Hangar Deck

"So. How did it go?"

Finor watched as Hela walked away without looking back.

"We avoided the Empire, made contact with Hela's friends and the handover went smoothly. We got out without a problem. Good mission."

"That's not what I meant."

Mayday stared at him, slung his backpack over his shoulder and walked off. Finor followed him.

"So it didn't go well then?"

"Just told you it did."

"Hela?"

"I think we're taking a break from each other."

"Think?" He looked back. She was watching them, quickly turning away when she was caught.

"She wants to be sure she's not manipulating me. She's confused. Vos has her confused."

They walked on again.

"It's not about the pilot, then?"

"Lin? No.."

"She still wants to be with you?"

Mayday stopped, "Yeah. I suppose so. I don't know." He frowned for a few seconds, "Anything else I need to know about what's been happening here?"

Now it was Finor's turn to go silent, he walked away from him; Mayday pulled him around by the arm.

"How is she?"

Finor shook his head, "Not good. We'll need you to step up soon. Can you do that?"

"Yes."

"Even with this," he waved at the retreating figure of Hela, "hanging over you?"

"I can."

"I know what it's like to wait. It's hard."

"I'm fine with waiting but what about Fulcrum?"

Finor searched his face; it was blank.

"They didn't have a problem with you joining us. I don't see it being a problem. They don't dictate who we take on. Beggars can't be choosers."

Mayday hadn't heard that phrase before but he got the gist of it.

"What about you? You've been here longer. You know how it works. The politics."

Finor shrugged, "Gah! It was Donca who navigated the political side and even that's getting worse. Different cells wanting different things. Looking only at their own little area. We need someone to take the lead. Look at the bigger picture but I can't see it happening anytime soon."

"I heard Garerra's making a name for himself. There's been a few controversial attacks attributed to him."

"We don't want to be associated with him. Too divisive."

"I'm with you on that. I heard things. Torture of prisoners. Indiscriminate killing of civilians."

"He'd make more enemies for us. It'd be the same as the War. You can't kill innocents."

Mayday shook his head. "You're not selling it to me."

"I agree with the rebellion, but Donca— she needs me more than ever. I won't be able to give it or her my full attention. I'm not leaving her alone now. She deserves better after all she's done."

"It's that bad?" Asked Mayday.

They never said exactly what was wrong with her, some underlying health issue.

"It's bad."

"She never talks about it. You never talk about it. You need to tell me. I need to know what I'm getting into. Fulcrum will need to know as well. What's wrong with her."

Finor steeled himself to speak out loud about something that they had kept private, for years. Now it would be more real for both of them.

"It's genetic. A progressive disease. Before the war she could get treatment to reduce the symptoms, slow it down. It was expensive but doable. That was part of our problem; she didn't want me to be lumbered with a sick partner. Someone I'd have to look after. I didn't care. I loved her, always have and I'd do anything for her."

"Now?"

"All the treatment is controlled by the Empire." He paused, watching Mayday's face, "and its to do with cloning. Part of the treatment includes cloning."

"And that's outlawed or under the Empire's control."

"Or too expensive. We're not rich, never have been but we managed. Now it's too far gone."

"Expensive? Is there anything we can do? Places we can get to?" Mayday spoke softly; he had never thought about paying to get medical treatment. It had always been provided for him, even now.

"There are probably some places run by one of the crime syndicates that does what she needs but its at a price and we're not on friendly terms with any of those."

"I'm sorry. Is there nothing else?"

Finor shook his head, his face showing his despair. Mayday had never seen him display so much emotion.

"We need you up to speed soon.".

.

Donca's quarters

Hela brewed the tea and paused, listening; then she carefully placed the mugs on the tray before putting the blue milk into Donca's. She had never got used to blue milk and took hers black. She stopped and listened again at Donca's breathing; it was getting worse. She struggled to breathe and was easily tired, despite trying to hide it from everyone. It was much worse. Hela had not noticed when she returned from Ryloth, assuming she was simply over tired. She worked so hard but it appeared to come on in episodes and this was the worst episode she'd had in months. Now they were closer. They met regularly, almost daily and Hela saw the change in her friend's health.

She had to ask her about it again. She had asked before and been closed down; it was not a subject for discussion.

"You never talk about Coruscant." Observed Donca.

"Nothing much to say."

"How did you cope, after Naboo?" Again Donca was touching on something they had not discussed; there was no time to go that far back.

Hela took a deep breath.

"On Coruscant I hid myself behind this facade of what I thought I should be. What people expected me to be. A Diva." She smiled, "You would not have liked me."

"Oh, I don't know, were you so bad?"

"Bad enough, until—"

"Until what? Or should I say who."

"You know who."

"I guessed. But why be like that?"

"Because if I exposed the real me, it hurt too much."

"Go on."

"I pretended to be this Diva, who didn't care what anyone else thought. Who demanded and got everything she wanted. I demanded perfection and …."

"And?"

"In reality I was a frightened little girl, who had been manipulated by someone I thought was helping me."

"Palpatine?"

"Yes. But after Vos I wondered, did I do the same to Mayday?"

She had lain awake many nights wondering.

"I've said this before. Mayday knows his own mind and always has. And you need to give him credit for that."

"I—"

"He's waiting for you but you can't keep him waiting forever. That isn't fair on him or you."

"I know."

"You set the rules. You asked for more time. He's given it. Now, do you still have those feelings for him?"

She watched Hela's face soften and she knew the answer.

"Yes."

"It's time. You're ready."

"I know." Hela sipped her tea but didn't move.

"Skoll?"

Hela nodded.

"Normally I would tell you to be honest with him but in this case I'm not sure. Have you and Zak found any trace of Skoll or his companion anywhere?"

Hela put the tray of tea down next to them, "No."

"Then it's unlikely he will, despite how resourceful he is."

"He thinks he killed Skoll and feels guilty about it despite the chip."

"But he didn't."

"Yes but if I tell him, he'll ask how I know and then it'll all come out. Bay— Skoll betrayed me. May knows when I'm lying or keeping something from him."

"He is very perceptive."

"I worry about telling him, what it would do to him?"

Hela poured their tea.

"He accepted he was under the influence of the chip for the Jedi killing. Telling him he failed and what happened after won't help. So don't."

"But surely we shouldn't have secrets, not now."

There were things that had happened when she and Fin were apart that she hadn't told him.

"It depends on the secrets."

Hela sat down and finally sipped her tea, "Okay."

"So what happened on Naboo means you can't have children?" continued Donca.

"Yes."

"I'm sorry."

Hela shrugged, "it's been a long time."

"But you would have liked them with the right man?"

"Yes."

"And Mayday would have been that man?"

"Yes. He would have."

"I thought so."

Hela smiled, "I thought we agreed not to talk about him like that."

"You said you didn't want to talk about him. Not me."

"I did, didn't I?"

It had become an inside joke that they always talked about Mayday. Every subject always came back to Mayday.

"Yes. But we always talk about him. And Vos."

"Vos and guilt." Hela was serious again.

"We've exhausted that subject."

"But not Mayday."

"It's time you spoke to him." Donca blew on her tea before sipping it.

"Tell me something. Was Finor the only one for you?"

"He was, and is."

Hela smiled, she couldn't imagine either of them with anyone else and she couldn't imagine being with anyone other than Mayday.

.

Mess Hall

"So how's it going?"

Hela was standing besides him, with her tray. He had kept his distance just as Finor had suggested and she requested, giving her time. It had been hard. Apparently she and Donca had been talking and he was certain he was part of those discussions. He wasn't sure how he felt about that; he wondered how much detail they had gone into.

"Okay."

"Can I join you?"

"Yes. Of course."

He rose. The scraping of numerous chairs being quickly pushed back made him turn to see his squad departing, suddenly having very urgent business elsewhere to attend to.

Hela watched them as she sat, then there was only her and Mayday left. She picked up a choco pudding. They had liberated some of the Empire's better supplies, the ones for the officers.

"Thought you might want seconds." She said, eyeing the empty carton in his tray.

He stared at her chest, wondering if she knew, then looked at her face.

"I won't say no."

She pushed a Caf and the choco pudding towards him, still holding the carton.

"I'm sorry."

"For the pudding? Is it that bad?" he asked, slowly peeling her fingers from the carton and holding onto them, not daring to hope.

"You're not going to make this easy for me are you?"

"Should I?" dropping her fingers, he picked up a spoon and dug in, still glancing occasionally at her chest.

She was watching him, his face— it was unreadable.

"You've got—" he pointed at the green sludge on her chest with the spoon.

She looked down, "Ah yes. Expired Sublight thruster lubricant." She brushed at it with her thumb, making the smudged larger, "The socket was damaged and needed a rebore. I was underneath when it finally gave up. You should see Bil."

"Oh." He continued with his chocolate pudding.

"Is it good?"

"It's sweet." He licked the spoon.

"I apologise for everything."

"I know.''

"How?"

"You just said so." He scraped the remains out of his pudding carton.

She leaned forward, "I think— I want us— If you want to— get back together?" She whispered, suddenly feeling less confident.

He quickly swallowed the last spoonful of chocolate pudding; it was the last thing he expected at this time, just before a mission.

"If you're sure?" He didn't want to get his hopes up.

"I am. I just needed to be ready"

"I know." He wanted to grin. He did grin, especially when she reached over for his hand. He squeezed hers, "I said I'd wait. Could be better timing."

"Why?" She asked, worried. There had been no gossip to say he was with someone else and the base was rife with gossip. She knew she had been the subject of some of it, probably more now.

"I've got a mission in two hours. Briefing in one. Although I could manage—"

"We owe ourselves more than an hour."

"I like your thinking."

"After the mission then."

"It's a date."

She leaned over, pulled him towards her by the collar and kissed him. Long and hard.

"Hmm." She licked her lips. Then sat back

Her hand stayed, holding his. He drank the last of his caf and stood up; their little fingers still linked together. He didn't want to let her go now. She leaned up to him.

"I love you Mayday. Just took me a while—."

"You too."

"Be careful." She jabbed his chest, standing as close to him as possible, not caring what people thought, "Don't want to lose you now."

"Always am." He pulled her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles, "And you won't."

She pulled away, humming.

.

The briefing room was quiet; Zak heard Mayday before he saw him. He nudged Tycho.

"Told you. They're back together." He whispered.

"Who?"

"The Boss and Hela, you know, the mechanic."

"How do you know?"

"He's humming. He never hums."

Mayday swept into the briefing room and walked up to the lectern; he studied it and moved it to one side.

Tycho listened—he was, just under his breath.

"Never heard him do that before."

"Exactly! Bet he's on a promise. You owe me twenty credits."

Zak turned back to see Mayday's eyes boring into him. He squirmed in his seat.

"Okay lads. Listen up." Mayday rested his elbow on the lectern, "We've got some intel on an abandoned Imperial Station. We need to get in. Remove what's useful and see if they've left anything on the computer systems. Download what we can and get back."

Tycho sighed.

"Do you have something to say?"

"We never seem to do any fighting. It's always about getting supplies or intel."

"We are going to blow this one up if that helps, so the Empire can't reuse it and it stops the crime gangs from getting hold of it and anything it holds."

"About time."

"This is about preparation. The Empire has a whole supply chain behind it and what would happen if we went up against them now, even a small garrison would wipe us out."

"Yes sir." He replied despondently, "It just feels like we do all that training and then don't really use it."

"I know. But it'll prepare you." He took a deep breath, "Battle isn't easy. You lose friends and comrades, even brothers. If one bit of preparation saves just one person, it's worth it. We are just building up now. It will take time but it's important."

He looked around the room; it was a small group but it was all that was needed for this op.

"Okay." He lit up the holotable, "This is the plan—"

.

Decommissioned Imperial Station - Outer Rim

Mayday flattened himself against the wall of the corridor, evading the hail of blaster bolts from the Stormtroopers.

"So much for an empty station." Muttered Zak.

"Never believe other people's Intel." Mayday muttered back, "Is this the only way to the Ops Room?"

Zak checked his datapad, "Yes. Unless you want to take the scenic route."

"Done that before. Not keen on doing it again." Bringing his com to his lips, he hissed, "Tycho! Sitrep!"

"We've pushed forward two corridors. Being held back. Too many. Out!"

"Copy that. We'll see what we can do."

He peered around the pillar he was hiding behind and dodged back quickly, avoiding the stream of blaster bolts heading their way. What he would give for a Jedi now. He pushed that thought back. He could only atone for what he had done obeying that Order.

"Cover me."

"Boss?"

"I'm going in low."

"Copy that but Boss?"

"What?"

"Are any of these–your brothers?"

"Nope. Now cover me!"

He heard the whirr of Zak's blaster charging, he signalled and leapt out. Hearing the blaster fire from both Zak and the troopers. He ran, zig-zagged, crouching, towards them, completing a roll, eventually coming to a stop on his knees; he fired 1-2-3 blasts point blank, quick fire, into each, taking them out.

He quickly pulled the helmet off the one nearest to him. He was right. They weren't clones. There had been something about their formation. Sloppy.

He felt relief, as Zak came up behind him.

He showed him the helmet.

"Kriffing stupid design. Eyeline's all wrong. You can't see properly."

"So that's why you went low"

"Yeah. Let's go. See if we can find a clear corridor through to that Ops room."

.

Tycho burst into the Ops room. It had been a hard fight to get there and he wasn't sure if all the stragglers had been taken care of but they couldn't take prisoners, didn't have the manpower. Neither did the Empire but that was through choice. He had soon learned that.

He came to an abrupt halt and was greeted with the bodies of four troopers, Zak sitting at a coms station downloading whatever was left in the Base computer and Mayday checking the inventory.

"Boss! I could have shot you."

"Nah. Trained you too well and I could hear you weren't Stormtroopers. The sound of your boots and steps."

"So. Is all this worthwhile?" He waved his hand around the room, taking in the pattern of blast scorches on the walls.

"Looks like it. Plenty of ordnance. Ex-republic. That's probably why they left it but it's still good. Zak?"

"They really must teach their minions to delete files correctly. This is easy peasy."

Tycho groaned, "So it's loading time?"

"Yes. And there's a couple of transports we can take off their hands.

.

Repair Hangar

Hela stopped turning the screw; she couldn't remember where the blue plom flower locket was and she wanted to wear it when Mayday returned. It was irritating her. She checked her quarters and backtracked. The last time she had seen it was on the table, on Vos ship but she was sure she picked it up. She couldn't remember, it all happened so fast. She was sure she wouldn't have left it behind.

The hydrospanner slipped from her hand.

Bil sidestepped the tool as it fell from the top of the ship, clattering as it hit the floor; he picked it up.

"If you are trying to kill Bil, can you tell Bil why? Bil would like to know."

"Sorry!"

"If this is what happens when you have a mate–"

"I just dropped it."

"You lost concentration."

Hela slid down the side of the ship, gripping the harness hard; she still wasn't totally confident with it.

"It slipped out of my hand."

"When you were thinking about Mayday."

She sighed.

"Stay on ground when thinking about Mayday. Safer. For Bil." He handed it back to her, "I have spoken."

.

"Caf?" Asked Hela as she entered Donca's quarters, inhaling the satisfying smell of freshly brewed Caf.

"It feels like a Caf sort of day."

"Why?"

"It's Empire Day tomorrow. Time for a party."

Hela had been trying not to think about that.

"I don't understand." Hela said between the sips of the scalding caf Donca had given her. They both enjoyed their chats now, they knew each other better. The difficult discussions had been done and they had moved on, "Why are we celebrating Empire Day."

"It's our own little tradition. It's not a celebration more like a Wake. We don't celebrate the start of the Empire but we mourn the death of the Republic and vow to overthrow the Empire. We look to the future when we will have a new, better Republic."

"That I understand."

"So you'll be there. Everyone will be there. They're already getting the hall ready."

"That's why there's not much work being done." She had noticed some areas were empty.

"A greater part of the Empire does very little work on this day, or appears to. It's a galactic holiday, enforced in some places."

She watched the young woman in front of her; they had worked through a lot of her problems but some would never go away. She just had to accept them and move on.

"You need to get changed."

"Why?"

"He's back. Just been debriefed. Successful mission. We got Intel. Destroyed what we needed to. No casualties."

Donca looked pleased.

"Good."

Hela smiled, they had promised themselves.

"So? What are you doing here? Go!"

.