The in Between || A Star Wars Story

Chapter 16 - Ghosts of Mortis

Back at the ship, it was still dark and was now raining. Kennedy sat at the bottom of the ramp, Obi-Wan leaned against the ramp opening, and Anakin sat at the top of the ramp, all sitting in silence. Rain usually calmed Kennedy but she sat on the ramp as her mind raced. So many unexplainable things had happened in the last 24 hours.

"I'm getting a little tired of how unreliable the weather is here," Obi-Wan finally spoke up.

"Some might say that's part of the appeal," Anakin forced a smile.

"You did well, Anakin. How do you feel?" Kennedy listened to their conversation while chewing on the inside of her cheek.

Anakin sighed, "I'm not sure we're doing the right thing by leaving. The Son is consumed by the dark side."

"And if we stay, we may be used to the dark side's advantage."

"Well," Ahsoka popped her head out of the ship's crawl space, "you want the bad news or the really bad news?"

"Well, let's try the bad news, laced with a little optimism." Kennedy stood up and stepped up the ramp until she was standing next to Obi-Wan to hear Ahsoka.

"We've got two cracked shilo pins, a busted converter, the engines should be fired twice to dump debris, and the backup vents need charging."

Obi-Wan crossed his arms and held his chin in his hand. "Sounds terribly downbeat." Ahsoka hopped back into the crawl space. "Can it be fixed?"

"Uh, I can reroute the primary initiator, weld the dampening vents, and that might give us enough power to leave the atmosphere. After that, I have no guarantees she'll hold together." Kennedy couldn't help but chuckle, finding it a little amusing that Ahsoka knew so much about mechanics.

"We'll take our chances. Better than staying here." Obi-Wan walks down the ramp and out of the ship.

Anakin grabbed a compact speeder and started to unfold it at the bottom of the ramp. Kennedy furrowed her brows, "Where are you going?"

"To see the Father. I'm not convinced that the Son will be contained here without our help. Perhaps we should make a stand."

"Anakin..." Obi-Wan took a step forward.

"If I don't get the Father's blessing to leave, it'll haunt me forever." Anakin began to speed away. Kennedy went into the ship to grab another compact speeder.

"I'll go after him, Master. I'll make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. You guys just make sure the ship gets fixed," she says before riding off after Anakin. Obi-Wan opened his mouth to retort but she rode away before he could say anything. All he could do was cross his arms and smile proudly at how similar yet so different his Padawans were.

Kennedy arrives at the Daughter's tomb just a couple of minutes after Anakin. The Father closed the tomb and the sound of the rock settling boomed around the rocky terrain around them. The two moons were now visible and stars filled the sky. Kennedy ran up the stairs to catch up to Anakin.

"You should have left by now," the Father said over his shoulder.

Anakin's voice was low, "Our ship needs repairs."

"Do not underestimate my son. He will seek your ship to escape our isolation and sow terror through the universe. And while you are here, he will use you to do it."

Despite being around the Father their entire stay on this strange planet, Kennedy still couldn't shake the weird feeling that he gave her. His voice was deep and other-worldly and his long white beard hid most of his old, wrinkled face. She stepped forward, "What will you do, now that he's given himself to the dark side?"