As he slowly regained control of his breathing, Kanan looked around his dark cabin. Nothing out of the ordinary.
That was until he heard a very angry groan and yell.
"Goddammit!" he heard from his bottom bunk. He dipped his head over to see Athena gripping her head in pain. "The hell happened?!"
"Good morning to you too," Kanan chuckled. This kid sure did swear.
"Screw off," she grumbled, slowly opening her eyes as she continued to rub her head in pain. She seemed startled when she noticed she was in Kanan's cabin. "Uh... wait...what?"
He jumped down from his cabin and Athena looked confused.
"Was I in your cabin the whole time?"
He nodded, "Yeah. After the Ghost got us from Earth, we just let you sleep in here. You don't remember waking up yesterday?"
"Uh, kinda..." she rubbed her head. "Did I say anything?"
Kanan froze in shock. Did the Ones thing even happen? Did she just make it up in her dreams? No...something wasn't right. Her entire soul left her body yesterday. She died.
"You...don't remember meeting the Gods of Mortis?" Kanan asked in a quiet voice. He didn't want the others to get involved with this whole Ones thing. Ahsoka was right - the Empire would do anything to get a hold of such power from the Gods.
She let out a half-hearted chuckle, "Huh, I guess that was just a really weird and vivid dream. I must've said something to you guys about it."
"Can you describe them?" Kanan questioned. He knew she had never seen them before in any paintings like he had at the Jedi Temple. If she could describe them, that means she couldn't have imagined them. Seeing three random figures and attaching names you've already heard is easy. Describing them is what would indicate whether or not she had indeed met them.
She rubbed her head as she pondered, "Uh, well there were three of them. This old guy, Father, had grey skin and wore robes. Then there was Son, he was really angry and had white skin and red marks and had red eyes. Daughter, she had pale skin and green hair."
She described them exactly right. She couldn't have imagined them.
"You definitely met them, then," Kanan confirmed.
Her eyes went wide, "Are you serious? They're real?"
He nodded.
"Dang..." Athena said. "That's crazy."
He stood there for a moment, contemplating. It was all so strange to him. He turned towards his door and outstretched his arm, turning on the lights to the cabin.
"So, I gotta fight this Abeloth person," she said, trying to register everything. She looked up to Kanan. "Hey, did I tell you they said we're to 'Jedi Knight Dume'?"
He shook his head, "Yeah. You told me and Ahsoka yesterday. Our mom was a Jedi Knight."
She shrugged, "They never said that it was our mom. Could've been our dad and our mom just took his last name."
"No, it was our mom," Kanan looked to his sister. "I had a vision."
She knitted her eyebrows in confusion. "A vision?"
He nodded once more. "I had a vision last night. Our mom was a Jedi Knight. She died, just like Second Brother said. She was protecting you on Earth from the Sith lord."
"Oh..." she went quiet. Athena didn't know why that came to her as sad news. She had known all along her mother was dead. She saw her ghost. Maybe it was because she had hope. Stupid, stupid, useless hope that she'd get to meet her mother in the flesh. A hope that was reignited two weeks ago when Kanan read the note left by their mother.
"She obviously loved you," he did his best to comfort the girl. He could tell that she didn't care much for that comfort. She went hollow again. Numb. It was like she wasn't listening.
"I'm hungry," she stood and yawned. She scrunched up her nose as she smacked her lips a little. "Agh, morning breath. I need to clean up. Where's my bookbag?"
"Should be in the common room closet," Kanan said.
"Thanks." and she left.
He knew that tactic. Deaf ears. Numb feelings. It was a way to deprive oneself from feelings in order to prevent any further hurt. Alcohol was a good way to achieve that state for him all those years ago. Kanan guessed Athena used to use cigarettes - if she didn't have those, she'd use her willpower to deprive herself of emotion. To make herself a void.
Kanan never really gave his mother and father much thought before all this. Even during the weeks Athena had spent with them, the thought of his parents came across his mind seldom times. He didn't know what Athena's mindset of their birth parents was. Did she despise them for abandoning her? Had she given up hope in them years ago? Did she once hold some sort of hope and dream in meeting their mom?
Kanan had the Jedi Order to raise him. Athena had foster "moms" and foster "dads". The words "mom" and "dad" were deprived of any significance to her.
Then he chuckled.
She called him and Hera her "Space parents" with her whole heart. "Space Mom" and "Space Dad". She was happy when she told him that on Earth.
At least she had them.
***
"With depleted fuel and a majority of our ships out of commission at the moment, I'm not sure if we can take any sort of hit for a long time," Commander Sato shook his head in dismay. The hologram of Bail Organa standing not too far from him on his left, Hera at his right hand, Ahsoka and Athena were across from them at the round tactical table. "If thought we had a crisis amongst our fleet before, we were sorely mistaken"
Athena wasn't sure why Ahsoka dragged her to this meeting. She had just showered and dressed herself and was in the middle of a small meal when Ahsoka dragged her to the Command ship. So, now she stood there with her damp hair in a ponytail as she wore her green tank top and black pants, confused at nearly every word that came out of these people's mouths. Everyone at the meeting was high-ranked. This seemed far beyond her expertise. But, Master knows best.
"How many of our ships are back to full fighting capacity?" Hera questioned. "The Ghost was barely affected, but that's the only ship I know of that wasn't damaged."
"About 10% of our fleet has functioning guns. The rest have just barely restored their hyperdrives," Commander Sato said. He looked to Ahsoka then shifted his gaze down to the girl. "Commander Tano, I wasn't aware you would be bringing your Padawan."
"She'll be fine. As my Apprentice, I figured it would be best if she were to listen and learn from such meetings," Ahsoka stated. "Being from a different galaxy, she may also bring a new perspective to the table."
Athena was internally screaming. She could barely read Aurebesh and they wanted her to help plan their next move in a galactic war? Why couldn't they ask literally anyone else to attend this meeting?
"If the fleet were to be attacked by any Imperial ships, few will survive," Bail Organa said, a hand on his chin in contemplation.
"And without much fuel, we can't send any scouts out to retrieve information of Imperial locations or retrieve supplies," Hera said, looking to Sato. "And now, we can barely even keep the fleet moving with so little fuel. We're like sitting mynocks out here."
"We may have to disband the fleet momentarily," Ahsoka suggested. "Right now, the fleet's numbers are serving no purpose. With most of our guns down, we're just sitting here, waiting for an attack."
Commander Sato let out a heavy sigh, "We may just have to do that. As of now, most of the ships cannot withstand another attack. We need time to repair and recoup."
"How long do you think we'll need to disband?" Hera questioned.
"At least a month," Organa said, his hologram having the slightest bit of glitch. "That way it'll give us ample time to repair damaged ships and retrieve fuel."
"Ahsoka, does your Padawan have any insight into this?" Commander Sato questioned.
Athena had wide eyes as she looked to her Master as if saying: "Please no. Do not make me say anything. Please no.".
"Go on," Ahsoka softly encouraged. "You can say something."
"Uh..." Athena's heart was in her throat. She didn't have any idea what to say. Time to come up with some bs. "Well, if you guys disband, then scatter, the Empire really can't target you guys since you wouldn't be grouped together. Maybe then you can work in small groups to retrieve information about the Empire's locations and stuff? I don't know. I don't even know this galaxy."
"No, no, that's actually a good idea," Hera paused for a second, contemplating. "We could use this as an opportunity to scatter our forces across the Mid and Outer Rim to collect intel about Imperial movement and possible fuel sources. We can't make much of an impact, but we can regroup and make an even harder punch against the Empire with newly collected intel."
"I said something right?" Athena whispered to her Master.
Ahsoka smiled and nodded.
"So, it's decided. We'll disperse the forces for about thirty-rotations or until we are back at full capacity," Commander Sato announced. "We'll have to compile a list of planets that we can send out forces to without too much of a threat from Imperial presence."
"Maybe we can find a base this way as well," Ahsoka pointed out. "Rex and I will join the Ghost crew for now while we disband."
"We can go to Lothal," Hera suggested. "We know the place well."
"Actually, it is advisable your crew does not return to Lothal at the moment. Seeing that your crew is well known to the planet and you have a few Jedi who even catch the attention of outside forces-" Bail Organa gestured to Athena. "-it would be best if your crew were to dispatch to a planet where you are all unknown. Especially considering your Jedi Kanan Jarrus and Padawan learner..." he looked to Ahsoka and Athena for a name.
"Athena Jarrus," Athena said.
"Jarrus? You're Kanan's daughter?" Organa was surprised.
"Sister," Athena corrected. "I'm his younger sister."
"Well, considering you and your brother prove to have extra attention from the Empire and other bounty hunters, it would be advised that you are located on a remote planet."
"We'll find one," Hera assured.
"Good," Sato nodded. "For now, this meeting is dismissed."