Balun, who looked every part the Imperial Stormtrooper, clad in white plasteel armour that he had taken from a trooper who had crossed his path in the streets of Kor Vella, found himself nearing the district that held Imperial Captives within one of their facilities.
Already, he could sense the buzz of energy, the frantic and mixed emotions of soldiers and civilians alike clambering to get into defensive positions, or to escape the chaos that was the ensuing battle for the Corellian City, yet above all else, Balun felt the all too familiar presence of a Force-User still some distance away.
[Cerys] he called out, not aloud but through the Force in hope of reaching her.
[Cerys. It’s Balun. Hold on, I’m coming to get you out of there].
{Balun?} Even through the Force, her tone was incredulous, but faded into despair in her next words. {Please don’t risk yourself, not for me…}
[Too late. I’m already in the area. I’ll be wearing a Stormtrooper getup, though, so don’t hit me when I get there. Imperials are everywhere out here. How’re you holding up?]
Balun continued to move, unhindered by Cery’s wish for him to stay away. She knew he wasn’t one to give up once he’d set his mind to something, and though it was risky, he had fought alongside the military before and even been an official member of the Tingel Arm Coalition’s Ranger unit. He knew how to walk like a soldier, and if there was any doubt, he had the Force to sway the minds of those who might otherwise look to question him.
{I am not holding up at all.} She sounded despondent, resigned to her fate. Though she tried to cover it up with a pitiful attempt at humour. {The stasis field is doing all the holding up.}
[Conserve your strength. You’ll need it when I kick up a fuss getting you out]
Cerys would likely sense the tension in Balun through their telepathic connection. He was, at present, deep behind enemy lines and doing his utmost to look the part while gradually making his way closer to the holding facility. By now, he had breached the perimeter with no small amount of effort, persuading the Officer at the entrance that he was permitted entry by the higher powers that were; the Force, weaving its way into the mind of the Imperial and coercing them to accept Balun's impromptu story.
[As long as we can get you somewhere safe, that’s all that matters right now].
A long empty silence followed. The connection between them lingered, and through it a mix of emotions flowed from her, to him. Resignation. Annoyance. Relief. Shame. Embarrassment. But mostly wondered that he would persevere in her rescue. She had been nothing but awful to him. And had abandoned him in a moment of need.
{Why? Why would you do this, Balun?} It’s not like we are friends, she left off voicing to him.
Cerys Dyn would feel Balun’s presence growing stronger in the Force the closer he made it to her location. She would sense his breaching the perimeter, though no alarm had yet been raised, no flurry of urgency at the notion of the enemy having crossed into hostile territory.
[For someone as intelligent as you are, you’re pretty bloody slow to recognise when someone cares about you, Cerys]
{The question is still the same, Balun!} Her reaction was instant, snappy and unpleasant. And it was immediately shameful. Cerys simply did not know how to let people care for her, without her feeling as though she was betraying her former master. A former master who had not kept her own rules.
[Maybe it's because I'm too stubborn to let it go, but I think you deserve better than the cards you've been dealt. I can't stand back and watch you endanger yourself and not try to interfere. I don't want to see you hurt. Not when I can shield you from it]
He got silence in return. Almost a wall of it. Cerys shut herself down from him completely. His stubbornness was a problem. And the hope, the warmth, if created in her chest was an even bigger problem.
If Cerys could keep quiet, perhaps he would not find her. She could figure out another way to escape. She always had before.
She would not be so fortunate, and she would sense the gradual extinguishing of lives, unable to trace his steps but the absence of a presence where formerly there had been Imperial Officers or Soldiers, all Non-Force Users, snuffed out of existence. One after the next, slowly and patiently closing in upon her position. Balun’s actions were decisive and absolute, letting none survive their exposure to the truth in that he wasn’t meant to be there. Cerys was worth the cost of lives, in his mind. He truly believed this and had no qualms about killing others in order to find her. These military minds would only lead to the slaughter of other men and women in the field of battle were they not felled so suddenly.
Cerys could feel his presence just on the other side of the door. He was a fool, and he was going to get himself killed. The man that had just walked into her cell was no fool. No mere regular of the Imperial machine. There was something stronger about him.
“Hey! Imp! You are going to get nothing out of me!” She yelled at him, hoping in that moment to pull his attention away from what Balun was about to do.
The entrance to the holding cell would open with a mechanical hiss, suddenly presenting a lone stormtrooper.
The Imperial officer standing before Cerys Dyn sharply turned to face the trooper clad in white plasteel. Yet, the sight of one of their own came as a surprise, for they had called upon no one and in their hesitation, Balun raised his K-16 Bryar Pistol and squeezed the trigger, sending a molten hot blaster bolt barreling into the man's chest, dropping him instantly.
He didn’t wait for Cerys’ words of shock or disagreement with his actions, but instead moved quickly to release her from her captivity.
“Time to go”.
Cerys dropped to the ground and fell into an easy roll, despite the stiffness in her joints. She took Balun’s hand, and pulled herself up to her feet without hesitation, but released his hand the moment gravity was conquered. She flashed an apologetic look, before moving past him and into the hallway.
“They had my lightsaber locked up in the armoury. I am not leaving without it,” she said, clearly not opening it up for debate.
“S’pose you could probably make use of this then, huh”
Balun handed Cerys a smaller hilt, one that was intimately her own. The shoto that he had recovered during the conflict on Corellia. She had been disarmed that day, yet Balun had recovered her weapon and now placed it firmly back into her hands.
“We’ll recover the other one on our way out. See if that guy was armed, never know when a blaster might come in handy,” he added, forcing a small smile as he moved to step over the body lying limp on the cell floor.
“Balun!” She replied, a genuine smile lighting her face. No move was made to embrace him in gratitude, but the thought did cross her mind. Cerys retreated into the dour persona she maintained, quickly, easily but this time…reluctantly.
Shoto in hand, she stooped and checked the fallen Imperial. She pushed aside the awkwardness of the search, and was relieved when she found a small holdout blaster, which was quickly pocketed. “Lead the way…let’s get out of here.”
Finally together once more, Balun asked Cerys to take the lead with her hands placed behind her back. He, still clad in white plasteel, would enact the dutiful trooper escorting the would-be prisoner. The moment that her escape was noticed, they would have to launch into an offensive, yet here behind Imperial walls, secrecy was their best chance to survive.
With the Force as his weapon of choice, he invaded the minds of those who dared question them, shrouding their suspicion with authority, imposing on them the martial strength of his Jedi training.
“Alright, time to hustle. We get to the ship and then get the hell out of this place”.
“Don’t forget my lightsaber,” she hissed through her teeth, as she obeyed the ruse. There was no way she was going to lose the last of the two she had spent so long creating.
“Don’t stress. We’ll find the armoury before we make our way there,” Balun muttered quietly as he led the supposed prisoner through the compound. The Imperial Station was made up of several varying-sized structures. Had he known to hit the armoury, he would have done so first, but this was the situation they had to play out.
Nearer to the western gate, two personnel carriers sat ready while a squad of stormtroopers prepared to embark, no doubt meant for the frontline battle over the city streets. The Imps were carting weapons and ammunition towards the vehicles from one of the smaller facilities, giving Balun the impression they needed to head their way.
“Thoughts?” he asked for input, pointing in the direction of the troopers. Rather, her agreement to potentially wind up fighting if things went sideways.
Cerys watched the scene for a moment, and considered her options. She could easily hide herself, and walk straight past them. Brandyn had taught her enough to maintain effective invisibility for a minute or so. To do so for two people would be hard, unless Balun was helping her. That would require a bit more vulnerability than she was accustomed to.
“Pull me out of view of them for just a moment. I can hide us…if…you help me,” she said, her voice trailing off to an odd timidity.
Balun glanced sideways at Cerys for a moment, hearing the shift in her voice. She was asking for his help, perhaps for the first time in all the time they had known one another. He didn’t let his recognition show, for doing so might hurt her pride further, but he appreciated it all the same and concluded with a single nod of compliance.
“Take the lead”, he suggested, allowing her to feel a sense of control return to her. Cerys didn’t easily let her guard down or lean on others. Balun knew this well and sought to reaffirm her confidence. Despite her refusal to let others close to her, he couldn’t help but feel they were closer than they had ever been. It was both surprising and exhilarating.
Forcing himself to focus on the situation at hand however, he closed his eyes for a brief moment and chose to concentrate on slowing his breathing, effectively calming his mind and body before delving into the ethereal flow of energies being drawn in, the Force, naturally elusive to most became dense and tangible as Balun drew upon its power, redirecting it to strengthen Cerys connection and ability to cloak herself from view.
Cerys rested her back against the durasteel beam. Her eyes nervously looked up into Balun’s to find them closing. How he trusted her so quickly and easily was remarkable. Shame rose in her core, and threatened to turn her cheeks a deeper shade of orange. Her lekku shook slightly, an involuntary reflex which she cursed under her breath.
Her hands rose, gingerly touching his temples. The contact felt too intimate, but annoyingly necessary. Her mind opened to his, and he felt his restraint, trust and care. And the Force. She tried her best to prevent her shame from flowing through their connection, but failed. It’s intensity was too much to restrain. He felt it fully. Cerys blushed.
“I am one with the Force. The Force is with me,” she whispered, the mantra calming her presence, and diminishing the shame. Within a couple of seconds they disappeared from view, and the Force signatures faded from any potential register.
“You will need to…maintain physical contact…for the duration,” she said, shame battering at her resolve, but being beaten out by the moral objection to the literal attachment. This was not her way. This was very literally her master’s way of doing things.
Her hand descended to his, fumbling as she took it in her own. It was not a show of affection. She didn’t know how to do that, nor want to…do…that.
“Come on,” she whispered, “I can’t do this forever…”
“It doesn’t seem so bad…” Balun chuckled quietly to himself as his hand took hers, a veil of the Force cloaking them from all sight as they began to walk, the Imperial Troops left oblivious to their presence entirely as the pair worked to shield themselves from corporeal perception, reaching out to touch and manipulate the minds of all within their immediate vicinity.
It wasn’t easy, especially with the forced intimacy between the pair, Balun having to resist thinking about how close they were in proximity, the shuffle of her shoulder against his own as they walked, her hand in his. This was a moment, an act between them that he had figured would never occur, and had even tried to distance himself from his feelings before she had all but disappeared from the Order, and his concern had grown too great and too personal to ignore.
It wouldn’t be long before they had reached the armoury and Balun had telepathically worked over one of the troopers to provide access, unbeknownst as to why or what guided him to do such a thing. The two of them slipped inside, that Cerys could search for her weapon now out of sight from the enemy: The Armoury was empty save for the two of them and blaster racks lined with rifles and powercells, ammunition and firearms aplenty.
She let go of his hand. It was a rushed thing. More awkward than the holding had been. She hoped he didn’t see her quickly wipe her palms across her hips.
Her lightsaber was resting on the bench in front of her. It looked oddly alone, without its smaller compatriot. Cerys scooped it up, and looked it over. Nothing seemed to be tampered with.
She stared at it longer.
And still longer.
If she did so, she did not have to turn around.
Why was he breathing so loud? Did he have to stand that close to her?
She clipped the hilt back to her belt, and turned slowly, eyes lifting to meet his. He was close. She stepped back, but could barely manage a quarter step before colliding with the bench.
Her nostrils flared. Her heart raced. And then, her eyes narrowed.
“Give me your hand. We have to get out of here,” she said, extending her hand, and the offer of invisibility.
Balun couldn’t help but laugh softly, shaking his head in feigned disbelief. Cerys hadn’t changed much since he had known her back in Shiraya’s Sanctuary, at least not as far as treating any form of contact as though she might contract some form of disease from it.
“Relax, you’ve survived Imperial captivity, this should be the easy part” he chided her teasingly, soon reaching for her hand and turning his attention to the outside world. Still within the Armoury, Balun had to focus, concentrating on the lives of those patrolling or otherwise changing shifts within the compound.
They were surrounded by Stormtroopers, and were they caught they would more likely be shot on sight rather than risking the use of their lightsabers.
It took but a moment to slow his breathing and call forth to the Force, shrouding them once more with the aid of Cerys’ strength and ability, intertwining with his, a combination of the two using their connection to alter, or in this case, remove their physical appearance from detection entirely.
Exfiltration would be swift and silent, sneaking through the bulk of the Imperial site and avoiding the heavily patrolled areas before being able to breathe a little easier in the city streets. Already, Balun was activating an emergency beacon to signal the Republic Fleet that he required an urgent pickup.
The pair would make for the City outskirts, now with Cerys able to once again feel comfortable keeping her hands to herself, and keeping out of sight, they’d wait until a High Republic Dropship would breach the clouds and descend on their location.
The shuttle shuddered as its engines surged to life, a low mechanical thunder vibrating through the deck plates and up through the rows of Republic troopers packed shoulder to shoulder along the interior benches. The air smelled faintly of coolant, and the lingering heat of battle. Outside the narrow viewport beside her, the broken skyline of the planet slipped slowly downward as the craft clawed its way into the sky.
Cerys sat rigidly at first, hands folded tightly in her lap, the familiar weight of her lightsaber once more resting against her belt. Around them the troopers spoke in low voices, checking equipment, exchanging quick reassurances that they had all made it out alive. Their presence formed a kind of white noise around her, distant and unimportant compared to the quiet awareness beside her.
Balun.
For a long while she said nothing. Her gaze remained forward, though her senses lingered on the steady rhythm of his breathing, the quiet warmth of his presence through the Force now that the chaos had fallen away. The tension that had carried her through captivity, through escape, through the long walk beneath Imperial guns slowly began to loosen its grip.
The shuttle tilted upward as it broke through the cloud layer, sunlight spilling faintly through the viewports. Cerys exhaled a breath she had not realized she was holding.
Then, very carefully, as though testing something fragile she did not yet understand, she shifted closer.
As the stars came into view as the left the atmosphere behind, she leaned her head against his shoulder.
A Balun Dashiell and
Cerys Dyn
Co-Production
Cerys Dyn
Co-Production
