Heir to the Empire

Chapter 6

The Millennium Falcon slowly descended onto the alien planet below. The YT-1300 landed gracefully as the tentacles of the alien trees swayed side to side. “Well, here we are,” Han announced to no one in particular. “Bimmissaari. Fur and moving plants a specialty.”

“None of that,” Leia scolded him, unstrapping from the seat behind him. She grabbed the small headset that sat ever so peacefully in the co-pilot chair. “General Syndulla,” she said into the headset. A cackle sound quickly burst to life on the other end.

“This is Syndulla, is everything alright down there?” the voice of the twi’lek general replied ever so smoothly.

“We’ve landed with no difficulty. Just keep an open comm line, will you?” Leia said.

“Will do, Councilor.”

Leia removed the headset and looked over at Han. “Something wrong?” she asked as Han rushed over to the nose window to see a group of small aliens approaching the ship.

“Looks like our reception committee is arriving a tad early,” Han said with a bit of annoyance in his voice. “Better tell Luke to get Goldenrod ready. You sure you don’t want to come with us, Chewie?” Han called out to his friend.

Leia strained her ears as Chewbacca growled out a curt reply. Even after all these years she still had difficulty understanding him. But if some words were less than distinct, the overall meaning came through crystal clear. “Oh come on,” Han urged. “You’ve been fawned over before—remember Yavin? I didn’t hear you complaining then.”

“It’s all right, Han,” Leia put in over Chewbacca’s response. “If he wants to stay with Artoo and work on the stabilizers, that’s fine. The Bimms won’t be offended.”

Han looked out of the nose window at the approaching aliens. “I wasn’t worried about offending them,” he muttered. “Just thought it would be nice to have some extra backup.”

Leia wrapped her arms around Han’s neck. “Everything will be alright. The Bimms are friendly people,” she assured him. “There won’t be any trouble.”

“I’ve heard that before,” Han said dryly, pulling a comlink from a small storage compartment and fastening it to his collar. “A subtle way to talk to Chewie and General Syndulla without being so obvious,” he explained to Leia.

“Ah,” Leia nodded as she unwrapped her arms from Han’s neck. “Seems you’ve been spending too much time with Commander Rex and his commandos.”

“I’ve been spending too much time sitting in on Council meetings,” he countered, sliding out of his seat and standing up. “After four years of watching political infighting, you learn the occasional value of subtlety. Come on Chewie—we’ll need you to lock up behind us.”

Luke and Threepio were waiting near the hatchway. “Ready?” Luke asked them.

“Ready,” Leia replied, taking a deep breath. With a hiss of the airseal the hatchway opened, and together they walked down the ramp to where the yellow-clad, half-furred creatures awaited.

___

The Dawnbreaker drifted ever so slowly above Bimmissaari. Hera Syndulla stared at the endless field of stars that were nothing more than a twinkle. She had often wondered if her family traveled among them. Or at least, what was left of them. She could feel tears begin to form as she remembered what once was; Kanan: her first and only love, who gave his life to save them, Zeb: a loyal and true friend, who left to start anew, Sabine: a daughter in her eyes, who had lost all hope. And Ezra: her son, who died protecting the people and planet he cared for so dearly.