Star Wars Rebels fic: On the Edge of the Devil's Backbone (Chapter 8: Sparks)

[bedlamsbard]

On the Edge of the Devil's Backbone (86340 words) by bedlamsbard
Chapters: 8/?
Fandom: Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars - All Media Types
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Relationships: Kanan Jarrus/Hera Syndulla
Characters: Hera Syndulla, Kanan Jarrus, Sabine Wren, Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios, C1-10P | Chopper, Ezra Bridger, Cham Syndulla, Barriss Offee, Kallus | ISB-021, Darth Vader, Ahsoka Tano
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Canon-Typical Violence
Summary:

Ten years after she vanished during an Imperial raid on a Twi'lek colony, Cham Syndulla sees his daughter Hera for the first time in a hologram -- now wearing the uniform of an Imperial agent and apparently working closely with a human Inquisitor. All Cham wants to do is to bring his long-missing child home to what remains of her family, but he soon finds that Hera Syndulla is only interested in two things: her duty to the Empire and her loyalty to her crew, a mismatched collection of outcasts brought together by Hera and her pet Inquisitor.

With Cham and the Rebel agent known as Fulcrum in pursuit, a new mission takes Hera and the crew of the Ghost to the planet Lothal, where a chance meeting with a Force-sensitive teenager awakens something long buried in the Inquisitor once known as Kanan Jarrus...and has dire consequences for Hera, their crew, the Empire, and the fledgling Rebel Alliance.

*

“Pretty, isn’t it?” Kanan said to Hera as the new advanced TIE fighter was rolled out, his voice covered by the polite applause of the crowd in response to Tua’s effusive announcements. Any minute now the woman would probably offer to start kissing babies. “I bet that moon jockey they got to take it for a ride doesn’t have a scratch on you.”

“I’m pretty sure I could take him in a fistfight, never mind in the air,” Hera said, smiling at him. “Minister Tua said I could borrow one later, if we’re still around.”

“Yeah? I guess she does have some sense after all.”

“Be nice, dear,” Hera said, apparently in a good mood. It was probably proximity to the advanced TIE, rather than the Empire Day festivities. “She’s not so bad.”

“Yeah, well, if she had called us when that tech first went missing –” Kanan stopped abruptly, feeling the Force hum warm down the back of his neck.

Hera was saying something, but Kanan didn’t have the faintest idea what it was. He looked around, his gaze skating over the crowd before slanting upwards towards the rooftop of one of the buildings lining the street.

There.