Rey Skywalker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
thatwaslucky) wrote2020-03-05 10:18 am
thatwaslucky) wrote2020-03-05 10:18 am
Mon Cala- Thursday
When Rose found her to tell her they had a mission, Rey had been apologizing to an Anoatian pit beast for picking a fight with it. It was the wrong thing to do; the creature had just been going about its day and she'd started a fight because she was frustrated and bored and thought it would make her feel better. It didn't.
This trip had not been going as expected. There wasn't much to this little Resistance encampment on a literal garbage planet, and Finn had gone on a mission with Poe before she even arrived, which left Rey largely on her own. She was getting to know Rose better, but she had work to do, so when she wasn't working with Leia, Rey was exploring the area (in a completely necessary breathing mask) and putting her scavenger skills to work and salvaging whatever might be useful. She was restless, she was away from the action and cooling her heels here... Mostly she felt useless, which was screwing up her concentration, which was making her more frustrated and screwing her up more.
So when the First Order retaliated against Tah'Nuhna for helping them, Leia had decided she needed to go on a diplomatic mission in order to try and acquire some ships, and she needed a pilot. She brought Chewie, Threepio and Rose along, which made for a crew that Rey hadn't been expecting, either. She also hadn't been told where they were going and didn't question it until they were in orbit and she could see the planet from space.
It reminded her most of Ahch-To, but that had been mostly blue with land masses from a distance. There was no land here, at least, not until they got close enough to see the artificial islands, because people visited offworld to this planet made of water, and not all of them had gills. It looked amazing to Rey. What must it be like to actually live here, to see the underwater cities? How did they get around? Would she get to see any of it?
They came down easily on a landing pad in the capital of Dac City, an actual, small metropolitan area that looked out of place surrounded by this much blue.
"So many memories," Leia said wistfully as she walked down the Falcon's landing ramp towards a small welcome party of Quarrens and Mon Calamari, the others trailing behind her.
The welcome party had their own memories, apparently.
"You shouldn't have come after all you have done, General Organa," one of the Quarrens sneered. "After all the death you have brought to these waters. So tell us why we shouldn't kill you where you stand?"
And then the welcome party pulled out their weapons.
Chewie growled and grabbed the nearest Quarren, holding him by his shirt. Rose trained her blaster on the one who had spoken. "This planet wouldn't even be here if not for General Organa!"
"I should gut you, whelp!" the lead Quarren yelled. "If not for your general, my family would not have been tortured and killed under the yoke of Imperial oppression!"
"Easy, Chadkol," said the third Quarren. "It's for the king to decide who to gut."
"Best to drown them now and get it over with," Chadkol growled, advancing on them, fully intent on actually doing it.
Rey had been okay until now just waiting to see what happened, because she knew Leia wouldn't want her to act rashly. (Chewie.) But the instant Chadkol took a step forward, Rey already had the end her staff pointed maybe half an inch away from his face. "You're welcome to try."
"That's no way to treat an honored guest and war hero," said a new voice, belonging to a young Mon Calamari male, his flippered hand steady near the blaster on his belt. "Try to drown them and it's you who will be fed to the fishes. The big kind, with many teeth."
"Just because you're the son of a war hero does not make you one yourself," Chadkol snapped.
"And being the descendent of traitors doesn't make you a traitor… necessarily," the Mon Cal countered.
"Watch your mouth, boy. You are swimming in depths above your head."
Leia, who had watched the scene calmly, waited until Chadkol and his group had stalked off before saying, "Charming, isn't he?" with just a little smile on her lips. Then she walked over to give the Mon Calamari a hug. "It's so good to see you, Aftab. You have grown so much since I last saw you."
"It is good to see you as well, General," Aftab said. "Though I fear others on Mon Cala do not feel the same. What brings you to these troubled waters?"
"I came to honor your father."
Oh. Rey hadn't met Admiral Ackbar, but she realized later that losing him aboard the Raddus had been a great loss for the Resistance. She also k ew that wasn't the entire reason they were here- they had a fleet to try for, after all. But this took precedence.
"Of course," Aftab agreed. "I'd be honored if you'd let me escort you."
"I'd be honored if you did."
*****
Rey didn't like any of this. Maybe it was the Force, maybe it was the fact that she'd sort of made herself Leia's bodyguard in times like this, maybe it was the simple fact that a few hours ago they'd had blasters in their faces and the threat of drowning, but even for as accommodating as Aftab had been, she couldn't believe that anything was going to go their way. Leia had been away from them most of the day, and Rey wondered if the locals hadn't engineered it that way. At one point they'd been taken to one of those underwater cities Rey had wondered about and left to sit in the transport at the bottom of the ocean to keep them from Chadkol and his goons. Rey was deeply uncomfortable with the idea that they'd be safe when she couldn't see for herself that Leia was, too.
And now as the day was drawing to a close, Leia was off being diplomatic on her own, and Rey and the others were left loading supplies that Aftab had allowed them onto the Falcon. The platform was close enough to the water that the waves were making things wet, and she was too annoyed and off put by all of this to even enjoy the scenery much.
As she wiped seaspray off the crates, she admitted, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't wait to get off this planet and back onto a world with drier land."
"Cheer up, Rey," Rose told her optimistically, picking up another crate. "I have a feeling Leia has already won over the people of Mon Cala to our cause."
Rey looked up a second before the sound of many hurried footsteps reached her ears, just in time to see a group of Quarrens brandishing weapons as they rushed towards them. The one in the lead, a bulky male without a shirt, shouted, "You were warned to leave, off-worlders!"
"You were saying, Rose?" Rey sighed.
"We don't want any trouble," Rose said, holding her heads up. "We're on a diplomatic mission."
"They don't seem to be in the mood to be very diplomatic," Rey said. She knew. They were here for a fight. This didn't go any other way. Her staff flew to her outstretched hand, and as Chewie roared an agreement, the first Quarren struck.
Rey was ready for him, catching his club on her staff and twisting to use the end to sweep his legs out from under him. She could hear Chewie in the middle of his own fight, and while Rey suddenly had two others on her while the first got back to his feet, she could hear Rose over the sounds of what sounded like maybe a taser. "General Organa is not going to be happy about this! Oof! She's definitely not going to be happy. I mean, really, really not happy."
"Yeah, well," Rey managed, taking a blow to the hip from behind while she fended off another Quarren's swipe at her legs, "I'm not happy, either."
And when the Quarrens moved to hit her again, Rey tossed the staff up with a turn of her wrist, and directed it with the Force to twirl in mid-air, knocking all three across the head to knock them out.
She turned to see who else needed help, and then spotted the Mon Cala security headed their way. Well, at least the fight was over.
[NFB, NFI, etc. Taken from Allegiance #1-2. It's not great, okay.]
This trip had not been going as expected. There wasn't much to this little Resistance encampment on a literal garbage planet, and Finn had gone on a mission with Poe before she even arrived, which left Rey largely on her own. She was getting to know Rose better, but she had work to do, so when she wasn't working with Leia, Rey was exploring the area (in a completely necessary breathing mask) and putting her scavenger skills to work and salvaging whatever might be useful. She was restless, she was away from the action and cooling her heels here... Mostly she felt useless, which was screwing up her concentration, which was making her more frustrated and screwing her up more.
So when the First Order retaliated against Tah'Nuhna for helping them, Leia had decided she needed to go on a diplomatic mission in order to try and acquire some ships, and she needed a pilot. She brought Chewie, Threepio and Rose along, which made for a crew that Rey hadn't been expecting, either. She also hadn't been told where they were going and didn't question it until they were in orbit and she could see the planet from space.
It reminded her most of Ahch-To, but that had been mostly blue with land masses from a distance. There was no land here, at least, not until they got close enough to see the artificial islands, because people visited offworld to this planet made of water, and not all of them had gills. It looked amazing to Rey. What must it be like to actually live here, to see the underwater cities? How did they get around? Would she get to see any of it?
They came down easily on a landing pad in the capital of Dac City, an actual, small metropolitan area that looked out of place surrounded by this much blue.
"So many memories," Leia said wistfully as she walked down the Falcon's landing ramp towards a small welcome party of Quarrens and Mon Calamari, the others trailing behind her.
The welcome party had their own memories, apparently.
"You shouldn't have come after all you have done, General Organa," one of the Quarrens sneered. "After all the death you have brought to these waters. So tell us why we shouldn't kill you where you stand?"
And then the welcome party pulled out their weapons.
Chewie growled and grabbed the nearest Quarren, holding him by his shirt. Rose trained her blaster on the one who had spoken. "This planet wouldn't even be here if not for General Organa!"
"I should gut you, whelp!" the lead Quarren yelled. "If not for your general, my family would not have been tortured and killed under the yoke of Imperial oppression!"
"Easy, Chadkol," said the third Quarren. "It's for the king to decide who to gut."
"Best to drown them now and get it over with," Chadkol growled, advancing on them, fully intent on actually doing it.
Rey had been okay until now just waiting to see what happened, because she knew Leia wouldn't want her to act rashly. (Chewie.) But the instant Chadkol took a step forward, Rey already had the end her staff pointed maybe half an inch away from his face. "You're welcome to try."
"That's no way to treat an honored guest and war hero," said a new voice, belonging to a young Mon Calamari male, his flippered hand steady near the blaster on his belt. "Try to drown them and it's you who will be fed to the fishes. The big kind, with many teeth."
"Just because you're the son of a war hero does not make you one yourself," Chadkol snapped.
"And being the descendent of traitors doesn't make you a traitor… necessarily," the Mon Cal countered.
"Watch your mouth, boy. You are swimming in depths above your head."
Leia, who had watched the scene calmly, waited until Chadkol and his group had stalked off before saying, "Charming, isn't he?" with just a little smile on her lips. Then she walked over to give the Mon Calamari a hug. "It's so good to see you, Aftab. You have grown so much since I last saw you."
"It is good to see you as well, General," Aftab said. "Though I fear others on Mon Cala do not feel the same. What brings you to these troubled waters?"
"I came to honor your father."
Oh. Rey hadn't met Admiral Ackbar, but she realized later that losing him aboard the Raddus had been a great loss for the Resistance. She also k ew that wasn't the entire reason they were here- they had a fleet to try for, after all. But this took precedence.
"Of course," Aftab agreed. "I'd be honored if you'd let me escort you."
"I'd be honored if you did."
*****
Rey didn't like any of this. Maybe it was the Force, maybe it was the fact that she'd sort of made herself Leia's bodyguard in times like this, maybe it was the simple fact that a few hours ago they'd had blasters in their faces and the threat of drowning, but even for as accommodating as Aftab had been, she couldn't believe that anything was going to go their way. Leia had been away from them most of the day, and Rey wondered if the locals hadn't engineered it that way. At one point they'd been taken to one of those underwater cities Rey had wondered about and left to sit in the transport at the bottom of the ocean to keep them from Chadkol and his goons. Rey was deeply uncomfortable with the idea that they'd be safe when she couldn't see for herself that Leia was, too.
And now as the day was drawing to a close, Leia was off being diplomatic on her own, and Rey and the others were left loading supplies that Aftab had allowed them onto the Falcon. The platform was close enough to the water that the waves were making things wet, and she was too annoyed and off put by all of this to even enjoy the scenery much.
As she wiped seaspray off the crates, she admitted, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can't wait to get off this planet and back onto a world with drier land."
"Cheer up, Rey," Rose told her optimistically, picking up another crate. "I have a feeling Leia has already won over the people of Mon Cala to our cause."
Rey looked up a second before the sound of many hurried footsteps reached her ears, just in time to see a group of Quarrens brandishing weapons as they rushed towards them. The one in the lead, a bulky male without a shirt, shouted, "You were warned to leave, off-worlders!"
"You were saying, Rose?" Rey sighed.
"We don't want any trouble," Rose said, holding her heads up. "We're on a diplomatic mission."
"They don't seem to be in the mood to be very diplomatic," Rey said. She knew. They were here for a fight. This didn't go any other way. Her staff flew to her outstretched hand, and as Chewie roared an agreement, the first Quarren struck.
Rey was ready for him, catching his club on her staff and twisting to use the end to sweep his legs out from under him. She could hear Chewie in the middle of his own fight, and while Rey suddenly had two others on her while the first got back to his feet, she could hear Rose over the sounds of what sounded like maybe a taser. "General Organa is not going to be happy about this! Oof! She's definitely not going to be happy. I mean, really, really not happy."
"Yeah, well," Rey managed, taking a blow to the hip from behind while she fended off another Quarren's swipe at her legs, "I'm not happy, either."
And when the Quarrens moved to hit her again, Rey tossed the staff up with a turn of her wrist, and directed it with the Force to twirl in mid-air, knocking all three across the head to knock them out.
She turned to see who else needed help, and then spotted the Mon Cala security headed their way. Well, at least the fight was over.
[NFB, NFI, etc. Taken from Allegiance #1-2. It's not great, okay.]