The Patriot
Part XIII: The Patriot
Saw Gerrera looked at the holomap hovering on the table in front of him. In the cavern’s obscurity, its blue halo was the only source of light.
“You say the roads to Banna have been destroyed?”
The answer came from one of Saw’s soldiers named Shara.
“Yes. They were bombed this morning. It’s just ruins, now. No transport can pass.”
“But why bomb Banna?” Another one called Kalim asked. “There’s nothing of interest there.”
Saw frowned for a second, then let out a joyless laugh as he understood the Empire’s maneuver.
“Those sons of Murglaks… Their target wasn’t Banna, it was the Bannans. The majority of the city’s population works in the oil refinery. If they can’t go to work tomorrow morning, we’ll soon be running out of fuel.”
“We could buy fuel from another planet,” Shara suggested.
“That would be costly and risky. It would be easy for the Empire to intercept our imports,” Saw replied.
He banged his fist on the table, making the holomap flicker.
“I swear, I…”
The sound of his comlink beeping interrupted him.
“This better be good news,” he mumbled before answering.
The image of one of his lieutenants materialized before them.
“What is it Magva?”
The woman answered, her voice distorted by the hologram.
“The Thabeskans smugglers to whom you bought our new rifles have made contact with us. They’re about to enter the atmosphere and are asking for landing coordinates.”
“Ah! About time…”
Finally, good news. These new rifles brought by the Thabeskans would allow Saw and his group of rebels to even the odds with the Empire. At least for a time.
“Tell them to land in the Amanoa canyon. You can give them the exact coordinates, but I don’t want them to know about the Nest. Make sure they don’t get anywhere near it.”
“Copy that,” Magva said before disappearing.
As far as Saw was concerned, the Thabeskans weren’t tied to the Empire — that was precisely why he had chosen them to buy his new weapons — but still, with everything currently happening in the galaxy, you could never be too careful. He had deliberately omitted to give them the landing coordinates until the last minute and now, he would make sure the exact location of their base would remain unknown to their guests.
“Prepare three rupings,” he said to Kalim. “We’re going to meet our new friends.”
**********
Kalim frowned behind his pair of electrobinoculars.
“I think I see them.”
Saw extended a hand.
“Let me see.”
Kalim pulled the cord over his head and handed the device to his chief. Saw looked through the binoculars in the direction Kalim had pointed.
“Just a little more on the right,” he heard the young man say besides him.
Saw did as he said, and sure enough, he saw the Thabeskan shuttle approaching. The ship hovered above the canyon for a few minutes, then began its descent.
“That’s them,” Saw said, returning his electrobinoculars to Kalim. “Let’s go.”
With that, he clicked his tongue, making his ruping launch into the sky.
When Saw and his two men touched the ground, the Thabeskan shuttle had already landed and two hooded silhouettes were standing next to it. The three ruping landed in front of them as the two Thabeskans emissaries raised their hands to protect their faces from the dust raised by the flap of the beasts’ wings.
“Welcome to Onderon,” Saw said, jumping off his mount.
He gave a pat on the ruping’s neck and turned to the Thabeskans.
“I hope you had a good trip.”
The first emissary spoke.
“We didn’t meet any imperial ship if that’s what you’re asking. The cargo is intact.”
“It is what I was asking.”
He smiled, happy to see he was dealing with someone intelligent. But the Thabeskan then removed his hood and Saw’s smile faded. The emissary was a beautiful young woman, who didn’t even seem to be twenty years old. Her hair had been expertly braided with multiple jewels and under her cloak, Saw caught a glimpse of a luxurious dress. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t have minded seeing such a beautiful girl appear before him, but not today. Today he needed to make an important deal and this girl looked more like a princess than an arms dealer. For their sake, he hoped the Thabeskans had not tried to pull a fast one on him.
“I take it you are not the man called Bija’an.”
“No. Unfortunately, Bija’an doesn’t work for us anymore, but I’ve been sent to make the exchange in his place.”
“Us?”
“I’m Makala Fardi. Askaar Fardi’s daughter.”
Saw crossed his arms, unimpressed. Whether or not the fact that Fardi had sent him his own daughter was a sign of trust remained to be seen.
“Do you have my shipment, miss Fardi?”
“Of course. It’s in the cargo hold.”
Saw gestured for his men to go check said cargo hold but before any of them could make a step, Makala Fardi raised a hand to stop them.
“Wait. I may have the shipment but I need to know if you have the money.”
Saw smiled again. Maybe she was more of a dealer than he had thought.
“I do.”
“Well, you’ll need to prove it.”
“I can show you the money, darling, but I guarantee you that you won’t be able to even smell it before I have my rifles.”
“Let’s make a deal, then. I’ll show you the weapons and, in the meantime, my bodyguard will go with one of your men to see if you have the money. When everybody is satisfied, we can make the exchange.”
“That’s fine by me.”
He turned to Kalim and pointed at the bodyguard standing behind Fardi.
“Search him and blindfold him. Then you can guide him to the Nest.”
His lieutenant nodded.
“Wait…” began the bodyguard.
“Don’t worry,” Fardi said. “I trust mister Gerrera to fulfil his part of the deal.”
She looked into his eyes with a challenging look as if she was daring him to break his word. Saw held her gaze for a few seconds.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“She’s clean, Saw.”
The rebel leader turned to Kalim. Next to him was standing the bodyguard of Makala Fardi, his face now uncovered after Kalim’s search.
Only he was a she, and Saw recognized her immediately.
“Ahso…?”
“My name is Ashla,” the young Togruta said, interrupting him. “Now if you want to show me the way to your base…”
By the look in her eyes, Saw understood that now wasn’t the time for questions.
“Kalim,” he called. “Stay with miss Fardi. I’ll escort Ashla to the Nest.”
“But I thought you said…”
“I changed my mind. Can I trust you to verify the merchandise?”
“Of course,” Kalim responded, slightly taken aback.
“Good.”
He looked to Ahsoka and indicated the rupings.
“You know how to ride those?”
“I do, actually.”
He could’ve sworn she had smiled.
**********
“That’s quite a story you’ve got there,” Saw said.
They were both leaning against the guard rail surrounding the wooden fort called the Nest which served as a base for the Onderonians rebels.
“Do you know where Rex is, now?”
Ahsoka briefly closed her eyes as a pained expression came across her face.
“I wish I would. But we’ve lost contact since we left Tahlar.”
“And you’ve traveled on your own since then? Impressive.”
“I was a Jedi, remember?”
“Precisely. You guys aren’t used to survive alone in the wild,” he said with a smirk.
“Weren’t,” she corrected him. “The Jedi Order doesn’t exist anymore.”
“Right. Sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
She felt the need to change the subject.
“What about you? You’re still fighting I see.”
“Yeah… The Separatists didn’t abandon Onderon as fast as we thought they would after you left. They withdrew their troops, but they established a blockade around the planet and we underwent a siege. When we learned the Seppies had finally lost the war, we thought we would finally be free, but then…”
“The Empire arrived,” Ahsoka completed.
Saw nodded.
“You’re not the only ones,” she added. “It seems to be a recurring theme across the galaxy, nowadays. Palpatine had planned this since the beginning.”
“And the Jedis didn’t see it coming.”
“We paid for that mistake,” Ahsoka replied bluntly.
They remained silent for a time.
“Is Lux still with you?” Ahsoka finally asked.
“No. After you left last year, he went to Coruscant to serve as our senator. From what I know he’s still there. I would’ve thought you would know what he has become.”
“No. We’ve never seen each other again.”
“Well… I heard he got engaged with the daughter of a Moff.”
“Engaged?”
She did not really think about Lux anymore, but still, she felt a slight twinge in the heart.
“With an Imperial,” Saw confirmed with an expression of contempt.
With a sigh, she gazed at the overlooking mountains.
“Everything looks the same and yet it all feels so… different.”
Only a year had passed since her mission on Onderon, but it seemed like a decade ago.
“Well… things are different, now.”
He watched her out of the corner of his eye.
“You know, we could use somebody with your abilities. A Jedi would be a powerful ally against the Empire.”
She looked at him, slightly surprised by his offer.
“Are you proposing me to stay here?”
“I have a hard time believing someone like you is happy to work for smugglers. If you would stay here, you could make yourself useful again by helping us fight the tyranny of the Empire.”
Even if she didn’t like the way he had formulated it, Saw had a point. She had not minded working on Fardi’s ships but now, things were beginning to take a new turn. And Ahsoka didn’t want to become an arms dealer.
“I…”
She didn’t get to finish her sentence.
“Saw!”
One of Saw’s rebels was running in their direction. She stopped before them, out of breath.
“There’s an attack coming. Our scouts have spotted five Imperial fighters coming from the north and heading our way.”
“Alright.”
He turned his comlink on.
“Everyone, into your positions! Air strike coming from the north!”
Everybody around them suddenly stopped what they were doing to run to their assigned position. Despite the surrounding chaos, Saw seems strangely calm. Ahsoka turned to him.
“Does this happen often?”
“Once in a while,” Saw replied in a tone that suggested otherwise.
He looked up to the sky, waiting for the fighters to appear.
“I think you and your friend will have to spend the night with us. It wouldn’t be safe to take off while the Imps are around.”
He smirked.
“That’ll give you time to think about my offer.”