𝕃𝕖𝕘𝕒𝕔𝕪 - 𝔸 𝕊𝕋𝔸ℝ𝕎𝔸ℝ𝕊 𝕊𝕋𝕆ℝ𝕐

25 - IN THE HEAT OF TWIN SUNS

(Songs: Interlude 3 - alt-J and Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival)

It had been 9 months since Mae had woken up and Caleb found her. Mae and Caleb had heard many rumours on the back street and allies of slums in planets like Coreilla and Courascant. Months ago, they first heard that Supreme Leader Snoke was dead and that Kylo Ren had taken over. They had also heard about the Rebellion on the run and Luke Skywalker coming out from the shadows and saving them. No one talked about the rebellion for months on end and Caleb was worried. Mae promised him they were safely hidden. Now, 10 months later, there were whispers even on Tatooine of a Sith Lord. This meant the Rebellion had found out about Palpatine. The rebels were searching for him now and how to get to the Sith Planet of Exegol. Mae and Caleb were running out of time to find the clone factory.

In Mandalore, Ezra could not contact Leia about Caleb's journey to Ahch-To because Mandalore was facing one of the harshest wars in its history. Lady Bo-Katan had died leaving Sabine acting leader and they were struggling to keep the people fighting without her.

With the Resistance still believing Mae to be dead and Caleb fighting on Mandalore, the two disappeared into the undergrounds of the galaxy. They never stopped moving. After learning something helpful about Emperor Palpatine's scientific research, they followed lead after lead. It became apparent, Palpatine was an evil genius, yet so far from achieving eternal life. He still had a plan to return if he died, he invested in cloning. Mae thought there was no way he invested it all in Exegol. They couldn't fall for the same mistakes as last time. The planet in the portal was not Exegol. It looked less vile and a glow reflected from it on another planet. It was somewhere else in the galaxy, hidden in plain sight under everyone's noses.

The leads they followed, brought them all the way to the planet of Tatooine. Mae had never been. Mae had read about Master Kenobi's adventures in the desert wasteland. She was told about her father's good childhood there, and her grandfather's time as a slave. This was the place that the Skywalker's story began. They took refuge in Ben Kenobi's old home. It was dusty, but surprisingly never been raided by sand-people. He didn't have many belongings. Mae knew Luke had used Master Kenobi's books to learn about the force and create his own lightsaber.

Mae felt the pull in the force during their stay on Tatooine. She dropped Caleb off in the markets of Mos Eisley telling him to look for their lead. She took the speeder and followed the feeling. She arrived at a small abandoned moisture farm. No one had been there in years. Mae felt the connection she had to this place, even though she had never been in her life. She soon figured this was the home of her father. After looking around she walked to a spot on the sand. Nothing was there, or so it seemed. Mae held out her hand above the sand and felt the for anything below it. The sand began to shake as a stone began rising through the sand. It is a headstone of a grave. Mae bent over and wiped off the sand on it. It was the grave of her great-grandmother, Shmi Skywalker. If the grave had been covered purposely or by accident, Mae did not know. Mae looked down at the grave, she knew what happened to her grandmother. Anakin merely mentioned it. Anakin never recovered from losing his mother. It was not only the beginning of his fall but where he made a seemingly impossible promise to her.

Mae thinks about Anakin's promise to his mother, in the silence of Tatooine.

She stood up and jumped back on her speeder to meet Caleb at the cantina. She gave the farm one more look before leaving. She'd be back someday soon.

The lead they had tracked down was an old Republic scientist who worked closely with Chancellor Palpatine during the Clone Wars and for the Empire.  She met Caleb outside the old Cantina, and they walked in together. Jazz music played loudly inside. The cantina burst with energy. Mae smiled thinking about when Uncle Han told her about the first time he met Luke in this crap-box of a cantina. They didn't like each other right away, but they became the best of friends.