It's His Galaxy (And We're All Living in It)

Mae It Be

Milo was pretty sure that he should have been angry at Veronica. After all, she had left him in the lurch at the most traumatizing part of his life. Not to mention the fact that she had convinced him to go to war. What kind of a person even does that to a child? Without her, he probably wouldn't have a tenth of the trauma he now possessed.

And yet...he didn't feel angry at her. He just felt joy at seeing her again. Veronica had been, at one point, his mother, best friend, and therapist all rolled into one. They shared a powerful connection. Milo felt comfortable around her in a way that he really hadn't felt before with an adult. He'd confided his deepest, darkest fears in her, and she'd responded with compassion and empathy. That was one of the reasons why her complete abandonment of him hurt so much.

But maybe it wasn't her fault. After all, Norm had waylaid two members of the Jedi Council to ensure his exile – maybe he had done the same for Veronica. But that didn't make any sense now that Milo thought about it. He could see how killing the Flynn-Fletchers would have been disadvantageous to Mechanus. He was trying to move in the shadows without anyone noticing his evil plans, and assassinating the Grand Master of the Jedi Order could have caused him problems. Veronica, on the other hand, could have disappeared without anyone noticing.

"Is he all right?" Veronica asked, sounding worried. Force, Milo hadn't realized how much he missed having her around to care about his welfare. "Milo, do you need medical attention? I'm a trained doctor. I can help!"

Milo blinked. He hadn't realized how long he'd been lost in thought for. "No, I'm fine. Well, sort of. Veronica, how the heck are you here? Where were you?"

Before Veronica could say anything, Baljeet put up a hand. "This sounds like it's going to be a long conversation that we very much do not have time for right now. Let us escape first and then chatter later."

"Wow, the nerd's talking sense," Baljeet said. "I guess even a broken chronometer is right twice a day."

"They're totally in love, aren't they?" Veronica said in a deadpan tone. Judging by the way that both Buford and Baljeet blushed at this point, she was probably right. Milo didn't even know that Baljeet was capable of blushing up until that point.

It took time and quite a lot of shooting to get out of the prison successfully, but eventually, they all got out and into a waiting speeder, presumably provided by Crystal, and the prison was out of sight. They were just lucky that none of the guards could shoot worth a damn. They must not have been used to their prisoners fighting back. Or facing off people as powerful as Milo and his friends. Or both.

Crystal's hotel was out of the question as a hideout now. It would also probably be burnt to the ground soon enough, Crystal informed them. Despite this, Crystal didn't seem to feel any regret about helping them. Milo could see how she and Zack had gotten along well. Though Crystal tried to hide it, she was a decent individual at the core, just like Zack. Baljeet had promised that Republic Intelligence would compensate her for the loss of her business. Crystal didn't believe him, but Milo knew that she was skeptical about the Republic bureaucracy's desire to fulfill that promise, not Baljeet's sincerity in making it.

Veronica brought them to a safehouse that she used to help smuggle refugees out of the city and into the care of the Beast Riders. Though Niblet was of Beast Rider descent, many (though by no means all) of them were opposed to Niblet's regime. The refugees were safe there; Niblet had no desire to start a war with the Beast Riders, at least not when a civil war was imminent and it would mean he had to fight wars on two fronts. The safehouse certainly wasn't as luxurious as Crystal's hotel, but it was clean and it was safe and that was all Milo needed.