In Fair Aldera Where we Lay our Scene

Prologue

Captain Raymus Antilles had served Alderaan and it's royal family for many years. He was a distant relative of Queen Breha's, along with the other members of House Antilles, but he had no noble tittle and had earned his position purely due to his own talents and skills. He had served alongside Viceroy Organa during the Clone Wars and had know Princess Leia all her life.

He was one of the first people to be made aware of the Queen and Viceroy's plans to take part in the growing rebellion against the Galactic Empire due to both his loyalty and as he was one of the few people on Alderaan that had a military background as Alderaan had no standing army and hadn't seen a battle in over five hundred years. He knew that there would be a high likelihood that he would die but he knew that it was a risk that he must take. He believed in the Alderaaian philosophy of helping others when you had the power to do so and he didn't want his daughters to have to stay on Alderaan their whole life if they wanted to be free and happy.

He had been expecting a war. They all had.

Therefore it was very much a surprise to himself, as well as the rest of the galaxy, when it had been leaked to the holonet that both Emperor Palpatine and his right hand man Darth Vader had been killed in what sounded to be like some kind of duel between the two. The footage that had been leaked was incredibly damaged and had yet to be fully recovered therefore no one really knew what had happened.

But they did know what was going to happen next.

The loss of the Emperor and the closest thing he'd had to an heir shook the Imperial ranks and caused chaos and disharmony amongst them. Meanwhile Mon Mothma of Chandrila, the de facto leader of the Rebel Alliance, saw an opportunity and ordered a full scale attack on Coruscant. The fighting took long but eventually the rebels won though many lives were lost.

A new republic was declared and Mon Mothma was elected as its first chancellor though she only agreed to hold the position for a year before hosting re-elections. There was still much to do when it came to undoing the terror that Palpatine and his loyal minions had inflicted on the galaxy but Antilles could see that slowly but surely the galaxy was beginning to heal.

Speaking of healing: his current problem.

The Alderaanian fleet had been made secretly over the years. As Alderaan hadn't had a military or a navy in centuries it would be a bit of a red flag to the Empire if they suddenly started making one. It had taken part in the Second Battle of Coruscant and Luke all the other fleets it had taken quite the beating. Mechanics and engineers were being contracted throughout the galaxy to fix the broken ships. Antilles had done the same but at the end of the day there was only so many mechanics and engineers in the galaxy and there was only so much Antilles could do in his own.

He needed help and he couldn't be picky about who gave it.

Delia Leighton was someone Antilles had become acquainted with during his time with the Rebellion and who had thought alongside him in the Second Battle of Coruscant. While Antilles knew she would be too busy with her own work to fly all the way to Alderaan to help him he was aware that she had ties to the criminal underworld and therefore might know some people that would be willing to 'lend a hand' for the right price. Antilles only request be that they were individuals that weren't going to cause any problems.

As he sat in his rooms in the officers barracks on Alderaan a message from Delia went off on him comms:

Han Solo and Chewbacca. Smugglers but essentially harmless. Both good at mechanics but more Solo. Want me to make contact with them?

Antilles thought for a moment before sending a message back to Delia asking her to make contact with the smugglers and to send over some more information then began making his way to the simple bedroom that he shared with his wife, Arshissea.

He had a good feeling about this.

Authors Notes: So I really like the Han and Leia meet on Alderaan stories so I decided to do one of my own. I've had a few ideas for one over the years but I decided to go with this one.

Obviously the tittle is inspired by the line 'In fair Verona, where we lay our scene' from the prologue of Romeo and Juliet though I promise this story won't be a tragedy.

I will go into a bit more detail over Palpatine and Vader's deaths later but this story is mostly focused on Han and Leia and the people who directly surround them.

Just to clarify Raymus Antilles is the capitan who Vader strangles in the beginning of a New Hope and Delia Leighton is a character introduced in Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure by Greg Rucka.

Inspired by:
An Alderaaian Love Story by JainaDurron
The Royal Guard by Virtie333
the way out of here (and into your heart) by lightofleia
and a love that i dreamt of came to me at my worst by playthetyrants.

Story Word Count: 733
Published: 29/08/22