Chapter 2
“Anhiel, darling you must not worry so much. Besides, it’s not a good look for a leader when you should be seeing to your troops.” The face of a young female in her early twenties becomes visible through the fog. Her dark hair is barely visible within the hood she wears. A shadow obscures most of her features, except for a black cloth wrap covering where her eyes would be. White lace forms an ornate pattern on the surface of the cloth. She smiles, reaching out her hand to her partner, her fingertips brushing the other woman’s cheek gently. “Besides, if you keep it up you will get wrinkles.” There are no other sounds as the two gaze on each other, each fading from sight as the fog of memory engulfs them.
Anhiel’s eyes open slowly, an anguished look covers her face as she gazes at the ceiling, thinking to herself. “You promised our bond meant we would always be together.” She layed unmoving for many minutes, replaying the memory until a beep cuts into her focus. A dismissive wave of the hand sends invisible waves across the room, depressing a button on the communicator resting on a desk within the room.Silence prevails until a familiar, timid voice fills the space “Master, are you awake? We will be dropping out of hyperspace very soon. Also, there is a communication from the enclave.” Rising from her bed, she responded “I will be there shortly, Rend. Prepare the ship for landing.” Another wave of the hand cut the comlink as she moved to get dressed.
Rend sat at the flight controls, watching the counter tick down to when they would exit hyperspace. The blue light of hyperspace illuminates the cockpit as Rend occasionally glances warrily towards the back of the ship. He lets out a long sigh, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t like what I sense from Master Anh…” The padawan sits up abruptly at the sound of a knock on metal, swiveling the chair around. “Oh, Sun, good to see you. We are about to arrive in a few minutes.” The young woman smiles lightly, before stepping into the room fully. Her black hair is styled in a neat bob and the uniform she wears is freshly pressed but is not the same as what she wore during their initial meeting. She hands a datapad to the padawan, “Here are the access codes for the fleet. We are scheduled to land on the flagship, Shadow Redeemer.”
Rend takes the datapad, reviewing the contents while speaking “That name sounds familiar”. Sun nods, “It was the High Admiral’s ship in the last war. Although, she was not an admiral at the time.” After slipping into the copilot's seat she continues, “The ships in the fleet are remnants of that war, mixture of republic and captured vessels. The crew is made of volunteers. Many served with her during the war and jumped at the chance to serve with her again.” Rend appraises her with a quizzical expression, “Where is your uniform?” The Specialist glances down a moment before responding “This mission is not officially endorsed by the Republic. So, we were provided with generic uniforms.”
The hyperspace counter reaches zero and begins beeping. Rend pulls back on the levers and watches as stars form and the ship slows. A Centurion Class ship comes into view, surrounded by a handful of smaller cruisers, a medical frigate, and a few support cruisers. Two squadrons of fighters patrol the area and break off at the appearance of the lone ship. An ID request comes on screen and Rend enters the codes provided by Specialist Veruna. After a few seconds, a gruff voice comes over the com “Welcome back Admiral. We are glad to have you and will escort you in.” Fighters take up flanking positions on either side of the ship as they move towards the capital ship. Rend casts one more glance towards the back of the ship as a door slides open revealing his master, clad in a white uniform with silver saber handles attached to her hips, none of which he had ever seen before. He returned his focus to the task of piloting the ship before more questions formed in his mind, expecting his master to come into the cockpit. But he sensed her moving away instead, towards the ramp as the ship entered the hangar bay and lowered itself onto the ground. Before Rend and Sun had risen from their chairs, the sound of the air hissed through the ship as the seal broke and the ramp began to lower. The pair catch the end of the Admiral’s cape disappearing through the opening as they move to join her.
Anhiel comes to a stop at the end of the ramp, hands folded behind her back as she surveys the soldiers in front of her. Commandos of different races are arranged in precise formation, 10 wide and 3 deep, the officer standing in front a few paces from the ramp. They all straighten, snapping off a precise salute that sends a sound echoing through the bay. The Admiral stands quietly, her face a perfect mask of the rising feelings inside of her. A voice echoes in her mind, “...when you should be seeing to your troops.” She shakes her head slightly, attempting to clear her mind. The memories would have to wait, there is much that must be done to get a task force underway. She still needed to address the communication from the enclave, although she had her suspicions about the nature of the message. The commander stepped forward, an older man, late 50s perhaps. “High Admiral, it is a pleasure to see you again. I hope your trip was pleasant enough. Allow me to escort you to your quarters so you may get settled. Once you are ready, we can discuss our first step.” Anhiel nodded slightly, gesturing for the man to lead on. Rend and Sun fall into step behind them as they cross the hangar.
The room was as she remembered it. Roomy as far as military quarters were concerned. A desk with a built-in console on the far side of the main room, in the center a holo platform and through another door the sleeping area with adjoining bathroom. Reaching back, Anhiel hits a button on the wall console, locking the door behind her before striding over to the holo platform. It takes a few seconds for her to program in the contact information but a minute or two for a connection to be established. Blue light forms from the base of the platform, materializing into the shape of a woman in her mid to late thirties. She wears loose fitting robes with long hair that would be brown, matching the color of her eyes if not for the color distortion of the hologram. Her gaze is soft as she offers a smile, “It is good to see you, my friend. I was concerned my message may not have reached you. You left with very little notice. Do you really intend to handle this mission alone? I worry about what shouldering the burden of command again will do to your…. injury.” She pauses, looking over the unmoving figure before her before continuing matter-of-factly “The rest of the Council shares my concern as well.” Blue eyes roll slightly before Anhiel responds flatly “I am fine, Rajavia.”
Rajavia continues to look over the other woman with concern, which deepens as her eyes linger on the saber hilts resting on Anhiel’s hips. “I do not wish to see you hurt. You are still not healed, even after all of these years. For such a bond to be broken so sud….” The sentence stops abruptly as the jedi clad in white raises a hand to silence her friend. It remains for many seconds as the pair gaze at each other quietly before the hand returns to its place behind her back. “I am fine, Rajavia. You may communicate that to the rest of the Council as well. I will send regular updates to help allay your concerns, but my decision is final. You are to oversee things in my absence.”
Rajavia’s expression becomes saddened as she bows, “As you wish, but please grant me one request, as your friend. That you will call on me when you need my help.” A tightness deep in the chest begins to grip the Admiral at the sound of the request, followed quickly by the fog of memory as it begins to return. A brief grimace flashes across the woman’s face as she pushes back the thoughts. Silver and white bangs shift gently as the woman inclines her head slowly, the only acknowledgement of the request. “Goodbye Rajavia, my friend.”
The link is cut, leaving Rajavia in a dimly lit room to ponder their interaction. The saber hilts come to the forefront of her mind, the concerned look returning as she thought, “I did not know she still had them. Perhaps they are different?” She quickly strides from the room, navigating a couple dimly lit corridors before entering a small room and taking a seat at the console along the wall. Images flash across the screen as she scrolls, eventually stopping on a single image. On the screen is an image of a young woman, bright silver and white hair, smooth silver saber hilts resting on her hips just inside her tan robes as she smiles brightly with her companions. To her left, a younger Rajavia sharing in the excitement and on her right, a Miraluka woman wearing dark robes with a black eye wrap lined with white lace. Even without eyes, she gazes at the white-haired woman with a passion visible even through the image. Leaning back in the chair, Rajavia lets out a long breath and closes her eyes. “I fear she may not have healed as much as I had thought. Or worse, this path will undo any progress she has made.” She sighs again, before sitting up and manipulating the console to draft a message to the rest of the enclave’s Council, relaying Anhiel’s message.
Back aboard the Shadow Redeemer, a communicator clicks on “Specialist Veruna, I am ready to be briefed on our current status and determine our first step. Assemble everyone in the war room, I will be along shortly.”
“Yes ma’am. Right away.” The Specialist keys some commands into the console before her before rising from her chair. Rend sat quietly on the ground, attempting to meditate and calm the nervousness he was feeling. He jumps to his feet, losing his balance for a moment when Veruna spoke, “She is ready for us. I can show you where the war room is.” Rend nods a few times, straightening his robes and running a hand through his hair. “Lead on Miss Veruna.” As they walked, Rend sensed his master within the ship. He had caught glimpses of different emotions while she was speaking with the enclave. Pain, emptiness, shame, disappointment, each coming and going quickly enough he almost didn’t notice. She was always difficult to read, always remaining guarding both in outward appearance and in the force. Now, he sensed only determination and focus radiating from her as she strode down the hallway. The padawan thought while he took a seat next to Sun, “She has not projected her presence in the force this strongly as long as I have known her. I wonder if…” His line of thinking halts abruptly as the door slides open. The guards at the door jump to attention, followed quickly by the various officers in the room and Specialist Veruna. Rend hops up quickly, offering a bow to the woman as she enters.
Everyone remains standing while the High Admiral takes her place at the head of the table. She gazes at everyone, eyes wandering over all those at the table. Resolve is etched on her face, her blue eyes casting a tangible weight on those who fall under her gaze. She speaks shortly, “As you were. Let’s begin with the current status of the task force.” Rend did not listen as one of the officers began to speak. Instead, he began to ponder the change in his master’s presence in the force for the duration of the meeting. A touch on his arm brings him out of his thoughts, he looks around, seeing the room is mostly empty now save for a few officers speaking quietly and Sun beside him. “The meeting is over, Rend. The Admiral went to meditate. Why don’t we grab some food before getting final preparations underway?” Rend smiles lightly, “That sounds good. I don’t remember when I last ate.” The pair depart the war room, talking casually while Rend feels grateful for the distraction.
Outside, ships began to move, fighters began landing on their respective base ships and overall preparations were being made for the hyperspace jump to the Outer Rim. Anhiel sat quietly on the ground in the meditation chamber near to the bridge. The room is circular, smooth plate walls all the way around save for one door. Her hands rest on her thighs as she exhales slowly with closed eyes. Reaching out through the force she expands her presence to the edge of the room. She continues the extension until she senses the minds of those on the bridge, allowing her presence to press upon them gently. The contact will go unnoticed by those not attuned to the force. However, their decisions and movements begin to come a bit more quickly, more decisively and precisely. Exhaling again, she presses outward, further enveloping the ship and continuing slowly towards the other ships.
Specialist Veruna glances up from her food having felt a strange sensation. It felt like a gentle nudge, motivation that arose from deep within. Her eyes meet Rend’s, who had been gazing at her for a few moments. “You felt it too?” She nodded, “What was it?” The Padawan had that apprehensive look that Sun had already seen too many times. “I do not know exactly, but I sense it is coming from my Master.”