Elayne Starwind - Padawan of Ashoka

Chapter Twenty-Four

I stared out into the depths of hyperspace, and wondered where I had went wrong.

I mean, when did I end up on Ahsoka's ship? How? How did I get to be the padawan of a super powerful Jedi? How did I gain the responsibility of retrieving something that could be the difference between finding someone's loved one and leaving him to die alone on a planet no one knew about?

"We're going over the game plan now," Sabine said from the doorway of the cockpit. "Planning on joining us?"

I took a deep breath. "Sure. Coming."

I felt as though the eyes of my teammates were burning into me as I entered the main room, even though they weren't. Rex had joined us, but only to contribute to the plan. He couldn't even drive the ship with the possibility his rusted replacement arm breaking down at the wrong moment. Wolffe sat studying the map of the starship Sabine had gathered, talking with Ahsoka with a bit of tension in his voice.

When Ahsoka saw me join them in sitting in a circle, she smiled. "Ah, Elayne. You were just the person I- we, needed to talk to."

"Really?" I asked and sat on the couch. "More instructions, I hope?"

"You'll need all the information you can get," Ahsoka agreed. "In order to make your entry as smooth as possible, Sabine was able to make some small edits in the list of people allowed to be on the ship. Now, you're..." Ahsoka swiped on her hologram map and read the name that popped up. "Erm, Biala Bibble."

"You did that on purpose!" I exclaimed, pouting at Sabine.

Sabine stiffled a laugh. "Hey, lighten up a bit! Now you don't have to sneak around."

I rolled my eyes and Ahsoka continued. "Anyways, you're a student enrolled in the Imperial Academy for Galactic Studies, or IA of GS."

"Doesn't have much of a ring to it," I noted dully.

"And you're looking to spectate an actual Imperial job," Ahsoka finished. "That should hopefully get you close, or closer, to the information we need, and an excuse if you get questioned."

"Although try to avoid getting questioned at all," Wolffe added. "If you're too suspicious, you don't have a background on your school certificate to back you up. You'll get caught quickly. You a good actor?"

I shrugged. "I've acted innocent a couple of times."

"A couple of times ain't gonna save you this time, kid—"

"Wolffe," Rex interrupted as I lowered my head. "I'm sure she'll do find. Ahsoka believes in her, so do I."

There it was again. The frightening weight of pressure bringing down my confidence instead of boosting it. My hands started trembling again. I didn't want to let anyone down, especially not Sabine. Not after we were finally getting along.

"Elayne," Ahsoka said, bringing back my attention to the plan. "So you know who you are. Now you need to know where you're going. We've been studying this map for a while now and we think we know the best route for you to take."

"Can't wait to hear it," I muttered under my breath.

"Here," Ahsoka said, pointing to a room in a corridor on the second deck. "Is your destination. It'll be heavily guarded since it's very important information for both us and the Empire, but that's what Sabine, Wolffe, and I are here for. We'll drive most of the force to this side," Ahsoka pointed to the North side of the ship, "While you're retrieving the map."

"Simple enough, then," I said. "Right?"

"Hopefully," Wolffe said. "Though 'simple' isn't exactly in the job description."

"Neither is 'easy'," Sabine shrugged. "But we've done much harder stuff, haven't we?"

I wanted to mention that I hadn't, but I decided not to bring that up. 

The ship suddenly shook lightly and Ahsoka stood to her feet. "That's the hyperspace. We're here." And she hurried to the head of the ship. I took a deep breath to keep myself from trembling so badly that others would notice, then went to my room. I was about to pull my fingerless gloves over my hands when I noticed Sabine holding up a different set of clothing: a black and silver school uniform with the Empire symbol on it.

"Hate to say it, but you can't wear your fancy new outfit," Sabine said. She didn't sound like she hated to say it at all.

"Figured," I sighed and took the outfit from Sabine. "Where'd you get this anyways?"

"It's an old disguise I used to use when it fit me," Sabine said, crossing her arms and smirking. "It should fit you."

"They're hand-me-downs," I said, a small smile tugging at my lips.

"Yeah, I guess so," Sabine said, "You get a lot of those before..?"

Sabine didn't need to finish her sentence. As a slave, I got plenty of hand-me-downs, specially trashed just for me. Though it was better than not having anything to wear at all. Maybe that was why I was so excited to get a new outfit before.

"Well, you better change into it quickly," Sabine said. "We'll be boarding soon."

"Isn't this ship, like, unauthorized though?" I asked.

Sabine grinned without looking me in the eye. A hint of pride sparkled in her eyes. "I don't just give people identities, you know." Then she left.

I quickly changed into my uniform — a plain black skirt with silver linings and a matching shirt. It came with a similarly matching hat that fitted my head perfectly. It was unnerving to think that this had once been worn by Sabine. I tried not to think about that.

Ahsoka, Wolffe, Sabine, and Rex were waiting at the exit of the ship, making last minute adjustments to their armor and weapons. When Ahsoka saw me, she handed me a tiny earpiece, which I fitted into my ear quickly.

"Don't use it too much," Ahsoka said. "Might look weird if you're talking to yourself a ton, don't you think?"

"Right," I said, nodding. My heart was beating as fast as hyperspace and my legs were shaking, but I managed to give a small smile. "I got this."

Ahsoka gave me the same contagious smile that made me happy every time I saw it. "I know. Now, how about we go get a map now?"

A/N

Finally back!! So excited to finally be posting again! Merry belated Christmas to all who celebrate and a happy upcoming new year!

Vote, comment, and see ya later ✌️