Debut's End

"Speech"

"Radio or calls"

'Thoughts'

Bridge of the Vagabond

As the familiar lights of hyperspace filled the windows, Lyle let out a cry of satisfaction as the adrenaline left his system. Mission didn't go exactly to plan, but they all got out alive and did a minimum of weeks of damage to the imperial facility, if not months. Setting the autopilot, he called over the ship's speaker, "Good job crew! Gather up in the meeting room."

He looked over at Christina, who rolled her eyes but gave him a thumbs up. Standing up and stretching as the ship was set to autopilot, both of them saw Setsuna and Tieria leave the gunnery room, Tieria glaring at Lyle as he passed by the two original crew members.

Christina hugged Setsuna, seeing if he was hurt, checking his body. Setsuna looked down at her evenly, "I'm fine."

Christina pouted, poking his shoulder, "You always say that, yet I always manage to find something."

Setsuna just grunted, "This time I'm telling the truth. Lyle and Allelujah were the ones who got hit." Christina looked over at the Corellian, who shrugged with a grin, wincing as he raised his shoulder.

The Zeltron walked over to him, poking his injured shoulder, causing Lyle to groan in pain, "After this meeting, you are getting patched up. None of this 'It'll heal naturally'."

Lyle waved her off with his good arm, "Alright mom, I'll get it looked at." Christina narrowed her eyes as she looked at him, but backed off and walked down the stairs, swaying her hips.

The pilot rolled his eyes, "If she wasn't so hot, she would be more annoying." Setsuna just grunted at that, and Lyle gave him a teasing grin, "Though I suppose you have another hot woman you are interested in."

Setsuna grumbled under his breath, his cheeks hot as he tried to ignore Lyle's words. While he certainly found Feldt attractive, it wasn't what drove him to connect with her. Lyle caught the blush and silently laughed, happy to see the stoic man acting like a man his age. 'Still, it's annoying he found a girl before I did.'

Lyle slapped him on the back, Setsuna stumbling from the surprise, and looked at the stairs, "Let's get to the meeting. Probably don't want to be late from a meeting I called." Setsuna nodded and the two men made their way to the meeting room.

As they entered, they could see they were the last ones there. Everyone stood or sat around the table, Allelujah wrapped up in bandages, shirtless as he definitely looked very bruised. He gave Lyle and Setsuna a smile, and leaned back in a chair, taking deep breaths, shuddering slightly in pain. Tieria stood across the table, out of his armor, arms crossed over his chest.

Feldt sat near the head of the table, looking relieved, just happy the mission was over. She met Setsuna's gaze, who just nodded at her, giving her a slight smile, walking over to sit next to her. Christina rested at the table, sitting as she waited for it to start.

Lyle moved to stand at the head of the table, looking at the group with a grin, though he winced as he moved his arms, "Well team, that went well. We may not have achieved all of our objectives, but I'm pretty sure that base is out of commission for a long while. And we all got out in one piece. So I would call the mission a success."

Christina added on, "And Setsuna and I got us some data from the security office. Don't know how much it will help, but I'll forward it along to rebel command, along with all of your reports." She smiled at the group, "No need to rush for your reports, but the sooner, the better."

The group nodded at her, and Tieria scowled deeper, frustration surging in him. Feldt looked over at Allelujah, worry in her voice, "Are you ok Allelujah? What happened?"

Allelujah smiled at her, "I got a bit beat up by an imperial officer. I was told I would need a few days of bacta treatments and bedrest, then I should be fine. Mostly bruised ribs." Feldt still looked at him with concern, but she could sense something else was going on with him, like he was hiding something. 'No, I already intruded on Setsuna's privacy. Everyone has a right to secrets.'

Allelujah looked at Setsuna, who had unconsciously drifted close to Feldt, sitting closer to her than needed, "Thanks for saving me."

Setsuna just nodded at him, his voice even, with a hint of kindness, "A crew should protect their own. And you are part of the crew."

"A part of the ship, huh." His voice was nearly a whisper, but a smile made its way to the corner of his mouth. He took a deep breath, resisting groaning at the pain in his chest, "But I really need to work on my martial arts. She was good." He let out a chuckle, which Lyle and Christina joined in.

But the mood immediately dropped as Tieria finally spoke, both his fists clenched, "Are we just going to pretend that we didn't get all of our objectives? That Lyle wasn't caught by some worker? We failed. We were supposed to get the vehicle bay too, but we didn't get that! How can we call this a success!?"

Everyone was taken aback by the venom in his voice, Lyle's eyes narrowing as Tieria glared back at him. Tieria took a step forward, "We shouldn't have been caught. And we should have completed the mission, no matter the cost!"

Lyle's lips were a thin line as he responded, "Tieria, did you forget the fact we are a small team? We don't have multiple squads to back us up. No mission with ever be optimum." He gestured around the room, "We have four of us that are combat capable. You think we could have just kept going? And I didn't say we got all of our objectives."

Setsuna joined in, "The imperials were swarming you guys. I could see on the security dozens more men were coming your guys way, cutting off all access to the upper levels." His voice was low, "Discretion is the better part of valor."

Tieria maintained his narrowed eyes, anger cooling into a cold response, "Well I think you are too afraid to try."

Feldt's voice cut through the arguing, "Can we please not fight? We just won. There is no need to argue." Christina couldn't help to agree, the negative emotions hitting her slightly as she held her head. Tieria was so negative, and she didn't know why.

Tieria just looked at the group and almost said something, but just turned around, stomping out of the room, leaving everyone confused at his very aggressive attitude. Lyle let out a deep sigh, "Just as I thought I got the guy to relax, he goes and does that."

Setsuna chimed in, "Should we request a transfer of him from our unit?"

Christina looked up at Lyle, "Want me to try and calm him down?"

"No need to contact command." The Corellian then shook his head, "Leave him alone. He'll probably just yell at you. I'd rather celebrate this success than worry about him right now." He looked up at where the two rooms on the bridge were, "I'll deal with him tomorrow."

Allelujah laughed, though immediately regretted that, "I can deal with celebrating." He then looked down thoughtfully, "I swear I know that white-haired woman. I've seen her face before."

Setsuna looks at him curiously, "When? On a previous operation?"

Allelujah shook his head, "It's not that. I swear I just have seen this before."

Lyle chimed in, chuckling, "Well Echani women can look similar. Generally equally hot. Something about a beautiful woman that can kick your ass is very attractive."

Christina high-fived him, "We can agree on that. I would love to have met that officer at a bar." Setsuna rolled his eyes and the Miraluka blushed, but Allelujah continued to look at the ground. 'Is it Marie? One of her family?' He hated he could get no answers, but he had a bad feeling he would be running into her more.

Lyle's head then snapped to Setsuna, "Hey, speaking of that white-haired woman, Setsuna, what did you do to save him? It looked like one of those Jedi tricks."

Setsuna gathered his thoughts, replying after a few seconds, "It turns out Feldt learned I was force sensitive. She helped awaken my hidden abilities on the ride over." There was a hint of nervousness in his tone, "I'm still trying to figure this out. It's tiring to use the force, admittedly."

Feldt nodded in agreement at that, and Christina grinned as she looked between the two, "So that was why you two were staring at each other when Feldt showed up at the ship. I just thought you were both into each other." Both of the younger rebels blushed at that, meeting eyes for a second before looking away from each other. Christina continued her teasing, "Well, maybe for more than one reason."

Lyle rolled his eyes and put a hand on her shoulder, "Leave the kids alone. The force thing is a bit more important than acting like a matchmaker." Christina pouted, but Lyle just poked her, Christina lightly glaring at him. He turned his attention to Feldt and Setsuna, "I guess we are even more wanted most likely, but continue developing your abilities. We will probably need them."

Both of them nodded, Feldt smiling and Setsuna keeping an even expression. Allelujah looked at the two force-users, a knot in the pit of his stomach. He hadn't seen a force-user in so long. 'Are they Jedi?' They would have been toddlers when the republic fell, but they could have been taken to the Jedi.

He could feel the pain in his ribs, and realized he need to lay down. Standing up shakily, her looked at the three rebels in the room, "Sorry to be a spoilsport, but I think I need to get back to the medbay."

Christina smiled at him, "Probably for the best." Her voice took on a harsh tone as she poked Lyle's good shoulder, "And you need to get your injury checked out as well. Don't make me poke it." Feldt and Alle couldn't help but silently laugh at that, Christina sounding very much like an annoyed mom or older sister.

Lyle raised his hands in surrender, "Alright, alright. I'll do it. Everyone is dismissed." He grumbled under his breath, "Ruin my fun why don't you."

Tieria's Room

Tieria's door hissed closed behind him as the voices of the rest of the crew were shut out. None of them understood. The mission was not complete and yet the crew was celebrating like it was. 'How could we have been detected so easily? How could we have failed so early?'

They were told to destroy the vehicle bay and they failed in that. All because their leader got careless and got spotted. 'This is all Lyle's fault. If I had been in charge, we would have not been detected and gotten out undetected.' Adding to his annoyance was the fact Setsuna had been delayed and Allelujah had refused to let him kill that officer.

That officer could have killed Allelujah and who knows what would have happened if Setsuna got to Security early. At a minimum, it would have made sneaking through the room easier, but of course the Kiffar had to be off doing his own thing. 'And he's a force-user. At least we can use that.'

Frustration mounted in him as a tear went down his face, no longer able to hold back the flood of emotion. No matter what, the mission had to succeed. His life didn't matter. All that mattered was defeating the empire. Defeating the man who locked him up and tortured him. He slammed his palm into a wall, and collapsed onto his back on his bed, unable to get the face that haunted his every waking nightmare out of his mind, Lyle constantly making it hard to forget.

'Neil.' More tears streamed down his face. 'I should have been faster! I should have saved him! If only I hadn't been caught by that damned droid!' His voice was harsh as he yelled into the empty room, "Failure. You are a failure of soldier! Failure of a man! Letting him fucking die!" Tears streams down his face as Tieria let exhaustion take him, hoping for no nightmares that night.

Bunkroom

Setsuna laid in his bunk, relaxing a few hours after the intense mission. Allelujah and Lyle had gotten fixed up while Christina held the bridge, leaving him and Feldt to relax in the bunkroom, the sound of mumbling coming from above him. He played with the crystal he got at the base in his hand, looking at it as he extended his senses. It had an aura, but he couldn't dig into it, the mystery of this crystal evading him.

He narrowed his eyes, tunnel vision on the crystal. He breathed deeply, straining as his force senses reached their limit, a bone deep tiredness going through him. And to his shock, he felt a weight land on his right, causing him to drop the crystal into a small shelf. He turned to see Feldt's tear streaked face next to him, her hand on his arm, "Can I please…?" She was only a shirt and sweatpant, giving Setsuna a good look down her cleavage.

Her voice trailed off as she looked at him, Setsuna's heart filling with concern as he lets her under the covers, the Miraluka cuddling him. It was certainly a tight fit, but right now whatever what was going on was way more important that. He gave her a concerned look, his voice quiet as he sensed her distressed state, "What happened?"

She sniffled a little, and rested her head on his shoulder, her legs intertwining with his. He unconsciously wrapped an arm around her, and he could sense a hint of gratefulness as she replied, "I had a nightmare…of the past. I don't know if I can sleep alone right now."

"What was the nightmare?" He quickly realized the question he asked and corrected himself, "You don't have to tell me. That was a step too far." He mentally chastised himself for being so insensitive, "I don't mind if you want to sleep in my bunk."

Feldt smiled, pressing her face in his chest, "Thank you." She took a deep breath and reached out through Setsuna though the force, their aura's grazing each other and linking. Setsuna let out a low hum, Feldt happily gasping silently.

After a few minutes of silent cuddling, Setsuna lightly caressing her back, Feldt spoke, "I saw my parents getting killed. I saw the man who did it, and it terrifies me every time I do."

"You don't have to-"

She put a finger on his lip, smiling, "It's alright. I saw your past, so I think you deserve to hear about mine." Setsuna reluctantly nodded, and Feldt took a long, emotional breath, "I was born a few years before the fall of the Republic. I grew up constantly afraid of getting found by the empire. My parents were deathly afraid of them finding out about me and either killing or kidnapping me, so they made sure to tell me to hide my powers."

Setsuna moved a strand of hair from the center of her face, "I'm sorry you had to go through that. You must have been lonely."

Feldt nodded, "I didn't really have friends, too afraid I would use my powers at the wrong time. My parents tried to help me learn what I could, but they weren't strong enough, and didn't know enough to teach me much." Memories of her parents rushed through her head, more tears streaming down her face. She choked back a sob as she continued, "One day, when I was twelve, a neighbor, a nice old woman, caught me lifting objects with the force. Her eyes widened but she didn't say anything, walking away. I told my parents about it, and they kept me locked in the house for the next couple days. Nothing came after a week, so they relaxed. But then…he came."

She pulled closer to him, almost desperately grasping him. He pulled her close, and looked at her with curiosity, "He?"

She spoke, mumbled against his tank-top, "A Feeorin. A very large and imposing man. Blue-ish skin with red-tinted hair tentacles." Setsuna froze at the description, hoping the Feeorin wasn't the man he thought it was. Anger rose in him. 'Who else has he hurt?' Feldt, sensing anger go through Setsuna, looked up at him with worry, but he encouraged her to continue, "He came with a squad of stormtroopers, asking for me. My parents hid me away, telling me to go to a family friend and to tell them to start 'Plan B'."

"I'm so sorry." His anger fled, his worry about the woman he was growing to care for overwhelming anything else.

More tears ran down her face, "I hid outside the house, in my favorite hiding spot. I could see them talking and the Feeorin got angrier as they covered for me, and then he pulled out a weapon, some kind of axe, and my mother's eyes met mine, telling me to be silent. I watched them kill my parents and search the house. I ran to the neighbor's house, and they held me as I broke down."

"I…" Setsuna didn't know what to say. He had wondered why she was a rebel, and he had clearly gotten his answer. He wiped away her tears, hoping his actions would speak for him.

"Thank you." She could feel tears running down her face, but Setsuna was so warm and comforting, like a balm to her soul. 'More and more this feels like fate, like the will of the force.' If it brought her closer to this wonderful man, than she wouldn't fight it. She let her tears run their course, and as the finished, she took a deep breath, speaking in a shaky voice, "I found my way to Sumeragi, and then the rebellion. Then to here…to you."

Words finally came to Setsuna, resting his forehead on hers, "You have people here you can rely on. And you have me. I am your friend." Feldt blushed, the same thought going through her head as Setsuna's. 'Maybe more.'

Feldt hummed in agreement, "Yeah. Friends." She looked at him, her emotions calming down, "Can you tell me more happy stories of your childhood, of being with that rebel group?"

Setsuna gave her a comforting smile, "Absolutely."

Medical Bay

Allelujah laid on the mostly hard medical bed, trying to get some rest, but his mind refused to cooperate. The woman he had fought had kept him from focusing on anything else. She looked so like the girl he remembered, just grown up. 'But was it her? Or was it a cousin?'

He shook his head, hating that his past came back to haunt him. He had always wondered what had happened to her, but had comforted himself saying she just hid, like him. But this reopened that worry, and he wouldn't be able to get it out of his mind.

A haunting laugh suddenly echoed in the room, and he looked to his left to see a ghostly form, very much looking like him, but with two yellow eyes, a malicious grin on his face, "Well, it's been a long while, hasn't it Allelujah?" The figure's voice was dark and unhinged, a sense of dread shooting down the rebel soldier's spine.

Allelujah's eyes widened, the familiar figure grinning even further. He began to pace around the bed, ghosting over the side of the bed Allelujah was on, "You've been ignoring me. Found a team and everything. Did you think you could escape me?"

Allelujah shook his head desperately, fear racing though him, "Hallelujah!" He tried to gather his courage, "I found people that I can at least trust. The rebels won't betray me."

Hallelujah just laughed, "Oh so now you can just fully believe these people? You trusted those smugglers and they sold you out to that inquisitor. The only reason you survived that was because of me! You think someone here wouldn't do that? Wouldn't betray you to save their own skin?" The ghostly formed tutted, "A rebel is worth less than an escaped Jedi."

Allelujah let a shuddering breath, his attempt to gather his courage weakening, "There are two other force users on this ship. They would understand…I could help…"

Hallelujah just laughed loudly, "You? Help? A Jedi apprentice who can't even fully use the force powers he used to have? Honestly it would be better for them to learn on their own." Hal came to Allelujah's side and whispered in his ear, "You know I'm right."

Allelujah looked at the yellow-eyed man, then looked away. A haunting laughter filled his ears again as he saw the ghost-like figure disappear, Alle letting out a sigh of despair. '…what do I do? Is he right?'

The medical droid, which had been in resting mode, activated and looked towards him, speaking in a comforting monotone, "Are you ok? The sensors show that your body was in distress."

Allelujah shook his head, "I'm fine. Just…thinking is all."

"Patients should avoid distressing thoughts for their health. And I will be here in case you need me." The droid's lights dimmed and Allelujah was once again left with the doubts and fears that plagued his mind. 'I'm not getting much sleep tonight.'

Bridge of the Vagabond

Feet up on one of the consoles, Lyle let out a deep breath as he looked at the sensors. They had landed on a hilly moon, mostly uninhabited besides some farms on the other side of the moon. It was his turn for watch, and away from everyone else, his mistakes on the mission came flowing back.

First he had been caught, then that officer had shown up, almost derailing their escape attempt. 'How could I have gotten so sloppy?' The woman had been in plain sight, and yet Lyle hadn't expected her to look his way.

He leaned back in his chair and spun around in it, not knowing what he should think. Steps echoed on the bridge as the familiar revealing looking of their Zeltron intelligence officer greeted him. She gave him a smile and offered him a steaming cup, "Caf?"

Lyle gave her a lazy smile, taking the cup from his hand, "Thanks." She sat down next to him, looking at the sensors. Lyle glanced over at her, "What are you doing up? You should be asleep."

Christina shrugged, "Was too worried about the crew. Allelujah was resting in the medical bay, and I haven't heard a peep from Tieria." She blushed and smiled, "Feldt and Setsuna seemed to be cuddling in the bunkroom, so they seemed fine. Didn't expect that to happen so soon."

Lyle laughed, "I'm just happy the kid is finding someone to bond with. And both can teach each other, so it's a win-win.

Christina laughed, "Yeah, the force is strange, isn't it? I'm surprised we even have one force user on the ship!"

Lyle reminded her, "Two people. And who knows what Feldt can do?" Lyle put his hands behind his head, shoving away the thoughts of his own failure. She gave Lyle a serious look, and Lyle flinched as he knew that look.

"Lyle, what's going on with you? I can sense something going on in the overconfident head of yours." She gave him a sympathetic look, and Lyle frowned at the thoughts came back.

With a heavy sigh, he laughed bitterly, "Always the ship therapist." He pursed his lips, "I fucked up. I thought I could place the explosives before anyone would look at me. And then we got caught and the team got hurt." He balled his fists, "And I should have known that imperial officer would have shown up. Maybe we could have waited a day or two scouting it out before acting."

Christina gave him a sympathetic smile, putting a hand on a balled fist, "Lyle, don't let Tieria get to you. You know how these missions go. And you know we couldn't have predicted the intelligence officer showing up. For all we know, that could have made it worse."

"But I'm the team leader. I need to be prepared, to react to other changes in the mission." He let out a long breath, "I don't know. I just don't know. This is all new to me." He took a sip of caf, the hot liquid refreshing.

Christina gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I know. None of us have the weight on your shoulders that you do. But get some rest when it's your turn. You think better on a clear head." She smirked, "And I mean the head on the top, not the bottom."

Lyle laughed, rolling his eyes, "Thanks." He took another sip of caf as Christina stood up, "You need some rest too. Need to get that report done for tomorrow."

"Got it commander." Christina walked out of the bridge, her mind caught up in the divisions and negative emotions of the crew. 'Hope it gets better. Don't know if I can stand all this tension.'

Mining Facility

Kati dug her nails into her desk, looking over the damage report. The fire had been extensive, and the damage would take months to repair. Thankfully no civilians had been hurt, the blaster fire scaring them out of the room, but over a dozen stormtroopers were dead, dozens more hurt from the combat and fire. It also didn't help her TIE Squadron leader had a heavy concussion and the intelligence officer had been hurt in the escape.

This was a disaster, especially because she wanted to prove herself. She had enough trouble as a woman in the Imperial officer corp, but a failure due to four enemies? That was unacceptable to her superiors. She let out a heavy sigh scanning over the damage report again, hoping against hope that there was a silver lining in this.

Her office screen jumped to life as an older man with black-hair and a three-pronged arrow-like scar over his left eye appeared. His serious expression, his lips a thin line, and brown eyes showed all business. His decorated uniform showed the rank of Rear Admiral. Behind him was a dark office, the lights severe. She instinctively stood up and saluted as he spoke evenly, recognition filling her eyes, "At ease. Captain Mannequin, I heard what happened. How long till you can get the station operational again?"

She lowered from her salute, looking her superior in the eye, "Rear Admiral Smirnov, most of our mining gear and vehicles are destroyed. It will take two to three months of repairs to get the processing plant back up."

He nodded, continuing the line of questions, "Do you have IDs on the rebels who attacked?"

"No sir. They were wearing masks and our security room was also destroyed, our security footage being lost." Shame filled her voice, "I apologize for letting this happen. This is all my fault."

Sergei's expression lightened up as he shook his head, "Kati, this isn't your fault, not fully. You were given…less than qualified troops and very little to work with. I will send men to reinforce you, and divert resources to help you rebuild. We need that metal."

Kati's spirit picked up, "Thank you Sergei. I'll look at this facility head to toe for security breaches. They somehow managed to sneak in without detection. And we'll begin searching for these rebels immediately."

"No, focus on rebuilding. I am arriving in a few weeks to reinforce the sector. Lieutenant Peries will lead the investigation."

Kati looked at him with shock, "Sir, she is injured. She needs time to-"

"I am perfectly fine to go. I just needed some bacta and rest." The white-haired officer entered Kati's quarters, her hair back in its bun, uniform still scuffed up from the fight. Her face was even and hid her emotions well.

Sergei looked at Soma, nodding, "Any information to add?"

Soma nodded, "Yes sir! The rebel group was four men, with mixed looks. I will note their appearance and relevant details down in the report. And one of them appeared to have the force." She paused for a second, shoving down thoughts about the man who fought her hand to hand, "Beyond that, I have nothing else to report."

Sergei nodded, an undercurrent of affection in it, "Good. I'll update intel we have a force sensitive rebel in the sector. Stay with Kati until you get orders to move out." He looked at Kati, "I'll report to you when those requests come through."

Both women in the office saluted him, Kati with a grateful tone, "Thank you sir!" The communication cut out and Kati nodded at Soma, "You are free to help how you judge best. I trust your judgement."

"Thank you." Soma turned to leave the office, her boot clicking on the metal ground. Her hand went to her neck, running over an old scar. A frown crossed her face, but she shook it off. 'Back to work.'

Author Note

And we reach the end of act 1! There is much more to come, so I hope you like the story so far! I'll see you guys next time as I start act 2! Please review and comment!