Saga of the Bridgers-Year 4

Chapter 10: Rebel Assault

April 20.

Aboard the Admonitor, Iulius woke up on his bed, in the captain's quarters. Beside him lied Qathora, still asleep with her undersuit on and her arms clinging on his chest.

He looked at her for a moment. According to the intel she herself provided, today was gonna be the day of the rebel attack. That was what she overheard in a bar where the local resistance's agents usually hanged out, and they seemed to be waiting for today.

It made sense to him as well. The disappeared ore crawler was definitely stolen by the rebels, so they could bypass the jamming signal and contact their main base. Iulius was curious whether Darvos was down on Lothal at that moment or back at the rebel base. He was fairly sure, however, that Jaral Bridger was on the planet, and probably she was the only reason why the rebels took the trouble of stealing that crawler: since she was their new supreme commander, she needed to give the order to attack.

On one side, he felt much safer knowing that the Blue Nova wouldn't be flying with the rebel fighters, since last time she did, she almost managed to make a light cruiser fall against the Admonitor. That said, the person who had fled with that U-Wing a week before was Hera Syndulla, and she wasn't to be underestimated either.

He gently slipped out of her embrace, but the Togruta was a perceptive one and she groaned lightly as she woke up as well.

"Is it time?" she whispered.

Iulius sat at the edge of the bed. It was actually a single one, but it was large enough for them to sleep embraced and Iulius laid next the open side (the other one was facing the wall) in case he had to jump into the action.

"It's not like I can sleep any more." Iulius commented, passing a hand on his face to massage it.

Qathora drifted a bit on the hard mattress and went to caress his neck.

"What are you afraid of?" she asked softly.

"These rebels have already fooled me once when the odds were completely against them. I don't want that to repeat again, especially because Tarkin will be watching." he said, then he gently brushed a knuckle on her cheek before standing up and go to grab his jacket.

"Yeah, I heard the Gran Moff doesn't take lightly to failure of his subordinates."

"If I fail even this time, then it means I'll deserve such punishment." he said as he zipped the suit. "But I would smear the reputation of the Grand Admiral once again, and that's what scares me the most.

Qathora stood up from the bed as well and grabbed her chest armor. "You really care a lot about Thrawn." she observed.

"Everything I learned about true war, I learned it from him. For me, he's like a mentor. The worst thing I can imagine is to disappoint him."

"Hey, despite his lack of expressiveness, I'm pretty sure he has a high esteem of you as well." she reassured him. "And for a good reason. You can do this, Iulius."

As the Rear Admiral donned on his cap and took a look in the mirror, he sighed. "I hope so. It's not just my career at stake here. If I fail, the Federation will attack us. The Empire will be at risk."

Qathora huffed and took the rank plaque to go appoint it to her master's left pectoral.

"I can't say I care much about that part." she honestly said.

"Still, you're serving the Empire as a spy." Iulius commented.

"I'm not serving the Empire. I'm serving you. Wherever you put your loyalty is not my concern, but you already know my opinion about the Empire." then she turned her head toward the door for a brief moment before talking to the Rear Admiral again. "Though, I must say that your crew has treated me with enough respect, surprisingly."