Prologue
They had lived on Tav, a small, freezing cold, scarcely populated forest planet. Her village, which consisted of roughly twenty mud huts packed closely together and topped with leafy roofs, had existed solely on the income from the nearby empire base. They came into the village to purchase personal necessities on occasion, but almost every night you could find a group of light-skinned, grey-haired men occupying the table in the far corner of the tavern.
Her family had run the tavern as long as she's been alive. It was the largest building in the village, with a sturdy front door, two windows, and an uneven entrance that you learned to watch your step at. The inside boasted five tables, a counter, two light fixtures, and a questionable fresher.
They themselves lived in a one-room area behind the main bar, since mud huts can't feasibly support a second story. It was smaller than the tavern, with the two beds pushed to the far left side of the space, directly next to the fireplace. To the right, a large device took up the rest of the room. It had a screen which always seemed to be blank, and various knobs and buttons, none of which she knew what to do with. When she used asked her parents what it was, they would reply that it was simply a communication device. When she asked why it was so big, the answer was that it was "old, and had to be big to get the signal past all the trees".
She learned to stop asking when she was 6.
When she was 10, she lost it all.
It had been any other night in her eyes. She had been picking up the empty mugs from one of the recently-vacated tables. Now there was only Jer left in the tavern, at the table by the door, still taking the smallest sips from his caf.
The older men who usually came in hadn't been seen around the village for the last few days, but she wasn't complaining. They would come in so stoic and silent, and then, three drinks in, would be so loud they drove the other customers away. She hated both behaviors equally.
She took the used mugs behind the counter, set them with the rest of the dirty cups, and heard a bang.
She figured Jer had knocked over his mug - again - so she placed the last mug down and rose up, only to see white.
Stormtroopers.
It all happened so quickly after that. She was only ten, there was only so much she could process at once in such a state of shock.
She was one the ground, knees clutched to her chest, looking at her parents through wet eyes. Their bodies lay before her, eyes wide, arms reaching out to her.
When she looked away from them finally, she was staring down the barrel of a blaster. The trigger was never pulled.
She caught phrases as they discussed what to do with her.
"-just a kid..."
"I'm not gonna do it-"
"-let the cold take her-"
And like that she was alone.
She would later be found by a rebel informant, sent to warn her parents of the oncoming attack, but a little too late.
She would learn that the men in the tavern were elites of the Empire.
She would learn that her parents would listen to those drunk men, sending all the information they gathered to the Alliance.
She would learn that some of that information proved useful, and won a battle for the Alliance.
She would learn that the Empire had traced the source of the leaked information to her planet, her village.
She would learn to hate the Empire for everything they had done to her, her people, and all other people in the galaxy.
She spent her first few days with the Alliance grieving for the loss of her home, her family, and essentially her entire life. They had found a small, unused room for her to stay in. They dragged a cot against the farthest wall, set a heater next to the door, and came to visit frequently in attempts to cheer her up, if only slightly.
It was a week before any of the attempts worked.
It was with the arrival of Thessin, a worn, tired looking mechanic that she found herself beginning to smile. He would visit her every day, each time bringing a new food or toy, and once she'd grown too old for that, he'd bring parts. He showed her how to put certain bits together to make even bigger bits. He took her to his workshop, down a labyrinth of twists and turns and so far from the lift she'd never find it on her own, where he showed her the droid he was working on. It was short and small and was made to help fly ships, he told her.
Thessin become like a father to her. Not a replacement for the father she'd lost months ago, but another one, who taught her to live on the base, taught her to navigate the maze of halls and floors, taught her to build and take apart and fix and create. He introduced her to the other mechanics on the base, helped her make friends, and helped her find her place in her new home – The Alliance.
A/N: Hello there! Thanks for reading!
So... I have no idea where I'm going with this story, but hopefully you liked that bit! I'll think of a plot eventually, as I want the addition of this character to impact the story.
If you did enjoy please follow or favorite or review! It only takes a second of your time but it means the world to us writers! Plus it will encourage me to finish up the first chapter, which I've already begun writing.
(I promise she will have a name next chapter, but this was basically an intro into the story, since the next chapter throws us right into the action)
See you next chapter (hopefully)!
-Nat