Hello! This is my first fic for a very long time- I just had to write something! I hope you enjoy it, this is my OC inserted into the Original Star Wars Trilogy, but it doesn't necessarily just focus on the movies, i.e the three years between ANH and ESB will be included!
Anyhoo just give it a whirl and let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, and the only Character in here that is mine is Anna and any others that don't sound familiar.
Anna looked up from the small droid she was trying to fix when she heard the ship coming into land, excitement buzzed through her veins as she waited in anticipation to see if her assumption was correct. As a commander, she had been in the rebel base's command centre when the falcon had requested permission to land. Curiosity had got the better of her, and she had returned to hangar three where she spent most of her time anyway. Not only did the ship's message say that they were returning her friend Leia, but they had actually got hold of the plans to the death star. Anna was also curious about the pilot, she wondered if Chewie had managed not to strangle Han in the three years she hadn't seen them both. Her curiosity was soon to be satisfied however as the ship slowly descended on the landing pad, she dropped the droid and leaned against a stack of empty cargo boxes watching intently as the access ramp opened. She grinned when she caught site of Chewbacca sauntering down the ramp, followed by Han and Leia- Nope he'd survived.
'I'm surprised that thing can fly' she called across the mostly empty hangar, 'What a hunk of junk'. She saw Han scan the room and when his eyes locked on hers she walked swiftly over to them, 'What the hell are you doing here?' he asked, frowning.
'Nice to see you too' she scoffed, giving Chewie a huge hug and him whining intently. Turning to Leia she smiled sadly, 'It's good to see you're alright' Leia just nodded and Anna's blue eyes welled up, 'I'm so sorry about Alderan', Anna's home planet was also Alderan and her heart had broken when she felt the destruction through the force, she squeezed Leia's hand.
'You still haven't answered my question' Han said rather impatiently behind her, Anna turned to face him, planted a kiss on his cheek and hugged him, she really was glad to see the closest thing she had to a brother.
'I work for the Alliance you fool, three years now' she answered 'I'm an engineer and a flyer' she held her badged t-shirt up to show him in fake pride as he let out a small laugh.
'I should have known you'd join this lot after you dropped that last shipment for Jabba' Anna winced at his comment and she nodded warily.
'Yeah, never drop a shipment from Jabba. I hear there's a bounty out on me' she chuckled lightly 'Though I've been too busy to worry.'
Anna suddenly felt something twist deep inside her and looked up to see a sandy-haired boy and two droids trundling down the ramp of the Falcon.
'R2!' Anna exclaimed 'Where have you been buddy?' R2 just made a lot of beeping sounds, fortunately Anna could understand 'Who's Master Luke?' she asked just when a nervous laugh came from the boy.
'I guess that would be me' Anna got up from her crouching position and looked up at him, his bright blue eyes shining.
'Hi' she smiled and held out her hand, 'I'm Commander Carter, but please call me Anna' he took her hand and shook it.
'I'm Luke Skywalker' he smiled back at her, his eyes then looking wondrously around 'so this is the rebellion against the empire'. Anna also looked around, at the large hangar- it was not impressive, there was an X-wing fighter she was in the process of fixing and about three people milling around kicking some old droid parts absentmindedly.
'Yeeeah' she breathed, turning to Han, 'What are you doing here then, I've never heard of you doing anything for anyone else your entire life'
Leia laughed at this, 'He's only here for the reward' she scoffed glaring at the smuggler. Anna rolled her eyes, of course he was.
'A large one I guess?' she looked at Leia, and she nodded in reply,
'Huge'
'You dropped a shipment from Jabba too didn't you?' Anna asked slowly, Han suddenly avoiding her gaze and umming and ahhing. 'What have I told you about doing that?' she moaned.
'Hey! Even I get boarded sometimes'
'Oh shut up Han, I came up with that excuse for you the last time' she rolled her eyes, but General Dodonna prevented her from scolding him further. Lucky for you...
'Your majesty, I'm so glad you're safe' he said solemnly to Leia, 'When we heard about Alderan, we feared the worst'
'Thank you General' she replied, 'I've hidden the plans in this R-2 unit, we must check to see if its correct and plan the mission'. Jeez Leia, no chance of a breather? Anna rolled her eyes and patted R-2 on the head as he followed Leia and the General down the corridor to the command centre. She turned to Han, Chewie and her knew acquaintance, Luke, and she smiled at them all.
'You boys saw a lot of action' she said, running her hand along the side of the Falcon, 'do you want me to take a look at her?' She didn't wait for an answer, undoing the sleeves of her flight suit from around her waist and pulling them up on herself, she climbed up onto the wing of the ship. 'Chuck us those tools would you?' she called down to them and Chewie handed her bag to her.
'You wouldn't think that she was the same age as you, would you kid?' she heard Han ask Luke, Anna popped her head over the lip of the wing and grinned at Luke's shocked expression.
'Too much life experience I guess' she laughed and carried on pottering about.
Although Leia and Anna were friends, they couldn't be more different, both were nineteen, they both possessed a certain wisdom that made them seem a lot older, Leia's was based more on diplomatic and political wisdom, Anna's was more of a common sense approach- she had street smarts that could only have been acquired through a harsh life.
They both had dark hair, but where Leia had it neatly up in two buns, Anna's was a long choppy bob, the soft curls finishing just above her shoulders, she also had a small nose stud and her random rings on her fingers showed that she didn't care for the military code of dress. She never really was a stickler for the rules, however there was certain calm about her that made her trustworthy, and her eyes were friendly.
Anna could hear the guys chatting below her, listening to their conversation had been amusing, when she was finished tinkering she jumped down- startling Luke.
'Woah' he exclaimed, in spite of himself, Anna looked at him.
'Sorry', she smiled, she liked Luke- she could feel something about him was important and he had an innocence about him that was very endearing. 'So how come you got involved in all this?' she asked him.
'Errm' Luke breathed and stretched his limbs from where he'd been sitting too long on a cargo crate, 'I bought those droids with my uncle and then some imperial troopers came looking for them'
Anna nodded, 'Those two always cause some kind of trouble', Luke exhaled in what Anna thought was agreement.
'R-2 escaped looking for an Obi-wan'
'Obi-Wan Kenobi?' she asked, surprised.
'You know him?' He was surprised, too.
'He was a friend of my father's, and Leia's'' she explained, 'Him and my father were Padawans together'
'Your father was a Jedi?' he was excited now, she looked at his bright blue eyes shone and she couldn't help but think how lovely he was.
'He was indeed' she smiled fondly even though she never knew her father, she had heard many a story from her mother, before she too had died. 'He died before I was born, but my mother told me all about him' she didn't know why she felt the need to share this information with this perfect stranger, but there was something in him she trusted.
'Oh, I'm sorry Anna' he looked genuinely sad for her, no, not sad- it was empathy.
'Thank you' she looked down, 'So, what happened with Obi-Wan? Did R-2 manage to find him?'
It was now Luke's turn to look down, oh no that's who he lost? 'I knew him as Ben Kenobi, the imperials who had looked for the droids went to my house and killed my Aunt and Uncle' he paused sad but also incredibly angry, she looked at him a deep frown developing, this poor kid 'Then Ben convinced me to go with him to help the Princess, and learn the ways of the force' she smiled at this, of course it wouldn't have taken him much persuading after that.
'I knew you were something special' he looked at her, a puzzled look on his face, she sighed 'I'm force sensitive- I can feel those who are strong with the force'.
'Ah' he nodded, 'wait- so you can train to be a Jedi?' he was then excited again, but she just laughed and shook her head.
'I don't think so- I'm not strong with it, just can feel things and do a few tricks' she laughed again.
'Yeah but it gets really annoying after a while kid- she always moves your stuff' Han frowned, Anna had almost forgotten he was there, she was too busy conversing, Luke looked at Han and then back at Anna.
'But surely you can?' he persisted, 'I never even knew of the Force until yesterday'
'Yeah but Luke you're special, there's just something about you' She smiled to him.
'Woah- watch out kid' Han laughed 'she likes you'
'Oh shut-up you, not like that' Anna pushed Han off the crate he was sat on, she looked at Luke- a slight pink colour in his cheeks.
'So what happened then?' Anna continued the conversation, eyeing Han scrambling back onto his seat, with Chewie laughing at him.
'We ran into difficulty on the death star' Han filled in, giving Chewie a glare, 'Vader was there- he killed the old guy'
'Oh no' trust Han to be so insensitive, Anna was upset for Luke, she put a hand on his, 'I'm so sorry' she looked into his eyes and he smiled weakly at her, 'I guess we're all fighting for a reason' she said and squeezed his hand.
'Yeah- money' Han laughed and Chewie whined next to him.
'I know Chewie- he's so selfish right?' Anna kicked Han's leg gently.
"Can all Commander's make their way to the briefing room" a voice came over the speakers all over base "I repeat, all Commanders to the briefing room"
Anna jumped up, 'Ooh that's me' she smiled at Luke and patted Chewie, 'See you guys in a bit'
'I still can't believe you're a military leader' Han called after her, she turned to him and wiggled her eyebrows.
'I know right!' she exclaimed 'I guess I got bored of being a criminal- I thought I'd go full on rebel' she stuck her tongue out at Han and turned to carry on walking off. Anna cursed at herself, 'Oh I forgot- canteen on level 3- you fellas must be hungry' she turned again and continued to make her way to the briefing room.
As she trundled down the corridor, she couldn't help but think about Luke, in the last twenty-four hours he had lost three important people in his life, and seen Vader in the flesh, or tin as it were. Ha, good one Anna, no one is ever around when I come up with these... She felt sorry for him, but at the same time grateful, not only had he brought Han and Chewbacca back into her life, but the rebellion was in desperate need of more flyers, and from what she had overheard of Han and Luke's conversation- he was a pretty good one. He was also very powerful, but with the last remaining Jedi dead- how could he train in the ways of the force? Anna only hoped that Obi-Wan had taught him a lot already and left him with teachings he could be practicing alone.
Anna rounded a bend and almost bumped straight into Wedge, 'Oh hey Wedge- sorry' she laughed a little uncomfortably as she blushed for being so lost in her own thoughts.
'Hey Anna- you headed to briefing?' he asked, well yeah I am a commander…
'I am indeed' she smiled at him, 'I fixed that fan on your X-wing, it should work fine now'
'Oh thanks' he gave her a smile back, 'what are you doing later?' she raised her eyebrows, surprised she replied,
'I have no clue- depending on how this briefing turns out' she laughed nervously 'you guys might be called out on a mission'
'Oh because I was wondering-'
'I'm really sorry Wedge- I have to run' she felt bad cutting him off like that, but she couldn't be dealing with this awkwardness right now 'Sorry- see you later' she called as she hurried off down the corridor.
When Anna made it to briefing almost all of the commanders had already assembled themselves, but she was relieved to find a couple more entered after she had. There were now all eight of them surrounding a revolving image of the skeleton of the Death Star, with the General and Leia standing next to it.
'The plans have been checked and verified with our predictions' General Dodonna began, 'It seems the Emperor has made a mistake in construction- it seems there is a way into the main reactor from the surface of the battle station, an exhaust-port of some sort- this is our way in'
'So we can fire a missile or something like that, into this port and it will cause the death star to blow up' Commander Syke asked. Anna rolled her eyes, whilst it would be a good idea, long-range torpedoes wouldn't be accurate enough to get into a small space such as that.
'You'd need fighters surely' Anna offered to the conversation, she enjoyed this part of her job, brainstorming ideas with the rest of the high command 'They would have to get close to the opening so that their short-range torpedoes can accurately enter the port and blow the main reactor?'
Dodonna smiled at her and nodded, 'Exactly. We aim to send a crew of the X-wing fighters into battle, they are small and are easily manoeuvrable, they also shouldn't be detected by the Death Star's defences'
'But surely they'll be something guarding the entrance?' One of the other commanders asked.
'Yeah- surely the emperor isn't that stupid?' Anna added, earning a chuckle from a few of her colleagues, and an eye-roll from Leia.
'This is why we'll take two strike teams in to defend from fighters and to disable the guns which protect the weakness' the General replied.
'So they'll be the cover fire, whilst the third strike team stays on target and aims to blow up the reactor' Finished Leia.
'How long will it take for the missiles to reach the reactor? I don't want our boys in there when it blows' Anna asked in concern.
'It takes 30 seconds to reach the reactor- in which they'll have to pull up and get clear, the explosion will start from within and then travel out, meaning they'll have almost a minute before they could be caught in debris'
'Cutting it a little fine there aren't we?' Commander Soole commented.
'It should be plenty of time' the General replied coolly.
None of the commanders were convinced, they all looked at each other and sighed, then, they nodded.
'Okay, let's do this' Anna clapped her hands together and grinned.
Anna stood with Leia, and the rest of the commanders behind General Dodonna at the front of the briefing room. The men piled in, Anna was at first surprised to see Luke but then remembered she needed a new pilot on her Red strike team, Luke was also so enthusiastic he was practically jumping with excitement. Oh gosh please come back alive. She couldn't stand it if he was killed, so eager to help, so powerful. He looked over at her and Leia, she was too absorbed in the rotating plans, but Anna smiled to him and he returned is sweetly.
General Dodonna began his brief then, 'The battle station is heavily shielded and carries a firepower greater than half the star fleet. Its defences are designed around a direct, large-scale assault. A small one-man fighter should be able to penetrate the outer defence.'
'Pardon me for asking, sir,' It was Gold leader, Anna didn't know his name, 'but what good are snub fighters going to be against that?'
'Well, the Empire doesn't consider a small one-man fighter to be any threat, or they'd have a tighter defences' The General answered him, 'An analysis of the plans provided by Princess Leia has demonstrated a weakness in the battle station. But the approach will not be easy. You are required to manoeuvre straight down this trench and skim the surface to this point. The target area is only two meters wide. It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction which should destroy the station. Only a precise hit will set off a chain reaction. The shaft is ray-shielded, so you'll have to use proton torpedoes.'
'That's impossible! Even for a computer' Anna heard Wedge say, she looked up to find Luke sat next to him.
'It's not impossible. I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home, they're not much bigger than two meters.' He caught Anna's eye and she smiled at him- she didn't know what the hell womp rats were, but Wedge looked satisfied.
'Then man your ships. And may the Force be with you.' General Dodonna concluded his briefing, Anna and the rest of the commanders headed out of the back exit of the briefing room, so that those whose strike teams were flying this mission could meet them down in the hangars.
When Anna got to hangar three she found that her team's five X-wings had been brought in, fuelled and ready to go. While the team were putting on their full flight suits and grabbing their helmets, Anna took a scanner from an orderly.
'Okay team' she called and the two stragglers which were Luke and Wedge half-jogged over to her, 'Good luck out their today- concentrate, focus and please oh please remain calm' she smiled to them all- she really was fond of them, 'You may all have met Luke' she raised her arm in a gesture to him, 'he's the newest member of our team, so look after him out their' they all smiled. 'Luke you'll be Red-5' and she turned round and pointed at his fighter, 'As the General said gentlemen, man your ships and may the force be with you'.
Anna had to quickly tap Luke to stop him from going straight to his fighter, as she went along quickly scanning each ship and giving them the thumbs up for take-off, she asked him if he was alright.
'Yeah- I guess, Han's leaving though' he grumbled.
'What?' she exclaimed, 'He wasn't going to tell me' she was really hurt that Han would do something like that and vowed to find him after she had cleared them all for take-off. Finally they reached Luke's fighter, 'You're going to be alright out there, right?' she asked, concern furrowing her brow.
'Of course' he smiled, 'I feel like I was meant to do this' he said, so optimistically.
'Well alright, trust in the Force- it will guide you' she patted his shoulder, once she scanned his ship she said, 'you're all clear for take-off captain'
Then Anna did the most impulsive thing she'd done since dropping that shipment and running from Jabba, she quickly leant in and pecked Luke on the cheek, 'Good luck out there' she smiled. He looked at her with a shocked, but not disgusted look, a blush quickly rose in his face, and she turned to hide hers. When she turned back around he had his helmet on and was settling into his fighter, she gave him the thumbs up for take-off to hide her embarrassment, and he was away.
Well that was awkward- stupid girl.
Anna turned round to see the orderly looking at her, she raised an eyebrow- Anna walked straight past her to the control room.
'I don't want to talk about it' she grumbled.
Well what do you think? Thank you for reading and see you next week!