A few days later, Jax woke up with a datapad on his chest. He had fallen asleep doing research. Again. And had missed his time with Alema in the morning. He sighed. He got out of bed and changed clothes, and then headed to the briefing desk, where he was surprised to see only Sato there, not Hera with him.

"Hey, where's Hera?" Jax asked.

"Ryloth," Sato replied. "Cham Syndulla had some information for the Rebellion and he needs our help."

"Hera's father?" Jax guessed.

Sato nodded. "Correct. And since Hera knows him the best, we sent her."

"Okay," Jax said.

"Don't you have work to do, Fulcrum?" Sato questioned.

Jax rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand. "Yeah," he groaned. "I fell asleep doing it again."

"Make sure you're taking care of yourself, Jax," Sato said. "You can't help us if you're falling asleep."

"I know," Jax said. "Thanks, Commander."

"No problem, Captain," Sato replied.

Jax bowed his head and raced to where he and Alema normally met, and he saw her sitting on the ground, looking into the sunrise.

"Jax!" she exclaimed, standing up. "How are you?"

"I'm fine," Jax replied with a shrug. "You?"

"Just... watching the sunrise," Alema replied, a bittersweet and longing smile crossing over her face. Jax felt so guilty for not being able to spend as much time with her as he used to. "Did you fall asleep doing research again?"

Jax nodded sheepishly. "Sorry," he sighed. "I've still got so much work to do."

"I'll help," Alema said.

Jax's face brightened. "Really?"

"Yeah, it's not like I have anything else to do," Alema replied. "Let's go."

Jax smiled. He took Alema's hand and they walked to his living space. "Thanks, 'Lema."

----

After a few hours of research on Imperial information, Jax and Alema had a lead. Jax was looking for any threats, and he found one that would cause a lot of problems. Vader had been staying low, still as mysterious as ever to the public, and there hadn't been any new Inquisitors spotted.

But the new threat was one that made Jax's heart drop.

"Alema, we might have a problem," Jax said, looking up from a datapad.

Alema looked at him. "What?"

"The Empire on Ryloth," Jax replied. He handed her the datapad. "Hera and the rest of her crew, and her people, are in trouble. There's an Admiral I've been researching on. He's a Chiss, a human-like species with red eyes. His name is Mitth'raw'nuruodo. Also known as Grand Admiral Thrawn."

"I've heard of him," Alema muttered, scrolling through the datapad. "He's the person who went from being a cadet to an Admiral in the shortest amount of time."

"My mother told me something about him," Jax said. "This exact person. Anakin Skywalker knew him. They worked together for a period of time. Mom said he was a genius."

"So not good for us," Alema summarized.

"No," Jax said. "This isn't good for Hera, for Ryloth. For the Rebellion. For any of us."

"We've got to tell Sato," Alema said. She stood up and was about to open the door, but Rex was right in front of her.

"Hey, Alema," Rex said. "Jax."

"Hey, Dad," Jax said, hopping off his chair. "What's up?"

"Lunch," Rex replied. "You've been in your room a lot lately. Something up?"

"I'll tell you later," Jax said frantically. "We've got to get to Sato."

Rex stepped out of the way. "Alright," he said. "But grab some food!"

Jax nodded and started to run to the briefing desk, Alema beside him.

"We will!" Jax called.

Jax halted to a stop right before he ran into the desk.

"Commander!" Jax exclaimed.

"Captain," Sato said formally. "What brings you here?"

"We--we found something," Jax said breathlessly. "A threat. On Ryloth." Sato's eyes flickered. "What is this threat?"

"An Admiral," Jax replied. "Grand Admiral Thrawn. He's a genius, to say the least. He went from being a cadet to an Admiral in a matter of a few years. And he's said to be the Emperor's best Admiral. Better than Tarkin, some say."

Sato's brow furrowed. "And he is on Ryloth?"

Jax nodded. "Right now he is."

"I will try to contact Captain Syndulla," Sato said. "But I haven't been able to get a transmission to that system recently."

"Thank you, Commander," Jax said.

"No, thank you, Captain," Sato said. "Now we at least know some things about this Admiral."

"Just doing my job," Jax said with a lazy salute. He looked at Alema. "Let's get some food. Rex will murder us if we don't."

"He'll murder you," Alema corrected him.

"Well, you need food, too," Jax said defensively.

"You're cute when you're angry," Alema said with a smirk on her face.

Jax sputtered. "W-well... !"

"Now shut up, I'm getting us rations," Alema said. "Stay here."

"Can you just shut up? I'm hungry."

Alema smiled. "Yeah, I'll go get some rations. I'll meet you back at your room."

Jax nodded. "See you in a few."

Alema smiled and walked towards the ration stash at the base.

Jax turned around and ran back to his living space. He had to find out more about this Admiral. He walked in, slowing to a stop, and saw Rex scrolling through a datapad.

"What are you doing, Jax?" Rex asked. "Who's this Thrawn?"

"I was just doing some research on Ryloth," Jax lied. "I wanted to know more about Hera's people. And I found out that the Empire has taken over, and this Admiral is there."

"Why were you doing research?" Rex asked.

"I was bored," Jax replied. "It's not like I have anything better to do."

Rex raised an eyebrow skeptically. "And is that what the lack of sleep is from?"

Jax nodded. "Yeah," he said. "It's nothing, really."

"Alright," Rex agreed after a moment. "Just...take care of yourself, okay?"

Jax smiled. "I will. Thanks, Dad."