Chapter 9 – Gone Rogue
Leia sat with Luke in the vestibule outside the main chamber. It was a grand room. White marble and gold leaf. Above them, some two dozen feet, was a glittering glass cupola. The sky was clear, pale baby blue.
Luke was tapping his foot. Leia shot him a look.
"Calm down," she said. "I'm the one who should be nervous, not you."
"Sorry," Luke muttered. "It's just… this place."
"What about it?"
"It's so beautiful."
Leia appraised the vestibule. "Yeah," she said. "I suppose."
The doors to the main chamber opened. Luke jumped to his feet. Leia remained seated. A silver protocol droid waddled toward them.
"Her Majesty the queen and the viceroy will see you now," it said in a feminine voice.
Leia brushed down her pants. They were still sullied with dirt and sand from Tatooine. Her attire was hardly presentable, especially not to a royal court. But Leia didn't care. She stood and followed the protocol droid into the chamber.
The throne room was antiquated, deliberately so. It emanated an ancient sort of wisdom. The walls, interrupted by intricately carved marble columns, featured tall, arching panes of stained glass which filtered the morning light in lambent shades of blue and green. Leia kept her head low, focusing on the gold-laced carpet which directed her to the elevated dais at the front of the chamber. The droid stepped aside and Leia came to a hesitant stop. Luke was a step behind her, and he came to a stop as well. He would not come to her side. Leia wished he would. Perhaps he felt out of place. But if that was the case, Leia felt it a hundred times more.
She slowly raised her eyes from the base of the dais to the throne. It was gold and ornate, but not in a kitsch way. It was elegant, and bold, much like the woman who sat on it, olive-skinned and impeccably dressed in a regal dress of purple velvet.
"Leia," said the queen.
"Mother," Leia replied.
Breha Organa's face was expressionless. Her brows were ever so slightly pinched, a sign of suspicion, or displeasure. Her eyes were trained on Leia, and Leia alone. She did not blink. She did not speak.
It was her husband, the viceroy, who broke the silence. "Have you come home?"
Leia looked to her father – the man she had called her father. He stood at the queen's side, dressed in characteristic dark blue robes. He, unlike Breha, looked older than she remembered. His hair was touched with streaks of grey on the sides and the lines around his eyes were deep and pronounced.
"No," Leia said. "I have not."
The queen and viceroy – her parents – looked at each other.
"Then why are you here?" Breha asked, icily.
Leia gulped. "I need help. We need help." She turned to beckon Luke forward. He shuffled to her side sheepishly.
"Who is this?" Breha asked.
"Luke Skywalker, sir," Luke said.
Bail's eyes went wide. "Skywalker?"
"Yes sir," Luke said nervously.
"There was a general by that name in the Clone War," Breha said, but Bail was holding up a hand to her.
"Where is Obi-Wan?" he asked. "He's not…?"
"Dead," Leia said. She winced at how flat her tone sounded. "He and Luke saved me," she added, in an attempt to sound more grateful.
"Saved you from what?" Bail asked. He stepped forward, off the dais and toward them. Leia held her ground.
"I am wanted by the Empire for desertion," she said evenly.
"Desertion?" Breha echoed.
"From an Imperial academy," Leia elaborated. "I'm a pilot now, Mother. Are you proud of me?"
Breha did not answer. She seemed stunned.
"Obi-Wan cannot be dead," Bail said. "He simply can't. Unless –"
"It was Vader," Luke said. "He killed him."
The throne room went cold.
"Does Vader know?" Bail asked.
"Does he know what?" Leia asked.
"About you? About you both?"
"He knows about me," Leia said. "Not Luke, though. At least I don't think so."
Bail's face went white. "Oh no."
"Bail –" Breha tried to say, but the viceroy cut her off.
"How did you get here? Were you tracked?"
"We weren't tracked," Leia said, although she couldn't possibly know for sure. "We need your protection. And your assistance."
"On one condition," Breha said.
"No," Leia said at once.
"Leia, please." For the first time, Leia could see the hurt in her mother's face, and hear it loud in her voice. She had hurt her when she left. She had hurt so many people.
"I am not your heir," Leia insisted. "And I am not your true daughter."
"We raised you," Breha protested. "You are my child in all ways but one, Leia. How can you not see that?"
Leia looked at her feet.
"We can revisit this discussion later," Bail said.
"Later?" Breha said, incredulous. "There is no later, Bail! I have waited for two years for her to come home."
"She cannot stay here," Bail said.
"Why not?" Breha said.
"She is in terrible danger. As is Luke. They must be kept away from the Empire."
"Will you help us?" Leia asked.
"I will do what I can," Bail said.
Breha pounded her fist on the arm of her throne. "I am the ultimate authority in this chamber, not you," she said with the strength and fire of a queen. Bail flinched.
"Of course not," he said, hands raised. "But you must understand that this is too important. Luke is the last of the Jedi. And Leia…"
"Is my heir," Breha said. "She is not mixed up in this."
"But she is," Bail said.
"I am wanted by the Empire. By Darth Vader himself," Leia said, with a touch of smugness.
"He will not touch you," Breha said. "I will not let him. Vader would not dare –"
"But he would," Bail said blackly. "Vader will stop at nothing to take her away from us."
"But why?" Breha asked.
"Because," Bail said, looking at Leia again. He hesitated. "You say he knows? Are you sure?"
"He knows my father was a Jedi," Leia said, stumbling over that consequential word. Her father. Her true father. Not Bail Organa. She felt her hand drift to the lightsaber tucked away in the pocket on her thigh. It was the only piece of that man which she had. "That's what Obi-Wan told me and Luke."
Bail blinked at her. "That is all?"
"That's what he told us," Leia repeated.
A strange silence followed.
"A Jedi," Breha said. "You knew about this, Bail?"
"I did," he said.
"Why did you never tell me?" Breha asked.
"Or me?" Leia added.
"I will explain myself in time," Bail said.
"You will explain yourself now," Breha demanded.
Bail considered. "Very well," he said. "But only to you."
"What about me?" Leia asked.
"Q3 will see you to your room," Bail said, gesturing to the protocol droid. "Luke as well."
"My room?" Leia said, aghast. "You have no right!"
"I do not," Bail conceded. "But you do, Breha."
All eyes turned to the queen.
Without hesitation, she said, "Q3, show our guests to their rooms."
"Yes, ma'am," the droid said.
"Mother!" Leia gasped.
"Do not call me that if you do not mean it," Breha said.
Her words felt like a slap across the face. Leia's eyes watered.
"Come on," Luke said, taking her by the arm. "Let's go."
"No," Leia said, struggling. "I deserve to know! I'm not a child!"
The Organas refused to look at her. Luke pulled her away.
"Calm down," he said.
Leia couldn't help it. She knew it was petulant. Yet she screamed anyway, "I hate you!"
They looked at her then.
In her mother's eyes, stinging hurt. In her father's, steely resolve.
"But we love you, Leia," Bail said. "We love you."
The fight left her. Leia turned limp in Luke's grip.
"This is for your own good," Bail said. "Q3, please."
"Right this way," the droid said.
Luke all but dragged her out of the chamber.
Δ Δ Δ
It was raining on Eadu.
Vader stood on the facility's deck amidst the downpour, red-lensed eyes scanning the row of sopping wet engineers. For now, he remained in the background, content to allow Krennic center stage. Yet his presence was not unnoticed. The engineers saw his looming figure beyond Krennic's shoulder, and they trembled at its implication. They knew of Vader's reputation. Everyone did.
"Gentlemen," Krennic said, "one of you betrayed the Empire."
The engineers murmured among themselves, trading anxious looks. Vader trained his gaze on the one at the end of the line. Galen Erso. He kept a cool demeanor, but Vader could sense a spike of fear from the man.
Krennic continued. "One of you has conspired with a pilot to send messages to the Rebellion." A pause, no doubt for dramatic effect. Vader despised Krennic's theatrics. "I urge that traitor to step forward."
No one moved.
"Very well," said Krennic, blasé. "I'll consider it a group effort then." The Death Troopers who had lined up on the flanks closed in with their blasters raised. "Ready!" said Krennic. The engineers began to panic. "Aim!"
Vader knew this was all for show. Krennic had promised there would be no executions. Yet Galen Erso did not know that. And just as Krennic yelled "Fire!" it was Erso who ran forward.
"Stop! No, stop! Krennic, stop!"
He was about to confess. Vader would not let him.
"Dr. Erso," he said, striding forward and shoving Krennic out of the way.
Erso stared at him, mouth agape.
"Lord Vader," Krennic protested. He too must have realized what Erso was about to do.
"I will handle this, Director," Vader said.
"But –"
"I will handle this," Vader said, a current of steel in his voice. He turned to look at Krennic who had no choice but to fold.
"Very well, my lord."
Vader stepped to Erso. The doctor looked back with trepidation.
"There are a great many questions which need answers, Dr. Erso," Vader said.
"I have no secrets from you, Lord Vader," Erso replied.
Vader nearly smiled. Erso was right on that account. No secret could be kept from him for long. No secret. Kenobi had learned that in the end.
Vader was about to instruct Erso to lead them inside when he froze. He craned his head to the sky, the rain splattering against his lenses.
"Lord Vader?" Krennic prompted. "Is something the matter?"
He saw the events happen, mere instants before they transpired. Explosions. Hellfire. Death.
"Rebels," he said.
His augury was confirmed when a klaxon blared on the deck. The roar of a dozen engines cut through the rain as fighters and bombers surged toward them. The opening salvo of missiles missed the facility, smashing into the mountain side with a fiery explosion. Stormtroopers, in a panic, ran haphazardly toward their stations as Rebel fighters strafed the deck.
"Return fire!" Krennic ordered. "To your stations! Get our fighters in the air!"
Vader grabbed Erso by the arm. "With me," he said, pulling him toward the shuttle. But Erso resisted. He was looking beyond Vader at something, or someone, in the distance.
"Father!"
It was a woman's voice, barely audible over the colossal sound. Vader turned to it, foolishly thinking of his own daughter.
"Jyn?" Erso said.
The young woman had a blaster pointed at Vader. She fired, but before she even managed to pull the trigger, Vader was contorting out of the way, dragging Erso along with him. As the blaster bolt whizzed overhead, another explosion rocked the bridge, sending him and Erso flying.
Vader rolled to a stop. He got back quickly to his feet, or as quickly as his metal legs would allow. Erso was prostrate on the crumbling deck. The mysterious young woman had also been flung to the ground, but she seemed unharmed.
"Director, we need to evacuate," Vader heard a voice say. He looked in that direction to see two Death Troopers helping Krennic up.
"Erso," Vader growled. He approached the man, saw that he was unconscious, and picked him up with two hands. Throwing him over his shoulder, Vader labored to the shuttle along with Krennic and the Death Troopers.
Behind him, the facility on Eadu was on fire. And the young woman called after him, "Father!"
Δ Δ Δ
This is bizarre, Leia thought.
Her bedroom was perfectly preserved. It was exactly as she remembered it two years ago. The canopy bed was fitted with the same silk drapes and embroidered quilt. The walls were adorned with the same wallpaper, with twisting vines and bursting red petals. Most crucially, her closet – if she could even call it that; it was nearly the same size as the bedroom itself – was still stocked full with all the dresses she had left behind. Leia had lost herself there for a few minutes before forcibly extricating herself.
Dresses. Stupid.
Now she stood on the balcony, leaning over the silver railing. Aldera's pearlescent skyline glimmered in the distance. Beyond that were the mountains. Snow-capped peaks, jagged citadels of stone. Her eyes found the tallest peak on the horizon.
Mount Appenza.
"Leia?"
She glanced toward the door. Luke was standing in the frame.
"Wow," he said, ambling toward her. "That's quite a view."
Leia sighed. "I left for a reason, you know."
"What are you talking about?"
"I know you think I'm crazy for leaving. You think everything's so wonderful here."
"Because it is."
"Maybe, but it's not where I belong. I can't explain it. But I've always known that I was meant to be elsewhere. To do bigger things."
Luke nodded. "You will do big things, Leia. We both will."
"It's our prerogative," Leia said.
"Yeah, sure," Luke said. "Whatever that means."
Leia felt herself smile. She liked Luke. That was rare. She didn't like most people. Val and Biggs were the exception.
For a minute, they stood there together in silence, drinking in the view.
"How much longer, do you think?" Luke asked.
Leia's lips twisted. "I have no idea." She huffed. "They still treat me like a child. Like I can't think for myself."
"They care for you," Luke said.
"If that was true, they wouldn't hide things from me."
"I don't think that's true."
"Don't you want to know more about your father?"
"Of course."
"You deserve to know. So do I. But no one ever tells us everything."
"But Ben –"
"Told us they were Jedi. That's all. We don't know anything other than that."
"I guess not."
"That's what they're talking about right now. Our fathers. And Vader. Something about this is all out of place, Luke. They're trying to hide something from us. Something big."
"Like what?"
"I don't know. But I'm going to find out."
Author's Note: I forgot how much I loved Rogue One, ha! Look forward to Galen and Jyn playing roles in the chapters ahead. I'm very excited about how things are going to unfold, and I hope you are too! Thank you as always for reading and reviewing. Maybe I won't take a month to upload next time? No promises!
