ARCHIVED TWHLAY I:XIX
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The Way He Looks at You Series
Act I: The Way He Looks at You
Chapter 19: The Way He Hunts for You
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Chapter Summary
You take an unexpected trip as Cal begins his hunt to find you.
Rating: 18+
Words: 2.5K
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You are wandering aimlessly around the unfamiliar base wearing the newly provided clothes. They fit okay and cover you entirely, which is a pleasant change. Theo’s words when he saw you wearing them keep ringing in your head. “You look like your old self.”
You don’t feel like your old self is the problem. You have spent many years with the other Rebels, feeling like you finally had a family and a home. A place you belonged after losing your family and home to the cruelty of the Grand Inquisitor.
But after a week of being given your desires, the Rebellion couldn’t feel further from home. Perhaps this is the Dark Side that Jedi are so fearful of, that giving into your desires have made you compliant with the ways of the Empire.
You shake your head trying to rid yourself of the looming guilt, no; you hate the Empire. But you love Cal. Despite being cut from the same cloth as what tore apart your world, he has become your world. He has cared for you the way no one else has, loved you despite the risks.
Cal is what you want. The Empire is still your enemy, look at what they’ve done to their own people. You’ve seen that Cal is capable of kindness, but he resists because he too lives in fear. If only you could get him away from it all, if the two of you could run away and start a new life far from the suffering that consumes the galaxy.
It’s just a dream, the power of the Emperor is vast and unyielding, there is nowhere else to go. You chew on your lip as you walk; the dilemma reducing your ability to pay attention to your surroundings. Becoming enveloped in a small crowd of fellow Rebels and allow yourself to be pulled along in their determined current.
You can feel eyes on you and you assume it is because of the black cloak that you had rebelliously thrown over the new clothes once Theo had left for the day. Deciding to keep your word, you had kept the reader powered off, but you tucked it and your other possessions in the satchel around your body.
Being kept away from Cal was difficult enough and you didn’t want his gifts to be kept from you as well. Also, part of you didn’t trust Theo not to make your few treasures disappear if he went back to the room before you did. He is always so focused on what is right, that he will ignore your feelings on the matter.
The tide of bodies guides you into a large meeting room, where a woman stands at the front. She looks extremely exhausted and as though she has seen too many horrors, but she wears an expression of determination on her face.
You’re barely listening to her briefing as she addresses the crowd, occasionally hearing information about bringing supplies to another base. Honestly, you’re just grateful to be around others while you think, it keeps you from spiraling into depression.
Though you never pull your thoughts away from Cal, you miss just being near him. Looking back, it never really bothered you when he would read your mind, if anything it meant that he knew what you wanted without having to feel shy or put it into words. If only Theo could read minds, then you wouldn’t be here and unable to explain why you want to leave.
The briefing ends, and the mass pulls you along towards the cargo bay where a large ship is being loaded for the mission. Glancing around you don’t see Theo, he said he had a mission today and had asked you to take it easy and rest. He seems so concerned about the pregnancy, if there is one, it’s like he believes you are no longer the capable woman he knew.
Everything Theo does seems to have good intentions, but he always misses the mark. You don’t remember him being so frustrating before the breakup; you had really loved him. Maybe there were times he left you wanting, but not like how Cal does. Cal leaves you wanting in the most delicious ways, Theo has no intention of following through on the wants he creates.
You wonder if you had been okay with the way he treated you because he was attractive and you were so desperate to be loved by him. Or maybe you were desperate to be loved by anyone who understood what it was like to lose everything, Theo had certainly lost more than you.
The surrounding people become more orderly and form a line that you don’t resist. The line is slow moving and headed towards the large craft, Theo would be so upset right now if he saw where you had ended up.
You try to justify your actions internally; he only said to take it easy, and this is a relief mission, just dropping off supplies, it should be… easy. It’s a poor excuse but you don’t care, having a job to do means that you don’t have to think about your personal life for a bit. Not that you have any idea what your actual job is here.
You follow the line and soon you are nearing the front, everyone is being handed blasters and supply bags. Your eyes widen as you realize that this is a more dangerous journey than you initially thought. Panic sets in when a young man places a blaster in your hands, you don’t really know how to fight.
The entirety of your time in the Rebellion was piloting, not fighting. You could fire a variety of weaponry on ships, sure, but a blaster, in your hands? Someone is going to get killed, you suppose that is the idea, but you think it might end up being you.
The person behind you nudges you forward as you are holding up the line. You mumble an apology and follow the previous Rebel onto the craft, your eyes examining the weapon in your hands. Trying desperately to learn how to use it by visual cues only. Just point and shoot, you think to yourself, but you don’t feel at ease.
The black of your cloak makes you stand out and since you can’t fight, you really don’t want to be anymore of a target. So you remove the cloak and satchel and stuff them into the supply bag they provided you with. This makes the supplies beneath difficult to access but that is not your immediate concern. You strap into a seat alongside the others and try to calm your now racing heart.
You recognize the five dots of the General’s insignia on the shoulder of a man that passes by; he is speaking with another Rebel. They are going over the coordinates of the mission; you strain your ears to hear and memorize the series of numbers. This is something that you are actually good at, you’ve had to memorize plenty of the coordinates in the past.
Realizing the danger you may be in, you make another impulsive decision. You reach into your bag as the ship continues to board. Pulling out the reader and powering it on, you quickly type out the coordinates of the mission, trying to keep the screen hidden while you work. You confirm the numbers are correct before sending the incriminating message to Kaahlii.
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Anticipation prevents me from breathing as Kaahlii pulls up a star sector on the datapad. I wait for her to zoom in on the specific planet that was pinpointed, but she doesn’t move.
“That’s it?” I say incredulously.
“I did not design this device to track specific locations.” She says calmly.
“There could be hundreds of planetary bodies in that sector!” I shout as I stare hopelessly at the screen.
“Yes, but only 7 are inhabitable. I will keep trying to narrow the search, but I thought you should start your hunt.” Kaahlii explains as she hands me a comm unit and a list of the planets, “I will update you on my findings.”
I nod and thank the woman before hurrying towards the front counter. Tearing off the now less offensive apron and starting putting my armor back in place over my clothing. I look around once to ensure I have everything before racing outside towards my ship.
I board and lift off the ground before the loading door is all the way closed. The metal creaks and whines at the incorrect procedure, but it seals regardless. Entering hyperspace and comb over the list names, trying to see if one stands out from the information I stole from her mind. None ring any bells, which means she was likely taken to a base that she hasn’t been to before.
Seven planets could take months to search, I used to think that the Empire had no trouble hunting down those that defied us. But after learning the hidden bases that have been right under our nose, I worry about my ability to catch anything in such a wide net.
I choose a planet at random, trying to let the Force guide me, but I am sure there was no guidance. I punch in the coordinates and shoot towards my first location.
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You didn’t wait for Kaahlii to respond, instead you powered off the device again so that no one questioned the chiming noise of an incoming message. You hope she understands, and that she passes along the information to Cal. If she even interacts with Cal; it’s not like they knew each other, Kaahlii knew of him, but the odds of her tracking down an Inquisitor on your behalf are slim.
Maybe Cal was so angry that you were gone that he left the planet in a hurry to hunt for you. He did promise that he would hunt you if you left since you might carry Theo’s baby.
Your heart aches at the thought of Cal coming back that morning and not finding you. It’s hard not to imagine the pain he likely felt from the abandonment. Perhaps he thinks you tricked him and used his credits to escape, that you said you loved him in deceit. The torturous thoughts cloud your mind as the ship does its final boarding process.
A young man runs up the loading ramp, and into the ship before it closes. He jogs past the line of seated Rebels, headed towards the front of the ship where you saw the General enter. You duck your head as quickly as you can, trying to hide in plain sight from Theo. So he is on this mission after all, this already poor plan is now much worse.
The woman next to you leans over to make casual conversation, “It’s so nice to have a Jedi on this mission, it gives hope, don’t you think?” She smiles at you kindly.
“Oh! Yeah, it- it’s great! This seems like a dangerous one, so it’ll be nice to have him protecting us.” You say, trying not to fall all over your words.
“I’m nervous, I hear that they have spotted the Fifth Brother there. I wonder if the Empire knows we are attempting this mission?” She says.
Your heart drops and you can feel your blood run cold. The thought of the Fifth Brother seeing you is terrifying, the way he looked at you when Cal was around made you uneasy enough. Knowing that he may spot you without having another Inquisitor to protect you fills you with fear.
“Hey, don’t worry, Inquisitors hunt Jedi, so he should distract the Fifth Brother while we complete the mission.” She says, noticing the obvious panic on your face.
It does not soothe you in the slightest but you nod in agreement. The ship rises into the sky and it’s the first time since you learned to fly that you feel terrified by the upwards motion. Dread has seeped into every part of your being and you have broken out in a cold sweat.
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Several hours later I am quickly losing my patience, having already interrogated multiple useless people in this city. No one knows of any hidden Rebel base, and if they do, they know how to resist my reading their mind. I am no closer to my goal than I was when Kaahlii first found the sector.
Heading back to the Scythe to move between cities, I hear the comm unit on my belt crackle to life. There is no message that comes through before the sound cuts out. It is odd, but I realize Kaahlii must be alerting me to respond if there is no one around. I glance around the city streets and decide against answering just yet; I don’t want anyone to know about the personal mission that I am on.
I hurry back to my ship, and the moment the door closes, I pull out the comm. “Tell me.” I say.
There is too long of a silence and I wonder if the device is defective. It takes a moment, but the device crackles back to life and Kaahlii’s voice comes through clearly. “She sent coordinates. Are you ready for the numbers?”
A wave of relief and excitement crashes over me, “Yes!”
I am smiling while putting in the coordinates that Kaahlii reads from the message, grateful to have an actual location. The air around me buzzes as I prepare the ship for flight. As if this is exactly what I should do in this moment, the Force almost seems to be willing this. I am keen on finding her as quickly as I can.
The planet that the coordinates are directing me too feels familiar but I’m not sure why. Perhaps I’ve gone there before on a mission? I can’t remember, while the ship is in autopilot I decide it may not be the worst idea to meditate on the reason. There is too much at stake to be unprepared.
My eyes open sometime later as I realize the answer for the familiarity, the Fifth Brother and I received our new missions on the same day, this one is his assignment. The Jedi was supposed to be headed that way to help with some relief effort.
Is he really so stupid as to bring her on such a dangerous journey? He really needs to be disposed of as soon as possible, I’d really like to be the one to do it, but Fifth’s involvement complicated matters.
I am nearing the planet and turn off autopilot; I need to stay hidden from both the Rebellion and the Empire. Fifth won’t like me interfering with his work and I can’t let the Jedi know I am here or he may try to hide her again.
I find a secluded area a small distance from the Imperial base. The moment I step outside I feel a change in the Force, she is definitely here.
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