Another chapter for you to enjoy! It's certainly been a pleasure to write this story so far, as I can feel you're excited to see the Skywalker family later on, which is motivation for me to actually get there. First things first, it's a Solo family reunion of sorts and then it's back to D'Qar to plan on how to deal with Starkiller Bader. As for the disclaimer:
C-3PO: The following is a non-profit fan-based fanfiction. Star Wars is owned by Lucasfilm, Disney, and George Lucas. Please support the official release!
Chapter 6: Reunions and Plans
Mara watched the reunion at a distance with Chewbacca. The Jade Shadow set down gently in front of Han, most likely at Leia's guidance. The hatch opened and the ramp extended, Leia Organa standing at the entrance. The little droid head rolling around on a ball, the BB-8 unit Mara had heard so much about recently, beeped excitedly at the sight of Leia. Despite its cuteness, Mara still had some trouble coming to terms with how…ridiculous that design looked. She'd been all over the galaxy and had seen some pretty absurd droids, though sometimes they had a practical purpose to that absurdity, such as some of the security droids she had seen on Dorin, designed to blend in with the environment there, but just about useless on any other planet without heavy modifications. Mara shrugged it off as a dimensional quirk. It might grow on her with time.
Meanwhile, husband and wife were regarding each other for the first time in several years. Neither said a work for the longest time, until Threepio came rushing down the ramp to break the silence to have a word with the little orange and white droid next to Hand. "BB-8, I can help you translate what you are-" The golden protocol droid broke off as his video receptors actually processed the man standing in front of the General. "Oh! Han Solo, it is I, C-3PO! You probably don't recognize me because of the red arm, but rest assured, there is no other unit like me."
Chewie rumbled something to Mara that sounded a lot like Wookiee laughter. "Ain't that the truth," she said with a grin.
Threepio turned around, excited, ignoring the young woman in silver and black clothing that exited the Jade Shadow and ran to help her wounded friend. "Look! Who it is! Han Solo! Isn't that wonderful? I can't believe-" He cut himself off once more, this time at Leia's knowing glance. "Excuse me Prin- uh General. Sorry. Come, BB-8, we must prepare for the debriefing." He shuffled off, the little ball droid beeping happily. Silence reigned between the two humans once again.
It was Han who broke the awkward silence. "You changed your hair."
Leia smiled. Oh how Han had missed that smile. "Same jacket."
"This?" Han gestured at his worn jacket. "No, new jacket."
Unable to contain himself any longer, Chewbacca roared an elated greeting and ran forward, engulfing Leia in a mass of fur as he hugged her in a warm embrace that could only be given by a Wookiee. Letting her go, he moaned a few words that contained far more depth of feeling than would be apparent to an outsider unfamiliar with the Wookiee language, and left to go prepare the Falcon for flight. Left alone once again barring the eyes of one Skywalker, not that it was relevant to Han or Leia at the moment, they embraced.
Han's voice was grim over Leia's shoulder. "I saw him. He was here."
Leia closed her eyes when she heard that. She knew exactly who her husband was talking about. The knife wound in her heart that she felt every time she heard about his actions always hurt, but with Han here, it hurt less than it normally did. "We have to talk."
"Damn right we do, Chewie's telling me that's Mara over there," Han said, "Said she even smells the same. You know as well as I do that it's not possible."
"Don't worry Han," Leia said gently, pulling away from the embrace. "We'll explain everything once we get back to Home Base." Han shot a suspicious look back at Mara before facing his wife and nodding.
"I'll hold you to that."
Finn had helped the Jedi that had saved him onto the Sorosuub Star Yacht with the aid of the woman, but he had been surprised to see another lightsaber on her hip. All the Jedi except Luke Skywalker were supposed to be dead, yet he had just fought along two Jedi that were clearly not Skywalker. In a numb silence, he was sitting in one of the seats on the Jade Shadow, watching her work on the man's shoulder. She reminded him of Rey a little, though there were obvious differences between the two. For starters, this woman's hair was a lighter shade of brown than Rey's and she had a little more curve to her frame than Rey, but Finn figured that was due to the malnutrition of being a Jakku scavenger. He still couldn't believe how much food Rey had packed away at Maz's castle, digging into the exotic foods like she hadn't eaten in weeks. Then again, having experienced Jakku firsthand, Finn figured she probably hadn't.
"All this talk of you becoming a great fighter and you're wounded in your first battle as a Knight," she told the man as she applied a bacta patch to the wound. It had been cauterized by the power of the bolt, but the bacta would prevent infection. "What am I going to do with you Dan?"
"Teach me some of those Soresu techniques?" the man, Dan, suggested hopefully. He winced as she pressed hard against the wound.
"Maybe you should be a little less reckless when you charge a dark-sider like that," she retorted, using the Force to call some bandages to her hand as she deftly worked on his shoulder.
"Oh come on Kat," Dan pretended to whine, "I wasn't the only one who was charging him. I just happened to get to him first."
"Who else would be dumb enough to blunder headlong against a Dark Lord like you did?"
Dan pointed his right hand, his good arm, at the man who was staring at the two of them. "He did." Finn was suddenly aware of Kat sizing him up. A little self-conscious, he glanced away, analyzing the interior wall like there was nothing else like it in the galaxy.
"You got a name, stranger?" Kat asked him, ending Finn's examination of the wall as quickly as it started.
"Finn," he replied after a moment. He wasn't sure what he was expecting from Jedi, but he didn't expect them to be so…normal. After all the stories he'd heard and what he had seen from both Kylo Ren and these Jedi, he knew that he was a part of something much bigger than himself.
"Well Finn, thanks for helping Dan get back to the Shadow," she began, pausing as she caught sight of the lightsaber in his hand. "I do have to ask, where did you get Master Skywalker's lightsaber?"
Finn spluttered for a moment, surprised by the sudden accusation and was saved by Master Skywalker herself. "Turns out there are two identical lightsabers in this galaxy now," Mara said as she entered the Jade Shadow. "I don't know where he got that lightsaber from, but mine's still here." She hefted the old weapon and used the Force to grab the lightsaber from Finn's hand, holding them both up for a comparison. "See?"
"Well I'll be," Dan said in awe. "They are identical!"
"You mean you guys don't just have a factory for these things?" Finn asked, staring at the floating lightsaber.
Mara used the Force to return the saber to Finn, who was still mesmerized by the saber to the point that it sailed into his gut. He fumbled with it briefly before securing a firm grip on the ancient weapon. "I realize that knowledge about the Jedi is limited in this time, but it's still unsettling the amount of ignorance. Each Jedi builds his or her own lightsaber by themselves using only the materials they have and the Force. Hopefully once we find Farmboy we'll be able to rebuild the Order so that such trivial knowledge about the Jedi becomes common again." She sighed as she took the controls. "Well, Finn, you coming with us for the ride back to base or do you have your own ride?"
Finn stood up, surprised by the offer. "Umm, thanks, but I think I'll join Captain Solo on the Falcon." With that, the former stormtrooper awkwardly made his way down the ramp, his mind awhirl on the day's events.
"You don't think we scared him, do you?" Kat asked Mara after Finn had gone.
"From what I've heard from Han, he's got a lot on his mind right now," Leia answered as she boarded the Jade Shadow. "Mara, when we get back to D'Qar, go easy on Han. I can see he still blames himself for Ben's fall." Mara couldn't help but wince at the mention of Ben, taking a second to remind herself that it wasn't her Ben. After years of hearing that name associated with her son (and the occasional reference to Obi-Wan Kenobi by her husband), it was difficult to hear that name not only be associated with someone else, but that name was used by someone who had turned to the dark side.
"To be fair, he wasn't nearly as grey the last time I saw him," Mara admitted. The Han from her dimension still had some brown in his hair, though it was on its last legs. Here, he looked as though he was a decade or so older. It was unsettling, to say the least. "Let's just get back and get things figured out, since we've got a planet buster weapon to find and destroy."
Aleemian System, D'Qar, Resistance Base
It was nice to have the Solo and Skywalker ships parked next to each other once again, Mara mused. The Millennium Falcon and the Jade Shadow were sitting in the main hanger, a restoration team crawling all over the Falcon, removing any hidden tracers and unwelcome modifications it had gained during its time away from Han Solo. It was a hive of activity throughout the base as they prepared for the war that the First Order had declared with the destruction of the Hosnian system. Mara watched the man from earlier, Finn, break into a run, the BB-8 droid rolling along with him, though for what reason she didn't know. She did see Han coming towards him and she gestured towards the command center, where she could explain to him the situation with Leia to back her up. Han raised an eyebrow, but followed, a grim look on his face
Finn was a fast runner, but he was no match for BB-8. Rolling at maximum speed, the droid nearly knocked him down as it shot past him in its haste to reach the fighter with the black insignia, beeping joyously all the while. Its canopy was already open; the pilot had removed his helmet and was chatting with one of the techs as he descended from the cockpit. Poe Dameron. No wonder, Finn thought, he and the others had marveled at the pilot's skill during the course of the counterattack at Maz's castle. This was clearly, indisputably, the best pilot in the Resistance. His presence, however, defied reason. Finn just stared at him, hardly believing what he was seeing. Then again, after all that had happened in this crazy day, what was one pilot surviving a TIE fighter that had sank into the sands and exploded? Kneeling and chatting with BB-8, the pilot was nodding at something the droid was saying. It took him a moment to look up and glance to his right. The expression on his face when he recognized Finn was no less astonished than that of the ex-trooper. Smiling, he rose and gestured as Finn continued toward him. For a moment they just stared, each overwhelmed to find the other alive. Finn could only shake his head in wonder.
"Poe," he said. "Poe Dameron. Best pilot in the Resistance."
"Finn!" Poe shouted with a grin as they embraced.
"You're alive!" Finn had a knack for stating the obvious.
"So are you!" Poe matched Finn in that particular talent.
Finn studied him intently. "You look like you're in one piece. I can hardly believe it. I thought you were dead: shot up in that TIE fighter we stole. I ejected. When I finally found the wreckage, I looked for you. Pulled your jacket out of your ship before it got swallowed by the sand. What happened to you?"
"I wasn't dead, just momentarily out of it," the pilot explained. "Came around long enough to see that you had got out. Pulled out of the dive just long enough to set down—hard. Impact threw me clear. Woke up at night; no you, no ship, no nothing. Went looking—in the wrong direction. Got picked up by some itinerant trader." He grinned. "Tell you all about it sometime." A plaintive beep caused him to turn and look down. "BB-8 says that you saved him."
Finn eyed the droid. "It wasn't just me. Tell you all about it sometime."
"Either way, you completed my mission." Poe gestured at their surroundings. "BB-8 is here, where he was supposed to come all along. And you saved my jacket."
Finn started to slip out of it, remembering he was wearing Poe's jacket. "Oh, sorry—here."
Poe grinned again. "Nah, you keep it. It suits you." He held up an arm. "I've got a new one. Suits me." His tone turned somber. "You're a good man, Finn. The Resistance needs the help of more like you."
Finn nodded as he put his jacket back on. "Poe—I need your help."
The pilot shrugged. "Anything."
"I need to see General Organa," Finn told him. "Can you manage that?"
"Of course, what do you have to talk to her about?"
The New Force Awakens
Deep within the bowels of the base, one could hear Han Solo shouting "That's impossible!" It wasn't just the story that Mara had told him that had him shouting that. Sure, the thought of some crazy extra-galactic war between techno-phobic aliens and him having not just one child, but three was insane. But somehow, Han could find that story more believable than this woman who claimed to be the wife of one of his best friends. Mara Jade was dead. He had seen it himself and while he wasn't Force-sensitive (Luke had affectionately called him more Force-blind than a drunken Hutt), he could practically taste the grief that Luke had felt when they had discovered Mara's body. And from what he'd seen of the Force, it couldn't bring the dead back to life. The roar of a Wookiee echoed across the room in response.
"You keep quiet over there," Han shouted back to Chewbacca, who was under the supervision of Dr. Kalonia while she examined his wounded shoulder. Kat was doing the same to Dan a few rows down the medbay, peeling off the field dressing and working on the blaster wound.
"Who'd have thought I'd be sharing a medbay with the legendary Chewbacca," Dan commented dryly, exchanging a glance with the Wookiee in question. He chuffed gently, enjoying the attention from the Jedi. After all, it wasn't every day one is called legendary.
Turning back to the two women in front of him, Han continued his rant. "I mean, sure she looks the part, but come on Leia, I know you're smarter than to believe this, this fake!"
"Han, I understand how this can be confusing," Leia began gently. She sighed. "This isn't exactly the Mara we knew, but at the same time, she's what could've happened had things ended up differently."
"Like having twins instead of a single child?" Han retorted sarcastically. "I doubt having a sister would've made a difference for Ben." He saw the hurt on Leia's face and his anger quickly faded to shame. "Leia, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have." She said nothing, but instead turned and engaged several senior officers in a serious conversation.
"Look Han," Mara began.
"Look nothing sweetheart," Han cut her off. "Whoever you are, this isn't funny!"
"You remember how Luke gave me this, didn't you?" Mara asked, holding up her lightsaber. She saw Han's eyes widen as he recognized the lightsaber. Finn had the same one from Maz.
"You haven't been talking to big deal, have you?" he asked, his flimsy argument falling apart.
"We already had that conversation," Mara said simply, noticing the dark-skinned male enter with the pilot Poe Dameron leading the way. "I get that it's been rough Solo, believe me, this isn't any easier for me."
"I've had to deal with my son working with those First Order lunatics for years," Han retorted, "I don't see how you can relate."
Mara realized that Han had taken the fall of his son worse than he had taken the death of Chewbacca during the Vong war, but wisely decided not to mention that. Instead, she countered with the worst counter against Solo's stubbornness. Logic. "No, I can't truly relate. But I'm here, there are two of Farmboy's lightsaber, and it's not like you haven't had problems with the hyperdrive before."
"Only when Imperials aren't messing with the Falcon," Han muttered.
"The point is, even you have to see that my story makes sense," Mara finished, keeping an eye on Leia as Finn confronted her. He seemed very troubled. "And we've got a planet buster to take out. We could use that famous Solo luck of yours."
"Some luck," Han said as Leia nodded, letting Admiral Ackbar talk with Finn. Leia approached Mara and Han, looking a little less grim than she had a moment ago.
"We're lucky that Finn knows about the weapon that destroyed the Hosnian system," Leia informed them. "We'll be having a meeting in a few moments to take a look at the map BB-8 holds and to discuss a plan of attack once our recon team gets back from this Starkiller Base."
Chewbacca was quiet as Dr. Kalonia worked on the Wookiee's injured shoulder. She was far more capable than Finn and with proper medical equipment, the pain in his shoulder was rapidly fading. Chewie growled appreciatively at the doctor. "You're most welcome," she replied gently, looking at the readouts on her device. The Wookiee looked over and down at himself. All signs of the wound had nearly been erased, at which sight he groaned softly. "That sounds very scary," Kalonia commented as she worked. Another series of gentle moans. "Yes, you're very brave." The Wookiee just rolled with it.
The search had taken BB-8 some time, but he finally found what he was looking for. Or rather, who. Or maybe both, since an intelligent droid technically qualified as both a who and a what. In the dark, dusty storeroom he rolled over to the R2 unit and beeped a greeting, the transmission sequence too rapid and too exhaustive for any human to follow. It didn't matter. There was no response from the immobile R2 unit. BB-8 tried again, utilizing a different droid language. When that also failed, he moved forward and gave the other mechanical a forceful nudge. Like everything else, that too failed to generate a response. Observing the unsuccessful interaction, C-3PO came forward out of the shadows.
"You're wasting your time, I'm afraid. It is very doubtful that Artoo would have the rest of the map in his backup data." When BB-8 queried the protocol droid, C-3PO responded without hesitation. "He's been locked down in self-imposed low-power mode. He just hasn't been the same since Master Luke went away."
"BB-8!" a human voice interrupted. Both droids turned to see Poe Dameron standing in the doorway. "The General needs you!"
Beeping a polite farewell to Threepio and a final thought to the silent R2-D2, BB-8 followed the officer out of the storage area. Behind them, Threepio bent over his old friend. "Oh, do try and cheer up, Artoo. This enforced immobility is no good for you. Your cognitive circuits will atrophy from lack of use." His friendly urging proved no more effective than had BB-8's authoritative probing. The R2 unit remained as it was: silent, unmoving, and unresponsive. Letting out a very human sigh, C-3PO turned and followed BB-8 to the control center.
Han's just being the stubborn Corellian we all know and love, isn't he? That and Chewie's scene with the good doctor is always good for a laugh.
Response to Guest Reviews (In Order with which they Reviewed)
Guest: Will Mara's presence be enough to save Han? You'll have to keep reading to find out. As for your hunch, well, that'll be revealed in due time as well
Guest: There are a lot of things Mara could say to Han and Chewbacca, though I'm not sure how thrilled Han would be to hear about his best friend getting crushed by a moon.
To the two Guests asking about Padme & Anakin: The Dark Nest trilogy hasn't exactly happened in this timeline, and while R2 does have the memory files, I'm still debating on whether or not they have seen the holos of their mother. To be fair, Vader had done everything in his power to wipe out the existence of Padme from the galaxy in order to not be reminded of his loss, so Padme isn't exactly a household name and with Bail and Mon Mothma now dead with the destruction of Alderaan and Hosnia, well, you get the idea. Is it fair that Padme got the shaft in the OT? Not really, but I'm trying to stay as loyal to the movies after all. If there's an optimal moment to bring up the old Skywalker family, then maybe, but for now, with another Death Star out there, the cast kinda has more pressing matters at the moment than long dead family members. Mara knows, from her dimension, but that'll come into play later.
Guest: Rey's mother (or who I believe to be her mother and father) will be revealed in due time, please try to be patient with me.
Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Please leave a review, as any and all constructive criticism is welcome. As an author, I'm always looking to improve and I like to hear your thoughts about the chapter.
Until the next chapter my friends!
From your Nutty Buddy,
The Eagle Nut