"What... How..." Aurelia spluttered, tripping backward into the wall behind her as horror and disbelief flooded her system.
"Yes, yes indeed. It's me, alive and well. Moss Gowden, in the flesh," he said, hissing the last word with a chilling venom. "It would seem that your little clone admirer thought he could get rid of me by lying to the Pykes. Tsk tsk," he chided, taking a step closer and causing Aurelia to swallow in fear. "Should have known better. Anyway, it seems that he's out of the picture for now, eh? And you're here... all alone..."
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, but Aurelia didn't move. A small group of loud adolescents spilled out of it, smacking each other and hurling insults as they trotted through the atrium. An elderly man approached from the side, holding a hand in the elevator and looking at Aurelia curiously.
"Are you going up?" he asked, his voice weathered with age.
"She is," Gowden answered, flashing a winning smile that barely hid the revolting gleam in his eyes. "She's got to get some good rest before she comes in to work tomorrow!"
"Okay then," the man said, shuffling in and pressing a button, still holding the door for her.
Aurelia slid toward it, not wanting to move an inch closer to Gowden, but he leaned in right next to her ear, causing her to freeze in panic again as he whispered so only she could hear.
"You will come in tomorrow, or there will be... consequences."
* * *
Aurelia burst into her apartment, banging on the keypad to close the door behind her as quickly as possible. She locked it, double checked it, and then ran to pull the curtains across the transparisteel panels along her living room wall. She felt like an animal trapped in a cage, and her churning stomach threatened to empty its contents. Taking a shaky seat on the couch, she held her head in her hands, allowing the tears to fall freely. It was too much. Any one of these events was enough to rock her entire world, but to have all of it heaped up in one day?
It was dinnertime, but she had no sense of hunger whatsoever. She pulled her datapad from the table, tapping furiously as she sought the only option she could think of...
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ENCRYPTED TRANSMISSION//1800 HRS
IVAADI -- IN DANGER, CAN'T EXPLAIN -- PLEASE CONFIRM CORUSCANT POSITION WITH SURGEON AND ASK FOR ESCORT FOR ME TO DEPART ASAP, BEFORE 0600 TOMORROW. PLEASE CONFIRM RECEIPT AND TRANSPORT ASAP. CANNOT LEAVE APARTMENT.
RELI
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YOU ARE READING
Quantum Entanglement: Howzer and Aurelia
FanfictionHowzer stole our hearts when he appeared in TBB S1 E12, and I wanted to write a bit of a backstory for him. It begins with his newbie days during The Clone Wars and stretches to where we last see him in The Bad Batch. Enjoy his character arc and som...
