WARNING: THIS IS A COMPANION STORY FOR Two Parts of a Whole: A Reylo Star Wars story. PLEASE READ CHAPTER 1-19 BEFORE STARTING THIS STORY!
A/N: The next couple chapters will fill in what was going on with the Resistance while Rey was away with the Resistance as well as allow me and my friends to be Star Wars Characters. Enjoy and RandR!
Disclaimer: I do now own Star Wars or the amazing characters.
Chapter 1: Rey Missing?
"So how do we do this," Zer-o asked.
"We walk up to the front gate and tell 'em we wanna fight the First Order," Eshreal said excitedly.
She was practically bouncing up and down in the pilot's seat as she steered the light freighter over the green planet known as Olara. The three males watched their captain with a mixture of annoyance and amusement. She was too busy giggling to actually help them come up with a real plan.
Over the last couple years, they had gotten used to her child like demeanor, but it could still be rather annoying at times. Especially when they really needed to be serious. Eshreal had ruined more than a few of their plans but then again so had Zer-o and Arca.
Cade was the most serious out of the group and though he was a year younger than Eshreal, he was often the one who had to talk sense into the rest of the group. Eshreal was the captain because she was the oldest and she had pretty much rebuilt the entire ship herself. Plus she seemed to be the most skilled pilot to have only ever been on two planets in her entire life.
"I would prefer not to be thrown in a cell or killed on sight," Cade said in his sophisticated tone.
"I agree with Cade," Arca said.
"Well since none of you like my suggestion, I expect one of you to have a viable plan," Eshreal said as she searched the lush green planet for a place to land.
"We could, no we should contact them first. Explain who we are. They might be grateful once we tell them about the scout ships we took out on the way here," Zer-o said, and the other males nodded.
"So, what? Should we just hang here in the air until you can get a hold of them," Essie asked.
Cade, Zer-o and Arca exchanged a glance and then nodded.
"Fine but don't blame me if we get shot out of the sky," she said and folded her arms over her generous chest.
She was pouting. Her three male shipmates could never understand how someone who looked like her could act like such a child so much of the time. When things didn't go her way Eshreal, or Essie as she preferred to be called, would lock herself in her room with her plants and her droid. It would be left up to Zer-o or Cade to take up piloting the ship until she was ready to be social again.
"Essie, you and Gear over there can waltz right up to the gate, you both look relatively human. Zer, on the other hand could easily be mistaken for the most infamous Zabrak of all time, Darth Maul. And I'm a wolf man. Let's contact them from a safe distance and then we can go down there," Cade reasoned.
"Fine," she said. "V5, take over for me buddy," she said to the droid who whistled a response.
Cade sat at the console and began trying to reach the base that Eshreal had flown over 30 minutes ago. It didn't take long before a woman with pale blonde hair and brown, stern eyes appeared on the screen in front of them.
"This is the Resistance ally channel. State your business quickly or be shot out of the sky," the woman said.
"Whoa, whoa, pretty lady, we are friendlies requesting permission to land," Cade said trying to use his charm to appeal to her.
She blushed and looked off screen before asking, "How do we know we can trust you? And my name is Lieutenant Connix, not pretty lady."
"Because we just blew up 6 First Order scout ships in this system looking for you. If we weren't friendly the First Order would have been knocking at your door instead of us," Cade said.
"We don't have any reports of scout ships," Connix said with a frowned.
"Obviously because we took them out before they would even set off your radar," Zer-o said.
Connix looked startled to see the tall man with the ebony skin and bright red marking that covered most of his face.
"They're gonna send us away, Zer," Eshreal said and took Zer-o's arm in her grip.
Zer-o bristle at the sound of his nickname leaving the childish Curian woman's lips. He still wasn't used to anyone but Cade calling him anything other than the name his mother had given him. Arca crossed his corded arms over his chest and moved closer to the screen.
"No, they won't," he said in his gruff voice.
Eshreal looked over at the Arkanian/Sephi hybrid with hope in her light brown eyes.
"And how do you know that," Zer-o asked.
"I've gone over the probability numerous times. They need us. Once Force user won't be enough to stop the evil I have seen joining the First Order," Arca said in an ominous tone.
Arca or Gear as he preferred to be called, had the most powerful Precog ability that anyone in the group had ever seen or heard about. He had been going on for the last couple of weeks about this Evil being that wanted to take over the galaxy. So, if he said that the Resistance was going to take them in, they probably were.
"General Leia Organa would like to speak to the Captain of your ship," the woman said.
The three male's faces fell. Why would General Organa want to talk to Eshreal? The little moron would probably say something to upset the General and then they really would be sent away or blown up.
Cade reached back and pulled Eshreal closer to the monitor. She nervously she fussed with her burgundy bangs and her black antenna curled upward, another sure sign that she nervous. Eshreal usually hid any sign that she was anything other than human. So, for her to allow her antenna to show and her not to cover them right away proved she was two seconds from a full-on panic attack.
30 seconds later General Organa appeared on the screen and Eshreal's breath hitched in her chest. Cade rolled his eyes. Sure, the woman on the screen was an impressive war general but she was no Master Luke Skywalker. Zer-o agreed with him that anyone who would choose to squander their connection to the Force could never be his idol. Being gifted with the Force meant being gifted with the ability to help everyone around you in ways that normal beings couldn't even comprehend. There was so much more good she could have done as a Jedi.
The older woman had brown eyes that could have been kind and motherly but even through the screen the small group of Force users could see that they were hard and analyzing. She looked at Eshreal for a second before her eyes flicked to the others. She took in each of their faces and passed over their presences in the Force.
"As the captain of your ship do you swear that you do not intend to harm anyone in this base," Leia asked in a stern voice.
Eshreal glanced at her crew mates and then turned back to the screen. She smiled nervously and said, "I do. We just wanna help you fight the First Order."
"Good enough for me, General," a confident male voice said from somewhere off screen.
Leia glanced behind her as Commander Poe came into view. The cocky young man leaned over Leia's shoulder so that he could see that others. He looked mildly impressed.
"Well, you lot heard the man. Set your ship down a mile or so from the front of the base. I will send someone out to meet you," Leia said, sounding a bit wary.
The transmission was cut suddenly. Zer-o and Cade let out a sigh of relief. Gear just stood in the back watching. Eshreal on the other hand ran back and forth screaming yay. Luckily for them V5 was busy landing the ship for her.
"Are you all prepared for this," Cade asked.
"Of course. This is what we have been searching for all our lives. We can learn to be Jedi and work to take down the First Order. We can help protect people so no more children end up like us," Zer-o said with excitement shining in his orange eyes.
"General Organa could have turned us away or used the base's defense system to blow us out of the sky. We have nothing to fear but I would suggest leaving your weapons on the ship. At least until after we formally introduce ourselves," Gear barked out.
No one argued so when V5 landed the YT-2400 which Cade has taken to calling the SC Starfall, everyone left their weapons and any tech that could have been misinterpreted as going to be used for nefarious purposes on the ship, locked away in the secret panels under the floor. Eshreal left her long heavy cloak in her room as Olara was hot and humid. Zer-o made sure to feed Shira and leave water for her. Cade locked his room up with his various security measures so that none of his tech could come up missing. Gear donned his lightweight cloak and goggles, making sure to disguise his face. Then they set out together.
Eshreal led the group, skipping and jumping the whole way. She was so cheery that it was almost annoying. Cade and Zer-o walked side by side not too far behind her. Zer-o glanced around noting that the environment would be perfect for training with Shira. Gear followed behind the group keeping an eye on their backs as well as watching to make sure nothing happened to the Starfall as they walked away.
When the members of the Last Hope reached the top of the next hill, they came to the clearing where the gate surrounding the base began. Standing just inside the gate were Commander Poe Dameron, First Order defector Finn and Mechanic Rose Tico. They were standing around talking like this was just a lunch break or something.
Eshreal ran up the gate and then ran back to her crewmates. She was grinning so hard that she thought her face was going to start hurting. Just as she was about to bound back to the gate for the third time Cade grabbed her by the arm.
"Hey, time to act like an adult. The Resistance won't take us seriously if you go full fangirl on em," he admonished.
"Huh," Eshreal said staring up the Shistavanen. She smiled at him and said, "Okay. I will try to hide my excitement. At least until we meet Rey and then I can't make any promises."
Zer-o groaned. He knew that was the best they would ever get out of her. He was just ready to meet Rey, so he could start training with her.
The gates swung open, but Poe held up a hand before any of them could go inside.
"I'm afraid we have to search you guys for weapons before we can let you in. We have sick and injured people inside this base and we can't have you wandering around armed until we get to know ya," Poe said, flashing a charming smile at Eshreal who blushed so hard her face was almost the same shade of red as her hair.
Cade shot Zer-o a look and the Zabrak shrugged his shoulders. Cade grinned a wolfish grin. He stepped up to Poe.
He waved his clawed hand in front his face and said, "You do not want to search us. You will let us pass."
Essie, Zer and Gear all watched the exchange with curious faces. Finn and Rose tried to keep straight faces as Poe pretended to fall under the Jedi mind trick but in the end all three of them busted out laughing. Cade stepped back, and a slight growl escaped his lips before he caught himself.
"Not on your life, kid. I've had real Force users rooting around in my head and you just don't compare. Now my buddies and I are gonna search you and then we'll escort you in to see the General," Poe said after he finished laughing.
"63rd attempt at the mind trick. 49th unsuccessful attempt," Gear said, entering it in the data pad that he carried with him at all times.
"Shut up, Gear. I hate when you do that," Cade snapped back.
"Keeping track of your progress is beneficial to my research and may very well help us in the long run," Gear said as though it were the simplest explanation.
"No one cares about your stupid science experiments, Gear," Zer-o said with a grimace.
"Guys, lets just get this over with," Eshreal said and smiled as Rose came over to check her.
It was obvious from the tightness of the black backless, sleeveless shirt and black stretch pants that she didn't have any weapons, but Rose still did a thorough check. When she didn't find anything, Rose smiled at Eshreal and held her hand out.
"Hi, my name is Rose Tico," she said with a wide smile.
"My name is Eshreal Mecca, but my friends call me Essie. It's very nice to meet you Rose," Essie said.
The two women shook hands as the boys grumbled their way through the search. After they were done Poe led the group into the base. He explained that the newest recruits to the Resistance came from a planet called Jasmenerth which was inhabited by giants. Among them were slaves that had escaped with the Rebels when they left to join the Resistance.
Cade was scoping the place out noting how very little tech the base had and making improvements in his head. Zer-o was barely restraining himself from grabbing a bunch of weapons and taking them apart. Gear looked bored at the walkthrough as there was very little to do with science as they walked through the long halls. Eshreal was more interested in people and introduced herself to everyone they came across.
After about 10 minutes of walking they were finally at the general's office. Poe opened the door and waltzed inside without knocking. Finn indicated for them to follow and Eshreal was the first one inside. She took a seat right across from Leia and the others filled in around her. Leia nodded, and Finn closed the door before heading off.
Eshreal was bouncing in her seat again. Zer-o smacked her arm and she settled down some before he went to stand stoically in the back next to Cade. As before the General looked over the group with stern eyes. Arca squirmed under her gaze.
"Hello, General Organa my name is Eshreal Mecca of the planet Quycury, and these are my crewmate Cade Hacduel of the planet Uvena Prime, Zer-o of the planet Dathomir and Arca Gearsky of the planet Kamino," Eshreal said introducing everyone.
"It is a pleasure to meet you all. So, what brings you young people here? You can't just want to fight the First Order. There isn't much of that going on, on a large scale that is. So, there must be something else," she said.
The four looked at each other.
"We want to train under Rey as she was the last student taught by Master Skywalker and she defeated Supreme Leader Snoke, the man who ordered the destruction of my and Cade's home planets, whose meddling led to Zer's mother's murder, whose men murdered Gear's master," Eshreal said.
Leia looked impressed.
"Well I knew it couldn't be a coincidence that more Force users have showed up on my doorstep," General Leia Organa-Solo said.
The group was shocked.
"More Force users," Zer-o asked as he was the first one to find his voice.
Leia nodded and said, "Yes more. When Rey and the others rescued the Rebels from Jasmenerth a young Twi'lek slave woman escaped with them. It was only recently that she revealed that not only was she Force Sensitive, which I was able to detect but also that she was able to wield the Force too." There was a knock on the door and Leia called, "Come in."
The door opened and in walked a beautiful rose-pink skinned Twi'lek woman walked in. She was scantily clad and Zer-o's eyes tracked her as she moved through the room. She moved to stand next to Leia.
"Greetings, my name is Talik'Ivaddi or Taliki Vaddi in basic," she said and devilishly sweet voice.
"Whoa you can wield the Force, too," Eshreal asked excitedly.
She wondered if Taliki would like to join their crew. Even if they joined the Resistance she knew Cade and Zer-o still planned to do missions for House Benelex and there was no way she or Gear were missing out of whatever they did. It would be nice to have another girl on the ship as long as General Leia and the others didn't need her.
"Yes, I can," Taliki and the data pad on Leia's desk began to float.
The men all gawked but Eshreal just smiled at the beautiful woman.
"That makes 5 of you here on the base now. As far as we know you 5 plus Rey and Kylo Ren are the only Force users left out there. Unfortunately, you won't be able to train with Rey," Leia and Eshreal's face almost fell to the floor.
"What!? Why not," Arca demanded, getting to his feet immediately.
Poe and Taliki moved to stand in front of the older woman. Leia sighed heavily. She put a hand on Poe's arm and he moved away.
"You can't train with Rey because she is missing," Leia said.
"REY IS MISSING," Eshreal, Cade, Zer-o and Arca all exclaimed at the same time…