Ahsoka Tano

“Time for reinforcements, supplies, and perhaps my new Padawan.” []

“This isn’t the time or the place to train a Padawan, Master. They’re a liability.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” Kenobi picked up speed. He broke into a steady run and pulled ahead. “You weren’t. Most of the time, anyway”

“Most?”

“The best way to learn is on the job, after all. You should ask Master Yoda for your own Padawan, Anakin. You have a lot to teach. I really think you should.”

“No, thanks.” Anakin glanced at Rex and raised an eyebrow to Kenobi’s back. The captain shrugged. “I’ll teach when I think I’ve got experience worth passing on. And a learner would slow me down. We don’t have the luxury of time at the moment.”

Anakin could have sworn Rex was amused. [] Then the man gave him a discreet thumbs-up.

Anakin winked. Thanks, Rex.

The gunship touched down between two cannon emplacements, and the ramp went down. But no fresh clone troopers disembarked, or even supply droids steering fully-laden repulsors and ammunition crates.

A little female Togruta stepped onto the plaza instead. A tiny girl. A child. []

The little Togruta drew herself up to her full height—which wasn’t saying much—and craned her neck to look up at Kenobi. “Master Yoda was worried that you hadn’t reported in, and he couldn’t reach you, so he sent me with a message.”

“Sent you?” Kenobi said. “So where’s the cruiser? Where are our reinforcements? Our support? [] And who are you?”

“I’m Padawan Ahsoka Tano,” she said.

“Ah, my new apprentice.” Kenobi gave her a polite bow, as if grateful to salvage at least something from the situation. “Nothing like being thrown in at the deep end.”

Ahsoka looked a little uncomfortable for a moment, then smiled as if she’d nailed it on with grim determination just to keep their spirits up.

“No, Master, I’m not your assigned Padawan.” She turned to Anakin and bowed. “I’m yours, Master Skywalker.”

~

Well.

We all know how it went.

[And Yoda is an evil mastermind]

[Photo: my new Her Universee and Heroes & Villains wallet, together with their wonderful Ahsoka ita bag, and the Her Universe windbreaker. Super cute keychain: @raewardstudios]

I wish I knew

Like last week, the one that follows is another of the "impossible-to-cut-further" excepts.

A real treasure.

At the end of it, you just crave to hug Thrawn for his naivete while loving Eli for how adorable, patient, and selfless he is. So, I refuse to redact it more. Please, bear with me and keep reading it in the comments because Thrawn's care for Eli and any kind soul around him is pure cotton candy.

Photo in-universe: the story goes that this is a snapshot of a "post-purgilled-Thrawn" Eli's desk. He still has some old Thrawn stationary, from his service on the Chimaera, and Ar'alani made him a new one, that she decided to have printed in basic (and Eli's is mad about it because he "can perfectly read Cheunh, as the little note says"). The card key holder is a gift from Ch'eri, few months after Eli's arrival, so that he could "still see Thrawn's face every day". The portrait is a gift from Thrawn, done by a local artist during a vacation they had on Lysatra.

Credits: stationary by @scifigirlnextdoor, art by @aly_en.art, keychain by @ooakrafts]

~

“I do not understand,” Thrawn said, his usually impassive face troubled as he gazed at the datapad report. If Thrawn were a lesser being, Eli reflected, he would almost say the Chiss was confused.

“What’s there to understand?” Eli asked. “It’s the result everyone expected.”

The glowing red eyes bored into Eli’s. “Everyone?

“Mostly,” Eli hedged. Yes, that was definitely what he might characterize as confusion. “Really, it’s just navy politics as usual.”

“But it violates all tactical reason,” Thrawn objected. “Commander Cheno acquitted himself well, and the actions of his ship won the battle and saved many lives. How does High Command conclude that he must be relieved of duty?” []

“As I say, politics. Gendling’s well connected, and his delicate little pride got bruised, so he’s taking it out on Cheno.”

Thrawn looked again at the datapad. “It is a foolish waste of resources.”

“Agreed,” Eli said. “But it could have been worse.”

“How so?”

“Really?” Eli asked, frowning. Was it *really* not obvious to him?

“You were the one Gendling really wanted to nail to the bulkhead. Cheno might have been able to save himself if he’d told the panel you’d overreached your authority. But he didn’t. Since they had nothing on you, they threw him to the wolves instead.”

Thrawn was silent another three steps. “A foolish waste,” he murmured again.

Eli sighed. “You might as well get used to it.”

Again, the glowing red eyes turned on him. “What do you mean?”

Eli hesitated. It really wasn’t his place to say this. But if he didn’t, who else would? And for all Thrawn’s military skill and insight, he seemed incapable of seeing this one on his own. “I mean, sir, there’s a good chance that you’re going to leave a trail of damaged careers in your wake. In fact, you already have.” []

“There was no such intent on my part.”

“I know that,” Eli said. “It’s not because of anything you’ve done. It’s just the political reaction to—well, to you.”

“That was never my intent in accepting the Emperor’s service.”

“Intent isn’t the point,” Eli said patiently. “The problem is that you don’t fit into the neat little box navy officers are supposed to fill. You’re not human; worse, you’re not from the Core Worlds.”

“Neither are you or many others.”

“But the rest of us Wild Space yokels aren’t flying rings around all the politically connected elite who think they’re such flaming-hot stuff,” Eli pointed out. “You’re showing them up, and they resent you for it. And if they can’t take you down, they’ll go after the people they think helped make you who you are.”

“People like you?”

Eli let his gaze drift away. Yes, people like him. People who still had the lowly rank they’d graduated the Academy with while everyone else was energetically climbing the ladder.

But this conversation wasn’t about him. This conversation and warning were about Thrawn. “They’d probably come after me if they thought I was worth the effort,” he said, sidestepping the question.

“Do you suggest I try to be less capable?”

“Of course not,” Eli said firmly. “You do that and more people will die and more bad guys get away. I’m just pointing out that you need to be aware that you’re in the political crosshairs.”

“I understand,” Thrawn said. “I will endeavor to learn the rules and tactics of this form of warfare. In the meantime, is there anything we can do for Commander Cheno?”

“Just wish him well, I guess,” Eli said.

[Extra: the note in the photo says:

"Everything seems so distant now.

Faded away.

Do you remember when you asked me if your association with me was damaging my career?

My path?

How a fool I was.

How a fool, because a tiny part of me was blaming you.

When you were teaching me everything.

Giving me everything.

Your loves ones. Your memories.

Yourself.

I wish I knew.]

Fearless

Faro suppressed a grimace. And that one was squarely on her. [...]

And Vader was standing right there.

His helmet turned toward her.

There were rumors about what happened to people who displeased the Dark Lord. None of those stories were pleasant. None of them ended well. Kimmund was still here, so Vader had apparently decided the loss of the other ships wasn’t the First Legion’s fault. But Faro had no such guarantees for herself.

~

“Then the fault must lie with the Chimaera’s crew,” Vader said. He steps forward. His voice perhaps holds impatience.

“With all due respect, Lord Vader, I don’t believe that to be the case,” Faro said. Her eyes turn to Vader. The stiffness of her stance increases. Her voice holds caution and a degree of fear, but also determination. “This hyperlane is sparsely traveled, and its parameters and edges are poorly defined. I believe it more likely we’ve run into the shadow of some previously unknown mass.”

“Indeed,” Vader said. His vocal pitch lowers slightly. His hands rise to his waist, his thumbs hooking into his belt. “And where is this mysterious mass?”

Faro’s throat muscles tighten briefly. “We haven’t yet located it, Lord Vader,” she said. Her eyes turn back to her admiral. “I have our best sensor operators working on the problem, sir.”

“Perhaps your best are not up to the standards of Imperial service,” Vader said.

“The Chimaera’s officers and crew are more than adequate to their tasks, Lord Vader,” Thrawn said. “Commodore, if there is indeed a wayward mass affecting us, perhaps some forward movement will take us clear of its shadow and effect.”

“Yes, sir,” Faro said. The tension in her face and voice eases noticeably. “Helm: Take us ahead at two-thirds power. Scanners: Continue to search for objects.”

~

I know, I know.

I already said that I love her.

But, think about it: she is probably the only Imperial I can think of (besides maybe Tarkin and Thrawn himself) to speak her mind in front of Vader, knowing the possible consequences.

She is a rock.

And, sure, she knows that Thrawn has her back 100%, but she has the guts, folks!

[Photo: my pride and joy, my first custom Funko]

Til the Spire!

"The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest is tenacity. The fears are paper tigers. You can do anything you decide to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the process is its own reward."

Amelia Earhart

At the end of August 2020, after a little less than a month that I was posting in here, it started to appear in my feed a new account that was sharing art and cool photos of Batuu.

I liked the first post, and IG kept showing me art becoming stickers and stickers becoming t-shirts and pins.

Since then, I bought incredibly awesome t-shirts, pins, and a lot of stickers from that small shop, run with the same passion and enthusiasm during the last year.

I took this photo several months ago ("Vi Possibile" and "Vi: Vote" are among my favorite SW art ever), and today I think sharing it is a way to celebrate a very cool account, a prolific shop, and a very lovely human.

Thank you for being part of this community, @hellotherecargo!

Til the Spire!

Emergency

[NOTE: If you caught one of my IG stories the other day, you know that I have very serious issues with "Tempest Runner", the last audio drama released by Penguin Random House. My umbrage at the plot/author choices isn't a mere matter of preference. If it is true that I personally found "Rising Storm" a flat exercise of style without any actual feeling, and I'm not particularly into the main comic series, I didn't feel the urge to share my thoughts in my stories before. I am not here to give stars or tomatoes, and, quite frankly, who cares what my opinions are.

However, "Tempest Runner" disturbed and angered me on a more profound and personal scale, so, I felt to share it, at least, in my stories. And, according to the landslide of private messages I received after posting that, I was not the only one.

This said, it would be silly of me to disregard the list of THR posts that I have in my bucket. Sharing with you the wise passages —like the one that follows—, the wonderful characters, the heartwarming stories.

Everything I AM grateful for, and very much, in this series.]

~

Across Hetzal Prime and the broad expanses of its two inhabited moons, the message of Minister Ecka travel rapidly []: *Nowhere is safe. Get as far away as you can.*

Explanation was limited, which caused speculation. [.]

Some people ignored the warning. [.] After all, the entire system in danger? It just wasn't possible.

Those people stayed in their homes, at their workplaces. They turned off their screens and got back to their lives, because it was better than the alternative. And if they glanced to the skies from time to time, and saw starships heading up and out... well, they told themselves the people in those ships were fools, easily spooked.

~

I read this "Light of the Jedi" excerpt for the first time in mid-March.

And it hit me.

Still does.

Too real, too tragically palpable all around.

Wishful thoughts becoming new truths, facts.

Everyone pushing to be normal again.

While selfishly forgetting the most vulnerable, the ones that a democratic society swore to protect instead.

So, "now more than ever, we need the Jedi".

[Photo: a beautiful THR inspired hairpin by @outerspaceoutpost]

You, me and them

“Congratulations, son,” his father said, gripping his hand tightly.

“Thanks, Dad,” Eli said.

But despite the smiles and cheerful words, he could sense an unexpected reserve lurking behind his father’s eyes. His mother’s concerns were even more visible. It wasn’t hard to figure out the reason. Every glance at the Coruscant skyline, every lingering look at one of the other freshly minted ensigns, every lowering of their voices whenever someone nearby might hear—all of it pointed to the fact that a Wild Space cadet like Eli should never have been at Royal Imperial in the first place.

And then, there was Thrawn.

“You’re sure he’s okay? Because if the stories about Chiss are right…” She trailed off.

“They aren’t, Mom,” Eli assured her. “He’s okay,” he assured them. “Really. Very smart. Let’s not talk about him, okay?”

“Fine,” his father said. “Let’s talk about you. What happens now that you’re off your career track?”

“Who says I’m off it?”

“Well, I hope so,” his father said. “I just…you never know about Core World nonsense.”

Eli suppressed a sigh.

“And hanging around that Chiss might have affected things, too,” his mother added.

No matter how far down the social scale a person was, he added sourly to himself, there was always someone lower.

“We have to get going,” his father said suddenly. Eli frowned, looking at him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Thrawn approaching at a brisk walk. As his father had apparently also noted. Always someone lower.

“You really don’t have to,” he said.

“We have to go,” his father said, fumbling in his tunic. “We have to…damn.”

And then it was too late.

“Good afternoon,” Thrawn said as he joined their little group. “You are Ensign Vanto’s parents, of course. Welcome to Coruscant.”

“Thank you,” Eli’s father said, his voice a little strained. “You are…uh…”

“I am Lieutenant Thrawn,” Thrawn said.

“You’re a—you’re really a Chiss?”

“I am,” Thrawn confirmed. “Your son has spoken of your legends concerning us. Be aware that not all of them are accurate.”

“But some of them are? May I ask which ones?”

“Dad!” Eli admonished him, feeling his face warming.

“The most flattering ones, of course,” Thrawn said, a small smile touching his lips. “Still, even when false, legends can be most informative. What is remembered says a great deal about those doing the remembering.”

For a moment an awkward silence surrounded the group. “I see,” Eli’s father said at last. “Very interesting. But as I was saying, we have to go.”

“Thank you for inviting us here, Eli. Let us know where they put you, and take care.”

“I will, Mom,” Eli promised as his father wrapped his arms around them both. “Have a safe trip back.”

“Mr. Vanto,” Thrawn said, returning the nod. “Ms. Vanto. Safe journeys.”

For a moment Eli and Thrawn stood in silence, watching as his parents walked down the path toward the Academy’s landing platform. “They are concerned about you,” Thrawn said at last.

“Parents’ prerogative,” Eli said, wondering uncomfortably how much Thrawn had been able to read from his brief encounters with them. Had he figured out that a major part of their concern was that Thrawn’s presence in Eli’s life might somehow have poisoned his future? “They’re also not all that comfortable here. Big city, Core people. You know.”

“Yes,” Thrawn said. 

~

Despite I tried to redact (and I did, heavily, already) this for almost 3 hours, I cannot make it short as I wanted.

It's a defeat, I know, but I cannot reduce it further without losing more treasures.

So, please have the patience to read this sad, but very *very* real excerpt.

One of my favorites, even if painful, that shows how Mr. Zahn knows perfectly well what he is describing here.

Diffidence, intolerance, narrow minds.

And you between your family, your true self, and your loved one.

The wonderful commission in the photo was created for me by @_cinnonym.

Despite the AU setting, this art is the quintessence of them.

The shy sexiness, the polite attention, the unexpressed bold sentiment. I love it so much that I have TWO on my home walls now. Hat and boots are mines. Because I live in Iowa, after all.

Curiosity