Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 70- Happy New Year!

(December 31, 2051)

As the sound of fireworks being shot off and laughing children echo through the neighborhoods of Winchester, Virginia, at the residence of Calvin Adams, yet another party is underway. The Adams clan has assembled for a new year's party. Calvin himself has had to miss it, as he's currently on Mandalore on wartime duties, and Andrew's family is with his in laws, but everyone else is there as Riley is hosting a party for the family.

In the living room of the house, Rey is currently sitting on one of the couches, holding her daughter on her lap. Holding Vestara upright, Rey is smiling and tickling her to make her laugh. Vestara is giggling wildly, a sound that always makes Rey smile.

As Rey is entertaining her daughter, she reflects on her life for the last month and a half since Vestara was born. The birth of her daughter had changed Rey's life forever. The last month and a half have been quite a change for her. She had quickly realized how tough life was as a parent, with all the sleepless nights, random feedings, and never knowing when she was going to need extra attention. But she also had never felt so fulfilled. She loved every smile, every giggle, and every little moment she spent with her daughter.

Rey feels someone sit down on the couch next to her and glances over to see that it's Grace, Calvin's oldest daughter and Ben's oldest cousin. Grace is now 34 years old and a successful veterinarian, as well as a mom of 2. Grace smiles at Rey as she says, "It's always such a nice thing to see the joy of a new mother."

"It's the most stressful but rewarding thing I've ever done," Rey says, her smile as big as ever.

"And here I thought that marrying my cousin held that title," Grace responds, and the two women laugh.

After a moment, Grace asks in a slight more serious tone, "How are you holding up with it all? Any new parents feel stressed in those first months, but you two are the future of the Jedi Order and the Alliance's best chance in the war and have the pressure of that."

Rey sighs a bit, but she is still smiling as she says, "We're taking it one day at a time, but we're enjoying this new stage of life. And…we realized that we can't worry at the moment how we are going to handle the future. We just have to take it dad by day. And since there won't be much for us to do until the war picks up again besides just continue our training, we figured we can spare the time to spend with our daughter in her first months." She then looks back as Vestara, smiling brightly as she says, "And every moment spent with her is enough to make us forget about everything else. Isn't it, my little star?" Vestara just giggles in response.

Grace smiles. "You are so cute with her," she says brightly.

Right then, some of the little kids come running into living room. "Auntie Rey, can I hold Vestara?" one of them, Grace's 7 year old daughter Mikayla asks.

Rey smiles. "Of course you can," she says. She asks Mikayla to come sit next to her, then carefully transfers Vestara to Mikayla's arms. As Mikayla gently cradles her little cousin, Rey just looks down at her daughter, just feeling so happy to be part of this family.

Meanwhile, outside, Ben is sitting with some of his cousins, laughing at some jokes and enjoying a beer together. "You know, you've had quite the year, Ben," his cousin Kyle says with a laugh.

'You've got that right," Ben responds.

"You know, I gotta say Ben, seeing you as a dad…it feels kinda weird. But I also gotta say, I've never seen you so happy," one of his other cousins says.

Ben chuckles. "Hardest thing I've ever done guys, but so infinitely worth it," he says.

"What are you guys gonna do when the war kicks back up? You know that Grand Admiral Page isn't going to just sit on a victory like we had a few weeks ago. Sooner or later, he's gonna make his move and takes us on the offensive. It's not in his character to just sit back and wait, and he's waited long enough," another of his cousins named Nick says. Nick is majoring in history at Penn State, and has always been interested in military history. He's also been a pretty big fan of Jonathan's and studied his career pretty extensively. People in the family joke that he knows Jonathan better even than Samuel or Calvin even though they've never met in person.

"I agree, Nick. Admiral Page has been preparing for a new offensive for a long time, and this victory may be what he's been looking for to launch it. And you're right, he's not gonna just sit by when he has this chance. It's coming, and probably soon," Ben responds.

Ben pauses for a moment, then begins to smile before he says, "But, Rey and I are going to take every day we get with our daughter. And if we only get a little bit of time with her before that day comes, then we'll take it."

"Hey, we can all live by that, so I'll drink to that," Kyle says.

"Hear, hear," Ben says, and the boys all take a drink.

Then, Nick, one of the boys who seems to take the most pride in the family's Irish heritage, smiles as he raises his beer and starts singing, "Oh, the night that Patty Murphy is a night I'll never forget. Some of the boys got loaded drunk and they ain't got sober yet."

Kyle laughs, and then the whole group of cousins start singing along to the old song "The Night Pat Murphy Died". Ben joins in, all the while his mind going back to his and Rey's honeymoon in Ireland. Maybe that's a place where they could live with Vestara for the first few years before taking to their duties as leaders of the new Jedi, raising Vestara in the land of her ancestors.

Suddenly, all of the boys hear, "Boys!" They turn to see their grandfather standing at the door into the house. Adams smiles as he calls out to the boys, "Come on in! It's two minutes till midnight!"

"Whoo. Let's go!" Ben says to his cousins, and they all hurry inside.

They hurry into the living room, where everyone in attendance has gathered with some of the aunts passing out champagne or sparkling cider to those underage. Ben hurries over to sit next to Rey, who is holding Vestara again. She smiles, letting Ben give her a quick kiss on the cheek before saying, "You almost missed it."

"I know, I know. Got distracted talking with the boys," Ben says as he puts his arm around his wife.

"Attention, everyone!" Everyone goes quiet as they hear Adams speak. Even though he's now 90 years old, he's still got that commanding voice he honed in his days in the military.

Adams smiles as he looks at the gathered family. "This has been quite a year, with the events of both wars affecting our family deeply. But, we still have much to be thankful for, not the least of which is a new person joining the family and the latest great-grandchild being born. So lets all have a hand for Rey and Vestara." The whole family claps a bit, and Rey blushes a bit in embarrassment.

"And now, we bid goodbye to an old year, and hope that the new year will bring better times," Adams says. He then lifts his watch up so he can see it, and begins counting down, "Eleven, ten."

Everyone smiles as they begin counting down, "Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two One. Happy New Year!" The whole family begins cheering and taking drinks from their glasses.

Along with the others, Rey and Ben sip their champagne and cheer along with the others. They then look at each other and exchange a quick kiss to celebrate the new year. They smile at each other before Ben whispers, "Happy New Year, my love."

"Happy New Year," Rey whispers back.

Ben and and Rey return their attention to the rest of the cheering family. Then, as the cheering begins to die down after a few seconds, Kelly stands up, pulling Luke over next to her parents. Then, she crosses her arms in front of her, grabbing Luke's left hand with her left and her mother's right hand with her right. She then smiles and begins to loudly sing, "Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?"

Quickly, the family begins to gather in a circle, crossing their arms and joining hands with those next to him, joining in the singing of Auld Lang Syne. As Ben prepares to get up, Rey turns to him and asks, "What exactly does this song mean again?"

Ben smiles. "Auld lang syne translates to 'times long past'. This song is a way to bid goodbye to good times of the past, while looking forward to good times in the future," he explains. He smiles, then hops up to join in the circle with his family.

Rey looks down at into the face of her daughter, who has by now fallen asleep. As she looks down at Vestara, she realizes how much she and Ben have been through together, but how good it has been, and how much they have to look forward to. And she smiles as she closes her eyes, letting herself be drawn into the singing of her family and looking forward to the future as she hears the chorus again:

"For auld lang syne, my dear! For auld lang syne! We'll take a cup of kindness yet, and days of auld lang syne!"

And, I'll end the chapter there. I actually finished this chapter a few days ago, but since it was about New Years, I decided to post it as a celebration of New Years on New Years Eve. I hope you liked the ending. Auld Lang Syne is honestly one of my favorite songs, and I wanted to feature it.

As you guessed through some of Ben's dialogue with his cousins, the great counteroffensive against the First Order is coming soon. You can expect it to begin in a few chapters.

Also, as I promised, I will finally get to the remaining normal characters in this universe's version of Galaxy of Heroes, excluding the new Galactic Legends.

First of all, Conquest characters. In this version of SWGOH, the following are additional Conquest characters: Jedi Knight Jared Hansen, Lumiya, Crimson Blade, and Exar Kun.

Next, my additions to the Journey Guide. First on the list is a Terran version of Thrawn with a new leader ability meant to work with the Terran Alliance faction, who is unlocked through achievements in an Operation Nightcloak Territory Battle.

Next up is Kelly Adams Skywalker, who is unlocked through raids, and is featured in a original Emperor's Throne Room Raid.

Next up is Samuel Adams (from when he was in his prime in the ASAT team). He is in Tier IV of the journey guide (the same tier as Starkiller, Jedi Revan, or Darth Revan). His unlock requirements are to get five of the original ASAT members to Relic 3. He has a leader ability meant to work with ASAT members, and under him, the ASAT team can serve as a counter to most Galactic Legends, especially the Sith Eternal Emperor and Lord Vader.

Next up is Grandmaster Plo Koon. He is in Tier II of the Journey Guide, and his unlock requirements are characters with the Terran Jedi faction tag. There are no gear requirements, just recommended power levels for each successive battle of the journey. He has a leader ability that works well with Terran Jedi

Last one that I'll discuss is Mand'alor Din Djarin, which in this version of SWGOH takes the place of the new Bo-Katan (Mand'alor) that just got released. Like the new Bo-Katan in the real game, he is in the Tier V of the journey guide. His requirements are as follows: The Mandalorian (Beskar Armor), Koska Reeves, Greef Karga, Koska Reeves, Bo-Katan Kryze, and Lumiya-all at Relic 5, and the Razor Crest at 6 stars. Of course, his leadership ability works with Mandalorians and turns them into a killing squad.

Alright, I'll end there. Over the next few chapters, I'll explain the new Galactic Legends in my version of SWGOH (remember, in this version, because of the timeline, the First Order and Resistance factions don't exist, so neither do Supreme Leader Kylo Ren or Rey). I will cover one GL per chapter.

Alright. Next chapter will be up soon. Until it is, please leave a review and stay tuned! And Happy New Year!