Chapter Text
“The spell is still active…”
“It has to be me…”
“See you on the other side, Wolf girl.”
Shin came to in an elevator. The sound of the levels counted up above her. She knew those pristine walls and little buttons. Looking down at her, she was in her old armor, the leather gloves hard against her hands. She could feel the hood of her cape above her head. Her lightsaber was in her hand. She took a deep breath and glanced up at the floor indicator. She was almost at the bridge.
The plan was seared into her mind, but she’d hoped the spell would have brought her back later, when it would have been easier to access Sabine. Right now, she would have to improvise. She clenched the lightsaber in her hand. Her only idea was dangerous, but if Sabine had taught her anything, good plans usually were.
The elevator opened. Three officers fired at her. Sabine turned on her lightsaber and deflected the shots. They seared the ground in front of her. With one hand, she pulled the weapons out of the officers’ hands. They held their breath, waiting to see what her next move would be. Shin turned off her lightsaber and slowly raised her hands above her head. The officers looked at her with deep frowns.
“My name is Shin Hati. I was sent up here by my master to make sure you couldn’t send a distress call to Home One. Do it.”
The lieutenant left in charge of the captain’s chair hesitated. Then, she grabbed her blaster and aimed it at Shin.
“What kind of trap is this?”
“Not a trap. Only the Fate of the Galaxy is at stake. Send the distress call. When they arrive, I want to speak with General Syndulla.”
The lieutenant kept her blaster aimed at Shin. Shin knew she wasn’t going to shoot but she kept her hands up. She kept her gaze steady on Shin for a long minute, then glanced to the droid at her left.
“Send a distress signal to Home One. Tell them we’ve captured one of the attackers.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
The lieutenant turned her attention back to Shin who hadn’t move.
“Throw your lightsaber away.”
Shin complied, throwing the hilt to the floor, where it rolled off into a corner. She kept her hands up. The droid spoke again.
“Home One has received our signal and is on its way. ETA ten minutes.”
“Good,” the lieutenant said, her confidence returning after Shin’s strange interaction. “Send two more units to the brig. I won’t let Morgan Elsbeth escape.”
“Let them,” Shin said, catching the lieutenant’s attention again. “My master will only kill them all. Spare your men’s lives, let them go. It’s too late to stop them now.”
The lieutenant glared at her.
“Send two units down there. Catch the prisoner and her accomplice now.”
Shin bit her lower lip. She should have known it wouldn’t be this easy. She had been warned. Time was like a rubber band. It had a way of snapping back in place no matter how hard she tried to change it. She would only have to fight it harder.
“Lieutenant,” one of the men at the console beneath the captain’s chair called out. “The security teams report heavily casualty in the brig and hangar. The prisoner and her accomplice have reached their shuttle.”
“Deploy the X-wings.”
Shin waited, her arms tired, for the inevitable news of their escape. Baylan had escaped far worse odds. She wondered whether he would go back for her, wait a second before taking off, hope that she had only been delayed. Then, she caught a glimpse of their shuttle through the window, flying off and disappearing into hyperspace, and she knew that, once again, he had put his mission before her. It hurt more than she would admit.
“They have escaped…”
“How long before Home One is here?”
“Four minutes, ma’am.”
“I want a full sweep of the place. Send all the wounded to the hospital. Get me security. Put the prisoner in Morgan Elsbeth’s cell while we await further directives from Home One.”
“I need to speak with General Syndulla,” Shin shouted.
“That is not up to you.”
Shin clenched her teeth. She regretted sparing their lives now. Perhaps it wasn’t too late. Perhaps if she killed them now, she was sure to be brought in front of Hera when Home One arrived. But then, what would Sabine think of her? She sighed. Being good was harder than it looked.
Shin didn’t sit in Elsbeth’s cell for very long. She was soon marched through the ship and into a small shuttle which took her to Home One, to another equally small cell. Then it was only a matter of waiting. She passed the time meditating, trying to locate everyone. Baylan’s presence had fallen out of her reach, and so was Sabine’s, but she could feel Jacen running around the ship, and his comforting presence made her smile. Then, she felt Ahsoka arrive from hyperspace, and she knew the machine of fate was in motion. There would be no stopping it now. They needed to destroy it.
“You were quite adamant to speak with me,” Hera said as she unlocked the door to Shin’s cell. “Well, here I am. Explain yourself.”
Shin opened her eyes. She remained seated in the bench. She knew from experience that Hera was quite nervous around her. She should stay put.
“Did Ahsoka Tano bring the map with her?” she asked.
Hera frowned.
“How do you…”
“The map needs to stay here. I’d say destroy it but I know how much it means to all of you. Keep it here. But get Sabine.”
Hera crossed her arms.
“How do you know Sabine Wren?”
“She saved me once. I intend to repay the favor. Bring her here. I’ll talk to her.”
“No, you won’t. You’ll speak with me. Now explain yourself.”
“You wouldn’t believe me. But you need to bring Sabine here, to protect her. Someone will come after her, to get the map. You told Ahsoka to get Sabine to decipher the map, right? If she does that, Sabine will be in danger. She might die, now that I…”
Shin stopped herself. In front of her, Hera was too stunned to reply at first. Then, she shouted:
“Ahsoka? Can you come here?”
The Jedi stepped into the cell. Shin smirked. She should have known Ahsoka wouldn’t be too far, in case she escaped.
“Did you hear all of that?”
“I’m afraid I did. You must be a powerful Force user to probe Hera’s mind like that.”
Shin smirked.
“I don’t have to be. I have a reliable source.”
“Who?”
“You.”
She held their gazes, daring them to act. Hera and Ahsoka exchanged a glance. Then, Ahsoka stepped forward. Shin could feel her probing her mind with the Force. She let her. She showed her her fight against Sabine, all of her fights against Sabine, Peridea, Ezra, Thrawn, their escape from the other galaxy, the battles, the bloodshed. Ashoka left her mind before she could see all of it.
“What did you do to Sabine?” she asked, her voice trembling.
“Nothing. But someone else might. Which is why you need to bring her here.”
Ahsoka stepped out of the cell and Hera followed. Though she shut the door behind her, Shin could still hear them on the other side.
“I need to speak with Huyang. Visions of this extent…”
“I will get Sabine,” Hera decided. “She’ll take it better if it comes from me.”
Shin smirked and closed her eyes and waited. The plan was in motion.
Ahsoka returned to her sometime later. Sabine wasn’t on board yet. Shin waited and waited but her impatience was getting the better of her. With her out of the picture, she assumed Elsbeth might send Morrok, in which case Sabine wouldn’t stand a chance at this point of her training – or lack thereof. She was anxious to feel her presence, even more so to see her again. When Ahsoka opened the door to her cell, Shin was pulled out of her nervous thoughts.
“Neither me nor Huyang have ever heard of such powerful visions. No wonder you were desperate to make sure they never happened.”
“Be it that they were only visions…”
Ahsoka crossed her arms.
“Perhaps your Master hasn’t instructed you on Force visions. They feel very real, but not all of them are true. Some of them, in fact, would not have come true if the person hadn’t tried too hard to avoid that very thing.”
“I was warned you would be skeptical.”
“By who?”
“You.”
Ahsoka stared at her, trying to determine whether Shin was joking. Shin held her gaze back. Ahsoka smirked.
“I’ve never met you before. In fact, we had no data on you until today. Huyang had never seen your lightsaber. But your master’s, he did recognize. Baylan Skoll. Former Jedi. How long has he been training you?”
“Long enough,” Shin replied.
“And you just abandoned him? You must have been quite scared of your visions if you chose to surrender to us rather than confide in him.”
Shin pursed her lips, her gaze falling to the floor.
“In know the path he walks. It will only lead to sadness. He will abandon me for power, eventually. I might as well abandon him now. Our journey together has come to an end, one way or another.”
Shin looked up. Ahsoka was staring at her, probably trying to figure out if Shin was laying. She must have been quite disappointed to sense that she was telling the truth.
Shin’s focus suddenly shifted away from Ahsoka when she felt Sabine’s presence. The Ghost had just left hyperspace with Sabine onboard. It was making its way to the hangar now. She let out a sigh of relief.
“Sabine has arrived,” Ahsoka said as she felt her too. “Are you finally going to explain yourself?”
“Bring her here. Let’s talk.”
Ahsoka stepped back out of the cell while she waited for Hera and Sabine to join her. Shin’s leg fidgeted so much that she had to stand up. She could feel Sabine wondering through the corridors, coming closer and closer, a warm presence in the Force. But her presence was weaker, just as she remembered it being during their first fight. She hadn’t unlocked her abilities yet, which certainly put them at a disadvantage.
The door opened and Sabine stepped in first, her eyes fierce as she stared down Shin.
“You want to talk to me. Alright. I’m here. What do you have to say?”
Shin stared as Ahsoka and Hera stepped in. Sabine’s long sunset hair fell down her back. She was wearing those bright orange shirt and pants and her leather jacket. Despite her colorful look, the Mandalorian she knew was there, in those fierce eyes that waited impatiently for Shin to answer.
“The map is still here?” she asked.
“Safe where only a few can get it,” Hera confirmed. “Now talk.”
Shin nodded. Ahsoka had told her exactly what to say. She repeated each information, careful not to forget any.
“Elsbeth is building a hyperspace ring. She calls it ‘the Eye of Sion.’ The final hyperspace drive is due to arrive any day now. Then, with the map, she can calculate Thrawn’s coordinates and bring the ring to him. He can attach his ship to it and come back here.”
They all frowned at her explanation, deep in thoughts.
“No one knows where Thrawn is,” Sabine said. “And not for lack of trying. We spent years searching for Ezra…”
“In another galaxy,” Shin added. “On a planet called Peridea.”
Ahsoka shook her head.
“Peridea is a myth. It’s a high tale they told to entertain the Younglings at the temple.”
Shin shook her head.
“It is real. Thrawn is waiting there. So is Ezra.”
Sabine’s eyes glowed with hope. She turned to Hera.
“We have to get that ring.”
“I can’t get the approval of the council without proofs. Concrete proofs. She could be leading us to a trap.”
Shin thought hard about what Ahsoka had told her.
“They get their hyperspace drives from Corellia. A shipyard that belonged to Elsbeth. Still does.”
Hera nodded.
“I’ll check it out.”
“I’ll come with you,” Ahsoka said.
“Me too,” Sabine replied.
Hera shook her head.
“You stay here. Keep an eye on the prisoner.”
Sabine grumbled.
“What? Why do I have to do it? Why can’t one of your hundreds of subordinates do it?”
“Because I need someone who I can trust to also keep an eye on the map.”
Sabine sighed but agreed.
“Fine. I’ll start working on that, see if I can crack it.”
Hera turned back to Shin.
“You better not move an inch from this cell.”
“Where Sabine is I shall stay.”
Sabine shot her a strange look but said nothing. The three women left her cell and Shin fell back on the bench with a sigh. She thought she had been pretty convincing, all things considered. Maybe things could be different this time. Maybe the Nightsisters’ magick had been useful for once.