Chapter Text
They’re all working quietly in the command center: himself, Senya, Lana, Theron, and the commander.
It was rare that all five of them were present, but Efra was back from his latest mission and his mother was still working on locating more hidden Knight cells. The rest of them, himself included, were more or less permanent fixtures day in and day out. So when Theron announces a priority holocall, they all look up.
He’s expecting some sort of Republic official, perhaps a senator, but the image that materializes is that of a rail-thin Nautolan, tresses spread out and weaving lazily through the air.
No. Not air.
Water.
There’s a sharp inhale to his left and he turns to find the commander staring up at them with a hard look on his face and a vague sense of tension through the Force. The sound draws the Nautolan’s attention.
Their lekku flick and twist in odd patterns and when they part their lips a strange stream of clicks and rumbles make their way out in place of words, throat visibly vibrating with the sounds.
It’s clear that no one else understands what’s happening, save for the commander, who is watching them with laser focus.
“High Priestess,” he greets carefully, stone-faced but there’s a tightness around his eyes, “Is this call from you personally, or on behalf of Vallhik-tor?”
She raises her chin a bit and her tresses thrash once before settling again. The sounds resume, and the commander listens before a pinched look overcomes him.
“And why do they want that?”
More clicks, and her eyes narrow.
“I’ve got a thousand things on my plate, I don’t have time to-”
Her lekku flare out as she flashes jagged teeth, and this time the sounds are almost deafening. Several speakers short out as they fail to cope with the deep bass rattling through the room.
Efra—calm, collected Efra—flinches. Hard. As if he’s been slapped across the face, then his gaze sharpens, and when he speaks, there’s a rumble beneath his words that Arcann’s never heard before.
“Fine,” he bites out, a muscle ticking in his jaw, “I’ll see what they want, but DO NOT call this frequency again.”
He cuts the call and the image blinks out, but not before they see the glare she shoots him.
The command center is eerily silent as Efra leans on the holodeck and lets his head hang.
He seems… rattled, and it’s clear that Lana can sense it too.
“What was that all about?” she asks warily.
Efra sighs and rubs a hand over his face.
“I’m needed back on my homeworld, apparently.”
There’s a bitter twist to his mouth when he straightens, but he’s managed to wrestle the rest of his face back into line.
“Glee Anselm, then?” Theron ventures, and when everyone looks at him he shrugs. “I read it in his file back in the day.”
Efra nods a confirmation and gathers his datapads.
“But what did she want?” Lana presses.
An irritated look flashes across his face, but it’s gone a second later and he answers all the same.
“Need to go to one of the temples, apparently the Ancestors have ‘demanded my presence’, whatever that means.”
Lana stops, clearly taken aback, though she’s hardly the only one.
“The… Ancestors?”
Efra grunts as he heads towards the hanger, the rest of them hot on his heels.
“My people believe the Ancestor spirits give us visions of possible futures through the Force, the people that receive them are called Seers. Some of them had a vision of me coming to the temple, then nothing since, so it sounds like the Ancestors are giving them the silent treatment until I go there.”
“I think I’ve heard of your Seers. The Jedi order has them lumped in with the Order of Shasa and the Voss Mystics; third party orders that don’t pick sides. The traditionalist masters are wary of them,” Theron adds.
“Yeah, I know. There’s a lack of trust on both sides so relations can get tense at times, but they mostly leave us alone.”
There’s a pause.
“Us?” Lana asks with a frown.
Efra hesitates, as if he hadn’t realized he’d said it, before his mouth twists again.
“My parents are Seers, I grew up in a temple. Left as soon as I could.”
Surprise flickers over Theron’s face, followed closely by pained understanding, “So what’s the plan, then?”
They’ve made it outside to the catwalk that leads to Efra’s ship and he sighs tiredly, rubbing a hand over his face.
“I know where to fly us, but once we’re planet-side I’ll have to go to the temple alone. From there, I’ll see what they want, get whatever it is over with, then leave as soon as possible.”
“Why do you need to go alone?” Arcann finally says.
Efra blinks in confusion before huffing a laugh.
“Because Vallhik-tor is almost three miles underwater and the pressure would crush all of you like grapes.”
It startles all of them, but Theron recovers with a chuckle.
“Yeah, probably best we stay on the ship then.”
Efra shrugs and starts to cross over to the Thunderclap.
“You can poke around the spaceport if you want, and there are suits and submersibles for the shallow-water city beneath it, it’s just that none of them are sturdy enough to take you to the abyssal plain.”
They make it to the entry ramp before they stop and Lana puts her hands on her hips.
“You certainly won’t need all of us then, who do you need to come along on the ship?”
Efra’s gaze immediately goes to Theron.
“I have a mini holo-cam that fits onto a headband and I’d like to take it with me, so at least you’ll know if shit hits the fan, but it needs some adjustments before it’ll survive the trip.”
Theron nods, “I can do that.”
“Otherwise...” Efra shrugs, “whoever wants to can come along.”
Senya steps forward and smiles.
“I’ll admit I’m a bit curious about your homeworld. I only got to see it from the orbital station during your recovery, but I’d be very interested to see it in person.”
Efra nods at that and palms open the door.
That Arcann will be accompanying him is a given, as he’s been staying in the Thunderclap’s crew quarters ever since he’d joined the Alliance, but even if he had the choice, he’d still go.
There’s a strained quality to Efra’s presence. Something like anticipation, but weighed down with old fear and anger. And the way he’d looked at the woman on the holo…
He has the feeling that this trip won’t be nearly as simple as it sounds.