into the chaos! → luke skywalker ✓

xix. battle on the forest moon / finale

⋆☆* ✧✰.✦

CASSIA TARIN WAS ALWAYS A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH, but once she pulled herself together after Luke's departure, she would be downright scary to encounter as an enemy. Perhaps it was because she thought doing her part would help Luke keep his promise, but she was more focused and determined than ever before. As they made their way to the shield generator in the dead of night with their newfound friends, she led the group with her blaster in hand and her head on a swivel.

Oddly enough, though, she felt okay. She hated the idea of Luke being off risking his life where she couldn't help him, but at least she was there for her friends when they needed her the most. She had purpose, and that was really all she had ever wanted. She wanted to make a difference and, most of all, be there to help and care for the people she cared about most. Besides, she had a strange feeling that, as Luke had said several times the day before, everything would work out.

There was nothing they could do until the sun came up but watch and wait. They camped out with the rest of the ground assault team and the Ewoks and took turns keeping watch, allowing the others to get some rest, for none of them had had much. Leia forced Cas to rest first, which she agreed to only because she would need her full strength and focus for the morning's events. When she awoke, the sun still had yet to rise (they still had two standard hours until the late Endorian sunrise according to their furry friends) so she took watch as Leia and Han got some rest. A few others sat along the perimeter while Cas sat staring at the compound. It was boring, truthfully, but at least she had good company, for she wasn't alone in her position.

"You know," began Commander Rex from her side. The two of them had become fast friends after the Battle of Yavin; her skills impressed him, and she had learned a lot from him over the years. "I once fought under a Skywalker, back during the Clone Wars." Cas knew why he was bringing it up; everyone knew how close Luke and Cas were, and it was Rex's way of trying to make her feel better. Still, the mention of Luke's father caught her attention.

"You served with Anakin Skywalker?"

"He was my general," said Rex, leaning back against one of the almost comically large trees that occupied the forest. "He was the fiercest warrior I've ever met, and now I see it was both a good thing and a bad thing. He was one of the good ones, though. He genuinely cared about us clones, and I considered him a real friend up to the end. From what I can tell, Luke's a bit like him...though I think he takes more after his mother." Cas leaned forward with interest; even as Luke learned more about his lineage, the only things he knew about his mother were what Cas told him, and all she knew was what Bail had placed in his message.

"You knew his mother? She was a senator, wasn't she?"

"Oh yeah," said Rex with a chuckle. "Senator Padmé Amidala from Naboo. Strictly speaking, Jedi weren't supposed to fall in love because it could make them vulnerable to the dark side—I personally thought it had more to do with the strength of the Jedi in question, but that's beside the point. Anyway, they kept their relationship secret. I would always keep watch while they spoke over holo. I think I'm the only other person who knew aside from some of the senator's staff—and, well, Master Kenobi found out, but he played the plausible deniability card." Part of Cas was in awe as she learned more about the story she had been made apart of when Bail made her the keeper of the secret, but the other part felt guilty. She wished Luke was there to learn, too—after all, it was about his parents. There was something else he had mentioned, too, that grabbed her attention, and she found herself focusing on that the most.