Supernova || Luke Skywalker

Four

The ride to the rebel base was quiet after Jyn and Cassian had argued. Jyn's death and the lack of communication reaching a boiling point that made both adults burst at each other. No one really spoke after that, the tension too much. The last twenty four hours having hit them hard. Lian slept through most of it. A ball of wet robes pressed into a corner with his head on Chirrut's shoulder. The man was meditating, eyes closed and as still as a statue. Next to him Blaze cleaned his weapons, a habit he always did to calm himself. He would hum and grumble at the state of his guns. Those soft noises being the only sound in the quiet for a long time.

After a while Chirrut spoke. "I am sorry about you father Jyn".

Jyn looked up from where she had rested her chin on her knees and blinked at him. "Thank you. But I did not know him. Not really. Haven't seen him since I was seven".

"Still", Chirrut nodded. "I am sorry".

"I'm sorry about your city", Jyn murmured back. At the words Lian seemed to stir. His scarf fell from his face, exposing his pale skin and slightly open mouth. He had freckles across his nose bridge, sun kissed freckles that made him seem younger than he was. Sleep exposing his age, that his tall frame and simple silence masked when awake. Jyn smiled fondly at the boy, heart weeping for him, for everyone here. "What's you're relationship?" She asked. "He seems so young".

"It was only his birthday two weeks ago", Blaze voiced. "The kid hasn't been a monk long. Only completed his training a few months back".

"The first new guardian in almost twenty years", Chirrut spoke up with undisguised pride. "I was one of the ones who raised and trained him, ever since he was left on our temple steps as a infant".

"There used to be so many of them", Bodhi added. The pilot was slumped in another seat against the wall. His hands fiddling with his flight goggles, messing with the strap. He twanged the elastic between his fingers, loose dark hair brushing his face. "I remember the parades and the festivals for the harvest. The monks would be all there in their red and black robes. Disciples in robes of grey and red running along after them".

Blaze nodded. "There were many disciples then. Then the occupancy happened and half of our order were gunned down by storm troopers for refusing to let them enter the temples. The rest, like me, abandoned the faith and left to find new lives elsewhere. Those who stayed were the old, the fools"...

"...The blind and the children", Chirrut finished. "And then they too left, until Lian was the only child left. But some came back". He held out a hand and Blaze squeezed it between his. Both men smiling slightly.

The ship gave a shudder and Lian's head rocked. He jerked awake, blinking sleepily at the room. "Hullo", he murmured, voice soft but horse with sleep. He looked round the room and caught her eye. Lian tiled his head slightly. "Are you okay Jyn?" He asked gently, one hand rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Jyn raised an eyebrow in surprise. "I think that is the first time you've spoken to me", she stated.

"You're not a stranger anymore". The sentence was soft but honest. It was the first thing that made her smile. Lian smiled slightly back.

——

The rebel base on Yavin 4 was a whirlwind of activity. It was located on a small moon with a warm but wetter climate than Lian was used too. There was so much green. He gaped at it through the window as the ship landed. He had never imagined so much plant life. It was like one of those green houses the rich of Jedha would own, just on a whole planet scale. He wondered if these trees were climbable like the stories described.

The rebel base itself seemed to be in a set of stone building that, although very different from the temples of Jedha, Lian recognised to be old disused temples. There was a long stone landing pad where the ship touched down. As soon as the doors opened Cassian and Jyn were swept away by a crowd of people. The other four of them were left to follow along, K2 staying with the ship. Lian glanced around as they were led through numerous tunnels and through hangers. The man leading them kept muttering something about senators and meetings, not that Lian had any idea about what was happening.

The room where the meeting was held was cold and dark. The only light coming from monitors and holograms. In the centre was a large table where people of importance stood. The other rebels assembled in a mass of dark forms around them as they listened. The revelation of the death star was brought up and outcry followed. "We must scatter the fleet!" A dark skinned woman in gold robes stated. "We have no course but to surrender". There were a few voices of support. Lian didn't need to meditate to feel the force in the room bubbling like a boiling pot.

"Are we really talking about disbanding something that we've worked so hard to create?" A older man with kind eyes and grey in his hair replied. He wore robes of a dark green and stood straight and tall. Liam had missed his name but he thought it might be something like Bail.

"We can't just give in", another rebel leader replied. He was a fish type alien with a voice that sounded old and wise. Lian didn't know much else as he had never seen that species before.

"We joined an alliance, not a suicide pact!"

Bail shot the other senator down before he could continue. "We've only now managed to gather out forces".

"Gather our forces? General Draven has already blown up and imperial base".

"A decision needed to be made", a man, probably general Draven, snapped back.

"If it's war you want you fight alone", the woman in gold robes threatened.

"If that's how it's going, why have an alliance at all?"

"If she's telling the truth. We need to act now!" There were fingers pointing at Jyn.

"Councillors please", a woman with red hair and dressed in white spoke up as the chatter rose.

"It's simple". The voices calmed as a rebel commander started talking. "The empire has a means of mass destruction. The rebellion does not.".

"A Death Star? This is nonsense".

"What reason would my father have to lie?" Jyn brust, seemingly feed up of all the arguing. "What benefit would it bring him?"

"To lure our forces into a final battle. To destroy us once and for all".

"We would risk everything, based on what? The testimony of a criminal? The dying words of her father, an imperial scientist?"

"But don't forget the imperial pilot". At Lian's side, Bodhi turned to the man who pointed him out. Lian scowled and glared at said man, unhappy that his friends were being accused. The man shrivelled under his glare and fell silent.

"My father gave his life so that we might have a chance to defeat this", Jyn exclaimed.

"So you've told us".

"If the empire has this kind of power, what chance do we have?"

"What chance do we have?" Jyn repeated. She looked around at the senators before her. "The question is 'what choice?' Run, hide, plead for mercy, scatter your forces. You give way to an enemy this evil, with this much power and you condemn the galaxy to an eternity of submission. The time to fight is now!" Voices cheered in agreement at her words, Lian cheering with them. "Every moment you waste is another step closer to the ashes of Jedha".

"What is she proposing?" Someone shouted as the chatter rose again.

"Just let the girl speak".

"Send your best troops to Scarif", Jyn stated. "Send the rebel fleet if you have to. You need to capture the Death Star plans if there's any hope of destroying it".

"You're asking us to invade an imperial installation based on nothing but hope?"

"Rebellions are built on hope", Jyn replied.

"There is no hope".

"I say we fight!"

"I say the rebellion is finished!" The council was full of murmuring voices. Some voting for fighting, others saying that they should run and hide.

"I'm sorry Jyn", the senator in white sighed. "Without the full support of the council, the odds are too great".

Jyn took a breath then turned and pushed her way out of the room. Bodhi and Lian following with Cassian on their heels.

Unedited