#narkina guards

[andorshitdaily]

new shitposts because i'm bored and nothing matters

[uwingdispatch]

Y’alllll we are two months from Andor season 2 and I can’t wait to make more unhinged merch! Here is everything I could fit in a Tumblr post that I made based on season 1 (with some Rogue One overlap).

Tell me what type of goodies you’d like to see, what characters and locations you need merch of, what you like that I’ve made that you want more of! Shop is here.

Shop is here. I may do a second post with just apparel items, because none of those fit in this post! Love y'all so much and I can't wait to watch season 2 with this community! <3

[fallenrocket]

My god, Cassian is just so young in season 1 of Andor. On this last rewatch, it kept jumping out at me everywhere. Especially at the start of the show, which makes sense--he goes through a pretty intense education over the course of the season and transforms before our eyes. But there's just so much in Cassian that comes from being young, traumatized, and desperate.

We see it in his moments of unabashed fear, like when he's stopped by the two corpos in the pilot, the first time he sees the TIE fighter fly past on Aldhani, or as the prison transport takes off for Narkina 5. Even when he tries to hide it, we can see it in his eyes, the parts of him that are still that scared kid from Kenari.

We see it in the chip he has on his shoulder, like the attitude he cops with Luthen in their first meeting: "I don't know you." He's not just guarded and distrustful, he kind of actively resents this guy trying to get too familiar with him. When he's scared, uncertain, or guilty, he tends to push others away, a product of having to fight most of his life and of losing many of the things and people he's cared about. I also think of him coldly telling Bix, "You won't have to worry about me anymore," at the end of their argument in "Announcement."

And yet, by the same token, he can also be surprisingly open and earnest in his affections. For me, this is most apparent in his scenes with Maarva in "Announcement." There, we see his naive optimism that the money he got from Aldhani can solve all their problems. He's so buoyant and hopeful and loving as he suggests running away, saying, "What do we need but the three of us?" Later in the episode, we see that same naivety when he insists, "We'll find a place they haven't ruined yet." But it crops up in other places too. On Aldhani, he chooses Clem's name as his pseudonym, even though he already realizes Luthen has a lot of intel on him and will probably recognize it--in that moment, his distrust of Luthen is outweighed by his desire to go into this dangerous mission carrying a small piece of his dad with him. Then there's that beautiful hug with Brasso in "Rix Road," especially those few extra beats past when you'd expect them to part. When he hugs Melshi in the previous episode, Cassian is rushed, on the brink of falling apart and not wanting Melshi to see. But with Brasso, Cassian needs that touch for a few extra seconds, and he's not afraid to hold on a little longer.

Most of Cassian's dumbest mistakes in the season are very youthful ones. He's an incredibly smart and observant guy, so he's not dumb very often, but when he is, it tends to come back to being young, traumatized, and desperate. We see this especially in the opening Ferrix arc: insisting on bringing an unsecured comm to his meeting with Luthen (oh my god, the way he bickers with B2EMO about them beforehand!) and trying to go back for the starpath unit when the shit hits the fan, even after Luthen repeatedly tells him to leave it. With the starpath unit, part of it is naivety--"What if it's just one guy left?"--and part of it is growing up poor and scrappy. This box represents more money than he's ever had at any one time, and he simply can't process the idea that his buyer would just leave it behind.

Finally, every now and then, Cassian has this subtle but impeccable "little shit" energy. We definitely see it when he messes with Timm in the pilot, deliberately goading him instead of trying to defuse the situation when he sees that Timm is jealous. It's a dumb, petty moment of cheap satisfaction that winds up with some intense blowback when Timm IDs him to Pre-Mor. And I love Cassian's refusal to give up on Kino on Narkina 5, always believing he can be brought into the fold no matter how many times Kino tells him to forget about it. It's a great reflection of how Cassian rejects the Empire's attempts to divide the inmates by pitting them against each other, but part of why he's able to keep at it is his annoying-kid tenacity. I love the scene where Kino brushes him off by saying how many shifts he has left and Cassian immediately responds with, "So...tell me what you know before you go."

It's simply wild to compare the Cassian we see in "Kassa" to the one in "Rix Road." He goes through so much in twelve episodes and really comes into his own, and it's fantastic to see some of the qualities he displays in Rogue One starting to peek through. He's already come so far in his character growth--I cannot wait to see how season 2 gets us from "Rix Road" to Rogue One!

Oh yeah, and Diego Luna is simply stunning. You can really feel how he traced Cassian's life backwards to this point, see how different the Cassian of "Kassa" is from the Cassian of Rogue One and yet still fully believe that this is the same character. All the little hints he drops, all the tiny moments where you can see Rogue One Cassian starting to gestate. It's such beautiful, brilliant work!

[bisexualwintermoon]

thinking abt andor again, specifically mon’s apartment & narkina 5, and how both of them are shades of white. thinking abt how narkina 5 is a prison, but the prisoners can talk to each other and the guards don’t really listen, but they have to stay on the schedule the guards give them, or else the floor gets turned on. thinking abt how mon is free, and can go where she wants when she wants, but nearly every word she says is overheard and scrutinized and reported back to the isb to see if she can be caught aiding the rebellion. thinking about how the empire builds more than one kind of prison.

[nimata-beroya]

If you're still taking asks for the WIP game:

Unbroken (Andor/Rebels), Rough Awakening (TBB), and A reason to fight (Kalluzeb) please! :D

For you, @takadasaiko of course, my darling!

From UNBROKEN (Chapter 2, I think) [This is what happens when you write no linear bits and pieces instead of the whole chapter in order 🫣]

Kallus hesitates to key the code that unlocks the cell doors, prison-wide.

"What are you waiting for?" Cassian asks.

"Are you sure about this?" Kallus shoots back, over his shoulder.

"Yes. The guards will scramble and hide like rats once the chaos starts."

Kallus raises a brow, skepticism shinning in his eyes, probably still confident in the Imperial efficiency despite having defected a few months ago, so Cassian adds, "Not my first rodeo in a prison break."

Cassian sees curiosity taken ahold of Kallus. He knows that the ex-imperial is filing the information in his head, and will ask about it in another time. Andor isn't looking forward to it. He hardly talks about his time in Narkina 5.

From ROUGH AWAKENING (Chapter 5):

“The chip had been malfunctioning for what I can guess. According to your med droid, this had happened to another clone before.”

The unexpected mention of that incident hits Echo like a physical blow. Az-3 told him a while ago how Tup’s chip degraded and malfunctioned, making him carry out what Echo suspects is Order 66 untimely and kill General Tiplar on the spot. That’s what led Fives to investigate the inhibitor chips and to his death. It’s futile, but Echo can’t help thinking that if he hadn’t been blown up in The Citadel and taken as prisoner by Tambor, he might’ve been able to save Fives. Together, they would’ve uncovered the conspiracy… saved the Jedi and even perhaps ended the war. Most importantly, prevent the rising of the Empire.

Echo allows himself to dwell on that fantasy a second longer before whisking it away. It’s pointless to brood over something he can’t change. Fives is dead. For much it hurts him, his brother won’t return from the dead as Echo did.

And from A REASON TO FIGHT (which should be a one-shot, but who knows 😆)

Kanan slips out of his meditative state as soon as the door of the room slides open to admit Ezra. Blind as he is, Kanan can’t see his Padawan’s expression, but does feel the worry and slight annoyance plaguing him through their Master-Padawan bond. Feelings that are similar to the one Kanan also experiences. Ripples of anguish and anxiety in the Force are pushing against his mental shields, stabbing with maddening insistence. His headache has grown steadily since the Spectres came back from their mission, with one of them hurt.

“Kanan, we need to do something!” Ezra whines.

“I can’t stand it anymore. He’s in so much pain.”

“I know, Ezra, but I don’t think he’d welcomed our help right now. We need to give him some space. Hera is keeping an eye on him and will let us know if she needs backup.”

“But—”

“Sit and meditate with me.”

Ezra lets out a groan. “Yes, Master.” He does what he is told and settles on the floor across Kanan with the exasperation that only a midager can muster.

Send me an ask with one of these titles that most intrigue you, and I'll post a little snippet or tell you something about it!

[annisthree]

Chapter VIII: Ghosts of Geonosis

previous chapter // masterlist // next chapter

Pairing: Cassian Andor x Original Female Character

Word Count: ~6k

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Explicit language, canon typical violence

Chapter summary: Marla, Cassian and K2 are following the clues discovered by Melshi. It brings them to Geonosis.

A/N: Why yes, I did steal the title of this chapter from Rebels.

Cross-posted on AO3 (same username).

*

('Friends of yours?'

'I don't know anybody here. I'm a tourist.'

'Tourists don't run.'

'I'm just going to the store, it's right there--'

'You need to calm down, sir. Droid assistance, please.')

Over the past couple of years, Cassian tried his hardest to hide certain memories in those parts of his brain he never visited. To compartmentalise, to accept and move on.

But, much like an overzealous shore trooper on the Niamos beach, the memories would always catch up. And though the chances of him being captured and arrested were significantly lower this time (he'd gotten much better at this in the past few years), he still couldn't escape that weird feeling that had his stomach in knots, just like that time when he was waiting for his turn in the Imperial court.

('Charges?'

'Civil disruption, anti-Imperial speech, fleeing scene of anti-Imperial activity, attempted damage--'

'I'm sorry, there's something wrong...'

'I wouldn't. You've got enough trouble without a "resisting judgement'" charge.'

'I'm just a tourist--'

'Oh, apologies all around then. This used to be a six-month sentence... Six years.')

He was grateful to have been reunited with Melshi. Surprised, but grateful. But seeing him opened some doors he'd much rather keep locked, and had his brain flood him with memories of Narkina V. And there he was again, trying to stay afloat, desperately trying to force his body to push forward, to swim, even though he sometimes wanted to give in and let the cruel element claim what's left of his life.

('Don't ever look at the number. Double, triple, it doesn't matter. You're in till they don't want you. Understand? Getting out now is just a dream. Those days are over.')

Thanks to Melshi, they had the coordinates where - supposedly - the Empire was shipping parts from Narkina, the same ones that scarred his hands and his mind irreparably. Cross-checking the coordinates with their databases revealed it was an Imperial construction module somewhere over Geonosis. Their records also showed that one of their squads had already attempted to get some intel there - only to be ambushed before they could gather anything of value.

The command was a bit sceptical about sending in another team after all that time. It was assumed the location was just an excuse for the Imperial forces to set up a trap and that, in reality, it was just an abandoned pile of junk.

It took some convincing and additional input from Agent Kallus, who suggested that there might, indeed, be something left to salvage - if not intel, then at least some technology. Supposedly, the Empire fled in a rush (though Kallus wasn't able to tell them why), leaving a certain chance of them leaving behind something useful (thirty-eight per cent, as K-2SO eagerly informed them).

And that's how Cassian ended up on a painfully long trip all the way across the Galaxy, chasing something he'd spent years trying to escape.

('They're afraid. Right now, they're afraid.'

'Afraid? Afraid of what?'

'They just killed a hundred men to keep them quiet. What would you call that?'

'I'd call that power.'

'Power? Power doesn't panic. Five thousand men are about to find out they're never leaving here alive. Don't you think that worries them upstairs...? Whatever we're making here, it's clearly something they need. They can't afford to be surprised again. There'll never be less guards than tomorrow. You know that. And I'd rather die trying to take them down than die giving them what they want.')

But he wouldn't let that affect the mission. He would once again bury everything deep - although not deep enough for Marla, who, bless her heart, was bending over backwards to subtly cheer him up. She had a general idea of what had happened on Narkina V - he'd never gone into too much detail, but he had told her the story once during a very long flight that had them stuck on the Blackbird with too little to do and too much Corelian whisky they were smuggling back to the base. And, as much as Cassian hated to admit it, she knew him too well to miss the signs of his uneasiness. 

Which is most likely why the floors in the common room were... well, maybe not squeaky clean, but not sticky (to the point where Cassian briefly wondered if the gravitational systems on the ship needed recalibrating, because it had never been this easy to lift his feet from the floor).

Or why she fixed the altitude sensors, even though he'd been asking for this for months.

Or why he opened the door to his cabin one day to find Kay with a tray of actual food - which Cassian maybe would have believed was the droid trying to be helpful, was it not for the fact that the meal was criminally undercooked and otherwise inedible. No droid could be so bad at cooking. Even if their programming had been tampered with.

It was all so... nice. But there was also that voice at the back of his head that reminded him that, unlike the altitude sensors, he couldn't be that easily fixed. And Cassian wasn't sure if he could bear disappointing Marla like this, when it inevitably turned out that despite her best efforts, he was still broken and hollow.

So he politely commented on the floor, thanked for the fixed sensors, and pretended he didn't know the food was sent by Marla.

Yes, she'd seen parts of his mind no one else ever did before - but there were still those dark, cold alleys he wanted to protect her from.

'Preparing to jump out of hyperspace. Disengaging in three...'

Part of him wanted to stay in the co-pilot seat, maybe come up with some bullshit excuse, something along the lines of I'll keep the engines running in case things end up the way they usually do. Hell, maybe it would have worked, and he could sink deeper into his seat and stare into nothingness until it was time to leave.

'... two...'

But he also needed to know. He wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to, but he knew he had no choice. He had to at least try and figure it out. If this was it, if this was really where they had been shipping the parts from Narkina, then he had to know.

'... one.'

Even if he was being selfish, volunteering to do a mission that could have been done literally by anyone else. Even if he would learn that all that work didn't mean shit, that it was just a way to keep them busy and break them.

Even if it did mean something, which was probably the worst of all scenarios.

Still, he had to know.

'Jump complete.'

('Whatever happens now, we made it.')

*

'All of them?'

'Well, almost all. General Syndulla mentioned they'd met two of them hiding underground, but the scans indicated these were the only two remaining specimens. Which is what our sensors are saying, too.'

'Fuck,' Marla took a deep breath, staring intensely at the screen that was showing the results of the planetary activity scan as if expecting the results to change if she looked long enough. 'Never met a Geonosian, and from what I've heard, they weren't the most pleasant bunch, but... to wipe out the entire race? Just like that? Even for the Empire, that's... that's really fucking grim.'

Cassian shrugged, flipping some switches on the dashboard in front of him. 'Wouldn't be the first time. Probably not the last time, either.'

'Unless we blow the Empire to pieces.'

'Unless we blow the Empire to pieces,' he repeated, his lips forming a faint smile that didn't reach his eyes.

They had just come out of hyperspace, and the massive golden planet loomed in the distance, surrounded by some space debris. It wouldn't have been anything special - just another desert planet - if they didn't know what happened down there.

What they didn't know was why. Geonosis had never had any considerable importance (apart from two battles that happened during the Clone Wars, and that could have just as well happened anywhere else). They didn't have any significant natural resources, and the primary export was droids and other technology - which, again, could always be moved virtually anywhere else. Other than that, it was just deserts, rocks, and bugs. Bugs that had been deeply loyal to the Empire, until the Empire decided to wipe them out.

You couldn't really see it from space - it's not like the planet was bombarded; their intel said it was some sort of toxic gas - but just knowing that the planet below them was one giant graveyard sent a chill running down Marla's spine.

Luckily, they weren't going to be visiting Geonosis. Melshi's intel mentioned specifically a construction module that was supposed to be orbiting the planet - and, indeed, they quickly found a large, spherical station within a cloud of space rubbish hovering in the distance.

'Kay-too, are we expecting any company?'

'There is no indication of any life forms on the station. We might, however, encounter some droids.'

'Oh, I'm not afraid of droids,' Marla mumbled, toggling a series of instruments in preparation for the landing procedure.

'That is not a very wise approach,' she heard a monotone mechanical voice behind them. 'Unsurprising, but unwise.'

'Cassian, is he threatening me? I feel threatened. Can we deactivate him now?'

'We're in position. Activating vertical thrusters.'

'Sure, ignore me. I'll try that next time you wanna have-- a sparring session. See how that works out.'

'I am certain there is plenty of people on the base who would be willing to train with Cassian,' K2 asserted quietly, and Marla almost choked, trying to stifle laughter.

'You know what? You're probably right. I'm sure he has sparred with many people on the base. Maybe even most of them. Kay, do you think you can start keeping statistics--'

'Oh, kriffing hell. Are we gonna land, or do you want us to keep hovering over this stupid station until we run out of fuel?'

'Why so grumpy all of a sudden? Sounds like you could use some--'

'I am begging you to shut up. Both of you. Marla, it stopped being funny somewhere around the Mytaranor sector. Kay, start scanning the landing platform. '

'I don't know, Cassian, it sounded pretty damn funny to me. I'm sure even the tin can would be laughing if he had a sense of humour. But fine, have it your way. Stabilising...' she paused for a moment, adjusting some instruments. The ship began lightly trembling as she engaged the thrusters, positioning them on the landing pad - a large, bright space that looked... well, exactly the same way all the other Imperial docking bays did. Clean. Impersonal. Obsessively white.

Although there was something different about this one, something that Marla couldn't quite place looking out the ship's viewport.

Maybe it was the fact that no one was shooting at them for a change? Because, well, there was no one there at all. Not a single living soul.

'And... done. Landing procedure complete.' Marla did a quick scan of the instruments to ensure everything was in order - as well as to delay looking to her right, towards the co-pilot seat.

Cassian had been uneasy the entire flight. He was trying hard to hide it; she could see it - but she could also see his nervous twitching, the tightly squeezed jaw (even more so than normally), and the thousand-mile stare when he thought she wasn't looking.

But Marla was looking. And she was worried.

She had been from the very beginning, from the moment she'd learnt about the mission. She suspected Cassian never quite processed that part of his life, if only based on how little he wanted to talk about it. Even Melshi was a bit more open, even though - from what she'd gathered so far - he wasn't much of a talker either, and they only knew each other for a week or so.

'It wasn't exactly a leisurely walk through the gardens of Alderaan,' Melshi had spit out between two punches, circling Marla on the training mat back on the base on the day of their departure. 'It really got to ya. Some more than others. If you're asking about our mutual friend, I'd say he was probably in that first category.'

And she wasn't surprised; as much as Cassian perfected the art of looking like he didn't give a shit, Marla had seen beneath that cover many times now. He did give a shit, and not only about the Rebellion - although she had no doubt the Rebellion was at the very top of the list.

(She tried not thinking about where she was on that list. How far behind the cause - or maybe behind some other things, too. She was in no position to expect him to care - not more than he cared about the rest of the crew. And that was probably for the best.)

(She also tried not thinking about where Cassian was on her own priority list. Apart maybe from when she was lying in bed late at night, sleepless and haunted by an unidentified fear. Or when she was spending yet another evening in the Drunken Bantha, completely accidentally ordering that same whisky Cassian got her when they were on Coruscant.

But she never liked the results of that thinking. And not even the cruellest interrogation droid could force her to verbalise her conclusions.)

*

K2's metal feet clanked heavily against the metallic floor as he, Cassian, and Marla stepped out of the Blackbird and onto the abandoned orbital construction module. At first, it didn't look very different from any other Imperial landing pad - vast, practical, and painfully bright. But closer inspection revealed abnormalities uncharacteristic for an Imperial facility.

It looked like it was abandoned in a hurry; there was some rubble lying about, the platform ladders were still on the landing pad where they had last been used, and Marla could spot several broken or nearly-broken droids, one of them stuck in a loop of repeatedly bumping into a wall with a loud, pathetic thump.

There was something eerie hanging in the air, almost as if the station were holding its breath, waiting for something to happen.

Marla shuddered. 'What is this place, exactly?'

Cassian stepped forward, still carefully scanning the area, one hand on his blaster. 'Good question. Kay? Can you see if you can connect to the network?'

'Certainly.'

'The surrounding moons are rich in mineral deposits,' Cassian said to no one in particular, with that perfectly schooled neutral tone Marla knew him to use whenever he was trying to cover up tension. 'Maybe this was a mining operation.'

'Maybe,' Marla replied, carefully watching for even the slightest reaction. 'But why be so secretive about it?'

'The network has been wiped clean,' K2 interrupted them, his long arm still connected to the access port in the nearby wall. 'Likely right before the station was decommissioned. As expected. I might, however, be able to retrieve some information, but that would require me to connect to the mainframe in the station's engineering room. Alternatively, we could also try to search the command centre.'

'We could split up,' Marla offered, trying hard not to sound overly enthusiastic about the prospect of escaping the droid's company for a while.

'Yes, I suppose that would increase our chances of success. In this case, I suggest the two of you start with the control centre.'

'Wonderful. Any ideas where that is?'

'It appears that this is a standard ICM-092792 construction module. Assuming the station preserved its original layout, the control centre and the engineering room should both be located on the main deck.'

'Good. Let's get to it,' Cassian said flatly, fingers still fidgeting around his holster.

'Certainly. Follow me.'

'I stand corrected,' Marla whispered as they started making their way out of the docking bay, following the droid's tall figure. 'Maybe he's not that useless after all.'

She was hoping to force some sort of a reaction out of Cassian- if not a smile, then perhaps a tiny upward twitch of his lips or an amused huff. But it seemed his mind was already somewhere else; somewhere cold and distant, both in terms of space and time. Somewhere she couldn't follow him.

With K2 as a guide, they made their way out of the docking bay and down a long corridor, passing empty storage rooms and abandoned maintenance bays. Marla didn't know if it was the sombre atmosphere of the place or Cassian's hardened expression, but not a single word was said. The silence was heavy, broken only by the occasional creaking of metal or the distant hum of a ventilation shaft, the gentle whirring of the fans almost hypnotic in the stillness.

'The control centre is at the end of the corridor,' K2 informed them after a while of meandering around the station. 'Let me know if you require my assistance. And please refrain from doing anything... reckless.' Certain that the last part was addressed directly at her, Marla threw her hands up in a gesture of innocence while giving the droid the most mischievous grin she had in her repertoire.

'Come on,' was Cassian's only reply, and Marla's heart immediately sank back to where it was before.

She followed him down the corridor silently. Her body was screaming at her to touch him, provide some warmth, absorb some of his pain through physical contact: a brush of her hand on his shoulder, a gentle squeeze of his hand. But she knew she would be doing it mostly for herself, to calm her own worries; Cassian's reaction would most likely be to retreat even further.

And so she pushed her hands into her pockets, focused her eyes on counting the light panels on their way to the control centre, and tried very hard to not wonder if this was how it felt to begin losing someone.

*

The main control centre was enormous. Marla had been on her fair share of ships and stations, and yet she felt almost dizzy, both fascinated and humbled by the vastness of the room.

The bridge itself was a long, raised platform, running the length of the space, with rows of consoles on either side of the walkway, sunk slightly lower than the rest of the room. At the far end of the bridge was a raised platform, dominated by an enormous viewport that looked out onto the starry expanse of space, the only source of light in the otherwise dark room. The viewport was flanked by a large control panel speckled with a dizzying array of buttons, dials and switches.

Unsurprisingly, the silence was even heavier here. The only thing Marla's ears could pick up was the faintest hum of the ventilation system and the sound of their own footsteps echoing throughout the bridge.

'I'll check the main console.' Cassian's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. Right. The intel. 'See if you can find anything else here.'

'Sure. Do your thing. Let me know if you need me to shoot at something.'

Somehow, she doubted she would be of much use. She didn't even know where to start - all the surfaces were empty, the holodisplays black, the workstations clean and identical. But Cassian was already tapping something on the main console, so she decided to do a quick scan of the place. Perhaps somewhere amidst the sterile equipment, she would find a datapad labelled 'important intel, keep away from the Rebellion'.

There was a certain scent to this place, she noted while crossing the room - a scent that was barely noticeable and that Marla couldn't quite put her finger on. Maybe it was the dust or the fried circuits; or maybe her mind was beginning to play tricks on her, desperately trying to deliver sensory stimuli in the otherwise bleak and empty void.

On the other side of the room, the tapping stopped abruptly, followed by a loud thump of a fist hitting a metal console. No luck, then. Marla threw a quick glance in that direction, only to see Cassian hunched over the screen, motionless save the rising and falling of his shoulders as he breathed heavily.

It felt almost physically painful to see him like that. And she knew, she knew that she should probably not interfere, that she had no right to interfere, but she wanted him to know she was there if he needed anything. Even if that meant just standing next to him and looking out at the starry sky in silence.

The distance between her and the main console was taking forever, and somehow the quiet vastness felt only more intimidating with each step she took along the walkway. And there were a lot of steps, as she suddenly realised, slowly watching her feet moving one in front of the other.

It seemed almost as if the air was weighing down on her, slowing her down and intensifying that dizziness. Suddenly, it felt like she was learning to walk, carefully placing each step, one foot in front of the other - only now she realised she wasn't sure whose feet they were, because they sure as hell didn't feel like they were attached to her body.

'Something is wrong.' Cassian's voice was suddenly close, closer than she expected, before she lifted her gaze from the floor and focused her eyes ahead. Or tried to focus, because somehow the world became less defined, as if spilling from its original containers, defying shapes and measurements.

But it didn't feel odd or scary. In fact, Marla felt more at ease than she could ever remember being. And it felt so good, so right; she wanted to sit down on the floor, close her eyes, and bathe in the starlight while listening to the quiet song of the Galaxy.

'Come on, we have to get out of here. Something is wrong. Kay, can you hear me?'

'Yes. I'm afraid I have so far been unsuccessful--'

'Nevermind that. Something is wrong. We need--'

'Something is wrong,' Marla repeated slowly, carefully enunciating each word, mildly amused at the sound of her voice which suddenly felt completely foreign.

'Hey. No, no, get up. We have to go.'

It took her a moment to understand what Cassian meant. But when she looked down, she realised the floor was oddly close. And that her legs were now pulled tight to her chest, arm propped on one knee. And that there was a hand gripping her shoulder, trying to hoist her up to her feet.

Only that she didn't want to stand up. The floor was surprisingly comfortable. And it offered a nice view of the stars outside the massive viewport in front of her.

'It seems you have activated some sort of safety protocol, Cassian. The door controls are unresponsive.' A wave of metallic thumping echoed off the walls. 'I will attempt to override them, but I must first connect to the security systems. I should also inform you my sensors are picking up traces of unidentified gas coming from the control room. I advise you to remain calm so as to avoid increased inhalation.'

Oh, so that was that smell. It made sense now. But it sounded strangely unimportant compared to the infinite expanse of space in front of her: the deep blues, the vibrant greens, and the brilliant oranges swirling together in a cosmic dance and--

'Hey. Marla, get up. We have to-- have to get out of here.'

There was a hand on her shoulder, and soon enough, she felt a sharp tug upwards. But there was something hesitant, something clumsy about the way Cassian was holding her, and before she could think it through, Marla grabbed his arm and focused all her weight on pulling downwards.

The next thing she registered was a loud thump and a quietly mumbled curse.

'You okay?' she giggled, watching Cassian fumble on all fours before giving up and sitting on the floor beside her. Marla noticed his movements were uncharacteristically awkward and unsure, as if he forgot what he was doing mid-motion.

'Yeah. I've-- I've fallen from bigger heights, you know. But we need to get up.'

'And go where? You heard the big guy. Door's locked.' Cassian frowned and looked like he was about to say something, but gave up. 'Besides. If I'm about to die, I wanna die looking at the stars.'

'You're not gonna die. Kay is gonna let us out any minute.'

'Shh. You're killing the mood.'

He raised an eyebrow at her and huffed quietly. But there was still that shadow hiding in his eyes, that coldness he always resorted to when the things he'd buried caught up to him. It broke her heart whenever she looked at him.

'I'm sorry we didn't find anything,' she said quietly.

There was a long pause, long enough for her to start silently scolding herself for saying what she did.

'I just... I really wanted to find something, you know? Something that would make this make sense.'

He sounded tired and broken. But tired and broken was still a step forward from apathetic. At least he was slowly letting her back in.

'Maybe we still will. Don't lose hope.' He let out a quick, bitter exhale and turned away to look out the viewport. 'I'm serious. We'd beaten worse odds. Remember Koboh? Or Nar Shaddaa?'

'You mean, when you blew our cover within the first ten minutes of the mission?'

'I didn't blow anything up. It blew itself up.' Marla shrugged innocently, giving Cassian a small grin. 'And yet, we made it.'

Cassian let out another huff of half-laugh, one that, somewhere along the way, transformed into a quiet sigh.

His expression was still solemn, but there was now a flicker in his eye, and though tiny, it felt more powerful to Marla than the light of a thousand suns. It felt like sitting by the warm fire after hours of travelling through the cold and the dark. Or finding something long lost that you'd already given up hope on.

She didn't understand it, but as she continued staring into his eyes, she could see the darkness slowly subsiding - and with it, dropped the burden of helplessness that had weighed upon her since the moment she first noticed that shadow lurking in his gaze.

'How are you feeling?' he asked after a while, and she realised her breathing had become heavier and more laboured. Whatever was in the air that had hazed her brain was starting to affect her body, too.

'Great,' she lied, giving him a smile that even she knew wasn't very convincing.

It was more and more difficult to keep her eyes open. Yet, she realised she wanted nothing more than to look, take in all the details of the room, the universe outside the viewport, and the stars reflected in those dark eyes, infinitely fascinating and yet familiar, overwhelming and yet comforting, and so precious, dear, disarming...

'I guess--' Cassian started after a while, eyes focused on the stars outside the viewport. 'I guess this wouldn't be the worst way to go.'

'You mean, high?' she chuckled.

His lips twitched slightly upward, and Marla felt warmth flood her entire body. 'No,' he finally said, and there was something in his tone that was equally comforting and intimidating in its softness. 'That's not what I mean.'

It took her a moment to understand. But Cassian kept looking at her, and there were no more shadows in his gaze; there was only the reflection of starlight and that deep longing, and it was the same longing that flared in her own chest.

Cassian must have understood it, too, because soon, his hand slowly moved to cover hers. And it felt right, as if his hand had been the missing piece in some cosmic riddle. It felt like his hand was made to fit hers, with all its angles and curves, and even the scar that ran between his thumb and index finger seemed to fit the cuts and burns on her own hand, matching into some sort of abstract pattern that somehow just made sense when put together.

And yes, it would not have been the worst way to go. Far from it.

But for now, her heart was still beating, frantically and loudly, so loudly that it was now all she could hear. Or maybe it was not her heart that was hammering in her ears like a battle drum; perhaps it was Cassian's, the sound conducted through whatever little air was left between them and amplified by her increasingly drugged brain.

Or maybe it wasn't a heart at all. Maybe it was the thumping of a seven-foot security droid who had managed to unlock the door and cross the length of the room before Marla even registered his presence.

'Oh, hi there-- What the hell, Kay? What are you doing?' Her initial enthusiasm was quickly replaced by surprise when she felt a strong metal hand clasping her shoulder and yanking her upward.

'My current objective is to extract you from this facility,' he replied, and Marla realised she was being dragged towards the exit. A quick look to her right revealed Cassian was in the same position. 'Please comply with my instructions.'

'Well, you're not exactly leaving us any choice...'

'It is imperative that you leave this room immediately, Lieutenant.' The droid continued dragging them both towards the exit like two ragdolls. 'It appears you both were exposed to an aerosolised chemical agent dispersed within the room's atmosphere. Based on my preliminary analysis, this particular substance was designed to impair cognitive function and inhibit motor skills, and prolonged exposure could potentially result in a state of unconsciousness similar to a medically induced coma. Which is why I am extracting you from the premises.'

'So you're saving our lives?'

'Yes, Lieutenant Reid. This is an accurate summary.'

'You know what?' she slurred, finding it increasingly difficult to pronounce words. 'You're okay.'

There was a long pause, and Marla imagined the poor droid's programming trying to process her sudden outburst of unexpected affection. 'Thank you, Lieutenant. I must, however, note that the chemical agent appears to have impaired--'

'You can call me Marla.'

'Excuse me?'

'You can call me Marla,' she repeated, letting out another small chuckle.

Another long pause. 'Noted.'

Marla was sure she wanted to say something else. Was it to K2, or was it to Cassian... Yes, she definitely wanted to tell him something, but what was it...? Hoping it would inspire her memory, she tried saying his name - but the word came out as a hoarse whisper that was quickly drowned out by her laboured breathing and the loud footsteps echoing through the empty hallways.

The lights overhead flickered and dimmed, casting eerie shadows across the walls and floor. Everything was dancing, swirling before her eyes - the lights, the outline of the door at the end of the corridor, Cassian's eyes when she looked over to her right to check on him. Wait, his eyes. That had something to do with what she wanted to tell him, but what was that...?

She looked over to her right again, but this time, there was only darkness. In fact, there was nothing but darkness all around.

And then she passed out.

*

'Good morning,' she heard a quiet, hoarse voice next to her ear. 'Well, not sure what time measurements they used on this station... How are you feeling?' How was she feeling? And why was Cassian's voice so close? And where the kriff was she? 'We both passed out on the way; Kay carried us here. I just woke up, too.'

Slowly, her senses started picking up different stimuli. There was the coldness of metal behind her back and on the ground, but her right shoulder was glued to something warmer and softer. Something that smelled like that other room they were just in, a bit like droid oil, and definitely a lot like Cassian.

I took her a couple of more seconds to register the rest. They were sitting on the floor of their ship's cockpit. Judging by the dull pain in her neck, she had spent the last maker-knows-how-long with her head propped on Cassian's shoulder - a fact that would make her embarrassed, had it not been for the haziness and overall confusion that lingered in her mind. But overall, she felt... better. Definitely more present, if a bit sore in places she couldn't quite justify.

'Why are we sitting on the floor?' she asked, her voice coming out raspier and quieter than she expected.

'Well, the two of you didn't seem to mind sitting on the floor back in the control room. I apologise if I made the wrong assumption about your seating preferences.'

K2's voice sounded somehow louder than usual. Definitely more painful.

'Where were you, Kay?' Cassian asked as he slowly began the transition to the upward position. A very awkward, very clumsy transition.

'Gathering intel.'

'Wait, so you did find something? I thought--'

'Not initially, no. But as I was escorting the two of you back to the ship, I spotted a malfunctioning astromech. It had been badly damaged and incapable of articulating anything coherent, but I managed to connect to its memory cores.'

'You... did?

'Yes, Cassian. It appears that particular unit was in charge of cross-checking the arrivals at the cargo bay with the ships' manifestos. I only managed to decrypt some routes, but it appears that before the station was abandoned, a vast majority of shipments came from - or through - Corulag.'

'Corulag? That's... next to Coruscant, isn't it? Did you find any mentions of Narkina V?'

'As I've said, I only managed to decrypt part of the data. It is possible that Corulag was just a stop on the way from somewhere else. Or that there were different kinds of shipments.'

'I see,' Cassian regained his guarded tone of voice, focusing his eyes on the ship's control panel.

'Well, it's something, right?' Marla let out a hopeful mumble, trying to hoist herself up to her feet and into the pilot chair. 'So, what. Corulag? It's on our way back anyway...'

Cassian was silent for a moment, to the point where Marla started wondering if he'd heard her. But he did.

'I'll have to report back to the command,' he said flatly, and Marla's heart once again sank at the sound of that cold tone. 'But, yes, you can start calculating the hyperspace route to Corulag. Let's hope we have more luck there.'

[godslayingenthusiast]

I am Extremely Normal about Andor, apologies in advance for the fandom post.

One of the things that really struck me with this one was how they used gender. Remember, those of us who grew up with the original trilogy, Leia wasn’t just the best girl, she was practically the only girl. We joked about it. You had Aunt Beru, the sisters at the Cantina, one woman at the Hoth base, a couple background women in Cloud City, Oola, the fat dancer, and Sy Snoodles. And Mon Mothma, the only other woman with a speaking part. And that’s it for three movies! The galaxy is overwhelmingly, distractingly, male. So I kept finding myself looking at Ferrix and Aldhani and Coruscant and just constantly being amazed at how many women there are. Foreground women, background women, an old woman! Hookers, antiques dealers, scrappers, organizers, a child! A surly teenage girl child! The governor’s wife! It’s right and correct and I’m glad they did it but also it was distracting because I’d been conditioned to expect so much less.

And then we get to prison.

Narkina 5 has 5,000 men, plus the 70 or so imperials guarding them and running the place. All men. All human men. It looks like, well, what we used to expect. And with that jarring transition you start to piece together more things. How Dedra fights tooth and nail to be one of only two women in that boardroom, how when she is not in the building they disregard her strong and correct opinions. How Cyril has the fucking audacity to grab her on the street. The empire has incredibly toxic views on gender, as well as human supremacy. And it’s reflected in who they choose for the important labor camps, instead of the mines (remember where we’re gonna find Jyn in just a couple years). It’s baked into everything.

But there’s more to pull back, because if it’s just the empire then why is the rebellion also overwhelmingly male by the time of the battle of Yavin? Yes, I know, 1977, but in universe we finally can start to see an answer forming. When we fight monsters, we come to reflect them, oftentimes without realizing it. Fascism uses people and discards them, fascism sells people on being heroes to extract their labor, and WE SEE LUTHEN DO IT TOO. He even says it out loud! “I use the tools of my enemies to defeat them”!!! There are key deaths that take women (and people of color) out of the fight before Yavin, but there is also the thread of becoming that which you hate, a toxic mirror. And I love that because of the way things play out, it shows that sometimes you gotta stare in the abyss anyway. Sometimes losing your humanity for the sake of someone else’s is worth it. And sometimes that damage has knock on effects for generations. And every one of those eggs you broke mattered.

Idk I gotta go do things but I’ve just been gnawing on this too long to keep it to myself. There’s so much to unpack with this show

[thevalleyisjolly]

[Image description: A GIFset comparing scenes from the prison escape in Andor Season 1 and the mission to Scarif in Rogue One, focusing on Cassian and Melshi. In Narkina, Cassian and Melshi stand directly across from each other in their cells and exchange meaningful looks; at the Rebel base, Cassian gives his speech to rally the troops and turns back to look seemingly at Melshi at the front of the crowd. On the factory floor in Narkina, Cassian looks at Melshi at the table and asks "Ready?" which Melshi responds "Yeah"'; on the Rogue One shuttle, Cassian gives instruction "Melshi...Pao...Baze, Chirrut, you'll take the main squad" and Melshi sits up in attention. In Narkina, Cassian and Melshi run through the hallways, shooting and killing the guards that come at them; on the Rogue One shuttle, Cassian says, "Once you get to the best spot, light the place up." In Narkina, Melshi stands guard in the hallway as escaping prisoners run past him, and turns to join them as Cassian passes; on the Rogue One shuttle, Melshi looks meaningfully at Cassian as they prepare to execute the mission. End ID]

ANDOR 1.10 “One Way Out” // Rogue One (2016)

[piedaterreincensorshipville]

Finally watched Andor season 1 (a delay caused mostly by the fact that I didn't have Disney+ until recently). What an incredible show.

It struck me that Luthen in particular has a quite interesting narrative arc if you watch the show in reverse:

Luthen is a man who favors striking blue outfits when in polite company.

He escapes the attempts of an Imperial cruiser to hold him captive high in the skies above Segra Milo. Incidentally, the cruiser is under the command of one Captain Elk (definitely not to be confused with the beast ridden by certain filmic Elvenkings).

Luthen cultivates the loyalty of a mole in the ISB, the sort of person you'd normally expect to be a simple Imperial attack dog.

Meanwhile, Cassian Andor is held on the island prison of Narkina 5, under the lidless eyes of the guards stationed there. During the escape Cassian befriends his future companion Melshi - but of course, reading the story backwards, Melshi disappears as suddenly as if he had died in prison.

Luthen masterminds the theft by Cassian and other accomplices of a massive payroll from the underground vaults of an Imperial garrison on Aldhani. The survivors of the assault team escape with their treasure thanks to a celestial phenomenon that locals see as a messenger from the divine.

Luthen gives Cassian a fabulous necklace of nigh-incalculable value, and saves him from certain death at the hands of Pre-Mor Corporate Security, but Cassian suffers a notable arm injury.

And at one point in the show, he attempts to get Saw Gerrera (whose name comes from Spanish guerrero, "warrior") to work together with Anto Kreegyr (whose name comes from German Krieger, "warrior"): a feat as much of philology as of warfare.

I at least might surmise that, when he wishes, Luthen can walk "as light as leaf on lindentree".

[andorshitdaily]

Coming soon....The Dead Poll

Whaddup Wandor Wednesday Warriors. Happy Monday. As we know, there's just a couple days left of the Stare Wars so that means a new bracket will be on the way soon.

But!

The usual Wandor Wednesday Wars competition will be on hold for a week before we get to try out a new format (it's looking like a ninja warrior competition, which will be very fun to imagine).

In the meantime, in honor and remembrance of all the characters we lost in Season One, we'll be holding a new competition:

THE DEAD POLL

(originally going to be the Dead Pool, but a fortunate typo occurred)

Here's what you need to know:

MAJOR SPOILERS!!!! DO NOT LOOK OR PARTICIPATE IF YOU DO NOT YET KNOW OR WANT TO KNOW HOW PEOPLE DIE IN THIS SHOW!!!!!

A normal single-elimination bracket

Choosing the most ICONIC death from Season One (not the funniest or saddest or whatever else and definitely not a character popularity thing!!!)

Poll rounds will be ONE DAY ONLY -- not week-long polls like usual, so this whole thing will only take a few days

The bracket and matchups:

Xaul vs. Jayhold Beehaz

Karis Nemik vs. Pre-Mor Chuds

Maarva Andor vs. Verlo Skiff

Kenari Alpha leader vs. Alkenzi TIE pilots

Corporal Kimzi vs. Yellow Pincushion Republic guy

Ulaf vs. guy Nemik shoots

Kravas Drezzer vs. Arvel Skeen

Salman Paak vs. Corv

North-3 vs. Taramyn Barcona

Ferrix hotel guard vs. Birnok

Zap Rod vs. Nurchi

Timm Karlo vs. Narkina Newman

Lieutenant Gorn vs. Xanwan

Clem Andor vs. Colonel Petigar

Anto Kreegyr vs. Veemoss

Sparta vs. Sparky

If you can't decode my silly character names (and I doubt you can for some), send me an ask!

Polls begin Thursday!

[thevalleyisjolly]

[Image description: The first GIF shows Melshi at the prison worktable, looking up at the (offscreen) Narkina 5 guards with raised eyebrows and commenting "They're up there, laughing." to which Jemboc replies "Don't." The second GIF is of a conversation in the prison barracks; someone says "He never heard of it," to which Melshi, sitting down at the front of his cell and rubbing his hands back and forth, replies "Told you." with a small eyeroll. The third GIF shows Melshi telling Cassian, "Don't ever look at the number. Double, triple, it doesn't matter. You're here 'til they don't want you anymore. Get straight with that. Getting out now is just a dream. Those days are over." The fourth GIF is of Cassian in his cell, saying intently, "Melshi's right. We're cheaper than droids and easier to replace." The fifth GIF shows Melshi standing in line with the other Narkina 5 prisoners, hands behind their heads. As the other prisoners question "What happened on two?" and "We...We don't know," Melshi deadpans "They set 'em all free." End ID]

Enough! Melshi! I said, that’s enough!

[fallenrocket]

I love so much that the prison break on Narkina 5 isn't a deeply complex escape plan designed by a small group of highly-skilled individuals to get themselves out, but rather an intelligent, mostly low-tech plan to upset the whole apple cart and give everyone a chance to get out. I love that Cassian and his allies come up with the main pillars of it through careful observation, knowledge, and collaboration. I love that it's set into motion by unexpected variables--the imminent arrival of a new man on the floor, made more urgent by the reveal of what happened on level 2 and why. I love that they bring the whole of Room 5-2D into the plan and everyone takes part, including the new man who just got fried recently, is probably terrified, and isn't prepared for any of this. I love that they send guys to other rooms and up and down the stairs, confronting the guards and encouraging the other inmates to take up arms. I love that Kino's speech calls for them to help one another, and I love that, while the 5-2D guys are able to offer freedom to the rest of the prison, the other inmates still need to be the ones to take it.

[ireallyamabear]

i'm brainstorming how an alternative prison break would go for a 'what if' story and there really isn't a good way to do it without a new man coming down the elevator, is there

[elwenyere]

I’ve been watching the Narkina 5 arc again (for science), and what’s striking me on this, my [redacted] rewatch are all the little ways the show suggests that the prison has actually failed to produce the standardized behavior it claims to achieve. There are so many subtle variations in the “on program” posture, for example: some prisoners with their fingers fully linked, some with their hands barely touching their heads, some with shirts riding up because one size does not actually fit all. The lines they stand in are never quite straight, the work arrangements at each table are always in flux, with positions being rebalanced as people leave or arrive or fall ill. 

Of course, the make-shift nature of the revolt in 1.10 will bring all these little ungovernable differences very dramatically to the surface, but I love the way the cracks in the facade of control are there all along. The “program,” as Nemik’s manifesto will suggest, is unnatural. No matter how high they crank the heat on the batons or on the floors, the guards can’t iron away the texture of the lives they attempt to functionalize. And that’s part of why they fail to account for the possibility that just one single wrinkle - one prisoner sent back, one desperate attempt at regaining control, one new guy with a theory of power and some organizing skills - will be enough to create the leak that becomes a flood.

[jyndor]

cassian asking jyn if she thinks anyone’s listening has always struck me as him finally letting it not matter if anyone is listening to him anymore, not so much needing a definitive answer - it’s out of his hands, he’s done his part. it’s the second part of him telling her to “leave it” - he wants to spend his last moments using his remaining energy on something that brings him peace and happiness (existing with jyn in their own bubble). the fact that she believes that someone is out there so strongly... that’s enough for cassian. her faith carries him with her, right? he believes in her.

so when cassian says that nobody’s listening, of course he means the empire and the guards and narkina 5, but what I think is that he means nobody. the empire isn’t listening because they don’t have to - until it’s too late. but also like he hasn’t had anyone including his own allies and friends actually listen to him, to learn what he is about - just assuming he scams and cheats and fucks around and has no ideology, even the audience. the audience has assumed that he’s no rebel, that he gives no fucks and genuinely doesn’t have an ideology - except that he is against the empire and for surviving.

when his actions, his history, his facial expressions have said otherwise.

as much as I disagree with the retcon of him as a separatist child soldier (because he was one im sorry that some of you didn’t know that but canonically he WAS - the show retconned that, okay fine whatever just stop pretending that it didn’t) I think it’s been pretty clear cassian has been rebelling for his whole life and no one has been listening to him do it.

so for him to finally, at the end, be able to accept that someone might be listening for him and for jyn, someone else who has not been heard her whole life (except funnily enough for cassian - who caught her bullshitting him about giving zero fucks about the empire immediately)... yeah it’s a beautiful thing.

[hegodamask]

“It’s clear you need Andor in order to find his partner. It’s also clear that this is more important than the death of two corporate security guards. I could be a valuable asset going forward.”

ANDOR - S01E08 Narkina 5