chapter eleven

THE BRIGHT SUN OF Yavin IV poured graciously over the lush green forests, bathing the moon in a honey-like glow of warmth and beauty. Whisper birds echoed their low call faintly in the background of the bustling rebellion base, which seemed glaringly obvious amongst the nature. It was a miracle that they weren't yet discovered.

Stepping out into the light was almost blinding compared to the dim shadows of the Millennium Falcon. The rays gently draped over Amora's skin, except they weren't burning like the rays on Tatooine. These were soft and calming, with a friendliness that never knew the cold.

She smiled as she tilted her head back with closed eyes, basking in the sun.

I missed this, she thought happily.

"So much for a secret base," Han interrupted her daydream, staring up at the towering temple as he walked down the boarding ramp. "You'd think the Empire would've found this place already."

"Yeah, well, the Empire doesn't spend their time in places that are good and beautiful," Amora replied, eyes still shut.

"Ain't that the truth..." he mumbled as the sound of footsteps was heard from the boarding ramp.

Amora opened her eyes and looked over to see Luke, Leia, and Chewbacca exiting the ship, Artoo and Threepio trailing slightly behind. A smile came onto her face as she spotted Luke's outfit.

"The poncho is back!" she exclaimed with a laugh as the group moved towards the military speeders that were prepared for them.

Luke glanced over at her with a small grin. "It's cold!" he defended.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot you lived in the literal desert," she scoffed, playfully bumping his shoulder. He bumped her back softly as they arrived at the speeders.

There, a group of unfamiliar rebels quickly helped them board, with Chewbacca, Artoo, and Threepio taking up the one in front of them. Once they were all seated and ready to go, they headed off into the temple.

The base was rather large compared to their previous bases. It was a vast building with multiple levels, not to mention the endless greenery around them. Even though Amora had lived here for quite some time, she still adored the charming little place.

The speeder slowed to a stop as a man approached the vehicle. Amora recognized him as Vanden Willard, a commander with equal rank yet higher status. He was well-regarded in the rebellion.

The four of them hopped off the speeder, Leia rushing over to Vanden with a smile.

"You're safe!" he exclaimed, pulling the princess into a hug. "We had feared the worst."

He moved away from Leia and nodded respectfully at Amora. "Commander Everbright, it's a pleasure to have you back."

She nodded back, hands folded behind her back. "Commander Willard."

"We have no time for our sorrows, commander," Leia told Vanden, bringing his attention back to the task at hand. "You must use the information in this R2 unit to help plan the attack. It's our only hope."

Vanden whispered something to a nearby soldier. He nodded and began leading the way deeper into the temple. Amora followed behind Leia, but quickly realized that Luke was not.

He stood a little farther away from the group, staring up at an X-wing in awe. She walked over to him quietly and lightly touched his arm.

"There'll be plenty of time for that later.
C'mon."

He sheepishly smiled and followed her through the base. They took quite a few turns through several different hallways, and Luke wasn't even sure where they were anymore. But they finally stopped at a wide door with rebels scattered around it.

As soon as they entered the room, Amora was separated from Luke. She was quickly ushered away by her fellow commanders, hearing all sorts of questions about her mission. She tried to address everyone's concerns, but could only talk about Leia's rescue so many times.

"Amora, hi!"

She turned around in confusion, not immediately recognizing the voice. But when she did, she felt a sense of relief. Now she had an excuse to escape the endless questions from officials.

"Zolynn, it's good to see you," Amora commented simply to the girl in front of her.

"It's good to see you back in one piece," Zolynn noted with a polite smile.

Zolynn was a medic for the rebellion (most of the time), but was also a friend of Amora's.

       Well, friend was a generous term,

       They were more of extended acquaintances. Roommates, to be exact. You see, Amora knew Zolynn as a child on Naboo. They had several classes together at the local school. They didn't know each other at all, really, but knew of each other enough to be drawn to one another in the rebellion. And "drawn to one another" means Zolynn was drawn to Amora. It did make sense, when you think about it. The feeling of independence is only so sweet until you realize you're actually independent. Alone in a galaxy of maturity. It's natural instinct to latch onto any sense of familiarity from your past life.

       Truthfully, Amora never felt a real connection to Zolynn. She figured the girl felt the same way. Their personalities never clicked instantly like real friends' do. They weren't meant to be the best of friends. They both knew it. But that was okay. Amora was never against Zolynn. In the end, she just needed a roommate. And luckily, she scored someone to talk to. Not about anything sappy or emotional. Just small talk. Zolynn was a familiar face in the crowd. The girl you stand next to at a party so neither of you look alone.

       And funnily enough, that's exactly what they were doing now.

"Not much has happened since you left," she informed Amora. "Just business as usual."

"Yeah, well, that'll change after today," she replied without much emotion. "The Empire tracked us here. We'll be relocating as soon as possible."

       "That quickly, huh?" Zolynn responded with a sigh.

       "Yep..."

       Amora was already bored of the conversation, as short as it was. It was too uneventful, too stiff. But hey, it was better than being bombarded with questions by stuffy commanders. Zolynn, bored as well, at least ended it quickly.

       "I should probably take a seat, y'know, before I'm stuck standing again."

       Thank you.

       "Yeah, probably," Amora agreed, not knowing how much longer she could handle this awkward conversation. "Nice to talk to you again, though."

       That's such a lie.

       Zolynn gave her another polite smile before slipping into the crowd to escape from the tension. Amora let out a sigh of relief and went to assume her position for the meeting. She spotted Leia at the front of the room and approached her side.

Leia smirked as they watched the room quickly fill with rebels.

"Good to be back?" she asked Amora without looking at her.

She forced a dry laugh. "Thought it would be. But it's a lot more... social, than I remember."

Leia chuckled in amusement. They fell into silence as more rebels settled into their seats.

Amora scanned the faces in front of her. She recognized almost all of them, even if she didn't know their names. Everyone chatted joyfully as if they wouldn't be fighting the Empire later that day. It was saddening, but it didn't matter. The battle was necessary. Lives would be lost for the sake of the rebellion.

As she surveyed the room, her eyes suddenly landed on a familiar blond surrounded by pilots.

Luke gave her a small, excited wave from his spot amongst the rebels. He looked very out of place, but seemed too distracted by his own eagerness to care.

Amora normally tried to remain impassive and stoic when around high ranking officers of the rebellion, but figured this was a valid exception. She shot him a small, comforting smile with her own little wave, endeared by his adorable enthusiasm.

Their little interaction was cut short, however, as Dodonna approached the front of the room, commencing silence with his presence. The screen behind him lit up with the blueprints of the Death Star. Everyone settled down and listened to what he had to say.

"The battle station is heavily shielded and carries a firepower greater than half the starfleet," Dodonna started immediately. "It's defenses are designed around a direct, large-scale assault. A small one-man fighter should be able to penetrate the outer defense."

"Pardon me for asking, sir," Jon Vander, leader of the Gold Squadron, spoke from Amora's left side. "But what good are snub-fighters going to be against that?"

"Well, the Empire doesn't consider a small one-man fighter to be any threat, or they'd have tighter defense," Dodonna explained. "An analysis of the plans provided by Princess Leia and Commander Everbright has demonstrated a weakness in the battle station."

The blueprints zoomed in and showed a wide trench.

"The approach will not be easy. You are required to maneuver straight down this trench and skim the surface to this point. The target area is only two meters wide."

A nervous chatter broke out amongst the room. Amora couldn't say she blamed them. Only two meters?

"It's a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The shaft leads directly to the reactor system. A precise hit will start a chain reaction, which should destroy the station."

The screen showed a miniature Death Star being blown up from the impact.

"Only a precise hit will set up a chain reaction. The shaft is ray-shielded, so you'll have to use proton torpedoes. Are there any questions?"

His words were met with an uncomfortable silence.

"Then man your ships! And may the Force be with you."

The pilots all stood up from their seats and began to clear the room, preparing for the intense battle ahead of them. Amora idled by the front of the room as she waited for them to exit. They were certainly in more of a rush than she was.

After the majority cleared out, she exited the room. There wasn't much for her to do, but she could possibly fix someone's X-wing before the battle.

"Hey!"

Amora peered to her right to spot Luke waiting for her by the door. His arms were clasped in front of him and he rocked on the balls of his feet. He seemed excited about something.

She smiled at him in return. "What's got you all excited?"

He bit his lip, bubbling with joy. "I just got specially invited into the Red Squadron! Can you believe it?!" he beamed.

Her smile fizzled out in disappointment. "What?" she asked before she could stop herself.

Luke's own smile faltered. That wasn't the reaction he was expecting.

She rushed to clarify her confusion before he could speak.

"No, no, that's not what I meant," she shook her head, but that seemed to make him even more uneasy.

"I- well, I mean, it's just-" she cut herself off with a shaky inhale, fidgeting uncomfortably under his troubled stare.

I'm not making this any better, Amora thought with a difficult swallow.

"Is it really the best idea to join one of our most dangerous battles with zero training?" she blurted out, but instantly regretted saying it. She cringed when she saw his crestfallen expression.

"That's not what I meant, either-" she spoke immediately, but the damage had already been done.

"You don't think I can do it?" Luke asked, disheartened, his blue eyes shining with hurt.

"No, no, no, that's not it!" she hurried out. "It's just that the Empire is really well-trained and experienced and..." she trailed off, perfectly aware of how much worse she was making the situation.

"So you don't think I can do it," he spoke slowly, this time as a statement.

"No!" she insisted, desperately grasping for words, any words that would help her. "Of course you can! You definitely can! But..."

She trailed off once more, hearing just how hurtful her words were. She couldn't just compliment him and then say 'but!'

He looked down in shame. The one person who had believed in him, the one person he wanted to impress, didn't have faith in him. She didn't think of him as anything more than a farm boy.

"I should go get ready," he spoke quietly, refusing to meet her eyes. With that, he turned and walked away, leaving a distressed Amora alone with her thoughts.

She watched him leave with her mouth hanging open slightly. She wanted to say something, anything that would call him back and explain what she really meant. But truthfully, Amora didn't know what she meant.

She didn't know why she was acting this way, either. Since when did she care about saving individual people from the dangers of the Empire? A commander had to think of the rebellion as a whole, never singular rebels. And she had done an extremely good job of that up until now.

Amora always prided herself on her ability to help lead the rebellion successfully. She never let her own emotions get in the way of her job. Her focus was always the result, never the journey. And yet here she was, selfishly trying to keep Luke safe.

Why now? And why him? What made Luke different from any other rebel she's sent to battle? He was just... Luke. A farm boy with dreams too ambitious for Tatooine. So why did he make her forget her main principles with one glance of his glittering blue eyes?

Amora groaned at her unsettling behavior and began walking towards the ship hangar. The whole way there, she thought over her words. What she could've said instead, what she could've not said.

She arrived at the hangar to see rebels bustling around busily. Everyone had a job to do. She did as well, but it wasn't her top priority at the moment. She had completely forgotten about Han and Chewbacca. They would be leaving.

Looking around the room thoughtfully, she searched for either of the two. Yet Amora couldn't seem to find them anywhere.

I hope they haven't left already.

All she wanted to do was bid them farewell and thank them for their hospitality. But that didn't appear to be happening any time soon. She sighed at the realization and glumly looked around once more.

"All pilots to your stations." a voice over the loudspeaker boomed, interrupting Amora's searching.

Those words settled into her brain, and her blood ran cold. Her emotions quickly went from gloomy to anxious in one second. If pilots needed to get to their station, then that means they would be leaving in a few minutes. That means Luke would be leaving in a few minutes.

She frantically scanned the area again, but this time searching for Luke. He wasn't anywhere in sight.

No, no, no, no, where is he...

She found herself spinning in circles as she analyzed every face that passed.

He's going to leave and I'll never see him again.

A thick panic began to cloud Amora's thoughts. Her breathing began to quicken and her hands shook.

I didn't even get to say goodbye.

"Amora?"

She whipped around at the sound of her name, searching the hangar for the owner of the voice. And when she spotted who it was, she almost cried tears of joy.

"Luke!"

He wore the orange jumpsuit of a rebellion pilot. It suited him. And even though Amora didn't agree with him leaving, she knew that this is what he was meant to do.

She ran up to him hurriedly, aware of the rush they were in. Her breathing slowed, but her heart rate quickened.

"Wha-"

He was cut off by her arms wrapping around his neck, pulling him in for a hug.

"I didn't mean any of that. I think you can do it. I really do." she whispered, words slightly muffled into his shoulder.

"Just don't go dying on me." she spoke, pulling away from the hug and clutching his forearms lightly. "Please."

Luke just stared at her, stunned by her random affection. He didn't really know what to say, so he settled for a nod.

"I won't."

With that, he gave her a gentle squeeze in the elbow, a sincere smile, and headed towards his X-wing, where Artoo was already waiting. But Amora couldn't help the sickening worry that spread through her body as she watched him go.

Please come back...

~  ☼  ~

author's note -

hello! just want to thank you all for being so supportive of this book so far. i've received an overwhelming amount of love and i appreciate it so so much. thank you! anyways, zolynn is just a character of mine and she won't affect the story. i've always seen her as yara shahidi so that will be her faceclaim, but envision her however you like! don't forget to vote and comment! :)

edit: if ur reading this, just know that zolynn is going through some rewrites🤪 and i prolly wanna get rid of her entirely so uh yeah if her backstory/motives/relationship to amora isnt consistent while ur reading, just ignore it for now