#miles grint

Some of my thoughts are on how “Call to Action” could have gone differently. One idea is regarding the chase scene between Imperials under Aresko and Grint and the Ghost crew. Instead of ending in failure for Aresko and Grint, it ends in complete failure, and they actually get captured themselves.

Zeb is like “Hey, let’s throw them out the airlock.”, but Hera is all “No, Zeb, WTF”, and the two of them start arguing. However, Kanan has a better plan: why not hold these two Imperial officers for ransom? :D The rest of the crew is pretty okay with the idea (they need the credits anyway, lol), and Grint and Aresko don’t fuss too much because, hey, being held for ransom is better than being shoved out of an airlock.

So Sabine does whatever tech savvy thing she needs to do to open up a secure channel with Imperial HQ, and they contact the Imperials with their demands. And they get Tarkin.

However, Tarkin’s like, “Keep them, or shoot them; I don’t care. They’re not worth the uniforms on their backs let alone the credits it would cost for a ransom. The Empire has no room for useless bunglers. In fact, if I ever see the two of you again, I’ll have you arrested for incompetence.”

When it’s obvious that Tarkin is completely serious, Hera cuts the feed, not wanting to give him a chance to try and trace it to their crew. Everyone is pretty shocked, especially Aresko and Grint who are kneeling on the deck and sort of leaning against each other with these betrayed looks on their faces, like ‘he won’t save us?’

Finally, Hera sits down cross-legged on the deck in front them, and she says very gently, “That…really wasn’t how I was expecting things to go down, but maybe you’d like to talk to us instead? If you tell us everything you know, then we’ll take you somewhere safe. And we definitely won’t throw you out an airlock.”

So Aresko and Grint share a long look, and then they just spill the beans on all the Imperial intel that they’ve got. Much later, they wind up becoming rebels themselves which is a super weird culture shock for them. But they’re ultimately happier outside of the Empire so it’s all good in the end.

……….

Another idea I’ve had is an AU where the reason that Aresko and Grint are such incompetent imperials is because they are actually covert rebel spies. For a long time, no one—not even the Inquisitor—suspects that their middle-management incompetence is anything other than it appears, but when Tarkin arrives on Lothal, he institutes new security measures. Aresko and Grint ultimately get caught in the act of transferring sensitive data to an unauthorized recipient, and everything just kinda goes downhill from there.

After escaping Imperial HQ, they send out a rebel emergency distress code which, of course, gets intercepted by the Ghost crew who rush to help. Fleeing to the outskirts of Capital City, Aresko and Grint get almost to the Ghost, but the ship is under fire from Imperial forces and will soon have no choice but to take off without them.

Realizing that they’re not both gonna make it, Grint picks up Aresko and chucks him at the ship’s open hatch (because Aresko is his bae, and Grint will protect him, whatever means necessary). Aresko manages to grab a handhold, and Zeb and Ezra pull him into the ship and secure the hatch. Whereupon Aresko immediately starts freaking out because they left Miles behind.

Zeb has to leave the cargo bay to go shoot at TIE fighters, and a somewhat confused Ezra stays with a nearly-hyperventilating Aresko, trying to calm him down. It’s not really working though since Aresko knows exactly what Tarkin is capable of and the fate that awaits spies. And if Grint is captured… :/

Once the crew plus Aresko are out of immediate danger, there are many awkward questions and accusations, but ultimately Hera decides to get in touch with Fulcrum to confirm whether Aresko is telling the truth or not about being a spy. When Fulcrum is contacted, she agrees that Aresko is indeed one of her top agents and tasks Hera and company with bringing him to safety.

Aresko is a complete mess during the trip to the nearest rebel base, alternately begging to return to Lothal or realizing that such an attempt would be suicidal. Weirdly enough, Ezra actually seems to be able to comfort him best. He reassures the ex-commandant that he didn’t abandon his friend, and that Grint would be happy to know that at least Aresko is safe from danger now. Once the Ghost crew gets to the rebel base, Hera leaves Aresko with Fulcrum, promising to reach out to their contacts on Lothal for any word of Grint.