SWRC: Too Soon... (Book 3)

Chapter 3 One Last Attempt.

"We've got one more chance," said Neeran, thinking of a way to keep her family together.
"To do what?" asked Zach.
"To fix this."
Zach considered her words and asked, "How?"

"Juan."

"Shit," cursed Zach rolling his eyes and head. "How is he supposed to help us?"
"Something's felt different since we got Ezra back three years ago," said Neeran. "Juan was most likely the last person with him. He'll have the answers we want."

"And if he doesn't?" asked Zach, helping Neeran prepare for every eventuality.
"They we'll be stuck in the middle of Black Sun territory with Juan after us."

"Great," sighed Zach. "Who's going?"

"Who do you think should go?"

"Not Ezra or Kyipen," said Zach. "Too young. I'm also hesitant about Janan. Anyone older than her I think would be fine."
"I was thinking just Hiccup," said Neeran. "No one else."
"I'll follow your lead," said Zach. "But I reckon Jexxel and Chopper would be handy on a mission like this."
"I understand," said Neeran. "I'm just hesitant about them coming. They may hold a grudge against him for what happened to them during their childhood."

"It's a risk we always take with you and him," countered Zach in reference to Juan.
"I'll give you that," said Neeran with a smirk. "We'll wait until they're on holidays."
"One week," said Zach doing the calculations. "So we're not telling them specifically but we'll be preping them this week?"
Neeran nodded and Zach was content with her answer.
"Just hope that everything goes according to plan."

"Don't jinx it before we begin," said Neeran with a smile.
Zach smiled in return and rolled his eyes.

<One week later...>

Jexxel and Chopper had come to suspect what was going on between their parents and their eldest brother.
And in doing so, the 14 and 12 year olds had unintentionally put their entire family at risk by what they were doing.

Jexxel placed a finger to her lips and signalled for the three stowaways to remain silent. The three nodded as Jexxel left them hidden away in one of the rooms and went to go help their parents finish getting everything ready.

Within minutes, the five were ready to leave Lothal and head to the sector of space where Juan's branch of the Black Sun was located.

"What's the plan?" asked Jexxel.
"Find Juan," said Neeran. "I need information."
"But how?" asked Chopper.
"You should know by now to never ask that question Chopper," said Shakkuri. "The response is never good."

Neeran ignored Shakkuri's comment and said, "Either from within the system or from the man himself. I need it either way."

The four other passengers present in the cockpit did not respond in fear of incurring the mothers or wife's wrath.

Zach could tell Neeran wasn't entirely sane at that point but asked her in her head,
"What's really going on? You're not normally like this before a mission."
"I can feel that something is going to go wrong," said Neeran. "Something feels off about this mission."
"We'll get through it when it comes," said Zach, placing a hand on top of hers. "Together."

Neeran looked up at Zach and they smiled at each other, each one understanding the other in total wholeness.

Jexxel and Chopper watched their parents with rapt interest while Shakkuri looked the other way, having seen their displays of affection for many years and secretly longed that the girl he'd always liked was still somewhere.

Shakkuri hadn't felt her or any of his friends die during the Jedi Purge, also known as The Execution of Order 66, that had happened a little over seven years prior. He knew there was still hope that they were alive somewhere in the galaxy as he had close bonds with all of them.

"Neeran," said Shakkuri, interrupting the two people in the galaxy who had been his parents since he was thirteen. "We're here."

Neeran snapped to attention, as did the rest of the people in the cockpit.
"Let's hope this code works," said Neeran as she keyed in a command code to be admitted into the space station.

After a few tense moments, a voice came through the com, "Starship Resistance Renegade, you are cleared for landing in Bay 9."
"Understood," said Neeran. "Proceeding to Bay 9."

"So far, so good," muttered Neeran under her breath.
"You're sure that they couldn't have figured it out?" asked Zach for confirmation.
"No," said Neeran. "I buried it so deep it would have taken them forever to find out that the code is fake. We'll be safe until we're breaking the hell out of this place."

"I seriously hope you're right," muttered Zach, though actually moderately confident in Neeran for hiding the false code for once.

However, Zach was right to have had doubts in the first place.

They were, after all, talking about Juan Briaxe, who always seemed to be one step ahead them on many things.

And Juan had in fact found the code, though he had not told anyone about it, as if he was wanting to see where the story would go.

But no one could have predicted what would happen next.