Chapter 11 – Choosing a Path

Threepio led them through dark, humid hallways. Leia tried to take deep breaths to calm herself, but her heart continued to hammer inside her chest. She was terribly excited. For two years she had been dreaming of this moment, when she could finally join the Rebellion and do something worthwhile with her skills.

Luke walked by her side. He was not excited like she was, but anxious. She could sense it. How easy it was for her to sense his emotions. It was bizarre. But not strange. It was natural. She felt his emotions as if they were her own.

"You okay?" Leia asked him.

"Yeah," Luke said. "I'm just…"

"Nervous?"

"Yeah. A bit."

"Don't be. This is our moment. I promise."

The hallway terminated at a closed door. "The viceroy instructs that you stay here until the meeting is over," Threepio told them with a bob of his head.

"What meeting?" Leia asked, looking beyond him at the door. She could hear some commotion beyond it in the War Room. "What's going on?"

"I do not know, Mistress Leia," Threepio said. "That is confidential information."

Leia pushed past him to get a look at the control panel. She pressed a button to no avail. Of course. Even in the Rebel Base, she was faced with nothing but barriers.

"Ugh!" she said, kicking the door with her boot.

"You know, I can open that for you," Luke said.

Leia cast him a look. "You can?"

"Easily." He smiled boyishly, clearly eager to impress her. "Just like… this." When he waved his hand, the control panel made a soft sound and the door slid open.

Leia's eyes went wide. "How did you do that?"

"I'll show you sometime," Luke said, winking. "Come on. Let's see what's going on."

Ignoring Threepio's protesting, she and Luke slipped into the War Room unnoticed. There was a sizable crowd huddled around a circular table. Dingy tactical stations glowed with a faint green hue, but that aside, the War Room was dark, and the mood was grim. Voices were heavy with dread and laced with accusation.

"If it's war you want, you'll fight alone."

"If that's how it's going, why have an Alliance at all?"

"If she's telling the truth, we have to act now!"

"Councilors, please."

Leia recognized that last voice. That was Senator Mothma. Making her way through the crowd, Leia made out the venerable senator's figure at the head of the table, white robed and weary. By her side was Bail Organa, who likewise looked quite austere.

"It is simple," came a man's voice. "The Empire has the means of mass destruction, the Rebellion does not."

"A Death Star," said another. "This is nonsense."

"What reason would my father have to lie? What benefit would it bring him?"

Who was that? Leia couldn't get a good look. It was a young woman's voice, that she could tell. Something about it was so… compelling. Leia had no grasp on the subject of the conversation, yet she instinctively found herself agreeing with this woman.

"To lure our forces into a final battle to destroy us once and for us," someone retorted.

"Risk everything? Based on what?" another asked. "The testimony of a criminal?"

"If the Empire has this kind of power, what chance do we have?"

The woman with the compelling voice spoke. "What chance do we have? The question is what choice?" Leia sidestepped a few more figures, and that's when she saw her. She was young, perhaps only a few years Leia's senior. She was stern with determination, and commanded the attention of the entire room despite a diminutive stature. Leia couldn't look away from her. She was rapt. "Run, hide, plead for mercy, scatter your forces. You give way to an enemy this evil with this much power and you condemn the galaxy to an eternity of submission. The time to fight is now! Every moment you wait is another step closer to the ashes of Jedha."

"What is she proposing?" a voice called from the crowd.

"Send your best troops to Scarif. Send the Rebel Fleet if you have to. You need to capture the Death Star plans if there's any hope of destroying it."

There was a great deal of murmuring at this proposal. Leia glanced over her shoulder to see Luke behind her, looking rather confused.

"You're asking us to invade an Imperial installation based on nothing but hope," a councilor said.

"Rebellions are built on hope," the woman replied.

A profound silence followed.

"There is no hope," one said.

"I say we fight," said another.

"I say the Rebellion is finished!" said a third.

All eyes turned to Mothma.

"I'm sorry, Jyn," the senator said. "Without the full support of the Council… the odds are too great."

The young woman processed this. Then she turned to leave. The crowd began to disperse, murmuring among themselves. There was a heavy weight to the air. Leia did not know what had just transpired, but she could sense that the Rebellion was making a mistake by not trusting the word of that woman. Leia tried to find her again in the crowd, but she couldn't make out much. She wanted one last glimpse of her…

"Leia," Luke's voice said in her ear. "Look."

She followed his gaze to see Senator Mothma looking back at them. Leia swallowed hard.

"Come on," she said.

She shoved her way up toward the circular table. Mothma walked along its circumference to greet them. Bail was right on her heels.

"Leia Organa," Mothma said, keeping her voice low. "It is an honor to finally meet you."

"Appenza," Leia corrected.

"Pardon me?"

"That is my chosen name." Behind Mothma, she could see Bail was pained by that remark. Leia ignored the twinge of guilt she felt in her stomach. "I was told you wished to speak with me?"

"With you. And with Mr. Skywalker." Mothma looked to Luke. "Senator Organa informs me that you are a Jedi Knight."

"I am training to become one," Luke said.

"Your skills will be much appreciated," Mothma said. "I knew many Jedi before the Purge. They were great warriors, but also great leaders and listeners. They preserved peace in the galaxy."

"I will do what I can to help you," Luke said.

"As will I," Leia said, feeling left out.

"I am glad to hear that," Mothma said. Yet 'glad' seemed hardly the word to describe this woman. She was gray, in more ways than one.

"What was that all about earlier?" Leia asked.

Mothma and Bail traded looks. "Do not concern yourself with that," Bail told her.

"I asked Senator Mothma," Leia said frigidly.

"You should not have been present for that meeting," Mothma said.

Leia chose to ignore this. "Who was that woman? What is her name?"

"Why do you care to know?" Mothma asked.

Leia hesitated. "She seemed very… confident."

"That she was," Mothma said. She sighed. "Her name is Jyn Erso."

"Why does she want –"

"That is enough, Leia," Bail said. "The senator already told you that the subject matter of this meeting is confidential."

Leia bristled at her adoptive father. "If I'm going to be a part of this Rebellion, shouldn't I be privy to this sort of information?"

"In time," Mothma said. "But Senator Organa is correct, this matter does not concern you nor Skywalker."

"All right," Leia said. She forced herself to take a calming breath. "Then what is it you wanted to discuss with us?"

"In order for you to best assist us, Senator Organa and I agree that you must receive proper training."

"As Jedi, you mean?" Leia said.

"That exactly."

"I agree, Senator," Luke said, "but my old master is dead. There's no one left to train us."

"That is not strictly true," Bail said.

Leia narrowed her eyes at him. "More secrets?" she said.

Bail turned the other cheek. "I know of a great Jedi Master in exile. His name is Yoda. I believe he will be able to train you."

"Yoda?" Luke echoed. "Ben told me about him. He was Grandmaster of the Jedi Order before it fell. Are you sure he's still alive?"

"I certainly hope so," Bail said.

"Where can we find him?"

"The Dagobah system."

"Dagobah? Where's that?"

"Hold up," Leia cut in. "This isn't going to happen."

"It's not?" Luke said.

"We're not going to some backwater world to find an old Jedi Master who may or may not still be alive. We're here to fight! We have the skills to help you right now. Not in the distant future."

"But Leia, if you receive training –" Bail began.

Leia cut him off. "Luke and I can fight," she said, imploring Mothma. "You haven't seen the things he can do. He took out a whole platoon of stormtroopers single handedly! I guarantee there isn't a better soldier in your ranks right now. And I might not have any training, but I'm the best goddamn pilot you're going to find."

"Are you now?" Mothma said, eyebrows raised.

Leia's face heated at the doubt in her voice. "I've trained for two years in an Imperial flight academy on Palaam. I was the best student they had ever seen."

"Palaam?" Mothma said. "I've not heard of that academy."

"I promise you I'm better than whatever spoiled Core-world pilot you'll find at Skystrike. I'm the best there is. Even Darth Vader thinks so."

"Darth Vader?" Mothma echoed.

"Enough," Bail snapped.

"But –"

"Enough." Bail took her by the shoulder and steered her away.

"Hey!" Leia protested. "Let me go!" She tried to wriggle free from his grip, but the viceroy was surprisingly strong. For a politician.

"You will not speak on this matter," he said, releasing her a dozen feet away by the War Room door.

"On what matter?" Leia asked.

"You know what," Bail said.

"No, I don't! You won't tell me anything. How am I supposed to keep a secret if I don't know what the secret is?"

Bail rubbed his forehead. "Go to Dagobah," he said. "You will be safe there."

"I don't want to be safe," Leia said. "I want to be helpful."

Luke came up to them. "What's going on?"

"I beg you," Bail said, turning to him. "Speak some sense into her." He walked back to Mothma, head bowed in frustration.

"The nerve," Leia said through gritted teeth.

"I think he's right, Leia," Luke said carefully. "Yoda was a great Jedi, the greatest of them all. If we find him –"

"Then we'll train. And we'll wait. And we'll be safe. And useless! Don't you see, Luke? They don't actually want our help at all! They just want us out of the way." Leia shot a vicious look toward Mothma and Bail who were speaking softly with one another by one of the tactical displays. "I didn't run away from home just so he could come back and tell me what I can and cannot do."

"What other choice do we have?" Luke asked.

"You always have a choice," Leia said. She believed that fervently. No matter what, Leia refused to concede control over her life to anyone else. She would be the one in charge of her fate. "We could choose to go along with them, following orders like good little soldiers. Or we could choose our own path."

"And what path would that be?" Luke asked.

"I don't know," Leia said. "But I think I might know how to find it." She glanced furtively at Bail, and seeing that he wasn't looking their way, Leia grabbed Luke by the wrist and pulled him with her toward the exit.

"Leia!" he protested. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," she said.

Weaving in and out of traffic, she and Luke forged their way out of the War Room and down the labyrinthine halls of the Rebel Base. Leia followed her instincts, and her instincts led her back toward the hangar bay. There she saw a small crowd assembling. At the center was the woman she meant to find: Jyn Erso.

"We have to help her," Leia told Luke.

"But we don't even know what she was talking about. Do you have any idea what a Death Star is?"

"None whatsoever," Leia said. "But I trust her."

"Why?"

"I just do."

Luke frowned. "I don't know about this, Leia."

She gave him a sour look.

"But it can't hurt to talk with her," Luke added.

Leia's face brightened.

"I couldn't agree more," she said with triumph.

Returning her attention to the huddle, Leia saw that it was now disbanding. Jyn Erso was speaking softly with a dark-haired man.

"Come on," Leia said.

Still holding Luke's wrist, she dragged him with her toward Jyn. The man she was talking to looked up, his eyes narrowed.

"Who are you?" he said.

"Jyn Erso?" Leia said, ignoring him. "We'd like to talk with you."

The man stepped in front of Jyn, hand on his holster. "Did Mothma send you to spy on us? Is that what this is about?"

"What?" Leia said. "No, of course not."

"Then who are you?"

"Cassian, calm down," Jyn said. She pushed him aside and looked Leia over. She had dark, incisive eyes which reminded Leia of Val's. "What's your name?"

All of a sudden, Leia couldn't find her voice. Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. She felt her face burning up. This was so embarrassing…

"I'm Luke Skywalker," Luke said, stepping forward. He nudged Leia with his elbow.

"Leia. I'm Leia." She chose to look at the man, Cassian. It was much easier to speak that way. "Leia Appenza."

"And who are you?" Cassian asked.

"We want to help," Leia said.

Cassian and Jyn traded looks.

"Ok then," Jyn said.

"I don't think so," Cassian said. "I've never seen them before. Where is it you came from?"

"It doesn't matter," Leia said. Somehow, she thought disclosing that she was recently a cadet at an Imperial flight academy wouldn't go over well with Cassian. "I'm a pilot. You're going to need a pilot, won't you?"

"We already have one," Cassian said.

"Oh," Leia said. She glanced at Jyn, then glanced to the floor.

"I'm a Jedi," Luke contributed.

Cassian scoffed. "And I'm the Emperor."

Luke smiled wryly. He unclipped his lightsaber from his belt and activated the blade. "Doubt me now?"

Jyn and Cassian's eyes went wide. Not wanting to be one-upped, Leia pulled out her own lightsaber and activated it as well. The blue and green blades hummed in unison, casting their bright hues upon the dark walls of the hangar bay.

"Let us help you," Leia exhorted. "You're going to need us."

Jyn looked at Cassian. "Well?"

"All right, Jedi," Cassian said. "Welcome aboard."