"You did what?"
Rebels gathered around the campfire, taking swigs of their home brewed drinks every now and then. Cassian introduced them one-by-one to Talia, but there were so many names that she just smiled and waved. Assassins, saboteurs, spies, pilots, mechanics, many of them came from diverse backgrounds. To be sitting in the rolling fields of Dantooine with such brave men and women felt surreal, as if the brith flying amongst the dark starry sky had revealed that she was in a dream.
Talia laughed lightly, grinning from ear-to-ear as she nodded. Cassian blushed, yet covered it up by clearing his throat and taking a sip of his Dantooine Ice-Twist. Talia continued, "At that time, I hadn't..." A breath hitched in her throat, tangling her words together in a web. Killed anyone... A chill crawled down her spine. Bitterness and remorse tightened inside of her chest as she remembered how naïve she had been before that. So carefree and thinking she would never murder a soul. She shoved the feeling away and thought back to her first encounter with Cass. Her expression faltered, but picked back up in a flash. "Cassian's smirk had to be genuine. No one could fake that. The senator that caught us ended up so flustered."
Kalla, if Talia recalled correctly, chuckled for a moment and couldn't hold back her words, "I bet! Sounds like you two had quite the adventure. Must be nice having a partner." Hearing adventures from a second perspective, rather than Captain Andor's, felt like a warm welcome to the rebels, especially in a situation like this. Kalla's green eyes looked between Cassian and Talia before taking another sip of the drink in her hand.
Talia brushed her hair behind her ear, not taking a moment to hesitate before replying truthfully, "It is. I'm surprised Cass has kept me around this long."
"Cass?" Ven, a big, burly man, called out from the other side of the group. He chewed on some sijjo sewi, snorts of breath leaving his nostrils as he laughed.
Cassian sighed. If only he had told her not to say that either in front of them. Then again...he couldn't censor her. A free spirit like Talia can't be caged, unlike Cassian. Caged by his own actions and deep inner thoughts... "I lied to her about my identity, so she insists on calling me that."
"I think it's fair," Talia declared, glancing over at him to see his straight expression. Amused, she leaned back against the giant fallen tree and bit her lip to keep from smiling.
Halron, one of Cassian's closest friends, stared at Cassian with a mischievous grin. The man had told wondrous stories of how he sabotaged many Imperial vehicles, and even weapons within facilities. The one where the stormtrooper blew up his buddy's hand on accident would forever be engrained in Talia's mind. Halron poked fun and winked, "Is she the only one that can call you that?"
With a snort, Cassian ignored him. Rather than egg Halron on and allow the rest to tease him, or whatever they planned to do, he playfully bounced a comment off of what Talia said, "Talia didn't give me a choice in staging that scene. The smile might or might not have been genuine."
Someone within the big circle muttered mostly to themselves, forlorn and shaken to the core, "The alternative is much worse."
The contorted expression on what was left of Bohk's bloody face imprinted itself onto the back of her eyelids, flashing before her in a torturous fashion when she blinked. Her breathing deepened, the image catching her off guard. Talia rubbed her thumb against the top of her hand to distract herself as she admitted, "Which is what I tried to avoid." A stray thought crossed her mind. Cassian can't seem to stay away from death.
Essja, a blue Twi'lek assassin with a rather impressive record, spoke up from the side, "Have you done it?" She stared at Talia with bright, colorful eyes that softened into worry. Some people were made to kill. Others were made to protect, and Talia's words bled that. Essja saw right through them.
"Take a life?" The blaster shots rang in her ear in the distant memory. Bile churned in her stomach, causing her to feel ill. She pushed a single confirmation out of her throat, "Yes."
Cassian looked at her thankfully, noticing as she paled. He quickly diverted the conversation to end on a lighter note, "She took out the bounty hunter to save me. Talia could've easily ran, but didn't."
Halron hitched an eyebrow and glimpsed at Talia with his black eyes. He marveled, "Saved our boy and killed a hunter? Color me impressed."
At this point, Talia held herself back from wringing her hands. She massaged one hand by running her thumb across her palm with pressure. Her brown eyes locked onto the ground as the bile threatened to rise up in her throat. "Most difficult thing I've ever had to do."
A rebel she didn't remember the name of seemed to take an interrogative stance to her comment, "Rather than running out into a hot battlefield as bait? I can hardly believe that."
With a shrug, she admitted simply, "I was ready to die for the cause. If it saved Cassian, then I knew the Rebellion was in good hands." It was the whole truth. Dying for the cause, especially to save another, seemed to be the best way to go out as a spy. The blaze of glory, running out into an active battlefield, and diverting the attention of the soldiers to allow Cassian to escape...She'd do it again if she had to.
"Sounds like you two have grown pretty close," Kalla concluded.
Talia nodded slowly. With everything they had gone through, how could they not? They hit a few rocky points, but pushing each other's buttons seemed so natural to them. Secrets could only go so far until they're discovered. "Yeah. We have."
A soldier set his head on his hands and stared at the fire dreamily, "Captain Andor is a grand spy, isn't he? So many victories, so few losses. Skilled enough to come back in one piece and with a robot...He's awesome..." He trailed off and sent a wink Cassian's way.
Without thinking, Talia joked, "Is a Mynock chewing on the power cables, or is that sucking sound you?"
With a surprise, everyone laughed. The soldier laughed with them. It was no secret that he had a huge crush on Cassian. The other rebels could see right through the man. Halron beamed at Talia, "I like you already."
When the laughing died down and the silence had taken over, Talia took a sip of water. The crackle of the fire snapped in their ears against the silent terrain. Some clouds covered the stars, overshadowing the light emanating from the sky. Assuming that they were all starfighter pilots, she questioned, "How'd a bunch of rocketjocks like you end up fighting for the cause?"
These fiery rebels came from all walks of life. Some told stories of the Clone Wars. The firefights, explosions, political struggles, it was as if Talia heard it all for the first time. The history books had nothing on these insights. Bloody. Cold. Massacres and domination. Division of the galaxy had been at an all time high.
Others gave stories of the horrible encounters with the Imperial military police forces. Nuisance patrols, controlling local governmental police, doing what they wanted, the citizens of some cities had been so restrained. So cut off from the possibilities of life.
The stories rang on and on. Siblings murdered by stormtroopers. Homes burnt to a crisp. Joining the rebellion felt like the right thing to do. Politicians in the Senate screwed them over. Killings in the name of the Empire. Assassinations. New gangs starting up. New rebellions that were crushed and obliterated. Soon, Talia had lost track of them all.
Sadako, a girl who had been quiet the entire time, hesitated. None of the spies had learned of her origins, but what better time than now to talk about it? They were family here. At least, in some sort of support group kind of way. "I...uh...I was living in Callos for a while. Beautiful, overgrown jungles with hellish winters. The natives were high end socialites, almost like the elite in Coruscant. They loved their education and philosophy." She paused, taking in a shaky breath. "The Empire found out about the new offensive tech the citizens constructed. It could've changed the war. When the TIE Interceptors rained down, scattered reports came in. Some discussed the Black Eight Squadron. Others swore Darth Vader himself was leading the attack. I didn't know what to think.
"I saved as many citizens as I could. Barely got out alive myself. When the bombings stopped and the Squints retreated, we thought it was over. The Empire had no mercy." She scowled, a low, guttural growl rose from her throat. A tear rolled down her cheek and glistened in the light of the crackling fire. "They took out the planetary reactor before their departure. The gunk rising out of it poisoned the water and damaged the atmosphere. The forest died out in a matter of months."
With a pause, Sadako brushed the tear away with her clenched hand. Her dark eyes never left the fire. "That's why I'm here. The Empire had no mercy destroying an entire planet's ecosystem. I will have none when we take them out."
All of the rebels sat in stunned silence. Eyes averted from Sadako, pain forming on every single one of their faces. To lose an entire planet made everyone else's reasons seem so small; the Empire was relentless. Talia closed her eyes for a brief moment, remembering her own horror story of a turning point, and a sharp pain formed in her chest. "Shit..." She trailed off, a sorrowful expression forming on her features. "I'm so sorry."
Sadako raised her drink, the fierce expression engrained into her face. "To the Rebellion."
Everyone raised their drinks and repeated the line. Someone else decided to talk about what made them join, when Cassian began to stare at Talia. Even if they were discussing negative events, all of them were opening up. For the first time in a long time, they weren't pretending that they were okay. In reality, the rebels were living with huge weights on their shoulders, sinking them into the abyss of the stars. Talia brought a comforting feel to the group. Maybe it was because she was new, or their drinks had been stronger than usual. Cassian couldn't tell.
All he cared about was the fact that she got along well with his friends.
Talia had to do a double take when she realized he was staring right at her. She looked into his dark, glistening eyes as the light of the fire reflected off of them. A small smile tugged at the corners of her lips, and a warmth crept over her chest. Cassian's lips formed into a sweet grin at the sight of her. Maybe the walls around his heart fell quicker than he realized.
A telecommunications officer ran up to the group; his hair stuck up from taking the headset off too quickly. Fear instilled itself into his dark eyes, glancing at every single one of them. Out of breath, he choked out the words, "The senators...they've been...taken."
The whole group questioned in disbelief simultaniously, "What?"
The worker took a short moment to catch his breath. He bent over, his hands on his knees to balance himself. Still winded, he managed to spit out, "Darth Vader has kidnapped the senators."