#oflightsbeam

still, after all the information shared, padmé couldn't help but welcome a somewhat doubtful curl on her lips whilst processing the things she'd heard from the 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐭 twi'lek. ❝ very well. you are, after all, the only one who knows the real flow of these things ❞, she replied, lifting her chin slightly. this wouldn't be the first time for her inner compass to lose its true north. ❝ i suppose the sleeping romantic in me blinked an eye unintended. my apologies. ❞ how old was she again ?

but then hera spoke again, making padmé shift in her seat, curiosity once again conquering her each and 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 cell, ❝ oh ? what kind of questions, if i may ask ? ❞ was this caleb more of an annoying friend or a person born under knowledgeable stars ?

" HEARD YOU WERE needin' some pilots? " he tucks his helmet under his arm & extends his free hand to the twi'lek, " captain scoresby of the jackrabbit. we can fight an' we can fly an' we hold no fondness for the empire. "

blaring  warnings  beeped  sporadically  on  his  sensors,  the  scrapped  aethersprite's  modified  hyperdrive  useless  against  the  pull  of  a  much  larger  ship's  tractor  beam  mechanics.  artoo  added  onto  the  noise,  droid-speak  as  panicked  as  anakin  anticipated.  his  controls  were  nearly  useless  against  the  hulking  technology,  and  they  had  only  minutes  left  before  escape  was  improbable.  "of  course  i  see  the  damn  thing,"  he  told  his  companion  with  a  spark  of  agitation,  the  shield  generator  they  attempted  to  mend leaving  them  vulnerable  to  the  empire's  will.  he  refused  to  be  fodder  for  his  brief  master's  tyranny,  teeth  gritting  as  the  arrestor  cruiser  loomed  larger  on  approach.  in  far too little time,  he  would  be  forced  to  face  what  he  left  behind  years  ago.  anakin  cut  it  close  before,  his  master's  ire  earthquaking  in  the  force with his betrayal,  and  it  trembled  since  as  he  scoured  the  corners  of  his  building  empire  for  anakin.  when  their  transponder  ID  failed  to  pass  check,  he  knew  what  would  come  next.  it  was  what  he  would  have  done,  too,  if  he  were  still  general.  "what's  our  thrusters  looking  like,  artoo?  damaged?"

the  droid  squaked,  and  anakin  was  too  focused  to  quip  back  at  his  biting  sarcasm.

"I wish I was capable of giving you the padawan apprenticeship that I had." It was a mute apology to someone who had never known any different, even Hera's time as a youngling (behind the safety of temple walls) had been wrought with tension and spoiled air that seemed to swallow the whole of Coruscant in warning. It had only grown worse since the first real siege of the war and it was only at the most outer rim planets that life remained untouched by violence; the blooming forests of Dantooine were a welcomed reprieve after spending weeks in empty space, only broken up by battle and grim rescue missions.

" MISS SYNDULLA, " HE sighs heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. dark hues quickly dart around the hanger to make sure he & the young one were still alone, " please get out of the cockpit before someone else sees you. " he has a soft spot for her -- the kind of soft spot he has for cadets & shinies -- but maker preserve him, she is giving him gray hair.

@oflightsbeam 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 :: " thank you for not asking questions. "

              ❝𝙱𝙴𝚂𝚃 𝙽𝙾𝚃 𝚃𝙾 𝙰𝚂𝙺 𝚀𝚄𝙴𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂 𝙸𝙽 𝙼𝚈 𝙻𝙸𝙽𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙺,❞  solo muttered, stealing a quick glance over his shoulder at the shifting sea of wandering faces.  the lively buzz of overlapping conversations encompassed them as he scanned the swarming marketplace, probing for any signs of certain figures trailing too closely behind.  they drifted between stray heaps of discarded starship parts and vendors peddling packaged deals: salvaged vehicles complete with unmarked astromech droids and suspicious upgrades typically worth a fortune in the core worlds.

han pivoted just as two familiar sullustans emerged from the crowd for a fourth count, this time with an additional handful of armed rodians lumped into the mix.   kraat.   so maybe his little intervention wasn’t so ‘little’ after all, and maybe it was high time he turned heel and made for the ’falcon.  he really should’ve known better than to stop by on tholatin without chewbacca in tow.  much as his corellian pride wanted to believe he would be fine roaming the galaxy on his own, unpleasant encounters had a propensity to happen more often than not, especially when there wasn’t a walking, growling, wroshyr tree for a companion at his side.

after all, he’d tangoed with his fair share of criminal syndicates in both the inner and outer rim, and it wasn’t his first time chancing upon a band of krocho on tholatin.  criminals here weren’t the worst breed around, but they certainly held first prize for being the most petty.  han would bet good credits that the greedy bastards from earlier took every slight like a mark for death and simmered over years-old grudges even on their death beds…  hell, it was almost like being back home.  suppressing a snort at the thought, han pressed forward with a curt gesture that hopefully conveyed urgency more than impatience.

❝just happened to be in the right place at the right time is all.  ’sides, ain’t like i could resist playing hero…  you’re a real sight for sore eyes, sweetheart.❞  solo flicked her a crooked grin once they cruised past a gaggle of drunken spacers.

              ❝tough job, i know.  but someone’s gotta do it.❞

“You ever wonder where she goes, when she goes there??”

Pair of curious eyes watch the loth-tooka strut down the temple hall as it does always by the late afternoon hour, always stopping by the same droid sized door to vanish for a couple hours. Cirz pats Hera’s elbow indicating with the tilt of his head the loth-tooka which sits attentively in front of the closed entrance until one of the many temple droids rolls out from the other side allowing the tooka to slip into the hidden corridor.