Coruscant, Dexter's Diner
Shortly After Wasskah Rescue Mission
Coruscant was home to countless high-class restaurants, establishments that would serve meals that would cost as many credits as an Undercity resident would make in a year-and those were the cheaper ones. For most politicians, businessmen, and what have you, any of them would help impress a client or let them hold a relatively private conversation over excellent food.
As anyone who knew her could attest, Ciaran did not fit the definition of "most people" in the slightest and much preferred a more "down-to-earth" setting given the chance. It was part of the reason why she asked Anakin Skywalker to meet with her there for lunch.
The majority of the reason was that she hoped the familiar, low-key environment would help her stay calm while she would start talking with Anakin again. Though she never admitted it to anyone, she was not looking forward to the meeting; the memory of Anakin unconsciously exerting his Force power still unnerved her quite a bit.
As she walked towards the diner, she breathed in and focused on the task at hand. The fact of the matter was that Anakin was one of the biggest wildcards on the table right now. Sure she knew him personally, but her past conversations had indicated that he was heavily vacillating in his beliefs and seemed to have an unstable sense of self. While normally she wouldn't care that much, there were two main factors that made his mental state...problematic.
First: His power. Ciaran had read up on enough history to know that particularly powerful Force-users tended to be right at the heart of any conflict that they either participated in...or in many cases, the conflicts they caused themselves. Given how prominent he was, there was little doubt that Palpatine had or would come to a similar conclusion.
Second: The people close to him.
Or really, the one person close to him that actually mattered to Ciaran.
She knew Anakin meant well...but she knew full well that the road to becoming a Sith began with good intentions far too often.
Breathing in and reminding herself that Darth Traya wouldn't show any apprehension at a time like this, Ciaran entered the diner. She was "conveniently late," giving Grandpa Silas the chance to help Anakin loosen up a bit. As she moved closer she was able to make out the tail end of their conversation.
"Listen old man, you have no idea how bad it was."
"You kidding me? You grew up on a damn sand planet, I thought you'd be used to it by now."
"Believe me, spend enough time on Tatooine and you will learn to hate sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating, and it. Gets. Everywhere."
"It can't be that bad-"
"Everywhere."
"...Even the booze?"
There was silence for a moment before the two of them burst out laughing before Silas "happened to notice" Ciaran's arrival. "There you are! Was wondering what took you so long," Silas said as Anakin turned to look at Ciaran, uncertainty visible on his face.
"Sorry about that, some things came up at the last minute that I had to deal with," Ciaran smoothly lied as she took a seat next to Silas. "Hopefully he's been tolerable?"
"I guess," Anakin said, shrugging and smirking slightly.
"That's all you gotta say? Come on, I thought I felt a real connection forming there."
Before the two could continue bantering, Ciaran loudly cleared her throat. "Anyway," she said authoritatively, "it's been a while since we've managed to have a decent conversation, and I like to keep up with what my friends are doing. Such as how their Padawan has managed to become quite popular these days."
Ciaran noticed Anakin tense up briefly as she mentioned that. "Yeah, I - well - everyone really underestimated her. She probably could have gotten off of Wasskah herself even if they didn't get reinforcements..." He trailed off, clearly wanting to say something but not wanting to actually bring it up.
"I can neither confirm or deny that I had anything to do with that rescue mission." Ciaran said, smiling, though it went away rather quickly as she noticed Anakin became rather downcast at that. "...Stop that." Ciaran commented.
"What?" Anakin said, jolting upwards.
"Feelin' guilty is what that was," Silas dryly noted. "Not only did that girl prove that she could take care of herself, but I doubt she blames you for anything."
"But she-"
"Anakin," Ciaran said forcefully. "I respect how much you clearly care about her well-being, but you can't be everywhere at once. As terrible as it was that she was captured, she not only survived but excelled against the odds."
Anakin sighed at that and leaned back. "I know that, but I still feel responsible. I keep thinking things like 'I should have kept a closer eye on her,' 'I should have been faster,' things like that."
Though no one noticed, Ciaran began to slightly worry at hearing that and how Anakin was unconsciously clenching his fists. "Listen-"
s---g---n---l
Ciaran stopped, glancing around for a brief moment as Silas and Anakin looked at her confused. As Anakin started to open his mouth his commlink started to ring. Turning it on, he said "I'm kind of in-"
"Anakin, we need you back at the Temple immediately," came Obi-Wan's voice. "Something's come up and the Council is sending us to investigate."
"U-understood," Anakin said, as he quickly signed off and went to leave with a hurried "Sorry about this!" shouted as he left though Ciaran barely noticed.
s---y---w---l---r
The second Anakin had left, Ciaran quickly called up Gulan. Before she could even speak he had already started talking.
"Glad you decided to check in boss, something very strange just came in on one of the reports from Wild Space."
"Go on," she said as Silas leaned in to hear.
"Apparently our guys have intercepted a Jedi distress signal from uh..." sounds of muffled conversation came in over the line, "Chrelythiumn system? Is that how you pronounce that? ...Anyway, there's been quite a few oddities about it that have been driving our guys crazy."
"Define odd, Gulan," Silas commented.
"Well, how about that the signal in question is over two millennia old, and the only reason we know that is because there were records from Phateem that indicated that the codes were in fact that old. Or the fact that even though it should be ancient, the signal is coming through perfectly clear as though it were being transmitted by a modern system. Or - and here's the kicker - it's because despite all of our best efforts we have absolutely no idea where the signal is being broadcasted from?"
"Don't be ridiculous, surely there must be something-" Silas started to say.
"That's just it old man. From what we can tell there's nothing there. Or at least, nothing that can transmit a 2000-year old distress signal with perfect clarity."
"Well it doesn't sound like-"
"Gulan, let everyone know that I will not be back as something unexpected has come up. Ciaran out," she calmly said before cutting a protesting Gulan off as she started to stand. "Your ship's ready, right?" she asked Silas.
"Ciara, what's so important about this?" he asked, visibly confused and worried.
"I...don't know," Ciaran admitted, "but there's something about this that I can't ignore. We need to go now," she said, lightly pushing on Silas' shoulder.
"Dammit, Ciara, give me a sec," Silas grumbled as he stood up groaning. "Dex, gotta run, just put the meal on the tab!" he shouted as Ciaran practically shoved him out the door before placing a call. "I need an airspeeder here right now-"
"Ciara, what is going on?" Silas said, folding his arms and giving her a look. Sighing, Ciaran hung up before looking at him, concern visible on her face. "I...I knew that was about to happen. It was only a few seconds but-"
"Are you talking about that signal Gulan talked about?" Silas said, rolling his eyes. "Ciara, I know you can use the Force to get an idea of what might happen or whatever but think about this! There's a dozen different things it could be, why is it that you need to be there yourself?"
"I don't know exactly why," Ciaran replied, "but this is the first time I've ever managed to have any idea of what a future event is. I can feel it. Something important is happening and I can't afford to miss it." Before Silas could speak again, an airspeeder arrived, opening its doors. "Destination?" the driver stoically asked.
"The Forefather's Charm landing pad, top speed. I'll pay off any fines incurred on the way."
The driver let Silas and Ciaran settle in before he slammed the throttle, causing the speeder to rocket forward at decidedly unsafe speeds.
Forefather's Charm, En Route to Chrelythiumn System
Silas Cata was many things; scoundrel, lady-killer, intel officer...but right now his grandfatherly side was coming out as he paced around the ship.
Shortly after they had made the jump to hyperspace, Ciaran had locked herself in one of the cabins and hadn't responded to anything Silas had said or done to try and get her attention. It was frustrating, knowing that she was concerned about something happening and he had no idea what he could do to help her.
He paced around for a few more moments before he sighed, walked over to Ciaran's cabin and punched in the override code for the door. As it opened he saw that Ciaran didn't even respond; she was in the middle of meditation of all things. It seemed to Silas like it hadn't been that long since she would adamantly refuse to do any sort of activity that involved 'serene contemplation' or whatever her parents had told her was "absolutely necessary" to learn the Force but...here she was, looking for all the world like any other Jedi.
As Silas came out of his reverie, Ciaran blinked and stood up, stretching her limbs. "Is something the matter, grandpa?"
Silas sighed and pinched his brow, thinking for a moment before speaking. "What's all of this really about, Ciara?"
"If you're talking about that signal, I told you, I was able to sense that it-"
"And just because you were able to predict it, that's why we're heading towards the middle of nowhere as fast as we can?" Silas said, folding his arms. "I know you get can hunches that pay off, but this is much more than just a 'hunch,' isn't it?"
Ciaran frowned. "I...I can't quite explain what it was like, but I knew that the signal was coming and that it was...'important' somehow. It's like..." Ciaran struggled to find the words. "It's like I was able to look at a script and for just a moment I was able to skip ahead of where everyone else was at and get a glimpse of what was about to happen. If that makes sense?"
Silas grumbled and shook his head. "Ciara, do you realize how crazy that sounds? What makes you so sure-" Silas stopped as he realized something. "This has to do with your little trip last year, doesn't it?" he said quietly, looking straight at Ciaran.
"Yes, but I don't see why that's important-"
"It's because you never told me what happened there!"
"You wouldn't have understood."
"Why not!?"
"Because you can't," Ciaran said sadly, as she sat down. "Grandpa...what I found wouldn't mean anything to you. You're not Force-sensitive, you're hardly a historian..."
"Don't I have the right to know what's happening to my granddaughter!?" Silas shouted, before breathing in. "Ciara...ever since you went to Malachor you've been...different. The others haven't noticed that much but..." Silas broke off, briefly unable to find the words. "...I don't know what you found there but ever since then...you've been going down a path that I just can't follow you on. And after..."
The phrase 'you almost died' went unsaid, and before either of them could say anything else a tone went over the ship's systems indicating that it was about to come out of hyperspace.
"This conversation isn't over," Silas said as he moved towards the cockpit.
"I know," Ciaran flatly replied, following him.
Settling into the pilot's chair, Silas quickly began to settle back into piloting the ship. "Right then. Coming out of hyperspace now."
As the ship entered the system, Silas calmly looked over the sensor readings while Ciaran scanned the area. "Do you see anything?" she quietly asked.
"I'm getting readings on a Republic ship out here, but nothing else - don't worry, the stealth systems are working fine. Still receiving the signal though, what in the..."
As the two of them tried to figure out what was going on, another ship emerged from hyperspace. From what Ciaran could tell, it contained Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka, meaning that it was probably the Jedi shuttle that was supposed to be-
monolith
Suddenly, as though it had always been there, a colossal diamond-shaped monolith appeared right in front of the Jedi shuttle. It was an eerie sight as the structure was almost entirely black save for the glowing red lines that ran across its surface.
"Grandpa, you are seeing that, right!?" Ciaran asked, trying to suppress her fear and confusion at how something so massive could suddenly appear out of nowhere.
"Ciara, what are you talking about? There's nothing there-"
Suddenly, the left and right halves of the monolith began to move apart, and light began to shine from within the widening gap.
there is little time
Without a word, Ciaran started to reach for the controls-
he cannot go with you
Stopping for only a split second, Ciaran nodded to herself and raced towards one of the escape pods.
"What are you-"
"Trust me grandpa," Ciaran quickly replied as she moved into an escape pod pointed at the monolith, which had fully opened and began to emit a light that blinded both her conventional and Force vision.
"Ciara-"
Without hesitating, Ciaran activated the pod, launching it towards the blinding light coming from the monolith. For a moment she wondered if it was too late, then she felt the pod shift as it was caught by it. A second passed, two and then-
The world went black.
AN: I'm going to keep my commentary to a minimum until this all wraps up for obvious reasons. Enjoy~
Edit: Reworked a couple of things...not like it matters but I like internal consistency.
