Daughter of Mortis

Riddles of the Bendu

    Ania felt horror crash down around her. "She...can't be. I would have felt it," she whispered.

    "I'm so sorry. There was nothing we could do." Ezra worked his hands together uncomfortably.

    "I should have felt it," Ania whispered again. "It can't be true. She had so much left to tell me and I needed her help with something." Her hands began to shake.

    "Ania, please," Ezra began.

    "I should have felt it!" The dark guide's voice was laced over hers, instead of the woman's voice.

    Ezra's eyes widened as the objects within the room began to shake and lift as the turbulent Force moved around them. He looked back at Ania and quickly placed a hand on her shoulder. "Ania."

    The objects fell back in place. She loosed a heavy sigh. "It happened again, didn't it?"

    "If you're talking about the creepy voice thing, yes."

    "That's what I needed Ahsoka's help with." She dropped her head into her hands. "Something is happening and I don't know what."

    "Kanan and I will help you however we can," Ezra said soothingly.

    "I know you will. It's just, I can't believe she's gone."

    She felt the dark cloud fall around Ezra even before he spoke. "We will get revenge on Vader," he growled. "I promise."

    Ania put a hand on his cheek and looked him in the eye. "You're different. I sense darkness and chaos around you."

    Ezra stood abruptly, eyes darkening. She knew she had hit a nerve. "I'll tell Tolsa you're awake," was all he said before leaving.

    Two days passed before the medical droid declared her fit for duty again. Ania gratefully changed from the white med bay suit back into her regular clothes, provided by Tolsa. The Twi'lek was waiting for her when she was ready.

    "I'm so glad you're back now," Tolsa grinned, leading Ania out of the med bay. "Jax has been a real pain, trying to get him to follow orders and such."

    "Well, we should work that out of him. I'll get clearance for some training runs from Hera. It's about time I was up there with my squadron," Ania replied.

    They made their way over to the command center and entered. Hera was going over the inventory list. She set it aside as they neared. "Good to see you up and about," she smiled at Ania. "What do you need?"

    "Permission to take R-Squadron out for some training runs," Ania replied.

    "I wondered if you'd be doing that soon. Yes, the A-Wings aren't needed today so you can go through some runs."

    "Thank you." They moved to leave the room.

    "And Ania, I'm sorry about your mother," Hera smiled sadly. Ania swallowed hard and nodded, before following Tolsa out of the hut.

Her pilots were already grouped and waiting beside the A-wings that Sabine had custom painted in orange and blue. Tolsa fell in line with the others. Ania stepped in front of her pilots. "We will be going through several practice runs today. I will be up with you this time. We're a small squadron and many believe we won't account to much. We'll show them that we're the strongest pilots the Rebellion has." Ania snapped her flight goggles on. "Load up."

She jumped into her own A-wing while the rest of the squad prepared. She waited until she got the go ahead from the deck officer, before lifting. They flew a short ways away from the base, before Ania activated her comms. "We're going to pull our maneuvers in the Canyon," Ania said. "We're going to try it going two at a time. If you don't think you'll make it, pull out. I don't want any crashes today."