He was already lining up his next toss before the hover ball had even found its way into his palm, planting his right foot behind him to give the small girl something to truly chase as he launched it as high as he could throw it, all he had to do was catch the small red sphere and wind up the throw. The moment he felt its rubbery surface, he angled himself back and threw the small orange sphere as high as he could, “No fair Matty, I cana evn see it!” Kowani stuttered through the words, her high-pitched warbles sounding every bit the four-year-old she was.
“Stop looking with your eyes Koko...it’s right there…” Matisse responded with a finger pointing upward. Kowani shifted in her stance, her head leaning back as far as it would go.
“Is ony clowds…” The young girl stopped herself, spotting a beautiful bird of maroon and green feathers making lazy circles high above them, its wings spread wide as it rode the warm air currents that wafted upward along the red cliff walls. She narrowed her gaze somewhat seeing the orange ball against the deep blue sky above, midway between herself and the majestic bird. And then the bird saw it too. Kowani shifted the entirety of her attention to the projectile her brother had launched skyward, oblivious to the sudden flapping of wings that beat mightily against the still air. She would catch the ball this time, make her brother proud of her!
Shuffling her steps to measure the balls descent, Kowani began to feel the ground below her shift in texture, subtle at first but distinct, nonetheless. What was lush ankle high padded grasses became scraggly sharp brambles that tore lightly at the hem of pants too large for her short legs. She diverted her attention from the ball to pull the fabric free of the tangle they had become, only distracted further by the angry call of the bird that was quickly descending to retrieve the falling object as well. Kowani fired her gaze upward in response to see the avian’s black mottled beak opened wide not meters from her, “Ahhhhhhh!” She shouted, the ball forgotten completely before the bird spread his wings wide once again to slow his descent, the orange ball clutched tightly in its beak. With a suddenness that was instant, the birds massive wing span tucked under his body to give itself lift before it tumbled straight into the tiny Mirialan. The downdraft from the mighty wings tore her pants free of the brambles and out through the loose scree that led to the cliff’s edge.
Kowani’s thoughts dived into speeches from Nerha and Derha, forbidding this or that, scolding all three of them for speaking too loudly, sometimes from speaking at all, but the first rule, here on the water place, was always never get close to the rocks. She was well beyond the rocks as she stumbled over loose pebbles, her left foot kicking out from under her entirely and carrying her to the red cliff’s edge.
“Koko...NOOO!” She could hear Matty shout just before the rocks weren’t hard anymore, her back shooting out over the edge. She fumbled with clenching fingers for anything she could find as she twisted her body around placing her stomach beneath her. ‘That rock there…’ her mind thought for her, quickly firing both hands out to snag the jagged edge of a protruding dark red stone. She felt her body lurch to a stop and looked up to the bumpy edges of other stones that stuck out a little farther than the rest and the spaciousness of open sky above.
Kowani was entranced by the view as she clung for her life to the rock that began cutting into her tiny hands. She was amazed with the pink clouds that hovered so high above her, the sudden appearance of the beautiful bird that soared over the cliff’s edge and out of view, it’s pretty wings stretched as far as they would go.
“Koko! Hold on!” Matty was above her now, just his face though, telling her to do what she was already doing. She could hear lots of scrapes, like branches or something rubbing on stones, and then she could see Matty again holding on to something as he lowered himself closer to her.
“Derha is silly.” Kowani chose to say, looking at Matty’s outstretched hand, “the rocks are not bad.”
“You stupid girl!” Matty shouted to her, his voice was rough, like the stones.
“Don’t say bad words Matty! Derha said…” Kowani retaliated, furrowing her tiny forehead.
“He also said stay away from the cliffs you stupid stupid girl!”
“Don’t call me that Matty, that makes me mad!” Kowani shifted slightly in her perch, letting go of the sharp rocks with her left hand to make a fist she intended to use on her brother’s face.
“Well, you are stupid Koko, and now I have to save you…”
“I said…” She tightened her eyes into narrow openings, shutting out all the pretty things around her so she could stay being mad, “don’t call me that…” She continued through clenched teeth, then the color left her world, and the rest went all black.
Kowani could not explain how she found herself on the overlook observing the crashing waves far out to sea, white caps silently frothing as the currents carried massive wave after massive wave into the jagged rocks below. She looked down toward the cliff’s edge, to the protruding rock she had clung to that still glistened with her own fresh blood, then quickly at the olive-skinned hand that had bled it. She stepped back, away from the edge, trepidation and repulsion forcing her to accept that the hand belonged to an adult. She patted herself as her leggings snagged on dead brambles, detritus crunching under the soles of her boots, then finally shot a glance toward the underside of her left forearm, assured that she was, yet again, the child of Keno.
✦
‘Matty….Mattise. He was my brother.’ Kowani thought to herself, her eyes closed as she continued through the difficult meditation. Finding no other recourse following the horrific claims Bane had made, she could not discount them either. ‘Matty was our brother.’ She continued internally, her thoughts extending to Nara, to Lulu. A stifled snore caused her to crack her right eye open somewhat, instantly blinded by the view beyond the canopy. ‘Morai.’ She reminded herself, turning slightly to see Sabine fast asleep beside her once the temporary flare faded in her vision. “N’dali, ETA?” She whispered through the constant thrums of the hyperdrive units nestled deep inside the ship.
“Approximately thirty-three minutes.” N’dali responded just a softly through the ship’s comms.
Kowani closed her eyes again and forced herself back into a calming state, willing to touch the Force again, yet concerned at what it would offer. The images shifted wildly, and had been since Ambria, hourly glimpses that provided fragments of the child the Empire had stolen from innocence, ‘how innocent…’ She thought quickly, blazing an open path through the confusing images, some that belonged to her specifically concerning her past, while others were foreign, shards of someone else’s memory entirely. ‘Lulu.’ She thought, working toward the only bridge she needed at the moment, free from Sabine and the oddity of N’dali, free from the encroaching madness clinging to the small cube had presented. Free from the ever-watchful eye of Ahsoka and the protective hand of Rex. ‘Lulu...I killed him didn’t I.’ She thought beyond herself, beyond the ship and her particular place in it.
“Shhh Koko...Shhhhhh. Quiet your mind.” It was Nara, Kowani was sure of it, and she was close.
‘I won’t without the truth Lulu…’ Kowani thought the reply, never a more sincere admission could exist.
“I cannot stretch out in the manner you need me to, not right now Ani…” Nara was suddenly hesitant, her intentions driven toward another cause, a precarious balance between the truth she needed and the focus of her physical workings.
‘You are in trouble….’ Kowani forgot about her own needs, willing the matter forward toward Nara’s.
“Ahsoka..” Was all Nara needed to say.
“N’dali….hurry up!” Kowani shouted through closed eyes, rousing Sabine from her impromptu slumber.
“And just how much faster would you like this ship to travel Ani? We are bordering the limits of sanity as it is, traveling on hypothesis and theory alone. Twenty minutes Ani, twenty.” N’dali sounded mortified, Kowani certain the woman had never exhibited the emotion even when she walked in her own body.
“And glad to see that you’ve come back to us…” Sabine said quickly, Kowani snapping her gaze toward the Mandalorian.
“What does that mean?” She asked, doing her best to remove any condescension, although she was certain an element remained.
“Only that you’ve been lost to your own thoughts, mumbling in Mirial, which you know I haven’t learned and N’dali won’t translate.” Sabine was visibly working beyond her own disquiet, trying to remain calm.
“I did not say that I wouldn’t Sabine, only that I shouldn’t.” N’dali offered.
“There is quite a difference Miss Wren…” CZ spoke up in N’dali’s defense.
Kowani was certain the information that had been privy only to her unconscious self and the mechanical entities aboard the ship wasn’t near dire enough to withhold from her chosen sister, “well, out with it N’dali, we are not going in to this with any level of mistrust…”
“I trust you Ani…” Sabine interjected, her face turned into a look of confusion.
“...that’s not entirely what I meant.” Kowani corrected.
“Not entirely?” The confusion evaporated on Sabine’s lips, twisting her features into the anger she had been concealing.
Kowani blew out her breath as she dropped her chin into her chest. She knew she couldn’t expect anyone else to understand what she was working with but relented under the pressure involved to meet them at least halfway with as much of the truth as she could muster.
“Sabine, I trust you implicitly, that’s not what this is about at all….” Kowani attempted, finding her voice failing her at a most inopportune moment.
“Then what is it about?” Sabine asked, pleading for Kowani to come clean.
Kowani reached into her pocket without any more reservation, clutched the small cube in her fingers and pulled it, letting it fall into her palm as she held it open for everyone’s inspection, “this.”
The small cube, presented in Kowani’s hand drew the attention of eyes and photoreceptor alike, N’dali’s included. It was no larger than the Mirialans thumb nail yet supported intricate details carved into the light tan stone that glimmered in the cabin light. The cube itself was as a cage around a central sphere, cut from the same stone, that was rotating slightly free of the cage around it. Sabine pressed herself closer to the item to work through the delicate details of the carvings themselves, noting a conglomeration of geometric shapes, and the sphere itself that held even more, “Ani, what is this?”
“Either a prison...or a safe. I am not quite sure myself.” Kowani stated, unable to remove her own eyes from it, nor avoid thinking about its counterpart, its clone.
Sabine shifted her gaze from the object to Kowani’s eyes, “then what is inside?”
Kowani fumbled for an answer but only for a moment, “what the Empire is looking for on Ciutric.”
“The Empire has been engaged in that particular endeavor for the better part of six months…” N’dali stated flatly, “perhaps even longer in an unofficial capacity.”
“And you found it in less than six hours…” Sabine responded, pulling her head back slowly from the inspection with a questioning glean in her eyes, Kowani trying to meet it with as much sincerity as she could muster.
Kowani felt Sabine’s eyes on her, penetrating the veil of secrecy she had inarticulately crafted, working its way through the emotional barriers that had been erected, not to keep anyone out, but to keep herself within. “Ani, your secrets are yours, unless they have the potential to put everyone in danger, yourself included. This is the time to come forward, come clean.”
Kowani knew she was right, had reasoned with herself many times over using the same logic to keep her evolving secrets to herself. Because she had never intended to return, “this is a twin. Nara holds the other.” ‘How do I continue without sounding like a lunatic, or self-destructive for that matter…’ She thought to herself, knowing the statement was a far cry from anything resembling an explanation.
“You do not trust those closest to you….interesting...and wise…” Bane whispered into Kowani’s mind, inciting what she knew, then, she had to do.
“It is a prison that contains the spirit of a long dead Sith Lord. Nara’s contains...something else.” Kowani blurted, surprising herself in the ease of its truth.
“Foolish…” Bane retorted, his whisper dying through her thoughts.
‘Perhaps, perhaps not.’ She thought the answer appropriate enough for circumstance alone.
“Eight minutes.” N’dali kept them apprised of their arrival time, both Sabine and Kowani assuring the straps on their respective harnesses were as tight as they could get them.
“What happens when the two are in close proximity?” Sabine continued the conversation after tugging on her lap belt a third time.
Kowani had no idea, she wasn’t even sure Nara would have that answer, although Zannah might, “I do not know Sabine.”
“It called to you didn’t it?” Sabine was clearly not ready to let the matter rest, turning slightly to view Kowani in her peripheral.
“Yes.” Kowani would not lie, closing her eyes to the blinding light ahead of them.
“The dragons?” Sabine insisted, focusing on the one element of Ciutric she found the most compelling.
“….me…” Kowani replied meekly. Although absent the full extent of the details involved, she was certain she was right. ‘Matty was a good climber. Nerha a compassionate woman.’ The thoughts came without warning and brought with them an internal chill that coursed through her with slight convulsions.
“You?” Sabine turned her head as far as the harness would allow, filling her gaze entirely with Kowani’s profile. She could see the torment writhing within, the corner of the woman’s right eye pulled tight, the creases twitching slightly as a pain contorted the corner of her mouth. Sabine could feel...something...in the vacant space between them, a sorrow, a void that spanned the gaps between the woman she knew and the woman she was becoming. Sabine couldn’t help but mirror the sorrow she felt, willing whatever powers that be to allow her to understand the torment that was stealing her sister from the brash, good-hearted woman she had always been. All Sabine found was an anger that seemed bottomless, a rage that could not be soothed and a fury that would know no other quenching than rivers of blood, death, and destruction.
“Brace!” N’dali shouted through the comms.
Kowani felt her head lurch forward before she could react to the violence of the action, the rear of the headrest in her pilot’s seat blossoming out to counteract the motion with a supportive cushion to the rear of her head and neck. Her insides felt like they were slamming into her rib cage as the harness held fast, N’dali doing her best to negate the bone crunching deceleration necessary to bring the two woman out of the induced travel unharmed. Vibrations thundered through the ship, each bulkhead and hull component alike tested to their limits through the sudden fiery heat and gravitational forces evoked by the inordinate amount of friction assaulting the gun ship. Both of the woman could feel their jaws clatter together, teeth gnashing against themselves as various components of the vast console dash before them smoked profusely amidst a raining of sparks and the undertones of every internal alarm chime the retrofitters had installed. Just as suddenly, it was over.
✦
“With all due respect General, proximity is precisely the point…” Hera Syndulla raised her hands in protest, blowing out the exasperated breath she knew was going to at some point.
“General Syndulla, I think what General Rieekan is attempting to convey has more to do with the remoteness of his command, than the spacial impact of what your proposing…” General Madine interjected on behalf of his compatriot, the remainder of the individuals around the ring remained motionless within the confines of their projected state, yet each able to read adjacent expression as sharp lines of resolution filled the sphere of blue and off tones of myriad colors in front of Hera and Alexsandr Kallus. “The Empire would cripple itself if your estimations are correct.” Madine continued from far distant Iskalon.
“How many times will we respond as we did in the past? How many more times will this body refuse to acknowledge facts that are undeniable?” Hera was beside herself, almost ready to shrug off the supportive hand of Kallus on her shoulder through her anger.
“Your point is well taken Hera, perhaps we should all focus on solutions rather than authenticity. I will admit that the basis for which we make these determinations are less than exemplary, but we do not have a luxury of time to assure its accuracy.” Mon Mothma interjected, casting her gaze out in the circle presented to her from her unknown location, Hera presuming she was aboard Home One.
“Senator, this will eliminate our own ability to communicate.” General Rieekan added, everyone involved in the conference turning slightly in their perspectives to look toward the exiled Senator.
“Understood, so? Solutions...let’s work on solutions.” Mon Mothma replied, Hera able to retain her frustration within the supportive comment.
“If I may…” Kallus said over Hera’s shoulder, “we may already possess that answer as we finalize the details around Fardi’s theories, and keep in mind, the Empire will not be able to sustain itself long without direct communications in and out of Coruscant.”
“Theory does not sit well with me Sandr.” Admiral Ackbar barked from somewhere unseen, “it is difficult enough to retain intelligence…” The Mon Cal paused for a long guttural breath, “...while our fleet remains mobilized.”
“That is why it is imperative to relay to any and all grounded stations to commit to a rendezvous pending exposure.” Kallus followed the esteemed Admiral with casual grace, “and they will need to be timely evacuations as there would be almost no warning outside of perimeter scopes. And theory...theory is better than guessing.” He finished his statement, itemizing only a few of the details he had come prepared with.
“Well, I won’t argue with that Sandr. A point rendezvous would provide the security of the fleet with the numbers to fight off incursion, yet, how then can we relay possible exposure?” Rieekan asked, everyone involved in the conference understanding the nature of the man’s apprehension. Alexsandr only smiled as Hera gave him a wink, half turning toward him to meet his own gaze.
“Detailed coordinates as well as hyper routes are already being sent to you individually. They will need to be manually entered into every navicomputer capable of making the jump.” Kallus said, his smile genuine and true.
“These lie well outside Outer Rim territories!” A new voice added her opinion over Rieekan’s shoulder as she came into view.
“It does Princess, but the location is proven. You will each find any answers you may need within the supplied data we sent to each of you. We not only probed the terminus but have a transport there on standby.”
“It seems you’ve covered all the bases Sandr.” Leia responded, her own intoxicating smile defying the light years between the two. ‘Damn she’s beautiful…’ Kallus thought immediately, and before any inner sense could stop him.
“Given it a name too I suppose?” Leia continued.
“I cannot accept credit for any of this mind you, N’dali Fardi deserves it in its entirety, as well as the name. Haven.” Sandr relayed what N’dali had placed in brackets coded deep with the data streams she had sent their way.
“That seems damned appropriate…” Leia responded with another glance toward the data pad she held in her hands.
Kallus extended his own smile in response, willing the woman to look up from her meticulous search through the device she was holding. “The distance will of course be greater for some…” He stopped himself altogether as the projected image warbled loudly, twisted the views of those in attendance, sparked wild static emissions then closed altogether with a deadening chirp. “...what just happened?” He asked without thinking.
“It has begun Sandr...it has begun.” Hera told him, her grim expression telling him all he needed to know.
✦
“If you don’t mind me adding my opinion General, that’s aggressive and downright reckless.” Han Solo stated, standing back against a support column for the massive translucent screens Echo base utilized to identify known positions of both friend and foe. He crossed his arms across his chest as he worked to remove any smugness he may convey.
“Coming from you that’s a criminal indictment.” Leia responded, trying to re-establish contact with the council that inexplicably resolved to nothingness within their holotable. She whirled on the brash smuggler with an aire of distinctive defiance.
Han lifted his brows, his chin rising involuntarily, “The fuel consumption alone could spend some of these ragtag vessel’s derelict before they even reached that rendezvous Princess..”
“I won’t argue that point Captain, we may have to abandon the T-34’s.” Rieekan said, his gaze turned toward the corrugated metal inserts the engineering corps had melted into the pack ice and snow below his boots.
“And what of their pilots? We are going to need them in the event of a ground invasion General, that would be the only way to stall them long enough to get our transports out of here!” Leia argued immediately.
“Ever the diplomat huh?” Han shrugged as he pushed himself from the support. “General, assuming that shield generator is actually enough of a deterrent to prevent Imperial orbital assault, it wouldn’t be enough to cover departing transports...and that Ion cannon isn’t going to be enough to hold off what would come if the fleets converge.” Han was just delivering the facts as he saw them, despite bringing up the point on more than occasion.
“Simple enough to have a rendezvous of our own then. If we need to ditch the T-34’s then so be it, but station our own transport and what T-64’s you can spare at that point and we can meet you at...what was it called, I missed that part.” Luke asked, relaying as much strategy as he could with the little information he possessed, only now rounding the corner of the translucent screen Han had been leaning upon.
“Haven…” Leia relayed.
“Haven then.” Luke finished his own assessment.
“If this is the plan you’d all like to proceed with, I’ll need to get back to the Falcon and help Chewie, as it stands that ship isn’t going much of anywhere.” Han said to everyone, his expression withdrawn, almost vacant as Leia watched him.
“Hyperdrive is still down?” She asked, any resentment she may have externally shown vanishing to embrace the deep concern she truly felt.
“Support linkage, plasma conduit, forward systems relay, port side shield housings…” Han ticked off the items with raised fingers as he walked from the room casually, “spacial axiom dampeners, quasi coil chamber plating….” He continued well out of view, his voice dying as he departed to the ever-chill offerings of confining air and frigid walls.
“Perhaps we can offer some assistance General?” Luke turned to Rieekan, Leia turning her gaze toward the man as well.
“We have! He always refuses...something about his own modifications, steady hands, and nobody else knowing what they’re doing…” Rieekan replied.
“That ship is going to kill him one of these days.” Leia said shaking her head and turning again toward Luke.
“That particular result has an eighty-two per…..” C3-PO found the perfect time to interject with the most useful information he could offer the conversation.
“Shut up three pee ohh.” Both Luke and Leia said together.
✦
Ysanne was already busily compiling what data she had in her possession with the vast archives housed within the storage servers aboard the Lusankya. The system itself processing the deeply encrypted pass codes she had painstakingly memorized to access the trove that remained separate from normal channels, most importantly, from any access to it by Imperial networks. It had taken months to work through the bits of data Timms had secured for her from a multitude of sources, but she now held the key to combine them all into a presentable font for delivery.
“You achieved what you had set out to do then?” Sate Pestage asked, startling the woman who had assured herself of privacy.
“How did you even get in here?” She asked, quickly whisking the graphic images of schematics and long codes of related information back into the holo projectors source on standby.
“I will always have my ways Madam Director, rest assured, we share the same desired results if not for differing avenues.” Pestage responded, folding his arms at his waist, the finery of his plain brown robes draping about his body in perfect uniformity.
“Pull up a seat then if I cannot be rid of you.” Ysanne responded matter of fact.
“And why would you desire to be rid of me? I thought we were such good friends.” Sate said, walking gently toward the massive desk the woman was working at, tugging at the back of one of the chairs facing her, “but on to business I suppose.” He continued after finding the woman unresponsive to his jest.
Ysanne bit back any formal signs of apprehension as she commanded the projector to resume its activities. The complicated array of seemingly unrelated information, slowly turning wire frame views of complex machinery and components, beginning to merge with one another. “The final data has reached me regarding the Oscillator. Taken from the readings and resultant projections, Project Void Eclipse would render Second Sun a child’s toy in the hands of amateurs.
“That is quite the statement Ysanne. His excellency would be most unpleased to hear the current project to be labeled as such.” Pestage looked through the twirling wire framed items and streams of data to catch her own devilish grin.
“Size is irrelevant Sate, Void Eclipse is new technology altogether.” Ysanne said slyly, winking at the man through the statement.
“Purported by what Ysanne…” He paused, focusing on the scrawling data between the two, “that fiasco over Ambria?”
“Fiasco? Anything but, my esteemed doubter. That was a statement that atomized three Capital ships and rendered useless two additional dreadnoughts with only a single focused discharge.” Ysanne almost laughed through the admission, willing the vile miscreant that stood always behind the hand of power to see what she did through the vast data between them.
“And how many more space worthy hotels will be outfitted as such Isard?” Sate was skeptical at best, “although powerful in their own right the aggressors were phased out before they could even begin production!”
“Again, your basis relies on old technologies my friend. I have no intention of supplying my recommendation with something so simple as flying hotels Sate.”
“Then what Madam Director, what?”
“A planets core Sate….a planets core.” Ysanne returned, the shock in his eyes matched only by the viciousness of her own, “Sylde offered me the solution even though he didn’t know it.”
“What are you talking about woman?” Sate moved to push himself from the chair.
“Ilum Pestage, Ilum.”