2./

Acting as escort for Darth Vader was something Captain Bregan Holt had done many times, though never in the Senate Halls of Coruscant. Escorting him to a meeting with senators was another first. And the fact that a group of former Rebel soldiers would be joining them just added to the strangeness.

Honestly, it was a bit weird all around.

Vader didn't really need the escort, of course. He was strong enough to take care of anyone who might be idiotic enough to try anything. He just wanted them there as extra security around the senate Rotunda. After all, not even their commander could be everywhere at once. And, considering the fact that this meeting was to finalize a system of government that had been in discussion for six standard months, any extra troops would be welcome.

'Well, it'll be interesting if nothing else' she thought, following Vader down a long and ornate hallway.

Their group came to a stop before a set of wide double doors, made of actual wood instead of treated plastisteel.

Vader, who was at the head of the column, turned to address his troops.

"You are to stay outside these doors, Commander. Dispatch the proper numbers to other areas. If anything seems wrong, contact me immediately." He turned to the open doors, stopping just before entering. "And if by some misfortune this takes longer than three hours, contact me irregardless."

Bregan snapped to attention, and heard all the stormtroopers behind her follow suit. "Yessir."

The doors fell shut with a hollow boom, Vader disappearing behind them with a quiet rustle of his cape. For several minutes the troopers just stood guard. When she felt enough time had passed, Bregan turned to her second. "This'll be fine. Keep at least four guards at each doorway. I'll be here, you monitor the comms. Tell me when our Rebel friends are gonna arrive or if any of the dispatches fail to make the check-in."

The second nodded, helmeted head bobbing up and down. The troops who weren't positioned in the other hallways relaxed marginally, some removing their helmets and leaning against the walls. Their blasters were still close at hand, though, and more than one of her men had their fingers resting on their triggers.

Bregan sighed, her helmet masking the sound. Her men were tense, which wasn't surprising. While she normally would have been on them about keeping their helmets on and standing at attention, there just wasn't enough willpower left for her to issue the reprimand. There hadn't been an armed conflict that they had to be present for in at least six months. Ever since Vader dropped a figurative bombshell on the entire galaxy, the 501st had been stationed around Coruscant. But, as soldiers, sometimes constant readiness for battle tested patience more than actual combat. She needed them to relax a little, and she knew that if there was someone foolish enough to try to get into the conference room through the halls they would be blasted full of laser before they could get close enough to do anything.

She couldn't speak for the Rebel reinforcements, but she knew her men would be able to handle anything that came their way - helmets or not.

.

.

.

"They're on their way, captain," echoed the voice of her second in her ear. Before long the sound of a substantial number of boots hitting the carpet filtered through her helmet. A group of soldiers soon rounded the corner of the wall, led by a short brown-haired man. Their armor was mismatched, most of it scarred and carrying patches of green and brown camouflage. They came to a disorderly halt before her, the lead man - who seemed to have the look of a pilot instead of a ground soldier - holding up his hand.

Bregan's eyes went up and down behind the lenses of her helmet, taking in the man before her. After a moment she gave a little salute, stating "Captain Bregan Holt, at your service. Wedge Antilles, am I correct?"

The man in front nodded, putting one hand onto his belt and extending the other in a handshake. Bregan was at least a foot taller than Wedge, so it was a little comical. Still, she reached out and gave a firm grip and shake.

"Yeah, that's me. This is Rogue Squadron and, yes, before you ask, we are usually a pilot crew. We're on the ground today."

Bregan nodded. "We've positioned ourselves outside every door into the rotunda. Another group is outside."

"I could send my people as support, if that's what you were thinking."

"I don't see why that wouldn't work."

Wedge sent nearly all his people down the separate hallways that honeycombed the space outside the rotunda. While there weren't nearly as many former Rebels as there were of Bregan's troops, there were enough to substantially support the stormtroopers and strengthen several weak points in their surveillance.

After he was done sending his people away, Wedge looked at Bregan out of the corner of his eye and shifted in front of the main door. "Guess I'll stay here."

Bregan didn't answer, though she did move next to him to stand in front of the entrance. They were both quiet for some time, Wedge occasionally shifting his weight and handling the edge of his blaster. Eventually, though, he broke the silence.

"So, uh. Where are you from?" He didn't look at her, instead turning his head to glance down the hallway closest to him.

Bregan smiled beneath her helmet. "Akiva. Grew up near a local canyon. You?"

Wedge nodded absently. He felt that the name 'Holt' was familiar, and was trying to place why. He almost didn't hear her question.

"Hmm? Oh, Corellia."

Bregan nodded. They were both quiet again for a while, shifting in place and monitoring their respective comms. Eventually Bregan gave a great sigh, holstering her blaster and reaching up to fiddle with her helmet clasps.

Wedge glanced over. "What is it?"

Bregan huffed in discomfort. "These helmets squeeze your head after a while. Getting a headache." She made a small satisfied noise as the catch under her jaw unclipped. Bregan slipped her helmet off, shaking her head a little to ease it past the elastic neckline. When her head came into clear view - short cropped blond hair framing a gentle face - Wedge's eyes widened marginally.

". . . what?"

Wedge quickly looked away, breaking his gaze. "Sorry."

Bregan raised one eyebrow and gave a little smile. "It's fine."

Early in her time with the 501st she had taken a hard hit from a crude shrapnel bomb. The left side of her face was a map of scars, some wide and others wire-thin. Her damaged left eye had been removed and replaced with a prosthetic, it's ocular sensor glowing blue. The blast had taken off her ear as well, and the round disk that served as a replacement hummed quietly. The map of scars disappeared below the rubber neckline of her armor.

Bregan nonchalantly jumped into an explanation. "Some shrapnel kinda exploded in my face a while back. Went all over, made a pretty big mess. Luckily our medical unit is made of miracle-workers, so instead of being dead I get to be alive. And all it took was removing near half-a-pound of metal scrap."

"Oh. That's quite, uh, something."Wedge shifted uncomfortably.

Bregan gave a grin, aware of how it twisted the scar tissue across her face. "Makes new members awkward. Useful for weeding out the squeamish ones."

Wedge gave a thin, but sincere, grin. "I'll bet."

Bregan leaned against the wall. At first she had been uncomfortable about how people acted when they saw her scars, but given time - and a few promotions - she had grown used to it. Wedge had actually reacted better than quite a few other people. "And what's your story? Hook up with the Rebellion for a thrill?"

Wedge shot her a glare, leaning against the wall with one shoulder. "No, that's not why I joined."

Bregan held her hands up. "No offense."

Wedge snorted and looked down the hallway. Two stormtroopers had started a card game of some sort, still standing in their rows and using a hologram card deck. More than one of Wedge's people was watching with interest.

"I . . . needed to find something. That's it, really."

Bregan stared at her companion, face blank. "Remind me to never play sabacc against you. That's a hell of a poker face."

Wedge snorted.

Bregan gave a twisted smile and turned to the trooper next to her. "How long has it been?"

"Only two hours, sir."

She nodded.

"Have somewhere to be?" Wedge asked.

She snorted. "Nah. The boss just wants to get a comm if this meeting goes over three hours."

"What happens if it goes over three hours?"

"Honestly, no idea. Don't wanna find out though."

Wedge gave her a weird look. "And your boss is who exactly?"

Bregan smirked and leaned her head back against the wall. "Did Skywalker not tell you and yours who you were standing guard with?"

"No. He just smiled when we asked and said something about 'walking in with a blank slate.'"

"You," Bregan said in a sing-song voice. "-are currently standing guard with the elite of the 501st, troopers under the command of Lord Vader himself."

Wedge's face paled, and on reaction his hand twitched towards the blaster strapped to his thigh. Bregan just looked at him and laughed.

"Relax. If we were gonna do anything, would have done it already."

Wedge swallowed past the lump in his throat, and his voice came out a bit higher than he would have liked. "Says the captain of the 501st."

Bregan just gave a toothy smile, the effect boosted by several artificial teeth gleaming in the left side of her mouth. "'S all water under the bridge, or plasma over the counter, or however you want it. Woulda killed you if I wanted too."

"That's reassuring," Wedge snorted, trying to even out his heart rate. Bregan shot him a smile, making sure to crinkle the edges of her eyes.

Both of them turned to look down the hallway. Some of Wedge's men had joined in with the card players, two even standing beside and bumping shoulders with Bregan's stormtroopers. One of the Rebels swiped up a holographic card, smirking and stretching out their hands. The others all threw down their hands, one trooper reaching over to gather the cards for a reshuffle. It was relaxed, aware, and enjoyable. Not something either of them had ever experienced in the presence of the other.

"'S nice," Bregan said. She crossed her arms and propped herself against the doorframe. Wedge nodded in agreement. For a while the just watched their men interacting.

Wedge eyed Bregan discreetly. He knew, logically, that stormtroopers were people. But it had been easier to deal with killing them if he thought of them as mindless drones, or even droids, that threatened his cause. Now, though, he was very glad that they didn't have to fight. He didn't hate this captain, and was a little surprised at her apparent efforts to get along with him. It was still a little confusing for Wedge, to be so close to people who had been the enemy for several years and not be shooting at each other. But he figured he could get over it soon enough.

"So what's it like serving under Skywalker? Heard he's something of a daredevil."

Wedge laughed, any remaining tension bleeding out of his shoulders. "He is at that. He's a wonderful leader, one of the best pilots I've ever seen, too. Though . . . after Hoth it was a while before I flew with him again. It's only really after Endor that he's been back around. Sorta. He's had to spend a lot of time on Courscant."

Bregan nodded. "He's been spending a lot of time here with the Commander. No wonder you haven't seen him. Heard great things about him, though. Spent a lot of time trying to pin him down."

Wedge nodded and smiled. Luke's ability to escape the Empire by the skin of his teeth was astounding. Then he frowned. "And what's it like with Vader?" Wedge tried to not spit out the last word.

Bregan closed her eyes. When she answered her words were slow. "Dangerous, mostly. But if you do your job and stay out of his way, chances are you'll make it. The higher your rank, the more responsibility, greater chance of screwing up and being removed. But, unlike the majority of others, our Commander is out on the front lines with us. Never gets hit - there's a rumor that he's not exactly mortal - which is complete idiocy if you ask me - but at least he's there."

Wedge was silent. The card game had changed players. The noise level beyond the door stayed quiet.

Bregan turned to the pilot. "You know, there's a bar not too far from here. Me and my men stop by every now and again to initiate new recruits and get the medics outta their labs 'n such. Your lot should stop by sometime."

Wedge lifted an eyebrow. "We'd make quite the sight, don't you think?"

"Not as much as you would think. We go in slacks. Armor isn't the most comfortable thing you know."

He smirked. That hadn't been quite what he meant. Still. . . "Why not? Might even convince Luke to stop by. What's the address?"

As Bregan coded the address into Wedge's manual her comm trilled. She handed the datapad back to the pilot, and gestured to her troops. "Back in formation. They're done." She didn't replace her helmet, simply tucking it into her side and holding it with one arm.

The troopers fell back into their ranks, replacing helmets and hiding card decks. Wedge gestured to his people and they raggedly fell in next to the orderly rows of Bregan's men. A few minutes later and the doors were cycled open.

Politicians and officials filed out, moving through the gap between the two security forces. Their chatter was subdued, nearly nonexistent. They seemed to be in shock. Bregan thought their silence was pretty understandable, considering what they had just accomplished.

Vader walked out of the conference room, long strides eating the ground between him and the 501st. Wedge scampered backwards, trying to stay well out of the man's way.

"Holt. We are returning to the ship. Gather the troops." Through the distortion of the vocoder Vader's voice sounded snippy and annoyed. Bregan pushed down a smile, nodded, replaced her helmet, and relayed Vader's order to her soldiers. She gave a quick salute to Wedge, lifting two fingers to her forehead and flicking them in his direction. Wedge gave her a one-sided smile and a little wave.

Vader had already disappeared down the hallway, his long strides eating up the ground before the troops could catch up. However, it didn't take long for them to be walking down the empty hallway in a proper formation. Bregan took her position behind the left shoulder of Vader, far enough behind him to not step on his cape. They walked in silence, save for the hiss of Vader's respirator and the quiet click of stormtrooper armor. After a while, though, the Commander's deep baritone registered in Bregan's ear.

"Holt. How did you find your reinforcements?" Vader hadn't turned his head to address her.

"Adequate, sir. They were cooperative and well mannered." Neither of them broke their pace. Bregan was tall enough to be able to keep up with Vader with ease, though he was one of the few people she had to actually look up to.

"Good."

Bregan got the strangest sense that Vader was smiling behind his mask.

.

Luke was almost the last one out, following Organa and Mothma. The two senators gave Wedge a small wave before turning down the lefthand hallway, both slightly leaning on each other. Meanwhile, Luke made a beeline for Rogue Squadron. Wedge was at his side the moment he separated from the senators, the former Rebel soldiers right behind him. He clapped his hand on Luke's shoulder, squeezing a bit harder than was strictly necessary.

"Good job in there, Luke," he said, giving Luke's shoulder a little shake. "Let's run by Dex's - you look exhausted."

Luke gave a thin smile. "You're angry about the 501st, arent' you?"

Wedge shrugged. "A little. I would have liked a warning, but I think I understand why you didn't."

Luke gave a small nod. "I just - I really want this whole 'military combo' thing to go well. It's a great idea. I'm glad that it worked out. Sorta."

Wedge threw an arm around Luke's shoulders. "Yeah. Holt was actually pretty civil. Didn't try to kill me or anything."

Luke snorted. "So do you think the rest of the squad will get along with them?"

"Sure, I don't see why not. They were actually playing cards together for a bit."

A sneaky grin made it's way onto Luke's face. "Good. That's very good."

Wedge's stomach dropped a bit. Whenever Luke got that particular glint in his eyes it usually meant that a near-death experience would follow. "Why is that 'good'?"

Luke just ducked away, and his shoulders jerked in an attempt to hold laughter in. "Rogue Squadron is going to be working together with Captain Holt and the 501st for the foreseeable future."

Wedge stopped in his tracks. "What?!"

Author's Note

I apologize for taking so long to update. College metaphorically kicked my butt. And, for whatever reason, this chapter was not very easy to write. It got to the point where I just wanted to get it up and move on to the next thing. I might come back in a while and smooth it over, but who knows.

While Bregan was the only real OC introduced in this chapter, her second in command will be more fleshed out in the next one. Also, I've noticed that I really enjoy giving all these characters ~Star Wars-y~ names.