The Spider and the Storm

"I'll be here." He didn't leave his seat. "Let me know if there are any changes to the plan." He knew she would.

Thalassa nodded. "I'm going to get some rest; you should, too. I want you ready to descend to the planet's surface as soon as we get there."

Spoiler

Wanna skip or is there anything Sirejj wants to talk to Thalassa about?

Spoiler

will do my derndest

Sirejj awoke from his brief respite as the ship exited hyperspace. He'd meditated for a while, his thoughts mostly recalling the tunnels he'd traveled while on Atoa. He remembered the faces and names of those he'd met there and thought about how he might convince them to leave. He doubted they would, but their powers could be used to start new civilizations on a new world not yet ravaged by war. Though, that was the age old story. Those worlds were always found out and taken over by those who would manipulate that strength for themselves.

Raia, the one without a conscious connection to the Living Force. She may leave. Tris and Kurra would not, nor would any of the other holy ones he guessed. Still he would try, for they would die here if they stayed. Tarkin knew where they were, and it was only a short matter of time before he arrived and began raining down hellfire on the Atoans once more, and this time none would make it out alive.

He left the turret, put on his coat, and picked up his staff. He saw the surface of the crystal moon come into view and sighed. It felt odd, being back here. As they drew nearer he heard the voices of last time muttering yet again, though this time they were in mourning. They knew what was to come.

Thalassa was out of her room, watching the surface rise to greet them as they dipped out of the atmosphere. She turned as Sirejj entered the cockpit; her face was wearing than it had ever been and her mind's edges were frayed with worry.

"You won't have long," she told him. "Zee isn't far now; she'll contact you when she lands. But Wilhuff will be right behind us. There's no time for hesitation or bartering."

"Understood. What kind of reinforcements is she bringing?" He took very little with him. Everything he would need he carried on him. He had no choice but to make this a very quick excursion.

"The two ships and a very small squad of fighter pilots," Thalassa sighed. "We aren't exactly a militia. We've never gotten into a skirmish with an enemy this size." She rubbed at her temples. "I've....never been here, you know. Never seen it with my own eyes." Her shifted back to the planet. "It's so barren, so different from home."

"While Atoa was never a flourishing jungle, there was once life here. The Empire made sure the surface was uninhabitable when they left the last time." Sirejj stepped over to the pilot and pointed to a sector on the holomap of the moon. "Drop me here." It was close to the cave entrance. He was waging his bets that no one would be there to watch the ship drop him off. Even if they were, they did not have time to play hide and seek. It would take time to make it through those dark caves and even longer to come back up with survivors and tow.

The ship dipped low, then landed. Thalassa closed her eyes, steeling herself. When she opened them, she looked as if she might say something to Sirejj; her mind hovered between gratitude and regret. Instead, she simply said, "Good luck. I'll see you on Phelarion."

He nodded. He went to exit the ship and then paused.

"My Lady. If Tarkin and I cross paths here, I will do what I must to defend myself and those with me." A warning. Sparing an attacker was unrealistic in this situation.

"Do what you have to," Thalassa replied, feigning indifference. A grim reality had settled itself in her thoughts. "He means nothing to me." A lie, still--despite everything.

Sirejj sensed the conflict, but he had what he wanted- a guarantee that she wouldn't have his head if he killed her husband.

"Till Phelarion, then." Sirejj turned and left the ship, stepping out onto the crystal sand once again. It was warmer than when he'd been before, but the destruction of the Empire had meant the moon had no regulated seasons. He sensed some alarm from deep in the planet's crust- they knew he was coming, and he wagered they knew that danger followed him. He took off into the jagged rocks, soon locating the opening to the tunnels and vanishing into the ground.

The ship rose into the air behind him and shot off into the atmosphere.

---

"He's back," Kurra said from where she sat beside her mother. Lady Tris had not woken more than two or three minutes at a time for three days now; it was clear she was nearing the final return. Her hearts would return to Atoa in a very short time, and then Kurra and Raia would be the last of their line.

Raia looked up, brow furrowed. "Who?"

"The horned one, pupil." Kurra got to her feet. "There is urgency in his step; something is wrong."

Sirejj's journey through the caves seemed quicker this time, but unlike his last visit he did not stop and gawk at crystal walls and runestones. He was here for a purpose and his time was short. He did not even try to guess what danger was on its way, for all of his focus was put towards reaching the Atoans as soon as possible. He felt them acknowledge his presence.

The path was just as impassible, but he remembered the dark tunnels and which ones that would allow him the fastest passage. They were still cold and damp and narrow, but he made far better time than he had previously.

He stopped every so often for breath wondering if the rumbling he felt beneath his feet was his imagination or perhaps the Empire beginning their assault. It was not the Empire just yet, he deduced. It would take time to gather enough ships to raze the place. He still had time. It was scouts he had to worry about. Tarkin was no fool, and he knew, thanks to Sirejj's intelligence a year ago, almost exactly where the remaining Atoans were hiding. He may come ahead of the fleet to try and prevent him from extracting any survivors.

He pressed on. He did not clock himself, but he could sense he was getting closer. Whether he was nearly there or they were coming to meet him he wasn't sure.