35 My Thane (1/2)

A young human male, dressed in an orange rebel pilot's jumpsuit with reddish-blonde hair, and a good build, stood on his knees with his hands behind his head. His, downturned almond shaped, blue eyes stared narrowed to the ground. Two stormtroopers stood on either side of him, with their E-11 blaster rifles at the ready.

His position, and his guards, obstructed the view of the main entrance to the bridge. He could hear the people talking, orders being relayed. He was all too familiar with the operation of a star destroyer.

The hum of hyperspace surrounded him.

That's when he heard a familiar pace of boots walking over to him. A familiar shadow cast over him. A familiar sharp exhale, one of self loathing in the beginning of redemption amidst personal chaos.

His name was Thane Kryell a former navy pilot for the Galactic Empire who defected to the Rebel Alliance to Restore the Republic. He was the star-crossed lover of Ciena Ree, the girl he stayed behind in order to confront. Thane just hadn't been expecting her to be in command of a Star Destroyer during the Battle of Jakku. He was having a hard time lifting his head to look up at her.

The two of them had been knee deep in self-hate, self-conflict, self-guilt. They had done atrocities for a government which didn't even cease its unruly behavior on its deathbed. They had murdered and killed for unjust means in the name of False Order.

Ciena stood in front of him, looking down at the Traitor to the Empire they had been ordered to defect from. He was no longer considered a defector, he was considered an ally according to the VIM.

Grand Moff Randd also stood there watching over the proceedings. He watched as Ciena ordered his escort to dismiss and allowed him to lower his arms.

Smiling shallowly at one another, the two lovers locked gazes. The irony was strange, as canonly the roles had been reversed. In the disney mainstream timeline Ciena had scuttled the Inflictor into the surface of Jakku and attempted suicide by going down with the ship.

Her attempted suicide failed due to Thane's intervention, yet this new Emperor had prepared for his arrival and it was all backwards.

”You're lucky they didn't shoot your rebel ass...” Ciena silently noted the burn mark on the front of his chest from a graze caused by a blaster bolt. ”...Why were you in the trash compactor?”

”I was trapped in the corridor that collapsed when structural integrity failed, wasn't the best idea, but it was the only idea.” Thane smiled with a smile that looked as if he was between being smug and questioning his own worth. He believed his lover, his most favored friend, wouldn't have him killed.

”So... What now?” Thane asked as he changed to his serious tone, taking an inch forward towards the Imperial clothed woman with caramel toned skin and brilliant brown hued eyes.

Ciena looked at him for a few moments, silently before giving the Grand Moff a quick glance, then looked at Thane once again. A look of thought on her face.

Randd was just watching silently. Whatever she did now, he couldn't judge her. The VIM gave no further orders. He could only assume that the self-proclaimed Emperor of the Imperium had a plan. He knew they would be boarded. He knew that the Ravager would go down. He knew that Groff would panic and crash into a Rebel ship.

So far, he already knew that Tobias was force sensitive. He was surely more powerful any Jedi he remembered during the days of the Classic Republic; not that he knew many, if any at all.

”I once made an Oath to the Empire, only to be ordered to leave in join another Order.” Ciena responded with her arms now crossed over her chest. Her eyes shooting daggers through her star-crossed lover, a man who broke his oath and snuck away from his duties. A man who had more courage than her to rebel.

With glistening eyes, she spoke. ”If you had brought yourself onto this bridge before we were given the Order, you would've been gunned down as a traitor. And my heart would've died with you.” As she spoke like this, her eyes felt like they were going to burn clear from her skull.

Randd would walk over as he scrutinized the sight of her beginning to break down. ”As a member of the Galactic Imperium, the successor State of the Galactic Empire...” With his hands folded behind his back, grasping one hand at the wrist, while the other freely hung back. ”The Reb... The New Republic is not our enemy. Your transgressions, defection, does not carry over. You're a free man, by Decree of the Emperor.”