"What do you mean she just, 'disappeared?!'" hissed the Empress, gritting her teeth. Her long, dark fingernails dug into the armrests of her throne- scratching away at the metallic surface. Incompetency, especially when manifested from those under her employment, created a boiling fume of livid bile swirling around her stomach- it crept slowly up her body until she could taste the acidity in the back of her throat as she listened to one of her guards stumble over his words. She breathed heavily through her nostrils, inhaling heat, exhaling toxic gas as her dark eyes latched onto the light brown eyes of the guard standing before her. She watched his dry lips fumble as beads of sweat trickled down from his temples, wrinkles pulsating around his forehead- his words became white noise, putrid disgust seeped into the Empress' pores, coursing through her veins- waiting for release.
"We turned a corner and she was gone."
"Enough." Came a sharp whisper from the Empress, the word dripping with disdain. The two guards before her flinched as her eyes shot between them, Sheriff Graham stood by the door to the great hall, nervously twisting his fingers around each other behind his back. He knew what was coming. The Empress leapt to her feet and with a small flick of her wrist, the two guards launched through the air hitting the hard, slick stone of the opposite wall. She raised her hand, the two bodies sprang into the air revolving around one another- faster and faster until her fist closed shut and the two bodies smacked together. The sound of cracking skulls echoed throughout the room causing the rest of the guards present to flinch, Graham remained firm- his eyes fixed on the floor. The remains of the two guards fell in hard heaps on the metallic floor… the Empress fixed her eyes on Graham who now lifted his face to meet hers. "Find her." She hissed to the Sheriff, who bowed and exited the room without a word. She spun around and eyed the rest of the guards who lined the room. "Leave!" She shouted, and without hesitation they marched through the doors, leaving the Empress alone with her thoughts.
Alone in the great hall, the Empress clenched and unclenched her fists, feeling the force slowly encircle her fingers before receding in a dark cloud deeper into her body. She inhaled sharply through her nose and began pacing. Infuriating blonde. Why would Henry seek her out? She's given him everything. But first… how did he even know to find her? These questions will have to be answered later. What's important now is that she's out there… this, Emma Swan. She's hiding out in this large city- plotting to steal her son from her. The Empress sat heavily on her thrown, her nails scratching into the armrests. She's not going to let that happen.
"Good Morning!" comes an incredibly too chipper voice jolting Emma from her sleep. Whisked away into the deep recesses of her dreams, the blonde had completely forgotten that she was no longer in her crummy little hut on Tatooine. She opened her eyes and saw a high rusted metal ceiling covered in leaky pipes and humming machinery. "Morning." She scratched out from a dry throat as she swung her legs over her cot and rubbed her head. Stretching out her limbs, her face screwed tight as memories of the previous day flooded back to her mind, with each new thread of clarity came a thousand more frazzled hems of unanswered questions.
"You okay?" came Mary Margaret's soft voice as she pushed a tin mug into the blonde's hands. Emma didn't respond quickly, memories continued to make themselves known as she stared into her mug- sloshing the slippery brown liquid around the tin before taking a small sip. Coffee. She internally hummed with gratitude that coffee was a substance that transcended galaxies. "Sorry it's not the best." Shrugged MM. Emma almost forgot that someone was sitting next to her.
"Oh, um- no, actually it's great," she said with a genuine nod towards the brunette sitting next to her, "I'm used to a brew more similar to jawa shit, so this is definitely Class A coffee." She gave a small smile and took another, deeper sip- ignoring the completely confused look on the other woman's face. As MM sat trying to think of what her guest meant by "jawa" she shook it off and decided there were more important things to discuss.
"Anyway," she said with a great sigh, "how are you feeling?"
"I guess I'm okay." Replied Emma as her green eyes searched around the room for clues as to her whereabouts. The room looks like an old droid manufacturing plant. Leaky pipes, rusted walls, broken bits of machinery and electronics scattered and huddled in piles around the room. A half dozen other cots lined the walls, thin blankets and pillows in the same position in which she had seen them last night. Everything after she had been saved by MM was a little hazy, she couldn't quite remember how they arrived or if she had met anyone else. "Where am I?"
"An old droid manufacturing plant on the lowest level of the city. I know it doesn't exactly scream comfort, but it's home for now." Replied the brunette surveying the room with a small huff of longing for another life. She eyed a generator across the room that started shaking, she jumped off the cot pulling a wrench from her utility belt and started fumbling with the bolts around the jittering machine. It grumbled and shook harder, MM began slamming the wrench across the top and with a loud of puff of steam, the machine simmered down to a low hum to harmonize with the rest of the strange machinery covering the room.
"Generator having problems again?" came a deep voice entering the room. Emma looked up to see a tall, blonde man striding into the room. His pale white skin covered in soot, his hair wind blown, deep lines of stress creasing beneath his bright blue eyes. His broad shoulders and wide arms revealed a white tunic covered in black smudges of grease and soot, while the rest of his body was covered in crudely cut light brown leather. At his side hung a battered blaster and a crowbar. Emma surveyed him up and down- he'd clearly had a long night. He held out his arms as he approached the brunette who flung herself into his embrace.
"I was worried about you," She said as she pushed his shoulders back so she could take in his appearance, "what happened?" The blonde man shrugged his shoulders and wiped a hand through his hair.
"Well," he sighed, "after you left we went out digging up recon from the mystery ship that entered the city last night when we were ambushed by the Imperial Guard. We managed to slip away, but it took the whole night to evade them."
"Where's Ruby?"
"She'll be here soon." He squeezed MM's shoulder and gave her a small smile of assurance. "Glad to see you made it back, where did you go?" The small brunette's eyes drifted from the man's face over to the cot Emma still occupied. His gaze followed hers and he suddenly stiffened up, his hand hovering over his blaster. Emma's eyes remained firmly fixed as her own hand hovered slowly over her own blaster, though she had the feeling she wouldn't need to use it yet. MM's hand softly covered the man's hand.
"She's a friend," she whispered and immediately the tall man relaxed, his blue eyes once filled with suspicion cleared to a soft hue of friendly curiosity. He slowly strode over towards the cot and Emma stood to meet him as he stuck his hand out in front of him.
"I'm David." He said with a small smile.
"Te-uh… Emma. Emma Swan." She said giving his hand a firm shake. She couldn't understand why she was suddenly possessed to tell all of these strangers her real name. There was something about this place that encouraged her to push towards a more honest approach. Perhaps it was her sudden and unexpected brush with mortality, or perhaps it was this foreign and almost familial feeling she had in her stomach when around these two.
"Forgive me being cautious, it's not every day there's a new person standing in the HQ of the rebellion."
"The rebellion, huh?" At this, David's brows knitted together in confusion.
"Is that not why you are here?" He looked at Emma and then back over his shoulder towards Mary Margaret. Before either of the women could explain a loud bang echoed around the room followed by an incredibly flustered figure stumbling into the room.
"Goddamn power cables on the left power cuppling of my speeder short circuited again." Came a wheezing voice. As the smoke cleared Emma saw a young, slender brunette wrapped in dark red leather armor pull herself from the ground, dusting herself off. "Also, we're gonna need to fix the door because I may or may not have crashed into it just now."
"Ruby!" groaned MM grabbing her wrench and pulling at the socket wrench at her tool belt as she ran to the door.
"What? No welcome home?" Ruby said with a broad smile. MM stopped in her tracks and ran to her friend, holding her in a close embrace. Cupping her face with her hands she looked over the tall brunette's face.
"You okay?"
"You betchya." Smirked the tall brunette holding the small brunette's shoulders. MM smiled and then smacked the taller woman's shoulder.
"Stop breaking my door." She playfully huffed as she scurried out of the room. Cracking her neck and her fingers, the tall brunette moved towards the water basin the corner of the room.
"You're gonna have to patch my leg." She through over her shoulder to David as she limped to the basin. "That last wave of imperial assholes was a real bitch to throw. If my damn speeder hadn't given out they wouldn't have been able to knick me." She said casually as she tossed water across her face and neck. She looked over her shoulder and saw Emma.
"Who're you?"
"Emma. Emma Swan."
"Ruby." Said the brunette with indifference as she turned back to the basin and began wiping her face with a towel. Tossing the towel on the ground she limped over to a nearby cot and threw herself down. "Hey Charming, live up to your name and help me out here." She said as she pulled her boots off and examined the graze from the blaster that hit her calf. She noticed Emma's confused look, "Charming's his nickname cause he's just oh so chaaaarming." She laughed as she raised her voice to a baby voice.
"Oh ha ha," said David as he grabbed an aid kit and began patching the brunette's leg.
"So, Emma, you here to join the fun?"
"Oh um… I…" before she could respond, MM reemerged red faced and annoyed.
"It's going to take weeks to fix that door, Rubes." The tall brunette shrugged.
"Okay MM, what's Emma's story hmm? She looks a little too clean to be hangin' down here with the rest of us."
"I'll explain in a minute." Said the small brunette as she ran to the make shift kitchen and brought out a few more tins of coffee and handing them out. Taking a seat on a cot she motioned for Emma to join her. After everyone was seated and relaxed, MM dove into her tale.
"After I left to return her, I saw Graham headed towards the Dark Tower with Emma and Henry."
"Henry?" gasped David, "what was he doing with Graham?"
"More importantly what were you doing with Graham and Henry?" said Ruby eyeing Emma suspiciously.
"That's what I wanted to know," said MM drawing the attention back to herself, "she was the one who flew into town and I thought it best that I follow to see what was going on. I camped outside the Dark Tower and saw her emerge with two Imperial Guards behind her." David and Ruby both nodded their heads understanding what that meant. "I had to save her. I didn't get a threatening feeling from her, and I figured that if the Empress wanted her gone- than she'd be more than helpful to keep around so I picked her up and brought her here."
"How do you know you can trust me?" said Emma. The three suddenly remembered she was sitting nearby.
"Good question." Said Ruby turning from Emma to MM.
"I don't know," said the small brunette turning her gaze to Emma's green eyes, "It's just a feeling I have. Like I've met you before." It wasn't a solid answer for the blonde, but the other two seemed to take it as valid reasoning and nodded their heads.
"What was your business with the Empress?" said David, his blue eyes piercing into Emma for answers.
"Henry," stumbled out Emma trying to find a way to explain the situation, "He… uh…"
"I found her." Came a small voice from the rafters. The group jumped at the sound all reaching for their weapons. Henry giggled as he swung across a few platforms and shimmied down a pipe to the floor. "Relax it's just me."
"Henry, how many times have I told you you can't be here." Breathed Snow, putting her wrench back on her utility belt.
"I know, but this is important," he turned to the rest of the group, "So, you've all met my mom." Silence fell upon the group.
"That's not funny." Said Ruby staring at Henry as she slowly rubbed the sensitive skin around her blaster wound.
"Oh no, not the Evil Empress. My real mom, Emma." The group twisted their heads towards Emma. She had no idea how to respond, her head still reeled from the sudden change that creating words seemed futile. Henry stepped in and regaled the whole tale from beginning to end. As he finished, the group sat in stunned silence.
"Holy shit." said Ruby.
"You said it." Mumbled Emma. The group sat in baffled silence for a few moments before Henry chimed in.
"So, let's get to destroying the Empress and bringing back everyone's memories."
"Whoa, kid let's just think about this for a second. I know your mom is like… the Empress and all, but what makes you think she'd put up some huge force field, freeze time, and erase everyone's memories? That seems a little far fetched." Henry's optimistic smile defused to rubble as his face dropped with Emma's words.
"You don't believe me?"
"Well, I don't…" Emma sighed and hung her shoulders.
"It's asking a lot for anyone to believe, Henry." Said Snow placing her hand on his shoulder. He shrugged her hand off and stood before Emma looking directly into her eyes.
"You are the Savior. You are here to save everyone and restore their memories. You are the lost Jedi that will defeat the Evil Empress. I know it."
"Kid…" Emma started, but Henry held his small hand up in front of her face.
"You need to see Gold."
"That scummy used parts dealer? Sure he's a part of the rebellion, but he only helps with spare parts and supplies. Why should she see him?" asked David.
"He has something that will prove to all of you that Emma is here to save us."
"Force fields, memory loss, Saviors… why the hell not? Come on." Moaned Ruby fixing her boots on and standing to leave. Henry beamed and grabbed Emma's hand making his way to the door while the rest of the group hesitantly followed behind.