Disclaimer: I own none of the rights to Star Wars. Not in any capacity.
Welcome to Samirah's story. It's a long journey that I've been putting together for years. After a many hiatus', I'm back and updating the story as I go. A lot of my writing has improved since I first set out to write this story so forgive any mistakes you find along the way. I'm slowly working my way to make this an enjoyable read for all who encounter it. It's lengthy and will likely only continue to grow.
Thank you for giving Samirah a chance and let me know what you think as you follow her journey.
-Enjoy-
Prologue
"The beginning is the most important part of the work"
Samirah looked up at the ship, her eyes wide and a little intimidated. She wasn't accustomed to being on a big ship—especially one full of people that she didn't know. Seriously, she didn't know a single soul here. She didn't even exactly know who she was supposed to be reporting too.
She inwardly grimaced.
She kind of already missed her ship, the Silver Meridian. The small, unobtrusive ship that had seen her through many missions in the outer rim. She would kill Kelko if he so much as left a scratch on her girl while he was looking after her. She trusted Kelko but she also knew the kind of business he usually dealt in.
The Meridian wasn't a young ship but she had many more years to go before retirement, that much Samirah was sure of.
She sighed, hoping this new assignment was the best decision for her. Not that she had had much of a choice.
Her small duffel bag was hoisted on her back and she was dressed in her usual attire—a long white shirt with a brown vest and dark brown slacks. She knelt down to tighten the laces of her boots and tried to mentally prepare herself for what awaited her ahead.
The Endar Spire.
This was going to be her new home. She had never been requested for a mission before and she felt a little excited at the idea. And a little petrified.
It had taken them some time to track her down on the rims of the galaxy. She had actually been in the Adega system when they finally found her.
She had been trying to be productive with her time, laying low on the riskier jobs she'd been previously known to undertake. She'd spent most of her time flying under the radar and mostly on her own. Kelko checked in from time to time but, well, it was usually just her and her droid, I9-4V.
It was for the best; she didn't want to drag people into danger—danger that she normally found herself in with her unnecessarily risky plans and ideas. Sometimes resulting in unplanned trips to the... well, the Adega system. The point was, she got results. Sometimes it was messy but she knew how to get the job done.
And that got her a post on the Endar Spire.
Wish me luck, Kelko, she thought.
She took a deep breath as she walked up to a man dressed in a Republic uniform standing off to the side. The hangar was abuzz with people loading the hammerhead-class cruiser with all the necessary equipment and provisions for their trip. It was likely this man had an idea of where it was she needed to go. Or, maybe he was just the man she needed to see.
He was busy scrolling through his datapad when she approached him and he ignored her at first. Then, after a few moments, he finally looked up at her with a sigh.
He had light brown hair under his cap and a darker skin tone. He seemed maybe a few years older than her and was definitely taller. She was kind of short after all: a whole whopping 5"5 which wasn't that intimidating.
"Can I help you?" He asked, a little exasperated.
He looked at her with an eyebrow raised, almost expectantly. His green eyes waiting for her to answer.
Had she already done something wrong? Was she late?
"Ensign Samira Noval Alda, sir." He didn't move. He just raised an eyebrow even higher, inclining his head towards her.
"And? What is it you want from me, Ensign?" She fidgeted as he returned to his datapad, scrolling through it even more quickly.
"Well…. I—I wasn't sure where I'm meant to go…I thought…" She stammered.
She wasn't used to reporting in to someone. She was kind of her own boss... kind of. She had superiors, of course, but it was mostly sending in reports. Not actually meeting in person or saluting or- well, she wasn't a soldier was the point. She was a scout.
He rolled his eyes before gesturing over to his right. She glanced over where an uptight woman dressed in a different uniform stood by the loading gate. A few people were talking to her before being directed towards the Endar Spire's loading ramp. She didn't seem overly pleasant or thrilled about her job either.
"That's who you want." He said flatly.
She looked at him as her cheeks turned a bright red.
"I-I'm sorry, I thought you were—" She grimaced at her own flailing and her face flushed an even deeper shade of red.
He looked up to find her fumbling over her words. One good look at her was all he needed to know that she was out of her element. Severely out of her element.
He finally chuckled lightly before putting his datapad down and then, sighing.
"Hey, calm down. It's fine. You're that new transfer, aren't you?" She pulled her hands down and nodded slowly as he held out his hand."I can already tell you're going to have a tough time adjusting. I'll try to make it easier for you."
She shook his hand with a small smile, exhaling.
"To be honest, it's a sudden change for me. Not used to this sort of deal." She said, gesturing at the hangar bay.
The Endar Spire wasn't the only ship but it was, by far, the biggest one. The man before her nodded with a small smile as he crossed her arms.
"Yeah, well, you shouldn't worry about it too much. If you do your job just right, you won't have any quarrels for me to put out on board." She nodded, feeling a little more at ease.
"My goal has always been to fly under the radar- literally and figuratively. So I hope I don't cause you much trouble either." He smiled at that.
"Good, because I'm Devron Uhdea and I just so happen to be your flight officer…. So I suppose in a manner of speaking, you came to the right person." She opened her mouth, prepared with some retort but quickly stopped it and snapped her mouth shut.
After a moment, she cleared her throat.
"It's, uh, nice to meet you... uh, sir." He smiled again.
"Go get your papers, Ensign Alda, I'll see you on the flight deck." She nodded quickly at the dismissal, muttering her good-bye.
He gestured again towards the woman she needed and Samirah promptly followed.
Well, not she at least knew one person.
She jogged over to the woman by the boarding gate, a permanent scowl in place it seemed. She checked in a crew member very quickly, gave quick orders and then hurried them in before jotting down their details.
When Samirah approached, she looked up and frowned.
"Name?"
"Ensign Samirah Noval Alda, ma'am." She scrolled through her roster before reaching for some papers and handing them to her with a huff.
"You're late, Ensign." Samirah started to speak but was quickly interrupted. "Find your bunk and get settled in. Did you at least attend the debriefing?" Samirah nodded even quicker and the woman made a small snort. "At least you've done something right…" She said under her breath, dismissing Samirah as well.
Samirah didn't really like that tone of hers but... well, she just swallowed whatever snarky comment she wanted to let loose. She had literally just promised not to be troublesome. She supposed this was where it would start.
With her papers in hand, she walked up the boarding ramp, swallowing hard as she did so.
When she was aboard, she saw plenty of people rushing quickly by to get their separate tasks done before the Endar Spire left port. To be quite honest, Samirah didn't even know why she was on board. She had half a mind to just turn around right now and hope no one noticed her absence.
There was plenty of wild space left for her to explore, after all. It would be so easy to go back and just get lost in-
The sound of someone clearing their throat behind her gave her a start.
Samirah spun around to see a woman in pinkish robes standing behind her. She looked pointedly down at Samirah, indicating silently and then waiting for her to move. Samirah quietly stepped aside, muttering an apology as she saw several others follow the woman onboard. Samirah noted how they all had lightsabers clipped to their belts—they were Jedi.
Of course they were.
She sighed, figuring it was too late to abort mission anyway. Kelko and her ship were likely too far out of reach now...
Though, she did wonder how long it would take them to find her in space—she did know an awful lot of planets. And she was quite good at hiding when she didn't want to be found.
Well, standing in one place wasn't going to do her any favors.
She stared down at her papers as she walked down the corridors of the ship, trying very hard not to bump into any of the other passengers. After following the directions to the best of her ability and ending up nowhere, she decided to forget the paper and find it herself—she was, after all, a scout and had to rely on herself to find what she needed. A ship this size shouldn't be a problem to her, right?
She traveled further and further down the lengths of the ship, each corridor colored white with maroon stripes running along them and gray floors. Much brighter than the metal halls of her own ship. Samirah was deep in thought about the contrasts of this ship to her when when she rounded one particularly dangerous corner. She had to do some quick dodging to barely avoid running straight into someone else. She quickly mumbled her apology as they scoffed at her clumsiness and moved on.
"…Sorry…" She mumbled again but she didn't really mean it.
She scowled a little at the person's dismissive wave and their own mutterings about useless Ensigns.
"If this is how it's going to be I'm likely to lose my mind…" She muttered, rocking back on her heels. "Maybe even revolt had I the malicious intent needed… but no, I had to be born with morals… never thought I'd regret having those…" She complained out loud.
"Do you normally talk to yourself?" A gruff voice asked.
She started, nearly cursing at being surprised yet again. She needed to stop losing focus.
When she turned, she was met with a brown haired man standing behind her with a little bit of stubble across his chin. His brow was furrowed as he considered her for a moment and then looked down the hall past her and then back.
"Well… do you want the truth or a lie?"
He chuckled, crossing his arms. The burnt orange color of his jacket stood out when compared to the attire of everyone else she'd met. A more interesting choice of color, she noted.
"Surprise me."
She smiled before crossing her arms to mirror him.
"Then yes, all the time. Keeps a person sane to act partly insane." He laughed and she automatically liked this guy. He didn't seem so bad if he was willing to laugh at her stupid jokes.
Unlike Ms. Pink Robes and Ms. Uptight.
Aside from Uhdea and now this guy, no one else seemed to have sunny dispositions.
"Now how do you know if you're not just insane, acting sane." He challenged and she couldn't help the smirk that tugged at the corners of her mouth.
"Now that is the real trick, isn't it?" She whispered conspiratorially.
He knitted his brows together, his lips pursed as he slowly nodded his head. He was about to say something when the ship's intercoms rang through the corridor.
"All flight officers and captains are to report to the bridge for briefing. All flight officers and captains, report to the bridge."
"Ahhh, well, if you'll excuse me..." She started, "I need to figure out where I am and where I need to be going before we've reached our destination."
Samirah hoisted her bag up and reread her instructions once more, trying to figure out where she had ended up. Her new friend watched her do so curiously, a bemused smile in place. He tried to catch a glance of her paper before she finally just sighed and gave him her full attention again. He noted how her cheeks flushed a little bit.
What a strange addition to the crew, he thought. Not everyone he worked with blushed so easily.
"So, uhm, I know we just met but, uh...you… wouldn't happen to know where I am, by any chance?" Samirah finally asked. "I'm not used to ships this size. My ship? Sure, it's a fraction of the size. This one time, I lost power because one of the wires—you know what, never mind." She mumbled, stopping herself.
She was rambling. She hated it when she just started rambling. Her cheeks flushed again as she waved the request away. She could do this by herself, she had charted much more terrifying places than the corridors of a Republic ship. No, no, this was her own fault and she'd take care of it.
She had started to walk away when he finally started laughing.
"Hey, hold on." He called, stopping her. "Where is it you need to go? You're currently on your way to the bridge and unless you're a new officer I don't know about, that's probably not where you wanted to go." She stared at him before looking back at the paper, a little confused.
Then it hit her.
"Great galactic core... that explains why I am so lost." She laughed incredulously. "I really missed the target on this one and if I... yeah, there it is."
"Well, you aren't that far off. You see, just go back down the hall and take a left. Then make a right four doors down and you'll—"She started laughing and he tilted his head at her, confused.
She only waved him off with a smile, slowly backing away.
"Hey, don't worry, I'll find it now that I know where I am. Just needed to figure out how I got here but now I'm good! I think... I'm sure I'm keeping you from something way more important than this. So, it was nice to meet you, uh, sir. Thanks for having me aboard and may our voyage be safe... or whatever the military equivalent of that is."
She waved at him before she quickly turned and rushed off before he could stop her or even offer her more help.
"Yeah, no problem..." He mumbled out loud, watching with a confused smile as she dashed away.
After about twenty minutes of running around, hopping around people and dodging near head on collisions from others, she finally made it to what she assumed was her room and palmed the door. The room was small, tidy and sectioned off. Two beds, two storage containers, two racks- yep. Just what she expected from a military vessel.
She collapsed on the only bed that seemed to be unclaimed.
It had been a long, long, long day.
She shoved her duffel bag on to the floor and rolled over to look at the ceiling. She was very nearly ready for bed.
"Well, Samirah, here's to a new adventure but I doubt it will be like the first ones…" She frowned to herself before it turned into a smile. She took a deep breath and exhaled.
She was on a huge ship and if it wasn't for the uptight, military personnel, it would feel a lot more like a vacation. She knew it wasn't but, well, she was rarely on anything bigger than a light freighter. A hammerhead cruiser? Samirah never thought she'd be requested to work on one of these. To her, it felt like a small reprieve. She still wasn't sure why they wanted her help but, well, that was a problem for another.
She could enjoy drifting through the outer rims for a little while. Maybe they'd make a stop at one of the core worlds- it had been a while since she was on Coruscant.
Glancing over at the other bed, she noted the lack of... well, anything.
Ah, a military bunkmate. That'll be interesting... She thought to herself.
She wasn't sure what that would be like but she would just cross that bridge when she came to it. For now, she was going to unpack and go to sleep. She did just get back from the Adega system and that wasn't exactly an easy flight and she had wanted to stay on Ossus a bit longer, not that there was much to see anymore—only the ruins that were scattered throughout the planet.
Ah, well, there was always time to go back. This was just going to be a run of the mill run. Maybe even boring.
While in deep thought, she slowly began to fall asleep, her eyes falling heavily as she lay against her pillow. She didn't have to report on duty until a little later so she let her exhaustion take over as she slipped out of reality, unaware of just what kind of adventure was about to take place.
Thank you for reading. I always enjoy hearing your thoughts so please don't hesitate to leave a review or a fun little musing!
I enjoy it all 3
