Flames. They were everywhere. Shattered glass, falling from the sky like hail. Cries echoing in her mind. Her mother. Her brother. Pain and terror winding around her chest so tightly she could barely breathe. Heart pulsing so violently, it might burst. She sunk to her knees, the cold stone floor seeping through the thin fabric of her pants. From the corner of her vision, she could see the green blade of her lightsaber sizzling against the rock, cutting through it. A voice called out to her, but she couldn't understand them. They were so distant. Her fingers released the saber hilt, the blade retracting as the piece of metal rolled out of her palm.
Her hand went to her heart as its pulsing continued to accelerate. She inhaled, but no air seemed willing to enter her lungs. Her skin burned, from fire or shards of glass she couldn't tell. The fingers of her other hand buried themselves into the stone as though it was no different than sand. It was their pain, their terror, she realized. Then it was gone, they were gone. Every sensation vanished. Nothing, not the stone beneath or the gentle breeze above or even the words from the figure kneeling in front of her seemed capable of reaching her. But from the pit of her stomach, a single cry ripped itself free as she curled in on herself. Then a hand gripped her shoulder, cutting through the numbness of a memory, this memory. Sabine opened her eyes and found Ahsoka's gazed fixed on her. The cold uncaring mask the togruta so often wore was gone, compassion now rested there.
"Wake up, Sabine,"
Sabine sat up with a gasp. Her leg and head protested the movement, but her sense of self quickly returned. She'd gotten hurt. They were in a med bay. To her left, Ahsoka had gone to stand by the large glass pane window, her focus on the city below. To her right, Huyang was discussing something with the med-droid. As her memories sorted themselves out, the horrible reality of what she'd just done returned. The map. She'd opened it. And then lost it.
"The droids. They took the map," she said, sitting upright. Ahsoka turned to look at her, nodding.
"Relax," the togruta said, coming to stand at her bedside. But Sabine shook her head, frustration boiling within her.
"You don't understand, I unlocked it," Ahsoka's face fell. This was news to her then. Sabine's fingers twisted the bedcovers. Ahsoka glanced at Huyang who dismissed the med-droid and came to stand at her other side, "there were two galaxies hovering in the air, and an expanse of space separating them. But then a pathway appeared, it connected them," Ahsoka leaned closer to Sabine, hope flickering in her eyes.
"Where did the path in our galaxy begin? What planet?" Sabine looked away, unable to handle both Ahsoka's and her own disappointment with herself. Why hadn't she stayed on the ship with them? Ahsoka lay a hand on her shoulder and nodded for her to continue explaining.
"They took the map before I could decipher it," Ahsoka turned a way, a gentle sigh the only sign of her frustration.
"Did you keep a record of what you found?" she asked, arms crossed as she stared back out towards the city. Sabine shook her head.
"The droids destroyed it," Ahsoka continued to study the distant buildings and departing ships, but Sabine could tell her former master was trying to formulate a plan. Sabine opened her mouth then, ready to apologize. But a simple "sorry" hardly seemed adequate in this scenario. Ahsoka turned back to look at them both, her chin resting on the top of her closed fist.
"How many droids were there?"
The question caught Sabine off guard, but she answered quickly. Relieved to be of any use.
"Two. I took one out up in the top of the tower," Ashoka nodded then, grabbing her clock from where she'd left it draped on one of the pristine countertops. Sabine tried to swing her legs off the bed to accompany her, "Ahsoka…" she began but the togruta shook her head.
"Get some rest," Ahsoka said, cutting her off.
Sabine winced as the toes on her injured leg brushed the floor.
"You need my help," Sabine tried. The togruta stopped at the door, fixing Sabine with an unwavering stare.
"No. You've done enough," the door hissed shut behind her and Sabine let herself sink back into the pillow. Why hadn't she just stayed on the ship… She closed her eyes, ignoring Huyang who left to fetch the med-droid.
The waves crashed into the rocks far below her. The wind blew violently, trying to push her away from the edge of the cliff. But Shin didn't budge. Instead, she closed her eyes. This planet, Seatos, with its massive forests of red-leaved trees and gloomy skies was brimming with life. She could feel it, but their presence had disturbed it. When she opened her eyes, the great distance between her and the sharp rocks down below suddenly made her dizzy, and she turned away.
Her master was watching her from within a circle of large stones. They were at least three times his height, wide and flat, erected in way that made them lean slightly away from the center. The ground within the circle was made of stone. Red moss grew between the cracks that covered it like veins. A few other large rocks, though their height only reached her waist, were scattered so sporadically around the circle that she wondered if they'd been placed there intentionally or not. The only other object was a triangular half pillar. Her master's eyes drifted from her to the star map that now hovered in the air above it.
When they'd contacted the witch, letting her know that they'd reclaimed the map, she'd only sent them coordinates, first of the planet then of this strange location. Her master had set the map on the pillar, and seconds later it had drifted into the air, floating and then rotating into position without their intervention. A single click after the map had stopped moving was the only sign that it was due to some sort of mechanism and not witchcraft.
Thunder rumbled overhead, but though a storm was taking shape it had yet to begin. She looked past the stone circle, surveying the landscape. This place was perched on a narrow outlook that jutted out into the sea. Water surrounded them on all sides except for where the ground gently sloped downward into an ocean of trees, connecting them to the mainland. The grass that covered the ground mirrored the foliage of the trees. Occasional white petaled flowers dotted the hill. The top of their ship's hull could just be seen from where she now stood. The wind never stopped blowing here either, drowning out almost every sound. A golden ship flew overhead, but she could barely hear it. Elsbeth had finally decided to join them.
The sleek vessel landed not far from their own, and soon Elsbeth was climbing the hill, her hands buried in the folds of the burgundy robe lifting the fabric of the skirt to keep her feet from getting tangled in it.
"Show me what you found," Elsbeth called to them, and her master left his post to join Elsbeth as she entered the stone circle, keeping pace with her as they approached the star map. Shin took her place at her master's right side. The woman studied the map and then her eyes travelled out to the half-crescent shaped pillars.
"This place was not built by the Jedi. Whose work is it?" Her master asked, hands crossed in front of him. Elsbeth gaze returned to the map, a smirk on her face.
"An ancient people from a distant galaxy. Would you like to see it?" Elsbeth asked and she fixed an unwavering gaze first on Shin's master then on the girl herself. The wind tickled her ears then, carrying on it a whisper of a voice whose words Shin couldn't understand though she strained to make them out. They vanished when the witch looked away. Leaving Shin to shiver involuntarily in their wake. Her master said nothing, but gestured with his hand for the witch to continue as he moved closer to the map. Shin kept herself rooted in place, her master's frame now partially blocking Elsbeth's.
The witch was silent as she brought her hand above the map and Shin felt the shift in the Force acutely. The dark side, yes, twisting the Force to completely open the star map. But there was something else, something more that Shin did not understand, a power whose source she couldn't pinpoint but she could still feel reaching out. Her master felt it too, she realized, noting the way he shifted his weight, pale eyes locked on the map as a green flame burst into life beneath it.
The witch drew the map higher into the air, the ball of metal following the motion of her index finger. When she opened her palm, the map followed suite, clicking open. Pinpoints of blue light began appearing along its surface and these formed into lines that extended outward into the air around it. A galaxy spilled from the map and then swirled into place. Shin glanced at her master, unable to calm the apprehension within, but he was still focused on the witch's actions.
"This is our galaxy," Elsbeth explained and then curled her fingers in tightly before stretching them out. The light from the map seeped down into the pillar, illuminating it, and then filling the canals, the lines, the cracks that had once been covered with the moss. As the light moved through them travelling towards the pillars, the little plants were flung out. Overhead, the thunder returned as Shin felt the air suddenly grow heavy with anticipation. Then, when every groove was full of the blue light, a dome rose from the exterior limits of the once sacred ground, accompanied by a rushing wind.
Glowing blue images of maps and symbols covered its walls, and an orange light formed a sort of compass or some type of orientation system, Shin could only guess. Shin looked around, her feeling of unease or fear gone. Rain had begun to fall outside, but when it struck the dome, it simply rolled down the side. Even the sounds of thunder had lessened, partially blocked by the strange power of this map. The light filling the floor lines disappeared when at last the map rotated into place. Galaxies with their stars and planets now projected onto the walls, except for their own that still swirled around the map.
Elsbeth rotated the map, the object still following the movement of her fingers. One of the galaxies, encircled by crude drawings of purrgil, was pulled across the dome to rest on the top of one the pillars. The dim writing became clear, but Shin couldn't read it. A golden light, brighter than the compass, shot out from the star map to a tiny point of light in the distant galaxy. A star? A planetary system? A planet itself? The map didn't seem to differentiate. But it was a location. The walls of the dome with their distant galaxies began to rotate around once more. However, this galaxy did not, it was locked in place.
"That is our destination," she confirmed, and a sigh escaped her lips, but Shin couldn't tell whether the witch was relieved or mournful, "it is where Grand Admiral Thrawn is banished,"
"The Pathway to Peridea?" her master's words caught Shin off-guard, and she turned to look at him.
"Some call it that," Elsbeth acknowledged.
"The children at the Jedi Temple call it that," her master insisted, he looked down at Shin and added, "it comes from old stories. It is a fairy tale," he turned his focus back to Elsbeth, his doubt now evident. He was challenging her, Shin realized.
"Tales which are based on truths. My ancestors followed this path once before, when they departed from that distant place," Elsbeth said, and her master's eyes returned to the map and then the distant galaxy.
"You're certain of this? I feel the way forward is clouded," he asked, still doubtful. Elsbeth sighed, closing her eyes as the Force twisted around her. The wind, and the whispers returned. Shin glanced back up at the dome, but the rain still failed to pass through it. Elsbeth's voice cut them off and the witch opened her eyes once more.
"Thrawn calls to me. Across time and space," Elsbeth said, letting her hands fall to her side.
"You speak of dreams, Lady Morgan. Such things are vague and fractured hopes," her master said, his expression still full of doubts. Did he not hear the whispers, Shin wondered. Or did they just not give weight to the witch's words? Elsbeth fixed him with a sharp, unwavering gaze, and Shin felt it then. Barely concealed anger, and rage. But when she spoke, her voice was emotionless.
"The threads of fate do not lie, Lord Baylan. Perhaps it is your own doubts and fear that cloud your vision," her hand returned to the map and the whole dome shook from some sort of energy vibration as the map was pulled back into itself. The place returned to how it had been when they first arrived, but for the red moss that now lay strewn across the stone floor. The torrential rain soaked them within seconds and Shin pulled her hood up, though it offered little protection from a storm of this caliber. Elsbeth turned back to Shin's master, her tone cordial and business-like. The animosity that had hovered between the two mere seconds ago was gone.
"The Eye of Sion is on its way here. Make sure that everything is ready for its arrival," the witch's words could barely be heard over the downpour.
"Marrok will complete his task," her master said as they both turned in the direction of the ships. Shin followed along, a pace or two behind.
"See that he does," the witch glanced over her shoulder at Shin, her intention clear. They reached the crest of the hill, and the witch left them to head to her own ship, arms clamped behind her back in a militaristic pose. Her master watched the witch stride up the ramp of the ship. Only when Shin was certain her words would not be carried to the strange woman did she speak.
"Master… what happens when we find Thrawn," Shin searched her master's face for reassurance, but found only sadness.
"For some, war," he said as Elsbeth's ship rose into the air. He looked back over his shoulder towards the stone circle to where the distant galaxy had appeared.
"For others, a new beginning," Shin's eyes fell to the map that rested in the pillar, undisturbed by the storm.
"And for us," even to her, her hushed words sounded scared, weak, but her master didn't seem to notice. His focus was elsewhere. He shook his head, and a gleam appeared in his eyes then, a strange look that she'd never seen before though it seemed close to anticipation.
"Power, such as you've never dreamed," he said, and she felt his unease vanish then. His conviction in their mission now restored despite his previous doubts. He placed a hand on her shoulder, startling her, "go to Corellia. Assist Marrok with the final transport."
"Yes, Master," Shin said, nodding in farewell as she made her way back to their shuttle. Thunder rumbled overhead once more, and she looked back to her master. Through the haze of rain, she saw him, a solitary shadow, walking down the hill and into the forest below.
The doors of the med bay opened with a hiss of air. Ahsoka strode through, the still-sparking head of an assassin droid in her hand. She tossed it at the bed, stunning both Sabine and Huyang. Sabine leaned forward, studying it for a second. It was the droid she'd fought on the balcony.
"Your friend was waiting for me," Ahsoka said, crossing her arms. Sabine couldn't believe it. Three blaster rounds through its thorax should've done the trick, "with this particular class of droid, it's always better to sever the head. The result is more consistent," Ahsoka paused, reconsidering her phrase, "though even then, they sometimes have other methods to accomplish their task,"
"Such as a self-destructing feature," Huyang chimed in, and his gaze returned to the droid, reconsidering it for a second. Ahsoka waved him off.
"I checked," she said, reassuring him. Sabine studied the assassin droid's head closely and then slipped her fingers through his voice box, removing the wall that separated it from the rest of the head's contents. She only needed to feel around blindly for a few seconds. A smile formed on her lips. The memory banks were stored here. She looked at Ahsoka.
"You said you can help, find out where this thing has been," the togruta said.
"I'll need my tools," Sabine looked between Ahsoka and Huyang. Her former master nodded, giving her permission.
"I'll have that arranged Lady Wren, just give me a list," Huyang said, a gleam in his eyes.
It didn't take long for Huyang to fetch what Sabine needed. The droid could be remarkably effective when he wasn't distracted by the safety, or the legality, of what Sabine had asked him to grab from the old comm's tower. She was now sitting upright on the bed, her injured leg stretched out while she'd tucked the other beneath her. A little table that was attached to the side of the bed, probably normally used to hold a patient's food, was pulled out, the droid's head resting on it. Hera had joined them as well. She stood next to Ahsoka, her hologram form full-sized.
"As long as you didn't short out the capacitors when you sliced it up, I should be able to work with it," Sabine explained for the second time that day to catch Hera up on what she was about to do.
"Are you sure you're up to this?" Ahsoka asked. Sabine nodded and tapped the metal head.
"Like me, this kind of droid is incredibly resilient," she explained, grinning briefly at the three onlookers before returning her focus to the task at hand. However, she didn't miss the shared look of concern between Ahsoka and Hera, "take off an arm, or a leg and it just keeps coming," she added. Carefully, she removed the bolts securing the two halves of the droid's head, peeling the front away to reveal a neatly put together motherboard, "which means that they have several built-in backup systems," she reached into her bag to grab a thick cable, "and as result," she explained as she plugged one end of the cable into one of the memory bank's ports, and the other into her tablet that rested on top of her uninjured leg.
"Its memory core stays partially active even after termination," Huyang offered. Sabine nodded at the architect droid.
"Exactly, so if you get the power levels right you can recover the droid's memory," she explained, pulling a power cable from her bag.
"And find out where it came from. Very clever," Huyang offered, completing her train of thought. He nodded his approval, and this time the smile Ahsoka gave her, filled Sabine with confidence.
"So…" Hera began, her hands crossed behind her, "what happens if you get the power levels wrong?" Sabine plugged the head into her portable power station.
"It will explode," she tried to keep her tone neutral, but it came out sounding flat. Huyang's head swiveled between Ahsoka and Sabine.
"Explode! I thought you said you had checked," he said, directing the statement at Ahsoka, but Sabine answered instead.
"It's not a bomb Huyang, just a side effect of potential overheating," she explained trying to calm him.
"Seems like a deadly side effect," he said, a note of panic in his voice. Sabine merely offered him a sly smile, letting her index finger hover over the switch to turn on the power.
"Calm your circuits. I can always pull the plug before it gets to that," her words seemed to have little effect, as Huyang's stare was beginning to look like a glare. He turned then, focusing his next words on Ahsoka and Hera,
"Perhaps… we should perform this somewhere else, and with more safety equipment," Sabine pulled her hand away from the switch, but Hera seemed unbothered.
"I say go for it," Hera said, winking at Sabine.
"Because you're a hologram," Huyang snapped. Hera merely shrugged off the droid's irritation. After a moment of silence, Ahsoka spoke.
"Because… there's no time to relocate, Huyang," she explained gently, "we're falling behind as it is," Sabine's hand returned to the switch and she looked to Ahsoka, and then to Hera for a final confirmation.
"It's now or never," she said. Ahsoka nodded and Sabine took one final deep breath as she prepared to get to work, giving Huyang one final smile, and hoping she appeared more confident than she felt. Then she switched the power on.
Her tablet began to read the data immediately, but the power unit beeped once, a warning that it had encountered some sort of issue. Setting her tablet down, Sabine toggled the power level briefly and the device grew silent. For a few seconds, everything was going according to plan. The relief didn't last long though, as the heat reader began to indicate a sharp increase in levels.
"The circuit temperature is rising," Huyang warned. Her initial assumption was off then, Sabine realized. Even with the correct power levels her time window for retrieving the correct data was limited. She kept this realization to herself but could feel Huyang's yellow eyes watching her. His distrust in her abilities was palpable.
"Anything?" Ahsoka asked, still seeming unbothered by the architect droid's distress. Sabine checked her tablet and rolled her eyes. Of course, the data was encrypted, it always was.
"I need a minute, it's all encrypted" she explained. The sharp sounds of electrical stuttering filled the med bay, cutting the silence as Sabine began to run a program to decrypt the data.
"I'm not sure we have a minute," Ahsoka said, but Sabine ignored her, she needed to concentrate.
"It's overheating, switch it off!" Huyang said and reached for the switch, but Sabine batted his hand away. She glanced back at her tablet, and to her relief, it was working. The progress for decryption was beginning to increase.
"Not yet," she said, fixing the droid with a sharp look until he completely withdrew his hand. The frequency of warning beeps continued to increase as the program finished its run. She grabbed the tablet in both hands and began searching for the information they needed. Sparks began to shoot out from the droid's head, and she leaned back to avoid them. The circuit began to stutter just as she found the files she needed and began to download the logbook.
"We are out of time! I'm pulling the plug," Huyang insisted.
"Wait!" Sabine said, covering the power switch once more. But Huyang ignored the power source. Instead, he pulled the plug directly out of the droid's head, shutting off the download process just as Sabine saved the information that she'd managed to transfer. She found what they needed quickly, but the information left her confused. Ahsoka leaned in, curious.
"What is it? Did you find anything of use?" she asked, and Sabine looked at her.
"This droid came here from Corellia," she explained. Hera's bafflement mirrored her own, but Ahsoka didn't seem confused like the rest of them, only contemplative.
"One of the New Republic shipyards?" Hera proposed and Sabine cross-referenced the droid's location with a map of the planet. The droid had come from a collection of factories all owned by the same entity.
"No, an independently owned factory belonging to Em'Rhine Enterprises, though it says here they're a contractor for the New Republic," Sabine explained. Ahsoka leaned back then, realization alight in her eyes.
"Morgan Elsbeth used to own these factories," she began.
"Her Imperial operations should have been dismantled after the Rebellion; I doubt…" Hera interjected but Ahsoka held up a hand, and the twi'lek quieted.
"The Empire seized and then sold them to a wealthy benefactor not long after the Battle of Scarif. They wouldn't have been linked to her name when the Rebellion took over." Ahsoka finished but Hera shook her head.
"An ally to the Empire should still have been investigated, regardless of how long the factories had been out of Imperial hands," Hera insisted.
"Did anyone check on that?" Ahsoka pressed.
"It wouldn't have been a top priority, but yes. Give me a moment, and I can check the files," before anyone could object, Hera's hologram vanished leaving the other three in an awkward silence that Sabine couldn't stand. Perhaps she could try and reach some semblance of peace with her former master.
"I am sorry you know… about losing the map, it's just…" Sabine's mouth refused to form words that could describe her jumbled emotions. Ahsoka merely shrugged.
"There is no need to dwell on it. We have the droid's last location, and I supposed that will have to be enough,"
"I know, but…", Hera's hologram winked back into existence, startling them all. The frustrated look in the twi'lek's eyes was one Sabine knew all too well.
"I can't access any of the files related to our contract or dealings with Em'Rhine Enterprises. I don't have the correct clearances.
"You're a general…" Ahsoka said. Hera crossed her arms behind her back and sighed in irritation as she explained,
"Yes, but it falls outside my domain. I could submit a request, and it would likely be granted… but it might take a few rotations to get through,"
"Surely you could call in some favors…" Ahsoka proposed.
"I could, but I'd like to hold on to them. Besides, given the current situation, and if your intel concerning the factories is good, then we have reason enough to go check them out. After all, Elsbeth is an escaped prisoner and a war criminal. Even without the map in play, apprehending her is still important," Ahsoka nodded her approval, but added,
"Regardless, submit the request for the files and then…"
"I'll meet you there," Hera finished with a wink. Sabine quickly began packing her tools away.
"Let's get going," she said, unable to keep her voice from wavering. Ahsoka shut her down immediately.
"No. You need to recover," Ahsoka said, her tone leaving no room for discussion. Sabine opened her mouth to protest but Ahsoka's quick strides had already carried her to the entryway, and the younger woman's pleas reached only a closed door.
"I'm fine…" Sabine muttered, though she knew her frustration was obvious to all in the med bay. And she didn't miss the sympathetic look that both Hera and Huyang seemed to share. Though neither said anything as Huyang made his way to the exit, the door hissing shut behind him. Sabine continued to pack her things away. After a second or two, Hera finally spoke.
"Hey," Hera began, and Sabine spared her a glance, "you did good," her friend offered.
"Tell that to her," Sabine said, though her anger had abandoned her, leaving only disappointment at the way things were.
"I do, but she's not the one who needs to hear it right now," Hera said,
"I haven't seen her in years, and the first thing I do goes sideways," Sabine explained,
"Mistakes happen. She knows this," the twi'lek's gaze wandered over to where both Ahsoka and Huyang had slipped through the door, "you're both stubborn, even difficult at times. I always thought that made it work," Sabine clicked her tongue. She was over this discussion. After all, what was the point in picking at old wounds.
"Until it didn't," Sabine stated.
"Still… you need to help each other," Hera said, her tone growing motherly.
"No, we don't. You heard her, she doesn't want my help," Sabine countered. Hera's gaze fell to the droid's fried head and then back to Sabine, her vibrant green eyes searching Sabine's face. For what, Sabine wasn't certain.
"Yes, she does. She's simply too stubborn to admit it, but you already know that," Sabine looked away then, unable to meet Hera's eyes any longer. From the day they'd first met, she'd never been able to hide her feelings from the twi'lek. Sabine studied her bandaged leg, considering Hera's words, "she was right though. You need to rest; your body needs time to recover," Sabine's head throbbed then, a reminder that her injuries had been serious. They were right, as usual. Still the thought of sitting in this bed, while they tried to undo her mistake irked her. But she ignored her emotions for once. Leaning back into the too soft pillow, she looked back up at Hera.
"Thanks," she said, the words barely more than a whisper. The twi'lek smiled at her.
"Anytime," was all she said, but for Sabine, it was all she needed to say. The hologram vanished.