The sun was bright that streamed into the windows of the command starship that displayed the seal of royalty of Alderaan on its sides. Leia was inside her quarters and had retired to go to bed, but she could not sleep. Her ship was on the edge of the debris field where earlier she had traveled through with care looking for remains. There were none. After that she had participated in a memorial ceremony with all of the survivors from her home planet. Now she sat there looking at the millions upon millions of tiny specks of rock and wondered where everything had gone. All of the cities, the homes, the buildings- the people. Not a trace of anything man made survived. Nothing of them was floating among the planet debris. And yet, here it all was. Whatever was left of her family, they were here, and here they would stay. Somehow she felt closer to them, but still it was not nearly enough to ease her pain. So many lives snuffed out in an instant by such evil. The resolve inside of her grew strong. This must not happen again.
She leaned back, still trying to take it all in when she noticed a speck of light. Not much more than a thin streak, but it was something. A ship? Imperial? There was no sign they remained here, or have been back since. Perhaps travelers returning to Alderaan from some long voyage, only to find this. She was hoping that would happen while she was here. Maybe it would be someone she knew. Then another thought raced through her mind. Maybe it was them. She gathered herself and ran to the bridge. The crew had dwindled to the night watch and they were very surprised to see her.
"Did you see that, off starboard- some distance away," she said pointing out past the large windows that lined the front of the bridge. " It looked like it was something," she exclaimed.
"Yes, we saw it. It is a ship, just jumped in from hyperspace, " said a thin young commander who was sitting behind a large control panel and looking down into a small screen. The orange glow of the panel was the only thing illuminating the darkened bridge. "It is rebel, your highness," he paused and looked up at her. "It's the Millennium Falcon."