Epilogue: A New Dawn

Since Luke's X-Wing was the least damaged of all, he landed for last, but a small crowd was ready to cheer him and greet him back once he stepped down the yellow ladder. Ezra and Jaral were among the first, patting him on the shoulders and smiling widely.

Much more enthusiastic was Leia's approach, who literally bumped against him to hug, so strongly that the two made a couple spins while laughing loudly.

Then Han arrived, carried by one of the coaches, and he, too made a much more festive greeting as the two hugged vigorously, with Chewie taking a moment to lift them both in his own hug.

R2 also was brought down from the X-Wing and reunited with his counterpart.

General Dodonna and most of the rebel officers instead walked toward the siblings and went to greet them.

"Grand Marshall, General," Dodonna said with a satisfied smile. "you two never cease to amaze us."

"You flatter us, General." Jaral replied with humility. "It's Luke who took the shot."

"And it was your plan that brought us to the destruction of the Death Star in the first place. Not to mention I rarely saw someone fly with such skill."

"Yeah, no kidding, boss." a familiar voice came from their right.

The siblings turned around and found themselves in front of Wedge and Hobbie.

"Good job up there, you two." Jaral complimented.

"It wasn't just us, boss." Hobbie said a bit grimly. "The rest of the squadron didn't make it." he added, making Wedge lower his head as well.

Jaral stepped in front of them and spoke in a reassuring tone. "Their sacrifice was not in vain, and we all knew that the chances of getting out were thin. We will honor them. You two have given everything you had, and thanks to you we destroyed that abomination. You can be proud of yourselves."

The two seemed a bit comforted. "Thanks, ma'am." Wedge said.

"That said, what will happen now?" Ezra asked. "From what we know, most of the imperial highest officers were aboard the Death Star. We might have hit them where it hurts, but we should expect some retaliation."

"I know." Jaral said. "For now, I want to hear what Dad has to say about Lianna. If they let him come all the way here, I hope it means the situation was under control."

"You mean Iulius?" her brother asked and Jaral made a nod.

"With the death of the highest members of the imperial hierarchy, it's safe to assume that he might receive more resources, which means we should make sure he is well distracted."

She then turned toward Dodonna. "General, contact Mon Mothma and tell her to get the Intelligence at work. The Empire will be in chaos, for a while, we should exploit it to stir up insurrections all over the Outer Rim and free the region once and for all."

The old general made a resolute nod. "I'll go right now." and walked away.

Wedge and Hobbie also walked away to join the celebrations for the victory with the rest of the personnel, who was gathering in the middle of the temple.

In that mess, Luke, Han, Leia and Chewie managed to make way from the crowd and walked all toward the siblings.

"Hey, what's with the long faces? We won!" Han exclaimed.

The siblings made a lopsided grin. "Yeah. We were just discussing the future prospects." Ezra said. "The war is far from over."

"Come on, guys." Leia encouraged. "Cheering for five minutes won't bring us the end of the world."

Then the siblings turned their heads, because in the distance they could distinguish the familiar noise of eezo thrusters coming down from the sky.

"Just give us a minute and we'll be right there with you." Jaral replied, unable to hold her enthusiasm.

Then she and Ezra jogged toward the large threshold of the great temple, just in time to see a Kodiak shuttle land among other small fighters, and reveal their father when the doors opened up and the engines died down.

The three couldn't help but laugh softly before running and hugging all together.

"Kids. I'm so bloody proud of you." Jordan whispered as he kept hugging them.

"It's good to see you, too, Dad." Jaral answered.

They renewed the hug for a few more seconds before they separated.

"Speaking of which." she added. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't get around the idea of leaving you to face a planet-killer on your own, and the situation on Lianna was pretty much in stall, so I pestered Edrix for a bit and he finally allowed the Constantinople to come here and help you however we could.

"When we arrived, hell was already above the Death Star. I spent a few minutes observing the situation and came up with a surprise attack. I'm sorry we didn't arrive before."

"The important thing is that you arrived in time to prevent our collapse, Dad." Ezra reassured him.

Just at that moment they realized that Leia and the others had followed them out of curiosity. The princess walked forward with a polite smile

"Captain Bridger. Your timing had been flawless. Good to see you again." she said as she extended a hand.

Jordan shook it gently. "It's good to see you too, Princess. I'm sorry for what happened to Alderaan." Jordan said with a sorry voice.

Right. In the euphoria of the victory, the siblings had momentarily forgotten about Alderaan. About Jedha. About all the damage made by the Death Star.

Leia made an austere nod with her head. "Thank you, Captain."

Then Jaral took her father's hand and had him approach toward Luke and Han as she pointed at the first one.

"Dad, this is the man I talked you about. Luke Skywalker, now Jedi Padawan."

Jordan extended a hand, with a friendly smile. "Nice to meet you, Luke."

Luke was feeling a bit intimidated by the giant in front of him, but he still shook hands. "Hi, Mister Bridger." was all he said.

"Ah, don't let my kids' total disregard for danger impress you. With them, you will have good teachers for your training." he joked a bit.

Luke chuckled. "Yes, I saw that."

"All right, how about we join the celebrations for a bit?" Ezra proposed, and everybody agreed.

"Sir, the Corvus is waiting on the rear of the bridge." an operator announced from the pit.

"Thanks, Smirnis." Iulius replied. "Krybos, the ship is yours until I come back. Admiral Versio will assume command."

"Yes, sir." the commander replied.

The fleet had now regrouped around Arcan. Bolo and his division were a bit late because of their sortie. Apparently, he saw a gap in the enemy lines and wanted to apply pressure to see if he could divert forces from Lianna or, in the best scenario, attack it from the flank.

A bold plan, just like Iulius wanted his officers to act. Too bad that the Emperor's orders had made his efforts null and void.

Normally, that would have made Iulius quite mad, but if his worst suspicions were true, and the Death Star had been destroyed with most of the imperial high officers that were on board, then the strategic situation of the war had just suffered a major turn in favor of the Coalition, and pushing his offensive might have completely backfired.

He passed in front of the holotable, where Ciena and the other officers saluted him while Qathora started to follow him. The two quickly reached the rear airlock of the bridge, where the Corvus was waiting for them.

They passed the airlock and entered the hallways of the corvette. They weren't that thin, but one could clearly tell apart the corridors of a Star Destroyer from those.

The crewmen they met all stood on the sidelines and saluted the Grand Admiral. As they stepped into the command room, they eventually found the three members of the Inferno Squad lined up in front of the holotable, waiting to greet him.

"Ten-hut!" Commander Iden Versio ordered. She, Meeko and Hask stood at attention and made the salute.

Iulius walked in front of them and returned the gesture. "At ease."

"The course for the Yavin system has been set, sir." Meeko reported. "We will reach it in two rotations."

"The cloaking device?" Iulius asked.

"All systems ready to go, Grand Admiral." Hask replied obediently.

"Then let's move out." Iulius concluded firmly. The two men clacked their heels and went to their posts, coordinating the departure of the ship.

Iulius leaned against the holotable and sighed.

"What the hell is going on out there?" he mumbled as he stared at the galaxy map. "Qathora, can you get anything out of the imperial network?" he asked.

The Togruta was using the console on the table to find any clue about the Death Star and what could have happened to it. But she just shook her head.

"All channels to the station are unresponsive...and there should be a lot of them."

Iden gulped. "Sir...is it true?" she asked frightened.

"I don't know, Commander. But all clues tell that we should be prepared for the worst." was the fatalist conclusion of the Grand Admiral, who then spoke to his servant again. "Try to find a register of the personnel that was aboard the Death Star." he said, and threw one of his code cylinders to the Togruta, who easily clasped it. "We need to understand who else is left."

"Weren't the other Grand Admirals aboard the station?" Iden asked with a hint of worry.

"They were when I left the station." Iulius said. "But I don't know if they left before going to Yavin."

"If they didn't, you might just be the highest ranking officer left in the Empire." Qathora commented as she tapped the console.

The mere thought had Iden look in shock and maybe a little bit of reverence toward Iulius, while the Grand Admiral pondered.

If he really was the last Grand Admiral left, and with many other Admirals completely gone, which probably included Motti himself, the Imperial Armed Forces were essentially leaderless, and with the massive loss of officers that would come with the destruction of the Death Star, the hierarchy would fall into chaos.

All those thoughts and many more accumulated in his mind as the Corvus entered hyperspace.

As the joy of the victory went on, Jaral quickly instructed some officers to organize an award ceremony, since she wanted to make sure that the Alliance knew the names of Luke as the one who destroyed the Death Star and also of Han, recognizing his contribution to the victory, even though he totally didn't have to stay and fight.

Meanwhile, the siblings went on the Kodiak, where Jordan was able to open a channel to Lothal by using the Constantinople as a relay.

Soon enough, on the screen of the shuttle appeared the faces of their family and companions back home, and they had just received the notification of the destruction of the Death Star. The Constantinople had visually recorded the explosion and transmitted it to the Coalition, which was now spreading the news all over the HoloNet.

The group was smiling at them, both for seeing them alive and rejoicing in their victory.

"Kids...once again you've done the impossible." Hera commented proudly.

"First Thrawn. Now a planet-killing weapon." Zeb added in a joking tone. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."

"I really wish I could have been there." Sabine said with a wishful tone. "Must have been one of the most beautiful explosions in the universe."

"Right…" Ezra said with a lopsided grin, but he and Jaral couldn't help but think about one thing: that explosion meant the death of about three million people.

During the escape they were too distracted to notice it, and perhaps after the feeling they had for Alderaan, which meant the death of way more innocents, they were probably somewhat accustomed, but the void left into the Force was clear to them. Though, honestly, it also felt like some great shadows had finally disappeared from the universe.

"Anyway, we will pay a visit to Lothal in a few days." Jaral announced with a cheerful voice. "I want to meet with the delegates of the Federation and discuss the new strategy. Besides, we can't miss the birth of Kanan Jr." she quipped in the end.

Hera chuckled, with everybody looking at her framing/hologram (depending on what kind of device they were communicating with.

"Just so you know, I've decided on the name, but I'll tell you once I have him in my arms." she said.

"Awesome." Ezra commented. "We also have some more stories to share with you guys. This has been quite the busy week."

"For you, at least." Darvos quipped. "Things here have been even festive."

"That's a good thing, Darv." Jaral commented, noticing that her husband seemed a bit bored.

"All right, I'll leave to awarding medals." Sabine quipped. "See you later, guys."

"See you soon, everyone." Ezra said.

"We're proud of you, kids." Mira said. "But, honey, make sure they don't jump into another suicide mission." she then asked to Jordan.

The Legionnaire chuckled. "Yes, ma'am."

And the call was shut. The Bridgers stepped out in the open.

"Should we also invite Luke to come to Lothal?" Ezra asked. "I know the temple is gone, but I think that might be a better environment to teach him the basics. Patiently."

"We should see what he wants to do." Jaral simply said. "Besides, there's a lot of work to do here."

"Jari, it can't just be the two of us. We need him to become a Jedi, sooner rather than later."

"But it's not just the two of you, right?" Jordan intervened, drawing their attention. "Didn't you say that Ahsoka is still out there?"

Hearing that, Jaral snapped her fingers. "Ah, there's what I wanted to do. We should ask Nimbus if she found any trace."

"Right." Ezra agreed. "Luke would certainly benefit if he could get to meet Ahsoka."

"Yeah, but...what if the topic of his father comes out when they meet? I mean, Anakin was Ahsoka's Master." Jaral doubted.

"Uh, why would that be a problem, exactly?" Jordan asked.

The siblings looked at each other, then looked around to be sure that nobody else was nearby. Then finally turned toward their father, getting closer to make a more compact formation and keep out undesired ears.

"Dad, what we're about to tell you must stay between us, ok? Even if you have to lie to your superiors." Jaral whispered with an extremely serious tone.

Despite the sudden change in the conversation's tone, Jordan didn't hesitate. "You have my word." he said with a firm voice.

The siblings looked around one last time, then Ezra spoke up. "Ok, first of all, Luke and Leia are actually twins. They are both Skywalkers."

Jordan was taken aback, but after the siblings quickly explained things to him, he accepted the fact. "All right, what else is new?"

"Their father…" Jaral hesitated. "Anakin Skywalker, that is...now goes by the name of Darth Vader."

Now Jordan couldn't hold back a small jolt backward with his upper body. "Are you kidding?" he asked.

"Never been more serious, Dad." Ezra replied with an adequate tone.

Despite that, Jordan kept his composure and discipline. "Do they know all of this?"

"We told them they are twins right after we left the Death Star. We didn't want to reveal their father's identity, not when Alderaan's destruction and Master Kenobi's death had just occurred." his son explained.

Jordan crossed his arms in front and hummed in thought. "Well, it's your call how you want to handle this, but the sooner they learn the truth, the sooner they can come to terms with it."

"Yes, that's what I'm thinking." Jaral said. "Let's wait until the end of the ceremony, at the very least."

"Speaking of which, we should hurry before they start without us." Ezra quipped.

Jaral smiled and they invited their father to follow them to the grand hall of the temple, where the personnel of the base was lining according to the department and uniforms. The engineers, the officers, the pilots...and on the small altar at the end of the hall stood the generals and Leia, who had dressed in a long, white robe for the ceremony, and the siblings wondered how she got all set up in just half an hour.

The two sides of the parade left a corridor open for the two heroes of the day to walk on a straight line from the door, where two honor guards awaited, to the altar. The medals had already been prepared and it would be up to Leia to give them to Han and Luke.

Jordan was allowed to stay in the back row of the altar, and he elected to keep his armor on.

The siblings stood on the sides of Leia, and soon the ceremony started.

A group of trumpeters started blowing one of the marches of the Rebel Alliance, and a drummer accompanied it.

The door opened, letting the two Humans enter, accompanied by Chewbacca.

Luke had changed into an outfit given to him by the Quartermaster: black shirt and boots, brown pants and a yellow jacket that was actually a variant of the one Jaral wore as part of her Marshall's outfit.

As the march kept playing, the three walked down the disposed corridor with excited grins on their faces. When they reached halfway, Chewbacca made a roar, signaling everybody to turn toward the altar.

Han and Luke took the two steps with a calm walk and stopped a couple of stairs below Leia. They both smiled at her and she returned before Dodonna stepped forward with the small case containing the medals.

Leia took the first and put it around Han's neck. The smuggler smiled and blinked at her. The princess then took the second medal and went in front of Luke. Just like Han, the young man bent a little forward so the princess could easily put the medal around his neck.

Luke then looked at the siblings with a happy face and the two Jedi gave him their lopsided grins.

After that, the two turned around and Chewbacca roared again, starting a long applause by the large crowd of rebels as the march finished in the distance.

Slowly, the applause subsided, leaving Jaral to step in the center of the altar and address the crowd.

"Friends and companions of the Rebel Alliance. Thanks to the courage of each and every one of you, today we have delivered a severe blow to the Empire. Some of their worst criminals, including Gran Moff Tarkin, have paid for their misdeeds once and for all.

"Yet, let us not forget all those who lost their lives against the Death Star. Our allies from the Milky Way, our comrades today and at Scarif. And most of all, the innocent people of Alderaan, who paid the price of the blind hate of the Empire.

"Let us observe a minute of silence."

The hall fell in the most absolute quiet. Everybody lowered their heads. Leia, despite being directly touched by the destruction of Alderaan, retained her composure

"Thank you all." Jaral concluded after the minute passed. "However great our victory has been, this war is far from over. Now the Empire knows that we are here and while it might be in disarray, right now, its vengeance will be brutal.

"But don't lose hope, my friends. Because today marks the first day of a new era. The era that will see the end of the Empire, where we will bring back freedom and justice to the galaxy." the Grand Marshall concluded.

A cheer of agreement followed.

While Dodonna started to give dispositions for moving most of the materials and personnel of the base to other fronts, the siblings and their father gathered on a small balcony that was behind the altar.

Staring at the setting sun of the system, they couldn't help but wonder: just what the future was holding up for them?

And here we are again.

This has been quite the journey for me, and I look forward to keep writing. I still have a lot to come up with, since technically there are three years between Ep. IV and V, but I'll go ahead and tell you all that 'The Book of Boba Fett' E5 gave me the perfect idea for one of the first narrative arch of the upcoming volume.

I hope you had fun reading this, and see you in the next book.