A/N: Thanks for reading!

I am aware that the location I give here was used in the Expanded Universe...which is mostly not exactly canon anymore as of "The Force Awakens". But since it was untouched in the movie, I can imagine another storyline for it that does not involve Ssi-Ruuk invaders or Vong.

LIBERATION FLIGHT

Chapter 4: A Tale in a Spaceport

One thing Eponine disliked about long hyperspace jumps was the propensity for her to fall into reverie. 'Sometimes there isn't much else to do after checking calculations and making sure the cargo isn't moving on its own,' she caught herself thinking one day as she leaned back in the skipper's chair of the Hawkbat. A thump at the back of the courier ship drew her attention away from the swirling blue of hyperspace. "Gav, if you and BD-3 put another hole in the containers, you're paying for it and not me," she called.

Gavroche stuck out his tongue while the astromech droid he was bickering with rolled across the floor and then made an obnoxious beeping sound. "We're only playing a game, Ponine. You could get up and be the umpire."

"No way. We're getting home any minute now," Eponine retorted. 'He may be my co-pilot, but he's really still a kid,' she thought. Sometimes this fact was among the few things that kept her going, or at least kept her from turning back.

It had been less than a year since she and her siblings had left D'Qar, and eventually made their way to the planet Bakura. Through some charm and ingenuity, she and Gavroche had managed to get a place on the crew of the Hawkbat, a courier ship owned by an old Toydarian. It had been a welcome surprise when the Toydarian had retired and given the ship over to Eponine, claiming that he had enough credits to fill his belly while Eponine had enough sense to keep the ship going. 'Which is sometimes all one needs to get here and back,' she told herself even as she mentally took stock of the goods she was hauling for Azelma's small shop on the planet's surface.

Yet even despite the relative quiet of life on Bakura, Eponine still found it impossible to entirely escape the Resistance. Even now she was sure whispers were being passed on the planet's surface regarding the latest raid that Poe, Finn, and some operatives had made against a First Order stronghold in a nearby system. Such news meant trouble, but if Finn had been mentioned there, then that meant he had somehow recovered from the injuries he had sustained while fighting Kylo Ren. 'Wonder if Rey has faced him again yet,' Eponine caught herself thinking. 'Or if she and Cosette ever really got to train.'

The thought of her childhood companion had Eponine shaking her head. Perhaps, had it not been for Azelma's insistence on staying out of the fight and the need to keep Gavroche safe, she would have stayed with Cosette. Training with Poe and his pilots was only the icing on the cake. Yet it was not fair to ask her siblings to fight a war not of their choosing, and besides there was the fact that Cosette was clearly meant to train as a Jedi. 'It is not as if you could have followed her into that life anyway,' Eponine thought even as the bright starlight of hyperspace reverted into pitch black.

Gavroche laughed as he launched into the co-pilot's seat. "Look who's gotten in system too!" he crowed, pointing to another courier ship headed towards the green and blue sphere of Bakura.

Eponine gritted her teeth. "Oh no you do not." She pressed a button on the comlink. "Katarn, you know this is the Hawkbat. When did you flyboys get in the system?"

A rich, booming laugh sounded back on the comlink. "It's good to see you here, Eponine. The Chief and Combeferre are fixing up the cargo out back," a merry voice replied.

Eponine rolled her eyes even as her astromech began making a 'toodle-oo' noise. "Cut that jabber, BD-3," she warned the droid, who only bounced defiantly. She tapped the comm by way of greeting, "Nice going, Courfeyrac. Were you guys in such a hurry to take off that you forgot to tie down the crates in the hold?"

Courfeyrac laughed once again. "Did you hear that, Enjolras? She knows exactly what happened-what, you want the comm? Already?"

Eponine rolled her eyes while Gavroche made a face and wiggled his eyebrows. "Are you guys seriously starting this now?" Gavroche asked.

"Yes because I stand to lose some credits on this," Eponine retorted. She was not sure what had possessed her to once again, challenge the crew of this other courier to a race, but she was not one to pass up the thrill of the competition. 'Among other things,' she thought as she steered the ship down towards Bakura's atmosphere.

The comm crackled after a few moments. "It would appear you and Gavroche took the roundabout instead of the corridor this time," a lower voice greeted in a level tone.

"I'm not risking having First Order fire on my tail, thank you," Eponine said. Judging by the presence of the Katarn's astromech making repairs on the courier ship's wing, her friends' journey had involved the sort of fracas she made it a point to avoid. She set the comlink aside and looked at Gavroche, who was bouncing BD-3 next to his seat. "Prepare for landing, boys," she warned. Thankfully there was no turbulence or storm in the atmosphere, thus allowing her to make a smooth descent towards Salis D'aar, the planet's capital city.

Even as Eponine guided the Hawkbat into the city spaceport, she could not help but notice the sudden paucity of the drydock's usual personnel, and a sudden preponderance of armed guards in scarlet regalia. 'What is with the uniform change?' she wondered as she powered down her ship and opened the hatchway. Before she could take a step forward she saw two guards followed by a spaceport official ascending the ramp. "Is there something afoot, Sir?" she asked.

The official looked down at her. "Where is the captain?"

"I am." She pulled a card from a compartment on her belt. "There is my identification."

The official nodded to the guards. "Tell Prefect Javert this ship is clear." He sneered at Eponine, Gavroche, and their droid. "Aren't you two a little young?"

"We're prodigies," Gavroche said cheekily. "You won't find the likes of us elsewhere-"

"Gav, really!" Eponine whispered reprovingly. "What seems to be the matter?"

"Routine inspection. You have nothing to fear, Miss Thenardier," the official said before brusquely handing Eponine's identification papers back to her and then stomping out of the ship.

Eponine shook her head before hurrying to unload their cargo, determined now to make her way home as soon as possible. "Gav, you might want to rethink going to the tapcaf later," she said on seeing her brother check his comlink. "I don't like the looks of this."

"That's all the more reason to go. I bet those guards searched the Katarn and other ships too," Gavroche said. "We can't let the First Order get this place too," he added in an undertone.

"Quiet," Eponine warned as she opened up the cargo compartment. All the same she could not help but cast a glance towards her ship's hatchway, where she could just see the lush green fields outside the spaceport, now growing dark under the setting sun. 'Must we run even from this?' she thought even as she set to work.

As Eponine and Gavroche were bringing up crates from the hold, she heard four taps on her comlink. "Zelma, who told you we got in here already?" Eponine called to her sister, who she now saw at the Hawkbat's hatchway.

"Feuilly saw you flying in," Azelma drawled.

"I knew it. I swear he has eyes even in his lekku."

"Nothing gets past a Twi'lek. Anyway he was waiting for the Katarn," Azelma explained. She tapped her foot uncomfortably. "I saw the boys arguing with the ground crew."

"The new ground crew," Eponine corrected. "What's going on?"

"Some interplanetary arrangement," Azelma said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Change in management."

"Good or bad?"

"Does it matter?"

"It does if it keeps us from flying in and out, and supplying your store," Eponine pointed out. 'And it's another thing if the First Order isn't content with buying from the Bakuran factories and lobbying, and have decided to stand garrison here,' she thought. The very idea was enough to bring back memories of Kessel, and have Eponine closing her eyes for a moment.

Gavroche gripped her shoulder. "Ponine?"

"I think I may as well take you up on going to the tapcaf later," Eponine said. Perhaps the conversation would be dangerous but the prospect of food and some liquid courage was too good to pass up. 'Besides it's not as if you'll find answers just standing around in your ship,' she thought as she helped her siblings move the last of the crates before locking up the ship, and then heading out of the spaceport.

Within an hour the siblings ended up at the Corusca Bar, a small establishment that had become a haven for the spacers and merchants who worked the trade routes surrounding Bakura. It was run by an old timer in the spaceport, a Corellian who went by the name of Mabeuf. Eponine wrinkled her nose at the smell of new floor wax mingling with the odors of spiced liquor and several kinds of beings all crammed in one space. 'Some would call this the smell of business,' she thought even as she caught sight of a dark haired human behind the counter. "Busy night there, Marius?"

The bartender nearly dropped the glass he was cleaning but quickly regained his composure. "I didn't know the Hawkbat was back today, Eponine," Marius said with a sheepish smile. He saluted to Gavroche and Azelma. "It's on the house, as usual. Mabeuf's welcome home gift for you.

"You don't have to. We got paid up front," Eponine said in an undertone. Nevertheless the offer brought a smile to her face; it was just the sort of gallant thing that Marius had always done for her and her siblings.

Azelma elbowed her. "Aw come on. First you turn down that Daremon fellow, and now him? Can't anyone do anything for you?"

"She's got a point," Marius said as he poured two mugs of lum and set them on the counter. He pointed to Gavroche. "Will you still have your usual?"

Gavroche grinned at him. "A Sith Scorcher-lite. My sister won't have me wobbling home-" he trailed off before waving to a man wearing a large pair of goggles. "Nice seeing you back, Joly!"

"You too, Gavroche," Joly called. He gestured to a tall Bothan and a Sullustan seated at a table, next to another young man slumped over and dozing next to several small glasses. "Musichetta, Bossuet and I need another player for sabacc. Grantaire is taking a rest."

Eponine groaned at this sight. "How long have you guys been here?"

"Just an hour," the Bothan named Musichetta replied, motioning for Eponine to join them. She enveloped the young pilot in a hug. "Heard what happened at the spaceport?" she asked in an undertone. "Things are getting rough."

"Who invited the First Order here?" Eponine asked.

Bossuet, the Sullustan, jerked a paw over to where a Twi'lek and a Wookie were talking to another young man. "Feuilly thinks there's retribution for some misdeed we don't know about. Bahorel thinks there's just a fight being picked, but what can you expect from a Wookie? Jehan has another theory."

"Which would be?" Joly asked. He whistled to the other table. "Why don't you guys move over here? Grantaire won't mind!"

The Wookie grinned by way of agreement before picking up the young man he'd been speaking to, and then hauling him over. The Twi'lek on the other hand looked around carefully before following them. "Better safe than sorry," the Twi'lek explained. "After what happened at the spaceport with the Chief and all-"

Musichetta groaned. "Feuilly, what did Enjolras do now?"

"Argued his way out, as usual," the human named Jehan chimed in as the Wookie set him back on his feet. "Can't blame him for knowing Galactic Law-"

The Wookie moaned and shook his head. "Meaning to say that it doesn't apply out here but who are we to let the First Order have its way?" Feuilly translated.

Azelma gave her friends a troubled look. "What if someone hears?"

"Let them. The fact that the First Order has been watching this system, waiting to snap it up, is the worst kept secret in these parts," Feuilly said. His brain tails quivered when he saw Marius wiping the glasses more quickly. "Are we scaring you?"

Marius shook his head. "I'm only running out of explanations for blaster holes in the walls."

Eponine laughed even as she noticed three other young men also entering the tapcaf. She pounded her mug of lum on the table. "You three are late. Pay up."

"The bet did not extend here, Eponine," Courfeyrac reminded her as he swung up onto the bar and right next to Marius. Like his friend he had dark hair, but was significantly more rotund in build. "Why so serious?"

"I am at work," Marius said uneasily. "I heard what happened at the spaceport-"

Combeferre, the broadest of this duo, cleared his throat. "It was only a misunderstanding," he said. "Apparently we weren't aware that the Bakuran military has chosen to seek outside help." He glanced at Enjolras, who was shaking his head. "That is the diplomatic explanation."

"We all know what it really is though," Enjolras said seriously. His golden hair made him stand out even in the dimness of the tapcaf, but the hard look in his eyes was enough to deter anyone from making any undue advances out of mere curiosity. "Even the spaceport commandant, Javert, is in on it."

Azelma shook her head in disgust. "You and your conspiracy theories!" She tapped Marius' arm. "Another mug of lum-and the next round is on me!"

Eponine rolled her eyes again despite the cheers this announcement elicited from most of the group, even Musichetta. 'If only it were that simple,' she thought even as she looked to Enjolras, the only one apart from Grantaire who had remained silent. He made an almost imperceptible gesture towards a corner before muttering something to Combeferre and excusing himself. Eponine waited a minute before slipping past Gavroche and heading into the shadowed nook.

She saw Enjolras looking out the window, hands gripping the sill tightly. It was the way he always was whenever some matter was weighing on him, which seemed to be happening more and more often nowadays. 'Still the fire is there,' she thought, remembering how he had first been sceptical of her piloting skills the first time she had stepped into the tapcaf. The last thing she had been looking for was another dangerous pilot, and yet she had found one-and then some.

As quietly as she could she went up to him and slipped her arms around him from behind. "You're terrible for making me pay up," she muttered as she squeezed him tightly.

"I'm willing to take that payment in kind," Enjolras said before turning to face her. He traced the line of her jaw. "Did they also hassle you at the spaceport?"

"They just checked my papers," Eponine explained even as her hands began making short work of the fastenings of his jacket. It was dangerous, even scandalous to meet him like this, but it was impossible to steal away entirely from the company of their little band of family and friends. She grinned when she felt his hands at the hem of her shirt. "What did you do to them?"

"Argue my way out, ask for their permits to search my ship," Enjolras said in a low voice. "Thankfully Combeferre took precautions when stowing things in the hold-"

"Oh so you did tie your crates down after all?"

"I'm a careful courier, Eponine."

This retort had her laughing as she drew him down for a kiss. Somehow she could never resist riling him up this way, and he always took the bait. Eponine bit back a sigh of pleasure when she felt his hand pull her close against his body, while his lips let go of hers just so he could plant a heated kiss on her neck. She stood on tiptoe to kiss him back, when all of a sudden she heard what sounded like screeching overhead followed by a terrible crash. "Something went down-" she whispered, pulling away from Enjolras.

The young man darted towards the nearby window. "A transport of some sort." He turned to see Marius running up to the corner. "What's wrong?"

"That was an emergency landing," Marius said. "And it looks ugly out there. We need blasters, Chief."

Enjolras quickly left the corner while Eponine fumbled at her belt for the small hold out blaster she kept there. Now certain that the weapon was in her hand, she went to the window to take a look at the now burning transport that had landed just outside the spaceport. 'It cannot be-' she thought with disbelief as she saw the glow of a yellow lightsaber suddenly light up the night.