Saga - Legends “Skyfall”, a Mon Mothma and Dravits Draven one-shot (0 ABY)

Title: “Skyfall”, a Mon Mothma and Dravits Draven one-shot

WARNING: May contain spoilers for the Cassandra main story!

Author: AzureAngel2

Co-editor and muse: @DarthUncle

Main beta editor: @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

Length: one-shot

Summary: A rebellion can never be successful without a spy master who holds all the treads in his hands. Somebody who is not afraid to play dirty, when it really matters.

Time frame: The story takes place in 1 ABY. Just hours after the explosion of the 1st Death Star.

Planet of choice: unknown

Reader warning: Please excuse my weird English! I am German. English is only my Second language!

Disclaimer: SW is owned by George Lucas, Lucas Ltd. and now The Walt Disney Company



I've always been a hunter
Nothing on my tail
But there was something in you
I knew could make that change

To capture a predator
You can't remain the prey
You have to become
An equal
In every way

So look in the mirror
And tell me, who do you see?
Is it still you?
Or is it me?

Become the beast
We don't have to hide
Do I terrify you
Or do you feel alive?

Do you feel the hunger
Does it howl inside?
Does it terrify you?
Or do you feel alive?

Splinters of my soul
Cut through your skin
And burrow within
Burrow within

Splinters of my soul
Cut through your skin
And burrow within
Burrow within

So embrace the darkness
And I will help you see
That you can be limitless
And fearless
If you follow me

We are the lions
In a world of lambs
We are the predators

The hunters
The hunters
The hunters

Become the beast
We don't have to hide
Do I terrify you?
Or do you feel alive?

Do you feel the hunger
Does it howl inside?
Does it terrify you?
Or do you feel alive?

Splinters of my soul
Cut through your skin
And burrow within
Burrow within

Splinters of my soul
Cut through your skin
And burrow within
Burrow within

Splinters of my soul
Cut through your skin
And burrow within
Burrow within

Splinters of my soul
Cut through your skin
And burrow within
Burrow within

Do you feel the hunger
Does it howl inside?
Does it terrify you?
Or do you feel alive?


I stare against the metal ceiling of my bunk, my head hurting badly. Too many things are on my mind.

Staying on Yavin would have been an unnecessary risk. Jan considers me to be the core of the rebellion. Especially now that Bail is dead and his daughter slightly “damaged” after the tragedy of Alderaan.

Against my wishes, I have been evacuated to this safe location, known to a few individuals only. I feel like a thief in the night. A traitor, to be honest. Especially now that I am working on the contingency plan: surrender to Sheev Palpatine.

I am going slightly mad.

Scarif has been paid in blood. In its orbit and on its shores the Alliance had only won a battle, not the entire war.

I am not a fool. Growing up on Chandrila I know a lot about cattle and herding them.

Nerfs never bite off the hands that fed them. They are by far to docile and obedient for that.

A lot of star systems will remain loyal to those who have ruled them for more then two decades.

Our victory at Scarif is meaningless.

Restless, I pace my room, ready for incoming messages.

I still wear the outfit in which I had faced Jyn Erso and Bail not long ago: my white senatorial robes.

My fingers close around my Hanna pendant, that Crix has given me ages ago at a rural midwinter ball. The so-called 'Chandrilan medal of freedom' includes three ropes, each made of metal rings. Those are connected to the shoulder of the clothing. A decorated clasp connects the entire composition to metal ring ropes.

For a brief moment I close my eyes, allowing myself a private thought.

Perhaps it is time to give in to my lover's wooing. My forty-seventh birthday is approaching soon. And after all my personal sacrifices maybe I deserve a bit of happiness, too. If the Emperor lets us live that is.

The words of my public speech two years ago come flooding back into my mind.

“This is Senator Mon Mothma, I have been called a traitor for speaking out against a corrupt Galactic Senate. A Senate manipulated by the sinister tactics of the Emperor. For too long I have watched the heavy hand of the Empire strangle our liberties, stifling our freedoms in the name of ensuring our safety. No longer! Despite Imperial threats, despite the Emperor himself, I have no fear as I take new action. For I am not alone. Beginning today we stand together as allies. I hereby resign from the Senate to fight for you, not from the distant hall of politics but from the front lines. We will not rest until we bring an end to the Empire, until we restore our Republic! Are you with me?”

My senatorial attaché Erskin Semaj, the Gold Squadron and Hera Syndulla with her 'Ghost' crew had helped me to vanish off the radar back then.

Without warning, my door opens.

Immediately, my blaster is pointing at my late night visitor, who merely crooks an eyebrow at me. “Well done!” he comments. “Nice reaction time.”

“Oh, it's you,” I sigh, relief flooding me as I recognize the man in front of me.

********************************************************************

“Messages can be decrypted, so I send myself,” Dravits Draven, my spy master, says matter-of-factly. His blue eyes burn with the heat of a thermal-neutron reactor. Unblinking, they rest on my face. “We have won.”

My knees give in and I hold on to the wall next to me. “We have won,” I echo.

“For now.”

I gaze up at him again.

Today he looks like death himself. His already haggard face is full of shadows, making the lines of his cheekbones seem sharper than ever. But it is his smile that is unbearable. “Permission to go after somebody before the enemy can get to my asset,” he says.

I frown. “Your asset?”

He puts a finger on his lips. “No questions asked and not a word to Crixy Pixy.”

“Why would I do that?” I ask, being annoyed. I have not spoken to his foster brother for some time.

But then it dawns on me.

Once a hunter, always a hunter. No matter how hard his fosters – the Anils – have tried, deep inside Dravits has remained a child soldier. With all the trust issues that come with it.

My personal comlink sounds. “Senator,” one of my trustees says. “We have an incoming call to you from… the princess.”

There is no mistake about the identity of the caller.

“Put it in here,” I ask the technician.

********************************************************************

While Leia reports to me via our safe channel, she sounds relieved and cheerful. She actually talks much about a flight ace from Tatooine: Luke. She sounds like a woman in love.

Despite all, I have to smile.

As long as humanoids hearts are still able to find one another, the future of this galaxy is safe.

But then I have to frown because Leia suddenly mentions a smuggler by the name of Captain Han Solo. I detect certain undercurrents in her voice. She gives her best not to even like him a single bit.

Well, in the end Bail's daughter has to decide between the two men. But knowing her, duty comes first in her life. In that she is like me. We put the Alliance and the restoration of the Republic above all. I am not sure whether to be relieved or sad for her.

“Enjoy the victory party, but make the first arrangements to evacuate the base,” I suggest to Leia. “They will be back with all the fire power that they can conjure.”

“I agree on that, Mon.”

Something comes to my mind. I need the full name of the man who made my contingency plan useless. “By the way, what is the family name of our hero?”

“Skywalker.”

My throat feels unbelievably tight. “Are you sure? Perhaps you just misheard it.”

“No. I didn't. When he entered my prison cell on the Death Star he said, 'I'm Luke Skywalker. I'm here to rescue you! Look, I've got your R2-unit and I'm here with Ben Kenobi.'' Hearing the general' s name I rose from my cot immediately.”

********************************************************************

I remain silent after our good-byes to one another. Skywalker and Kenobi. This can be no coincidence. Did Bail know about this? Once more I miss my old friend. But I have no time to dig into old memories.

“Now about the asset that I need...”, Dravits reminds me.

I spin around. “I want to know exactly who that asset is.”

“The less you know, the better for you.” My spy master stirs, his body as tense as the string of an artificial bow. “Time is of the essence.”

“Why do you want that particular person?” I give Dravits my sternest look. “Why all this secrecy and haste?”

“A black operation then,” he snarls and turns to walk out on me. “I won't need your support any more.”

“Don't play personal games in my alliance!”

“Excuse me? Your alliance?”

“Bail, Padmé and I are the founders of this rebellion,” I snap back, because I hate the look in his eyes.

“And what about Garm? Is he not canon any more?” Dravits laughs haughtily. “Oh and Saw. He also made dear sacrifices for the cause, too, you know. Starting with his own sister Steela.”

“Leia just lost her entire home world. And do not start me on Gial and his people,” I point out and decide to change course. “Who is the asset?”

Dravits smashes his fist into the wall next to him.

I make my back straight. “I am your commander-in-chief.”

He huffs.

“I need to know what I am dealing with here,” I move on, my voice having the sharp edge it used to have in the senatorial arena during a debate.

“You might not be able to handle the truth.”

“And you are qualified enough?” I probe pointedly. “Qualified to see all the implications?”

His pale cheeks are on fire. “Okay, she is a persona non grata since the Battle above Scarif. Neither the Imps nor our people really want her around. As for the public: they will either hate her or love her. Many might pity her.”

The ferocity with which Dravits just has spoken means that the entire matter is of the most personal nature to him. It spikes my curiosity. “I want to see your set of sabbac cards, all of them.”

My spy master stares ahead of him, his jaw stiff.

“If I sign a death warrant, I need at least one good reason why to do so.”

Dravits smirks. “Who talks about her death? That would be by far too easy for this Sith lover.”

I frown at this unusual term. “Are we talking about Vader's mistress?”

“His mistress? If only that cyborg could have. But no, she used to be his personal librarian, serving as his secretary and communication officer at times.”

This is the first time that I have heard that the famous dark lord has let somebody into his otherwise austere life. “What else are you keeping from me?”

“Krennic had a daughter. By adoption. It's her. Vader's pet. Her name is Cassandra.”

********************************************************************

It is hard to imagine that the man, responsible for the destruction of so many planets and the Holy City of Jedha, has been able to show love and compassion. “Why is that not common knowledge?” I probe.

“If you ask me, the leaders of the Tarkin gang act outside the government, beyond the law,” Dravits explains. “Now that Krennic is dead, he gets erased from history. As if he never existed in the first place. The girl might share that fate.”

“How old is she?”

“A bit younger than Princess Leia if I recall correctly.”

I pose the next question carefully. “What makes you think that she is a second Jyn Erso?”

“Oh, I don't want the girl to join us.” Shadows haunt his haggard face. “But I am keen on her knowledge. About her good old dad. About Vader. Imagine what she might have witnessed over the years.”

I think of the speech I wanted to write, if the Empire would have won the day instead of us.

“Bring Miss Krennic in then,” I decide. “Unharmed. I would like to have a civil chat with her. Preferably before you put her into any stress positions. Or use your entire drug laboratory on her.”



Sources:
The song “Become the hunter” by Karliene (2015)
An entire speech from the episode "Secret Cargo" of the animated television series "Star Wars: Rebels, 3rd Season"
Quotes from the movie "Star Wars, Episode IV: A new hope"
Wookieepedia – The Star Wars Wiki
Jedipedia, a free German Star Wars-Encyclopaedia


Extra information:
The story of what happens to Cassie after the death of her adoptive father, Orson Krennic, is very fragmented instead of one clean fanfic. Let´s order the chaos more chronologically, shall we?!?

“A question of time”
= During the Battle of Scarif Director Krennic establishes a connection to Coruscant and gives his adopted daughter a "Code Red" alarm. But the young woman ignores the order to evacuate the family flat. (0 BBY)

“Fly on the windscreen”
= A neighbour of the Krennic family witnesses directly how an ISB black op team hunts down Cassie after the events on Scarif. (0 BBY)

“Now the day bleeds into nightfall”
= Orson Krennic dies through the battle station he helped to construct. But death is not the end. The Force is not finished with him yet. (0 BBY)

“People disappear all the time”
= Cassie is kept in a black prison, suspected to have betrayed the Empire together with her father and, of all people, Galen Erso. (0 ABY)

“Happens to the heart”
= On Mustafar Cassie tries to come to terms with her beloved father´s demise and other losses in her life. She has a little help from the other side by no other than Qui-Gon Jinn. (0 ABY)

“The inmost light”
= Cassie tries to summon the ghost of her father, but has the wrong crowd from the spirit world showing up on the grounds of the Krennic apple farm. (0 BBY)

“Skyfall”
= In the aftermath of the Battle of Yavin spymaster Dravits Draven asks Mon Mothma to get the permission for a black op. The target in question in the daughter of the man who constructed the Death Star. (0 ABY)

“Raised in a summers haze”
= Zevulon Veers, who is in the process to join the rebel alliance, remembers the day that Scarif fell rather difficult. (0 ABY)

 

Wonderful to read of Mon Mothma and her dealings with Draven & Leia and her reflections on the Alliance & Empire. Wow, to think of Cassie as something that is expendable.

 

There sure is a lot of anger in Draven, isn't there?! Still not my favourite, but, this story is pretty great, and I think you make a believable, realistic Mon Mothma. Draven remains consistently a bit of an *ss, as I suppose is to be expected

 

@WarmNyota_SweetAyesha: For Mon she is because she does not know her really. And rebellions always come with a price. Ask Jyn Erso.

@DarthUncle: Well, there is this sadistic streak in him that the Disney canon made official. (I hope to see him in that planned Cassian TV series now and again.)

 

Do you feel the hunger
Does it howl inside?
Does it terrify you?
Or do you feel alive?

Awesome lyrics.


Especially now that Bail is dead and his daughter slightly “damaged” after the tragedy of Alderaan.

She's not damaged. Just a little cracked. Now she blends in with regular people better.


Especially now that I am working on the contingency plan: surrender to Sheev Palpatine.

Gooood. An excellent plan.


They are by far to docile and obedient for that.

Just like good little subjects.



If the Emperor lets us live that is.

Yeah. If.



For too long I have watched the heavy hand of the Empire strangle our liberties, stifling our freedoms in the name of ensuring our safety.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.



“Oh, it's you,” I sigh, relief flooding me as I recognize the man in front of me.

I see all the magic is gone now.



She sounds like a woman in love.

Yeah, in love with the scoundrel who helped Luke save the day.



She gives her best not to even like him a single bit.

Heh. Such a scoundrel.



Hearing the general' s name I rose from my cot immediately.

Another Skywalker? The last one worked out so well for us.



His pale cheeks are on fire.

Mon Mothma gives good argument.


Very well done,
@AzureAngel2 Loved it! Great characterization of Mon Mothma.

 

@Vek Talis: Thanks for reading and also replying to my fic!

The lyrics from the song, that I used at the beginning, are from the very talented youtube artist Karliene. With that particular song she wanted to do an homage to the TV show "Hannibal".

I also do not think that Leia is damaged after Alderaan, but an even more dangerous foe to the Empire. She is like the old Celts. Throw her into the mud 6 times and she raises 7 times.

As Wookiepediea told me Mon never finished working on her plan to surrender to Sheev because Luke saved the day.

I could not help comparing the citizens of the Empire with nerfs. Also due to the way politics is made in many countries world-wide these days.

And the Emperor will not kill everybody off otherwise he has no one to rule and where would be the fun in that?

You might be true about the pitfalls of changes here.

My Mon never had an affair with Dravits, but with Crix, his foster brother.

Leia & Han was complicated in the beginning and Episode 7 showed us it stayed that way throughout their relationship.

Love your Skywalker joke!