Archive of Our Own ^beta

His calves were starting to complain. He glanced over the railing again, first down, then up, trying to gauge how much farther he had to climb. Still another half dozen flights, but the end was in sight now. The first few flights, he’d taken two steps at a time, determined excitement beating in his chest, unheeding of the others’ warnings to pace himself. Now, they seemed far wiser than he, as his legs protested every other step.

Arriving at the top was a great relief. He wanted to sit for a moment, rest his legs, but he also knew that was a bad idea. This had to be seen through, beginning to end, and only then would he rest.

The door ahead was closed with a simple, mechanical lock. He crouched, pulling his set of lockpicks from a pocket. How many times did we joke that we would never use these? I think the Force enjoys irony. The lock clicked open easily enough, the act practiced a hundred times, with hands literally bound behind his back. Pressed to the wall, he inched the door open just enough to peek through. Where the stairwell had pleasant cream-toned walls with a strip of light running at ankle height, mirroring the rest of the building’s style, the room beyond the door was clearly intended to only be seen by maintenance workers and droids. Exposed durasteel walls supported a multitude of pipes and nondescript boxes presumably containing electronics.

Scanning the walls and ceiling for cameras, the young Jedi slowly opened the door wider to slip through and quietly close it behind himself. Piping obscured the back half of the room, though there was something resembling a path to the right that would lead deeper into the room. Immediately to the left, a set of double doors offered themselves. He stepped up to them and tugged at the door handle. Closed. And no lock this time. Must be only accessible from the other side. Weird.

With a shrug, he turned and instead set to following the path through the pipes. They wound and twisted with little regard for anyone trying to navigate them. More than once, he had to duck under some, careful not to touch the metal. Less because he was concerned with leaving traces but more because he could feel the heat radiating off some of them.

At the back of the room, he found another door, this one already opened for him. He groaned softly at realising it led to another stairwell. Nothing for it, I guess. At least it led up, closer to his destination. Very close, it turned out, as he palmed the door release at the top and the door slid open to permit a blast of cool air through. He stepped outside, into a small area enclosed by walls, but open to the night sky. A short staircase led up onto the roof. And a camera innocuously watched from the wall.

Shit. He pressed back against the wall. There was a chance it was angled far enough away from the door to not have caught him. It definitely ruled out the stairs though, and any attempt to gain a running start to scale one of the walls. The only option left was a short railing beside another door and some sort of metal grate screwed to the wall. Keeping close to the wall, he crept over. Setting one foot onto the railing, he just had to push off and grab ahold of the grating. It looked like something that was meant to hold an old climate unit or something. Not very inspiring, but it didn’t give way when he pulled at it, so hopefully it would support his weight. Using the Force for a subtle boost, he swung up and onto it, quickly clambering onto the roof from there.

Where the air below was warm and dusty from the constant bustle of Coruscant’s streets, up here the pollution and energy gave way to biting, cold wind. He breathed in deep and rested on his knees for a moment, head tilted back to gaze up at the sky. Light pollution meant it was impossible to see most stars, but a handful shone bright enough to break through. Had he paid better attention in astronomy class, he might have been able to name the solar systems attached to them, but his interests had always lain in more practical things. It was still nice though, to see the stars unobstructed by Coruscant’s many skyscrapers.

Finally climbing back to his feet afforded him a view of some of them past the low walls enclosing the roof. He ambled across the roof, eyes sweeping across the city-planet stretching on to the horizons. That feeling he got when his target walked past him, oblivious to his presence; when someone’s gaze slid off him despite standing right in front of them. That feeling returned now, looking down at a city full of people who had no idea he was up here, on one of Coruscant’s highest residential skyscrapers. The thrill of being in on a secret. Of being the secret.

A second recessed courtyard greeted him on the other side of the roof, but a set of beams afforded him a foot’s width of room to walk across. He spread his arms out for balance, stepping carefully. It’d be really stupid if he slipped and fell now. Surely he’d never live it down. But the Force was with him and he made it to the other side without problem. The wall encircling the roof greeted him now, and beyond a drop to a lower section of the roof, far enough to sprain something if he fell. Yet nothing compared to the sight beyond. Well over a hundred storeys below sat Coruscant’s crust, and the air traffic, usually so far above, now was closer to the ground than to him.

He reached for his comm and snapped a few quick holos. Flying was one thing, but standing so far up was different. Seeing it all without a sheet of transparisteel separating him. His eyes went to a ladder leading up the spire set on the far corner of the roof. The final ascent, and his goal. Blowing out a short breath, he jogged along the wall to the ladder. He wasn’t scared, but his nerves did flutter a little at what he was about to do.

The metal of the ladder was icy-cold in his hands, but he barely noticed it after the first shock. Forcing himself to take it slow and be careful, he climbed up. At the top, a triangle of durasteel beams supported the final bit of the spire, a single beam stretching higher up still. He eyed the rungs set into its side. Sturdy, but narrow as hell. Regardless, he was determined to reach the very top.

The triangle was a little slippery, the beams rounded, so he made sure to keep a steady grip somewhere at all times. He had to twist around to get from the top of the ladder onto the rungs. Only one of his feet fit onto a rung at a time. As he climbed, the wind whipped at him, tousling his hair and pulling at his tunic. When he paused halfway up, he couldn’t help but grin. It felt amazing to be up here. Free from the confines of everyday life. Secret and unburdened.

The last few rungs flew by, and then suddenly he was at the top, nothing left except the very top of the beam he was climbing, just large enough to stand on, and a single, thin pipe coming up to about shoulder height, with a lightbulb set at the top, currently turned off. Below:

Coruscant.

A thousand, hundred thousand pinpricks of light. Buildings, traffic, droids and people, parents, children, workers, criminals, bounty hunters. Jedi. In the distance, he could see the temple, its shape a stark contrast against the backdrop of sleek modern Coruscanti design. It was massive, even from afar, and yet so small from up here.

Heart fluttering in his chest, he grabbed ahold of the pipe and set a foot on top of the beam. Slowly, he pushed up, focused on keeping his balance, to set his other foot down as well. Turning away from the streets below, resting his eyes somewhere between the horizon and the stars above, he uncurled his fingers from the pipe.

One wrong movement and he would fall. Even the Force could not save him at this height. He could feel his hands shaking. Strangely, it didn’t feel like his feet were perched on nothing but the very end of a durasteel beam. As long as he didn’t look down, he might as well be standing on perfectly solid ground. He knew he wasn’t, though.

Carefully, he brought his comm up to his mouth. “This is Ghost Star, calling out to all Shadows in range. The view is beautiful tonight.” He felt a slightly maniacal laugh try to rise in his chest, but he swallowed it down into a toothy grin. “It’s uh…” All those sparkling lights. All those people. Him, up here, all alone. “It’s beautiful.”

It felt far too insignificant a way to describe it. He could just picture the others’ teasing grins at his breathless wonder. But they understand. They’ve been here too. The final ritual of his graduation to become a Shadow. Not official, or condoned by the Order, yet something everyone went through. Something just for them and the unique bond they shared.

He blew out a steadying breath. “Alright. I’m about to be your North Star. Wish me luck.” He kept the channel open for a moment, imagining he could hear their well-wishes, their jibes, their cheers and howls. When he finally clicked it off, only the rushing wind greeted him. Fingers stiff from the cold, he clawed the flare from his belt pocket. One last time, the instructions he’d been given ran through his head. Ignite it. Hold it up for ten beats. Throw it, and get the hell down before the Coruscant Guard nails your ass. Easy. He wrapped his arm around the pole to steady himself and gripped the end of the flare. One last deep breath before he twisted and pulled.

The light was a blinding white. The flash as it ignited left him blinking spots out of his eyes while he raised his hand as far as he could, willing the light to spread across all of Coruscant, to all his siblings. An indescribable mix of emotions rose in his chest. Let me be the light to cast your shadows. Look up, and know that you are not alone. Your little brother is coming to join you. This was so much more than he’d dared to dream of.

Coruscant’s lights paled in comparison, even as they seemed to become all the more vibrant as he stood atop the spire. A new chapter of his life opened before him now. A life in the shadows. It was going to be wonderful. The adventure, the danger, the exhilaration. The hard times too; he felt like he could weather a hundred years of them and still not regret his decision. How could he? This was the life he was meant for, the life he’d dreamed of, wanted with all his heart. He would defend the Republic, the Order, the Light from the shadows, along with his siblings. Spread across the galaxy but bound in their mission, their vow. He would rarely see them, but their strength would be with him always.

Ghost Star. That was his name now, his callsign. An unseen light among the dark. His chest swelled with pride.

Only when the flare began to splutter did he realise he’d forgotten to count. It had to have been ten already. He drew back and threw the flare as hard as he could, watching it spark and splutter in a grand arch before plummeting towards the ground. It would burn up before it hit the streets. Time for him to get down.

I could jump. The urge to push off and follow the flare punched through his gut. It’d be glorious.

It’d be a painful end. He wrapped his hand around the pipe and swung himself down onto the rungs. The ladder was as sketchy on the descent as it had been on the way up, but now he was somewhat more confident about it. Quickly, he was back down at the triangle and swinging himself onto the lower ladder. There was no sign he’d been spotted yet, no howling sirens in the distance, but he knew better than to rely on that. The Guard worked fast.

He just had to be faster.

His fingertips stung from the cold metal by the time his feet hit solid ground again. He swayed for a moment, surprised at how weak his legs felt. Got the shakes. Adrenaline. Five deep, measured breaths were all he allotted himself before he was off, crossing the roof. The beams barely even registered, his feet sure on the ground, stride long. A couple seconds was all it took to cross the roof.

He didn’t bother with the railing, dropping straight to the ground by the door he’d come through and letting the Force cushion his fall. Back through the door, warm air enveloped him as he raced down the stairs. He could feel the flush in his cheeks, the cold wind still clinging to him. Through the door into the maintenance room and past the pipes. He didn’t bother to duck, instead launching into a roll to keep his momentum even past the low-hanging pipes.

The door to the stairwell hadn’t locked behind him, and he didn’t bother locking it now, only pulling it shut behind him before he was off, down the stairs. If they caught him here, there was little room to go but back up, and he doubted he’d find another way down from there. It was this or nothing. There was no time now to glance between the railings and wonder at how much farther he had to go. Just go. Keep moving. Stay alert. Don’t trip on the Force-damned stairs and break your neck.

Around and around, down and farther down still, he ran as fast as he dared. Then finally, a door. He rushed past it. If someone did come, they would either enter the stairwell at the lowest or highest point. The next door came a couple flights farther down. He pushed it open just a slit. A softly lit corridor greeted him, empty and featureless except for a couple of doors leading into apartments. He slipped through the door.

Keeping his footfalls light, he hurried down the halls, towards where he’d memorised the closest set of elevators to be. The way remained blessedly empty. The button to call the elevators gave a quiet ding when he pressed it. He leaned back against the wall as he waited, trying to seem somewhat casual even as his foot bounced nervously. Come on, come on.

The moment the doors opened, he dashed inside and slapped the control field to close the doors and take him down. For a breathless moment, he had to wait, and then the doors met and the elevator began its descent. The Shadow blew out a short breath and sank against the wall. So far, so good.

He shot back upright when the elevator slowed and announced a pit-stop at a level above his intended destination. His hand wandered to the blade concealed at the small of his back. The doors parted to permit an elderly lady. She stopped short at seeing him, looking him up and down before smiling kindly, if slightly confused. He withdrew his hand and smiled back, shuffling aside to give her room.

The doors closed again, and their descent continued. The Shadow chewed lightly at the inside of his mouth. This is awkward. Do I say something? He couldn’t decide before the elevator slowed to a stop at his chosen level. Mumbling a short “Evening.” he fled the chamber, grateful to be free.

Down the hall and around a couple corners found him at another set of elevators. These only led down into the lobby, whereas the others had a direct connection to the rail lines below the surface. A poor choice for someone trying to flee law enforcement. And exactly why he was taking them. No one interrupted his descent this time, and the doors opened with a cheerful ding to an empty lobby. Still, the bright lights and high ceiling left him feeling exposed as he hurried towards the closest exit.

He spotted the red markings of the Guard a split second before they spotted him. Just enough time to wrench himself behind the closest pillar. Not good.

The leader spoke up: “Team two and three will be here shortly. Cover the exits and the elevators.”

Very not good. The shadow looked towards the next closest exit. It was a straight shot without cover. If he ran for it, they’d see him. If he didn’t, they probably would too. He drew the Force around his shoulders as a cloak, willing it to hide him for just a little longer, and pushed off the column. Two strides, five, eight–

“You! Stop!”

He dropped all pretenses and broke into a dead sprint. Almost there.

“Stop!”

He side-stepped a stun shot and cleared the door in the next stride. Large steps carried him down towards a wide park, mostly composed of flat grass. He was faster than his pursuers, but if the backup managed to cut him off, he’d be screwed. The park was framed on either side by a walkway and a drop beyond, separating the sky garden from the closest buildings. He ran for the railing.

More stun shots forced him to dodge in a random zig-zag, allowing his pursuers to gain ground. But not enough to do anything except shout as he planted a hand on the railing and vaulted over. A short drop deposited him on a maintenance walkway, where he turned on his heel and dashed back under the platform he’d come from. It would buy him a few moments of cover while the Guard figured out where he’d gone.

Halfway down the walkway, he once more vaulted over the railing to drop onto the roof of a building. Above, the first of the Guard had managed to find their way onto the walkway. The Shadow cockily grinned up at them before disappearing between the huge climate-units littering the roof. A series of pipes, emergency stairs and ledges carried him to street level, where it was easy to lose himself in the throngs of people that littered Coruscant’s streets even at night.

In the distance, sirens howled, and the Coruscant Guard combed the streets for a perpetrator that was long gone. The Shadow made his way a few levels down to a small bar hidden away in a side alley. Only one person waited to meet him there, though more would arrive soon, to celebrate his success.

He slid into the booth opposite them and gratefully took a sip of the drink that awaited him on the table. The glass was slippery with condensation, but the liquid was still blessedly cool. He sighed softly and sank back into the creaky cushions of the bench, exhaustion all at once catching up with him.

“How was it?”

He laughed softly, remembering the exhilaration of the climb and the chase after. “Good. Great. It was great.” A comfortable silence stretched between them, and he took another sip. “There was a moment where I thought I should jump,” he admitted quietly.

His mentor hummed. “Remember that feeling. You’ll meet it again on the path ahead.”

The young Shadow felt a weight wrap around his shoulders. It was easy to lose oneself on the path he had chosen. But he was committed.

“The man of the hour!” His head whipped up to greet the others coming to join them, dark thoughts wiped away by cheers and drinks.