Star Wars is owned by Lucasfilms and Disney, I'm just playing with the toys. Though many of the characters are original, most of the characters places, etc, belong to them. I know there are a few Bail Organa survives the destruction of Alderaan, but this one is mine. I briefly posted a version of this story not long before starting this one, however, I was quite unhappy with the feel of the story, and the finished product. I redid the story as it was, and have plans to continue it.
Prologue-Just prior to the Battle of Scarif and the Battle of Yavin
Bail Organa, Viceroy of Alderaan, felt nervous leaving Yavin 4 with the current situation being what it was, but it was imperative that he return to his wife and duties at home. He felt it was also the safest place to have Obi-Wan Kenobi sent to him, hopefully along with the boy if possible, as it was assumed that Kenobi was dead by the Imperial government and the general public. That General Kenobi and Luke would be surrounded by the people Bail most trusted. If necessary, he would be able to network them all into the underground for their protection. He honestly hoped that Kenobi would be willing to be of some assistance to the Rebellion. He didn't know what the situation was with the boy, or even if General Kenobi was still alive to be honest, but there was always that hope and he knew some day he would need to bring the twins together.
The only person he could possibly send for this mission was his daughter, Leia. She had no idea of his association with Obi-Wan Kenobi, who the boy, Luke, truly was, or in fact, who she was by birth. Maybe, when they all returned to Alderaan if the mission was successful, they could sit down and explain some of it, maybe not all of it, but enough of the most important information. Bail might actually need Kenobi's guidance on that matter. They had kept the secrets for so long. He didn't like to think of Leia as being anyone's but his own, but she would need to know some day who she was, and that day may be sooner than later. He often liked to remember his old friend, Senator Amidala, and he saw a bit of her in Leia at times. Most of the time he just saw his own daughter he raised and adored from birth.
The small ship seemed to be having technical problems, and the pilot couldn't understand exactly what was happening. He sent the navigator to engineering to see if she could find the cause. The viceroy then tried to send word on the safe channel to High Command, but there seemed to be some difficulties with the transmissions. They were able to get in news from the holonet briefly at various times, but the strong magnetic field in this part of space was causing issues with that as well. It was during these brief interludes of being able to pick up the holonet news, that his heart sunk heavily. The news reported that his daughter's ship, the Tantive IV, sent a distress signal before exploding into space with all killed. It couldn't be possible, could it? He sat with the pilot of the small vessel, Captain Tibor, who heard the news as well, and he put his face and his hands and wept. Captain Tibor with tears in his eyes got up from his seat to comfort him, and they hugged each other tight. His daughter, and long time loyal friends like Captain Antilles, were gone. Bail Organa got up to tell the others on the ship, a young woman, Emile, who was the navigator and Boyo, who acted as an assistant to the Viceroy. Both had worked on the ship and would feel the loss of the Princess as well as friends who had been on the ship when they had left it.
He left them with glum faces as he went to his quarters on the ship to be alone. In his grief, he drifted into sleep thinking of his daughter in the palace gardens digging up small bushes in the dirt as a little girl. Of all things to remember, at least it was something that made him laugh for a moment. Breha had been so upset as that particular bush was a rare gift from a planet that had later lost all of it's species in a blight on it's home planet, and the only specimens that remained were the plants that were off planet like this one on Alderaan. At least they were able to save some of the clippings, and he even brought some of them to plant on Coruscant, in the Alderaanian Embassy gardens, but it was so funny to see Leia covered from head to toe in dirt. He grinned to himself, then remembered the tragedy again. His little girl was gone. She just couldn't be, it just didn't seem possible.
He awoke to the shaking and rocking of the ship. Quickly he jumped to the cockpit, and found the pilot and the navigator struggling with the controls, trying to land the ship on an unidentified moon.
"I'm sorry, your highness, it appears that our hyperdrive is dead, and all systems are failing. We have to find some place to land to access repairs," the Captain informed him.
"Do you know where we are? Are there facilities here we can use to help repair the ship?"Bail asked.
"I'm afraid, your highness, that it doesn't even show up on my charts. I have been trying to send a signal, and it's just not working," Emile said with a slight panic.
"I hope at least this planet has breathable air. We may lose all systems on what power we have," the Captain informed him.
Bail stood behind the seats of the pilot and the navigator, then after another jolt, fell to the floor with a thud. He was able to pick himself up and proceeded to buckle himself into a secure seat.
As they entered the atmosphere, the landing was felt a bit rough, but the skilled pilot was able to maintain control of the ship, and the ship slammed into the surface with a buffered crash. Bail Organa's head was hit at the back of his seat, and he passed out on impact.
Sometime later, he came to and everyone on the ship appeared to have left him alone. He found himself laying on the floor of the cockpit. Bail imagined they had tried to revive him, but when they were not successful, they moved him to a prone position and placed a pillow at his head. His head hurt badly, but he seemed OK otherwise and he started to stand up. Looking around, it appeared that the moon had vegetation and light from at least one sun, so that was a good sign. He only hoped that they would be able to repair the ship so he could return home.
Home. He was sure his wife had heard the same news that he did about Leia, and he wished that he was with Breha now. Everyone who had been on this ship appeared to be no longer in sight, so he assumed that they all had survived the crash, and had only left to investigate, taking the small droid with them. He had wished he had Artoo with him, as Artoo always seemed to be great in an emergency, but he felt that being on the Tantive IV, with Leia going to General Kenobi, that Kenobi would welcome a familiar droid in much the same way that Ahsoka had some years before when she came to work for the Rebellion in the early years. He went back to the cockpit and looked out the window where he saw his crew off in the distance. They weren't in any space gear, so it did appear that it was breathable air and they also appeared to have some objects in their arms. He went to the boarding ramp, and opened it carefully stepping out onto the ground.
The ground was soft, but not soggy or wet. He looked around at the plants and could see a mountain in the distance. Large birds flew overhead. He couldn't identify them, but they didn't seem to be hunting his crew which he took as a good sign as well. Bail noticed some small mammals running around in the brush around the area of the ship, where various plants and flowers appeared to be growing. As the crew approached the ship, they hollered and waved to him. The closer they came in sight, he could tell that the objects they were holding were large fruits and what appeared to be some kind of nut.
"Your highness," the pilot bowed, "We had the droid analyze the air, and it's perfect. There might be a little more oxygen than we are used to, as we did get loopy at first walking out there, but we did get accustomed to it. I analyzed these as well, and we can have a decent feast here. I'm afraid the ship is damaged beyond repair, sir, and we may be stuck here until help arrives. I'm sorry I haven't been able to get a signal through, so I don't know how long that will be before we can make contact. At least we won't starve here."
"How long have you been out here?" The Viceroy asked.
"It's been hours, your highness," Boyo pointed out. "Captain Tibor went over the ship with the droid and operating systems appear to be malfunctioned beyond repair. After assessing the ship, we went exploring the environs and found a spring as well as this fruit. Unless we can get a signal for help, we may be trapped here for a long time I'm afraid. There doesn't appear to be any civilization on this moon at all, well at least as far as we can tell."
Bail stroked his chin. He could only think about his wife, and what she must be going through. Having lost their daughter, and now he being stuck here on this moon, he couldn't imagine the state she might be in. Queen Breha was a strong woman, but this would be enough to shatter anyone, no matter how strong they were. He commended his crew on their resourcefulness and made his way back into the ship. The ship by all means was not level, as it did lean a little bit, and it made it hard to walk back and forth between the rooms in it's current state. If they were to be stuck here, they would have to fix that. At least they could use it as a shelter. He walked back out to where Captain Tibor was standing.
"Tibor, is there anyway for us to right this ship?" Bail called out to the captain.
"Your highness, we may be able to get a few logs and lever it up some. It may take all hands, with all due respect, even yours," Captain Tibor answered.
Bail nodded his head. He wasn't above this kind of work, but he knew it troubled the pilot to ask of such a thing. The four of them worked together carrying logs and organizing them in such a way to right the ship to a position where they would be able to walk inside without too much trouble. It seemed to have taken hours, and everyone got muddy, but they did it.
Then Emile laughed looking at the viceroy,"Your highness, you are covered in mud from head to toe!"
They all laughed, including Bail. Boyo showed him where the spring was located, and he was surprised to find it was so warm. Water flowed down from the mountain and into a lagoon, and it was quite beautiful. Bail was reminded a bit of a place in an Alderaanian national park, only there the water was cold. At least they would have somewhere to bathe and clean water to drink.
When he returned, Captain Tibor gave him the bad news. The power on the ship would not last much longer, and eventually too, the droid would no longer be able to power up again after it was drained of all it's current power. It was important for them to utilize now what they had, as far as analyzing the environment and any attempts at communications before they lost it all the power to do so. Bail Organa felt helpless. There was nothing any of them could do, but wait and see, and hope whatever ship might arrive in the future was friendly, and not an Imperial. Just to be sure, they were able to scrape off the Royal crest from the small ship, as to not be identified. In the meantime, they were stranded.