"Home.. damaged but home"

Posted on Sun Aug 30th, 2026 @ 3:59am by Shipmaster Allore Titha & Chief Specialist Illenya Titha & Second Officer Connor Benedict & First Mate Jaden Xiander & Chief Specialist Tsafic K'eezerekth & Deckhand Kyle Titha & Deckhand Miran Titha

1,704 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Daiyu
Location: Undefined
Timeline: Same Day as the Gauntlet exploded.

The maintenance channel narrowed further before finally ending at what appeared to be an ordinary section of wall cluttered with old shelving and abandoned equipment. Allore stopped again. Listened. Nothing behind her. Nothing ahead that worried her. She reached behind one support. Her fingers found the concealed release. A muted click answered. The shelving shifted. Warm light appeared through the narrow opening. Someone immediately raised a blaster on the other side. Allore froze. Illenya stared at her. For several seconds neither sister spoke. Illenya slowly lowered the weapon. Her eyes travelled over Allore.The bruising. The torn clothes. The burn visible beneath the replacement coat. Her expression hardened. "You said nothing happened."

Allore gave her a tired smile. "I may have understated things."

Illenya stared at her. "Understated?"

Allore stepped through the concealed entrance. The hidden door closed behind her. Locks engaged. And the Force bubble settled around them.
For the first time since Second Sister had spoken the name Shia Teraan, Allore allowed herself to breathe. Then something small came hurtling down the corridor. "ALLORE!"

Miran hit her at full speed. Allore barely had time to brace before small arms wrapped around her waist. She closed her eyes. For one moment she simply held her. Hard. Miran buried her face against her. "You took forever."

"I know."

"You said you'd come."

"I did."

"You took forever."

Allore swallowed. "I know." Footsteps followed. Kyle appeared next. He stopped when he saw her. For perhaps three seconds he tried very hard to behave as though he hadn't been worried. Then he crossed the remaining distance and wrapped his arms around her too. Allore held both of them.
Tex rolled into view behind him, emitting a rapid stream of whistles and irritated electronic chirps. Allore opened one eye. "Yes, Tex. I'm happy to see you too."

The astromech whistled sharply. Kyle didn't even have to translate that one. "I know." Another series of beeps followed. Allore sighed. "Yes, I'm sure it was very irresponsible." Tex answered immediately. "No, you don't get to say I told you so." A particularly smug whistle followed.

Allore pointed at him. "You're pushing it." Miran giggled against her. Allore smiled. Then she looked past them. The smile slowly faded. The others were there. Jaden. Connor. Tsafic. Everyone who had scattered from the starport while she remained behind. Everyone she'd bought those extra minutes for.
They had made it. All of them. For a moment Allore simply stood there. The exhaustion hit her all at once. The stormtroopers boarding the Gauntlet.
Protocol Ashfall. Second Sister. The red lightsaber. Her own blue blade igniting in public. The name Shia Teraan spoken aloud. The duel. The departing freighter. Jumping from it before it escaped Daiyu. And the Gauntlet disappearing in fire. Home. Gone. But everyone she'd been trying to protect was standing in front of her. Alive. That had been the plan. Everything else had been expendable. Even the Gauntlet. Allore tightened her arms around Miran and Kyle. Illenya remained close beside them. Tex bumped gently against her leg. There would be questions. A lot of questions. They would need to know what had happened. They would need to know the Gauntlet wasn't coming back. Illenya would need to know there was an Inquisitor on Daiyu, Jaden as well. Eventually, they would all need to decide what happened next. How long they could remain here. Whether Allore Titha's identity was still usable.
How much of their money and supplies could safely be accessed. And where in the galaxy they were going to find another ship. Those were problems for later.

Right now, Allore looked around at the people gathered inside the safe house. Every one of them was alive. She closed her eyes and felt the concealment surrounding the safe house. The bubble held. Outside these walls, the Empire could search. Second Sister could hunt. Stormtroopers could tear Daiyu apart looking for Captain Allore Titha or Jedi Knight Shia Teraan. Inside, there was nothing for the Force to find. For now, they were hidden. For now, they were together. Allore finally allowed herself to believe it. They had made it.

Jaden couldn't take his eyes from Allore as she stood there. He could see the pain in her features, though she hid it well. He finally cleared his throat gently as he stepped closer. "Alright, you three, let's let your sister come in fully." He then looked Allore in the eyes. "I'll help you get cleaned up and changed, then we can all sit down and talk." The look in his eyes made it clear that he was not going to take no for an answer.

Allore looked at him and took a breath. "Thank you." She paused. And looked past him. "Everyone needs to know... the Gauntlet is gone. Destroyed to cover our tracks. The Imperials are searching Diayu." She shrugged off the coat and headed for the living quarters on the floor below.

TAGS ALL

Jaden started to follow, then said to the group, "Everyone should eat something. We'll be back in a bit." He then turned and made his way to the room that Allore had entered. Closing the door, he kept his back to her for a few beats. "You know I felt every bit of it, right?" His voice was quiet as he spoke. He then turned to face her and his eyes hrld a mixture of pain, fear and anger.

Moving to the dresser, he opened the med kit that was sitting on its top. "Sit down and remove your shirt."

Allore did so without comment. She had known. Had tried to keep their bond light so he would not feel it. "We need to tell the others, they need to make a choice" she said softly.

Once he had everything he needed, Jaden turned to face Allore. He winced slightly when he saw the injuries that covered the woman he loved. After a beat, he stepped closer and knelt before her. "We will. Together." He started to clean and bandage her wounds, then applied some bacta gel to the bruises. "We are going to have to wrap your ribs until we can get you into a bacta tank." Though there was hurt in his voice, his touch was gentle and loving.

When he was finally finished, he looked up into her eyes. His were shining with unshed tears. "I thought I lost you at one point."

"It was close. Closer than I liked." She admitted and rested her head on his shoulder. "On the plus side, I know where we can get a ship."

As soon as she laid her head on him, Jaden rose up slightly, then wrapped his arms protectively, lovingly, around her. As he held her, he whispered, "Never again. Do you hear me? Never again do you fight alone!" He hugged her tighter, but was careful of her injuries. A few tears fell down his cheeks.

She nodded. But she knew they would need a lot more training before they could survive a fight like the one she had, had without running away. "Let's go back to the others. We need to speak with them," she gently brushed his tears from his cheeks.

Nodding, Jaden paused to give her a gentle kiss on her lips. It wasn't meant to start anything, only to reconnect with her. They then released each other and he stood, grabbing her a clean shirt.

Once she was dressed, the pair of them returned to the group. It was time to discuss things as a group. As a family.

Allore looked around made note that aside from the younglings and Jaden, the droids, only Tsafic and Connor made it. Covo was no where to be seen. She took a breath. "So things didn't go so well" she said as she took a seat. "And I am going to say this now. "If anyone wants to go, you are free to do so. I will pay you your wages and you can go. No one knows you were linked to the Gauntlet."

"A new Ship? Where? We go?" Tsafic simply said. She didn't want to remain here, and she wanted to remain with those that have helped and is helping her.

Allore smiled gently. "I have a lead on a ship." She said softly. "I need to reach out to a contact. But it will take a day or so to get the ship. We have enough in the bank to purchase it."

Connor listened in silence as Allore spoke of getting a new ship. A new ship meant a new home with the same crew and that wasn't a bad thing anyway you looked at it.

"We are all going to need new docs," Jaden said aloud. "By now, the Imps are probably running down everything they can gather on the Gauntlet and her merry band of misfits. None of our former identities are safe now."

Allore nodded. "We have a few people here that can help but we also have a stash." She pointed to a cabinet. "Have a look there, find an ID that fits you all."

As Jaden was closest to the cabinet that Allore had pointed out, he opened the drawer and pulled out a handful of forged identacards. After selecting one, he handed the bunch to the next person in line. He then moved over to the small kitchenette and poured two cups of caffeine. Carrying them back over to Allore, he handed her one as he smiled softly. Here you go, Captain, First Mate Mattias Spello, reporting for duty.

Connor looked through the forged idetacards and after searching through them, chuckled silently at the one he handed to Allore. "Master at Arms Malakai Zeldorn reporting for duty." he then handed the re t of the identacards to the next person.

Tsafic took the stack of identacards and flipped through them. She didn't understand what they where for, and she didn't know how to read them, either. She took one, and handed them back.

Illenya got one and then helped Kyle and Miran select theirs. Then Illenya went to the kitchenette and began making the meal as the group settled into their hideout.

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