Baze Malbus

This is a terrible idea.

Baze can't remember if the thought to visit the Temple of the Kyber years after it fell was his or Chirrut's, but it's already terrible. They scale the outer wall at night--which makes no difference to Chirrut, but it certainly does to Baze--in order to avoid the attention of the stormtroopers.

Baze notices the lack of herbs burning in the winter braziers out in the courtyard as he trails Chirrut's unerring steps. Shadows and quiet suffuse the temple, a place previously filled with light and life.

Blaster fire and dried blood mark the steps of the entrance, and Baze's heart shatters in his chest. There's a hole there, a hole filled with ground glass.

He licks abruptly dry lips. "Well," he says, soft in the darkness, "we're here."

Baze wasn't sure how it happened.

He'd found her. Nineteen years after the fall of the temple, he'd found Eiko, Chirrut's white flower. She was walking in the market, just as haughty as she pleased, staff slung over her shoulder and a dirty look for anyone who passed her by. Including Baze, until she recognized him.

"Baze!" she said, rushing forward to meet him. She'd changed from the girl he knew into a too-thin, angry woman, a shell of her former joyous self. "I thought you were dead! Where's Chirrut?"

"Eiko! He's safe," Baze said, picking the slight woman up and swinging her around. "I'm so glad to have found you!"

She giggled, kicking her feet against his legs. "Put me down, you big oaf," she said, slapping him on his shoulder with the hand not holding her staff. "Please, I have to see him."

"Yes, of course," Baze said, setting her on her feet again. "Of course. Come with me."

He'd led her down the wrong alleyway. Imperial troops were there, 'questioning' a shopkeeper. The twi'lek's cries of pain echoed against the stone as the troopers beat him for information. Eiko refused to pass by. Instead, she launched into a furious defense, taking down stormtroopers with her staff at a speed Chirrut would be proud of.

Baze didn't see what happened next.

He'd had his back turned, firing at reinforcements when Eiko screamed. Blaster fire had scorched her chest and the side of her face. Bright, red blood stained her white skin, spattered across her body. She dropped to her knees, the grace suddenly gone from her movements. Her staff fell from her hands to clatter on the street, oddly loud despite the noise of the fight.

"Eiko! Eiko, no!" Baze cried, cradling her against his chest, but it was too late. Troopers swarmed the alleyway like so many fire ants. He had no choice but to flee, cutting a swath through them with his repeater cannon.

It had all happened so fast, Baze wasn't sure if he'd really found her, or if she was just a hallucination brought on by hunger and poor sleep. But the blood on his hands didn't lie.

He couldn't tell Chirrut.

45 years Before the Battle of Yavin (BBY)
+ First Meeting, part I
+ First Meeting, part II
+ Fall-Back Plan
- The Birthday
- The Storm
+ All The Colors of the Rainbow
+ Chirrut's (little) Problem
- The Staff
+ Best Intention, Bad Idea
+ Rules of Engagement
- Shopping
+ Kidlets
+ Baze's Secret Thing
+ What is a life?
+ Sniffles and Sneezles Spread Diseasles
- Battlefield Etiquette
- I'm Just a Soul Whose Intentions Are Good
- The Healer
19 BBY
+ Order 66
+ Harvest Festival
+ Balm for the Soul
- Regrouping
13 BBY
+ The Temple
12 BBY
- A Gift of Tea
- The Rings
7 BBY
- Lightheaded
1 BBY
- The Flower
- The Importance of Health Insurance
- The Job
0 BBY
+ Yavin IV
Milliways
+ Where the Moon Don't Shine
+ Confrontation with Bodhi
+ The Brawl
+ The Tea Workshop
+ The Ankle
+ The Letters
- Chirrut, Take the Wheel
+ The Nightmare
+ Baze is a Sad Bantha
+ CWDP 2017: Eiko
+ The Workout
+ Fireworks
- Baze is So Done
+ Recording for Lyra: Baze Malbus
+ Recording for Lyra: Chirrut Imwe
+ Red: The Blood of Angry Men
+ Red: The Blood of Angry Men, Take II
+ Installing the Bacta Tank