Ending4,251 words

Arrival At Yavin IV

Author's Note:

And we are back! We finally are progressing, get some more character growth and development in, and more on the way!

Hope you all enjoyed it!

The ship had been in hyperspace for a few hours now. By now, everyone had settled in for the trip and were starting to relax and calm down. Bon Bon took a part of that time during the trip to work on Rainbow Dash's artificial limb. And so, sitting on the workbench, Bon Bon was carefully removing the rest of the destroyed arm off Rainbow.

Lyra and Applejack were also present, accompanying her for the time being while IG-11 and Cheep took over cabin control. As the droidsmith worked, the two veterans looked around Bon Bon's workshop. It was incredibly messy, with parts on the walls, the floor, carts and crates on shelves, everywhere. It was a wonder how this Mandalorian could even keep track of anything. Also resting on the workbench next to Rainbow Dash was a white astromech dome with red paneling.

"How did you lose a limb again?" Lyra asked, trying to start a conversation with the two veterans.

"Let's just say the final days of the Clone Wars weren't exactly victorious for us. Or, really anyone," Rainbow said, trying to avoid telling the truth.

"I see," Bon Bon said, rather nonchalantly.

"But what about you Lyra?" Applejack asked, hands on her hips. "The last time I saw you must have been, oh I don't know... seventeen years ago?"

"I'd really rather not talk about that," Lyra winced.

The two former members of the Jedi Council were quiet for a second, giving silent exchanges to one another on how to approach the subject.

"We would have loved having you on the Council," Applejack said, rather guiltily.

"I couldn't devote my life to the Jedi and my wife," Lyra replied back, with a bit of heat in her tone.

"Ahem," Bon Bon cleared her throat, trying to break the tension. "I got the cut pieces off. Now I can get a new one. Lyra, can you get me the box of arms?"

"Sure," Lyra answered, walking to a shelf and pulling out a crate of droid arms. She set them on the workbench as Bon Bon dug through them.

"Now lemme see here..." Bon Bon pulled some of the arms out of the box. Super battle droid, standard battle droid, Pyke torture droid, many various types of limbs. But eventually she pulled out a colored blue B1 unit arm still intact. "Think you can settle on this for the time being?"

Rainbow sighed. She didn't want to have the same type of arm, but she didn't want to reject her hospitality, nor be picky. She was their guest after all. "Sure."

And so, Bon Bon got back to work. She pulled some tools out from the wall, starting to apply the bolts onto the mechanical implants.

"So, um. Anyways," Applejack continued. "You two... you're both married now, aren't ya?"

Lyra's look of derision soon melted away. She gave a soft but friendly smile to the veteran and gave a nod.

"Well now. I dare say you found yourself quite a gal," the farmer complimented, making Bon Bon and Lyra blush.

"Heh, yeah. Just uh... don't take her from me, okay? She's mine," Lyra stuck out her tongue, childishly.

"Still though, congrats. Kinda wish we saw the wedding though," Rainbow admitted.

"You lucked out," Bon Bon continued, doing a quick diagnostics check on the wrist. "Since we were on the run by the time we decided to get married, we ended up having a wedding on Takodana. Maz was nice enough to be our priest, but I think Hondo had too much to drink."

"He was a nice best man though," Lyra shrugged nonchalantly.

Applejack's curiosity got the best of her as she looked around her little workshop. In a bin she saw a few more droid limbs sticking out, some hands with missing fingers and various panels and wiring exposed. On a shelf she saw nothing but heads; battle, protocol, tactical, super tactical, pit, probe, architect, it was stunning to see how many types of droid parts she had. Even on a small shelf there were at least two astromech domes with faded paint that looked like they were still mostly intact.

The farmer's eyes then settled on the strange orb that was resting on the shelf with faded paint. She reached her hand out to look at it--until the orb came apart and revealed a to be a buzz droid hiding underneath it chittering and clicking at her.

"Dah! Buzz droid!" Applejack was about to pull out her blaster--

"If you shoot Bee, I'll stop trying to fix your friend here," Bon Bon threatened, pointing a wrench at the farmer.

"Ah... ah..." Applejack looked at the buzz droid for a second, watching as it leapt off the shelf and onto the workbench. It clapped its little legs across the wall and past Rainbow Dash making her shiver. She squirmed more as she saw it get close to her, suddenly moving itself onto Bon Bon's body.

"Relax, he's family too," Bon Bon said, fixing the final circuit. Bee suddenly appeared on Bon Bon's shoulder, sitting like a little bird. Bon Bon smiled and patted its head, making it purr like a loth-cat. Even Lyra gave it a pat which made it climb onto her, demanding more attention.

"Hey little guy," Lyra giggled, patting its shell and head.

"Okay, the final bolts are attached," Bon Bon finished. "Now, try to feel with it. Try to make your hand move." The Mandalorian took a small tool and poked at a finger, watching it flex. Then she poked at another, seeing it reflex as well. And poking it some more got the hand to move with Rainbow's reactions and body. The joints made a small wincing noise as they moved, but it wasn't in any danger of falling apart. "Great! Now we just need to do one more test."

Bon Bon walked to the corner and pulled out a B1 battle droid head. "Pick this up without difficulty."

Rainbow got off the bench, flexing her arm some more, trying to get used to the feeling. She stretched her arm and looked at her fingers, watching them flex and move with her thoughts and feelings. Bon Bon held the head in her hand, offering Rainbow to grab it by the neck. Rainbow stretched her three-fingered arm out, extending long enough to try and grip it. Her fingers softly tapped the neck until they wrapped around with a tight grip. As carefully as possible, Rainbow pulled her arm back to hold it normally, not feeling the weight of the part too much for her grip.

"Excellent. I think your arm should be alright now," Bon Bon declared, taking the head back and putting it back in the box. "Now, you two wanted to discuss where we've been all this time?"

"That would be nice to know," Applejack asked, folding her arms.

"Follow us, we can get some blue milk and discuss everything in the cockpit," Lyra offered.

A few minutes after fixing her limb, the four adults walked over to the cockpit of the ship, watching as hyperspace traveled around them from the glass. Everyone had a nice cup of cold blue milk in a mug, and the four chairs in the cockpit were nice and comfortable enough for them to sit in. Flurry and the rest of the Rebels were occupied as well, leaving them some nice and quiet time alone.

“So let me get this straight, you two have been hiding out on Tatooine for all this time?” Applejack asked.

“Well yeah, Tatooine’s a perfect place to hide. Especially for a bounty hunter like me,” Bon Bon said with a small smirk. “Personally though, I wanted to settle down on Glee Anselm or Scarif, but the Empire now controls those. Because of course they have to take the nice tropical environments…”

“And I guess that means you tried settling on desert planets next?” Rainbow Dash asked, taking a sip of her drink.

“No, we then tried settling on winter planets. But none of us really wanted to have to purchase a ton of animal skins or furs just to keep ourselves warm. Hated Hoth, Carlac was a no-no, only went to Ilum once and that was to help Lyra restore her lightsaber, and Kijimi can go die in a fire,” Bon Bon said, seething at the end.

Rainbow and Applejack blinked.

“Oookay, I’m not even going to ask about that last one…”

Bon Bon tittered. “Sorry. But back to my point, so we ditched that, and that’s when we settled on trying to find desert planets. Pasaana sucked, Jedha sucked, Jakku sucked, Arvala-7… eh, iffy on that one. Savareen’s barely nice even with the beach, Geonosis had practically nothing, so we basically settled on Tatooine. It’s a hell-hole, but it beats traveling endlessly in space getting hunted by the Empire.”

Rainbow raised a brow. “Yeah… sure. But why not go back to Equestria?"

"Have you seen what the Empire's done to Equestria?" Lyra said with some doubt. "It's hell now. The Empire controls Equestria now. And Mandalore's no better."

"... Great," Applejack said, rather lowly. "Just when I hoped they'd leave our homeworld alone."

Just then, the door to the cockpit opened, and Spike rolled inside. “Hey, Lyra, Bon Bon, I know things were kinda chaotic during the escape but I just wanted to ta…” His dome rolled to the side and immediately froze. He couldn’t process what he was seeing right now. “It… is it really…?

Even Rainbow and Applejack couldn’t believe it, but the two of them held back their surprised looks with neutral ones, mainly just to mess with him for one last time.

“Its… oh sweet Solaris. You two are alive…” Spike gasped.

“Well of course we’re alive. Why wouldn’t we be?” Rainbow said, casually, leaning back in her chair.

“It’s been so long! It’s so good to see you both again!”

“… And you are?” Applejack asked.

“Oh no. You don’t remember?”

Rainbow Dash silently smirked to Applejack who hid her smirk as well, despite Spike’s confusion.

“… wait, you seriously don’t remember me? After everything we’ve been through? The raid on Geonosis? The Siege of Alveare where we jumped onto the Storm King’s warship to rescue Chancellor Celestia? What about the time when we all first met, when Master Yoda helped create the Equestrian Jedi Temple? None of this rings a bell to you!?”

And for the first time in years, both Applejack and Rainbow Dash started to laugh.

“Okay, now it’s coming back buddy,” Rainbow joked, patting the top of his head. “I never forgot who you were.”

“Oh now you remember. Lyra, these two are not who they claim to be!”

“Spike, stop, I’m sorry,” Rainbow Dash said, kneeling down to give the C1 unit a hug. “I am actually happy to see you bud, it’s been such a long time.”

Spike sighed and moved his little hands to try and give her a hug. “Sorry, I’m not much of a jokester nowadays. Kinda lost my sense of humor after… well you know.”

Applejack gave the astromech a hug too. “Sorry, sugarcube. But we are happy to see you again.”

Spike couldn’t show it, but he was smiling inside. “So am I.” His head turned to look at Rainbow again. “Hey, you got a replacement arm!”

“Yeah, but it’s a skinny battle droid arm,” Rainbow complained, extending it and making a flexing motion. “And I have three fingers, do you know how hard it is to type with three fingers?”

“The original Master Yoda had three fingers,” Spike pointed out.

“Well, yeah, but, ju—agh, I’m not debating this,” she said, throwing herself back in the seat.

“I do like your new hairstyle by the way, looks awesome,” the astromech complimented. “Now where was I… oh, right! Lyra, Bon Bon, if you two don’t mind, could we… talk?”

“About what?” Lyra asked.

“Well, it’s…” Spike’s dome spun around to look behind him, making sure no one was there. “It’s about Flurry. Can you just close the door?”

“I got it,” Bon Bon said, flipping a switch. The door closed instantly. “Or did you want to speak with only the two of us?”

“Honestly all four of you should probably be involved right now,” Spike admitted. “When Flurry found me in the desert, I do not know why, I had a feeling in my processor like I knew her. Just exactly, out of curiosity’s sake, where did you find her, or get her? Did you adopt her, is she naturally born…?”

Lyra and Bon Bon looked at each other, and then back to Spike.

“Well, Spike… um. We kinda, sorta… adopted her,” Lyra admitted. “I don’t know if you knew this or not, but I was asked by the Princess of Canterlot and her husband to watch over their baby because of a potential Changeling threat. We’ve been raising her ever since.”

Spike’s dome spun backwards again and then looked back at the married couple. “Is… is she really… Is it her? Is she Flurry Heart?”

“Yes, she is,” Lyra nodded.

“… Omigosh, she’s still alive!” Spike cheered. His dome now did a complete 360 multiple times and his little hands made cheering notions in the air. “I knew it, I knew it in my spark that she was still alive somehow, I just knew it!”

“Still alive, what are you talking about?” Bon Bon asked.

“Well… wait. You two don’t know? You didn’t hear about the Siege of Canterlot?”

“Siege, what siege—what are you talking about?” Lyra insisted, starting to get worried.

“Girls… I don’t know how to say it. Shining Armor and Cadence, they’re… they’re gone,” Spike whimpered, arms slowly drooping.

The two partners were quiet, and Lyra slowly fell back in her seat, trying to comprehend what he had just told them. It couldn’t be true, it couldn’t! It wasn’t true, it had to be impossible!

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I wasn’t there, but from what I learned, apparently a few days after they had their baby sent away, Queen Chrysalis and her army of Changelings led an invasion that wiped out everyone and, well… she took Cadence’s place. Ten years later, the Empire came down and wiped out the Changelings in return, under the command of Darth Midnight.”

Lyra’s heart started to pound against her chest, and all sounds were getting quieter. She only heard a stinging drone sound emit as she tried desperately to not have a panic attack. It wasn’t until Bon Bon’s hand held onto her hand did she finally wake up. She looked at Bon Bon with a scared face, practically trembling. The Mandalorian, understanding her wife’s fear, pulled her in for a hug to try and comfort her.

The two former Jedi could only sit there in complete shock and awe, speechless in fact.

“A few days… If I didn’t leave, I… or oh God, Flurry…” Lyra’s voice shook.

“Hon, you didn’t know,” Bon Bon whispered, holding her, rubbing her back affectionately.

“She could have been… oh…” Lyra trembled.

“You’re okay. It’s okay, you’re here, and Flurry is still safe,” Bon Bon whispered, holding her for another minute or two. Once Lyra finally calmed down, the two partners sat back down in their seats.

“Lyra, I know you’re scared, but you did save her. I didn’t know she was even safe, but honestly I’m more than happy knowing that she’s been safe all along because of you,” Spike comforted. “And the Mandalorian, of course. And now that we know she’s safe, that means…” He froze again. A darker thought entered his processor. “Oh no…” His dome looked over to Rainbow Dash and Applejack who shared an equally scared look.

"Oh no..."

“Why so scared all of a sudden?” Bon Bon asked, turning to look at them.

Smolder stared intently at the holochess board, and then at the player across from her. Their eyes exchanged intense glares, one wondering what each other were going to do for a move. The player across from her had already made his move, and now Smolder had to think it over.

“Cheep cheep cheep.”

“I don’t know what he just said to me,” Smolder asked, still staring.

“He just asked ‘are you going to go?’” Flurry questioned, sitting next to the C1 unit with her arms folded with a deadpan expression. She looked at her shoulder armor for a moment, adjusting the piece to make sure it wasn't going to fall off.

“I’m thinking here…” Smolder protested, looking back down on the board.

“How long has she been thinking of a move?” Gallus asked.

All three of them turned their eyes over to Gallus, Sandbar, Yona, Ocellus, and Silverstream who were all drinking from coffee mugs. Although they were drinking the sweet sensations of hot chocolate with some little marshmallows that the mothers picked up from Naboo.

“Sixteen minutes,” Flurry pouted, resting her head.

“Hey, how would you like to play this game then, huh? You got some brilliant idea, hmm?” Smolder complained.

“Just pick one!” Everyone shouted.

Smolder finally gave in and moved a piece to the next slot on the board. Finally, Cheep made his next move, which was officially the winning move. Enough for Smolder to throw her arms back and yell at the air, flame bursting out of her mouth.

“Hehehehehehe.”

“How’d you like it if I burn your photoreceptor, huh trashcan?” Smolder growled.

“Hey, Smolder, calm down! It’s just a game,” Sandbar reassured.

“I don’t like to lose,” Smolder huffed with smoke coming out of her snout.

“Cheep and G-G have more experience playing this game, they’ve played it for over 20 years,” Flurry explained, rationally. “I’ve only beat them once, and I think they let me.”

“Chirp chirp chirp churp,” Cheep replied, swiveling his head around at her.

“Pretty much,” Flurry shrugged.

“I have a deck of cards, anyone want to play Sabacc?” Sandbar offered.

“I’m in,” Smolder nodded. “Flurry, you wanna play?”

“I’d love to!” Flurry smiled. “Cheep, are you in?”

“Chirp chirp.”

“Great. Hey, ask G-G or any of the droids if they want in,” Flurry asked.

The C1 unit nodded, sliding out of the seat and roll towards the hallway.

“I gotta admit, it’s kinda weird to see you so chill with them,” Smolder admitted, scooting herself over so the rest of the gang could come in to sit.

“How come?” Flurry asked.

“Well, I mean… they’re machines,” Smolder said, flatly. “They’re not living, breathing, things.”

“Maybe not, but they’re still family. Those two have helped look after me ever since I was a baby,” Flurry stated. “They may be droids, but they’re still thinking beings like us.”

Cheep rolled back, with G-G right behind him. The C1 pulled himself back in the seat, still making everyone wonder how the hell that fat machine was able to sit like a humanoid being in that booth. But they didn’t question it for long and just moved along like nothing weird happened. And G-G pushed a small little ramp that acted like a booster, allowing him to elevate his height so he could face everyone at the table.

"Astromechs are in," Flurry acknowledged.

“Okay boys, let’s do it, cards are all out, I assume everyone knows the rules?” Sandbar asked. Everyone nodded. “Great, let’s start. Gallus, you want to be the dealer this time?”

“Sure,” Gallus agreed.

“You guys go ahead and start, I’m going to check on the bridge, see how far we are from Yavin,” Flurry said, sliding out of the booth.

She walked out of the living room and around the hallway to the bridge. She hit the switch, opening up the door to the cockpit, only to see Lyra and Bon Bon’s skin having gone cold. “Um… Mom? Mama? Is everything okay?”

Rainbow and Applejack were the first to step up.

“Oh, they’re fine! They’re just uh… not handling the news well,” Applejack tittered.

“What news?” Flurry asked.

“Well, just, uhhh…” Rainbow’s eyes darted around, trying to think of a lie fast. It wasn’t going to be good if Applejack lied, she was a horrible liar. Which meant it was all on her. They couldn’t tell this kid what they knew. “Sebulba’s not allowed to enter any more races!”

Flurry blinked with a deadpan expression. “Sebulba’s dead. He bit the dust after he tried racing on some Tusken Raider’s turf.”

“Oh, well, uhhhh…”

“Mom, is everything okay?”

Flurry stepped forward into the cockpit, hoping for a straight answer.

"Mom? Mama, are you okay?"

Lyra was quiet for a moment or two, her hands cupping her face and slowly breathing in and out as if someone had told her the worst news she had ever heard. She got up out of her chair to look at her daughter in the eye, clearly in some form of stress. Then by surprise, she yanked her daughter to her, holding her tightly. Flurry didn't know what to say or do, but she just slowly hugged her back. And Bon Bon joined in as well, everyone trying to stay calm in the situation.

"Mom, if something isn't okay, I'll listen," Flurry insisted.

Lyra pulled out of the hug for a second, trying to keep her voice calm and collected, even despite her clearly shaken up. "I'm okay. I'm just... a little worried, because someone didn't mention the fact that there were two Dark Siders attacking you guys," Lyra said, putting her motherly instincts back into gear.

"They came out of nowhere, we were trying not to die!" Applejack protested, also playing the part. Truth be told, she could feel Lyra wasn't acting right now, not with her tone.

"Or, uh, I don't know, you took our daughter into a freaking PODRACER!?" Bon Bon yelled.

"IG-11 was the one driving, it's not their fault," Flurry protested.

"It's still dangerous to be in a podracer, do you know how fast those things go?"

"We just ran away in an old spaceship from a bunch of guys who were trying to shoot us down," Flurry snarked, folding her arms.

Lyra rubbed her eyes and her temple, trying to relax and calm down. "It's just... I'm worried, okay. I just want you to be safe, okay? I'm glad these two and Eleven were there to keep you safe, but I... well you know."

"I understand," Flurry hugged her mom again. "We'll be careful next time. I promise."

She gave her mom a quick peck and walked out of the cockpit, letting the doors slide behind her. While she did understand how her moms were about her safety (and understandable, considering the amount of bad people that lived on Tatooine) she still felt a bit annoyed at times. But yet a part of her felt like there was something they weren't telling her...

Lyra and Bon Bon sat back down in the cockpit chairs, staring off into space.

"So. What you said, is this true?"

"I'm afraid so," Applejack said, lowering her hat. "I'm sorry you knew about this now but..."

Bon Bon raised her hand up, as if to quietly tell her to stop talking. "It's fine. Better we know about it now than later."

"I think we're going to have to make a decree," Lyra said, staring at space in front of her, not looking back at Rainbow or Applejack. Her face was entirely neutral as she tried to bring her composure back to normal again. "We cannot let Flurry know this. Ever."

"Lyra, Flurry is going to find out eventually," Rainbow pointed out.

"And if we bring her on missions, she might find out she still lives," Spike added, rubbing his hands rather worriedly.

"Maybe she will. Or maybe she won't. But I want you all to promise me, no matter what happens... we cannot tell her this. Understood?"

Rainbow, Applejack, and Spike all collectively agreed and just let out a disappointed, "Understood."

Lyra's gaze shifted to her Mandalorian wife. "Bonnie, are you on board, or..."

Bon Bon looked back to her former Jedi of a wife. "I don't like it... but I don't want to dump any more bad news onto Flurry. We'll keep this quiet, for now."

And like that, the entire cockpit was quiet. No one said another word and just stayed silent, Lyra kept her hands gripped on the steering controls with Bon Bon by her side. The two veterans behind them exchanged looks, pondering whether or not they were making the right choice. Even Spike looked unsure about their current predicament. But he vowed to stay silent on the subject matter like everyone else.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew were getting deeply involved in the game of Sabacc. And despite Smolder's pleas, everyone didn't take issue with IG-11 pulling up a chair and sitting with them to play as well. Despite the game only requiring six to eight players, the group made do with the additional players that were participating in the game.

"Does anyone else require sustenance?" IG-11 asked.

"No thanks."

"We're good."

Since Sandbar dealt all the cards, he was the first to set a card down; a green card with five dots. The player on his left, Flurry was next. She looked at her cards and set a card down onto the discard pile. Now it was Cheep's turn. The astromech's eyes looked at his cards and then at the discard pile again.

"Chirp chirp."

Now it was G-G's turn. The R4 unit looked over at his deck with his small hands, and very carefully reached his hand over to grab another card from the deck, having made his turn.

"So Flurry, I know you haven't played the game, but have your parents played?"

"I know my mom has. She doesn't think I know this, but I heard over coms she apparently played Sabacc against some bounty hunters back on Tatooine," Flurry explained, watching as IG-11 set a card down on the deck.

"Okay so here's something I don't understand," Gallus asked, pointing a claw at her. "Your moms are a bounty hunting Mandalorian, and a Jedi... how exactly does that work?"

Flurry shrugged, casually. "I don't know, I guess it just does. I never questioned it."

"What version of the game are we playing?" Ocellus asked, interrupting the conversation for a second.

"Correllian Spike," Sandbar answered. "Why?"

"Oh, I wasn't sure, that's all," Ocellus replied, her wings clicking lightly. "I've been trying to read up on all the popular games in the galaxy, and heard this one was a popular form." She then pulled another card out from the deck.

"It is, but another reason it's so popular is people gamble on these games," Smolder remarked. "I stand."

"I've never gambled before, it's always so risky. And every time I try to play with someone, they keep asking me to bet my necklace," Silverstream whimpered, clutching the jewel around her neck to protect it.

"That's now how it's played on Gryphus," Gallus said, setting a card down on the deck. "You etither had something to bet, or you don't play."

"... ouch," Flurry winced.

"What can I say. It's how the Griffins play," Gallus shrugged off casually, watching as Silverstream set another card down on the deck. "Of course, the Griffins also cheat when they play, so what do I know."

"Ohh..." Ocellus tittered.

Yona looked at her cards and then at the card facing down. Following the rules, she swapped her card with the one on top. Sandbar then set the next card down, rolling the dice. "Okay... no doubles, so we keep going."

Flurry was next again, setting a card down on the deck. And then Cheep looked down at his cards again and then the deck. His claw slapped another one down on the discard pile, waiting for G-G to make his move. The R4 looked at his deck, and then played a card.

"Bwoop boop."

"So is there anything I should expect when we arrive at your base?" Flurry asked, bringing the conversation back around.

"Well I'm not sure how open everyone's going to be regarding, um," Ocellus's head looked to the droid dock against the wall. "The Storm Army droids?"

Flurry tilted her head to look, until it suddenly clicked. "Ohhh... well, I mean. They're reprogrammed, they're not dangerous. They don't shoot or harm anyone unless ordered to. Does your base have droids?"

"Yeah, we do but none of them are your nurse," Smolder pointed to Eleven, "or the soldiers who served the Storm King."

"So there aren't any battle droids in the Rebellion? Commandos, droidekas, nothing?"

"No. Not sure why we'd even need them," Smolder said, rather nonchalantly. "They're not exactly smart."

"They're not smart, but they still pack a punch," Sandbar pointed out.

"No kidding. You don't know what an army of them did to Mount Aris," Silverstream's ears drooped.

"But imagine what they could do for the Rebellion," Ocellus asked with a small tinge of excitement. "They could do so much for us."

"Just as long as they're not clones," Gallus said, placing another card down after everyone else had gone. "It's hard enough telling them apart, I prefer being able to know who's who."

"But I have learned there were ways to tell them apart," Ocellus spoke up. She pulled out her book flipping through the pages. "Apparently to make themselves more distinct, each of them had their own little names to make things easier for the Jedi and each other."

"How do you know so much about the Clone Wars?" Flurry asked.

"I've been studying the Clone Wars immensely," Ocellus squeaked, pulling a holodevice out of her bag with a few memory chips. "I never participated in it, but from what General Shimmer taught me, it wasn't exactly the greatest of times. She did like the clones at the time though, and she gave me instructional videos for my studies."

"Oh really? That's cool! May I?" Flurry asked, gesturing to the holodevice.

"Sure."

Flurry grabbed the device from her and flipped the button. The hologram projector turned on, showing a man with short blond hair and white armor, with a blue shoulder pauldron facing her. Presumably this was directed at whoever was supposed to get the message.

"Whoa... that's a clone?" Flurry asked.

"One of many," Ocellus replied. The hologram captured everyone's attention, despite the figure on the device not giving anyone any direct attention.

"My name is Rex. But you can call me Captain, or sir. War does not come with a guarantee. No soldier gets the promise of safety--"

Flurry flipped the channel to another video, looking for more on the memory chip. This time another clone came into the hologram view, with a few others next to him.

"My designation is Trooper 27-5555 sir."

"We call him Fives. I'm Hevy, and this is Echo."

And she flipped again.

"I'm Commander Cody. Your new boss."

And again.

"Sir yes sir!"

And then back to the first video.

"Look around, we are one and the same. Same heart, same blood. Your training is in your blood."

Then Flurry turned the device off, passing it back to Ocellus.

"Supposedly, there were over a hundred-thousand of those troopers serving the old Republic. But they're all a thing of the past now," Ocellus said, putting the device back in her bag. "They don't exist anymore. If only I could have seen what it was like back then..."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that Ocellus. Just remembering the things my dad said, it sounded like he thought the Empire was even better than the Republic," Sandbar interjected. "Of course, I have no way of knowing this and um... uh, never mind."

"What?" Flurry asked.

"I'll tell you guys another time. Not now," Sandbar insisted. "Now round three?"

"Hey guys!" Spike hollered. Spike came rolling around the corner, grabbing everyone's attention. "We're almost at Yavin IV! We made it!"

"Alright!"

"Hooray!"

"About time!"

Once they were out of hyperspace, The Sweetie Drop burst into the atmosphere near Yavin Prime; a gas giant of a planet. And not too far was the lighter colored, warm blue and green planet known as Yavin IV.

“Here we are, Yavin IV,” Spike declared, looking out the cockpit window with the Jedi.

“So is there anything we should expect now that we’re here?” Bon Bon asked.

“Well, right about now we should be activating their proximity alert, which means they should be calling us right about… now.”

And speak of the devil, someone was calling them on the coms channel.

“Unidentified vessel, you are entering restricted airspace. Identify yourselves.”

Lyra tapped the button to respond. “Yavin IV, this is Lyra Heartstrings.”

“Why are you entering this sector?”

“We are currently in transit to your base, we have astromech unit SP-1K safe and sound, along with a Rebel group who call themselves Team Six. They have offered us a chance to join your Rebellion, and my family and I would like to join.”

Some silence was on the other end. Lyra and her wife looked at one another, unsure of their responses.

“What did you say your name was again?”

“Lyra Heartstrings,” she repeated.

“I see. Well Miss Heartstrings, we will be escorting you down to the platform; I would advise you to follow our escorting X-Wings, and if you do not comply, we will open fire.”

“I understand. Over and out,” Lyra finished, shutting off their coms.

As expected, two ships were seen coming from the planet towards their freighter; two light fighters with wings that looked as if they could fold into an X-shaped pattern. Both of them flew past the ship and spun around, flying side by side next to the freighter. They guided the Sweetie Drop towards the planet, and so they began to make their descent to the surface.

Several clouds whooshed past them until finally they were flying within the planet’s surface. The skies were nice and bright with clouds in the air. And the lands as far as they could see were filled with nature; forests and jungles extended for miles across the planet. But they could see a few open areas visible. Plenty of fields where they could see some people with farming equipment tending to the flourishing crops. Some rivers where some guys in fishing gear were catching some delectable looking fish for food. And just up ahead, they could see the heart of Yavin IV; the Rebel base.

Big ancient stone temples converted into the Rebel base, with plenty of vegetation growing all over them. Some of the structures were in ruins, but it didn’t hurt the Rebels from expanding their resources and grounds. Flurry pressed herself against the gunner window, staring at the world with awe. She could barely remember the last time she had seen something other than sand.

“Whoa…” Flurry said in awe. “This is the Rebel base?”

“Yes it is!” The Yakyakiee beamed, joining her in looking outside. "Rebel friends found temples seven years ago, and as Rebels do, Rebels make do with what Rebel friends can,” Yona said with pride. “Those temples are all ruins from long ago. Ocellus has been studying them.”

Once they were within range, the two X-Wings broke off and allowed the freighter to find a space on the massive landing zone. The Sweetie-Drop’s legs extended and unfolded, and landed on the platform with a smooth touch, like a bird arriving to it’s nest.

“So now that we’re here, how do we come out of the ship?” Applejack asked. “Are they gonna shoot us the minute we get out?”

“Probably not, but I highly recommend everyone follow my lead,” Spike suggested.

“Okay,” Lyra nodded, walking with the Jedi to meet the others. “Flurry,” she said, looking at her daughter. “Turn on the rest of the droids; only the active members.”

“Yes Mom,” she agreed.

She walked over the droid dock, and pulled down a lever. One by one, each of the humanoid droids that were resting on the docks activated; all three commando units and the purple and gold tactical droid turned on, slowly coming off the dock.

A few Rebel troopers walked out onto the platform to greet the arrivals. The hatch opened up along with the ramp to lead down to the ground. First to come out were Smolder and Gallus, who were then pounced on by Yona who was struggling to push out of the stairway. Next to come down were Lyra and Bon Bon, who were then followed by Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Next to come were Flurry and IG-11, with Cheep and G-G rolling behind them. And the rest of the droids who were online marched behind them like soldiers, keeping weapons held behind their backs to not startle the Rebels. Last to exit were Silverstream, Ocellus, Sandbar and Spike who got off the ramp to join them.

“Hey Tamont,” Silverstream greeted to the Rebel trooper.

“Hello Silver,” the trooper acknowledged. He looked over to the group of adults who stood together. “Which one of you is Lyra Heartstrings?”

“That would be me,” she said, stepping forward.

“When you said you and your family were wanting to join us, I didn’t know you had a big family,” the trooper said, looking at the group that stood with her.

Lyra giggled. “Guess I should have been more specific.”

“Either way, this is quite a surprise. If you and your family would be so kind to follow us,” he said, gesturing them to come with.

Naturally, Team Six along with their new friends followed the troopers towards the main entrance of the base. As they walked, the new ‘guests’ looked around. So many ships were here, it was quite impressive to see what this group had put together. Multiple starfighters as far as the eye could see of various types; a white and blue carrier parked with some engineering staff running repairs on the wings. Some Rebels moving around with mini trooper carriers, showing pilots in orange and blue jumpsuits. As far as Flurry could tell, the Rebellion had gathered various people from across the galaxy. Twi'leks, Niktos, Duros, Sullustans, Nautolans, Kel Dors, Mirilans, Zabraks, Equestrians, etc. There were also species that weren't as common to see across the galaxy; Xextos, Lurmens, Patrolians, Terrelian Jango Jumpers, and many more.

Bon Bon’s eyes wandered towards one section, noting two other freighters were within the base. One was a customized VCX-100 light freighter, and an extensively modified Corelian light freighter. Among the VCX freighter, Bon Bon picked up on a young woman, presumably in early adulthood, with very vibrant and colorful Mandalorian armor. Said colorful Mandalorian quickly noticed Bon Bon, and stood there, staring at her momentarily.

But then her attention was drawn to another figure; a green Twi’lek woman emerging from the ship rather slowly, with the help of a Lasat. And judging by the shape of her belly, she could only make one calculation.

“Um, is that woman pregnant?” Bon Bon asked.

Spike and the Rebel trooper picked up on this.

“Huh? Oh, sheesh. Yeah, she is,” Tamant replied. “Yeah, doctors keep telling her to stay home, but she still insists on performing her duty.”

“Well maybe someone should tell her to keep her green ass at home! Until you give birth!” Bon Bon ranted quietly.

Just then, one of the admirals in charge emerged from one of the temples, quickly pacing to greet the arrived Rebels. “Team Six, I am glad to see you again,” the admiral greeted. “Is Spike and the plans safe?”

“Yes sir. Along with some new friends,” Yona nodded, turning to let their new friends come forward.

About a dozen eyes were now staring at the arrived crew, making them feel a little uneasy.

“Why are they staring at us?” the commando droid asked.

“We are outdated models. Perhaps they are questioning how we are still operating at a full capacity,” IG-11 answered.

“Welcome, new faces. My name is Admiral Deacon, welcome to Yavin IV. May I ask what are you all doing here?”

“Allow us to introduce ourselves,” Lyra began. “My name is Lyra Heartstrings, survivor of the Jedi Order. This is my wife Bon Bon, our daughter Flurry, and these two are my friends; Masters Applejack and Rainbow Dash, survivors of the Jedi Order.”

The two gave nods and waves.

“Wait. You all are Jedi?” The admiral questioned.

“Yeaaahhh?” Lyra hesitated. “Is that a problem?”

“Oh no, no, no, no problem at all! I just didn’t expect to see Jedi here. General Shimmer will be very happy to see you all. In fact, why don’t you all follow me, I can take you inside to meet her,” the Admiral nodded.

“What about my droid crew?” Bon Bon asked.

“You’ll have to tell them to stay there, at least until we can give them clearance,” the admiral said. “It’s a safety thing, you know.”

Bon Bon nodded. “Flurry, can you stay with the droids?”

“Of course,” Flurry said, standing by with IG-11 and her fellow astromechs.

“We’ll be right back.”

The Rebel Six, Spike, and the four adults followed Admiral Deacon through the hangar and into one of the hallways. The walls were made of the same stone that made the entire temple. It was amazing to see that such a temple had stayed together for so long, but even more so to see the Rebels were making good use from it. Tubing and cables clinged to a few walls connected to various rooms throughout, some nice warm lights to guide their way.

Rebels of all classes passed them as they followed the admiral. Some wealthy, middle, working, poor, there were all types. Best way any of them could tell was based on some clothes, but that was just on the surface. There were a few droids that passed as well, some Gonk droids, astromechs, protocol, the usual kinds. Pilots making their run in the jumpsuits. Bon Bon especially took notice of a Mikkian woman who passed them in a commanding officer's uniform.

"Dang. They've got everything here," Applejack observed.

"Except a massive government willing to fund us," Yona replied.

The group finally entered the main room of the base where the main council was. Among the people surrounding the big holoprojector in the room was a human male with white gray hair and facial hair; a Mon Calamari with tan and dark skin, and an Equestrian man with pale skin and spiked blue hair. But the individual that caught their attention was the woman leaning over the table and gazing at the map projection; dressed in a teal jumpsuit, white jacket with orange striping on the sleeves, and black fingerless gloves. Her fiery hair also made her stand out like a sore thumb.

“General Shimmer,” Admiral Deacon said. “The team you deployed on Tatooine is back, and they, along with Spike, have come back with the plans.”

“Excellent, admiral," the general said, not turning her head.

“And… they brought friends.”

The general didn’t understand, and her fiery hair spun around so she could get a look. What she saw in front of her was enough to make her silent. Could it really have been her? Lyra Heartstrings, in the flesh. A former Jedi who had ran from all those years ago was back. And by her side were two more friends that made her heart want to explode. She couldn't believe her eyes.

“Hello Sunset. It’s been a while.”

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Star Wars Episode IV, Rise of the Rebellion - FourShadow

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