The room was silent, everyone still processing the last mission. The soldiers of Cloud Squadron were spread out across the room while the six rescued prisoners sat in a group. Twitch was still in the cockpit, taking care of some last minute shutdown procedures on the ship while Oster and McCart secured the two bombers. Abie was waiting for the majority of the group to be present to say anything.
McCart soon walked into the room, followed by Oster. The Bothan surveyed the room, looking for his normal partner.
Abie noticed the worry that flushed over his face. "I'm sorry Oster, she didn't make it."
Oster just stared straight ahead, his hand slowly forming into a fist. He silently sat in the corner, clearly doing his best to control the rage brewing inside of him.
Abie felt for him but knew there was nothing she could do. She waited a few more minutes, eventually giving up on waiting for Twitch. "Alright everyone, I will start by addressing what's on everyone's mind. It seems that the mission we just attempted to complete was a trap from the beginning."
"I tried to tell you that!" one of the newcomers shouted from the back.
Abie forced herself to ignore him, not attempting to defend herself. "Nevertheless, we lost two brave soldiers today. As tragic as the loss of Piik and Gershem are, we must remember that their sacrifice allowed us to save six lives"
"No, you didn't!" a voice called. It was the same man that had spoken up before. "You lost 12 lives today. That stunt you pulled put us all at risk and inflicted even more pain on us. My wife was on one of those destroyed transports as was family of all of us that you rescued. What made you think that trying to save us was a good idea?"
Abie was taken aback by the hostility shown from the man.
McCart was the one who was quick to respond. "Cool it mate, you were being transferred to the capital to be executed for treason. You all would have died anyway. My name is McCart of house Henning of Serenno. We are a group of rebels fighting to free people from the tyranny of the Empire. The woman you just disrespected is our leader, Abie Edge. We were on the side of the Republic before and now we are on the side of you, the people of Serenno."
The man backed down once he heard about their inevitable execution. "But how can we trust you? I am sure you are aware that we served the Separatist Alliance. What's to say you aren't just out for revenge?"
Before anyone could answer, Twitch came running into the room. "Sorry to interrupt, but everyone needs to hear this. It just played over the holonet and I was able to record it."
Twitch set down a small holoprojector on the floor of the cargo hold. He tapped a button and the holographic image of a woman appeared above it. It was the same woman who spoke to Abie on the transport. Abie had to suppress the burning anger inside her as the woman began to speak.
"Citizens of Serenno, I come to you, not as a Grand Admiral within the Imperial Navy, but as a fellow citizen of the Empire. Earlier today, Imperial forces were transporting a group of Separatist loyalists to the capital to be commended for their service to Serenno during the war. In a brutal attack, off-world terrorists, led by galactic criminal Abie Edge, assassinated these proud Serennian citizens. Imperial authorities are working to track down these insurgents and bring them to justice. If you have any information, notify the nearest Imperial outpost. Together we can maintain a safe and secure society on Serenno." The woman bowed before the recording ended.
Whispers emanated from the small group of people as Abie continued to stare at the small holoprojector on the ground. Her anger eventually got the best of her as she whipped out her blaster and sent a single blaster bolt into the holoprojector, shattering it into pieces.
The sound of the blaster fire silenced the room with all eyes on Abie. Nina was first to speak up after a prolonged silence. "Don't worry, Lady Edge. Imperial propaganda is something we've faced before. We can do it again."
Abie was quick to shake her head. "Onderon was different. Back there we could rely on the fact that we were from the planet to appeal to the citizens. After that address, I wouldn't be surprised if the population of this planet is already against us."
"What we need is strength!" McCart chimed in. "We need nothing more than to destroy that there crazy AT-ST. Show these people that we can make a difference here."
"Wishful thinking, McCart," Nina shot back. "We need to find a way to inspire these people and give them hope. As Lady Edge always says, 'hope is what rebellions are built on'."
"Yes, let us throw a bit of hope at that AT-ST. That is totally going to work," McCart said with a dramatic eye roll.
The rest of the room anxiously watched on as the officers argued. While Nina and McCart continued to butt heads, Twitch had made his way across the room until he was standing behind Abie.
"What about him?" Twitch asked her in a hushed voice.
"I had the same thought. I am just not sure he would be willing, especially considering what he is. I wouldn't even blame him for turning me down again."
Twitch sighed before asking, "but do you think it's worth another try?"
Abie put a hand on her chin as she considered it. By now the rest of the room had noticed the other two talking and had quieted down, trying to hear the two. Instead of responding to Twitch, Abie got up and moved to the center of the room standing over the destroyed holoprojector. "Twitch and I may have come up with a solution but in order for it to work, I need the trust of every single one of you. I will be away for a rotation or two on a mission to recruit a powerful, but at the same time, inspiring ally. He may be able to solve our strength problem as well as aid in our ability to inspire hope in the citizens of this planet. In the meantime, I think it would be wise to lay low, considering what happened on the last mission. It is clear that we are not ready to fight the Empire here."
As she finished her statement one of the rescued prisoners walked up to her. Up until now the six Separatist loyalists had stayed in the corner, discussing what they had witnessed over the holonet. "Lady Edge, is it? Would it be beneficial for your group to have someone on the inside of the Imperial mine and refinery?"
Abie was shocked at the man's complete reversal of attitude. She stumbled over her words as she tried to respond. "Ye... Ye... Yes, that would be amazing. Does that mean you are willing to join us?"
The man nodded and pointed to the rest of his associates who were watching on. "All of us lost family to the Empire. It is fitting for us to get the chance to hurt them the way they hurt us. Since we are all still Serenno citizens, it should be easy for us to get jobs at the refinery or mine."
Abie bowed to the man, thanking him. She quickly turned to see McCart and Nina trying to get Twitch to reveal who Abie was trying to find.
"Officers!" Abie yelled, silencing the three. "In my absence I need you three to assist our new recruits with whatever they need to get into the Imperial facilities."
The three officers all looked at each other before Twitch eventually spoke. "You are going alone?"
Abie simply nodded as she backed toward the exit of the cargo hold. "I should not be long, my friends. Cloud Squadron dismissed."
As Abie exited the ship, she could hear McCart trying to take control of the meeting while Twitch ran down the gangway after her. "What is it, Twitch?" she asked as she briskly walked toward the Insurgent.
Twitch quickly caught up to her until they were walking stride for stride. "How will you even find Rhodes? He never said where he was going next."
Abie shrugged as the next hangar came into view. "Don't know yet. The Gungan managed to find him for the Teth job, so I figured I'd start there."
"Back to Teth?" Twitch probed as Abie made her way up the ramp into the Insurgent's hangar where her ship was now parked.
"Precisely," Abie called before climbing the ladder into the cockpit of her A-wing.
Before Twitch could ask his sister any more questions, he was watching the fighter fly out of the hangar and into the sky.
The sun was high above the red, forested planet of Teth. Rose Dixon was walking up and down the rows of crops ready for harvest. Rose eventually stopped and excitedly turned to Skye who was walking beside her. "With that tyrant, Dev Gruz, gone, this is going to be our best harvest since the founding of our village."
"That's assuming someone else doesn't show up before tomorrow," Skye joked. "With the money made from this harvest we should be..."
Skye's words trailed off as she reached behind her head and lifted up one of the floppy ears that dangled off her head. "Do you hear that?" she muttered as if regretting the joke she had just made.
Rose nodded as the two took off running back to the village. As they were running back, a ship sped past them heading for the far side of the village. They could tell that it was a one-man fighter which eased their anxiety a bit but failed to slow their pace.
By the time they reached the center of the village, Rose could see Kenz's tall frame talking to a person, still too far to recognize. Rose waited while Kenz escorted the visitor to Rose.
Skye and Rose let out sighs of relief once they recognized the visitor as Abie Edge, one of the associates Rhodes had recruited during the Teth job. Rose was, however, still anxious about her visit. "Do you have any idea what risk you've brought back here?" Rose hissed.
Abie was taken aback by the sudden hostility from the normally charismatic Rose. Abie stumbled over her words before Rose simply grabbed her by the arm and dragged her in the direction of a small hut off to the side. Once inside, Abie was pushed toward a seat at a small table. She reluctantly took a seat, still confused by the sudden mood change.
It wasn't very long ago that she was part of a team that liberated the village from the hands of ex-Separatist warlord Dev Gruz. Rose sat at the other end of the table, staring at Abie. Skye was standing at the entrance of the hut, looking just as confused as Abie. The room was awkwardly silent, each person waiting for someone else to break the silence.
Rose eventually let out a breathy sigh. "My apologies for my behavior, Abie. Allow me to explain." Abie relaxed a little, nodding to allow Rose to continue. "Shortly after you and the rest of Captain Rhodes' team left, someone from the Empire showed up to inquire about what happened during our rebellion. I don't know how, but they knew about Rhodes."
"You sold him out! Didn't you?" Abie shouted, standing up from her chair.
Rose's soft face turned to a glare as she too got up from her seat. "I will not be yelled at in my own home! I did what I had to do for this village to survive. I did it when Dev Gruz was here, I did it when the Empire showed up, and I will do it again."
Abie immediately felt bad as she imagined the situation Rose must have gone through. She calmly sat down and allowed Rose to continue.
Rose took her seat as well, returning to her normally calm demeanor. "They already knew about Rhodes' past. Since I knew they knew, I had no choice but to give them the information they asked for. The admiral I spoke to seemed to know who you are too. I didn't know where you and Twitch were headed next, so I only revealed that you were involved. This seemed to satisfy her. I think she was only here to confirm that Rhodes existed. Thanks to that, I was able to keep information about Lena to the minimum. And because they know you were involved, if they found out you were here, I have no doubts that admiral would return."
Abie slowly nodded, trying to carefully word her next statement. "I understand, Rose, so I will make my business here brief. I need to find Rhodes. I would explain why but you not knowing is probably for the best, especially if the Empire returns. I know you and Skye managed to track him down for the Teth job. I was wondering if there was a way for me to find him quickly."
Skye let out a dramatic laugh. "What, and let you lead the Empire straight to him or drag him into more dangerous situations? We may have butted heads in the past, but I will not let you put him at risk."
Abie turned her chair around to face Skye who was still standing in the entrance. "We need him to help us save other innocent people who are at risk! Not because of his strength as a warrior but because of what the Jedi stand for as a whole. Please, show me where to look."
Skye shook her head and refused to budge.
"Skye!" Rose's voice boomed from the end of the table. "Give her the tracking frequency. We should not be deciding for Rhodes what he does with his life. And all due respect to Abie, but the faster she is off Teth, the better for us."
"Tracking frequency?" Abie asked while turning to Rose.
Skye let out a dramatic sigh before finally taking a seat at the table. "Yes, I have the ability to track Rhodes should I ever need to find him. Shortly before I left his crew, I installed a tracking beacon aboard the Kestrel. That is how I was able to find him for the Teth job. And I suppose Rose is right. It should be his choice, not mine."
Skye reached into the satchel she had around her shoulder and produced a small handheld device. "This device will give you the location where the Kestrel currently is. It won't work if the ship is in hyperspace but if Rhodes has landed anywhere, you should get a good idea of where he is on what planet. The device will also help Rhodes find the location of the tracker that he has been trying to find for years. It is probably best that no one be able to track him after you find him. Now that the Empire knows about him, he will be hunted. Good luck, Abie Edge."
Abie received the device and thanked Rose and Skye. She quickly scurried out of the hut, leaving the two women at the table.
"I hope Rhodes will be alright," Skye commented.
Rose leaned back in her chair saying, "I am sure he will manage just fine. You did the right thing, Skye."
"Let's hope I did," Skye gulped as the sound of Abie's starfighter could be heard taking off outside.