Author's Notes

Edboy4962: Thank you for all the reviews, they are greatly appreciated.

Guest: Thank you for the correction about Coruscant. I was under the impression it was Republic aligned due to the riots etc after Endor. I will try to amend the chapter or make some correction about the planets alignment some time later in the story.

Miss Luny: Thank you for your praise. I should mention that while my Kuvira is definitely derived from the Legend of Korra. This is not a crossover and will be entirely in the Star Wars universe. However, I will take your suggestion in to account for later chapters.

Palantiri: Thank you very much for the praise and thank you for the advice. I found it very helpful. I will try to ensure that the characters develop emotionally, in a reasonable timeframe. Keeping in mind that the 7th and 8th movies timeline consist of roughly a few weeks in total at best guess. Also, if you could elaborate on what you mean by 'wishfullfillment-esque stories' as I am not entirely certain what you mean.

ThatAnnoying: Thank you for pointing that spelling error out, I hadn't noticed. I tend to get on a roll when writing and use auto-correct to fix any spelling mistakes.

Too all other readers, reviews are always appreciated, and I welcome your feedback. The more Reviews the more inspired I am to continue with new chapters.

Chapter 6 – The Calm Before the Storm

D'Qar, the Resistance Base

Leia POV

On D'Qar stood General Leia Organa, formerly Princess of Alderaan, formerly council member of the Rebel Alliance, formerly Senator of the New Republic…and most painfully of all, formerly Leia Organa-Solo.

Despite her multitude of titles, she wore simple military garb with no visible signs of rank. Some said this was because she had so many titles it was virtually impossible to display them all accurately. The more cynical claimed it was because most of her titles were effectively meaningless, i.e princess of a dead world, disgraced senator of the Republic.

But most believed it was because she wanted it to be remembered that she was no more or less important than any Resistance member. Regardless no one on the planet would fail to see this small but massively imposing woman for what she was.

A leader.

She stood in the command centre of the Resistance base of D'Qar. Effectively the beating heart of the private military force that she had founded and built in recent years.

She's had many titles and help many positions over the course of her life. Both political and military, and all of them had been the main focus in her life at the time. And each one of them had left its mark on her, both in body and soul.

In fact, she sometimes joked (in the rare moments when she was allowed and/or able to feel such levity) that she could tell which wrinkles, age lines and stress marks had come from which of her many hectic jobs.

It was a humour that was cloaked in sadness and weariness. She knew that she looked tired. She certainly felt it too. Every time she looked at herself in the mirror each morning, she was momentarily struck with how old and haggard she had become.

She was no longer the fair and young princess that had the strength of will to strangle Hutt crime lords, charge into battle against enemy troopers or dodge multiple assassinations attempts. Now she was an old veteran. She had grey hair, and her hands were worn and creased with the ravages of age and long forgotten injuries ached across her body.

She had been fighting her whole life. Ever since she was a child, eavesdropping on her father's secret communications with rebel leaders in the palace of Alderaan, she had been a part of the fight.

She had dedicated her entire existence to the battle against tyranny. To bring down the evil that was the Galactic Empire and its complete totalitarian rule over thousands of worlds. To free all those who had been enslaved by it and bring justice to those who had lost loved ones to it. To ensure that peace and democracy could be restored to the galaxy in a New Republic built on cooperation and understanding.

Maybe most of all. To make sure that no other worlds would suffer the same fate as Alderaan. And that no one else would ever have to watch their entire world die before their eyes

…. like she had.

And she had accomplished all of those things.

The Empire was gone. The New Republic now governed the galaxy with the elected senate residing on Hosnian Prime. The Emperor and all his minions were dead or at least removed from power.

And yet somehow she had not appeared to have made any process in the last 4 decades. She was still doing what she had been doing as a teenager. Running an underground, paramilitary group made up of likeminded idealists, who had come together to desperately save the galaxy. To fight an evil that even now seemed to be becoming an unstoppable tide against which resistance was pointless.

She could not help but wonder. Where it all went so wrong?

After the final battle of Jakku and the official surrender of the Empire to the New Republic. They had all thought it would be so easy. That now that the war and fighting was done, the establishment of the New Republic would be merely a formality. That after the tyranny of the Empire, the people of all worlds would be eager and ready to embrace the democratic ideal. That they would understand the need for patience and compromise.

But like many things in life. It was the intangible aspects that proved so much more difficult to restore and re-establish. Such as the idea that everyone was entitled to a voice. That any opinion no matter how unpopular was valued.

But she and those who had led the rebellion seemed to have grossly under estimated the deeply buried desire of far too many people, who simply preferred to be told what to do.

It was after all, so much easier to simply follow orders then to think for one self. It was much more peaceful and pleasant to let someone else make the difficult choices, so you didn't have too. And it was to be an unpleasant realisation that many people did not care a bit about the opinions of others if they conflicted with their own.

This was a great problem that the Empire had left them. An undeniable cancer that had seeped into the psyche of the people and left them missing the tyrannical system had that guided them through their simple servile lives.

But ironically it was the sudden indulgence of free speech that had done an equal amount of damage to the New Republic. And so, the Senate had debated and argued and second guessed, until it was too late.

But among all the mistakes that had been made during the formation of the New Republic. She knew which one was the most damaging to their new government.

The dismantling of the New Republic Fleet.

Mon Mothma, the leader of the Rebellion, first Supreme Chancellor after Palpatine's death, and Leia's mentor had pushed for this to happen before even the Galactic Concordance was signed. Leia had bitterly disagreed but had eventually grudgingly bowed to Mon Mothma's decision.

After all, a massive militarized fleet and army had been one of the hallmarks of Imperial rule. And Mon Mothma had been determined to show the galaxy and the Rebel Alliance. That they were not just going to replace the domination of the Empire with their own rule through force.

Leia would have been happy to accept a downsizing of the Republic fleet. But not so quickly and not before the New Republic could firmly establish itself against all the others that were jostling for power amid the fall of the Empire, such as crime families and a revived separatist movement.

But she had been overruled and now the New Republic was viewed across the galaxy as an entity that barely existed beyond the senate building on Hosnian Prime.

Having spent many years in the New Republic senate, (before the reveal of her parentage forced her out) she would have been hard pressed to argue with that assumption.

The Outer Rim, (which had provided the rebels with so much aid) was once again left to its own devices by the reduced fleet and the uninterested senate. The idea of circulating the capital planet was intended to spread the Republic government across the galaxy. Instead the capital invariably moved between Core Worlds only. And the deadlock of the populists and centralists ensured that the senate remained ineffective

In the end the New Republic was stagnant, ineffective, and had virtually no presence with its reduced military power. She was disappointed. But she felt that compared to the evil of the Empire, she could look back and feel satisfied with what the Rebels had accomplished. That she could settle down into retirement with her husband, son and brother and feel that she had made the galaxy better.

But then the incident with the Amaxine warriors and her alliance with Senator Ransolm Casterfo had led her to learn of a great galaxy spanning conspiracy against the New Republic. That had lead her down a twisting and turning chain of events until she arrived at the source.

And what she found was beyond her worst fears.

The First Order.

Born of the ashes of the Empire and comprised originally of Imperial loyalists who had refused to surrender. They had taken their fleets and armies into the unknown regions to rest and rebuild. Just waiting to launch their attack on the New Republic and bring the galaxy back under their total control. It was then that she realised that the war was not over. It had never truly been over. It had simply been a very long lull in the conflict.

But the New Republic senate had been too lazy, too indolent, too corrupt to act on her warning. And she had realised that the sun was setting on the New Republic.

And so, she had given rise to the Resistance. Because even if the New Republic would not fight for itself then she would, and so would others. Even those who had served in the Alliance with her had left their dreams of a well-deserved retirement and joined her to fight the good fight once more.

Ackbar, Holdo, Nien Numb and others.

She had not wanted to drag them back into another fight. They had given so much to the galaxy already. But she should not have been surprised. They, like her, were willing to lay down everything for the sake of others.

But this new fight had been anything but easy. The Resistance had nowhere near the backing the Alliance had, and they were struggling to meet their First Order's activities. Their plan had always been to bring the New Republic to their side. To show the Senate that they must destroy their First Order for their own survival.

But so far that plan had not succeeded.

Their only other hope was the return of her brother Luke Skywalker. The Last Jedi.

Which was why she was anxiously waiting for a response from their star pilot Poe Dameron on the status of his mission to Jakku. He was already long past his scheduled check in and she could not keep herself from pacing slightly as he tried to occupy her thoughts with other matters.

So, when Lieutenant Brance came hurrying into the command centre, she turned away from her conversation with Temmin 'Snap' Wexley and a droid to face him. She quickly examined the data pad that he thrust into her waiting hands and as she read, she felt her shoulders involuntarily slump in sorrow.

"General, as you can see from this read out. The community on Jakku has been over run. First Order stormtroopers. Lor San Tekka was killed". He said, his voice cracking a little. Tekka had been widely respected in the Resistance, for both his comforting nature and his valued sage advice to all who needed it.

Leia was studying the read out, and as she continues to read her spirits continued to sink lower and lower.

She had of course known that the New Republic had sold the Jakku system to the First Order at a ridiculous price. But she had hoped that they would not be sending a garrison force there before they could get Tekka and leave.

But now she was reading that not only was Tekka dead. But his surviving followers (upon learning of the New Republic's actions) had pledged themselves to the First Order. She hoped that it was a meaningless gesture made in the face of certain dead if refused. But from what the report indicated, it seemed they were actively assisting the First Order set up shop on Jakku. No hints of rebellion or organised Resistance was reported, and it appeared that formerly welcoming contacts had gone silent in the recent days.

As she continued to read she felt her lips involuntarily curl back in a grimace of frustration as she came to the part detailing the First Order's presence on Jakku.

The Reclaimer.

And that could only mean that Admiral Kuvira had been in command of the operation. She forced herself to calm down and remain composed. But it was incredibly difficult.

Admiral Kuvira had appeared on the galactic stage a few years ago along with the First Order's revelation to the larger galaxy.

When she had presented herself (via hologram on Hosnian Prime) as the Commander in Chief of the entire First Order the Senate had laughed behind closed doors.

This young woman of less then 25 years was the highest-ranking commander of the First Order?! To many in the senate, this only cemented the idea that the First Order was a grossly exaggerated and under equipped organisation of zealots and 'children playing dress up'.

But Leia had seen the truth. Both in the engagements that occurred after the revelation, and in those cold calculating eyes in that hologram, that burned with an intensity she had not seen since Grand Moff Tarkin. She had instantly known that this was an enemy that was no fool and should never be taken lightly.

Time had later proven her right.

Kuvira had proven to be nothing less then a tactical genius and an inspiring, charismatic leader for the enemy. And under her the First Order had rabidly expanded at a rate that many had previous considered impossible. After that Resistance operations against the First Order became much more difficult and much more costly.

Fighter squadrons going missing on recognisance missions.

Their limited spies in First Order territory going silent one by one.

Attempts to gain allies in the Outer Rim against the First Order being met with sabotage and seemingly random setbacks.

The common cause was soon made clear when a First Order strike force, led by Admiral Kuvira personally in her TIE Interceptor, had attacked a secret Resistance base on Trilo in the far Outer Rim. The fighters had seemingly appeared out of nowhere and proceeded to ravage the surface and infrastructure of the base, before breaking off before the Resistance pilots could even get into their starfighters.

Naturally the Resistance pilots had been unwilling to let the deaths of their comrades go unanswered and had set off in pursuit. The ensuring dogfight had left the entire Resistance attack forces destroyed with minimal losses on the enemy side, due to the sudden appearance of the Reclaimer in the system which blasted their fighters to dust.

It was only later that they learned the reason for the First Order's hit and run strategy. They had goaded the Resistance into chasing them across the territory border and then ensured that the fight had been documented and passed along through 'neutral' parties to the Republic Centralist party.

With no firm evidence to show the First Order had initiated the attack. The Resistance had only their word on what had happened.

It was quickly made clear that it was note enough.

The outcry that had followed had greatly diminished the Resistance in the eyes of the government and people. Those who saw some value in what they had been saying, instead now saw them as dangerous extremists who where determined to cause a galactic war.

The ploy had been repeated years later at Tilius V (a First Order training camp for their child cadets). They had attacked the facility and attempted to rescue the children.

The attack had failed, and their forces were destroyed by reinforcements that arrived far too quickly for them not to have been aware of the attack ahead of time. Reinforcements that once again came from the Reclaimer.

The enemy had also deployed clearly off-limits ships and weaponry that were outlawed by the terms of the Galactic Concordance.

Despite the loses she had been happy. They finally had definitive proof that their First Order had violated the terms of the Concordance and she was sure that would finally be enough to convince the senate to act against the First Order.

Instead, when she had presented her evidence against the First Order to her former colleagues she had been shouted off the podium. They had declared that the reason the First Order had violated the law was in simple response to the Resistances attacks. They had called her a warmonger, a threat to the entire Republic.

Too late did she realise why the First Order had not made any effort to prevent her from speaking before the senate or to destroy the evidence.

They had wanted her to present the evidence and had used their influence in the senate to ensure that they focused on the Resistance attack. By the end of it they had gained more galactic sympathy and had gained de facto approval to violate the Galactic Concordance. After that no one batted an eyelid when the First Order displayed its clearly illegal technology in their suddenly increased expansion through the Outer Rim.

After that incident and with virtually all supplies and aid cut off from the New Republic to the Resistance, she had been forced to halt almost all operations against the First Order. This was due to the lack of resources and her determination not to allow such a thing to happen again.

Thus, the First Order had 'permission' for their weaponry, an increase in public sympathy, and an almost free hand in the Outer Rim.

She had been played for a fool.

And Kuvira had been at the heart of all of it.

And now she seemed to be at the heart of the First Order's efforts to find and destroy Luke. Leia could not help but feel her dread steadily increase at the thought of that.

After skimming the rest of the recognisance report's additional details; weaponry, numbers of enemies, time of the attack, she was forced to voice the only conclusion.

"If they get to Luke first, we won't stand a chance." She murmured. She then raised her head to face Brance directly again. "What about Poe Dameron?"

Brance hesitated for a second before answering. And that was all the hints she needed to know if this would be good or bad news.

"They found his X-wing destroyed. Based on angle and depth of the damage, it was likely destroyed while still on the ground. Definitely First Order, although it bares the marks of local attacks as well. But they seemed to have been made after the attack. Possibly by the converted villagers." Brance slowly trailed off. Not wanting to remind Leia that their former allies were now their committed enemies.

"There is no indication that Commander Dameron survived the attack. It looks like we have lost him" He forced out solemnly.

Leia's expression visibly tightened. Not just because of the fact that if they continued to lose pilots like this, then they would have virtually nothing to meet the First Order with.

Poe was important to her on a personal level. He had served with her for years and his parents had served with her in the Alliance. She had often viewed him, like he was a reckless nephew that was over eager to help. In private, she imagined that if things had been different, Ben would have been similar to him. Maybe they might even have been friends.

But she also viewed him as someone with the potential to take her place in this fight.

Leia knew that she could not go on for much longer. She had been fighting this struggle her entire life. She was worn down, exhausted and burnt out. Often she felt that the fiery spirit that had always been her reserve of strength had become the faintest flickering spark.

Disappointment, defeat and disillusionment had worn away her idealism and defiance to the point when keeping up the brave front for her troops was so much harder than it should have been.

In Poe, she had seen someone whose fire still blazed hot and brightly. And while he still needed to be tempered by training and experience. She was confident he was someone she could count on to continue this fight after she was gone.

If he was gone…. she was not sure if she could handle that.

After relaying orders to Brance and instructing C-3PO to activate BB-8's tracking beacon. She turned and left the command centre and headed to meet Korr Sella. Her personal assistant in her Senate days. And more recently, the Resistance's official envoy to the New Republic.

Ironically her dark green uniform, commander badge and tightly tied up hair might have given an uneducated observer the idea that she was the commanding officer and Leia was just a civilian.

Leia did not waste time even saying hello. "You need to go to the Senate immediately. Tell them I insist that they take action against the First Order. The longer they bicker and delay, the stronger the Order becomes. If they delay much longer, the Order will have grown so strong, that they will be unable to do anything. It won't matter what they think!"

Sella nodded in understanding. Even though she felt that this plan was on the borders of desperation.

The Senate had not listened before. And with the legal purchase of Jakku from the New Republic, the First Order had not violated any intergalactic laws.

She decided to voice her concerns. "With all respect. Do you think the senators will listen?"

Leia shook her head in resignation. "I don't know" She muttered in frustration. "So much time has passed. There was a time when they were once willing to listen. But I don't care what they think about me, as long as they take action."

Sella nodded again "I will do all I can to ensure the Resistance gets the hearing we deserve."

Leia placed her hand on Sella's shoulder. And offered her one of her smiles. Like all her smiles these days, it felt very forced.

"I have full confidence in you Sella. I know you will deliver our message with all of your considerable ability."

With that Kor Sella left for the hanger bay for a ship to Hosnian Prime. And Leia returned to her seemingly never-ending struggle.

Meanwhile: On Board the Millennium Falcon

Han POV

"You, close the door behind us!" Han yelled frantically at the young female stowaway that he had found on his ship! Turning to the male stowaways he yelled. "You take care of Chewie!"

Han and Rey race up the boarding ramp as Finn heads up with Chewie, who screams wildly in pain from the blaster wound he received from the kriffing Guavian Death Gang. Or maybe it was from the Kanjiklub scum suckers.

It was hard to tell as both of them were filling the air around the Millennium Falcon with super-heated plasma blasts. Even more so as the portal opens and even more of them flood into the room.

Han reaches the cockpit and with long practiced ease, throws himself into the pilot seat. He quickly stabs at the navicomputer, hitting switches and entering coordinates as fast as he can.

Then Rey enters just behind him and moves past him to Chewie's seat.

Han stared at her as she quickly begins messing with his ships controls. "Hey, where are you going?" He demanded.

"Unkar Plutt installed a fuel pump too. If we don't prime that we're not going anywhere." She answered without even turning back to look at him.

"I hate that guy" Han hissed under his breath. It felt like his ship, his baby had been violated. If he ever met that that guy in the flesh he would ensure that he put a blaster bolt between his eyes. After letting Chewie have some fun with him first of course.

"And you could use a co-pilot." Rey continues as Han looks at her.

His facial expression seems caught between horror at the suggestion of anyone other then Chewie as his co-pilot. And impressed at her audacity.

"I got one, he's back there." He replies. Just in time to hear a very unhappy Wookie roar from the ship's med bay. He only hoped that Chewie would not lose his temper and unleash it on the kid within in arms reach. Blood was hell to scrub out of the deck plate.

Turning back to the controls he shrugs in acceptance. "Watch the thrust, we're going out of here at lightspeed".

Rey turns her shocked expression towards him. "From inside the hangar? Is that even possible?" She demanded. Han brushes off the concern and offers the same response that has served him well in his life.

"I never ask that question until after I've done it."

Suddenly the viewport went from showing the hanger back to showing rows and rows of serrated teeth. A Rathtar had jumped onto the windshield. Its giant mouth chewing at the glass as it tried to get at the food inside the cockpit with its sheer animal ferocity.

"This is not how I thought this day was gonna go. Angle the shields, hang on back there!" He yelled over his shoulder at the other two passengers in the lounge.

"No problem!" Came a sarcastic response.

Han ignored it and turned the ship to face the launch bay. "Come on baby, don't let me down!"

He punched the lightspeed controls, only to be rewarded with…. nothing. "What?!" He demanded.

He could not believe this was happening. He finally got his ship back and now all he had to look forward to was being blasted by gang member scum or eaten alive by a bloated ball of rubbery flesh and teeth!

But then Rey reaches over and hits a switch matter-of-factly.

"Compressor". She stated simply.

Han doesn't like it but she's right. When he hits the switch again the hyperdrive fired and the hangar is filled with lightspeed blast as the attacking gang members are blasted back like dry leaves. In the cockpit the Rathtar rips away like wet tissue paper as the forces of the galaxy tear the apex predator apart. #

The stars stretch like elastic and the black of the ether turns to the swirling blue tunnel of hyper space. As the Millennium Falcon vanishes into the distance.

Meanwhile A figure left on board the freighter opens his communication commlink. Bala-Tik was seething at the lost chance to finally put that lying, thieving, washed up husk of a smuggler Han Solo in the grave where he belonged. Still, if he could not handle that personally, he could make sure that he could pocket an impressive finder's fee.

"Inform the First Order that Han Solo has the droid they want. And it's aboard the Millennium Falcon." He relayed to his First Order contact.

After a few seconds a voice comes back over the communication link. The voice was coded with an untraceable link and the voice that came back over the channel was disguised to avoid anyone placing their voice, gender or even species.

"You have done well Bala-Tik. The appropriate sum has been transferred to your requested accounts. The First Order thanks you for your service."

In the Far Outer-Rim

Meanwhile a pair of tie fighters roar towards a magnificent planet. The surface was frozen white with lush snow-covered forests and snow caped mountains rising in a hauntingly beautiful image. But that is the only thing that is normal about this planet.

The surface has been carved down to the core. And the artificial modifications that have been placed on this celestial body are obvious even from the void of space.

This is the Starkiller Base, a natural planet that has been hacked and modified into something sinister. Something truly unique in the galaxy. In fact, maybe unique in possibly all of the universal history.

Authors Notes

I took this chapter to provide more background on the Resistance vs First Order conflict which the movies could not go into details with. I decided to cut down the Han, Chewie, Gangs and Rathtars because it was just so much to write and in this current OC story I don't see anyway it would be very different from the actual film.

I would also like your opinion on these kinds of chapters. This chapter was mostly an introduction into Leia's personal feelings, memories and current situation. I had planned to do this when introducing a new main character, i.e Luke, Snoke.

I see this as a way to introduce them. Give an enhanced viewing of how they got to this point in time that the movies couldn't portray. And of course, to develop them and the story emotionally and personally.

Please let me know if you enjoy these personal filler chapters for the characters or if you would prefer that I focus more on the actual events.

As always let me know in your reviews and I will try to take them into account.