Chapter 15: Old Friends
They weren't even a dozen feet from the gate when an argument could be heard over the crowd, “It's been hours already. What do you mean they haven't come out.”
A bland but superior voice responded, “Rules are rules. No security force is allowed to enter the immigration zone.”
Another vaguely familiar voice shouted, “We’ve already told you we’re not security. We're friends.”
The bland voice responded, “Then you'll have to leave your weapons here.”
The same voice shouted back angrily, “This is not some weapon. It's a lightsaber, an instrument for peace.”
To which the bland voice answered, “And if you want to enter the immigration zone, you will have to leave the instrument for peace here.”
Rey heard Fama towards these voices, and before she could see through the crowd, a happy voice called “Rey!” Finn, the ex-stormtrooper broke through a curtain of people and hugged his friend and teacher, adding, “We’ve been waiting forever.”
Having been caught off guard, Rey coughed and responded, “You’re telling me.”
Another friend emerged from the crowd more calmly, calling, “We got word from the security gate hours ago, but who knew you’d get stuck in immigration.” Poe Dameron, the mad pilot, approached with a survey air and gave the Jedi Master a side hug, “It's good to see you.”
Finn nodded, expressing his intense emotions, “We were worried you wouldn't make it after the accident. We tried to contact you, but nothing got thrown.”
Rey grinned, happy to be amongst friends again, responding, “My communicator went down with the ship. It wasn't safe to contact you guys.”
Poe nodded understandingly, putting a hand on her shoulder, “Well, we're glad you managed to make it in time. Let's get you to the embassy.”
The two boys began to pull her along, eager to talk and worried about security. Rey finally had to shake them off and snap, “Hold on a second.” The two came back to their senses while Rey huffed. She couched Fama, who had decided to hide behind her front and center. The girl who was usually so outgoing grew shy before the two legendary Generals. Rey had been promising for a long time that she would formally introduce the girl to the crew of the Millennium Falcon, and now the time had come. Due to how busy things had been recently, Fama had only met Chewbacca in person, who so adored, while the other she had talked with via the communicator a few times. Rey breathed in stingy air and declared, “Poe, Fin, this is Fama.”
The two men focused on the shy-looking Mirialan girl, first surprised, then ecstatic. Poe blurted, “So this is Fama; she sounded older on the communicator.”
With a small wave and a hesitant but ecstatic voice, the girl managed, “Hi.”
Finn excitedly picked the girl up, observing her closely, cheering, “Great, it's for sure now. I'm not the youngest anymore.”
Rey glared, grabbed back her Padawan, and retorted teasingly. “Technically, since you're both my students, that makes you of the same seniority.”
Finn looked depleted at this but responded coyly, “That is until I find some students.”
Rey shrugged, putting Fama down, who was just recovering from her awe, “Sure, but it's easier said than done.”
Finn grinned and retorted, “We’ll see about that.”
Poe raised his hands to mediate, “Enough Jedi hublaa, we need to get back to the embassy. It's not safe out here.”
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The star pilot received two glares with playful yet smug confidence, though Rey could only nod after a moment, “Agree, I'm exhausted.”
Fama looked up at Poe, a true idol in her eyes, coming from a family of freight pilots. She managed to ask, “Mr. Dameron, did you really invent Hyperspace Jumping.”
With a stern look, he retorted, “That's general to you…” The girl sucked in a breath going pale green in the face though the man quickly laughed this off, kneeling down to her eye level. He continued, “Just kidding, you can call me Poe. Also, although it's a hotly debated subject, I like to say I was the first to master the skill.”
Rey grew defensive and growled, “Don't tease her like that, you bad, bad man.”
Fama seemed unscared and instead seemed delighted. In an airy voice, she spoke to herself, “Mr. Poe… So cool.”
The pilot chuckled at the mixed reactions and clearly enjoyed the adoration; usually, the Jedi got all the attention. With a wave, he added, “Come on, it may not be a starship, but we have a shuttle waiting. I'll show you a few of my personal tricks.”
Poe winked at the girl, who blushed dark green with excitement. Seeing how Poe offered transport and remuneration, Rey decided to let him off for the moment. Finn also spoke at this point, “Yeah, we need to get back fast. The Supreme Chancellor wants to meet with you.”
Rey was intrigued by this; the supreme chancellor had only been elected in the least two months, and she hadn’t had the chance to meet him. From various reports, she had heard the man was called Marcus Ultor, formerly of Hosnian Prime, before the plant and surrounding star system were destroyed by Star Killer Base. It was said he had an extremely strong stance against the Rement General Faction and, although open to peace, demanded whole and complete justice for the crimes of the First Order and Emperor alike. Rey had liked the sound of him but, after recent experiences, didn't know if such an extreme individual was the best suited for peace talks.
Instead, the Jedi Master placed much more faith in her cinnamon supervisor, political mentor, and good friend Minerva Organa, appointed as Vice-Supreme Chancellor, a position added to prevent future Palpatines from emerging unchecked. Minerva was the cousin and bosom sister of her master, Princes Laya, who had stepped down from the political stage during the rise of the original New Republic to help the remnant people of her homeworld, Alderan, relocate following the Death Star tragedy. Her time was then consumed by motherhood for several years, and she had only recently taken on the burden of leadership once more.
Their group quickly made their way over to a parked shuttle that had two guards posted outside. They were already in the midst of the night, and Rey felt incredibly relieved to finally be en route to some sort of shelter. Poe handled Fama like an expert, showing her the various buttons and gizmos controlling the ship. Although they had an assigned pilot, the man gladly took on the role to show off more to the excited fan. Rey herself sat down in a rather luxurious seat, observing her surroundings. The shuttle was extremely lavish, and the back cabin only had six free-standing seats covered in soft padding and equipped with computers.
The guards stayed back while Finn sat across from her, looking excited, and offered, “Want any drinks or anything? This ship is loaded with stuff.”
Rey’s eyes lit up, and she nodded quickly, “Yes, anything will do. The trip was crazy.”
Finn got up and quickly returned with a tray of fine-looking horderves and some sweet-smelling, light pink drink; he commented, “Really, the flight manifest looked pretty ordinary. You took the Phantom right.”
Rey smiled wryly at this and responded in a tone that was ever so slightly pained, “Yah, the Phantom, that ship was a menace.”
She observed the fancy-looking food before digging in; the taste astounded her, and soon she was wolfing it down. Finn smiled and added, “The shuttle is nice, right? Sense Po and I, technically Generals, still they’ve taken to pampering us.”
Rey nodded back merrily, but as she tried to speak, some food tried and entered her esophagus. She coughed heavily and drank from her drink, which was sickly sweet and surprisingly left her even more thirsty than when she began. Once stable again, she managed, “It is nice. When did you guys arrive?”
Finn responded quickly, “We’ve been here almost a week.” Rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, he added, “After the accident, we managed to get to the convoy without issue.”
Rey nodded, relieved; a resume mission was somewhat out of the question, given the timeline and how deep they had been in enemy space. Luckily, she and Fama had safely dropped off the grid and sent out a message via some black market connection before having to start ship hopping. With a reassuring expression, she continued, “That's good. Anyways, what's been going on these last couple of days.”
Finn looked frustrated at this, “Not good. Things were quiet for a while, but some sort of Expo ended. Everyone Is now completely focused on the Peace Talks.” He grew even more angry and complained, “Those damn Imperials don’t even try.”
Rey felt empty when hearing this. While thinking deeply, she tried to comfort her friend, “Don’t get frustrated. We have to stay calm and open-minded.” With a knowing look, she added, “I'm sure we're not alone when it comes to wanting peace.”