Mandalorian Revived

Chapter 27

I watch in silence as Ahsoka messes with some of the controls surrounding us in the small cockpit of her ship. Her orange-tinted skin is bathed in the cool blue light of hyperspace as we hurtle closer and closer to our destination. Sabine's been gone for almost an hour now and Huyang is running calculations silently in his chair. No one has spoken and it's safe to say the suspense is killing me.

"Ahsoka..." it comes out almost as a whine. "Where are we going?"

"Seatos," she answers easily. She doesn't even spare me a glance as she works. "That's where the Imperials are taking their stolen supplies."

"The Imperials?" I frown. "Mando told me the Empire fell. I assumed Gideon was an isolated issue."

She sighs. "Imperial remnants are everywhere if you're willing to see them. They may look like isolated issues, but there is a larger plan at work here."

"Which is?"

Finally, she looks at me and pauses in her work. A flash of fear tears through her eyes. "Thrawn's return and the revival of the Empire."

"Thrawn..." I nearly choke. "He was gone...the Empire couldn't find him and declared him dead. I remember that. There's no way he can return."

She hums thoughtfully and shoots me a tight, knowing smirk. "Things aren't always so black and white, Tara Vizsla."

I slouch back in my chair, crossing my arms. "Fine. But how does this Thrawn business have anything to do with my memories? You said you had an idea for that."

She sighs, sinking down into her chair and spinning around to face me. "I've heard whispers of Thrawn's returns. Of his plans. He'll want to go beyond the power of the old Empire, Tara. He won't be satisfied with anything less than full domination of our galaxy." Her features soften. "That includes Mandalore."

I look away. "I don't care about Mandalore," I mutter under my breath.

She tilts her head. "Once you get your memories back, you will."

Her words send a shiver down my spine for more reasons than one. "So you'll do it? You'll get my memories back?"

She leans back in her chair and exchanges a look with Huyang. "That's...not something I know how to do." My heart sinks, and anger quickly swells in my chest. She brought me along to help with her cause, but cannot help me with mine. I should've known. "But," she holds up a hand, as if sensing the building hurt and anger, "I know a Jedi who has mastered that skill. And our contact, Hera, has a connection that could get us his latest location."

I keep my tone cautiously hard as she watches me. "Will Hera be on Seatos?"

"I believe so," Ahsoka says. Her expression sobers. "Truthfully, Tara, I have no time to lose. Every moment we waste is another moment the enemy gets closer to finding Thrawn. I wish I could do more to help you, but I cannot."

I chew on my bottom lip to keep from saying something stupid. A contact to another, hopefully more available, Jedi is better than nothing. Instead of saying anything, I just nod.

Sabine strolls into the cockpit with a rebellious grin on her lips.

Ahsoka raises a white eye marking. "Where have you been?"

Sabine shrugs a little too innocently as she sinks into the copilot's seat. "Cleaning up the ship, of course. As any dutiful Padawan would."

Ahsoka shakes her head, sighing. "Do I even want to know?"

Huyang holds up a mechanical finger. "Knowing the two of you, probably not."

Sabine chuckles at that, and I can't help but join in. Her eyes twinkle with mischief as she looks at me. "Did Ahsoka fill you in?"