Chapter 21
"It's good to see you again Luke." Leia forgot formalities and greeted her twin with hug. Much like Ben, Leia had sensed her brother's arrival before his ship even entered the atmosphere. She'd excused herself from Admiral Ackbar's presence in the command centre and headed straight for the tarmac to greet him. The Admiral had arrived only a short while before Luke.
"And you Leia," Luke returned the hug. He couldn't help but smile down at her as they stepped away from each other. There was a small movement to his side and Leia's gaze immediately fell to the teen standing beside her brother. "This is one of my padawan learners, Jura." Luke introduced after following Leia's gaze.
"It's an honour to meet you General Organa." Jura said politely, adding a small bow. Leia smiled softly at the blonde haired girl by her brother's side. It brought hope to her heart to see her brother and Jura stood side by side, looking like the Jedi of old. Both wearing clothes of beiges and browns and identical off-cream cloaks. They looked like the characters she used to imagine when her father would tell her tales of the Jedi when she was a child.
"It's lovely to finally meet one of my brother's students." Leia replied.
"Jura is one of my most talented students." Luke supplied, earning a blush from the padawan at his side. A mischievous glint sparked in Luke's eyes as he caught his padawan's reaction. Leia met his gaze and tried to hide her own amusement.
Jura was thankful when a black haired woman, dressed in equally dark clothes approached them. She must have only been a few years older than Jura but this stranger walked with a confidence of someone twice her age. Luke followed his padawan's gaze and blinked in surprise at the young woman striding towards him.
"Uncle Luke." Breha smiled when she caught her uncle's eye. She wrapped her arms around him, her fingers brushing against the soft material of his cloak. Luke overcame his surprise and smiled back at her, welcoming her into his arms just as he'd done with Leia. He couldn't believe how much his niece had changed. It was as she stepped away from him that he saw the real change in her. As a child Breha's eyes had always expressed everything she was feeling; even if she was trying to hide it. She'd attempted lying to Luke several times as a child, over petty things really, and had been frustrated when he saw through her every time. The young Breha had blamed it on his force powers. But in actual fact, she just couldn't hide the guilt from her eyes. So it unnerved the jedi when he looked into her gaze and was met with a guardedness. Something had aged the woman in front of him, he was certain of it.
"It's good to see you again." She greeted warmly.
"It's good to see you as well. You've grown up." He commented.
"It had to happen at some point." Breha shrugged with a wry smile. Her gaze then landed on the smaller teen by her uncle's side.
"This is Jura, a student of mine." Luke introduced. "Jura, this is my niece Breha." The mechanic blinked in surprise as the padawan bowed her head politely as a way to greet her. It wasn't often the mechanic was greeted with a bow. Nevertheless, Breha returned to gesture. A series of loud, excited beeps then sounded and brought a large grin to Breha's face.
"R2." She greeted the little droid as happily as it did her. She dropped to one knee to greet the astromech her smile growing as the droid beeped that it had missed her. "I've missed you too."
"You almost seem happier to see R2 than me," Luke said, an amused smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. Breha looked up at him with a cheeky smirk pulling at her mouth.
"Only almost?" She asked as she rose to her feet once again. Leia shook her head slightly at her daughters humour.
"Have you seen Ben?" Leia asked before the girl could tease her uncle anymore. "I thought he'd be rushing to see Luke?" And normally that was the case. Ben typically bounced with excitement at any form of communication with Luke; be it a message or an actual visit. But not today. Ben's head was all over the place and he'd taken himself away to his room, on Breha's advice, to meditate. Breha was no expert with the force, but she was an expert on her brother. It was obvious to her that Ben needed time.
"He's meditating at the moment." Breha replied. "Figured we'd all be caught up in the meeting anyway." Leia nodded at Breha's explanation but the mechanic could feel Luke's speculative eyes on her.
"We should head over to the command centre. Admrial Ackbar and Commander Dameron are waiting for us." Leia said. The four had only taken a few steps when Breha's communicator sounded at her belt.
"Breha." She answered as they continued to head for the hanger exit.
"It's Lara," Lara introduced herself. "We've just had data come through that indicates communication relay station 2 is acting up. I'm going to head up there now, but I could do with a hand carrying the equipment up."
"Of course. Let me check who's available." Breha replied. She pulled a small data pad from her jacket pocket and quickly tapped her fingers across the screen. Luke noticed the furrow of her brow increase the more she tapped.
"Jura could assist your mechanic." Luke offered. Both Breha and Jura turned to look at Luke with surprise, albeit for different reasons. After a few moments pause Breha nodded and pocketed her data pad.
"Lara, my uncle's student Jura will accompany you to the relay station. You can meet her outside of the command centre." Breha replied.
"Thanks Boss." Lara replied.
"Thank you." Breha looked to her uncle before also looking to Jura to share the sentiment. It didn't escape the mechanics notice that the padawan looked fairly upset at not being allowed to attend the meeting. She could only wonder what her uncle's motives were.
The four arrived at the command centre and Lara was already waiting for them. Leia headed straight into the command room. Breha quickly introduced her mechanic to the padawan and the pair were soon on their way away from the central hub of the base. Breha once again caught the look Jura shot at her master. Once the pair had rounded the corner, Breha turned to her uncle and raised a questioning brow. He tried to refrain from smiling at her expression.
"Why did you bring her if you're just going to keep her locked out?" Breha asked.
"Jura is one of my most skilled students. She's strong with the force." Luke replied, only making Breha question even more why he was keeping his student from the meeting. Luke turned to look at his niece. "Social interaction on the other hand is in definite need of improvement." And suddenly it all made sense to Breha. The school Luke had set up was small and hidden, so Jura would have very little exposure to new people and customs.
"Well, you just sent her for a hike with the most sociable person on the base." Breha said with amusement. "Let's hope she doesn't talk your padawan to death." With that Breha turned and entered the command centre, her uncle only a few steps behind her.
Breha entered the side room that had been chosen for the meeting. Admiral Ackbar caught her attention first; the mon calamari commanded nothing but respect and given his decorated history he deserved it. Next to the admiral was, who she assumed to be, his second in command - a younger looking mon calamari. Her mother had taken her place, standing at the head of the table. Poe was a few paces away from her, standing tall with his arms crossed over his chest. He met Breha's gaze the moment she entered the room. She remembered instantly how their last conversation had ended and could see the concern written across his face.
"Everything okay?" He asked quietly as Breha stopped next to him. She took her attention away from the table and turned to look up at Poe. She felt her stomach twist as she saw the obvious worry in his eyes. The unexplainable urge to wrap her arms around him filled her mind and she found herself craving the warmth of his embrace.
"It will be." She replied. "And we will get a chance to talk." She promised him. Breha looked up at him for another few moments before movement in the door way caught her eye. Her eyes widened in surprise as she watched Han Solo and Chewbacca stroll into the command centre. She was certain he would have hightailed it away from the base by now. Her surprise quickly turned to irritation and her teeth ground together as she watched her father casually join them around the table. All she could think of was the pain he was putting Ben through.
"What did you do?" Luke asked Han as the smuggler stopped next to the jedi.
"Hello to you too." Han scoffed.
"Han." Luke pressed and his eyes flickered towards Breha. He could feel the woman's murderous glare towards her father. It was like she was screaming it from her presence in the force.
"Why do you always think it's me that's done something?" Han asked. Luke merely shot him an incredulous look. Han sighed. "She's got a thing with that pilot and got pissy when I asked her about it." Han explained. Luke turned to look at Breha and the commander once again. The irritated woman had stopped glaring at her father and had begun talking to the pilot. Luke noticed that a lot of the irritation had faded as a result of talking to the pilot. A soft smile pulled at his lips. If commander Dameron was anything like his mother, Luke knew Han had nothing to worry about.
"She'll come around." Luke assured his friend. Han snorted.
"Not any time soon. The girl's as stubborn as her mother." Han replied dryly. Amusement pulled at the corners of Luke's mouth.
"It's good to see you again Han." Luke said.
"Yeah, you too Luke." Han admitted.
"Since everyone is here, let's begin." Leia called the room to attention. All eyes fell to the General. "You have all been briefed on the recent events that occurred at the Tessler races. We anticipated with the closure of the clone factories that the First Order would make other attempts to rebuild their forces. That has been realised." Leia began. She tapped on the screen in front of her causing a map to be projected from the centre of the table. Breha easily recognised the star map location of Tessler. "Thanks to Commander Dameron's reconnaissance mission we have identified some of the routes and locations the First Order are 'recruiting' their soldiers from." On the map a series of red dashed lines appeared on the map.
"We need to intercept those routes." Ackbar said. There was a general hum of agreement around the table. "We must make every effort to stop the First Order from growing their forces."
"When we intercept these locations the First Order will look to recruit from elsewhere." Luke said.
"We're going to have to do some reconnaissance as well." Breha nodded to her uncle. "Keep an ear to the ground for any new locations." There was a general hum of agreement once again. The table broke down into discussion about how best to organise the route interceptions and undercover work.
Leia opened her mouth to speak but a knock at the door interrupted her. The person on the other side waited for the General to call out for them to enter. Thomas, Leia's assistant, entered the room. He gulped slightly as the eyes of some of the most influential people in the resistance stared at him.
"I'm sorry to interrupt." Thomas began. "But Lara has been in repeated contact with the command centre. She seems to be in desperate need of Breha's assistance on repairing the communication relay." Breha's brow furrowed in concern and she looked to her mother.
"With that station down, we can't encrypt messages." Breha said. Leia's lips drew into a tight line. Not being able to encrypt messages meant there was no communication with anyone off-planet. It was too risky. "Lara would ask for someone else if she believed they would be able to help; she knows I'm preoccupied at the moment." Breha vouched for Lara.
"Go." Leia conceded. Breha nodded and breezed out of the room. Poe could just hear her ask Thomas if Lara had requested she bring any tools with her before the door shut behind her. With Breha gone the meeting continued, little did they realised that Thomas would be interrupting once again with more disturbing news later.
Breha hiked up the hill, weaving between thick tree roots as she did. When she reached the top, the communication relay stood out against the lush green background. The object was after all pure metal and obtrusive. Her pace slowed as she entered the clearing and became confused when she couldn't see Lara or Jura. Confusion quickly started to morph into concern as Breha couldn't see any signs of Lara even going near the relay station.
"Lara?" Breha called out. A foreboding shiver tingled at the back of her neck – something didn't feel right. Her fingers itched to reach for her blasters and she cursed the fact she hadn't worn them. They'd been stowed away in her room when she had returned from Tessler. She heard a slight scuff from behind her and tensed, whatever was behind her didn't feel friendly. Breha whipped around and ducked in time to dodge a shot from a blaster. Her eyes narrowed into slits as she laid her eyes on the dark dressed, red mohawked man who'd fired at her. The distance between them wasn't large so Breha charged at him, ducking to the side to avoid another shot before colliding her body with his. The collision almost winded her and she realised with some small horror that the man was almost entirely muscle. Her opponent now had weapons and brute strength to his advantage over her. Breha had to trust that she was quicker. Her hands shot forwards, one striking his wrist forcing his hand to open and drop the weapon. The other hit at a weak spot on his torso forcing him to release a grunt. Her leg swept out to trip him but he anticipated the combination and caught the limb, pulling her forwards. He raised his fist to connect with her face as he broke her balance but she managed to twist her body and duck. Instead of making full contact with her face his fist only glimpsed the side of her jaw. Pain exploded from the side of her face and Breha knew if she got caught behind the full power of one of his punches she'd be out like a light. Despite the pain, she ducked, grabbed the fallen blaster as she rolled away. She stood to face her opponent, blaster now pointed at him.
"I can see why he liked you." Acer chuckled dryly as he pointed his second blaster at her. Charging him like that had been ballsy, a tactic Veeta would have approved of. If only for the fact it would have entertained him. The pair now had each other in an armed standoff.
"Who are you?" Breha asked coldly. Acer smirked and flicked a switch subtly on the side of his blaster. Breha didn't see the movement, and she couldn't see the object it controlled. She did however noticed that her tattoos were now visible. Acer couldn't help but admit that Relik's tattoos were as beautiful as the rumours claimed. Her eyes widened before darting between Acer's blaster and her own. He must have modified the scope of the blaster to emit the wavelength of light required to view the ink. Now that she knew what to look for she found the switch on her blaster and flicked it. As she suspected Acer's chest, at least what was visible of it, was decorated in silver designs. "You were Veeta's vulture." She answered her own question. "What have you done with the two women who were up here?"
"The mechanic and the brat?" Acer asked. "They're alive… Just about." His eyes darted off to the side and before Breha could help herself she followed his gaze. She caught sight of an unconscious Lara and Jura, bounded together and partly hidden by the relay station. But Acer capitalised on her distracted state and fired. The blast had been aimed at her heart but Breha managed to raise the blaster in her hand. The blaster took the fire rather than her body; ultimately destroying the weapon and leaving her with a nasty bruise from the impact. But it spared her life. Logic told her to run; she was unarmed and ill-equipped to take on a vulture as decorated as the man in front of her. Despite knowing that, her instincts told her to dive towards Lara and Jura, which is what she did.
Breha skidded to a stop besides Jura and her eyes widened as she caught sight of a metal hilt sticking up from the padawan's belt. It wasn't just instinct anymore. It was like the lightsaber was a magnet and she was merely a piece of metal forced to fly towards it. Her hand gripped the lightsaber and pulled it from the padawan, igniting the green blade just in time to deflect a shot from Acer. She deflected the shot towards the relay station causing the station to spark and splutter as the bolt hit it. Whilst she knew that would be a pain in the arse to fix later; at least now central command would know that something was wrong at the station. Technical faults may send mechanics, but obvious component damage, the type only caused by blasters would send soldiers.
Acer's eyes widened at the lightsaber in her hands. The sleek weapon was something of myth and legend. The likelihood that Relik had trained in the forms of such a weapon were remote. Yet as he watched her weld the blade so smoothly to deflect his blasts he doubted his assumption. A growl escaped his throat as she deflected a shot to the relay station – they were going to have company soon. He began firing at her with renewed vigour, but to his frustration she deflected or dodged every bolt. He soon found himself on the retreat as she edged closer to him whilst dodging his blasts. He knew that if she pulled him into close combat, whilst she had a lightsaber and he only had blasters, she would gain the upper hand. The pair danced around each other for a few moments longer, chasing and weaving around the trees as Acer retreated through the forest. She was frighteningly agile, he realised, as he watched her move like water around him. She made a swipe down at him, catching the hem of his clothes as he rolled away and darted away from her. She chased after him and into the clearing Acer had landed him ship in. Her eyes narrowed as she spied the man sprinting to the ship. If he was from Tessler she couldn't let him escape; he could potentially have leads on the First Order. Plus, she still needed to beat his arse for injuring one of her mechanics.
Breha caught up to the man and gracefully swiped at him with the lightsaber. He turned around to face her as she was arcing and she fully expected him to roll away from the attack. To her surprise he pulled a staff around in a lower, quicker arc and parried her attack. Her lightsaber crackled in front of her as she held it against his newly drawn electrostaff. A smirk pulled at his lips and he kicked her firmly, launching her away from him.
Breha spluttered a cough and she rose to her feet, wincing as she did. She had unfortunately been correct in her assumption that his blows would be powerful. If the sharp pain every time she inhaled was anything to go by her ribs had taken a battering. She glowered up at the man in front of her, the purple crackle from his electrostaff illuminating one side of his face. It brought a small amount of pleasure to Breha as she caught sight of a bruise already forming around his eye – no doubt that her other hits had done damage then. On a couple of occasions Acer had dodged the lightsaber, but opened himself up to a physical attack from one of her other limbs.
He came at her again, swinging the staff down at her as he engaged her in combat. He wasn't solely evading anymore and Breha noticed the much more ferocious change in his fighting style. He made a particularly violent swing with the business end of his staff towards her chest, she parried it with her lightsaber but it left her open to the kick he aimed at her head. Whilst she managed to raise and elbow so his foot made contact with that instead of her skull, the force still sent her sprawling to the ground. The lightsaber fell from her grasp and landed a few feet from where she lay on the ground.
Her vision blurred as she tried to pull herself to her feet but the world seemed off kilter and spun around her. She could make out his dark frame stalking towards her.
"You've grown weak Relik." Acer hummed as he stopped beside her and kicked her so that she fell onto her back. "And soft." He kicked her again, delighting in the gurgling groan of pain that burst from between her lips. "You've taken everything from me." He snarled as he raised his electrostaff right above her heart. Breha could hear the buzz of electricity and a cold terror ran down the length of her being.
"No!" A voice cried as Acer swung the electrostaff downwards. Breha winced, anticipating pain like no other, but she felt nothing. Her vision blurred back into focus as the electrostaff fell from Acer's hands and landed on the ground next to her. She stared up at him in confusion as she clawed at his neck and gurgled chokes sounded from him. Vaguely remembering that there had been a shout she turned around and her eyes widened. Ben stood a few metres behind her, arm outstretched and pointed towards Acer, a dark look across his face.
"Ben." She whispered as she struggled through the pain in her side to sit up. She glanced back at Acer who was turning a worrying shade of purple and the gurgled chokes became less frequent. "Ben." She repeated, louder as she stumbled on shaky legs towards her brother. She reached his side but his concentration was still on Acer. Glancing back at the male vulture Breha saw that he was no longer clawing at his neck and looked to be unconscious. "Ben. I'm safe, you can let go." She gripped her brother's shoulders. The physical contact seemed to pull him from his concentration and he dropped Acer from his force grip. Breha heard Acer fall to the floor and pulled her brother into a tight hug. She could feel him shaking in her grasp.
"I've never felt you that scared or in that much pain before." Ben murmured against her shoulder. Breha's heart clenched and she held him tighter, blinking away the tears that brimmed on her lower lashes. She pulled away from him, to hold his face in her hands, making sure that she had his gaze firmly locked with hers.
"I'm safe now." She assured him. She felt Ben calm within her grasp.
"Is he?" Ben asked fearfully as he looked over her shoulder at Acer. Breha's frown returned as she let go of her brother and moved to Acer's side.
"He's alive." She stated when she found a weak pulse on the man's neck.
"Breha!" Both Solo siblings looked up as multiple people entered into the clearing. A sardonic smile pulled at Breha's lips. Now the cavalry arrived. They would have been alerted after she blew the relay station. Breha noted with shame how poor the land response of the resistance was. If it wasn't for her brother sensing her distress she'd be dead.
Breha turned to Ben. She owed him her life.
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To marflark: In my original plan I was going to just have it as one epically long chapter, but with Star Wars day falling mid-week I figured what better way to celebrate than by releasing a mini chapter :D I hope this chapter lives up to the hype! I enjoyed writing Luke into the fic as well… officially feels like a Star Wars fic now haha.
To Malorne-10: Glad I could make your day! Thank you! One of the best compliments I can receive is that I've written the canon characters in character. I always get a bit nervy when I introduce a canon character to the fic (like Luke & Ackbar in this chapter) and wait for reviews to see if I got them in character or not. I know the frustration of the slow burn romance! It's so much more believable… but equally, you just want them to be together haha. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and rest assured I have plans to take this fic through TFA.
To The Guest from 5th May that commented on my writing style & Ben-Breha: Thank you so much for your review. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, big Ben development!
To the Guest from 5th May that commented on Poe's love of BB-8: Thank you! And it was Poe's line in TFA that BB-8 is a "one of a kind droid" that inspired this entire fic haha. And I'm glad you appreciate the Kylo Ren origins in this fic. I have no idea how it will match up to the canon when episodes 8&9 are released… but this is my take on it anyway :D
To the Guest from 6th May: Oh wow! I am flattered beyond words to be placed up there with actual accomplished authors! Wow… just wow! I'm so pleased to hear that you like the development of the Poe-Breha relationship. May the force be with you.
To Bluedog02: First, no need to apologise! Thank you so much for reviewing period. :D I can't explain the warm fuzzies I get every time I get a review for the fic. Your constant support for this fic is incredible. Second, so glad that you like Maya, I figured she's a character that's going to go one of two ways: you're either going to love her or hate her… But as an author not all of my characters can be likable haha. And yeah, heavy hints about Breha's past. Unfortunately shit decided to hit the fan and she and Poe still haven't had a much needed conversation! Hope you enjoyed the brief Ben-Breha in this chapter! And thank you so much! So glad that I'm getting the Solo/Organa family in character, their so iconic I really don't want to muck them up haha. Yes! I've been looking forward to writing Luke into this fic since about chapter 4 and finally he's here. Once again thank you so much for your review and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
To Lala: Gah! Thank you :D I do thoroughly check my writing for spelling/grammar mistakes and whilst I'm sure some slip through the gap it's good to hear that they're not that noticeable! It's also great to hear that you feel I've captured the universe (bacta and all) really well. I genuinely put a lot of research into my characters and my internet history is rather nerdy as most of the pages are Wookiepedia and other star wars fact sites :') Yes! Another supporter of the slow burn romance! Much like researching the Star wars universe to make the setting believable, a slow burn is the only way to make romance believable :D Thank you for your review/favourite/follow and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
To Ardoa88: Wow, flattered and shocked that you re-read the fic! And yes, your feelings are correct, climactic chapter above! I'm glad you enjoyed the filler and I hope this chapter lived up to the hype!
To RglStarwars: Holy Cr*p! I read the first sentence of your review and almost did a spit-take in shock! That's incredible praise! Thank you! I'm thrilled that you love my writing form and my original character. Thank you for your encouragement and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
To the guest from 7th May who asked what Poe was thinking about Breha's past: Unfortunately Poe and Breha haven't had a chance to discuss her past or how Poe feels about it. They've had to prioritise their duties to the resistance and then obviously Breha had her encounter with Acer. All of your questions should be answered in the next chapter though!
To JustDreamAboutIt: Thank you for your review and here you go!
To the guest from 7th May who asked about Acer's plans: I love hearing peoples predications! And there is your answer my friend! I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
To feelthatfire: … Sorry, I think I just destroyed some of Ben's goodness. *ducks behind couch*. I hope you enjoyed that chapter anyway.
To Lovefiction2016: Thank you! Hope you enjoyed this chapter.