Maxwell
Maxwell felt the presence of the hungry darkness disappear the moment the Charger jumped into hyper space. Ironically this didn't make him feel much better. It had been to easy and if he had learned one thing about the madness in the dark side there was no such thing with easy. Sure, it had blinded Ahsoka but that hadn't been a surprise. As securely founded in the light side her lack of experience made blinding her very easy. Despite all her talent and potential she still had much to learn.
"I'm going to go and catch some sleep. If the Separatists attack us......well don't bother waking me," Ahsoka announced and got out of the co pilots seat.
"Sweet dreams," Maxwell replied while running a systems diagnostics on the ships hyper drive.
"Thanks, so are you coming?" Ahsoka asked suggestivly.
He shook his head slightly, "No, I need to take care of a few things first. Go ahead."
"Good night, Maxwell," Then she gave him a quick kiss before leaving the cockpit.
Once the bulkhead was securely sealed behind Ahsoka, Maxwell sat up straighter and pushed aside the doubt he had about his relationship with Ahsoka. Even though he liked Ahsoka and the opposite was definitely the case he knew that for now no to strong feelings were involved. For now it was mostly fun mixed with a healthy dose of attraction. However that would eventually change.
Maxwell hadn't lied when he had said that he had work to do. For a moment Maxwell considered how to proceed. To most Chronology wouldn't matter in a situation like this. Not when there was more than enough time to prepare his next step. However it matter to Maxwell.
Although he had time, an error in a situation like this could have disastrous consequence so everything could matter. Deciding in what order he would complete his tasks before hand also made it easier to find possible flaws and weaknesses in his plans. Of course the effectiveness of such measures was debatable but it made him feel safer, even if it only meant prioritizing one thing over another.
Finally he made up his mind. Regrouping was the most important thing. It was time to be sneaky. The question was if Aayla would remember that trick. It had been five years after all.
Maxwell moved over to the communications console and pinged the main server of the closest relay station. After a few seconds the station sent a ping back. Perhaps it would still work. First he masked his transponder codes ID and artificially created a new random one. Then he initiated a handshake protocol with the stations computers. Curiously enough it worked. A moment later he was logged into a temporary user account. Unfortunately he didn't have any real capabilities yet. However it was enough to transmit a concealed signaled along with the main carrier wave. It wasn't anything complicated, only a sub single at the range of fifteen milli heart.
Hopefully that was enough to wake up her up provided Aayla was looking for it and then traced the single back and opened a channel. Now he needed to wait. Finally, after half an hour the console started beeping. Maxwell grinned softly, the transmission was encrypted.
Maxwell opened the channel and moved back to the pilots seat were the hollo projector started humming. The glowing image of Aayla Secura flicked to life. The Twi'lek smiled when she saw him and her Lekku twitched slightly, the equivalent of a relieved greeting. A normal person wouldn't even have noticed it but Aayla had tought Maxwell how to interpret Lekku long ago and in the past it had proven to be a useful ability.
"Good to see you to Aayla."
She sighed, "So, did you learn anything new?"
Maxwell nodded, "Perhaps but the Intel might not be very reliable. If what I learned is true we might be in for a lot of trouble however this information is to sensitive to send via hollo transmission."
"So, how did it go? Is Ahsoka okay?"
"Ahsoka is fine, she's resting now. Surprisingly everything worked out. I would have expected this to be a lot more dangerous. Are you finished with your ops?" Maxwell asked.
The Twi'lek smirked, "Yes, you have a good crew. Shenna is adorable. So, where did you want to meet up?"
"There is a research base in the Polis Massa asteroid field. We can rendezvous there," Maxwell decided.
Aayla nodded and her Lekku flicked slightly. Lekku didn't translate into any into words. Feelings played a big role and usually a single gesture could mean a number of things depending on the context and usually a lot more complicated message was conveyed. For instance, her greeting earlier had been a greeting to a close friend of the family that she was extremely happy to see again. This was the kind of amusement that was usually followed by teasing.
"What?" he asked irritably.
"Shenna likes to gossip," she hinted.
"Care to elaborate?" he asked.
"Well, apparently a certain Togruta that both of us are acquainted with has expressed an interest in you and I'm not talking about any Queens of Alderaan," Aayla hinted heavy-handedly.
Maxwell pursed his lips, he really needed to talk to Shenna when he got back. "Aayla, you do realize that you are treading on very thin ice. Is there any somewhat attractive male in the Order you didn't sleep with at some point? I only know of Kit Fisto, that Sith that once seduced you and helped you lose your memories. I don't even want to know what happened when you worked as a Stripper in your uncle's bar afterwards until we found you. Then there are of course those rumors about Master Kenobi. Finally we should also mention that Padawan I caught you with and finally my brother. That was the time you drank a bit to much and ended up calling me so I could pick you up from that hotel, help you get dressed and then get you to the quarters Master Shaak Ti and I used to live in. Ohh and wasn't something underway with Commander Bly? I'm surprised I'm not on that list."
Aayla smiled at him innocently but her Lekku let him know that she was utterly unashamed of her bedtime activities. "Ohh, I would have done you too but you were to oblivious. Now, don't try to take the offensive here or I might get the feeling you are trying to hide something."
She bit her lip, "No you didn't........"
Maxwell raised an eyebrow. "......Yes you did," Aayla hissed.
The Jedi sighed, deciding that something was wrong with him. He had always taken pride in the fact that he could hide and control his emotions. Of course Aayla knew him better than most but still.
"Well, younger girls are easier to impress," Aayla mused.
"She started it," Maxwell replied defensively.
"I'm sure she did. Let me guess, you told her that you can't and that you are to old and she didn't care."
Maxwell nodded slightly.
"No surprises there. Well, we'll talk about you doing your padawan when I can scold you in person."
"Don't forget to maintain radio silence. Good bye," Maxwell ordered.
"I'm proud of you. They grow up so quickly." Aayla chirped. Before she could annoy him any further he ended the call and rubbed his temples.
He hadn't exactly planned in sharing that piece of information with anyone.
Maxwell sighed and headed back to the communications console. He couldn't do anything fact here so he didn't even try.
After sending out a transmission he returned to the pilots seat. After a few seconds the holographic image of his brother appeared. "Hi mate," the king of Alderaan greeted him. Alexander was wearing a simple tunic, trousers, and boots.
"Hello Alexander. I take it you retook Alderaan. Any casualties I should know about?" Maxwell asked.
"Almost, we're still mopping up a few remaining battalions. Foster is in a Coma after she crashed the Pride into a droid army but apart from that not really. Ohh and by the way, that girl you picked up, Lavaria is also here. She will probably make a full recovery," Alexander announced.
Maxwell nodded. It could have been a lot worse.
"Is Yela doing well?" he asked.
"Well enough. She's always hungry and in a bad mood. It would have been a lot easier of you were here to help me out with her. Enough of that, something tells me that this isn't a social call," Alexander said and crossed his muscular arms, each of wish was probably thicker than Yela's or Ahsoka's waist.
"Not exactly," Maxwell started and then explained what they had been up to with put giving to many details. "I was wondering if I could borrow my Night Stalkers. It might prove to be helpful to have that card up my sleeve."
Alexander started grinning which didn't reassure Maxwell at all. "Sure, where should I send them to meet you."
"The research base in the Polis Massa asteroid field," he explained.
"Okay, I'll send them. Listen brother, I need to go. Yela wants something.." Alexander trailed off.
"No problem. Good take care of her. May the force be with you," Maxwell replied. If he was honest he would have preferred taking care of Yela rather than trying to solve all of the galaxy's problems.
"Yeah, good luck out there. Alderaan out." The hologram disappeared.
For a moment he sat there, trying to think of other measures he could take. He considered alerting the council but chose against it. That course of action would cause to many problems. If the Chancellor was a Sith he would be forcing him to make his move ahead of time. If he wasn't it would crate political chaos on a scale that Maxwell wasn't confident in being able to handle.
No, he had made his move. Now it was time to see how things played out. Should he go to bed and join Ahsoka? It wouldn't be wise and for all he knew Ahsoka might interprit a lot more into it than there was. As long as she was still planning to teach her any sort of intamite relationship was not fesable at best but on the other hand Ahsoka's time as a student was nearly over. Ahsoka was as ready as anyone could be. After all, both Skywalker and Alexander had been knighted and Ahsoka was already a lot more mature than either of them had been at the time.
Maxwell sighed and started to disassemble his armor which in itself took up to five minutes. When he was finished and his armor was safely stored away he returned to his cabin where for some reason he was surprised when he found Ahsoka sleeping in his bunk.
Of course, she would be here.
After hesitating for a moment he lowered himself in the bunk and closed his eyes.
Ahsoka
They made the journey to Polis Massa in a little over a week, a week that Ahsoka used to rest and get back to full strength. So when they dropped out of hyperspace at the edge of the asteroid field and made their way towards the asteroid base Ahsoka was in a good mood, which was surprising considering the circumstances. Maxwell had told her how Aayla had put one and one together after Shenna had gossiped. Ahsoka made a mental note to have words with her.
Before she knew it they had safely landed in one of the bases hangar bays and were powered down the thrusters. "Let's go," Maxwell said after flicking the Master switch to the off position and the monitors in the cockpit went dark.
Then they disembarked the Charger and quickly proceeded out of the hangar.
"Where are we meeting them?" Ahsoka asked.
"Likely in the common area. The base is operated by a civilian contractor hired by the Jedi Order so we can operate openly here."
"Great, Civilian Contractors," Ahsoka cheered with mock joy.
Maxwell ignored her and finally they reached the common area where they found the people why were hoping to encounter. Sitting around a table were Commander Sparkles and his three fellow Commandos. Present too were Aayla Secura, Barriss Offee, Shenna, and Bo Katan.
However, they weren't alone. Flanked by the members of Delta Squad stood his majesty, Alexander Bay himself.
When they saw them entering the group rose to their feet. "Finally, what took you this long, we've been waiting for three days," Shenna complained.
Barriss playfully shoved the girl.
Maxwell and Aayla exchanged a small nod, Bo Katan snapped them a mock salute, and the Night Ops stood at attention.
"I didn't expect you guys to turn up," Maxwell admitted after everyone had finished exchanging greetings.
"Well, this does seem to be rather important so I thought that you could use all the help you can get," Alexander offered.
"You thought correct. I'll give you a complete briefing once we are underway again. Let's move all our gear to the Spirit. I want to be underway again in less than an hour."
Okay, we are trying to get this story back on track.
Winter Wolf and Lengendary over and out.