[hr][table][row][/row][row][cell][sup]__________________________________[/sup][color=white][img]https://i.ibb.co/NdWBkhDs/6c9a662a40f49d8973ecd01c086dc29c-2.jpg[/img][sup][h3][b][color=black] CIARAN JUBERT[/color]
[color=F9F3C1]CIARAN JUBERT[/color][/b][/h3]__________________________________[/sup]
		   [sup][b][color=a9a9a9]◂◂  II ▸▸[/color][/b][/sup][/color][/cell][cell]
[color=DARKGRAY][i]"Liberty requires sacrifice," allegedly the final words Governor Rona Larkers said to Separatist loyalists before leading them in a doomed mutiny against the newly established Galactic Empire. The very few survivors who managed to evade arrest turned it into a proverb to immortalize those who had died alongside their governor in the struggle for freedom. Soon after, it became associated with a re-emerged Insurgency and pro-Separatist sentiment, leading to it being deemed anti-Imperial speech by Governor Rax Tsundre. Since then, the saying had evolved to remind those who recently joined what they were expected to do for a Tregallon freed of the Imperial occupation, should the situation ever arise.

It wasn't that simple, though. 

When Ciaran Jubert first heard the proverb, he thought it was a straightforward concept: be ready to die for liberty. But when he was informed that command had an actual plan of attack in the works, something within forced him to recontextualize it. Death didn't scare him as much as it should have, nor was he hesitant about killing someone. Just a possibility that you have to contend somewhat on your own, with no room for questions. An unspoken reality of a military family. Ciaran never doubted it; in fact, he felt honored to uphold the long-standing tradition as his siblings and parents did.

At least until he saw firsthand how cruelty was rewarded in the academy, how the teachers and the comandante vigorously promoted it onto the cadets as the most effective means of maintaining peace in the galaxy. Ciaran flat-out rejected the notion, viewing it as unnecessary violence imposed on civilians whose unalienable rights were being trampled on. But he was the outlier, a dissident of Imperial norms, a terrorist who needed to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. All because he didn't relish in state-sanctioned sadism. His family, however, did and were more than ready to kill for it. 

Each and every one of them. Their minds couldn't be changed in the slightest because they were brutal enforcers of the Empire. Ciaran's parents held high-ranking positions in the military: his mother commanded her own Star Destroyer, and his father served as Chief Superintendent of IIO. His siblings rose through the ranks as pilots, officers, and even ISB agents. All complicit in the Empire's atrocities, making them valid targets for the rebels. It was a bitter pill for Ciaran to swallow, let alone acknowledge wholeheartedly. Even though he knew his family wouldn't be as reluctant to kill him themselves. But he swallowed hard and prepared for a deadly battle, knowing full well his sacrifice would mean being the last of his bloodline on a free Tregallon. A small comfort.[/i]
   
[i]Only the battle never came to fruition because...[/i]

...he and every rebel on the planet fell for the perfect trap.

Ciaran and the squad of rebels at the rendezvous point didn't even realize until it was too late. All of them witnessed the chaos that unfolded above, powerless to stop the slaughter from the city garrison of all things. They should have been scrambling around. But no, instead, the response force was coordinated, precise, and thorough—abnormal conduct for an undersized force stationed on such an obscure planet. Hell, they managed to get their hands on TIE fighters with seemingly proficient pilots to boot. Ciaran thought it over when he saw the X-wing crash into the sea, the battle lost before it began.

But three TIE fighters broke off from formation and began heading towards the rendezvous point. Only then did he recognize the trap, too little too late. Ciaran didn't want to believe it, refused to at first until he heard that damn engine roar. His comrades were in panic mode; some took cover behind crates, others behind nearby thick jungle trees. Ciaran, paralyzed with fear, remained out in the open. He had seen enough scorch marks to know no amount of cover could withstand the plasma bolts of a TIE fighter, let alone three of them. And yet they didn't open fire; instead, they flew past and left.

He should've died right on the spot alongside the rebels, but they were spared. Why? The Empire rarely went against its own rules of engagement, unless there was a slight possibility that the "offenders" had any sort of knowledge of the Rebellion. In that case, and only then, would they apprehend and send the rebels over to ISB for... questioning...

[color=F9F3C1]"We've been compromised,"[/color] Ciaran mumbled to himself, thinking no one heard it. But everybody at the rendezvous did, and was now staring at him, ready to question what he was referring to.

Anaoc, the squad leader, spoke up: [color=white]"What did you say?"[/color]

[color=F9F3C1]"Those pilots should've opened fire on us, but didn't. Don't you find that a bit weird?"[/color] Ciaran answered, with a little hesitation in his voice, out of concern that he'd be overstepping. He was, after all, a mere rebel and doctor. But he had to explain what he meant, forced to think like an officer of the Empire. [color=F9F3C1]"Well, it's because they want us alive."[/color]

[color=white]"For what?"[/color]

[color=F9F3C1]"So we could be captured and interrogated,"[/color] Ciaran responded. And that got a reaction out of everyone. Some of the rebels on site who were already antsy for the flyover earlier were now more than ready to retreat into the jungle. The majority, however, were skeptical or dismissive of his assertion. Not that he blamed them, given the situation they had found themselves in. 

[color=white]"How long till they show up?"[/color] Anaoc questioned, almost like he had been taking it into consideration. 

[color=F9F3C1]"Ten minutes at best."[/color]

Ciaran knew that he, like pretty much everyone in the Insurgency, deeply disliked him for what his family had done to Tregallon. But even then, first and foremost, he was someone whose insight couldn't easily be set aside and avoided. Not now, not when it came to the Empire. And he had a feeling that Anaoc grudgingly acknowledged it, because he just sighed, then got everyone's attention with a loud whistle. [color=white]"Alright, everyone, you heard him. We need to leave. Take what we can carry and leave the rest behind. Veig, see if you can booby-trap the larger crates for our guest. Muriel, head back to base and tell command everything that transpired. Everyone else, let's get a move on."[/color]

The group began gathering essential equipment around the rendezvous point as best they could. Ciaran was about to help out with the effort when he realized the pilot in the X-Wing carried the intel. Given that their starfighter was very much intact despite taking a beating, it likely survived the crash. Still, it contained whatever was important enough for the Empire to reinforce the planet's garrison. He was sure its pilot was dead, so someone else had to secure it before the Empire did. Ciaran found him volunteering for the retrieval mission and started making his way to his speeder stashed nearby.

But Anaoc stepped in front of him and asked, [color=white]"Where the hell are you going?"[/color]

[color=F9F3C1]"Someone has to retrieve the intel. I volunteer to go."[/color] Ciaran answered simply. 

Anaoc shook his head. [color=white]"No, we need all hands for the shitstorm that's coming to our doorstep."[/color]

[color=F9F3C1]"I have my speeder, and I know the fastest route to the crash site."[/color] Ciaran continued speaking quickly so as not to be interrupted by his commander. [color=F9F3C1]"We have our orders: grab whatever the agent managed to secure and take it off-world. They might be dead, but the intel on the other hand... Well, we need it. Now, I'm not asking for much, just a simple one-man snatch and grab. And I would love to argue with you further on the matter, but we don't have time before the Empire secures the crash site and the intel. So let me through, please."[/color]

Anaoc looked conflicted for a second before stepping over to the side. [color=white]"Fine, go then. You'll have to explain yourself to command your absence, though."[/color]

[color=F9F3C1]"Thank you,"[/color] Ciaran said and ran towards his speeder.[/color][/cell][/row][/table][hr]