Ronin's plan fell apart before he was even halfway to Coruscant. Right at the edge of the mid-rim, his ship's hyperdrive ran out of fuel. Now floating in orbit of some planet he didn't know the name of, Ronin wanted to punch himself in the face. In his rage-induced haste, he hadn't checked how much fuel was in the tank of the ship before stealing it, and he hadn't anticipated he'd be travelling across the galaxy like this. In theory, his attempts at Force-guided navigating would cut off some of the travel distance, but he was still learning, so he wasn't sure how effective it was. Regardless, there was no way for him to reach the Empire's capital with this ship.
Still, not all hope was lost. He could land on the planet below, and look for another way to reach the Imperial capital. Perhaps it was even better this way, he realized. Arriving in a non-imperial starfighter above Imperial Center was basically suicide. Ronin didn't care whether he lived or died, but he didn't want to go down without at least taking the Emperor with him, and preferably the Sith as well. He would find a less conspicuous way to get on the planet. He'd need a new plan to get to the palace as well, but fortunately there was still plenty of time to figure something out
Ronin guided his ship through the atmosphere, looking for a spaceport. It didn't take too long until he found one, alongside a decently sized city.
He landed on an empty spot inside one of the main hangars. The A-Wing was a small ship, so it didn't take up too much space.
Right as he opened the cockpit, a protocol droid approached him, with a datapad in hand. "Welcome to Zennath, Sir," it said, "would you like us to refuel your ship while you conduct your business?"
"No," Ronin said, as he took a moment to erase the ship's navigation data. He had no intent on continuing with the ship, and didn't have enough credits for fuel anyway.
"Then perhaps would you like us to do a maintena-"
"No," Ronin interrupted the droid, right as the last of the data was erased.
"Very well," the protocol droid made a small bow. "Payment will be done once you return to your ship. Enjoy your stay, sir."
Ronin jumped out of the starfighter, and made his way to the exit of the hangar. He had no intent on returning to the rebellion, and he was sure they wouldn't mind losing this starfighter once he killed the Emperor.
Keeping his lightsaber hidden, he made his way through the city. Each time he saw an Imperial patrol, he unconsciously clenched his fist. Part of him felt the urge to cut through them, to kill them all. But if he did that, there was no way he would be able to make his way to Imperial Center. If these stormtroopers were dead the Emperor would just put more in their place. He had to go straight to the source.
Traveling to Imperial Center from here wasn't easy, he realized after visiting several shuttle services. There was no direct line, and none of the transport companies had even an indirect connection to the Imperial capital. His best bet was to travel to another planet, and try again. But there were only a few options, and Ronin didn't have the credits to go to too many different planets in search of a good shuttle.
By the end of the day, Ronin gave up searching. He still hadn't found any way to get to the Imperial capital, and he'd also stayed alert for Imperials the entire time. The patrols weren't a problem, but he did not want to be surprised by another Inquisitor.
As he was walking through a street, he suddenly noticed an empty house. There were plenty of abandoned houses in this city, but this particular one caught Ronin's eye for some reason. It had a… feeling of familiarity to it. It somehow reminded him of his old home, from when he was young. It wasn't the same house of course, he had lived on a completely different planet, but it somehow reminded him of it. Of his parents.
As soon as he thought of his parents, his mood soured. His anger rose as he thought of their deaths. He had to find where to go next, so he could avenge their deaths, and kill the man who was ultimately responsible.
Ronin continued, and after another hour or so of fruitless walking around, he entered a bar, still quietly fuming inside about the Empire.
It was apparently a busy evening in the bar. Most seats were taken. A few tables were taken up by a group of Weequays, seated around a hologram of a ship. A few women of various species were standing around another table a bit further laughing at something. Standing in the shadows in an empty corner of the bar was a red-skinned Zabrak, who was looking around the bar with his yellow eyes. There were several other beings seated throughout, drinking, playing games, and talking. Ronin sat on one of the taller chairs at the bar, and put down one of the few credit chips he had with him.
"One Daro root beer," he told the barman, a pale blue skinned Pantoran.
The Pantoran nodded, grabbed the credit chip, and turned around to get a mug.
"Hey there sweetheart," Ronin suddenly heard from his left. An orange Twi'lek had taken the seat next to him. Ronin turned his head away. He had no desire to talk to anyone.
She grabbed his arm. "Hey look at me." Her voice had a seductive undertone, which annoyed him even more. "I got an offer for you."
Ronin's hand lowered to his hidden lightsaber. "Get lost," he grumbled, as he turned his head towards her.
Instead of listening, she got closer to him, her hand moving along his arm. "I have something special for you," she all but whispered, as she got closer to his face.
It only took a single flip of the switch. A red blade briefly appeared out of the woman's back, before disappearing. The Twi'lek fell, a hole in her stomach. The patrons nearby briefly fell silent, and looked at the scene. Ronin gave them a cold stare, before they turned back to what they were doing. A waiter came and started dragging the body away, while Ronin turned back to see that his drink was ready.
"Hello," came from his other side. Ronin quickly turned, to see the red skinned Zabrak he'd noticed earlier sitting next to him now.
"What do you want," he said with a dangerouly low voice, as his hand lowered to his lightsaber again.
"No, no, you don't have to worry about me," the Zabrak quickly said, holding his hands up. "I just wanted to ask, where did you get such a weapon?"
"None of your business," Ronin murmured.
"Of course, of course," the Zabrak said quickly. "I imagine it might have some personal story attached to it, one you wouldn't want to share with a stranger like me. I do have to say though, it looks very unique, for a lightsaber."
Ronin did not answer, and just glared at the Zabrak, who did not seem to care.
"Of course, you must be careful wielding such a weapon in public," the Zabrak continued, "anyone seeing you wield this could report you to the authorities."
"And why do you care?" Ronin asked, shooting the Zabrak another glare.
"Because I," the Zabrak leaned a bit closer, "am like you." He revealed his own lightsaber hilt in his hand, holding it underneath the bar top.
That caught Ronin's interest. "You're a Jedi?" he asked softly.
The Zabrak shook his head. "Simply a Force user," he said, before looking around the bar. "Your little stunt caused quite the commotion, no doubt the Empire is already on its way."
Ronin shrugged. "And?"
"I'll help you get away from them," the Zabrak eyed the door, "If you help me in return."
Before Ronin could answer, the door swung open, and several stormtroopers walked in. They headed to the group of Weequays. Ronin turned towards the Zabrak. "What do you need help with?"
"I'll tell you if you come with me," the Zabrak said, as he also watched the stormtroopers, who were now talking with one of the Weequays. The weequay pointed towards where Ronin and the zabrak were sitting.
"Sounds good to me," Ronin said to the zabrak.
The stormtroopers were approaching them now. "Hey you!" one of them called to Ronin, "you're coming with-AAAAGGGHH." The soldier screamed as the Zabrak jumped at him with his lightsaber ignited. Several stormtroopers fell immediately. Most patrons dove under the tables, aside from a few who also raised their blasters. Bounty hunters who saw an opportunity to score. Ronin also ignited his lightsaber. He hadn't used it in combat yet, so he struggled deflecting their shots. Behind him, the Zabrak quickly finished off the stormtroopers, and turned towards the bounty hunters as well.
"Follow me," he hissed to Ronin, and the two of them made their way to the door. The Zabrak managed to deflect several shots back at the bounty hunters, killing one of them, which was enough to scare the others away. Outside, they found an Imperial troop transport, with several more troopers. "This way," the Zabrak shouted to Ronin, pointing towards an alleyway with his lightsaber. Ronin followed him, as the stormtroopers turned towards them.
In the alleyway, the Zabrak was ahead, pushing away anyone who got in their way. He ran fast, and Ronin was struggling to keep up. Blaster bolts started flying past them. Ronin was able to avoid almost all of them, as was the Zabrak ahead of him. Some of the other people they ran past weren't so lucky. A small part of Ronin felt guilt at the sight of wounded people lying behind them, but he pushed the feeling. The Emperor was responsible in the end, he told himself, and he would soon be dead.
They ran around a corner, and back onto the streets. The Zabrak jumped on a passing speeder, and threw the owner out. Ronin jumped on as well.
"You drive," the Zabrak told Ronin, as he stood up and ignited a second blade from his lightsaber.
"Where to?" Ronin asked, as he got in the driver's seat.
"Fourth street left, second street right, and then fly until you find a hanger," the Zabrak answered, "Go!"
Ronin floored the gas pedal, and they shot forwards. It didn't take too long before they were being chased by an Imperial troop transport and two speeder bikes. The Zabrak deflected their shots, while Ronin flew as fast as he could. As he turned onto the fourth street, the Zabrak threw his lightsaber, taking out one of the speeder bikes. He then quickly pulled it back with the Force, right as Ronin turned onto the next street.
It didn't take too long until Ronin noticed a building that looked like a hangar. "Over there?" he shouted to the Zabrak. He got a nod in return.
Inside the hangar was a red ship. Ronin didn't recognize what type it was, but it looked somewhat like a starfighter, only much bigger. He parked the speeder at the back, and together with the Zabrak started running towards it. Behind them, the troop transport stopped, and several stormtroopers ran out. They were quickly joined by a second transport coming from the opposite direction. Ronin managed to deflect one blaster bolt, but not back towards the troopers like the Zabrak was doing. The two of them ran up the ramp into the ship, as more troopers arrived.
Ronin followed the Zabrak to the cockpit, where the latter started the takeoff sequences. All the stormtroopers were now firing on the ship, and the troop transport now joined in as well, using their turrets. The ship shook from the vibrations, but the shields were holding. The Zabrak snarled something under his breath, and the ship took off.
The Fourteenth Sister couldn't help but be annoyed by the figure sitting in the shuttle seat next to her. Not long after the Emperor had contacted her, the First Brother had arrived at the Fortress. And right as she was ready to leave, he had joined, apparently having been ordered by the Emperor to also hunt for Ronin.
The Fourteenth Sister didn't know much about him, other than that he was the oldest inquisitor still alive. He wore a helmet, so she wasn't even sure what species he was. One thing she did know was that he was annoyed at having to work with her. A feeling she shared.
As the Fourteenth Sister, she would say she would rather work alone. She preferred solitude over having to constantly deal with her brothers and sisters in the Inquisitorius. Having to work together with the First Brother, who also held rank and authority over her by default, annoyed her, but she kept quiet. She had been forced to work with other inquisitors in the pas, so she would deal with it.
As Akiris however, she was furious.
One of the biggest upsides of working alone, for her at least, was the fact that in moments of solitude, she could be her true self. Inquisitors were encouraged to let go of their old lives, and she didn't want to know what would happen if the others found out that she still held on to her old name. And with the First Brother here, there was no way she could let herself go. Normally when she worked with fellow Inquisitors, she would endure it for a single mission, and afterwards ensure she was back on her own.
This time however, she wasn't so sure what would happen once the mission was over. With the Inquisitorius as an organization now finished, it was unclear what would be next. Perhaps they would continue as they had as inquisitors, but under a different name. It was also possible they would simply be killed off by Vader. Or in the worst case, they would be used for some experiment, or project, related to Force-users. So far only young Force-sensitive children had been used for that, at least as far as the Fourteenth Sister had been able to tell, but with the way the Emperor had ordered them to capture, rather than kill the former cadet, was concerning, as they normally would simply have killed older Force-sensitives rather than bringing them in. It could mean the same thing was in store for both her and the First Brother once they were done.
She didn't voice any thoughts about what would happen to them after the mission to her fellow inquisitor though. She could only theorize, and she doubted he would care for her thoughts. There was every chance they would continue to hunt Force-Sensitives as before. Hunting down the few surviving Jedi, or retrieving children for Project Harvester.
Akiris hated Project Harvester.
She had always hated the Jedi for taking her away from her home, and taking children from their home in general, without giving the child in question some kind of choice. But what the Empire did was worse. Whereas the Jedi still asked for permission from the parents of the children they took, the Empire just straight up stole them. And what happened to the children afterwards… was certainly worse than what the Jedi did with them. Akiris had always done her best to avoid missions related to Project Harvester, and half the times she had done them, she had let the children she hunted slip through her fingers. It was also one of the reasons she didn't like the idea of capturing Ronin for the Empire.
She hadn't been able to find any sign of Ronin in the couple of weeks that had gone by since their encounter on the space station. No doubt he was laying low after that, perhaps even training with the Jedi. It had surprised her that he hadn't had a lightsaber with him at the space station, as he had displayed some abilities that wouldn't be done without training in the Force. He knew how to shield his mind, because while she had been able to detect his presence on the station, as soon as he knew he had been discovered he'd put up his own mental shields, strong enough to keep her out of his mind. That wasn't something an untrained Force-sensitive could easily do. Even so, he hadn't shown anything advanced enough that could have stopped her from catching him, if she had wanted to.
That was another thing she was still trying to understand. Why had she let him go? Aside from the excuses she'd come up with for her Inquisitor self, she didn't have a clear answer.
It was possible the feeling to let him escape came from the Force, similar to when she had refused to mention him to the other Inquisitors. But why that was, she still hadn't figured out.
"Incoming transmission," the First Brother's voice, somewhat muffled by his helmet, interrupted her thoughts. She noticed a light flickering on the shuttle's dashboard.
The hologram of an Imperial officer appeared. "Inquisitors," he greeted. When neither of them responded, he cleared his throat. "Earlier today, our forces reported encountering two people wielding lightsabers."
"We are on our way, Commander," the First Brother responded.
"Very well," the officer said, "I will transmit everything we have on the situation to you."
Soon, both inquisitors were looking through the various images and recordings taken during the encounter. The first person the Fourteenth Sister recognized was Maul, who was more often referred to by the Inquisitors as "The Shadow". He had popped up from time to time, and was too powerful for her to go after on her own. The second person completely surprised her.
It was Ronin.
He had been the first one reported, after using a lightsaber in a bar, and then escaped together with Maul. The fact that he had a lightsaber confused the Fourteenth Sister. Had he already had it before she met him? Or had he built it afterwards? In the end it didn't matter much.
Then she noticed the name of the planet where the two had been sighted. Her heart dropped.
Zennath.
"What's your name, boy?" the zabrak turned to Ronin once they were in hyperspace.
Ronin hesitated a moment, contemplating how much he trusted the zabrak. "Ronin," he finally said.
"Ronin," the zabrak repeated to himself. "You can call me Maul," he then said to Ronin.
Ronin immediately recognized the name from Ezra's briefing after Malachor. The zabrak was a Sith. He lowered his hand cautiously to his lightsaber. "You said you wanted my help if you helped me."
"Indeed," Maul said, "there are certain things I have to do, but I cannot do them alone."
Ronin raised an eyebrow. "So you want my help? What kind of things are you talking about?"
"Things that will benefit us both," the zabrak said. "I seek knowledge. Knowledge that
"And why do you need my help with this?" Ronin asked, still suspicious.
Maul lowered his head. I cannot enter the places this knowledge is contained alone. They require two. This is why I need your help. I can also train you with that," he added with a nod to Ronin's lightsaber, "you seem to lack experience wielding it."
Ronin considered the Zabrak's offer. On the one hand, he didn't think he could trust him, at least not entirely. There was a weird sense about him. But the offer of lightsaber training, which he definitely needed, was certainly compelling. He had no way of knowing if the knowledge Maul was after would also be helpful to him, but it wouldn't hurt to look, would it? He would just have to stay wary of Maul, in case the zabrak did have malicious intent against him.
"Alright," he finally said, "I'll help you."
Author's Note: Fun fact, the Daro root beer isn't just some name for a drink that I came up with, it is actually an existing non-alcoholic drink that exists in the Star Wars universe. (And I totally didn't spend half am hour looking through Wookieepedia just to find an existing drink to mention in this chapter, I swear!)
