The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Ten

Chapter Nineteen: Discussions En Route

LUX BONTERI

As the New Hope pulled in for a landing on the surface of Azidara, Lux followed Ahsoka and Kaya Ti into the common room. Kaya flopped down on one end of the wraparound couch and Lux took the other, ready to learn more about the planet they were scouting out.

"Wait," he said, "what about Jani? She needs to be briefed too."

"Oh, she already knows. I sent her all the information a few hours ago. Right now she's flying a defensive perimeter to scan the surrounding area. We need to make sure we don't have any unpleasant surprises waiting for us anywhere."

"Point," Lux acquiesced.

Kaya Ti flashed him a quick half-smile. "Don't worry; you'll see her soon."

Ahsoka finished calibrating the holoprojector on the table and sat down beside him. A glowing sphere meant to represent Azidara appeared on the air before them, along with a handful of topographical scans from key points across the planet. Readings on the planet's native flora and fauna, gravity and particularities of the surrounding system spun around the other images.

"The planet has roughly ninety percent average gravity, with an orbital period of roughly three hundred and twenty-four days," Ahsoka said. "The days themselves are twenty-eight hours long."

She continued briefing them about the planet's particularities and several places where they could potentially set up a base for half an hour, but, eventually, Lux could only hear the sound of her voice, and not distinguish individual words. His thoughts began to drift elsewhere... to places he hadn't seen them go in years.

Out of the blue, he wondered what it would have been like if Janira, Caleb and himself had been raised together on the Bonteri estate on Onderon.

Lux could see it quite clearly – Janira would be the one who would always get him into trouble, but always be there to get him back out in the end. Caleb, with his sense of duty, would take the fall for it half the time... And the other half, he would be a key part of Janira's latest scheme.

Lux could picture his mother beside the three of them quite clearly; smiling as she kissed them and told them she was proud of them. But, strangely enough, the face of the tall, dark-haired man standing beside them kept fluctuating from that of the man who had raised him to the one that belonged to his true father.

And try as he did, he just couldn't decide who had more of a right to be there.

"Lux? Lux, did you get all that?"

Lux blinked, turning to meet Ahsoka's gaze. "Huh? Uh, yes, of course."

Lux could tell from the look in Ahsoka's eyes that she didn't believe him, but she didn't confront about it. "Okay. Then we'll make for the metal structure Janira picked up on with her A-wing's scanners. Since the radiation in the atmosphere is scrambling our tech, we need go out on foot to figure out if it's the old base or not."

Ahsoka and Kaya prepped their blasters, and, after a moment, Lux followed their example. I have no idea what you're talking about, but hey, this isn't going to be that eventful of a mission anyways. I'm sure it'll be fine.

"Lux, you're drifting away again."

Lux looked up as Janira put a hand on his shoulder, the heavy leather of her pilot's glove catching on the lightweight knit material of his sweater.

"Come on," she said. Her grey eyes, almost identical to his, were full of compassion. "Talk to me. It's not like you to be so... distant."

"I'm sorry." Lux shot a glance over at Ahsoka and Kaya where they were walking in front of him, and, satisfied they were out of earshot, he turned back towards his sister. "I just can't stop thinking about you and Caleb and Mother... and Fa– my stepfather."