Lady Obscura: A Rogue One Story [Star Wars]

Chapter 8

When she'd first heard of the Death Star's weapon's test over Jedha, Athara had been insatiably curious to see what, if anything, remained of Jedha City. After the veritable legend the Death Star had become among those who knew of it thanks to its infamous delays, she had been curious to find out whether the Emperor's special project was finally a viable weapon, a success.

Now?

She was not too proud to admit to herself that she was afraid to find out. Krennic had always been supremely confident in his Battlestation and its potential, sometimes detrimentally so. But there had been nothing, no hint of exaggeration or overestimation, in his interrupted declaration to her Master or his comments to her before Vader had appeared. Only unadulterated fact...and awe. The particular level of confidence he'd had, the surge of righteous vindication she and her Master had sensed before her Master's intimidating proximity had cut him off? That couldn't be faked. Not by him. Not even if she had been truly underestimating his ability to bluff and mislead as she'd begun to suspect on Eadu after his manipulation of Galen Erso. It unsettled her. He was so sure that his Battlestation easily met all expectations—no, that it far and away surpassed them.

The idea was terrifying.

And his absolute conviction unnerved her.

Just as it had apparently troubled her Master enough to send her to determine just how potent Krennic's Superweapon truly was.

Hence her trip to desert moon.

After her first visit to Jedha, Athara had been quite content with the idea of never having to visit the moon again, any appeal having been soured by her previous experiences there. After that trip—mercifully cut short as it had been—her Master had assured her that anymore missteps on Krennic's part would see Vader himself or Tarkin paying the Director a visit and that any successes would earn the same. He'd told her it would be highly unlikely her presence would be required on or above the cool desert moon again.

And given how soon they had all been assured the Death Star would be completed at the time? She believed him when he said he doubted she would have had any further reason to visit the system again, especially since she wasn't directly involved in the project anyway; it had effectively been a fluke that she had visited Jedha that one time in the first place. So she'd naturally assumed that that would be the end of that.

So much for her assumptions.

It was enough to stir her memories from her previous visit to the cool desert moon, easily bringing back her experiences in the Holy City, from her surreptitious exploration of the ancient temple to her inspection of the garrison. Especially her accompaniment on one of the crystal collection operations through the city and subsequent engagement with an admittedly well-organized band of Saw Gerrera's militants. And if that particular thought and the ones that followed didn't get her temper worked up...

At least she could rest assured that she wouldn't have to see Krennic this trip. She'd had more than enough of him on Eadu; the additional time spent in his company on Mustafar had more than pushed her past her limit for tolerating the man's presence. So hearing as she'd been preparing to depart her Master's Fortress that the Director was heading for Scarif instead of returning to the Death Star? That had not hurt her feelings in the slightest.

But she refused to dwell on the infuriating Director, and given that, at the moment, she was being bombarded with memories from her visit to the Holy City? It was easy enough to do. Every moment was flashing through her thoughts whether she willed it or not.

From the chill in the air that had seemed strange to her given that the predominant feature of the moon was desert, to the unmistakable sense of impending violence that lingered in war zones across the Galaxy and the latent weight to the air perpetuated by the drive of those journeying to the city for all manner pilgrimage, there had been something peculiar and intriguing about the Holy City to Athara from the moment she'd stepped off her shuttle.