YAGA MINOR, 40 YEARS ABE:
The shuttle Crystilium soared down its approved flight path with neat precision, passing between the intimidating bulk of the Imperial spacedocks and into the clouds of Yaga Minor below. The glittering city of Yagorva spread out before them, a mix of elegant skyscrapers nestled close beside sprawling factories and research centers. The building they headed for wasn't the tallest of the skyscrapers, but it still dwarfed all its nearby neighbors with its sleek black-glass façade and foliage-festooned balconies.
The hanger bay that was their destination was a small one near the top of the structure. Stella piloted them into a landing, following the visual directions of a stubby traffic-control droid that trundled over to wave its colored beacons at them. She lowered the ship onto its landing struts and engaged the shut-down sequence, then turned to look at her companions.
"Here we go," she said.
"And may the Force be with us," Bail added, rising to follow her.
Finn said nothing as he fell in at the rear. All three of them wore their anonymous black stormtrooper bodysuits but Bail paused to slip his lightsaber into a toolbag which he hung over one shoulder. Finn noticed a datapad, a short-range comm, and what looked like a shiny hydrospanner already in there. He opened his mouth to voice a question, but Stella was already hitting the hatch control even as she swept a short gold shimmersilk cloak over her shoulders. Somehow that single touch-combined as it was with the gold rings still twisted into her curls-was enough to transform her simple black bodysuit into a statement of high fashion. She walked out with her head held high, Bail and Finn falling in behind her like escorts-or maybe servants.
The door at the far end of the small hanger opened. Finn tensed, but instead of the ambush he feared there was only one solitary figure framed in the light from the hallway beyond.
She was an elderly woman in long, dark blue robes that somehow looked expensive despite the simple practicality of their cut. Earrings of tiered fire opals that could have purchased an entire Star Destroyer themselves dangled from her ears but her gray curls were held back not by jewels but by a set of magnification and filter goggles. She wore a sour expression on her long, tired brown face, but the moment her eyes landed on Stella they lit-up. Her whole face seemed to do likewise, metamorphosing into a wide smile that rounded her drooping cheeks and turned her from an unpleasant-looking old woman into a beautiful one.
She stepped forward, raising her arms. Stella hurried to meet her and leaned down into the offered embrace. "Meemaw Evo," she said.
"My darling girl," Evo Wessex said. She patted Stella's curls. "How you have grown! But how long it has been." She glanced over Stella's shoulder at the two young men behind her and raised her wispy grey brows. "That one stands like a stormtrooper," Wessex observed, nodding at Finn, who flinched, and then at Bail, who didn't. "That one does not." She stepped back to take a better look at Stella, one hand still loosely cradling the younger woman's arm. With the other, she plucked at the sleeve of Stella's undersuit. "Dressed like this, company like that, arriving with no warning? You need something. And you need it fast."
Stella nodded. "Codes," she said. "Access codes to get us onto Emperor Revan's Super Star Destroyer."
Wessex clucked her tongue. "You do not ask for much!" she exclaimed facetiously.
Stella smiled and shrugged, unabashed. "Dad spent my whole life telling me I was worth more than entire stars. It was bound to rub-off."
"Oh, you!" Wessex smacked Stella lightly on her shoulder, shook her head, and sighed with fond resignation. "Yes, I can give you codes for your little ship. They will not be the fleet's newest codes, though; as a mere designer and builder, I am not kept up-to-date on such things. There may be some...unwelcome scrutiny."
Stella nodded, looking grim but firm.
"I might be able to help us with that part," Bail offered, nodding politely to Wessex.
"Oh, a clever boy!" Wessex said. "Very good. Do not introduce me, though; I can tell it is best if I do not know your friends."
"You have no idea," Finn muttered. Bail shot him a thin, startled grin.
Wessex snorted. "I assume you have a datapad in there, young man?" she said, staring at Bail. "Give it here-and don't let me or the security holocams see whatever weapons you're trying to pretend you aren't also carrying. Ah, don't deny!" She shook her finger at Bail, although he had made no move yet to do so. "I can tell by the way you stand. Now, hurry up!"
"Of course," Bail said, deftly removing the datapad from his toolbag while holding it close to keep the other contents concealed. "Many thanks, ma'am."
Wessex clucked her tongue again and took the datapad. She pulled a datastick from a pocket in her robe and spent a few seconds transferring data between them while Bail and Stella watched; Finn glanced nervously around the hanger, alert for signs of an attack, but none came.
"You will come and visit me properly sometime when all this silliness is done and Pellaeon has his peace treaty, yes?"
"Of course," Stella said, and leaned in to kiss Wessex on her wrinkled cheek.
"Good girl," Wessex said and handed her Bail's datapad. "And good luck with whatever it is you should not be doing."
"Thanks, meemaw."
"Ma'am," Finn said and tossed her a salute. Bail nodded politely and they followed Stella back into the ship at a brisk trot that was not quite a run.
Wessex shook her head and sighed again as she watched them go. "Foolish girl," she murmured fondly as the shuttle's repulsorlifts whined and lifted them back into the air, one step closer to Breha-and Revan.