"So. You've really gone legit."
Aleesha shrugged, grinning. "Close enough. My crew and I do smuggling runs for the cash we need for supplies, but the colony itself is legit, yeah."
"Seems like a pretty nice place," Spot said, looking around the flight deck Aleesha had led him, JoJo, and Davey to.
"It's better than a world ripped to shreds by the war between the Resistance and the First Order," said Aleesha. "Most of the people who live here are refugees from planets caught in the middle of battles, or that have been strip-mined for anything useful by the First Order. Sometimes the Resistance, too, but they're at least slightly better at choosing uninhabited worlds for their bases, so fewer lives get destroyed when they come through a planet."
Spot nodded. "Where did all these ships come from?" He gestured at a small collection of freighters lined neatly up along the flight deck.
"Decommissioned from some old transport fleet," said Aleesha. "We've been buying them one at a time and fixing them up with proceeds from smuggling runs. That's how we transport supplies, plus they make up our defense fleet, and if we ever have to evacuate the city, they're really the only way for us to do so."
Spot nodded again. "Seems like you've got a pretty good operation going on here."
Aleesha shrugged. "It's not so bad," she grinned. "But I have to ask… what brings you here?"
Spot opened his mouth to answer, but didn't get a chance to speak before a voice called his name from across the deck. He looked up and grinned, waving slightly at the figure hurrying towards their small group. "Hey, Obi," he grinned as Aleesha and Ben's older brother joined them.
"It's good to see you, Spot," Obi clapped a hand against the captain's shoulder and fell in step beside him. "I never thought we'd see you again—and here of all places!"
Spot laughed sheepishly. "Yeah. It's been a while, huh?"
"You were about to explain why you'd come to Haven, I think?" Aleesha piped up.
"Right," said Spot. "Back when we were with the Resistance—you guys know—once you found someone you could trust, you never let them go if you could help it. Well, just because I left the Resistance doesn't mean I forgot about the people I trust. The three of you—and the whole old Gambit team, really—are the only people I've ever been able to fully trust in my life. Back working intelligence with all of you, that was important. You had to be able to trust the people who knew who you were, since your life was literally in their hands. We all did a lot of favors for each other, too."
"What do you need?" Obi asked.
"Anything we can do, you got it," Ben added. "I'm sure at least one of us owes you for something at some point from back then."
"Probably more than a few favors are owed, honestly," Aleesha grinned.
"That's what I was counting on," Spot admitted. "I need information. On Captain Metalbeard."
Obi's eyes went wide and Ben's jaw dropped. Aleesha, on the other hand, quirked her lips up into a half-smile, tucked her hands in her pockets, and relaxed her shoulders. "Obi, Ben, why don't you help Spot's crew get comfortable in the city. He and I have some things to talk about."
"Sure," Obi nodded. He nudged Ben, and the other boy snapped his mouth shut. "Come on," Obi turned to Davey and JoJo. "Let's get the rest of your crew. I'm Obi Shray, by the way. This is my brother Ben."
"I'm JoJo," the Onotoran smiled, her feathered crest ruffling slightly. "That's Davey."
"Nice to meet you." Obi and JoJo's voices trailed off as they headed back towards where the Banner was docked. Aleesha and Spot watched them go; when Davey cast an uncertain glance back over his shoulder, Spot offered him a reassuring nod—a silent promise that he would do what he needed to.
"So," said Aleesha, pivoting on her heel and leading the way into the domed city. "Metalbeard. That's ambitious. What are you now, a bounty hunter? I thought you were running for some Mid Rim business bigwig. Last I heard, anyways."
"You always did have ears everywhere," Spot laughed. "Yeah, that's still what I'm doing. We had a run-in with Metalbeard a few weeks back. Busted up my ship pretty good, killed a few of my crew, and got away with one of my boss's kids."
"Kidnapping? That doesn't seem like Metalbeard's style, from what I've heard."
"I don't think it is, but apparently my boss is his brother. Davey thinks Metalbeard is trying to get back at him or prove some kind of point by nabbing his kids. We can't get in touch with their father, though, so it looks like it's up to us to get her back."
Aleesha nodded sagely, but fell silent as they made their way through the city. Spot recognized a surprising number of the faces they passed in the hall; he hadn't realized how many people he knew had followed Aleesha when she left the Resistance.
The rift between members of the Resistance had been growing larger and larger by the day for months now. Two main camps had formed: the primary, and larger, group fell under the leadership of what was left of the Senate of the New Republic; the second group was made up mostly of people who had devoted their lives to protecting the galaxy's citizens from the evils that plagued them, from remnants of the Galactic Empire to ravaging pirates in the Outer Rim. Several spokespeople had risen from among the ranks of this smaller group, not the least of which was a fiery, outspoken young pilot named Aleesha Shray. She, like many of her followers, had literally grown up in military service, in a program called the Gambit Initiative that accepted teenagers from across the galaxy and trained them as pilots, intelligence operatives, and more.
However, the Gambit Initiative had failed in one aspect, it seemed: rather than training loyal-to-a-fault warriors willing to serve their government no matter what, it created a generation of strong-willed, independent operatives driven to do what was right, even if it meant open defiance of orders. While they had been a force to be reckoned with while they served the senate and military council, the older generations now began to fear what they had created as their pet project rose up against them, garnering more and more support both in and out of the ranks of the Resistance.
Spot Conlon hadn't had many prospects before he joined Gambit when he was fourteen. Aleesha, who was the same age as him, was already miles ahead of him, despite having only been in the program a year longer. She was a naturally gifted pilot, charismatic leader, and a fair strategist. When her latent magical powers were discovered, it came as a surprise to no-one—if anything, it explained her other gifts.
Years later, Spot was assigned to a unit under Aleesha's command—one of the most elite in the entire New Republic Space Navy. In the years they served together, both in pilot squadrons and intelligence units, they became close friends and developed a fierce sense of loyalty to one another, just as they did with many of the others they served with. When Aleesha began to speak out against the actions of the senate that left billions of people across to galaxy—particularly citizens of poor planets, like most of the Outer Rim—at the mercy of the rapidly-expanding First Order, many of the other Gambit operatives fell in line behind her, adding their own voices to the outcry against the senate. As they had been the first line of defense against pirates and other rogues on small and poor worlds across the galaxy for nearly a decade, many of these worlds threw their support in behind them as well.
Overwhelmed by the growing opposition, the senate leaders that now headed up the Resistance gave an ultimatum: fall in line, or leave the Resistance, forfeiting any measure of protection the organization would have offered. They were shocked when nearly a third of their soldiers opted to leave, rather than allow themselves to be controlled by a government they disagreed with on such a fundamental level. "We were trained to go where we were needed, and help who needed our help," they said. "We will not be stopped from doing so."
Some of the former Gambit members formed small militias, setting up bases on worlds that seemed to be particular targets of the First Order. Others set off on their own, operating as assassins, mercenaries, or bounty hunters. Aleesha, her brothers, and many of their closest allies set out to find a new home, not just for themselves, but for anyone else they could rescue from the First Order—and thus Haven was born.
"We've missed you," said Aleesha, leading Spot into a small, cluttered office.
"Yeah," Spot smiled slightly. "You know, I'd've come with you if I'd known you were building a place like this."
Aleesha laughed. "When we left the Resistance, you and Hotshot disappeared so fast! We had no way to contact you. Well, I'm sure we could've figured it out if we'd really tried, but… Anyways, we didn't set out to build a place like this. At first, we just settled in the abandoned city to use it as a temporary base that we could strike against the First Order from in this part of the Outer Rim. Then we started rescuing people, and didn't have anywhere else to send them, so we started fixing it up as a place to live. And, well… it just kind of spiralled out of control, and now we're working on repairing a second city nearby."
"It's pretty impressive," Spot grinned.
"Obi and Siri do most of the administrative work," Aleesha shrugged. "Skanton Ru, too; he defected a little while after the rest of us. There are a few others, but I'm not sure if you know any of them."
"I'm surprised how many people around here I do know," Spot said. "And kind of equally surprised by how many I don't."
"Yeah, me too," Aleesha laughed. "But there's always room for more. That's what the second city is for. You know… We could use someone like you around here. If you ever get tired of running for big-time businessmen, that is." She winked.
"I'll keep it in mind," Spot laughed. "But I have to get Katherine back first. It's my fault she was taken. I can't leave her in Metalbeard's hands."
"Fair enough," Aleesha nodded. She settled down at the desk and fished out a tablet. "Let's see what we can find on that pirate."