focused on getting our comms and shields up and running. We figured that was higher priority."

"I would agree with that," Captain Antilles said.

"So, that's that…or at least we have a plan in place," Druthi said. "We manage okay for rations, and environmental controls, that's another thing we prioritized early on. The other big issue is medical supplies."

"Which is where Obi-Wan went, incidentally," Ahsoka said. "He got a tip on medical supplies-his message was coded, but either bacta cultures or already-processed bacta-from one of our more reliable black market contacts."

Bail raised an eyebrow. "More reliable?"

"Hondo," she clarified, with a pointed grin.

"Ah, of course," he said. Bail hadn't actually dealt with the pirate directly himself, but he'd heard more than enough from Obi-Wan and the others-and, of course, knew him by reputation-to understand the subtext. Hondo Ohnaka probably wouldn't betray them, but he would absolutely swindle them if he got the chance.

"Hopefully, he'll come through," Ahsoka said. "But even if he does, we're still not as well-stocked as I'd like. Not just bacta, but even basics like bandages, splints, disinfectant..."

"I suppose you'll get an update from Obi-Wan soon enough," Bail said. "As for what we can do to help-I know I work with some charities that already redistribute a variety of medical supplies, so I can manipulate those records to an extent and get you some things. I'm not sure how much I'll be able to divert without drawing attention and maybe getting those organizations shut down, but perhaps the others will have a better idea."

"And every bit helps."

"And every bit helps," he agreed. "What else?"

Before either Ahsoka or Druthi could answer, they were interrupted by a brief tap on the door. Without waiting for a response, a thin-faced Twi'lek stuck his head in. "Commander Tano, we just got a message from Captain Rex. He's on his way in."

Whether it was something in his voice or something in the Force, Ahsoka frowned a little. "Sorry, I should go talk to him-if you three want to keep going without me, I can catch up when I get back."

"Of course," Bail said. "Let us know if there's a problem, anything we can help with."

She nodded, sketched a bow, and then stepped out.

"There's probably not much we can do, even if there is something wrong," Druthi said quietly. "Ben or Commander Tano would be the first to tell us to sit back and be patient."

"I guess you've got a fair amount of experience working with them," Captain Antilles said.

Druthi shrugged. "I've worked with Ben-uh, General Kenobi-a lot, over the past ten years or so, and General Skywalker a few times, too. I'm still getting to know Commander Tano, but I know how she thinks." She grinned a little. "Sort of halfway between Kenobi and Skywalker, if that makes sense?"

"Yes," Bail said. "Yes, it does. Although General Skywalker is...he's mellowed, since I first met him during the Clone War."

If she'd had eyebrows, he had a feeling they would've shot up to meet the base of her tentacles. "Really?" she asked, then grinned. "I almost wish I'd met him back then."

"Kenobi has his moments, too," Captain Antilles said. "He's just...subtler about it."

"True enough," Druthi said. "Like I said, I've worked with him more than the others, so I know how he thinks, too. Anyway...it's good. I'm glad they're with us." She paused, considering. "I know it's not...we shouldn't put so much on three individual people, it takes way more than that to run a revolution. To win a war. But..."

"They're all very good at what they do," Captain Antilles agreed. "And there's a certain quality good leaders have. They give people hope. I don't know that we couldn't win without them, but…" He shook his head, then nodded at Bail. "It's the same thing with you and the others in the Senate, sir. Someone has to stand up and be the person everyone else rallies around, right?"

Bail nodded. "Symbols have power," he said. Ideally, those symbols aren't living beings-it's a lot of pressure to put on anyone, no matter how willing or competent or well-trained. But...well. People respond to other people, in every species I've ever encountered.

"Yeah," Druthi said, then shook her head again. "Anyway, uh, weird philosophical tangent aside...is there anything you all need from our end right now?"

He shook his head. "I do have some suggested installations for you to look into, if you think the missions are feasible," he said. "But mostly, we need you to keep doing what you're doing. Make sure that all the different groups we've gathered here really can, as you put it, play nice and share all their toys."

She flashed a quick smile. "We have had a couple little squabbles," she said. "But nothing like a major fight or faultline. Not yet, anyway. We'll see how that goes, depending on how long we're here, how much action we see...how well our supplies hold out."

"So, watching and waiting," Bail said. "Sometimes that's all we can do."

She nodded. "And…" She sighed. "I do get it. What we're doing here. This is a test run, before we expand to more bases and make an official...I don't know, declaration or something. If this goes well, we can take the next steps. If it doesn't, we don't lose much other than time."

Bail was-not actually surprised at that. The Jedi had put Druthi in charge of the day-to-day management of the base for a reason. They were particularly good judges of character and competence, after all. And the fact that she'd realized this was a first step along what was still a long and difficult road said a lot for the wisdom of that choice. Clearly, she was clever, and knew what she was doing.

Even more, she was willing to come out and say so, directly, which made him like her quite a bit. Gave him a little more hope for this working out. Especially in a movement that relied on secrecy the way theirs did, the ability to trust one another, to communicate, was priceless.

Wherever Obi-Wan and the others had found her, Bail was grateful. They needed more people like her in the upper ranks of their military. Straightforward, perceptive, willing to communicate and collaborate.

"We all hope it won't come to that," he said.

"Don't need to tell me twice," she said, flashing another little grin.

The door slid open, and Ahsoka rejoined them, face just a little bit closed off.

That was...less encouraging.

"Everything all right?" he asked.

"Rex is on his way in, with Leia," she said. "There was an incident, Anakin's hurt. Rex didn't say much over comms, but he's-it's not as bad as it could be. Obi-Wan's with him. They're a couple of hours behind, stopping to see Dr. Naar first."

Not good.

"I'd like to meet them along with you," he said, half-rising from the table. Not that he'd be able to update Padme until he got back to Coruscant, but the more he knew…

It won't be like last time, he thought. Ahsoka would be much more worried if it was.

But after all the times his friend had been left in the dark when her husband was far away and close to death...he felt like he'd be failing her if he didn't see this through.

Even if it would quite possibly be days before he could give her any update.

Ahsoka nodded. "Of course. Druthi, let medical know? We'll have more details for what they'll need soon."

She nodded, and sketched a salute. "Will do, Commander."

"Thanks," she said, then turned and led the way out of the conference room and back through the base, to the hangar where hopefully Rex and Leia-and a better understanding of what had gone wrong-would be there to meet them.

Bail had never seen the Waterfall, but he'd heard it described often enough to know that the ship that landed moments after he and Ahsoka reached the hangar was a different one.

He'd spent enough time in situations like this that he didn't fidget, waiting while the pilot-Captain Rex, presumably, unless Leia was quite a bit better-trained than he thought she was-did a few last-minute checks and shut down before opening the hatch. Beside him, Ahsoka was deadly still, her eyes fixed on that hatch, waiting.

Leia came out first; she'd grown a few inches since the last time Bail had seen her, three years before-and had a familiar, if very new-looking, metallic cylinder hanging from her belt.

Bail didn't need the Force to feel Ahsoka soften just a little. "I'm glad you're okay, kid," she said.

Leia nodded and bowed briefly. "Thanks. It all went-everything went good, until it didn't," she said, before taking a deep breath and turning to Bail. "It's good to see you again, Uncle Bail."

He smiled. "You, too," he said.

Rex was a few steps behind his charge. It had been longer since Bail had seen him, of course, but he was still a little taken aback by how much the old soldier had changed.

By how much the old soldier had changed.

He supposed he hadn't seen many clones in the last few years, and while he intellectually knew that the accelerated aging didn't stop when they reached full maturity…

It was something else to have it staring him in the face. So to speak.

But Bail had been doing this for a very long time, and he was able to keep his face suitably neutral for a semi-public setting; grave and concerned at the situation; not showing his surprise or the more specific worry underlining it.

Rex stopped and saluted. "Commander. Senator."

"Rex," Ahsoka said. "What happened?"

Leia answered for him. "Infernalis," she said. "He found us, and...and he and Dad fought, and…"

Bail's heart went cold and Ahsoka hissed.

"We checked in with General Kenobi a bit ago," Rex said. "General Skywalker's alive, Infernalis is not, and it's...it's not as bad as last time." He put a hand on Leia's shoulder, and she leaned into it a little.

"Good," Ahsoka said. "And you said they weren't far behind you?"

"Yeah," Leia said. "Can we wait here, or…?"

She shook her head. "I think it would be better if we waited somewhere a little more out of the way."

"I don't want-" Leia started, then possibly-probably-saw something on Ahsoka's face and cut herself off. "Fine. I guess. That makes sense."

Ahsoka and Rex exchanged a look over her head-one that Bail recognized; he and Breha had had more than one silent exchange like that, when trying to decide how to shield or distract Winter from something that she couldn't do anything about. Something that would only upset her.

"There's a room between here and the medbay that's mostly clear right now," Ahsoka said. "And it looks like you've got something to show me while we wait, anyway. What do you say?"

Leia's hand went to that cylinder, and she nodded. "Okay. Uncle Rex, you'll comm us, right? When they get here?"

"I will, ad'ika," he promised. "Soon as I know they're close." He squeezed her shoulder once more, then let go.

Ahsoka nodded briefly at the two men, then turned and led Leia out of the hangar.

Rex watched them go, then sighed before turning back to the hangar bay doors, face drawn and pensive.

"It's...I can't imagine what's going through her head right now," Bail said softly. Or yours, he wanted to add; but he and Rex weren't quite close enough for that. He didn't know how Rex would respond to a more overt offer of comfort.

He shook his head. "She's probably thinking about last time."

"I imagine we all are," he said. "But it's not…?"

"General Kenobi said it was...he lost some blood, got banged up, but nothing...nothing permanent this time."

"I'm glad to hear it," Bail said. And did not reach out to put a hand on his arm, or shoulder, the way he might have done with Padme or Obi-Wan, if he were trying to be there for one of them in this moment.

"Yeah," Rex said, then took a breath, and straightened his spine. "But it's like Commander Tano said. There's not much we can do about it until they get here, and...just worrying about him won't solve any problems."

"True enough," he agreed. So, that had been the right decision then. To be a little more reserved, and let Rex confide in him or not, as he chose.

They were silent for a few moments, Rex watching the hangar entrance, even though they probably couldn't expect Obi-Wan and Anakin for a while yet. Rex's first message, according to Ahsoka, had said they were a few hours behind, after all.

"...if we're not in the way here," Bail said, after a moment, "and if it won't bother you, I'd like to wait here as well?"

Rex blinked, and turned to him. "Right. Uh. We're probably fine here. Maybe a bit more off to one side, just in case."

Bail nodded, and turned to scan the hangar. "Over there, perhaps?" he suggested, indicating a spot along one wall that had been set up as some sort of briefing area, with a handful of benches and a holoprojector.

"Probably for the best," Rex said. "After you, sir."

"Of course." Bail started in that direction, automatically adjusting his stride to match the Captain's, as they made their way across the hangar and settled on one of the benches, once again facing the hangar bay door, in silence.

But then, after a moment, Rex took a breath, as if to steel himself.

"I wonder if I could ask you a favor, Senator," he said.

That was something of a surprise-as far as Bail knew, Rex had never really asked for much of anything from any of them.

Not that he hadn't more than earned the right.

"Of course," he said. Whether or not it was something he could actually do was another question entirely, but Rex had every right to ask.

"Do you have access to our records? Mine and my brothers', I mean."

"Not off hand," Bail said. "But I could get them without too much trouble. Why, were you looking for someone in particular?"

"No, not…exactly," Rex said. "I was just thinking…we were in production up through the end of the War, right? And I wonder…what happened to the little ones? The cadets, or the ones who weren't even mature enough for that."

"Ah, of course." It wasn't a question Bail had an immediate answer to-he believed, or at least guessed, that most of them had been funneled into the stormtrooper corps as they matured, but if Rex was asking now, he probably wanted more detail than that. He hadn't personally encountered any, but...well, that didn't mean much of anything, really. "I don't know," he said. "But I could find out, though it may take me some time."

"Of course," Rex said. "And this is…this is personal, and if there's any chance it would compromise your position or our mission, sir-"

Bail shook his head. "Don't worry about that. There are plenty of reasons I could come up with to request access to those files."

He and Padme and Mon had discussed looking into that before, in fact-given what had...what had happened to the Jedi Order, it couldn't have hurt to have that information. Not to mention that they all had concerns about what might happen to the clones who had remained with the army, but were too old for active service.

Except it had always been just a little too visible a subject, just a little too close to their secrets, to draw the attention that the issue-that those men-deserved.

But with Rex giving him an additional incentive…

The hardest thing to explain is why now, after all this time, but I think I can come up with a plausible public reason for that, too. Maybe Breha will help-for one thing, if the other soldiers of Rex's generation are...if they've aged the way he has, offering them support in retirement will probably be a reasonable cover, and it'll get me into the records. I can look for younger groups from there.

Yes. That would probably work. He'd discuss it with his wife the next time they spoke, and then go from there.

Rex nodded, and the set of his shoulders relaxed just a hair. "I'd appreciate it, sir. And I understand…there's probably a lot of records to go through, it might be buried…"

"It probably is," Bail said. "Like I said, it'll take me some time. But I should be able to find something for you. I can't promise that you'll like the answer, but…"

"At least I'll have it," Rex said. "Thank you, Senator."

"Of course," he said, and they lapsed into silence once more.

Bail turned back to the hangar bay doors, considering his best approach to answer Rex's question-and to bring up the extent of Anakin's injuries, whatever it might be, with Padme.

It's always a question of information, isn't it, he thought. Communication. Those have always been the weak points in our system, and even with this base...it's better now, but not quite what we would like.

Even with someone like Druthi at the helm, and a central comm system, he still couldn't answer those key questions or facilitate those too-important connections any faster.

Even with his years of experience and knowledge of the context and necessity behind it, it was an intensely frustrating position to be in.

All he could do was wait. For more information, for a chance to go home and broach these delicate issues with the people who were best positioned to act on them.

...unless...

A thought occurred. A reckless one, the kind that would probably make Druthi's non-existent eyebrows shoot up again, but…

Well, once Bail had had it, he couldn't quite ignore it.

"Captain," he said, turning back to Rex. "I wonder if I could get your help with something? While we wait."

"Of course, sir," he said. "What do you need?"

"Could you talk me through some of the comm encryptions, and maybe help me hook my personal one into the base systems? Commander Tano and Commandant Druthi gave me a general overview, but...I have something I want to try. Something a little more specialized."

Rex didn't take long to catch on. His eyes widened, just a little, and he lowered his voice. "Are you sure that's safe, sir? It'll mean…it'll mean worlds to him, and I'm guessing to-to her, too, but…"

"I'm not," Bail admitted. "Which is why I want a look at the system before I make the call, if I do. But I'd like to at least see if it's possible."

I know it probably won't work. But it's worth looking into. For all of them. It might not solve all our problems, not by a long shot, but...it's a step in the right direction, I think. Isn't it?

Rex nodded. "Probably best to do this from central command, then," he said, and stood up. "Follow me?"

"Thank you," he said, with a brief smile, and gestured for the Captain to lead the way.


Original Author's Notes: This did take longer than I'd hoped, but the good news is, the next chapter should be out Very Soon! I'm aiming for by next weekend. But this chapter was Very Long already, and I have two more scenes to go...

And then, as I've discussed in the past/on my writing journal, while this fic will come to an end, this AU and Our Heroes' journey within it is not over. There will be more detail in the next update, and you can also find it on my writing tumblr.

Thank you so much for stopping by, and sticking with me on this long and (hopefully) exciting ride! See you next time! ~~3 shadowsong