11. Old Friends and Enemies

(Okay, so I finally started Watching The Mandalorian and I LOVE IT! So now I'm working to connect this story with a Mando story, so bear with me while it's a work in progress (apologies for the confusion!) And did I rename my OC a third time? Yes, yes I did...)

They had gotten married quickly and recently. It was probably not the best time - in the middle of a full-on total war - but that was exactly it: war was raging across the galaxy, and they were at the very centre of it. No one knew how long it would last, or how long they would last, and so they didn't want to miss out on a moment. Not a single one.

And so they married, but they'd barely had a moment to celebrate what with the war going on. They'd barely had a moment to rest, let alone acknowledge their marriage themselves. Everyone was too distracted.

Now, looking back, Chess was thinking it had all happened too quickly. Things happen quickly in wartime, when really they should be more thought-out and calculated. But they had always had a lot of strain around them heavy upon their relationship.

"We've decoded the intel from the First Order spy," Poe was updating the Resistance. "And it confirms the worst: somehow, Palpatine returned."

Horrified gasps rose from the gathered crowd.

"Wait, to we believe this?" asked Rose.

"It cannot be! The Emperor is dead!" shouted someone.

"Dark secrets, cloning. Secrets only the Sith knew," said someone else.

"He's been planning his revenge. His followers have been building something for years: the largest fleet the galaxy has ever known. He calls it the Final Order. In sixteen hours, attacks on all free worlds begin," Poe explained gravely. "The Emperor and his fleet have been hiding in the Unknown Regions on a world called Exegol."

R2 chittered. "Exegol does not appear on any star chart," translated C-3PO. "But legend describes it as the hidden world of the Sith."

"So Palpatine's been out there all this time, pulling the strings," said Chess.

"Always," agreed Leia. "In the shadows, from the very beginning."

"If we want to stop him, we must find him," said Maz. "Must find Exegol."

"General," Rey suddenly cried. "Can I speak with you?"

"I'm going to pick up Luke's search for Exegol." Rey was decided. "I'm going to start where his trail went cold: the Forbidden Desert of Pasaana."

"We know, we're going with you," said Poe.

"I need to go alone," she insisted.

"Yeah, alone with friends," replied Finn.

"It's too dangerous, Finn."

Chewie grunted, BB-8 chiming in.

"I wholeheartedly agree," said C-3PO.

Rey couldn't help but smile.

"Child." Maz's voice behind her made Chess stop where she was readying her kit for their journey. "Do you have a moment before you go?"

"Uh, yeah, sure Maz."

Maz gestured for Chess to follow her. Kit in hand, Chess followed Maz to where DJ stood.

"Oh no, he's not using you to help him guilt me into talking to him-"

"It's not that," Maz assured her. "It's about your parents, your birth parents."

Chess's jaw clenched. "What about them?"

Maz and DJ exchanged a glance. "I knew them."

This surprised her. "You did?"

Yes." Maz nodded. "A little. We only met a couple of times. But I remember them well. A Mandalorian and a former slave. In fact, I was there when you were born."

Chess didn't know how to respond.

"I wanted you to know."

"What, so it would help me on my journey? Make all this easier?" She didn't mean to snap, but she really was growing frustrated with all of this. "I-I can't - I can't do this right now. I don't care who they were. I have a good family. Or at least I did until my brother went dark, killed my father, tried to kill my mother and I, and my uncle died trying to stop him. And now I'm having a big fight with my husband in the middle of all this. I'm just, I'm so done with all this family stuff! So finished with it all!" Without another word, she turned away from them.

Now it was time to say goodbye to Leia - her mother.

"I have a lot more training to do, but I'll have to wait to do it when I get back. So I just have to go with what I already have, for now," she sighed.

"And I think you'll find that it is enough," Leia encouraged, always encouraged.

"Bye, Mami." They hugged.

"Chess, I told this to Rey, and now I'm telling you too: never be afraid of who you are."

"You sure this is it?" asked Poe when they landed on the desert planet.

"These are the exact coordinates Master Luke left behind," C-3PO confirmed.

"Well that looks like fun," Chess remarked as they rounded the corner.

"What is this?" cried Poe.

The whole lower valley was covered in colourful - well, everything. Lights, costumes, scarves and more.

"The Aki-Aki Festival of the Ancestors," C-3 explained. "This celebration occurs only once every forty-two years."

"Well that's lucky," remarked Finn.

"Yeah, good timing," agreed Chess.

"Lucky indeed! This festival is known for both it's colourful kites and delectable sweets!"

"I've never seen anything like this!" cried Rey.

"I've never seen so few Wayfinders," grumbled Finn.

"There's always random First Order patrols in crowds like these," Poe warned. "So keep your heads down - Chewie."

Chewie grumbled and crouched down so that he wasn't quite so toweringly tall.

"Yeah, we sort of stand out," agreed Chess. "Here, take these-" She grabbed a few colourful scarves from a nearby basket of an equally-colourful stand. "Here, put these on."

Suddenly, Rey was sprinting towards them, BB-8 right at her heels. "We have to go! Back to the Falcon, now!"

"Why?" asked Finn.

"It's Ren."

But they were already cornered. An armed Stormtrooper approached. "Stop, hold it right there! I've located the Resistance fugitives-" He was cut off when an arrow struck his forehead.

A cloaked figure with a crossbow stood behind them. "Follow me," a male voice said. "Hurry!" He led them into a hut. "Leia sent me a transmission."

"How'd you find us?" asked Finn.

"Wookie's stand out in a crowd!" the man laughed, removing his helmet.

Chewie shouted in glee and pushed past the others to hug the man.

"It's good to see you too, old buddy!"

"Lando!" cried Chess, also hugging him.

"Hey, Kiddo! How're you doing?"

"This is General Lando Calrissian," 3PO informed.

"We know who he is, 3PO," said Rey.

"It is an honour, General," Finn told him.

"General Calrissian, we're looking for Exegol," Poe jumped-in, getting right down to business.

Lando sighed. "Of course you are." He pressed a button on his wrist guard and an image popped up. "Only two were made."

"A Sith Wayfinder," said Rey. "Luke Skywalker came here to find one."

Lando chuckled. "I know, I was with him. Luke and I were tailing an old Jedi hunter. He was carrying a clue that could lead to a Wayfinder. We followed his ship halfway across the galaxy, here. When we got to his ship it was abandoned, no clue, no Wayfinder."

"Is his ship still here?" asked Rey.

"It's out in the desert where he left it."

"We need to get to that ship, search it again."

"I got a bad feeling about this-" First Order ships were approaching. "The ship is out past Lurch Canyon. Go!"

"Thank you, General."

"Thanks Lando."

"Sure thing, Kiddo."

Chewie grunted.

"You, too Chewie."

"Mum needs pilots, Lando," Chess told him.

"My flying days are long over. But do me a favour: send your mom my love."

"I will, but you should give it to her yourself. Thank you again."

"There, those speeders!" Poe pointed to a potential escape across from Lando's hut. He opened the hatch and messed with the wires to get them started.

"How do you know how to do that?" asked Finn.

"No need to worry! I made it!" C-3PO waddled up behind them.

Poe patted the side of the speeder which was whirring to life thanks to his quick work with the wires. "We gotta go!"

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)