(Takes place late 36ABY)

Gwren would be kidding herself if she said she hadn't come to deeply care for the twins over the last two years. Atsen was a green little angel, and although Talon was a bit more of a handful Gwren loved her all the same. When Gwren thought about how much she fought with her sister about raising them she felt a little bit of shame as the last two years had been the best of her life.

It was the start of harvest season and the droid farm hands she own were overwhelmed by the amount of produce this year so she had to join the field to keep them on schedule. Suu had finished her month long stay about a week previous so Gwren was at first confused when she saw a ship approaching from the atmosphere. But suddenly she realized that was not her sister's ship, it was First Order.

Knowing the warnings Suu had given her about the First Order and the twins father she dropped everything and ran to the house. The caregiver droid greater her in the kitchen.

"Welcome home Master Leh-Lawquane, you are early-"

The droid didn't get to finish its sentence as Gwren stabbed it in the head with the stun tool she used on the Eopie and turned it to full output, she could only hope it was enough to fry its memory as it was the only thing other than Gwren and Suu, and Suu's commanding officer that knew about the twins existence. She started frantically looking for the twins.

"Talon, Atsen, come here kids. Now!"

Atsen was just behind a hair and came into view, and Talon carefully waddled down the stairs. Gwren grabbed a handful of credits that were in a drawer and the twins, then lifted the stone tile that revealed an underground tunnel. She had been working on this tunnel in secret ever since the twins were born, not even Suu knew about it. She lowered the twins down and then hopped down herself, pulling the stone back down over her.

She activated a light on her belt and turned to find the welding rope she had stored right next to tunnels entrance. She grabbed it, stuck it around the The seems of the secret floor door, and tore the end which activated it. Gwren covered the twins eyes and closed her own as the rope did it blinding job.

"Where are we Auntie G?" Atsen asked, quite scared.

"We are going on an adventure, and you must do everything that I ask, ok?"

"Ok."

"Talon?"

"Yes, Auntie G."

"Good, now come along, we must hurry."

She had a pouch on her front meant to hold stuff and Talon fit just right, Atsen she had to carry the old fashion was on her back. Combined they were heavy, but she traveled faster then if they were walking beside her. Only a couple minutes later the ground above her shook, like it a large ship had landed above. She doubled her pace and kept heading for the tunnels end.

After several heart pounding minutes she reached it and carefully lifted that ends trap door to see if there were anymore in eye shot of her. All she could see was her tall crops which she hoped would prevent the First Order from seeing her too.

She lifted and pushed the cover out of the way and lifted the children up, then heaved herself up as well. Before picking the kids back up she whispered to them.

"I need you to be very silent until I tell you otherwise, this is very important."

She picked them both back up and ran for the nearby town of Akira where she knew she needed to get off world. She also knew that soon the Troopers would realize she wasn't on her property and would automatically check the only town within running distance. As she ran she made sure to run under any cover there was to avoid TIE's if there are any looking from above.

After half an hour she reached the outskirts of Akira. Gwren frantically looked around for hyperspace capable vessels. She found one but the owner was still inside it, after a couple more minutes she found an empty one. She put the kids down and took some of the tools from her belt.

They were meant for farming and household repairs, but they would have to do. Knowing this day may come Suu had taught her how to break into ships and gave her a refresher on how to hot-wire one. Once she got the hatch to open she rushed the twins inside and sealed the door behind them and entered the cockpit. She did the hot-wiring much faster than the breaking in, despite it not being her passion she had learned a lot about ships growing up from her dads mechanic shop.

Despite feeling guilty for stealing one of her neighbors vessels, she crossed the final wire and the ship came to life.

"Are we going to visit mommy?"

"Yes, yes we are Talon, sweetheart." This was a lie however, she knew that going to Suu was the right decision, however she did not know where the base was located and she didn't have time to figure it out. So instead as she quickly rose through the atmosphere she punched in the first coordinates she could think of, Ryloth, and as she watch her farm being burned to the ground bellow, she activated the hyperdrive.

Her father was closer as Saleucami was only a couple systems away, however if the children's father was truly after the kids, or even if the First Order was just after her, her home world and father would be the next place they'd look. Her grandmother was an immigrant from Ryloth, Gwren hoped that would be enough for them to let her have refuge. Traveling that distance to Ryloth would take about a day, so while she waited she scavenged the ship for supplies, but also anything remotely looking like a tracking device, the supplies she gave to the twins to keep them fed and warm, the possible tracking devices she destroyed. After a couple hours she sat herself down in front of her young neice and nephew.

"Kids, their is something I must tell you. We aren't going home-"

A now upset Atsen cut her off. "Why are we not going home?"

"You know how your mommy is a hero?"

"Yes, she is helping save the galaxy."

"Well the people she is saving us from came to our planet, it isn't safe their anymore, but we are going to go somewhere safe and we will wait for your mommy to come find us."

Talon, now with tears in her eyes spoke up. "But our home, can't mommy save our home?"

Gwren had seen the fire from the cockpit, she new there was nothing to return to on the farm other than ash and debris, and that her sister was only a mechanic not a General, but she did not want to upset the kids any further so she made a promise she knew she couldn't keep.

"Yes, mommy will come save Felucia and then we can go home."

After a few more hours Gwren moved the blankets to the bunk and laid the kids down on it. After the day they had they were asleep in mer minutes. She triple checked that both the autopilot, warning system, and proximity alert were all on before trying to get comfortable in the pilot chair.

Twenty-three hours after entering hyperspace they finally emerged, and Gwren pointed out the site of the mostly brown and navey blue planet in front of them. "This is Ryloth, this is where your great-grandmother Suu was born, and your grandmother Fa'ale."

"Have you ever been here before?" Atsen asked.

"A couple times, when I was a kid and the civil war had ended."

Gwren couldn't answer anymore questions however as a small alarm was going off letting her know she was being hailed.

"Kids, go play, I have to talk to some adults."

"Ok Aunty G."

They went out of earshot and she turned on the mini holocommunicator. An older Twi'lek man appeared, his lekku draped almost to the ground which made her jealous as her had stopped growing when she was nine.

"Your ship isn't on any registries, state your purpose."

Gwren looked out beyond just the planet and towards the horizon. She could make out on the opposite side of the planet First Order vessels, only being stopped by a Ryloth blockade. For over a millennia Ryloth had really never not been occupied. As long as their history went there were different slavers taking advantage of their females beauty and males strength, and their species ability to go a long time without food or drink, then for twenty-five years they were occupied by the Separatists then Empire, only gaining their true liberty for the first time in thousands of years thirty-two years ago. In those thirty-two years they had been rebuilding, and something they focused their attention to was their military and fleet, so much so that they were the only planet in the south-east of the Outer Rim that was holding their own against the First Order.

"I'm sorry, I did not register in advance. I have escaped a First Order attack on Felucia, my sister is Resistance and I think they're after me specifically because of her, I am seeking temporary asylum until she can come to me, I also have two children on board."

"Are you a Ryloth citizen?"

"No, I was born on Saleucami, but my mother was born on Ryloth, Fa'ale Leh."

"Does she currently reside on Ryloth?"

Gwren's hope was fading. "No, she left when she was fourteen and never returned."

"I'm sorry Miss, but because of the war effort and Ryloth's limited resources we are only allowing Twi'lek refugees who were either born on Ryloth or their immediate family currently resides their. If you have no other family I must ask that you leave this system."

Half panicked Gwren turned her chair around, before she could give a response she saw Atsen playing with a blanket and she remembered something Suu had said about the twins father, an idea popped into her head. She turned back around to face the hologram.

"I have no immediate family, but one of the children on board is a Syndulla."

"Pardon, did you say Syndulla?"

"My nephew, he is the grandson of Hera Syndulla and great-grandson of hero Cham Syndulla."

"You still aren't granted asylum, but you may temporarily land in the Tann Province to have your nephew's DNA tested and if what you claim is true it will be arranged for him to stay with what remains of the Syndulla clan."

Gwren thanked them and started their decent. She had lied about just one of the kids being a Syndulla as she had realized the situation she was in, her job was to protect the kids at all cost, however it may be impossible to save both. If she said that both were Syndulla's she would have to leave the planet without them, make the long trip to Saleucami, get her father to contact Suu, wait for Suu, then make the long trip back to Ryloth and potentially by then the First Order could have beaten the blockade and both twins are dead. On the other hand if she said neither were Syndulla's she would have both kids with her but if the First Order was really after Suu's family than Saleucami could be a trap and then both kids would be dead again, however the odds were higher that only one of those outcomes were true and not both so splitting them up temporarily would increase the odds that at least one of the kids would survive. If all went according to plan though both would just be temporarily dropped off until she could find Suu and they would then get the kids and go somewhere safe.

They landed on the ancestral home of the Syndulla's where they were greeted by three Twi'leks. An elderly man in his early nineties with light orange skin and brown eyes, and two Twi'leks around Gwren's age, a man and a woman, the man had similar skin to the first man but had light turquoise eyes and the woman had dark purple skin and blue eyes. Gwren had Atsen a few steps ahead of her so they'd know this was the kid they were here to test.

"This is my nephew Atsen Syndulla, he is Hera's grandson."

The old man approached her and they greeted one another, his Rylothian accent was so thick she could barely understand what he said. "I am Frink'Lin Syndulla, my brother was Cham. You say this is his great-grandson?"

"He is sir."

Frink'Lin seemed convinced, but the young man seemed unconvinced, he was starring at Atsen's head of brown and green hair. "Grandfather, don't be so believing just yet, I am not even sure this boy is Twi'lek."

"I am sure you are aware that Hera's only child was half human, me and my sister are a quarter human, but he is majority Twi'lek."

"Yes, but the records also say that Jacen Syndulla died over a decade ago in a fire, the grief took a toll on his mother and she died not long after, so you can understand my scepticism."

"He survived that fire, but don't take my word for it, test his DNA."

All six Twi'leks entered the house, a med-droid took small blood samples from Atsen and Frink'Lin and compared them. "Child is 37.5% human and 62.5% Twi'lek. The child has genetic markers that match yours master Syndulla, he is your great-great-nephew."

Frink'Lin turned to face Talon, "And what about this little one?"

"She is my daughter, Talon Lawquane. Her father was Lethan."

"I see, well my grandson Dran and his wife Kia can look after your nephew for the time, you do plan on coming back though, right?"

"Yes sir, I was babysitting Atsen when the First Order attacked, I don't know the status of my sister so I needed somewhere safe to leave her son until I can find her and bring her back here for her son. We should return in about a weeks time."

Dran spoke up, "Normally I would be happy to look after the son of a relative, but in these war times resources are scarce, I am not sure we have the credits to look after Atsen."

Gwren thought for a second, then pointed to her ship. "You can have my vessel and sell it. I remember from my childhood that their is a spaceport in Lessu that has transports to Saleucami, is it still running?"

Frink'Lin nodded. "Well then you best be off, if you stay much longer the planets guard will probably get suspicious."

"You are probably right. Let me just say goodbye."

She knelt down to Atsen's level. "Atsen my love, your mother and I will be picking you up in about a week, but for now be on your best behaviour to your, er, uncle Dran, Aunt Kia, and grandpa Frink'Lin. You understand?"

"Yes Auntie G, but do you have to go, I don't want to be alone."

"You won't be my love, these are your family, they will look after you. And I will be back with your mommy before you even know it."

She gave him a hug, went into the ship to grab a bag, two blankets, some rations, and a small box of credits she had found in a locked compartment, then made her way towards the train station. She looked back at Atsen once who was being carried by Kia.

She reached the station and used the credits she had from Felucia to pay for their trip, and within the hour Gwren and Talon were in the capitol city of Lessu. She walked the hour long distance to the space port which had grown significantly since she was a kid. She used almost every credit from the box to buy two tickets to Saleucami. After a couple hours of waiting the transport arrived and soon everyone was boarded.

"We did it Talon. We'll be with your grandpa Jek by tomorrow morning afternoon and then we'll have your mommy come rescue us."

She had spoken to soon however, they had just broken atmosphere when a First Order ship just a little less than double their size swooped down and locked itself to their transport. The captain of the transport soon made a transmission to the passengers.

"We are being transported to Coruscant by the First Order. Do not panick, this is common enough, they will use you for prisoner transfer. For every passenger onboard they get the safe return of a soldier. Just keep your identification on you when we reach Coruscant and once they've received their soldiers we'll be allowed to continue to Saleucami."

This did not calm Gwren down at all though, in fact her heart was beating out of her chest. She flagged a staff member to come talk to her.

"How may I help you?"

"Why is the First Order taking us to Coruscant of all places and I don't have a identification on me, what will happen to me?"

"Well to answer your first question Coruscant is the only planet not in the Outer Rim of Unknown Region that the First Order has taken over. The rumour is that it was a power move, to continue to show that they are a threat. They have taken over the government and are holding all its previous political members hostage so no outside force try to take it back. The rest of its citizens are still free however to go mostly about their daily lives and can even leave the planet at will. Now for your second question you should be ok as long as you paid for your ticket and still have it, only stowaways and wanted fugitives get taken away."

That was it, Gwren knew she was doomed. The next eighteen hours were the most painful of her life as she knew she was likely living her last few hours of life as was her niece. She didn't use the time solely to wallow in self-pity, she didn't think it would work but she started forging one last desperate plan.

Near the beginning of their journey she asked a staff member for something to help her sleep, they brought her a small dose of desmethylalprazolam but she didn't actually take it. Instead she waited until they exited hyperspace, broke it in half and gave one of it to Talon as for her plan to work she needed her niece asleep with little chance of waking up for several hours. She also emptied her bag and tool belt, hiding only her last couple credits and a couple tools that could be used as a pick or makeshift weapon in her bosom. Once Talon fell asleep she gently swaddled her in one of the two blankets and put her in her bag, it wasn't air tight so she would be able to breath, and as she disembarked the transport she put the bag on her back. They had landed in the subdivision called Coco Town.

They all exited one by one, Gwren made sure to be in the middle hoping the troopers checking her ticket would be to in a rush to pay close attention. By the time it was her turn already two of the total twenty-eight crewmen aboard had been detained. She showed her ticket and the worst happened.

"Lawquane? Hey NS-2002, wasn't it in a report yesterday that a female Twi'lek with the surname Lawquane escaped from Felucia in a stolen vessel?"

"It was. The report also mentioned her homeworld was Saleucami which is where this transport was originally heading and that she is a sibling to a highly suspected Resistance member."

Desperately she put on the strongest Rylothian accent she could fake. "You got the wrong woman. I was born and raised on Ryloth, I only have brothers."

"Do you have identification other than a ticket?"

"No, but this is an outrage."

"Save it for our superior who will determine if you are the right Lawquane or not. You are being detained."

They slapped a pair of electric cuffs on her and separated her from the others, putting her with the other two detainees. Instantly she discreetly reached her joined hands up to her bosom and carful removed a long thin metal tool that she hoped could work as a pick. She managed to get it into the key slot and started working it.

The amount of passengers still on board were dwindling, one more had joined her, and once the troopers had their full attention to the detainees it would be to late. After a couple minutes that felt like a hundred years her cuffs opened.

She didn't take them off yet, nor did she run, their was still a couple troopers looking in her general direction and if they saw her hands free or her run they would shoot, she needed the perfect moment.

Twenty-eight passengers had emerged from the shuttle but one of the troopers looked at her scanner and then flagged a couple other troopers over.

"There is another humanoid life signature, I think they smuggled themselves under the floor, help me search."

For just a moment none of the troopers eyes were directly on her. It was right then and there or never. She dropped the cuffs and booked it towards the alleyways of Coco Town.

"Hey! Stop right there!" One of the troopers shouted, but she didn't listen, running in a zigzag line she kept heading for the maze like alleyways of Coruscant. Laser fire now zipping by her.

She made it but had to keep running as the narrow alley made her an easier target, but if she could get far enough into the maze they may never find her. Left turn, right turn, left, left, right, right, left. Every crossroads she came to she picked a random direction.

She had lost her original pursuers, however her face had probably now been sent to every trooper in Coco Town so every First Order soldier was now a threat. A tear rolling down her cheek she finally realized she wasn't going to make it out of this situation, but she could at the very least try and make sure Talon would.

She ran until she could run no longer and started knocking on doors, the first four had no response and she knew she was running out of time. Desperate, she kept knocking and on the fifth door someone opened.

"Oh thank Rytee." Gwren said with unimaginable relief, as the woman who opened the door was Twi'lek.

"Can I help you?" The woman asked suspiciously. She looked to be in her early forties, and had forest green skin and brown eyes. Gwren took her bag off and removed Talon so that they could she she had a toddler with her.

"Please, you must help me and my daughter. The First Order is trying to kill us. Please can you let us hide here, just for a few hours until things settle down?"

The woman looked at her, then at Talon. She crossed her arms.

"No. I'm sorry but I don't know what the First Order will do to me and my family if they knew we hid you. I have to prioritize the safety of my own children."

"Please, they'll kill my daughter, you have to help her. She's all I have."

A voice from behind the woman spoke out. "I'll take her."

A Twi'lek man with reddish-orange skin stepped forward, he seemed to be in his late thirties, and had the same brown eyes as the woman.

"Omark, what are you doing. You could be killed if the Order finds out."

He gently held out his arms and Gwren reluctantly handed him the sleeping Talon.

"But they'll guarantee kill her if I do nothing. I'll take the-" he looked at Talon's ears, "-you sure its a girl?"

"She is part human. Her name is Talon Lawquane."

"I'll take Talon and Talon only. I'll keep her safe but you must go. I'm sorry."

Gwren picked up her bag and put it back on her back. As she started running away she called back.

"Thank you, thank you so much."

Five minutes later she ran into some troopers and she just dropped to her knees. She knew that this was it and she wanted it to be over with.

"You got me. Just kill me now. Kill me me quick."

But to her surprise the Stormtrooper just laughed.

"We confirmed your identity, we aren't going to kill you. Instead you are going to join the others, and once the Supreme Leader has his hands on you, you will wish we had killed you. Take her away."

Gwren did not know the horrors that awaited her, but she was right about one thought that passed through her mind, she never would see the twins again.