#oc: Coraaliya

[captainderyn]

Illusions (2/2)

PART ONE

Title: Illusions

Part: 2/2

Summary: Corellia is never kind to anyone, even those fighting for her freedom. The war for Corellia is reaching it’s peak, one last challenge standing between the resistance forces and Capitol Square. Tensions rise, lives fall apart and Rielay’s still waiting for the punchline to this mess that surely must be a joke. 

 Word Count: ~8,300

Warnings: Mentions of character death, spoilers for Corellia story quests (if you squint)

**Esrin belongs to @delavairesslegacy

The war may have come to an impasse, three factions too wounded and scattered to deal the final blow, but it wasn’t over. Capitol Square still stood unclaimed, the command center that would be the key inside just out of the grasp of the resistance. 

The Republic had gone silent, communication completely severed, the resistance forces too thin to risk another assault against the Empire. The Empire itself too scrambled to play defensive. 

Relative peace could only last so long. Empire forces were the first to find their feet, laying waste to an old cantina that served as the main Republic base of diplomacy and strategy. An airstrike with firepower that hadn’t been reported in by their scouts. 

How could they hide that much power? They should have known. 

Resistance forces could do nothing. They were blind, only able to hear the repeated wail of ‘Republic base decimated, no survivors found’ in every corner of their own decrepit hovel. Then it turned to ‘Civilian survivors trickling in, no reports of military personnel.’ Haggard men and woman, soldiers and civilians, all hushing each other as they huddled around radios filled with static. Some were silent, horror-struck. Their silence was filled with the cries of those with family in that base, maybe brothers or sisters, mothers or fathers, children. 

Rielay could still hear it, the words choked out through layers of white noise, even from the other side of the room. It wound through her mind, jumping to the rapid tap of her foot, the bouncing of her knee. Her eyes were fixed firmly on the ground, her hands clenching and unclenching where they rested on her thighs. 

No military personnel found. Only a few weeks ago she had been there, she had been with Esrin. Where she had promised to come back and he had promised to stay safe. 

He had promised. 

“Turn that off or get out of here.” Hugo’s voice cut through the din like a vibroknife, rough and sharp. “Stars we can’t ever catch a break from it.” 

 Muttered apologies followed the static as it shuffled away. 

The silence was a welcome peace and Rielay let out a sigh, hanging her head. Hugo’s footsteps were quiet as he walked over, his exhalation a tired sigh as he eased himself down beside her. When she looked over his face was drawn, hands steepled in front of his eyes like he was trying to blind himself to the world around him. 

“It just never ends, does it?” He didn’t sound like he wanted a reply so her gaze returned to her bouncing foot, up and down, up and down, up and-

Her next breath hitched, whistling out in a choked noise. 

Bringing a hand up to cover her mouth she sucked in a harsh breath and squeezed her eyes shut. Even then her breath still stutters again into a muffled sob and she scrubbed her hand up to swipe at her eye. It came away slicked with tears. She didn’t try to still them, instead submitting to the raw pain. 

Hugo’s hand was gentle when it rested between her shoulder blades, rubbing small circles. His voice was soft; “I’m sorry, Rielay.” 

-

“Rie…lay, you sure you’re okay to do this? I need you in the moment.” Hugo stumbled over an old nickname. Where she might once have winced there was nothing, frown tightening only slightly. 

She fiddled with her blasters, voice empty. “Losing Esrin didn’t break my ability to shoot.” Clicking the safety off she glanced at him. “I’ll be fine.” 

Fine, a relatively poor word to use between the two of them. Out on a scouting mission for Darth Xin, one weighed down by leadership, one reeling at the loss of the center of her world. Neither with time to grieve for those ripped away from them, neither willing to give up the fight. 

“You don’t need to stay.” Her way out offered once again. A reminder that she was only here at his request, not his demand. She smiled grimly, eyes flashing dangerously. 

“You kidding me? I’ve got a home to take back and a sith bitch to kill. I’m not leaving until I win or I’m dead.” 

Right now the latter seemed more likely than the former. Capitol Square seemed less and less obtainable with each passing day, with each meeting ending in arguments and half-hearted threats. 

It only took one set of stinging failures and seven lives lost for the resistance to begin to crumble. It was all the council’s fault and by that, Hugo’s fault they whispered behind their hands. They should have acted on Xin sooner. 

They had a whole squadron dead, including a Jedi master, and a scarred Jedi who was no more than a boy to show how well acting on Xin turned out. 

That sith scum. Rielay scowled, Xin had always been a problem but since murdering Dakhroel she had become worse, prowling the streets and picking off soldiers like prey. No one knew where she came from, no one knew whose orders she was acting on. It was like she appeared from the shadows, made her kill and then…vanished. 

No one would go against her again, no matter how loud they protested that they needed to eliminate her. No one would even volunteer to track her movements. And so it came down to Rielay and Hugo, the leader and hired gun. 

And they were going to take her down. That blow to the Empire, the irony of two guns taking down a Sith Lord was too good to pass up. Call it for the greater good, call it revenge…Rielay didn’t care. 

Hugo caught her arm, pushing down her blaster. “We aren’t engaging her unless we have to.” He reminded, perhaps a little more enunciated than it needed to be. She had to remind herself, he had lost the person he was closest to the sith.

 She took a deep breath, consciously easing her hand away from the trigger of her weapon. “I know.”

“I want her gone as much as you do.” Hugo pulled away, leaning his shoulder against the block of duracrete they were crouched behind. “But the two of us alone can’t do that.” 

“She’s the only thing that stands between us and the command center,” Rielay growled in irritation, glaring out across the deserted and pockmarked street. “We could end this.” 

Hugo scoffed and she realized a second too late that she had hit a frayed nerve. “Like I don’t already know that. You’re starting to sound like Cazi.” 

Tempers had been on edge since they had left the base, perhaps longer. Without thinking she snapped back; “Well then at least I don’t elect to send people to their deaths.” Her jaw snapped closed with a click. She did, she had agreed to let Dakhroel lead her men against Xin right along with the scarred twi’lek soldier. And she could see it in Hugo’s eyes, the double meaning of her words. Hugo didn’t elect to send people to their deaths either, it was just an unhappy arrangement. Shit. “I’m sorry, that wasn’t fair.” 

“No,” Hugo’s jaw tightened. “It wasn’t.” He didn’t look at her but she could feel the distance he was putting between them, the silence that fell less than amicable. There was a line drawn in the dirt here and she had overstepped it by leaps and bounds. 

Of course, she had. There were precious few times she had done the right thing with Hugo, insinuating he willingly let those soldiers die was beyond unfair, it was cruel.  

A familiar prickling sensation accompanied by a shiver that trickled down her spine caught Rielay’s attention. “Did you feel that?” She hissed. At Hugo’s nod, she peaked over the duracrete. “That’s her.” 

“Get down.” Hugo hissed back. 

She sank back down, though she wondered if it really mattered whether or not they hid. The Force was more nonsense than anything to her, the way it was used scary more than intriguing, but she had seen countless Jedi and Sith alike sense people without seeing them. Xin could know they were there already. 

Beside her, Hugo was fiddling with the settings of his blaster, jaw set, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. He hadn’t lied, he was chomping at the bit as much as she to get a shot at Xin, a little taste of revenge. As much as she hated to admit it, that aggression wasn’t something she thought Hugo was capable of. 

She hadn’t thought Hugo was capable of a lot of things before. 

In the harsh line of Hugo’s glare, Xin was in the open air without fear, saber visible at her hip between the folds of her robes. Chaotic power rolled off her in palpable waves, or perhaps it was just old fear attaching itself to Xin’s image.

To execute that fear would perhaps make this whole war effort on Corellia worth it. 

Hugo’s sharp intake of breath snapped her gaze to follow his, fixating on a small group of resistance forces making their rounds through their patrol area. Where Xin was headed. 

“Shit,” Rielay swore, lifting her blaster. All the resistance fighters were armed, visibly, but one shot is all it would take to bring Xin down before she could attack. From behind she had an even better shot, Xin’s back an open target without any armor. Taking the chance that she would sense the bolt coming straight towards her, of course. Assuming her robes hid no sturdier armor.  

“Don’t.” Her blaster was shoved down again, her incredulous noise met with a sharp look. “You’re going to give us away.”

“We can’t just let her attack.” Rielay kept her voice low. “Now when we’re right here.” 

Shouts rose from the group when they finally caught sight of Xin, panicked with the sounds of people scrambling for their weapons. The click of blasters loading. A tense silence. Then, a lone voice, shaky. “Well? You going to do something? Huh?” 

Hugo was peering over the edge of the duracrete, hand still pressed firmly against Rielay’s shoulder to keep her from firing. The words were no more than little puffs of air from his lips. His other hand pointed out to the road. “She’s leaving.” 

His hand eased away from her shoulder and slowly she rose far enough so her eyes were just over the duracrete. Xin was backing away from the group of soldiers, five blasters trained on her chest. Her hands were raised slightly, held out and away from her sabers. 

“I don’t need to attack you.” Her steps were quick but measured, clipped Imperial accent still dripping with scorn. “My presence alone does enough.” 

“See how well that presence does you in Republic custody!” Rielay winced, squeezing her eyes closed and waiting for the cry of a dying man. It didn’t come. 

Instead, there came a biting laugh. “You’d love to find out, wouldn’t you?” Her steps paused as she pivoted on one heel. The silence fell in her wake, uncertain and tense. When she finally melted back into the shadow the silence broke and boots thundered away. 

“Xin never retreats.” Hugo dropped back down beside her, eyes wide as they met her’s there was something close to hope in them. “She’s finally failing!”

The hope was snuffed out as quickly as it had ignited when Rielay grimaced. “Did you know she wasn’t going to attack?” 

She had had her shot to take Xin down, a clear and open shot and he had stopped her. Wasted, a wasted chance. They could have ended this. 

“Did you know she wasn’t going to attack?” 

“I…no.” Hugo’s brows drew together. Kneeling on the road they were very near eye level. “I didn’t, okay?”

Rielay threw her hands up, scoffing. “You didn’t know if she was going to attack? Why didn’t you let me shoot?” 

There it was again, that brief change in his expression. That line in the sand, scattering. But right now all she could see was the clear shot she had, of Xin fading back into the shadows. 

“Xin would have had your own blaster bolt through your chest before you could take your finger off the trigger.” Irritation, maybe a little bit of anger. “Be realistic, Rielay, you can’t take her down yourself.” 

Her voice rose. “So it’s okay for five people to be at risk? It’s okay for Xin to have potentially killed three more people?” 

“It’s not okay-” 

“Then why did you just sit here?” 

Hugo’s voice rose to meet her’s and she snapped into silence, recoiling. His voice wasn’t loud, it was…strained. “Rielay! I know you want her gone, I know you want to get your revenge for what happened to Esrin but listen. We needed that information on Xin. We needed to know that she’d retreat.” 

She began to respond, bristling again but his hard look stopped her. “If you had missed then she would have shifted again and we’d be back to square one.” 

“You were going to let our people die for information?” 

A heavy sigh, a closing of the eyes that lasted a few seconds. “Yes, Rielay. Those are the choices I constantly have to make for my people.” He pushed himself to his feet, turning his back on her glare. 

My people. A clear distinction, intentional without question. Fine, he could play the leadership card. A small voice in the back of her head reminded her that it wasn’t a card, it was his reality. It wasn’t her place to question his coices, she was an interloper in his organization. That didn’t make his decision or anger any less bitter to swallow.

The quick anger dropped back to a terse professionalism, near formal.  “We need to get this back to the others.” 

–

“I can’t believe you guys got this.” Coraa’s stern mask broke into a rare smile, glossing over the tension between Hugo and Rielay as they delivered the news of Xin’s retreat. The remains of their council gathered close, glancing at each other and sharing excited looks. Tacka, however, leaned on the table, expression grim.

Coraaliya, a Republic soldier, ex-commander of Havoc squad who had been stranded with resistance forces in the last attack along with a few of her men. She was formidable, thought with a military mind, and had offered guidance to the flailing resistance. Hugo, at the very least, had seemed relieved to be able to shift some of the weight from his shoulders and share it with someone who had experience in the art of military strategy. She hadn’t protested the chain of command partially passing to her, something that Rielay both praised and was wary of. Thir little resistance didn’t need to flounder as the Republic had--was--in this war.

Coraa pushed herself away from the group, pacing in front of the hand-scrawled notes they had made, documents of their position, and the projected maps of Coronet City’s surface. Without the Republic’s major intel they were running on slim information, but between their combined knowledge they were doing alright. Alright might not be enough to drive off the Empire, nor would it be enough to drive off Xin. They needed more than alright. Still, despite her hands still behind clasped behind her back, there was an unusual bounce in her step. “Now’s our chance, she’s finally weakening. Three weeks ago she would have decimated that group.”

“We just need to find the chink in her armor.” Cazi inspected the smaller version of the map glowing above the table. “If we can take her out then we’ve won this war.”

It couldn’t be that simple, it never was but Coraa did have a point; Xin was weakening or at least becoming more cautious. They could use that caution to their advantage if they played their cards right.

“Nearly won. There’s still the rest of the Empire to worry about, Caz.” Coraaliya reminded, though her smile broadened. “We have a chance.” A glance over at the silent end of the table. “Smile, Hugo, you’ve nearly made it.” 

The barest of smiles, never quite reaching his eyes followed her words. “Don’t want to jinx it, Coraaliya.” 

"Wouldn’t want to catch her attention talking smack, who knows what she can hear through her connection to the Force.” Laughter rose around the table, driven just as much by relief as it was by the intense realization that their time on Corellia could really be ending. 

Rielay let her hip rest against the table, crossing her arms and leaning in to look at the map. A grin tugged at her lips, though she didn’t laugh outright. To her left, Hugo didn’t laugh, nor did the young Jedi sandwiched between Cazi and the table. If anything the young Jedi just looked uncomfortable, eyes darting around the table at Coraa’s snide remark on the Force.

“How do we take her down?” The laughter faded and slowly the tension seeped back into the room. Rielay gestured at the handwritten notes on the wall with a broad stroke of her hand. “It’s not like we’ve had much luck before.” 

“It’s a matter of disposing of her and taking Capitol Square. That’s been our endgame this whole time. We can’t give the Empire time to regroup after we take her down. We’d just end up outnumbered and outgunned.” Hugo ran a hand across his face, frowning at first the wall, then the map. “We need to cut their attention in two, focus it in different locations.”

Coraa narrowed her eyes, looking over her shoulder to scan over some of the notes. “We could send in two forces, one to take the Square and one to handle Xin.” 

Hugo shook his head. “It can’t be that simple, can it? We don’t have the manpower for large fighting squads.” Resting both hands on the table he sighed. “She’s taken out squads of nine for less than an attempt on her life.” 

The names of the fallen could testify to that. Each Republic or Corellian flag laid down another glaring truth in his statement. They just had to look at each hearse transport that had flown off before the lockdown.

“That was when she was at full strength. She wasn’t looking for a confrontation today, she’s never left resistance forces standing before.” Rielay met his glance squarely, jaw set. He wasn’t wrong, but she was baiting him, still smarting from their confrontation. After the words left she scolded herself, she wasn’t a little girl anymore, and this wasn’t just a schoolyard squabble. “She’s not strong enough to keep fighting.” 

“Xin’s powerful, but she’s uncontrolled.” Tacka’s voice, though quiet, sliced through the air like a vibroknife. Four pairs of eyes snapped to the Jedi, with his eyes fixed on the map and brows furrowed. Gazes shifted between the others as they realized that between all of them, Tacka was the only one to have come close to fighting Xin head on.“If you get her to lose that control…it’s insane. But she’s left completely drained.” He lifted his eyes, drawing in a long breath. “It’s what happened..between her and Dak. After..she stumbled a lot…like she could barely stand.” 

Coraa’s pacing had frozen, her hand falling hard on the table causing the group to jump. “That’s it, kid!” Tacka slowly brought his eyes up to the Zabrak’s. “We don’t throw resistance forces at her, they don’t know how to fight Sith.” 

The poor kid’s eyes widened and Rielay opened her mouth, ready to step in but Hugo beat her to it. “Absolutely not. If you’re thinking of sending Tacka in-” 

“No.” Coraa shook her head. “No, no. I wouldn’t send him back into combat at all.” Tacka dropped his head, frowning though his shoulders rose and fell in a quick, relieved breath. “It’s too much. But we do have people here that have fought Sith before.” Across the table, Cazi grinned, nodding slowly. 

"You thinking we need a little bit of Havoc?” 

Coraa grinned back, fingers tapping on the table as she thought. “There’s…five of us here in your base, Hugo. If we go out, break her, you and the Captain can infiltrate Axial and get the codes we need for the command center. Then all you’ll need to contend with are your regular brand Imperials.” 

Hugo looked over at Rielay.  “Taqq, can you get Deryn down here?” 

With a shake of her head Rielay answered, “No, he’s been taken out by his own business planetside. But I think we can manage a few bucketheads.”

She wished Emeldir could come back planetside. Then she could have her rock back, and they could end this war with a few well-placed shots and scattered snark. she wouldn’t even have to think about fighting alongside the kid. She’d have to make due.  

“We can stealth in, shoot down only who we need to and seize the codes. Then we can get to the Square.” Hugo mused, eyes fixing on the holographic label of their target. 

“From there you should be able to get CorSec to back you up if you need it.” Coraa tapped a path on the map, finger trailing through the blue projection. “We can wear Xin down, she can’t fight heavy guns and armor for long.”

They had a plan or at least some base of it. For hours after, until the city outside was dark except for the red and orange of flames burning in skeletal buildings they fine-tuned and reworked until they had something that could stand against Xin.

Planning wound down from there until they were filtering out of the room except for Coraa and Tacka, who she held back with a hand on his shoulder, asking if he’d be willing to talk more about Xin. With a determined nod, Tacka started talking and the door slid closed behind them.

When Hugo delivered the news to the resistance they cheered and for the first time since in a long time his smile reached his eyes. 

-

Rielay slipped away from the celebratory chatter, the enthusiasm to an empty room and pulled out a holocom. While it searched for a signal pickup she sank down against the wall, drawing her knees up to her chest. Even among so many people, she felt an aching loneliness and she longed for some semblance of familiarity that might ease the knot of nerves tangling in her stomach.

It took a few moments before the signal connected and Emeldir’s grainy image appeared. “Taqq!” Through the static his expression was worried, eyebrows drawn. “I heard what happened...are you doing okay?” 

Of course, he would have heard, the Republic was probably panicking over the radio silence and the Empire was probably gloating over its small victory.  But of course, he wasn’t asking if she was okay with the Republic. There was only one part of the Republic, one person that she cared about.

“I’m managing, kid.” Rielay sighed, scrubbing a hand across tired eyes. “I just wanted to tell you that we march on Xin tomorrow. Hopefully, this will finally end.” 

A pause, then a hesitant: “That’s great, but why are you making this sound like a goodbye?” 

That earned a small laugh from her, though his expression didn’t shift. Emeldir worried far too much, could read her a little too well, though perhaps there was a reason for that. “It’s not a goodbye, I fully expect to come out of tomorrow alive.” 

If he expected her to fling herself into needless danger just because she had lost Esrin then...well, he wasn’t wrong. If they had marched the day before then maybe she would have. Before reality had weighed her down too much to even try. Before she decided she was just tired.

He didn’t sound convinced and she didn’t know how to change that. “Good. We can figure things out once you Xin is gone, you get your planet back and the Voidwolf is taken care of, okay?” 

She offered a small smile. “Yeah, we can.” Something out of her view caught his attention, shifting worry to a scowl. When he glanced back at her his look was apologetic. 

“Speaking off, we just got a read on the Wolf himself. If he escapes one more time I swear...” He muttered something that was probably unsavory until his voice softened again. “Stay safe tomorrow, Rielay.” 

She didn’t want to break the connection, didn’t want to be alone again. Instead, she nodded. “Always. That means you too Deryn. Stay safe.” 

A brief smile, an even briefer farewell, and her holocomm went dark. She let it roll out of her hand to the ground, fixing her eyes on it as it spun. Her fingers itched to plug in another familiar frequency but she knew it would just bring back static where she desperately wanted a voice. And she knew it would just bring her to tears again. 

She wanted this to stop, to go back to before she had decided to come to Corellia and before she had got tangled up in this mess. But even then, maybe she’d have been hearing the same news in her ship, helpless to do anything just as she was now.  Her luck just didn’t work in her favor like that, and she no matter where she was stuck. 

Pushing herself up she set out to brave the celebration again. If things were to end by the next night then she needed to set things right. 

“Hugo.”He was leaning sitting in a chair, watching the excited chatter without seeing. When she approached his eyes snapped to hers and he started to stand before she motioned for him to stay. 

“I just wanted to apologize, for what I said.” She ran a hand through her hair, letting out a tired breath. “I know this whole...situation puts you in a difficult position.” 

“I didn’t want them to die, you know.” Hugo leaned his elbows on his knees, looking at her sideways. Whatever energy he had been granted by the knowledge that they could take Capital Square tomorrow had been sapped. Rielay grabbed a free chair and swing it around so she could face him, flopping down into it and resting her chin in her hands. “If I had had a different choice I would have taken it.” 

At least he sounded like he was trying to convince her and not himself. But she shouldn't have doubted that it would take a lot to turn him to happily letting others die. “I know. I just..” She let the words drop off, giving a slight shake of her head instead. 

“I know.” He let his face rest in his hands, muffling his voice. “Stars, I know.”

It didn’t matter that she didn’t know whether he was referring to leadership slowly breaking down who he was, or whether he had caught what she hadn’t said, that she was struggling and breaking too. Hidden his own words the same truth was there, and for a moment she felt like they had finally found common ground for the first time. 

“This whole situation is shit.” Rielay mumbled and Hugo choked out a laugh. 

“I’d have to agree with you on that.” He raised his head and met her watery half-smirk. “All we have to do is fight our way through a couple dozen Imperials and we’re done.” 

“Only a couple dozen.” Rielay sniffed, laugh quiet. “All in day’s work, right?”

For the second time she broke in front of Hugo, but in their corner, he was breaking too. Their watered-down humor shifted as their thoughts drifted to those they’d rather have at their sides to see their possible victory.

For a few minutes, between the two of them, the celebration was muted. 

--

Dawn turned everything orange-red in as the resistance mustered. Rielay attached her blaster to her belt, making sure her pouch of medical supplies were attached and that her comm was securely attached. It was an automatic motion, formed over years of experience. Her secondary check of her supplies felt empty without Esrin rechecking, reminding her that she had forgotten this or that. But she would manage, and keep managing with her eyes straight ahead.

Hugo spoke softly with Coraaliya off to the side. The zabrak woman and the five members of the old Havoc Squad looked like something off of an old Republic propaganda poster, heavy armor gleaming in the sunlight and heavy guns slung over their shoulders. The kind of posters Rielay had seen when she was a kid, if she thought about it, Coraaliya and all.

Rielay drifted closer, listening to the tail end of their exchange. 

“We’ll comm you when we have her targeted.” Coraa was saying. “From there it’s up to you.” 

Hugo nodded curtly. “We’ll send word as soon as we take the Square.”

Behind him their troops shifted restlessly, checking and rechecking weapons and armor. They would lose some of them today to Empire forces as they stormed Axial Park, fighting to get their planet’s independence back. Their armor wasn’t current military grade, if they had armor at all, their weapons not new and shining.

Coraa held out her hand and Hugo shook it, eye to eye and on even ground with the Republic’s most revered. “It’s been an honor fighting with you, no matter how short.” 

“Thank you, for all the help you’ve given the resistance.” Hugo’s voice was subdued but sincere, still in the restlessness surrounding him. “Good luck against Xin.” 

The stepped away from each other, turned to face their troops. The six Republic soldiers exchanged brief words and quick grasps of hands and arms before they walked off into the red light. 

“Fight like hell today.” Hugo raised his voice to be heard by his troops, who hushed as his voice swept over them. “We’ll end this today, on our terms. We’ve lost too much to give up now.” 

With a cheer the resistance streamed forward into the rubble, leaving Rielay and Hugo in their wake. 

He tossed a stealth generator to her, face grim. “Here we go.” 

“Into the fire.” Rielay agreed, attaching the generator to her belt before taking a deep breath. “Let’s go.” 

The droids that she and Emeldir had seized powered up behind them and the massive forms cast shadows them in shadow. Dawn glimmered off their metal hides, sparkling and Rielay looked up at them with a small amount of awe. They would be their key to the command center. 

With their droids in tow they hopped on their speeders, and with a blue holomap with a blinking dot to mark their destination glowing above the display, they set off into the ruins of the city. 

The roads were quiet, forces from all sides had retreated back to their respective corners to try and hold their ground. As they drew closer to Axial Park, where Xin had stood between them and the codes they needed, the muffled sounds of fighting began to pick up. Blasterfire echoed through the skeletons of buildings, cannon fire shook the ground. Through the signs and edges of buildings, smoke could be seen rising into the sky. They breezed through it, eyes dutifully kept ahead.

It was too easy to get into the command center, too easy having droids at her back that could blast through near anything and take blaster fire with little more than a slight rock and a scorch mark to show for the hit. 

It was too easy to walk through the shelled out remains of the building, to walk by crumbled walls and shattered windows, too easy to turn each corner and find nothing more than silence to greet her. 

If Hugo felt the same, he made no mention of it.

They moved quickly, sifting through rubble to make it to the main room where a row of holoterminals waited for them. With a dataspike in hand, Rielay pulled the access codes they needed from the terminals.

“Here we are,” Rielay muttered, tucking the spike into her jacket. “Step one is done.”

“This was the easy part, apparently.” Hugo was attaching detonator charges the major pillars of the room, he had been doing that the entire time they had been walking through. More destruction, but for a claimed good cause. It was a funny thought. “Where are all the Imperials I haven’t been able to blink without seeing for the last six months?”

Rielay caught the detonator trigger he tossed her way, scoffing. “I don’t know, but I’d rather not find out. If we can take a nice, leisurely walk into Capital Square then I’m good.”

“Maybe we’ll get a big, warm, welcome too.” Hugo’s voice was dry as Tatooine sand but she could catch the bitter humor underneath the surface.

As fate would have it they did get a big welcome when they reached the Square. “I this the warm, fuzzy welcome you wanted?” Rielay barked from her spot behind a chunk of rubble, back pressed against the cold metal.

“Not really.” Hugo pulled back as a blaster shot sent dirt flying up just beyond his cover. “I think they’re mad about the command center!”

If Rielay looked between the two buildings directly in her line of sight she could see the smoke curling from the ruins of the command center. The detonators had made quick work of the gutted building, wiping out any remaining data that had been stored there. “So we didn’t make a good first impression?”

“I don’t think they’ll be asking us to stay for dinner.”  She could almost hear Emeldir shouting back over the roar of blaster fire and the droids firing back over their heads. All she got was what seemed like a laughing shake of the head, most likely in exasperation.

Really Rielay? Is now the best time, Rielay? There was no way to know what was really going through his head, but if she were to guess she wouldn’t be that far off. Gritting her teeth she pushed those thoughts away, peeking over her slab of metal to fire off several shots in succession. Two grey uniforms fell, with two more to take their place. It became a rhythm, diving behind cover, popping up to fire a few shots. Rinse and repeat until she was comfortably numb.

They lost their droids halfway into the command center. Torn into piles of scrap by turrets hidden on the sides of pillars. The barrage sent Hugo and Rielay scrambling, rushing to turn on their stealth generators as they sprinted down the hall. It wasn’t heroic, it wasn’t collected. It was Rielay’s heart hammering in her ears loud enough that she almost couldn’t hear Hugo’s ragged breath beside her, it was blaster shots smoking in the wall only a few feet, a few inches away from her. It was running until they couldn’t run anymore, their stealth generators deactivating and Hugo doubling over as Rielay spun on her heel, blaster raised.

As the whine of her blaster faded her arms shook but the tide of probe droids and soldiers that had followed their trail had been stemmed. “Stars.” She breathed out softly, adrenaline pumping too hard for it to have been anything less than too close of a call. “Hugo, you good?”

“Fine.” He sounded anything but fine, the word a little too breathless, but when she turned around, holstering her blaster he had straightened and she let it go.

"We should stealth the rest of the way.” Rielay fumbled with her generator until it reluctantly coughed back to life. “I don’t think we can shoot our way through this many people.”

After a few seconds, Hugo’s own generator sputtered back up as well, cloaking him from sight except for his voice. “I agree. CorSec should be somewhere up ahead.”

There wasn’t much left of CorSec, or the group of Force users called the Green Jedi that accompanied them. Just enough to help them wade through the growing mob of Imperial soldiers, just enough to bring them to the Corellian leaders that had damn near orchestrated this entire mess.

Rielay had never thought she could feel so much hatred towards a group of bureaucrats. Now she knew that she could. Making a deal with the Empire was one thing. Making a deal with the Empire and sitting by as the planet and people that they swore to protect burn was another beast.

Hugo kept her back with one hand firmly on her shoulder, warning in his eyes. Now was not the time to tear into them, it would do nothing to leave them peppered full of blaster fire. She knew, but it didn’t temper her anger any. She, no, too many people had lost everything in this conflict to let the bureaucrats walk free.

They didn't walk free, that was a small mercy. They were bound by the remaining CorSec officers to be held for a trial. It wasn't the resolution she itched for, but they had more a more pressing duty. In the courtyard, there was a dais that could broadcast to the entirety of Coronet City. There they finally made contact with the Republic.

Through a grainy transmission, they could hear as a ceasefire was brokered, the firing ordered to stop.

It was through a grainy transmission that they realized that they had never heard from Coraa and the rest of Havoc. Xin was in custody, alive--a state that Rielay wasn’t sure the sith lord should be kept in, but she had information to give by Republic standards.

But they had lost all of Havoc. Murdered by Xin.

No, they corrected, lost almost all of Havoc. They had Coraaliya and one other member, both in critical condition.

Rielay’s smile fell from her lips, eyes widening as she shared a horrified glance with Hugo. “No.” Her voice broke. “No, they were supposed to win. They were supposed to be alright, make it out.” 

Hugo’s eyes shattered, looking at the transmitter with empty disbelief. “Damnit.” He breathed softly.

In their stunned silence as the transmission went black, Rielay’s hand found his and they clung to each other like they were the last solid things in each other's worlds.

--

They held a memorial for their fallen members, just as they had for Dakhoel and her fallen squad. Too many Republic and Corellian flags laid down, too many names read out.

Rielay did not know most of them, but she stood with her shoulder against Hugo’s as the names washed over her. She bowed her head as Cazi’s name was called, feeling Hugo’s shoulders slump a little more. By the time the names drifted into silence her eyes were burning, shoulders quivering.

Coraa remained as the only surviving member of Havoc, the member that had been brought in with her lost only a few hours later. Rielay made a point to walk into the Republic medcenter with her chin held high, trying to look past the mourning people all around her.

Coraa herself was subdued, but not in foul spirits. Even weighed down with the loss of so many of her people even she could not help but smile at the victory, no matter how small the smile was. When Rielay stepped through the door her eyes were surprised but her greeting was kind. “Captain Taqq, glad to see you made it through.”

“And you.” Rielay returned the smile sent her way, though it was strained. She wanted nothing more than to get back to her ship and fly away from here, maybe return to Nar Shadaa for a few weeks to find some hint of normalcy again. Or at the very least forget these past few weeks had happened. “I wanted to come and...thank you for what you did. For helping us win this thing.”

There was a pause, lengthy and weighted before Coraa spoke again. “Thank you, Rielay. For doing what you did. I signed up for this, you didn’t.”

Not expecting her thanks to be turned back on her Rielay floundered for a moment. “I..uh..it’s...not what I thought would happen.” She finally sighed. “I just want to go home.”

Coraa gave a low laugh. “I can agree with you on that. Where’s home for you? I’m just looking forward to getting home to my two daughters.”

Rielay’s smile loosened. “I’ll probably go back to Nar, stay away from galactic conflict for a while.”

That earned another small laugh from Coraa and for a few more minutes they spoke just like that. Smuggler and Soldier were set aside, and instead, they were just two people lucky and happy to have made it through to the dawn.

By the time she said her farewell she was feeling significantly lighter, even if her smiles still did not reach her eyes and her steps weren’t quite light.

Duty brought her back to the Legislature building, shoulder to shoulder with Hugo with Corellian, resistance, and Republic faces alike tuned their way. They were here to be addressed by the Chancellor herself, a formality that Rielay would have preferred to have skipped. At her side, Hugo looked far more uncomfortable than a named hero of the war should have. He glanced at her as if feeling the weight of her eyes, offering a small smile.

Sh returned it, without guilt for perhaps the first time since she had landed planetside. They had been through hell together, lost everything together. Fought and bled and mourned together. Now, her guilt lingering from five years past felt unimportant.

“We have the Senate on standby.” One of the Republic’s generals, a man by the name of Aves, said over his shoulder before opening a holochannel. The pixelated form of Saresh appeared and in the background, the blurry forms of other senators shifted.

“Supreme Chancellor, senators,” Aves began formally. “The legislature has been taken, the Empire has formally surrendered and is falling back. From here on out its just clean-up. The message has been broadcasted across Corellia and I am proud to send it to you on Coruscant; Corellia has been liberated.”

When he faced Rielay and Hugo, gesturing them forward they shared another nervous look. She started to step forward, nudging Hugo’s shoulder until he stepped with her. The smile the general offered them was warm, the corners of his lined eyes crinkling.

“Our victory belongs to many, but two individuals stood out among the rest. Our victory rests heavily on them.” He addressed the crowd standing at their backs as well as those a holocall away. “Captain Taqq helped lead the final stages of the fight for her home planet, helping to seize the Legislature without backup.  And this man, Hugo, led the resistance force that was the final barrier between the Empire and freedom when the Republic was incapacitated.”

It was all talked up, no doubt for the benefit of morale but it still sent a flush through Rielay’s cheeks to be praised for it. As if they had been the only two to do anything.

Saresh looked at Rielay and Hugo though her words fell mostly to the smuggler captain. “I must personally thank you for your service to the war effort, from what I hear you were quite indispensable.”

Rielay raised her chin, giving a small shake of her head. “Thank you Chancellor, but I didn’t fight alone.” She paused, finding Hugo watching her inquisitively. So he had been expecting to be pushed into her shadow again. That wouldn’t do. Briefly, she thought of Tacka, standing somewhere off to the side and looking to Hugo like he was the world to him. They had lost what was closest to them, that sacrifice couldn’t go unnoticed. “I came here by Hugo’s request, he’s been in this fight from the very beginning.” A deep breath, pushing back the emotion when she thought of those they had lost in the first attempt at taking the Legislature.

“He’s the one who fought at my side in every step. Not only him but every member of the rebellion who came together because they wanted to help. Without the fallen that went toe to toe with Xin we would never have been able to take Corellia back. So I thank you Chancellor, but it wasn’t me.”  With a small incline of her head, she stepped back, clasping her hands behind her back, letting out a shaky breath and blinking rapidly.

Saresh might have been smiling, it was hard to tell with the quality of the holocam. “Then the Senate and Republic thanks all those who fought alongside the Republic. May Corellia flourish under it’s regained freedom.”

The call ended without preamble, a few more words being addressed to Aves. She looked up as Hugo touched her shoulder, eyes shining as he mouthed thank you.

“There is no title or medal that can truly represent what you’ve accomplished.” Aves stepped forward, much to Rielay’s surprise. She had just thought that Saresh’s words would be the end of it. A brief commendation and they could be on their way. “But you’ve both earned these.”

From a soldier at his side he took two metals, bronze circles that held together two red stripes. Rielay sucked in a breath, feeling her eyes widen. “First class Corellian bloodstripes.” Aves explained. “The highest honor Corellia can give, awarded to those who keep fighting no matter the odds.”

To enthusiastic applause, the medals were pinned to Rielay and Hugo’s chests and as Aves moved on to address the people around them Rielay looked over at Hugo, feeling tears brimming in her eyes.

Here they were, at the end. Their roles were played. Never had she thought she’d be proud to call herself Corellian, to fight for her planet and be awarded their honors. 

Never had come.

She clasped Hugo’s hand tightly, putting as much sincerity as she could into a single look and her words. “Thank you.”  She hoped that could convey everything she couldn’t say here. For standing by her, for fighting for Corellia, for helping her when she lost Esrin to the fighting even when his own loss was so fresh.

He seemed to understand and pulled her close into a one-armed embrace quickly if only so his low, hoarse voice could carry to her ear; “You’re welcome Rielay. For everything.” Rielay’s smile was warm when they pulled away and they parted with a promise to speak later.

She found Emeldir, or perhaps Emeldir found her in the crowd. He said something about the Voidwolf as he pulled her close, not seeming to mind when all she did was wrap her arms tightly around him and breathe for a moment. “Taqq, there’s something important you need to know.” When she looked up at him, eyes wary he laughed. “Sorry, it’s not as ominous as I made it sound.”

Without too much question she followed Emeldir through the waves of people and out into the open air, where she stopped and let out a choked noise. “Esrin?”

Her grip tightened on Emeldir’s arm, her knees dangerously shaky. All her breath seemed to have left her, her eyes disbelieving and thoughts grinding to a halt.

But there he was, moving towards her. When he was close enough that she could lurch off Emeldir’s arm and unsteadily throw herself into his arms he was real. He was real as he held her, as her arms went around his neck and her face buried against his shoulder. His voice was real as it whispered through her hair, apologies and I love yous that sank in slowly like she was hearing them from deep underwater. Somewhere between one word in the next her shoulders started shaking and her tears came in earnest. Somewhere in a mix of tears and sniffling breaths her return I love yous were lost in incoherent babbling. When her cries had faded to trembling breaths her question was pleading. “Come home with me? Please.” 

A murmur agreement, as soothing as his arms around her, and her world started spinning again.

She didn’t need an explanation right now, she didn’t need to have details. Right now she just needed her reality.

--

Rielay spoke one final time to Hugo, in the spaceport as she was squaring away the last of the paperwork she needed to fly and he was arranging a transport off-world. 

“Where will you go?” she asked carefully. There wasn’t anything left for him on Corellia, not that she knew of.

Hugo shuffled the sheets of flimsi in his hand back into order, handing them off to a droid standing behind a booth. “I’m not sure. I think I might go to Rishi, I know someone there.” He took a breath, letting it out with a sigh. “Tacka is going back to Tython for now, I hope he can find some peace there.”

“The kid needs it.” Rielay agreed, resting a hand on Hugo’s shoulder. “But you do too.” Her clearance papers were handed to her and she nodded in thanks to the droid before looking back at Hugo. “Take care of yourself, okay?” She let it tip up into a question.

Hugo’s hand rested over hers briefly, giving her a half smile. “I will. Try not to get into too much trouble, Rielay.”

 “I think I’ll be staying away from trouble for a bit.” At his disbelieving look, she laughed. “Really!” She shoved at his shoulder lightly. “Now I think you have a shuttle to catch.”

After a quick, laughing goodbye he disappeared deeper into the spaceport. Rielay stayed a few seconds longer before she disappeared into the hangar where the Promise stood, bounding up the extended ramp.

Before long her ship’s engines roared to life around her, her ship soaring out of the hangar and into the sky. From the chair beside her Esrin’s fingers twined with hers when she leaned back and together they watched Corellia’s surface disappear below.

[captainderyn]

Illusions (1/2)

Esrin belongs to @delavairesslegacy​

This deviates almost entirely from the Corellian story quests, but eh, the idea was inspired by those. If you squint.

Title: Illusions 

part 1/2

Summary: Two smugglers and an ex slave walk into a war zone..it sounds like the beginning to a bad joke and Rielay’s waiting for the punchline. No one’s laughing, not with each shot fired and more Republic flags being laid down everyday and she’s starting to wonder if the real joke is their chances at coming out of this alive.

 Word Count: ~6,300

Warnings: Character death, spoilers (vaguely) for both the smuggler Corellia story and the planetary story line. 

**Under the cut because this got superlong. 

Corellia had lost her shine in the twenty years Rielay had been away. It had Empire stink and slime all over her, and the war for it’s freedom was crumbling the very cities they fought for. From the air she had seen turrets and trenches tearing up the once bustling parks, columns of smoke rising from single buildings and whole sectors alike. 

It hurt, walking through familiar streets and buildings from the main docking point she had spent hours working and playing in and seeing everything a shadow of itself. Even the port was empty, the port she had met hundreds of smugglers in a single week, worked on dozens of ships in a day. Filled now only by her own freighter. Buildings gutted from explosions, walls blackened from blaster fire all rose around her. The streets..empty. 

“Taqq?” Emeldir brushed his shoulder against hers and she realized she had stopped in the middle of the street, eyes fixed on the Imperial flag hanging limp in the still air. Air that stank of smoke and dust, fuel and fire. Her hands had tightened into fists and with conscious effort Rielay unclenched them. 

“Fine, Deryn. I never loved this place anyways.” 

If she hadn’t loved her homeworld, even just looking back on it, she wouldn’t be here. As she had once been told, she was Corellian--blood and spirit. 

There was no follow up and she glanced over at Emeldir. His own business was eating at him, leeching away his usual bright energy and dulling him. She didn't like it, he had been used and now he was paying for it. He had best make Darmas and that senator pay just as dearly. But for now she needed him focused, he had agreed to help her here and he wouldn’t be able to do that if he was shot dead the first chance the Imps got. 

The silence between them stretched, with Deryn lost in his own thoughts and Rielay committing each fallen memory, each ragged face they passed to memory. Tallying up a count for all the places and people she would fight for. 

It was a long walk. Their meeting place loomed up in front of them, one wall collapsed and lifeless from the outside. No obvious residents, not an obvious target. They slipped inside unnoticed. 

Hugo, among other stragglers who weren’t a part of CorSec or the Republic military had all gathered here into one resistance force, a small entity of its own with its own forces and leaders, no matter how thin compared to the planet’s own security forces or the Republic’s whole army. It was people who wanted to fight, had been turned away from the main forces and chosen to make their own. Admirable, and a movement Rielay could get behind. 

The forefront of the base was barren, a thruway and nothing more. Deeper into the hallways and rooms people began to come out of the woodwork, medics and repairmen, soldiers in thrown together armor, civs with modified blasters. A ragtag group, with determined faces and a cause to fight for. 

It was in the largest room of the compound that the real fun began. The only room with fully functioning equipment--a data terminal, a holomap that was projected showing the base plan of Corellia--was the home to the strategists, the leaders, the behind the scenes to the fighting out on the surface. A small section at least, one cog in the whole machine. 

“Taqq, thank the stars you’re here.” Hugo was at the head of the table, leaning over long pieces of flimsi with scrawled out notes and positions. The holo conversation months ago had not done justice to the iron hand Corellia used to tear people apart. Corellia was kind to no one, not even those working to save her freedom. 

“I hope I haven’t crashed the party.” A spot was opened for her at the table and she took her spot by a mirialan boy, who couldn’t be older than sixteen and a Jedi by his robes and the saber hanging at his hip. 

“Oh it’s just getting started. Strap in for the fun.” He said dryly, brushing a hand over the flimsi as it started to curl in on itself. Always hoarse, Hugo’s voice sounded absolutely exhausted, the light of the holomap darkening the shadows under his eyes and in the hollows of his face. 

“Just what I signed up for.” She put her hands on the table and leaned forward, straining to see some of the notes scrawled in the margins of the drawings. It was written in Hugo’s hand but reading it upside down was near impossible. She pulled back, bumping into Emeldir’s chest from where he was leaning over her shoulder. 

“Maybe I should introduce everyone.” Hugo took two steps back from the table, looking around the table. There were less than ten of them, herself and Emeldir included. “Captain Rielay Taqq, and captain Emeldir Deryn are the two smugglers I suggested for our next strike.” His hands gestured to each individual as he named them. “Rielay that’s Tacka next to you, Cazi on your left, Wolf Sacul and Dakoehl next to me.”

“We need to return to the matter of Xin, she won’t wait while we make friends.” Cazi, a scarred twi’lek in the armor of a Republic soldier growled. “She’s what stands between us and a Republic victory.” 

Xin? Rielay looked between the small council but no one was moving or speaking, silenced at the drop of that name. 

“Xin is a nuisance, but we haven’t been able to pin her down. We have more important things to do than chasing a rogue sith.” Hugo said, face hardening when Cazi went to protest. “Our main focus is Beharen.” 

Rielay jumped when Cazi’s fist slammed down on the table, lekku twitching angrily. “Lives are being lost while she’s out there! We can’t just sit!”

A miraluka woman cleared her throat, Dakoehl. “Soldier, if I may, we don’t yet know how to effectively combat Xin. But our forces for Beharen have just arrived and it’s an opportunity we cannot waste.” 

The soldier fell silent, eyes glowering around the table before fixing on Rielay. “You cannot be talking about her.”

Her eyes widened and she locked eyes with Hugo, who seemed to deflate when they accusatory eyes shifted from him. “Please explain what’s going on.” 

Hugo gave a slight nod and straightened. “Cazi, the captains are our best bet at getting in and our of Beharen successfully.” He motioned for the door. “Everyone. please leave while I brief them on their mission. With so many voices we will never get anywhere.” His look lingered on Cazi until the doors slid closed and it was just the three of them left. 

With a sigh he sank into one of the chars that had been pushed under the table, running his hands over his face with a sigh. “I’m sorry for that Rielay. General Corraliya meant well by sending Cazi, but he’s been a handful since he stepped off his speeder.” 

Rielay and Emeldir took seats as well and she clasped her hands in front of her. She had been burning to ask since the power play had begun. “They seem to listen to you. You’re in charge?”

She caught a smile behind his hands and the hair that had come loose from it’s tie. “If you count being shoved into leadership after an unfortunate string of loses, then yes.” 

Then she could hope for no better person to work under. They had been partners for a long time, she knew how he worked, she could trust him. Being able to trust the people who gave her her orders was a rare commodity. “Maybe I should give you congratulations. Or perhaps a very strong drink might be better with the show I just saw.” 

Emeldir laughed under his breath and she saw him shake his head in her peripheral.”Taqq, don’t remind the man how stressful his job is.” 

But Hugo was laughing, wry and not entirely humor fueled but still a break of his grim expression. “I’ll take a rain check on that strong drink, though you aren’t wrong. But I’ll assume you want to know what you’ll be doing in Beharen?”

She shrugged, leaning back in her chair and tilting her head to the side. “Not a necessity, I’ve gone into jobs with less.” Less than nothing, which is what she had on this. She had come to Corellia after Hugo had asked for her aid but he hadn’t specified for what exactly. 

Pulling a datapad from a shelf in arm’s reach Hugo tapped away as he started to explain. “It’s a droid factory, currently has the Empire’s claws sunk into it and has a some very strong droids we need.” He slid the datapad over to Rielay and she looked over the documents, maps, droid schematics. 

“I take it these aren’t just to woo the ladies?” Rielay frowned, scanning through the droid’s capabilities. “If they were for the offensive you’d have already seized them.” 

She passed the datapad to Emeldir and looked back at Hugo with a raised eyebrow. “What’s the reason you’re sending us in there?” 

“We managed to get the rocket trams under our control again, but Republic forces and our own resistance forces are being shot down once they transfer to ground transport.” In the slight pause he took Rielay could hear grief and she wondered how many of the lives lost had been people he’d known by name, been close to. Corellia may be harsh, but leadership was cruel.

 “We’ve found the source-prototype droids that are more powerful than any droid should be-and a location. They’re holed up with a scientist named Varik. Those disaster relief droids are your way in to Varik’s lab.” 

Good enough of an explanation for her. Find and infiltrate the factory, take the droids, go bust into a science lab. Shoot some Imperials on the way. It wasn’t enough for Emeldir, who hadn’t gotten where he had by gut feelings and going in blind. 

“These droids can withstand turret fire and blast down doors, they can’t be unguarded.” He slid the datapad back across to Hugo, leaning his forearms on the table. “It can’t be a simple grab-and-go.” 

There it was, the reason she kept Emeldir around. He asked the important questions. Questions that, thankfully, had an answer. 

“It won’t be simple by any means. There are generators all throughout a place we call Hellfire that’ll need to be activated in order to put the assembly line back up. The unfinished droids in the factory will try to take you down, without loyalty or safety programming they’ll target you as the enemy.” Hugo had taken on that grim expression again and Rielay was struck again by how much they had changed since Coruscant. “Rielay I’m relying on your familiarity with Coronet City.” 

She waved a hand dismissively. “I would hope after fourteen years I would know this place like the back of my hand. I’ve got it covered. Turn on generators, get assembly line running, defeat and seize some droids. We’ll be home in time for dinner, right kid?”

“Without question.” Emeldir grinned and she grinned back, it was about time she knocked some life back into him. Unfocused didn’t mix with this kind of job. “You’ve got no need to worry.” 

Hugo heaved himself up from his chair, tossing the datapad back onto the shelf and unrolling the flimsi again. “I’m not, I hired Taqq for a reason. Send the others back in please, we’ve got other business to discuss.” Hugo glanced up and she could’ve sworn she caught a glimpse of humor. “I would wish you luck, but you never seem to use it.” 

“If the system isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” Rielay quipped, pointing a finger at him. “Just because it’s a little chaotic doesn’t mean I don’t get the job done.” 

Hugo laughed again and she hoped it would be enough to keep him from collapsing under the expectations others were putting on him. Cazi shoved by her as soon as she passed through the door, with Dakoehl following at his heels after wishing them the best on their mission. The others filed by silently. A sullen procession. It was like they had lost Corellia already. 

“Ready for some adventure?” She asked when they stepped back into the smoke and dust. Emeldir drew his blasters, clicking off the safety and looking at her sideways. 

“Always am.”

Between the two of them they made quick work of the generators. Emeldir covered her while she fought her way past the grunt’s guarding the generator before activating the controls with a quick press of a few buttons. The Imperials didn’t stand a chance, not when they had the element of surprise, stealth and fought like a single, well oiled machine. 

She had taught Emeldir to fight and after years of working jobs together it they were nearly the same mind in combat, a deadly whirlwind of detonators and blaster bolts. 

Hellfire didn’t scorch them and they left to the steady hum of generators at their backs. It was a quick tram ride to Beharen, swarming with Imperials. They were off their guard, most of the resistance in Labor Valley killed by their own hand. They never saw the volley of blaster fire coming and their hands were too slow to draw their rifles. 

Rielay shrugged her shoulder to work out some of the arising soreness, uncapping a stim to try and fend it off completely. Emeldir did the same. “They’ve really lowered their standards. Between my metal arm and you’re half a leg you’d think they’d at least be able to get a shot in.”  

“Winning’s gone to their heads. They’re getting complacent.” Emeldir agreed, smirking when alarms started to blare. “Looks like we’ve scared them.” 

Rielay palmed a detonator, tossing it up and down causally. “Might as well make our entrance.” She made a face when the entrance remained empty, no men taking the place of those they had dropped. “Well that’s just rude they won’t even greet us at the door.” 

She pulled the charge from the detonator, throwing it as hard as she could so that it bounced through the open blast doors of the factory. Smoke billowed out after she counted to three under her breath and it was then that she stood from the rubble she had taken cover behind. “Maybe that’ll get their attention.”

It wasn’t the Imperials that troubled them, not even after Rielay’s rude awakening. Men had weaknesses, chinks in their armor--or lack there of, as the Empire seemed to prefer aesthetic to functionality in their uniform. The droids were another being entirely. 

“Keep an eye out, kid. Be prepared to dive for cover.” RIelay had her back to the racks of massive droids, fiddling with the controls of the assembly line. The generators had provided the power, but time and lack of wear had rusted the panel. “Almost got it...there!” Rielay turned, eyes widening as the unfinished droids dropped to the ground. 

“Taqq those are huge!” Emeldir scrambled for a crate, ducking behind as the first round of fire hit the wall where he had been standing. 

“Yeah I noticed!” Rielay dove behind the assembly line controls, blood chilling at the clank of metallic legs. No matter how many times she fought that would always be the worst moment; the sound of her enemy advancing. With a steadying breath she popped up, firing a few shots before scrambling for another crate. The controls were blown to scrap behind her. 

Rielay dug into the pouch that carried her explosives and pulled one out, throwing it over her shoulder. Emeldir charged his blasters before shooting it just before it hit the ground. A small explosion rocked the room. 

“Looks like we took two down!” 

“Good!” Rielay shouted, tossing another detonator and ducking as shrapnel flew. “Keep focused and maybe we can make that all of them.” 

They couldn’t afford to damage their loyal droids, but with their blaster bolts glancing off the droid’s armor blowing them up seemed to be the only way to take them down. Rielay hoped the loyal droids would be safe in the corner they were shut down in. 

 They alternated shots, with Emeldir detonating the explosives she tossed   while Rielay would sometimes join in firing volley after volley of bolts into the battle droids. Hugo had no lied when he’d mentioned their strength. They were wasting time here, but they were pinned down until every last pile of scrap was deactivated. 

“Kid you’d better get out of the open or so help me, I will blow you to pieces!” Rielay hollered. He continued firing bolts from his spot right outside the droid’s targeting system, yelping when a flashing detonator rolled to a stop by his feet. He dove forward, rolling when he hit the ground and landing in a crouch.

She saw his arm come up to cover his eyes as the detonator exploded in a flash of light. “What was that for?” He scrambled back as several scatter gun pellets embedded themselves in the metal by his feet. “Taqq!” 

“Tough love, I told you get outta my way!” She snapped back, whacking her scatter gun into the crate as it whined to a stop before firing. “Fighting that way’s gonna get you shot!” She threw the gun to the floor, leaping back when it spat out a few more pellets. She yanked a smaller pistol out of a holster on her thigh, seamlessly merging back into the fight. Four of the six droids were smoking hunks of metal on the floor, the other two whirling around firing aimlessly as their targeting systems failed. 

“You’re going to get me shot!” Emeldir swore as a droid’s fire came dangerously close to him. 

“Then pay attention and stay out of my way!” 

Out a gun and a pouch of detonators the droid’s were all finally scrap, the damage relief droids safely reactivated and under their control. The droids, taller than her and Emeldir both and twice as powerful, made short work of any enemy force that was tossed in front of them and tore the laboratory's blast doors down like they were flimsi. 

Down a scientist--a traitor, a coward who had fallen to the Empire’s propaganda--and with four more droids added to their pile of scrap metal the team of smugglers returned back to the ramshackle building. 

“I can’t say I’m surprised about the droids, but I’m impressed.” Hugo had called their little council back together even as the daylight faded outside. No one seemed surprised in fact, either they knew of her or Hugo had told them about her reputation. 

“That’s one step closer to taking Axial Park.” Dakroehl agreed. “Now our forces can join the others.” 

“First we need to get through tomorrow.” Hugo reminded, curbing the mounting excitement. “Tomorrow we plan, meet with Corraliya and determine the best course of action.” 

When they were dismissed the council’s moods were lifted, smiles were on their faces, and any animosity seemed to be forgotten. It was perhaps the largest victory of the day. Now, it seemed, Corellia wouldn’t be lost easily. 

The Republic base closest to them was little more than a re purposed cantina. Old, mostly fallen letters spelled out The Old Copper but now instead of criminals and smugglers it housed a diplomatic squad and at least dozens of soldiers. Corraliya, ex commander of the Republic’s elite Havoc Squad was their contact. She was a stern zabrak  woman, intimidating in stature and very clearly unwilling to put up with anything that would detract from the mission. 

As it turns out, Cazi had served in Havoc with her and was a trusted and formidable soldier. Rielay never would have guessed from his belligerent stand the day before but under Corraliya’s sharp eyes his temper was cooled. 

Rielay was not needed to talk strategy, she had no concept of the numbers either side held. She was just the infantry, the one to send in when things needed to be done quickly and quietly. She was here because Emeldir was here, and he was useful. He was speaking with the diplomatic squad, who were furiously working to de escalate the conflict. So far it had done nothing, but no one could fault them for their persistence.

She was leaning on a crate, listening to the commander and Hugo discussing Axial Park. She knew Axial, her mother had taken her and her sister there as kids. Lots of history, monuments to the great galactic conflicts, statues of heroes. It would be a shame to lose that but from the sounds of it the Empire had already torn it apart. Armies, walkers, trenches-

Rielay blinked when she saw a familiar face walking through the courtyard. It couldn’t be. There was no way she could forget a detail like that. None the less, she pushed herself off the crate and wove between the throngs of soldiers. “Esrin?” She called when she assumed she was in earshot. 

The look on his face mirrored her own shock and by the time he caught sight of her she was only a few feet away, with her hands on her hips. “What  are you doing here?” She asked. 

“Rielay? Why are you on Corellia?” He drew he to the side, out of the path of people walking by. “I’m here trying to calm down the fires here.” 

“I’m working a job!” Rielay said, as though it should be obvious. It should have been obvious, it was all she ever did when she flew the Promise alone. “With Emeldir.” 

Though the more she thought about the the more certain she was that neither of them had mentioned Corellia. For Esrin it was most likely highly classified Republic information that should not be gracing the ears of not-always-legal woman like her and for her...well it hadn’t seemed important. 

“This is the job you’re working with Emeldir? This is a war zone what work could you find here?” Esrin seemed to forget that they had met while she was smuggling supplies to refugees. That had been a war zone. 

She let her hands drop from her hips, pushing back a laugh. She couldn’t quite keep it from her voice. “Well if we were both going to be working here I would’ve just had you stay on the ship. No use paying transport fees when your girlfriend has her own ship.” She looked over her shoulder at the sound of approaching voices and found the resistance and Republic convoy headed their way. Both Hugo and Corraliya looked pleased, they must have found the best course for Axial. Good, it wouldn’t do well to let the Empire sit on their high horses for too long. 

“I’m doing some work with the resistance, and the Republic by association. Got a little tired of having the Empire crawling over my home planet.” 

“Rielay, our meeting here is finished. Should I wait to brief you...” Hugo paused, glancing at Esrin before looking back at Rielay. The question was obvious, had she found herself in trouble? The answer, for once, was no.

 Though looking between Esrin and Hugo she wondered if maybe this was the trouble. They had never met, Hugo hadn’t existed as far as she had told Esrin for the longest time, and she had been unbelievably cruel to Hugo in their time together. It didn’t sit well with her, even if it no longer seemed to bother anyone else. “I’ll come along for the briefing in a moment. “

“There’s no need to rush, we’ll be overnighting here. Axial is closer and Dakroehl’s raising our men back at base.” Hugo went to turn away, as Corraliya and the rest of their party had after brief greetings but Rielay without a thought blurted out;

“Wait, Hugo.” She muttered a curse, glancing up at Esrin but finding his expression curious. Hugo was giving her an odd look and she knew they could both read her sudden anxiousness clear as a book and she swore again. “Never mind. I’ll see you later for the mission details.” 

He gave a slow nod, still with that odd look before retreating. She let out a breath, feeling heat creeping into her face. Tactfully handled that had not been. In the slightest. Things with Hugo never were. 

“So the famous Hugo?” Esrin’s voice was light, legitimately joking instead of the barbed lightness that came with confrontation. What else would she have expected. He had never been bothered by the mention, or lack of, of Hugo and there was no reason for her paranoia to take a front seat now. 

She turned to face him, running a hand though her hair and sighing again. “That was, yes.” 

“Leader of the resistance force on Corellia, hm? Not quite the poor soul you claim to have ruthlessly kicked off your ship.” He was teasing her damnit. She aimed a whack at his arm. 

“Stop teasing me, that was stressful.” 

“No doubt.” A chime sounded from Esrin’s chrono and he glanced down at it. “That’s my cue to go try to pat down the fires again. If I don’t see you tonight, I’ll see you tomorrow before you set off.” 

Rielay caught at his hand before he was able to bound off, giving it a quick squeeze. “Good luck with this dumpster fire.”

Morning came too soon, the sunrise spilling over the buildings onto the preparations for battle. The Empire was already calling it the Battle of Axial Park without any real shots being fired,and the Republic was mustering its forces like they were going off to win the war once and for all. Maybe they would. 

Rielay had been briefed by Hugo the night before, he would be joining her and Emeldir to deal with the ambushes as they cropped up and were in charge of finding and spiking the Imperial Command Center. That would be the key to winning access to Capitol Square. Without their command and without their Imperial Guard the Empire would be left scrambling. 

For now she was sitting on a crate, doing last minute tuning on a new scatter gun she had nicked from the armory while Esrin ran over her supplies for what might be the fourth time. Dissuading him hadn’t been successful, he was worried no matter how many times she reminded him she wasn’t going in alone. 

She couldn’t blame him, the last time she had gone into a combat mission she had nearly come out in a body bag--something that he had been informed off over holocall by a very distraught Emeldir, though perhaps more eloquently. This was ten times worse. Here there were turrets, and Sith, soldiers and special forces. It was enough to squash her confidence and pound her heart. Instead she mustered all the confidence she could, jumped off the crate and went over to Esrin. 

“It’ll be fine.” She assured again, attaching her restocked explosives pouch to her belt and reaching out for a similar pouch, this one filled with medical supplies. He handed it over with a frown. “I’ll be fine.” 

“I know Rie. I’m not doubting you can make it out of this.” He sighed, looking hard at the ground and then lifting his eyes to the ceiling when it wasn’t enough. “I just don’t want to lose you.” 

She rested her hands on his arms, voice firm. “You won’t. I promise.” It was one hell of a thing to promise, almost a cruel thing, but the words slipped out before she could stop them. 

“I’ll hold you to it.” Esrin’s voice was soft and Rielay knew that her words did nothing to ease his fears. 

“See that you do.” She stood on her toes and he leaned down for a gentle, yet quick farewell kiss. “And I expect you home in one piece too.” 

It was among the rubble, bathed in gold morning light that she, Emeldir and Hugo took up arms and marched to war.

 Words were limited, the tension palpable as they stealthed behind Axial. The cries of fighting hammered their ears--the ground shaking roar of the turrets, blaster fire and the shouts of wounded and angry soldiers. There was no way to tell if they were winning, no way to tell if the ambush teams they had taken out did any good. 

It was agonizing. 

Just as it was agonizing to leave the noise behind for the stifling silence of the road to the Command Center. The silence weighed on them just as heavily. 

They should have known something was wrong then. As soon as they saw the control panel that would allow them to transmit data to CorSec special forces and had found opposition. As soon as no Imperial fire rained down on their heads when they left cover. 

It took them stumbling over the bodies of resistance scouts for them to realize something wasn’t right. 

By then it was too late. 

Rielay stood at the controls, spike held in her mouth while her hands worked through the systems preliminary system checks. It was just as she was slicing into the system, inserting the spike to start transmission data that the hair on the back of her neck stood on end and an unbidden wave of fear swept over her. 

She had her weapons drawn by the time Emeldir and Hugo ran back around the corner, breathing hard and gasping. “We need to leave! Now!” 

“What?” She dared a glance over her shoulder. “We aren’t leaving without that data!” 

“Rielay you don’t understand we need to leave-” Hugo broke off just as the strange fear swept over her again, sending a shudder through her shoulders. 

She didn’t need to see the violet glow of a saberstaff or hear the crackle of force lightning to know that their luck had just run out. So she raised her blaster and fired off a volley of shots. 

All of them rebounded, splattering against the wall in a small explosion of sparks. 

“We need to leave.” It was Emeldir this time, looking at something beyond the corner. She hear his sharp,panicked breaths just before he seized her around the waist, pulling her from where she had frozen. 

“Deryn no! Let me go!” She squirmed against his grip, elbowing him as hard as she could in the ribs. When he grunted in pain she almost felt bad. “Not without that data!” 

When he finally let her go he was quick to seize her wrist, keeping her from running back. Hugo was right behind them, breath harsh and wheezing in a way that wasn’t just from fear. 

“We can’t go back. Somehow she found us.” He gasped for breath, shaking his head and squeezing his eyes closed. “Damnit Xin found us. There’s no getting by her.” 

They lost that day.

They didn’t loose the Park. No, they drove the Empire back with their tales between their legs. But without the Command Center they had no way to get to Capital Square. By the blow that caused them they might as well have taken the defeat on all fronts. 

“We need to do something about Xin!” For once Rielay agreed wholeheartedly with Cazi. “We did our time and look where that got us! It’s the Sith standing between us and the Square!” 

They were around the table again, surrounded by their half functioning technology and hand drawn maps. Their numbers had shrunk. Wolf was missing, supposedly killed in action and Emeldir had been forced to leave after new, distressing information regarding the Voidhound. The room showed it, it was lonelier, quieter. Silences lingered longer and even the lights seemed dimmer. 

Maybe it was just the increased bombings. Air strikes on both sides no longer seemed to care what they hit. Communication had been all but knocked out. It had been nearly two weeks since Axial with no word from the Republic. The only connection they had with them was Corraliya and her squad, who had retreated with their forces. 

Hugo may as well have taken all the losses himself, he was growing wearier and more pained by the day. No matter how good he thought he could hide it it was there, clear as day in his eyes. No one could hide it, not the way the loss at Axial had shattered their hope. 

Victory was close enough to taste, with one indomitable barrier between them. “Then what do you suppose we do?” Hugo finally asked. “We’ve already learned throwing blasters and armor at her does nothing.” 

This gave Cazi pause and he seemed to think for a moment, lekku curling around his shoulders. “We fight the Force with the Force.” 

Dakoehl frowned, eyebrows drawing together. It was disconcerting, not being able to read the miraluka’s thoughts and emotions through her eyes. Rielay couldn’t tell whether she was considering the idea or preparing to dismiss it. 

“You are suggesting that I and Tacka face Xin, yes?” She must have sensed Cazi’s nod because she spoke again. “I am a Knight by training, but Tacka is young, I do not think he would be ready to face a sith lord.” 

“You aren’t going alone!” Hugo cut in the same time Tacka made a disgruntled noise and cried out; “You won’t leave me behind!” 

“It would be suicide to face Xin alone.” Hugo pressed on. “She’s taken out squads of soldiers, Republic trained or our without breaking a sweat.” 

“Then I will take Tacka with me and a group of our people to face her. She has yet to fight another force user. Xin is young, and prone to mistakes.” Dakoehl sounded so certain that Rielay believed her. Later she would think that she may have put a bit of Force persuasion into her words. 

Hugo was silent for several moments, staring hard at the table and the pages of ideas beneath his hands. “Alright.” He finally relented, closing his eyes. “If the others agree and it’s what the best course is to ending this then fine.”

Maybe if Rielay had paid attention she wouldn’t have agreed so quickly with the others. Maybe if she had seen the miraluka’s hand feel under the table two twine with Hugo’s she would have second guessed so willingly offering her life over to Xin.

 Maybe if she had seen the way the two always sat close to each other, shoulder to shoulder. Maybe she could have read the signs and found sympathy for a situation so like her own. There were a lot of maybes. 

 But she didn’t see and she didn’t pay attention. No one did. No one ever did, Rielay realized the longer she thought, never had when it came to Hugo. He may have been their leader but as soon as he stepped away from battle plans he faded back into the shadows. 

It took a high price for her to realize that.

Tacka was the only one to return, eyes blown wide and babbling incessantly about the lightning, the intensity, the darkness that had roiled through the force like a monster. The medics were quick to usher the young Jedi off, wrapped in a blanket away from the horrified eyes and stifled tears. 

Seven Republic military-grade coffins. Seven Republic flags laid down.

Hours after the others had said their respects and wandered back into their new normal Rielay found Hugo still there, silent as he had been since Tacka had returned. For awhile he had stood with his arm around the boy has he had cried into his shoulder, but now he stood alone. His hand rested gently on the middle coffin. His head was bowed, the tracks of tears still glistening on his cheeks. 

“Hugo I’m sorry.” Rielay couldn’t get her voice above a whisper. 

His hand brushed down an upturned edge of the Republic flag. “We were so close...” He didn’t look at her, and she didn’t know if his words were meant for her.  “I hope this was worth it.”