Star Wars Rebels fic: On the Edge of the Devil's Backbone (Chapter 16: Shatterpoint)

[bedlamsbard]

On the Edge of the Devil's Backbone (187733 words) by bedlamsbard
Chapters: 16/?
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.

*

She found the others in the lounge, all of them staring silently and awkwardly at each other. As the doors slid open they all looked up in unison, black, blue-and-orange, and purple heads popping up like something from a HoloNet comedy show.

All right, Hera thought as they stared at her, maybe I should have followed Kanan’s advice and taken some more time.

It was Zeb who spoke first, apparently deciding to take his responsibility as the oldest of the bunch seriously. “Hera,” he said, “we didn’t know –”

Hera’s jaw tightened until it took all she had to work it loose to reply. “No one knew,” she said. “It’s not exactly public knowledge that Cham Syndulla is my father.”

“So,” Sabine said haltingly, “we’re leaving, aren’t we? After what Agent Kallus did –”

Hera blinked at her. “We’re still Imperial officers, Sabine. We swore oaths to the Emperor. This doesn’t change anything.”

“Are you serious?” Sabine said, rising to her feet. “He put a blaster to your head, Hera! And that’s not even starting on what he did to Zeb –”