I six I

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The man jumped in front of her so fast, she hardly noticed as the heavy handcuffs let her go and someone pulled her out of the room, grabbing her arm. They ran down the white corridors one after another. The walls were covered with soot and marks of gunshot. ISB agents lay at her feet, and she tried not to trip over them.

Rounding a corner, gunfire rained down on them. The man suddenly jumped back, causing her to spin and stagger.

Cassian Andor was about to run out again when he saw her collapse to the ground.

'Senator!' He crouched down and looked at her more closely. She was definitely not well. Her face was whiter than the wall and blood was trickling from the corner of her mouth. He pulled her up anyway. 'We still have to go!'

They started to run again. Cassian fired at the oncoming agents one after another as he tried to keep the senator behind his back. They finally made it out into the yard. Mon Mothma sniffed the fresh, cold air. Her legs barely moved, she didn't know if she could keep up the pace. She had never seen this man before, but squeezed his hand as strong, as if her life depended on it. She was sure it did.

'Come on!' he shouted again, and with a great jerk he started off to the left along the wall. Another batch of Imperials arrived, this time in full armour. The lasers missed them by inches. 'Quickly! Senator!'

Rounding the next corner, she saw the boat, with its door open. They rushed towards it at a frantic pace as an Imperial ship rose before their eyes. They were blinded by a flash of green instantly. All Mon Mothma could make out was that she was back on the ground and was surrounded by dull noises. The bomb must have hit the ground beside her directly.

'This way' she heard from very far, and the unknown man suddenly took her in his arms. In the next second, she was inside the boat and its engine roared up under her with a great noise. Lasers continued to shower down on them. The man ran forward and the door closed finally.

She felt the ship rise and closed her eyes. She could not hear from her own heartbeat, what was pounding in her ear. Boom. The ship jerked violently as it was hit. She bumped her head again, this time into the side of the corridor. Now she really saw double. She tried not to move until the ship was clear of the ring of the enemy. She just hoped the shields would hold and they'd get out alive. She calmed down a bit only when there was a jolt, what meant they were out of hyperspace.

'Senator Mothma' Cassian came back from the cockpit running. He crouched down next to her. He quickly took a quick check, but saw that she hadn't been shot. But he was sure she'd taken something that would keep her off her feet for a long time. It wasn't the first time he'd seen something like this. He remembered Bix. Just thinking about what they had done to her at the Imperial Base on Ferrix made his fist clench.

'I need to ask what happened there' he put his hand on her shoulder.

The senator pushed herself up, then quickly put her hand over her mouth. Cassian looked puzzled for a moment, then found a bucket in the pile of junk in the hallway and handed it to her. She leaned in and threw up immediately.

'All right' Cassian stood up. 'We can talk later, after all'

He went back to his seat and launched a holo-call.

'We're out and going to the meeting point'

The holographic man nodded and was gone. Cassian leaned back just then in his seat. He was sweaty, his hands were red from blood, where a laser had grazed him. His Imperial uniform, taken from an ISB officer, was stretched tightly over him.

He watched the blue blurs floating in space for a long time, when Mon Mothma slowly lowered herself into the co-pilot's seat. She leaned back aswell. Her face still had no any colour.

'Who are you?' she asked feebly, glancing at Cassian.

'Cassian Andor' he replied simply. She ran her eyes over the Imperial uniform.

'Three red, three blue' she counted the markings on his chest. 'A commander?'

Cassian glanced there too, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

'No, ma'am. I am a rebel'

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An hour later, Dedra Meero stood still in a dirty dress, staring at the videos of the office corridors. For the thousandth time, she watched the scene as the man dragged the prisoner out and opened fire. She would have recognized that face in a thousand. Even so, she started the scene over and over again. As if that would change the fact that she had failed. She, the guards and even the soldiers sent to help them. She had to make this right. And she knew very well how.

'Find Syril Karn' she ordered the frightened workers coolly, 'Call me as soon as he's here'

The two ISB employees nodded and hurried out of the room. They knew she was on the verge of explosion, and did not wish to be present when it happened. As they left the room they still heard what definitely sounded like an iron chair hitting the wall on the other side of the door.

.

'Hold on! We're coming out of hyperspace'

After a slight jolt, the boat arrived in the middle of nowhere. Mon expected a planet, but saw nothing but distant stars. She glanced sideways at him. But then another ship came out of hyperspace just beside them, dirty like theirs but much larger. The two ships approached slowly until they could dock with the cruiser.

She followed him to the other ship and then realised, how wise it would have been to ask on the way where they were going. Of course, she was grateful that he hadn't asked her either. She clambered through the hatch and followed him into the cabin. That was when she caught sight of him. She had never been so reassured to see him.

'Luthen'

'I see you have succeeded' he looked at Cassian. 'Good. The same here'

Kleya stepped out of one of the rooms and nodded in confirmation. She and Cassien headed for the back of the boat. Luthen looked at Mon only then. He nodded for her to follow. Reaching the bow of the ship, he turned to her suddenly and grabbed her arm.

'What did you say?'

'What?' she asked back.

'Don't play games with me. What did you tell them?'

Mon furrowed her brows. She tried to recall all of her memories about the interrogation.

'Nothing'

'Are you quite sure?'

'Nothing. I said that...' she thought. '...I'm a senator and she's going to jail. And that she's a no one'

Luthen looked her in the eye for a while longer, then finally let her go and sat down.

'Thank you' he heard Mon's voice from behind, and she sat down in the seat next to him. She did not wait for Luthen to respond. She had known him too well already. 'What else have you been successful at?'

The corner of the man's mouth quirked into a grin. 'While Cassian shot out the West flank of the ISB, lured most of the guards of Secret Service, we waited on the East side. By the time you two got out, on the other side had gotten out some other things either. The prisoner files of the ISB security network, the location of its work camps, the coordinates of its bases, and a list of its subordinates... on this' he held up a grey data box.

Mon smiled with joy, but her torn mouth went full of pain. She had never thought they would get these information. Or not this fast. Then the pleasure was followed by another, more frightening thought.

'What's your plan?'

Luthen didn't answer. He scanned the space with narror eyes.

'Luthen' Mon looked at him seriously, 'My life is in your hands. As your rebellion is in mine. In the previous hours, I was sure I was going to die five times' she said, getting angry. 'If you do not tell me now what you plan to do...'

'I'm building a rebellion' he looked at her, his eyes flashing with a sharp light. 'With you, Mon. You'll know everything when you need to know it'

Kleya came in through the door. She first took a long look at the senator, then glanced at Luthen. The man nodded, barely visible.

'Kleya will show you the cabin you can rest in. Just give me your communicator first' he said, taking the pair of the device from his coat. 'We need to change the frequency'

'Oh, I need to send a message...' Mon remembered suddenly and reached into the tiny pocket of her dress. 'Organa must know what happened'

'He already knows' he said shortly.

'Well then' nodded Mon in thanks, still rummaging in her little pocket. Then she froze. It was empty. She felt through the material, then looked up at Luthen in horror. 'They had taken it'

At that moment, a huge object appeared in the sky. An imperial star destroyer. It was when the events of the night became clear in Mon's mind. That's when she realised how Luthen had found her. The device was not just a communicator. It was a tracker between the two of them.