Lady Obscura: Vader's Shadow [Star Wars | Luke Skywalker]

Chapter 10

Of course Hoth had to be cold.

Athara lowered the Amaran Flame through the atmosphere of the frozen planet, beginning to feel cold just at the sight of the unending blanket of snow and ice that covered the surface. She didn't like to be cold, especially when there was no chance of getting warm without layers upon layers of clothing or blankets. That was precisely the situation on Hoth. It was always cold; no warm sun, no warm shelters, only huge parkas that only kept their wearers tolerably less chilled than they would be without the thick garments. She swallowed a string of profanity that threatened to escape her lips as the atmosphere gave way to the barren wasteland that was the surface of the planet. Instead, she only allowed herself a resentful groan as her ship soared over the crags and valleys of ice, rock and snow.

After transmitting her code clearance and identification, she was permitted to land the red corvette in one of the recently completed landing bays. She was eager to get off the ship, but not so eager to be out in the frigid temperatures. Nevertheless need drove her.

Nearly a year had passed since she officially threw her support behind the Rebel Alliance and she had not shirked her new commitments in the slightest. In that year she had proven herself useful over and over again. As it happened, many of the skills that had made her an invaluable Imperial agent had made her equally invaluable to the Rebellion. She was an effective leader, was incredibly persuasive (thanks in part to her secret Force abilities), a good tactician and a relatively decent pilot. Plus, she had once been an Imperial agent and Commander herself.

Most Imperial Commanders followed procedure and standard manoeuvres to a fault and many had very distinctive ways of doing things. Having once been a part of that life, she had an intimate knowledge of how those commanders would respond in any given situation. There were even occasions when she was able to discern the particular Commanders the Alliance was facing off against just from their particular strategies. It allowed her to gain the upper hand on several occasions, much to the delight of the Rebel Leadership. Luckily, she had thus far kept her background wholly to herself, and had skillfully managed to avoid awkward questions about how she was able to engage the Imperials so effectively when she encountered them.

So, like Luke and Captain Solo, she rose quickly through the ranks within the Alliance until she was periodically commanding missions on her own. This particular mission to Rodia was one of many undertakings she had been assigned as the Alliance struggled to maintain their equipment. While not the most successful of missions, she had still managed to broker a small deal that would supply the Alliance with some decent tools and diagnostic equipment for many of the Fleet's ships. Still, she was not all that happy about the outcome, as the original prerogative of the mission had been to acquire some new ships.

Now she was preparing to disembark onto the most unappealing planet she could think of, especially because she was not overly fond of being cold. It was just her luck that the only planet they had found recently that was suitable for a secret base was an ice planet. Overall, it was not turning out to be her day. Shortly before she was set to depart Rodia for Hoth, one of the most intense feelings of foreboding she had yet experienced began to grow in the pit of her stomach.

She was still plagued by the fleeting, elusive visions that she had been having for years before the destruction of the Death Star. Only now they were increasingly pressing on her mind as she almost always woke from dreams or meditation with the intense anxiety of those visions lingering in her thoughts, despite being unable to remember a single coherent image or event. The presence that had originally made itself known through the visions had become a permanent fixture in her life, but she had no idea what its purpose was. It was connected to the visions, and it wanted her to understand something. Unfortunately, that something was even more elusive than the presence itself; and that was saying something.