Jakku, 5 ABY
Commander Vax Antilles stared out the viewport of the Raddus, watching as hundreds of Republic ships overwhelmed the crumbling vanguard of the once-mighty Imperial fleet. The battle had raged for two days and two nights, and the dawning of the third day promised a decisive victory for the reformed Republic. Antilles smiled as another Star Destroyer succumbed to Republic fire. Over the past hour, the Imperial fleet had begun to crumble, and the path to victory unfurled before him. A new breach emerged on the left flank of the armada he sought to subdue. Antilles pressed the Republic's advantage, ordering, "Move the Second Fleet into position on the breach. Full fire on that quartet of Star Destroyers!"
Antilles frowned as a flagged communication pulled the Commander's focus away from the emerging breach. The notice read: The Aldera requests escort to the planet's surface. Commander Antilles's impatience surged. He had ordered that the Aldera remained docked until they had neutralized the Imperial fleet. Somehow the Aldera had convinced flight command to clear their departure anyway.
Commander Antilles uttered a terse order, saying, "Belay that request, flight command. It is not yet safe for the Aldera. . ."
The officer on the other end of the transmission cut off the Commander's explanation. "Admiral Drayson has requested six ships from Rogue Squadron for escort."
Commander Antilles's annoyance spiked. In the face of certain defeat, the Empire remained determined to fight down to the last ship. Thousands of Republic crew and pilots had died as a result, and Commander Antilles felt a deep resentment toward the side mission. The situation required every available man and woman to end this nightmare as soon as possible. Knowing that he could not disobey a direct order, he murmured a terse "confirmed" before turning his attention back to the battle.
Crews on the Raddus's flight deck signaled to the Aldera's pilot that it was clear for takeoff. The angular freighter, an Alderaanian design modified with heavy weaponry, rose from the deck on the strength of its repulsor lifts. It turned toward the ship's docking bay, then glided out of the dock, past the ship's shields, and into the frenetic chaos beyond the safety of the Raddus. The ship shot through a web of turbolaser blasts interlacing the interstellar battlefield. Republic cruisers, including the new Starhawk-class battleship, launched volleys of turbolaser fire into the flanks of enemy ships. Imperial cruisers and destroyers burned and broke apart, attempting to fire back even as their systems failed.
From the vantage of the Aldera's pilot, the battle was over, and a mission of greater urgency awaited. The Aldera shot forward, descending toward the barren desert planet below, an escort of six X-wing fighters flanking it on either side. They cut through the battle with the X-wings separating from formation to shoot down approaching TIE fighters. As they neared the margins of the battle, Star Destroyer maneuvered into position before the Aldera. A barrage of turbolasers from several Republic frigates cut through its bridge before it could fire. A spectacular explosion decapitated the ship's command structure, sending the triangular wedge of the ship's body plunging toward the planet. The Aldera and its escort shot past the sinking ship, clearing the battle.
As the X-wings returned to the battle, the Aldera shot toward the planet's surface. Countless plumes of black smoke rose from the wreckage of hundreds of Imperial and Republic ships. Atmospheric winds dispersed the smoke through the troposphere, obscuring the sun at the planet's surface. The freighter penetrated this veil of smoke from above, losing altitude before pulling up a mere 100 meters above a vast sea of sand dunes. The ship's sub-light engines kicked into full power, and it shot across the dune sea with an echoing boom.
The ship slowed as it approached a formidable line of mountains. With its speed reduced, the Aldera entered a deep declivity cut into the mountain. A distant explosion shook the canyon walls, dropping house-sized rubble from above. The ship's pilot steered the Aldera around the tumbling debris to avoid the avalanche. As the canyon narrowed, the ship gained altitude, rising through the upper reaches of the canyon. Clusters of turbolasers on both sides of the ship transitioned into attack position. As the ship rose over the lip of the canyon, its pilot found a burning structure that appeared to have exploded only minutes ago.
The ship hovered for a moment, waiting for emerging threats. Then, satisfied that no such threat awaited, its turbolasers receded, and the pilot nudged the ship forward to land on a rocky shelf. A ramp below the ship's nose lowered, and a pair of cloaked and hooded figures emerged. The taller figure stepped forward, while the smaller figure followed close behind. As they reached the bottom of the ramp, the taller figure surveyed the flaming wreckage of the building before them. The Imperial insignia was barely decipherable on the building's scorched, smoldering exterior. A silent understanding passed between the two figures, and they knew they had arrived too late.
The pair stepped away from the ship, wondering whether anything on the interior might have survived the blast. As they walked to the front of the burning facility, the smaller figure froze, sensing a presence a dozen meters away. The taller figure sensed the presence a moment later, and both turned to see a young girl slumped over a woman's body. The smaller figure reached out to touch the mind of the child. She recoiled at the waves of grief, pain, and anger coursing through the girl's psyche and body.
The child froze, her crying and rocking ceasing. Both cloaked figures felt a sudden shift from grief and pain to fear and rage. The child rose to her feat and turned toward the cloaked pair. She was young, no more than three years old, with delicate features and a slight, undernourished frame clothed in a simple tunic. As the girl regarded the two figures, her fear peaked, giving way to a horrible rage. Her face contorted as she reached both of her hands outward. A chain of blue-white lightning cascaded from her fingertips toward the cloaked figures.
In unison, both figures withdrew lightsabers and ignited them. The taller figure's lightsaber glowed green, while the smaller figure's saber glowed purple. The two figures caught the lightning with their blades, and the energy dissipated. Shock flooded the young girl's face. She lowered her hands and regarded both figures with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity. The smaller figure extinguished her lightsaber, gesturing to the other to lower his blade. The smaller figure took a tentative step forward with her hands raised in a gesture of peace. The girl backed away, apprehensive, and the smaller figure paused, lowering her hood. The small girl stared across the rocky flat into the soft, brown eyes of Leia Organa. Leia turned to the taller figure and nodded. He lowered his own hood to reveal the face of Luke Skywalker.
Instinctively, Leia understood that the girl possessed little-to-no language ability. She reached out through the Force to touch the girl's mind. She felt the rapid vacillation of emotions through fear, suspicion, longing, grief, sadness, and pain. Through the Force, Leia reached out with pure emotion. She shared her intention to comfort and protect. The girl responded back to her through the Force, conveying fear, mistrust, and a deep well of pain and grief. Leia connected the girl's grief to the body lying on the sand, and Leia understood the woman to be the girl's mother.
Recognizing that the girl had experienced abuse and torture, Leia knelt to the ground and opened her mind to the girl. The girl tilted her head, and her mind touched Leia's. With their minds bridged, Leia shared images of her own child, Ben, and the love she shared for her friends and family. She shared a glimpse of her own mother passing. The girl registered Leia's kindness, and through the Force, she reflected understanding that Leia would be kind. Leia sensed the shift as the girl let down her guard. She appeared shaken, but no longer suspicious. Her rigid, defensive readiness yielded to a helpless grief – a longing for comfort. Leia stepped toward the girl, and when Leia reached her, she allowed Leia to embrace her.
Using the Force, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa lifted a large mound of dirt into the air. The dirt drifted toward a hole where the shrouded figure of the girl's mother lay. The girl had been able to impart two words to the Jedi: her own name, Kira, and her mother's name, Amaya. Luke lifted a large boulder and set it about the head of the grave. Leia, igniting her lightsaber, carved the Aurebesh letters spelling "Amaya" into the rock.
For a long time, the girl sat, crying at the grave of her mother with Leia's hand on her shoulder. Luke had vanished into the ruins of the burning facility, only to emerge later empty-handed. As the last Imperial Star Destroyers fell to the planet trailing debris, flame, and smoke, the trio sat vigil at Amaya's grave. The blazing Jakku sun set red through the dense cloud of smoke enveloping the planet as Kira mourned. Hours later, the trio rose and made their way to the Aldera.
Kira took one last look toward the grave before boarding the ship. She felt compelled to run back and remain close to her mother. Leia's warm hand settled on her shoulder, and Kira looked up with tears in her eyes. Soothed by Leia's warmth, Kira turned away, leaving the horrors of the facility behind her.