Ghosts

Chapter Eleven: The Kashyyyk Outpost

The jungle air was thick and humid, making the hair on Clove Tritus' head unmanageable. No matter how many times he ran his hands through it, hoping the moisture on his palms would slick it back, it kept its frizzy texture, and, depite the heat, Tritus considered shoving on his helmet to cover it. The small breeze did help him manage the heat, although the trees towering over and around him blocked most of the wind. At least today was a good day for the Rebellion.

A good day it was, indeed. While he was a madman, and considered to be one of the most dangerous men in the galaxy by the Empire and Rebellion alike, Tritus couldn't deny that Saw Gerrera and his soldiers had done them a favor by winning back Kashyyyk. With the help of the newly freed Wookies, and someone named Cal, who had apparently been pivotal to the success of the battles, Kashyyyk had been reclaimed in the name of the Rebellion. And Tritus has the pleasure of overseeing the new outpost, run in tandem with the Wookies as they rebuilt their home planet.

Tritus checked his datapad, scanning the bits of information for anything important, though he doubted there was anything new. Sato's messenger, a brunette wiith something clipped to her belt that looked suspiciously like a lightsaber, had already come to discuss the planet's resources and ways Kashyyyk and the Wookies could aid in the war effort. She had departed earlier that morning, and Tritus had watched her ship disappear from the scanners as she shot into hyperspace. All Tritus had left to do today was finish a few reports on the status of the planet and estimated time before it was ready for any sort of involvement in the war.

Tritus began typing away, occasionally glancing over the balcony where he stood to look down at the other rebels working. Unbeknownst to him, he wasn't alone on the balcony.

Standing just around the corner, lingering in the shadows, was a figure clad in black armor, holding a holodisk in her hand. The figure projected out of the disk breathed mechanically, and spoke with a deep voice.

"Commence the next phase of our plan." Darth Vader growled. "Do not disappoint me."

"Don't worry, my Lord." The Inquistor responded, the wicked grin apparent in the tone of her voice. "Everything is going according to plan." The hologram flickered off, and she put the device away, her other hand holding her lightsaber as she turned the corner and advanced towards the rebel commander.

Tritus was so wrapped up in his work that he didn't hear the lighsaber ignite.

———

"With the securing of the route through Concord Dawn's system, our shipments are now arriving at half the rate they did before." Hera reported. "I believe we can now reduce out shipments to only once a week now that..."

Hera's voice faded away as Ezra's eyes trained on a speck of a dust floating a few feet away from him. It was larger than the last one he spotted, at least twice as big, and was hovering in circles through the air.

It was easier to concentrate on the dust specks floating around the room than another useless meeting Ezra was being forced to sit through. He wasn't the only one growing tired and bored of these meetings, either; he could see Zeb picking at his arm fur, and Sabine was closely examining her fingernails. Nobody but Ezra had noticed that Chopper had gone into sleep mode about 15 minutes into the meeting.

Did the Rebellion have nothing else to do? Ever since the success of the Concord Dawn mission, and the subsequent capture of Fenn Rau, there had been only dull news, yet the Ghost crew was forced to sit through it. Ezra couldn't fathom why, as still none of them spoke a word except for Sato, Hera, Kanan, and Ahsoka. Perhaps they wanted to keep everyone in the loop. Ezra's theory was that this was Kanan's way of punishing him for his attitude towards his master the last few weeks.