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jo-harrington · 2 days ago

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Luminous Beings - Chapter 5: When Ambush Comes to Shove

Art by @monologichno || Beta Read by @undead-supernova Part of the @eddiemunsonbigbang

Summary: Eddie’s world comes crashing down around him as he realizes his hopes and dreams could have come true, if only in a kinder world.

Word Count: 5.8k

Pairing: Eddie Munson x OFC (Thalia Trieste)

Warnings/Themes: Star Wars AU, Fluff, Angst, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Miscommunication, Distrust, Mention of Alcohol and Substance Use, Minor Canon Inaccuracies/Adaptation, Galactic Politics, Mention of Death, Vague References to Order 66 and the Jedi Purge

Note: We're at the half-ish way-ish point! This one is a little more lighthearted, I think. Just a nice little transitional chapter...nothing important happening...or will it? I actually felt really proud of it upon my reread before posting; it's very funny how last chapter was filled with a bit of dread but this one I'm super confident with. Hope you enjoy!

Thanks again to everyone for reading.

Luminous Beings Masterlist - Jo-Harrington's Masterlist

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Thank you for reading. Enjoy!

Hyperspace, 10BBY

Eddie sat in his seat on the bridge, practically catatonic. His thoughts swirled in his head about as wildly as hyperspace swirled just beyond the transparisteel.

How he had found himself here twice in the span of a few days, he really couldn't say.

He truly couldn't say much about anything. Who he was, why he was the way that he was, how he was feeling about all of this, especially the big revelation that...

He was a Jedi.

He'd found some amusement in the possibility of flying home to Bracca to drop the big revelation on Wane, who would offer some off-handed insult towards the failed Order. Wane, of course, would still ask Eddie if he could use some latent force ability to move the old husk of a washing machine out of their flat.

He also got a kick out of imagining Thalia's dramatic eye roll and playfully clarifying statement of "You're not a Jedi, bantha brains."

Then he'd get lost in the semantics again.

Force. Path. Jedi. Sith. Light Side. Dark Side.

They were all words that had been spoken a little too much over the past day. He didn't really know what they meant. Or, he supposed now, what they meant when it came to him.

Eddie was so lost in his head, he didn't notice when the pneumatic door hissed open or the footsteps that clunked across the bridge. Not until Jeff dropped into his usual seat beside Eddie at the console.

Jeff sat in silence for a while; he didn't even look at Eddie. He just made sure the ship's computer had them on course, checked some readings, flipped a few switches. And then when enough time had passed and he was sure Eddie wasn't going to lash out like an untamed loth cat, he spoke.

"You know," he began with a deep inhale. "If there was any of us who I expected to have Force abilities, it would be you. Lucky asshole."

Eddie couldn't help but crack a smile. He reached over and slugged Jeff in the arm lightly.

"Did you ever have a...feeling?" Jeff questioned. "Or an idea of it? All the times we played Jedis back home?"

"I don't think whacking broomsticks around would've awakened any natural abilities, Jeffy," Eddie scoffed.

"Hey, gotta exhaust all possible ideas." Jeff laughed. There was a beat before he asked again, "So...did you?"

"Not at all."

"Do you feel anything different now?"

Aside from confusion?

"No."

"Then I don't see why you're acting like you've been transported to some strange, upside-down, alternate universe where your hands are your feet and your head is in your ass." He paused. "Your head is always in your ass."

They both broke out in laughter, and Eddie felt the weight of the world finally lift off his shoulders.

"Thanks," he told his friend once their levity subsided. "I needed that."

"I noticed. You spent a little too much time being a grouch the last few days."

"Can you blame me?"

"Not really. But am I glad you're going through it and not me? Absolutely." Jeff reached over and slapped a hand on his shoulder. "So, what are the next steps, Captain?"

"Next steps?" Eddie frowned. "What next steps?"

"Well, it sounds like you just earned yourself another target on your back," Jeff elaborated with a nervous chuckle. "Thalia seems to think that you're gonna go with the others to this...Bogano. And if you do...well, it's not like we're gonna abandon you. Not because you can supposedly use the force now."

He'd been so overwhelmed by the revelation that he was somehow connected to the force that he missed it. Thalia's "consider yourself saved" didn't mean that she was simply saving him from a bleak and unadventurous future. She was trying to save him from the Empire, too.

From being hunted down. Hurt. Killed.

Eddie suddenly felt spite slowly build in his chest.

Spite towards her, yet again. But also, spite towards the Jedi. Tenfold.

If the Order knew he had some kind of power, where had they been? Surely if he wasn't special enough to be saved then, there was no reason for the Empire to come looking for him now.

How had Thalia even found him? Why did she care? Mostly everyone else aboard her little stowaway container was...well, they were kids. And given what she'd shown him, he could understand why she felt some sort of obligation to keep them safe.

But Eddie? All his life, he'd taken care of himself. Taken care of his friends.

He didn't need to be saved.

He hadn't needed the Jedi then, he wouldn't need them now.

So no, he’d tell her thanks but no thanks. He wouldn’t be going to Bogano.

"Well, you guys have nothing to worry about," Eddie finally assured Jeff. "The only place I need you guys to follow me to is Corellia to see if we can get a last minute set at a club in Coronet City."

"Seriously?" Jeff stumbled over his words. "Aren't you worried...about the Empire? A-about anything?"

"Nah." Eddie reached up and flipped a switch to divert more power to the sublight engines and hopefully get them to Coruscant faster. The sooner Thalia and her band of misfits were off his ship, the sooner he could forget this ever happened. "If anything happens, which I doubt, I'm sure I can handle it. What could possibly go wrong?"

To say that Eddie was hostile towards Thalia and the rest of his unexpected guests over the final few days of their journey was an understatement.

If he’d hadn’t been annoyed before, he sure was now. Actually, annoyance didn't begin to cover the array of emotions that he felt over his suddenly-crowded ship.

The ship was constantly noisy. He couldn't get a lick of privacy when there was always someone using the refresher. The big Nikto guy—Hoppor—kept pointing out everything mechanically wrong with Eddie’s ship.

The worst of it all was that the rest of his friends didn't seem to be as cranky as he was. They enjoyed having, essentially, the equivalent of a full crew aboard.

G'areth enjoyed the compliments he got over the meals he carefully crafted, especially since the newcomers had been eating rehydrated rations in the container. Jeff told stories of faraway planets and creatures to the kids. Dayv found a challenge in the twi'lek girl, Na'ancee, who seemed to beat his high score at the sharpshooting sim he loved.

Even D5-TN had seemed to make friends with a few of the younger boys. The little punk. Eddie always made jokes that he was a real kid in a tin can body; seems it wasn't so much of a joke after all.

"This is not a...babysitting ship," he grumbled to his friends one night. His crew, who he thought would listen to him and, at the very least, take his side on the principle of the matter. "This is a smuggling ship."

"Technically it's an old republic transport vessel," Dayv pointed out matter-of-factly. "We just retrofitted it to help us smuggle things bec—”

He trailed off as Eddie glared at him.

Eddie didn't try to bring up his frustrations to them again. Instead, he suffered alone.

"I have a question, your jedi-ship," he snarked at Thalia one afternoon as she passed on the way from the refresher.

She stopped in her tracks and stepped into the crew's bunkroom to find him lounging with his guitar. He and the guys had tried to practice together, but their unexpected audience kept requesting songs they didn't know.

If he had to teach these kids what Heavy Isotope was...well, no, he wasn't gonna bond with them. He was gonna stay grumpy. They could keep their bad taste in music.

"I'm not a Jedi," Thalia reminded him for the millionth time. She leaned against the threshold of the room and held her pack against her chest, almost like it was a shield that could protect her from whatever he had to say. "And what question?"

"I know you answered Jeff's question about payment in the commotion," he began. "But I'd like a little assurance. Because the terms have changed, this isn't a regular smuggling job anymore. There's no mysterious benefactor paying for goods to be transported across the galaxy. And last I checked, eighty percent of nothing is...oh, let's see...NOTHING."

Thalia snorted and rolled her eyes, which made Eddie seethe even more.

"Come on, how do you intend on paying up?" he asked. He hoisted himself up into a seated position. "I didn't know that Star Tours paid so well that you had a stockpile of credits to dish out. Do you even work for them? Was that uniform just a fake? Like everything else about you? Or does this...Hidden Path have a special reimbursement account with the Intergalactic Banking Clan?"

"Unbelievable," she scoffed. He grinned cockily, knowing he was getting to her.

"I need a number, sweetheart."

"Well what would make you happy? Forty thousand credits? Sixty?"

"A million."

"In your dreams, laser brain." She pushed off the wall and turned to leave. Annoyance now radiated from her like the heat of a dwarf star. "You'll get your money. Not a million, but you'll get it."

She avoided him for the rest of the trip.

Eddie didn't know if he felt relieved or disappointed.

The Core Worlds, 10BBY

The day they were set to arrive on Coruscant came before they knew it.

"Good," Eddie grumbled as D5-TN alerted him to the imminent arrival. He dropped into his seat with a huff and began the sequence to exit hyperspace. "The sooner we get through this, the better."

The stowaways were all corralled back into the container, with the promise of a new home just a few short hours away. Thalia then sent word via commlink to her friends that they'd be there before long.

"Landing Platform WB11-05," she relayed to Eddie and the others. "Just outside of CoCo Town. They'll be waiting for us."

"Well I didn't think you were gonna have us land on the Emperor's personal platform," Eddie snarked at her, earning a vulgar hand gesture in reply.

The sun was setting on the old Commerce District by the time the Dragonborn began its landing sequence, but the golden glow didn't do much to fix the overall dilapidated look of the place. Buildings were coated in pollution from the nearby Works and the traffic lanes were bumper to bumper with support staff and maintenance crews trying to get home for the evening.

WB11-05 was public platform, playing host to more than a dozen bays with ships coming and going at odd intervals; actually, Eddie would say that it was more of a landing field than a platform, given how large and busy it was, with a whole slew customs droids and speeder taxis ready to take people away. But no landing beacon, no flight control.

Most surprising of all—though a blessing—the Empire was nowhere to be seen. Eddie expected at least one inspector flanked by stormtroopers to be hovering nearby. But nothing.

As soon as the boarding ramp was down, the lead customs droid rolled right into the ship, boredly demanding the ship's cargo log and clearance codes. D5-TN handled it all in a jiffy. Once the customs droid was done, it beeped something in binary about sending pit droids over to inevitably handle the transfer of cargo, and then it was off to the next ship.

"We've been landing in the wrong neighborhood, boys." Eddie whistled in awe to his friend. "Trouble doesn't have to be our middle name anymore."

D5-TN whistled a joke in question, asking how people would know they were related if they didn't all share the same middle name. Eddie mashed a hand on top of his dome affectionately and then strutted down the boarding ramp to get a breath of fresh air.

Or as close to fresh air as you could get in this part of Galactic City.

With the opportunity to visit Coruscant right in their laps, his friends had all voted for a brief vacation in the Entertainment District, rather than an immediate departure to Corellia. And he couldn't say he hated the idea.

They could crash at old Lip's place and play at the Outlander's club, just like the good old days.

Eddie could taste the cold Tarisian Ale and Death Stick smoke already.

So, as the container was unloaded from the Dragonborn, Eddie's friends began unloading their own cargo. There were small pieces of luggage and instrument cases, hauled off as they called a nearby speeder taxi over so they could make their getaway after the transaction.

The last one off the ship was the woman of the hour herself.

Thalia squinted into the sun as she stepped off the boarding ramp and back onto solid ground. She was back in her blue-and-orange finery, the Star Tours logo proudly poised on her uniform. She lifted a hand to shield herself from the light as she glanced around the platform at the various ships.

Eddie sidled up beside her and whistled. "Don't tell me you're off on your next adventure so soon. Luring the next idiot into helping a poor, defenseless flight attendant? I thought we had something special."

There was a pained look in her eyes when she turned to him.

She hadn't been happy when he told her that he wouldn't be going into the Jedi Protection Program. But she still respected his decision.

That didn't mean she wanted them to part on bad terms. To be honest, neither did he, but he was too stubborn to admit it.

"Are you ever gonna let this go?" she huffed. "I made mistakes, I wasn't entirely truthful. That doesn't mean I'm a bad person. I'm doing the best I can to help others. To help you."

"I don't need help, sweetheart."

Thalia hummed in response and looked away, and Eddie felt a pang in his chest. Guilt. He wasn't a bad person either.

He felt the urge to say something, do something, because, yeah, she hadn't been so bad. Her company was nice, even, He was just a grumpy piece of bantha shit. But just as he was about to take her hand, maybe say something of the sort, D5-TN rolled down the boarding ramp and gently nudged her leg.

She looked down at him with a smile.

"Hey bud," she greeted. He whistled at her. "Yeah, I'll miss you too."

Dustin went on and on about the ship not being the same without her and her stories. That she was the only one who really listened to him when he talked about SU-S7 and didn't make fun of him. Of course, his dome rotated to shoot a pointed stare at Eddie, who raised his hands innocently. But it got a chuckle out of Thalia and relieved some of the tension.

Dustin said one last goodbye and then zipped back into the ship, leaving Eddie and Thalia alone once again.

"So...where are you headed to next," Eddie asked.

"Ord Mantell," she responded after a beat. "Taking a week off to do this was hard to pull. Had to cash in every favor I could. So as soon as that container is with Benny and Bob, I'm heading to the Eastport to serve juice to screaming passengers and get very little sleep."

"Doesn't sound very fun."

"Not all of us chased after adventures, Eddie," she said quietly. "Some of us just needed to survive."

Her expression shifted then. It was like a mask that she slipped on, but he could still see the turmoil in her eyes. The pursed lips shifted into a bright smile, eyebrows no longer hitched in worry, and her posture straightened to something less defensive. And it was all at the arrival of a Latero male in a red and white flight suit, his four arms outstretched as he approached.

"Well, well, well," he greeted fondly. "If it isn't our fearless leader, back from another perilous trip into the Unknown."

Thalia closed the distance and he pulled her into a fond embrace.

"It's good to be back, Ben," she said, voice straining as he squeezed her tightly.

Eddie noted, a little bittersweetly, that it was the kind of hug that Wane would give. All back-pats and squeezes, warm and familiar.

"And who is this?" Ben asked as he pulled away from Thalia, shooting a glare at Eddie. "This guy bothering you?"

"Uh," he cleared his throat. "Eddie Moonsun, Captain of the Dragonborn." He held out a hand to shake, but quickly grew nervous about which of Ben's hands he should be reaching for.

Luckily, Benny slapped a hand in Eddie's and then laughed. "Ah, you're the smuggler sleemo our girl had been going on and on about for days." It was said jokingly, and Eddie chuckled and sent Thalia a questioning glance.

"You went on and on about me?" he asked her.

"Research," she blurted out, cheeks burning in embarrassment. "I was doing research. Damn it, Benny."

"What, I think it's my right to humiliate you sometimes," he said in a fond, fatherly tone. He turned back to Eddie. "Benny Hammond, Captain of the Stranger Mantis. Thanks for taking care of her. She gets reckless sometimes. I worry."

"Excuse me, are we talking about the same person?" Eddie scoffed. "Thalia is reckless?"

"She might act all reserved and uptight sometimes, but I've got stories to tell."

"Please do." Eddie folded his arms across his chest.

"Oh look at that! I think Bob has your credits, Eddie," Thalia announced, trying to distract both men from the conversation.

Luckily for her, it worked. Another short, portly human crossed the distance with a bag full of clunky credit chips. He introduced himself as Bob Newbee, the Mantis' mechanical diagnostic specialist—a nicer term for slicer, in Eddie's experience.

Compared to Bob, Benny was probably considered stoic; the newcomer was chatty as all hell, talking about tracking and missed communications and ion storms along the Hydian Way, and how they were worried that something had happened on the trip from Nar Shadaa.

On and on he went.

It was a one-sided conversation that Thalia and Benny seemed helpless to stop once it started. And although Eddie tried to get the bag from Bob, it seemed that he wouldn't until the older man decided that he was ready to hand it over.

He was able to take that moment to notice how comfortable Thalia seemed around the two. How her calmness returned, her demeanor. The ease of her smiles and her laughter. She'd been the same way with the Assobs back on Nar Shaddaa. Been that way around him and his crew too; at least, she tried to be.

Since that day on Outpost 86, she held herself a little more defensively. Nervously.

Because she didn't just surround herself with good people; she was inherently good herself. And she'd seen that good in him too, which was why she'd tried to open up. Except, every time she'd tried to reach out...he'd only pushed her way.

The guilt returned, turning his stomach.

"...and that's when I said to him, 'Greedo, I don't know who you think this Bounty is on. But it sure isn't old Bob, I'll tell you that much.'"

Thalia and Benny laughed at the anecdote, breaking Eddie from his thoughts, and he forced a laugh as well.

"Well." Bob let out a satisfied breath and handed the bag over to Eddie. "It was nice to meet you again but it looks like the crew has transferred that load of, uh, dried pappelroot for us. Time to head out, eh Ben?"

"And not a moment too soon." Benny nodded, then said to Eddie out of the corner of his mouth, "Usually his stories are twice as long."

Benny and Bob said their goodbyes and headed back towards their ship.

"Guess this is goodbye for us too, then," Thalia said and turned to Eddie. "Thank you for everything. For putting up with me, for getting us to Coruscant."

He reached up to scratch the back of his neck as he rocked back and forth on his heels.

"Nah, I need to thank you," he replied. He shook the bag in his hand. "For the credits, but...I guess you put up with a lot of the shit the guys and I had to dish out, too."

"Did I?"

"Yeah." Eddie coughed nervously. "Surprised you got any sleep with Dayv's snoring."

"Eddie."

"And I might have been...as rude as a herd of aak dogs. Always barking at you for one thing or another."

She reached out and laid a hand on his arm. "I understand," she said gently, smiling the way she always did. "Don't worry. And I don't blame you for your aak-dog-ness. We do that when we're...afraid, confused...out of control. Believe me, I'm always out of my depth."

"You hide it well."

"Thank you." Thalia let go of his arm and held out her hand to shake. "Maybe I'll see you around one day, Eddie. Next time you're on Coruscant."

"Or..." he offered nervously, slipping his hand into hers. "If you ever find yourself back on Outpost 86. Gotta get those fried topatoes."

"I'm looking forward to it." She grinned. "May the force be with you, Eddie."

He was about to return the sentiment, but a sleek starshuttle soared overhead with a roar that had both of them—everyone on the platform—covering their ears.

With disregard for the shoddy order of the platform, the shuttle touched down smack dab in the middle of the staging area, sending passengers and droids running while small pieces of cargo got crushed.

There was a tense silence as the entry ramp hissed and dropped open, revealing two helmeted-figures clad in black and flanked by troopers with dark armor, rather than the usual stark white.

Eddie saw Thalia visibly recoil at the sight of them.

There were rumors after the Clone Wars ended, about the Emperor's personal squad of Jedi Hunters. For years they'd go to planets, villages, and kill force users in hiding. Whether they were part of the Order or not. And any innocent people who might go out of their way to help? Well...they were acceptable collateral damage.

Of course, they were just rumors. Whispers. Things you'd hear in cantinas.

Kriff, there was a lot that you heard in cantinas.

They were the things you never thought to fear until they were standing right in front of you.

The Inquisitors.

But now they were here, and they were real.

Eddie had reason to feel fear.

"Guess I'm calling out from work," Thalia muttered. She took an obvious step forward, in front of Eddie, almost like she was shielding him from their view as they stalked closer and observed the crowd around them.

"What a time to make a joke," Eddie hissed in her ear. He grabbed her by the back of her jacket and tried to stop her from taking any more steps forward. "What are you doing?"

"We both know why they're here," she snapped, turning on him.

"Do we?"

"For the kids, for the container, for you."

"Well, they can have me and they can see I'm just your run of the mill smuggler," Eddie bit out.

"They'll kill you before you could even think to lie," Thalia insisted. She poked a finger in his chest.

"And what about you?" Eddie asked.

"What about me?"

"What if they're here for you?"

"We're here," a cold, mechanical voice came from the first inquisitor. Wide-shouldered, tall, with a thin, glowing red visor on their helmet. "Seeking a dangerous fugitive. She is a traitor to the Empire. Loyal to the treasonous Jedi Order."

"Oh kark," Thalia muttered.

"See?" Eddie hissed.

"And the crew of outlaws who've offered her passage to Coruscant," the other inquisitor added, long and lithe with a visorless helmet.

"Well, kark," Eddie parroted.

"See?" It was Thalia's turn to hiss at him.

The inquisitors kept walking and talking, inching closer and closer. Eddie's mind raced as his eyes darted from Thalia to the Dragonborn, to his crew who were further down the platform loading their cargo onto a speeder taxi, then down to the Stranger Mantis that was preparing to take off.

Eddie knew that Thalia was worried about them the most, so if they got away, that would be one less moving part to worry about.

He also knew he couldn't put his friends at risk, so if he created a distraction, a diversion, they needed to stay safe too.

But what kind of diversion could he create?

"Is it too late for you to get onto the Mantis?" he asked her urgently.

"Probably not if I tried to send Benny a comm."

"Then get going." Eddie pushed her in the direction of her ship. "I'll handle this."

"Eddie, what are you—"

He took a breath, squared his shoulders, and kept his hands as far away from his blaster as he possibly could, then he stepped forward through the crowd of travelers on the platform. He loathed leaving the bag of credits behind, but it was either his money or his life that he could take into his own hands.

And he'd always wanted to be a hero.

His friends were going to kill him.

The inquisitors were enjoying the sound of their own voices when Eddie piped up. "I might have some information!"

The inquisitors turned their attention to him, with the crowd around all staring at him like he had a death wish, but he just shook off the nerves and shrugged.

"For a price, that is." He grinned cockily. "I have a buddy who fakes flight logs for the Migrant Merchant's Guild. I'm talking millions of ships coming in and out of Coruscant. If your traitor and her outlaws are anywhere, I'm sure he can find them."

On and on, Eddie kept talking and walking, counting every second that ticked by. He could hear people run and ships take off and he hoped with every fiber of his being that Thalia was able to get away.

"So, if we just take a little ride down to the Old Galactic Market, I'll probably be able to help you. What do you say?"

The red-visored inquisitor laughed as Eddie stopped before them. He stepped, almost toe to toe with Eddie, and with a friendly energy, spoke.

"There's just one problem with that." He paused and looked Eddie, up and down. "We can tell when someone is lying."

"Of course I'm lying," Eddie scoffed, trying to play off his own panic. "I'm a criminal, too. Obviously. Otherwise what would I be doing in a place like this. That's how you know you can trust me."

He felt the heat before he heard or really saw the red blade of a lightsaber ignite and find its way to the side of his throat. It was raw, burning, hateful energy that singed the stubble that grew along his jaw. And Eddie knew that if he moved or even spoke again...well, then he wouldn't know anything anymore.

"There's no honor among thieves, outlaw scum," the inquisitor spoke with a deadly calm. "I know that the pirates of the Outer Rim make sure to take care of their own, but you won't find any sympathy here. There's no reason to try and protect people you don't know. No honor in protecting a Jedi. Especially this one."

Eddie, of course, didn't know what was good for him. His big mouth had gotten him and his friends in more trouble than he would ever care to admit. That same big mouth had also gotten them out of it. Many times.

But there was something to be said about an explosion.

It was unexpected, as good diversions are, which logically meant that Eddie's attempt at a diversion was actually a bad one. He was honestly lucky that the shock of the blast hadn't led to his accidental decapitation via lightsaber.

But one second he was standing there, trying to stop himself from shitting his pants from the threat of his imminent demise, and the next he was on the ground, ears ringing.

There was one large explosion, then a secondary smaller one, and flaming ship parts rained down from the sky. The platform fell to chaos as passengers and crew ran, ships and taxis immediately taking off. Eddie tried to recover as quickly as he could so he could take off running himself, but he immediately hit the deck as blaster fire soared in his direction.

"Eddie, run!" He heard, shouted over the din of blaster bolts and the lightsabers that tried to deflect them.

Who was he to ignore orders?

He pushed himself to his feet, weakly thanks to the confusion that ensued after the blast. But once his head cleared, he drew his own blaster pistol and shot a few bolts at the inquisitors and their flank of troopers—

He felt good about himself as his shots found a home, one taking out a trooper, and another hitting that red-visored bastard's helmet.

—and then he turned tail and ran.

At first he turned and tried to head back to the Dragonborn.

But it was either disorientation or confusion, because the Dragonborn wasn't where he had just left it. Instead, it was a heap of flaming metal and ship parts.

"No," he muttered and looked around. Then he shouted, "No! What the f—"

D5-TN zipped past him with a mechanized scream and Thalia followed close behind, blaster rifle in hand, firing shot after shot to offer him cover as he stood there like an idiot with a death wish. Where she got it, he didn't know.

"Come on! Run!" she shouted as she passed.

With one more incredulous look at his ship’s flaming wreckage, he spurned into action.

He was hot on her heels, filled with rage as they headed straight for G'areth, Dayv, and Jeff. The three men had their own weapons in hand, covering the others as they ran.

"In, in, in." G'areth helped hoist D5-TN into the speeder taxi and then hopped in himself. Thalia and Eddie followed suit, as they lept in and landed practically in the laps of the others. "Go! Go! Go!"

The driver didn't need to be told twice.

Unfortunately, the taxi got approximately twenty feet off the ground before stalling. Eddie sat up and was about to let the driver hear an earful, but there was movement at the corner of his eye.

The inquisitor—the one who had his lightsaber on Eddie, the one he shot—had one hand out and stalked slowly towards the taxi. His helmet was half-way gone. Cracked in half, revealing half of a face. Human. Pale skin and brown hair, an eye that, even at this distance, he could see had burning hatred in it and a mouth perpetually baring teeth at the effort to hold the taxi back with the force.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Eddie growled, and aimed his blaster to take another shot. But it was quickly deflected by the lightsaber and sent soaring in one direction, then another. "What's this guy's problem? Just. Kriffing. Die."

Thalia shifted until she was knelt beside him, staring at the inquisitor in horror. It took a beat before she had a hand held out as well. With great effort, she sent a nearby crate on the surface of the landing platform flying towards the inquisitor.

It wasn't much, but it was enough. The inquisitor seemed to sense the object flying towards him, releasing the taxi to wield his saber with two hands and cutting through the durasteel container.

"Drive!" Thalia shouted as she collapsed against Jeff. The taxi accelerated and zoomed into the skyways of Coruscant.

Eddie watched as the platform got further and further, smaller and smaller until he could barely make out the tiny form of the inquisitor and the burning husk of the—

"You blew up my ship!" He turned his attention to Thalia.

"What?" G'areth, Dayv, and Jeff all shouted.

"Had to be done," Thalia dismissed breathlessly.

D5-TN beeped energetically, noting that he was actually the one who set off the explosives.

"I'm going to leave you out in the rain," Dayv snarled at him. "Let you rust."

"Benny and Bob are bringing the Mantis around to the Westport," Thalia noted, fishing her commlink out of her pocket. "We can meet up with them there."

"You were supposed to be on the Mantis," Eddie snapped at her. "I was buying you time."

"You were about to get yourself killed. I had to do something."

"Well, you certainly did something. And now what? Our ship is gone. What do we have but some clothes and our instruments? We're smugglers. We can't smuggle without a ship."

"I'm sorry, would you rather be dead?" Thalia snarked back at him.

"Yes."

"Well, just turn this taxi around, then." She took a breath, ready to shout at him a little more, but she deflated at the lost and defeated expressions of the crew of the Dragonborn. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I roped you into my nonsense yet again. You were almost out of it."

Jeff softly reassured her that they'd been in worse messes, and Dustin sadly whistled, saying that at least they all made it out alive. Even Eddie felt that guilt creep up on him again for blaming her for trying to save his hide.

He was still mad, that was for damn sure.

But maybe it wasn't as bad as he thought. It could be worse. They could be dead.

Nah, it was still pretty bad.

He swallowed his anger and reached out to lay a hand on her shoulder after a few moments.

"It'll be alright," he said softly. "Let's just...get to the Westport and we can figure out where to go from there."

Thalia nodded and laid her hand on his, then looked to the others with gratitude.

They all sunk into their seats as the taxi made their way to the next stop on this endless adventure. And as Eddie sat and listened to the ambient sounds of Coruscant, he thought back to the platform.

He thought about the Inquisitors. How they knew exactly where to look to find them. To find Thalia. He thought about the one inquisitor and how much he looked like the boy from Thalia's memory.

How much he looked like Steev.

Next Chapter: Episode 6 - Hopeless (2/28 at 7PM CST)

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