for_everyone | (no subject)

The crew has made it back – and as it turned out, just barely. Learning of not just one, but two more Inquisitors was enough of a shock. But hearing the whole story as they debrief on the Command Deck only makes it all feel so much worse. How many of these red lightsaber wielding, Dark Force users could there be? How many more might be looking for them? Some quick thinking of Zeb and Chopper had managed to save everyone, but they couldn't count on that the next time. How much could they expect Kanan and Ezra to protect them from?

There were the medical supplies. Not everything the Phantom could have carried off that base, but then, Hera had long since learned that when it came to scavenger run, it was best to plan for coming back empty-handed. What they'd managed to recover would still last them a long while if rationed and conserved well enough. Things were still, for now, better than they had been. Considering those Inquisitors had been out there, had already known about Ezra and Kanan. And even Ahsoka.

Kanan stays silent during the meeting, and as soon as it's over, he pulls Ezra aside. Hera watches them leave together, but she doesn't follow them, instead staying behind to talk to Sato. They'd had a signal through an intermediary from a contact on Ibaar, an agent who'd barely managed to escape the planet as the Empire was building up a blockade. Things had been bad enough before, as the Empire had designated Ibaar an industrial zone and ripped up cities and towns to build factories and mines, with the populations pressed into labor. But apparently unhappy with the output, the local Moff, or maybe Tarkin, had responded by stopping food shipments.

It's the only news Hera imagined could make her feel worse. She and Sato began initial plans to break through the communications disruptions, assess which ships would be most likely to make it through a blockade. But she'd have to see it for herself to really know what might work, and though she didn't say it out loud, she saw no way they'd get food through to the Ibaarians without losing ships and crews in the process.

Which all means a few hours have passed by the time Hera's making it back down into the Ghost. The ship is mostly quiet. Hera can faintly hear music from Sabine's cabin, Zeb and Ezra's voices from up, maybe in the cockpit. Chopper's playing dejarik against himself. He gives Hera a one-armed wave as she passes, and Hera responds by dragging her knuckles gently along his top plating.

It's just a guess, she can't hear anything within. But she stops at Kanan's cabin, and knocks on the door.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"He ran when he got the chance," she points out.

"He seemed pretty... unnerved by them."

"Yeah," Kanan says, rubbing at his face again.

"I'm going to need to talk to him about that, too. It -- some things get under a person's skin."

He knows Hera is well aware, but he can't think of a better way to put it, just now.

"Like powerful people want to kill you."

Her grip on her cup tightens. Of course, there was an entire Empire that wanted all of them dead. But this, coming right for Kanan and Ezra -

"Yeah, but also . . . he's still a kid. He's a lot of things, but I -- if they think he's moldable . . . "

He shivers.

"I don't think any of us want that for him. And I want him to be ready, in case any of them try. As much as anyone can be ready, anyway."

Her eyes snap up, and she nearly says it, the words coming so quickly. You'd think he'd -

But she stops herself. Her eyes flicker down again, and thinks, briefly, of where that question will lead. Whether that's something she can even let herself consider, for now.

Her grip loosens. She takes a step back.

"How does someone... be ready for that?"

"I don't know," Kanan says helplessly.

"But knowing they might try it has to be better than being surprised."

It's not even that he thinks Ezra might slide, it's that -- it's that that's one hell of a thing to have creep up on you. And it might make him . . . worry. About himself. If he doesn't see it coming.

So.

Hera lifts her hand to her temple.

"All right, all right, you -"

She takes a breath. "- you know this better than I do."

Kanan winces.

"I don't think I do, really. But I'm trying. I should. I just -- don't have much experience, except with the Grand Inquisitor, and he -- he was different."

Somewhat.

"I don't know why."

Hera takes another few seconds, then looks back up.

"Can you try to explain what you mean?" she asks. "By 'different?'"

Kanan frowns, rubbing his forehead as he thinks back.

"I -- there were some techniques he used that I recognized. The same ones that I learned, once. And he was . . . sure with them. I don't know."

"You mean you think he was a Jedi," she says.

"Before."

He's quiet for a minute or two, reluctant to speak.

Then --

"Maybe. Or trained by someone who was. Whether that was before or after they went Dark, I don't know."

A breath.

"It makes me uneasy."

"Well..."

Hera closes her eyes for a moment, and takes another deep breath.

"I think we knew - some of this had to go back to them. The Jedi."

Kanan flinches.

But --

"Yeah. I know. I just wish it was something better than this. Somehow."

"It wasn't enough to get rid of them," she says, quietly. "Now it's corrupting their legacy."

"Of course."

That bitterness is back in his voice, now.

"Maybe in another 20 years it will be the heroic Inquisitors that saved us from the vicious depredations of the monster Jedi."

Hera reaches out across the table, and puts her hand over his.

"Kanan..."

He takes a deep breath, choking partway through, and turns his hand to hold tightly to hers.

"I know. I know."

Another breath, that comes more easily. He still hasn't loosened his grip on her hand.

"But it's not then yet, and there's still something we can do about it."

Probably.

She, in turn, curls her hand to grip his.

"Yes, there is."

"I know it's not the only thing we have to fix."

They all know it. But --

"Still. Everything is going to help. Right?"

"Right."

She stays quiet after that at first, letting a few moments pass. Then she gently tightens her fingers around his hand, before moving to pull back again.

"Maybe you can work out some kind of strategy with Ezra," she suggests, her voice still quiet. "For when it happens again."

'If' doesn't really seem to be in the cards now.

He lets her go, but reluctantly, pulling his own arm back to himself and looking back down into the now-cooler tea. Just for a second.

And when he looks back up --

"I think that's a good plan. At least it's the only one I've got, right now, so -- if you get any ideas, let me know?"

He knows she would anyway, but something about saying it out loud, admitting how much he has no idea about, it makes the anxious tension decrease a little. For now.

Hera nods, and moves to pick up her tea again.

After she's taken a sip, and set the cup down again, she taps her fingers along the side of her cup, wondering if this is the right time to bring it up. But, they'll be getting to it eventually. No real reason to delay.

"Sato's also got - word of something. Phoenix Squadron will probably be heading into it soon."

Edited 2019-01-27 21:34 (UTC)

Kanan shifts back, too, straightening his shoulders out of their unconscious slump.

"What kind of something are we talking about?"

He glances around the galley, considering.

"And what kind of personnel is it going to need?"

Will any of their crew be involved? It seems likely, but with the size of Phoenix Squadron, who can really say? (Besides Hera and Sato, and maybe Ahsoka?)

It's a relief to be talking about something not the Jedi, even as it's not a relief to know everyone is going straight back into danger again.

But so it goes.