Saga - Legends “What goes around comes around”, NaNoWriMo fic with Hera & Kallus

Title: “What goes around comes around”, a NaNoWriMo contribution

Author: AzureAngel2

Co-editor and muse: @DarthUncle

Main beta editor: @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha

Length: ... words

Summary: Without the rebels knowing “Operation Cinder” is on its way and one of the few persons to warn them gets hindered. But unexpected help is around the corner, due to old bonds.

Time frame: 4 ABY.

Place of choice: in and around the Bright Tree Village on forest moon of Endor

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


Out in the dark if you listen you'll hear
The sound of your fate as the ending draws near
It starts as a whisper and soon it will grow
A warning that weaves through the wind as it blows

Like a story half untold
Like a secret to unfold
Waiting in the shadows the hunter to prey
Like a battle just begun
When it's neither lost nor won
Hiding in the balance as time slips away

Watching, waiting, anticipating
Like a sun about to set
It's not over yet

Destiny calls something stirs from within
A game to be played so now let it begin!
A game of stalemate is a long way to fall
A sentence to life with no mercy at all

Like a story half untold
Like a secret to unfold
Waiting in the shadows the hunter to prey
Like a battle just begun
When it's neither lost nor won
Hiding in the balance as time slips away

Watching, waiting, anticipating
Like a sun about to set
It's not over yet

...

Like a story half untold
Like a secret to unfold
Waiting in the shadows the hunter to prey
Like a battle just begun
When it's neither lost nor won
Hiding in the balance as time slips away

Watching, waiting, anticipating
Like a sun about to set
It's not over yet



The celebrations were as sweet and heart-rending as they were stunning. The local natives, the furry Ewoks, had lit bonfires all over the place. Not only on the various platforms of their tree village, but also on the ground level of the giant trees.

General Hera Syndulla basically had to swim through a sea of handshakes and hugs, before she and Chopper, her loyal companion, ended up close to R2D2.

The two droids started an intense conversation in binary at once. First, Hera listened in, but then she got distracted by a familiar face in the crowd. It was that of a human male in his late forties.

Landonis Balthazar Calrissian, just called Lando, was a galaxy-wide known smooth-talker. He also had built up quite a reputation as a gambler, sportsman and entrepreneur. In the past, the Ghost crew had crossed ways with him several times.

Making a face, Twi'lek woman already scanned for an escape route, but it was too late for that. General Calrissian was good at spotting familiar faces, too. There was no way sneaking around him unnoticed. Not even in the party crowd that made the entire tree village tremble.

Soon, they told each other their battle stories. Not only the most recent ones in the airspace above Endor. There were of course Scarif, Mako-Ta and Hoth. Together they hung their heads over the loss of comrades, spoke fond words about every single one of them.

After a while Commander Antilles, a former TIE fighter pilot, and Commander Rex, the famous Clone Wars veteran, joined them. The latter had been part of the ground troops, actually he had been with the special task force bringing the shield generator down.

Hera glanced over towards General Organa and General Solo, unable to ignore the deep affection going on between those two. The princess and the notorious smuggler, who would have thought?

Wistfully, the Twi'lek woman remembered the love of her life, Kanan Jarrus. But no pain was ever as great as the joy that her son Jacen had brought her. Through the boy the former Jedi knight lived on.

By now her jade coloured skin was flushed from drinking too much jet juice. Officially the manufacture of this strong alcoholic beverage was banned by High Command, but tonight, on the night of all nights, nobody really seemed to mind.

All of a sudden a lone figure, clad in black, entered the village square.

Here and there was applause for Luke Skywalker, the poster boy of the rebellion. But the young man had only eyes for his old friends Organa, Solo, Calrissian and Antilles.

It was then when Alexsandr Kallus approached her. Once fiend, the tall blond human had turned into a precious family member of the Ghost crew. The concern in his face was hard to ignore and so Hera figured that he needed to talk with her in private. She lead him to the edge of the Ewok village and there they sat down on a large fallen tree trunk, their heads bend together.

“Something has come up,” he offered her, his voice laced with emotions he could hardly contain. “I would like to take a leave of absence, Hera.”

Though his request was unexpected the Twi'lek woman saw no reason to deny it. “Is it a family affair?” she asked full of sympathy. “One of your sisters, Alex?”

His hazel eyes turned dark. “I wish it was one of them.” There was contempt and underneath it, old pain.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Hera said carefully, her gaze fixed on his heated face.

“I might as well.” He hung his head, but not for long. “It also concerns Sabine. Indirectly, but I… I think you and her, well, you both should know about it.”

The Twi'lek woman was on edge, holding her breath in anticipation. Her lekku even tingled slightly.

“My godchild turned up. Here on this moon.” Nervously, he scratched his bearded chin. “A wreckage of the civil war. Literally.”

This was the first time ever that Hera heard Alexsandr talking about her. And since he seemed in a flow to get it off his chest, she did not interrupt him.

“She hung out with the wrong crowd ever since her father died. And I am not totally innocent about it.” His eyes narrowed. “She had no place to go and no where to hide when Tarkin took her father down. Ever since both sides are after her.”

An idea tugged at Hera like a child keen for attention. “You mean our side wants her as badly as theirs?”

Alexsandr slammed his right fist into the trunk, not caring for the pain it caused him. “She is Orson Krennic's daughter. Not by blood, but by adoption. Still, it's a tough call for Cassie.”

“Krennic? The architect of doom?” She blinked at the human man opposite her.

“Oh, Orry has been called worse by his enemies and begrudgers.”

The tenderness of this nickname said a lot about the affectionate friendship the two men had shared at one point.

Hard lines set into his face. “As tragic as his end on Scarif was, he had it coming. Probably deserved it. For all he did to the Geonosians, the folk of Malpaz, the holy sites of Jedha and, yes to Alderaan.”

There was much to be said about that statement, but Hera wanted to keep it simple. A young woman was on the run, therefore a life not fully fledged at risk. “Whatever he did, he seemed to be a parent that cared. Otherwise he would not have made you his daughters guardian.”

“True.” Uncried tears shoot into his eyes. “He would have set the universe on fire for her.”

“Well, he did,” she pointed out flatly.

There was always a thin line between love and obsession. For any parent out there in the galaxy. As a single mother it was hard to give Jacen all the love and attention he needed. But there were lines that she never would cross. Not even for the boy's safety.

“There is more,” Kallus added and a new wave of nervousness spread through the former Imperial agent.

Hera just took his right hand and pressed it lightly. “Ready when you are!”

The human sighed, gathering his strength. “When Tarkin tried to destroy Cassie's life in the aftermath of Scarif an unexpected protector claimed her. There was a big delay though because that very important figure was essential for the hunt of the stolen data.”

That intrigued the Twi'lek woman. Who within the Empire would dare to face Tarkin's wrath?

The answer was so soft that she almost overheard it.

“Vader.”

By instinct Hera placed a protective hand above her throat. “Vader,” she echoed darkly.

“I don't know what he did to Cassie and what she meant to him. But his impact was mighty. She is not the girl that I used to know. It's bad. Not even her own father would approve.”

She did not push him, allowed him time and space to formulate his misgivings.

“Cassie has turned into some kind of Sith cultist.”

“Sith?” the Twi'lek woman mused, the sheer usage of that word giving her the shivers. Due to Jacen's father she knew about their dark ways.

A noise in the undergrowth made them both reach for their guns by instinct, but it was just a pair of drunken Ewok warriors.

“Thanks that you asked before taking the Ghost,” Hera spoke after the two natives had faded into the forest again.

“The Ghost?” Alexsandr blushed. “But, I couldn't…”

The Twi'lek shook her head sternly. “Of course you will. And I want you to do your best to save your godchild. Kanan would want that, too.” She was not finished there. “Whatever Krennic and Vader have done to this galaxy, your Cassie is a person on her own and worth saving.”




Sources:
The song “It’s Not Over Yet” for “Villain’s Lair Season 2” by PattyCake Productions (2021)
Wookieepedia – The Star Wars Wiki
Hidden quotes from SW movies and the SW universe

 

Yes, writing again and beginning with a beautiful story with twists and turns

 

A glad surprise to see you posting again. A very intriguing meet-up between Hera and Kallus.

 

@earlybird-obi-wan & @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha, thanks for reading and commenting as always.

Last year I was barely online and therefore I kept my word count for the NaNoWriMo very low. Just in case. And I was right to do so.

As for this Fic here: I do not have the time, energy or motivation to go for an entire fanfic story with various chapters. But to round up the Cassandra storyline with short stuff like this one here suits me very well.