Fear No Darkness by Independence1776

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Chapter 7

G57, Color Burst Indigo, truthfulness and Last Lines, "We'll think of something." -Zhan, Heir to the Empire

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Maglor stared at the droid. “What?”

“I’m sorry, sir, but we are unable to transfer your payment to your bank account. You will need to comm your bank to fix the problem before we can pay you. Please contact our company when you have done so.”

The droid turned and rolled away to the hovertruck where it had loaded the cargo Maglor had just delivered. Maglor rubbed his forehead. Was this it? Had the Empire finally figured out his identity?

He pulled his comm off his belt and called his bank. “Hi. My name is Malda Coinon and I’m having trouble with my bank account.”

“I can help you with that, sir,” the droid on the other end said in an obnoxiously cheerful voice. “What is your account name and password?”

Maglor gave them to him and after a few moments, the droid said, “Unfortunately, your account was caught up in the identity theft ring originating on Rodia. Your voiceprint is not quite a match for what we have on file, so you need to come into the nearest branch to fix this in person. Do you need assistance locating the nearest branch?”

“No, thank you.”

“Have a pleasant day, sir.”

Maglor rolled his eyes and shut off the comm. He’d chosen the bank because there was a branch three blocks from this spaceport. After all, this was listed in Imperial records as his “home” spaceport, despite him only visiting a few times a standard year, and anything else could have been flagged as odd.

Maglor went back into his ship to grab his ID card and grocery bag… and paused when he saw his lightsaber on his desk. The Force hummed a little louder. He could feel he wasn’t in danger, but he wouldn’t ignore the Force’s encouragement. So he dropped it into the grocery bag and walked out of the Calanár. He shut the cargo ramp and left Bay 27. Better to get this over with so he could finish his grocery shopping before meeting Lariesh for lunch.

When he passed a stand selling fresh fruit, Maglor took the little bit of time and last of his credits on hand to begin shopping. At the very least, the fruit would hide the shape of his lightsaber in the bag. And then he walked into the bank.

The teller smiled at him and called another employee over to direct Maglor to the room where he’d need to talk to yet a third person. He sighed. How long would this take? Having nothing better to do, he sat down on one side of the table and waited.

It was only a couple of minutes before the door slid open-- and a Human man wearing the Imperial Security Bureau uniform and carrying a datapad walked in. The only thing that kept Maglor from going for his lightsaber was that he had no sense of danger. The ISB agent sat down across from Maglor. “I am Agent Denovar. The ISB has been investigating reports of a rebel cell here. But don’t worry; you’re not actually a suspect.”

Maglor blinked at him. “Then why the deception to bring me here?”

“Your friends Lariesh and Tula are Rebels. Lariesh is in fact the leader of the cell.”

“What?” Not that it was much of a surprise; she’d clearly learned from her time on the starliner to keep her opinions quiet in public but she was not as restrained in private, despite it mostly appearing in conversation with him regarding his seeming apathy.

“Yes. We tracked everyone they were in regular contact with. You being a cargo pilot was… hmm, a point of interest for us. But our background checks, both after you delivered Woena Talifa and Makri Storshif to Coruscant and now, showed that you are just that, a simple cargo pilot. You unfortunately happened to be acquaintances with Rebels.”

“If you’d already cleared me--”

“You are meeting Lariesh for lunch today, are you not?”

“I am,” Maglor said quietly, seeing were this was headed and hating the choice he’d have to make. If he refused to cooperate, they’d arrest him, find his lightsaber, and turn him over to the Inquisitors. If he cooperated, he’d betray friends to, at best, an immediate execution. One choice would get him killed; the other would see him betray friends for the Empire. He knew which one he could live with.

“We need you to call her and confirm that it’s still on.”

Maglor opened his mouth to ask why-- a reasonable citizen would not want to be involved in what was sure to turn into a firefight-- when his comm chimed. He raised an eyebrow at the ISB agent, who nodded. Maglor answered it, “Malda Coinon.”

“Hey, Malda.”

“Hi Lariesh. What’s going on?”

“I need to cancel our lunch. Something’s come up and I hate to do this on such short notice given how infrequently you’re on-world, but…”

“It’s okay. We’ll meet up next time.”

“Yeah, sure. See you then!”

“Bye.”

Maglor put the comm back on his belt and looked at the ISB agent. “I’m sorry, Agent. I--”

“No, no; this is fine. There’s nothing you can do about her canceling on you.” He smiled nastily. “Especially when it’s because she likely received some sort of warning of her cell is about to be apprehended.”

“And you’re sitting here in a bank talking to me?!”

The agent laughed. “We all have our parts to play. Your account should be active now. I’m sorry for the inconvenience now that your role in ISB’s operation is unnecessary. You may leave.”

Maglor nodded and walked out the door. He spent a few more minutes withdrawing credits-- twice his usual amount-- and left, walking through the market next to the spaceport to finish his shopping.

There was nothing he could do. Lariesh was undoubtedly busy and if he called her, he would only be a distraction at best. At worst, he’d tip off the Empire he cared enough about her to want her to avoid arrest and that would lead them straight back to him. He didn’t even know where she was in the city. So he bought fresh pasta from a stall, tucked it into his bag, and turned to leave. And saw Tula, wearing business clothing, just a few feet ahead of him. He quickly stepped forward. “Tula!”

She spun around, raising her arms in a self-defense position and dropped them when she recognized him. “You cannot be seen talking with me, Malda. Go away.”

Maglor half-smiled. “I know what’s going on. I had a run-in with ISB not an hour ago.”

“We didn’t mean to drag you into this.”

“I know. They cleared me.” Which was a relief for two reasons. If ISB hadn’t found anything connecting him with the Singers or the Jedi on two different occasions, they wouldn’t likely do so at any point.

“Do you have a plan to leave?”

She nodded. “Our ship is in Bay 29.”

“That’s next to mine. I can hide you there--”

“You would do that?”

Maglor shrugged. “It’s the right thing to do.”

Tula snorted. “Lariesh was sure you would walk away if it ever came down to protecting us.”

“Everyone has their breaking points. Let’s go.”

They wound through the spaceport and stopped when people began pouring from the way they were going-- along with the sound of blaster fire. “Shit,” Tula muttered. “I managed to escape the medcenter because I was out of my office getting caf. I should have known the Empire would beat us here.”

“Just wait. There might be something we could do.” Maglor reached the corner to the row the 20s were on and stopped just in time to not run into a stormtrooper.

“You’ll need to turn around, sir. There’s Rebels fighting down here.”

“I’m in Bay 27.”

He could feel the trooper’s wince, though he couldn’t see it. “They’re holed up in front of that bay, sir. You’ll have to wait.”

“I guess so.”

Maglor turned around and shooed Tula back a few meters. She said, “I heard. Now what are you going to do?”

“Something suicidal,” Maglor muttered and thrust his grocery bag into her arms. “Hold that.”

“Wha-- Malda!” she said as he dig through it until he found the cool metal hilt of his lightsaber. “You don’t need to--” When he pulled it out, her voice dropped. “Is that a pipe bomb? Malda!”

He shook his head. “Something worse, in Imperial eyes. Stay behind me and I can protect you.”

“You are making no sense.”

Maglor grinned and thumbed the button to turn on his lightsaber. “Stay behind me.”

He turned the corner and the stormtrooper didn’t have any time to react before he fell dead to the ground. Maglor took the moment to survey the street: a dozen troopers blocking both ends; six people he could feel trying their best to stay covered, and one Jedi that the troopers at the other end of the road could see but the ones immediately in front of him could not-- though they were already starting to turn thanks to in-helmet comm warnings from their comrades.

It wasn’t fast enough. Three of them dies from reflected blaster bolts, one from a lightsaber to the chest, two from blaster fire from the Rebels, and then he was in the midst of the other six, none of whom lived. He rushed over to the bay doors, unlocked them, and hurried everyone in, ignoring the silent stares. And then sealed the doors by the very efficient means of a lightsaber to the locking mechanism.

After turning his lightsaber off and placing it on his belt, he opened the Calanár’s cargo hold and everyone rushed inside. Once sealed behind them, Maglor didn’t bother with the ladder but jumped straight to the catwalk. “Stay here. I need to get this ship into hyperspace and then we’ll talk.”

He heard Lariesh start up the ladder and ignored her to run to the cockpit. He didn’t bother contacting Spaceport Control; the troopers had undoubtedly called for reinforcements well before he had arrived. So he took off, narrowly missing another freighter coming in to land and made it out into space before he saw the first hint of Imperial trouble: a pair of TIE fighters coming into firing range.

Too late. He punched in the coordinates for the system he’d built his lightsaber in and pulled the lever. They leapt into hyperspace, leaving the Empire behind them.

For now.

Maglor relaxed into his chair, running a hand through his hair. The Empire knew, now. But he could have done nothing else. Walking away would have meant a betrayal of everything he was.

Finarfin. He sat up and scrambled for the comm, typing in his uncle’s personal comm. He spent a couple of seconds waiting, hoping-- but even the Empire couldn’t move that fast.

“Malda Coinon,” Finarfin’s voice boomed through the cockpit. “How did you get this number?”

Maglor swallowed. “The Empire knows who I am. Run.”

Finarfin went silent. He knew as well as Maglor did that by not reporting Maglor when he’d come to Arda, Finarfin had sealed his fate as a traitor if Maglor was ever discovered. “I will. Thank you for the warning.” He paused and said, “May the Force be with you, Maglor.”

“And you, Uncle.”

Maglor ended the call and buried his face in his hands. Nine years since the Order fell. Seven since Arda’s takeover. Two years since he’d built his silver lightsaber. Now he was officially a fugitive.

He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. He needed Lariesh’s input on where to go next.

When he stepped out of the cockpit, she stood at the border of the hallway and living area. “You’re a Jedi.”

Maglor nodded. “Do you understand now why I pretended everything was fine?”

“You had to,” she said in a low voice. “I owe you an apology.”

“I accept it,” he said, leaning against the table.

“What will happen next?”

Maglor shook his head. “If you have a place you were fleeing to, I need to know the coordinates. We’re making for an empty system, and I’d like at least one and preferably two jumps before we head for wherever you were going.”

“We have a base in another empty system. The only thing memorable about it are old ruins that even the Republic didn’t feel worth excavating. I’ll give you the coordinates after the third jump.” She paused. “What will you do?”

“Flee,” he said. “I can’t remain with the Rebels. The Inquisitors will be coming after me as soon as word is passed to them. As ISB was involved in the operation to capture you, I have no doubt they have been or will shortly be. If I stay with you, everyone on that base will die.”

She sighed. “We’ll need a new base after you leave us. But that’s what being a Rebel means.” Lariesh smiled. “You put your life in danger to save us. We’ll figure something out to help you.”

Maglor bowed in thanks.