Venus & Mars

Chapter 24 ~ The Return

The trip to the Rebel base in D'Qar would take a few days time from our approximate location in the galaxy. In the meantime, Kylo, Orusa, BN1604 and I had to figure out how to explain our sudden surrender. BN1604 and Kylo still mistrusted each other, for obvious reasons. But Orusa and I were able to keep everything calm as best as possible.

With nothing to do, we all spent hours talking, though it wasn't exactly relaxed conversation. We were all nervous about what was to come. I could feel Kylo's anxiety about seeing his mother and having to face up to his crimes against the Resistance. BN1604 only wanted to be free and go home. Orusa was excited to finally see some more Mirialan and learn about her heritage. But I was feeling conflicted emotions. I was elated to be heading back to D'Qar, and nervous about meeting General Organa, and unsure about whether my mother or friends were still alive.

So to take my mind off of our impending situation, I busied myself with helping BN1604 around the ship,taking over for her when needed thanks to Kylo's teachings. I ended up discovering that her real name was Braylen Nukari. She was born on Endor, but her family was from Tattooine. Hux had killed her parents and taken her from Endor on one of his first raids as a General for the First Order. She was his personal prize and pet. I pitied her for the things she had to do for him. She was a beautiful woman, not much older than me, and unbroken. She might as well have been made of iron. In her opinion, she had nothing left to lose. Going to D'Qar was a new start for her. She wanted to become an X-Wing fighter pilot for the Resistance. It was interesting getting to know her, finding out how she became the woman she was. It was a very eye opening experience for me.

On the other hand, Orusa was more chatty than usual, and constantly torn between asking Kylo questions and wanting to leave her former superior alone. I couldn't help but laugh as Kylo grew increasingly annoyed, unused to being so confined in a ship full of women. The estrogen must be getting to him. I thought, grinning happily.

But there was one little problem we were facing on the ship though. We had nowhere to sleep. There was a single cot in main part of the ship, so small that even Orusa, who was tiniest of us, had trouble getting comfortable. The back chamber had no furniture and held only enough room for people to sleep on the floor. So it was a good thing we were all taking turns manning the ship and sleeping. On the bright side, this allowed Kylo and I to have some semi-private time together, wondering about how to handle our future and what it would hold for us. Kylo didn't really know what he wanted, and all I knew is that whatever was next, we would face it together. After all, Kylo could possibly have been the only person I had left that I could hold onto.

The morning of our third day of travel revealed that we were almost at D'Qar. The planet was growing larger by the minute, and the four of us knew that our ship would be spotted at any moment. The forest covered planet loomed ahead of us, a symbol of hope and redemption for everyone on the First Order ship. A radio signal started to come through, hissing and buzzing with static as someone from the Resistance attempted to communicate with us. Braylen went right to work on fixing the transmitter, clearing up the white noise. "...I repeat, stand down. You are approaching General Organa's base. If you do not surrender in five seconds we will have no choice but to fire on your ship! Is that clear?" A man on the other side of the radio told us. "Give me that!" I motioned, reaching for the speaker to radio back a response. "This is Andromeda Kalane, daughter of Commander Anastasia Kalane. I surrender. All I want is to come home. There are others on this ship! We only seek refuge from the First Order. We are escapees! Do you read me?" I announced. There was a short pause. Then a woman's voice took the place of the man from a moment before. "Who are the other refugees, Miss Kalane?" She asked calmly. I took a deep breath. "Miss Orusa Taku from the planet Miria, Miss Braylen Nukari from Endor, and..." I winced, preparing for a horrified response after the next name. "And...Kylo Ren..." I waited for a scream or shout, or anything.