Scarif survivor AU

[imthepilot]

Bodhi lingered after the briefing, hands behind his back in that stance that had become habit. The stance that hid his prosthetics arm from view. Not that anyone stared any more but some habits were hard to break.

“General Rook?” Mon Mothma didn’t need to look up to know it was him, tidying up the data chips as the rest of the briefing room emptied. “You're wondering why I didn’t assign you to the Endor strike.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He found it strangely comforting, the way she always knew. So, he never needed to ask.

“I have another mission for you and your team.” She gestured him to follow, leading him into a private antechamber. Her expression turned serious as she touches the little data-chip containing the information the Bothans had paid so dearly for. “There was a second message, from an imperial informant.” Her expression tightened, suppressing some deep emotion behind her stateman’s mast.

She pulled up a star map, gesturing to a gas giant orbiting a single star adjustment to Endor’s binary system. “According to this informant, there is an imperial research and development station in the Moddell sector. It’s being used to hold a group of scientists and weapons specialists. Against their will.”

“And you believe this information is credible.” Bodhi asked, his braided hair falling over his shoulder as he leaned in to look at the small speck in the map.

“I do. Yes.”

There was something about her voice, the tamped down strain that made him look at her. There was so much in her eyes, in the tightness of her lips. So much unsaid.

“Your mission, General Rook, is to retrieve the scientists and, our informant. Alive, if at all possible. And then destroy the facility.”

Bodhi nodded slowly, considering. “I’ll need an imperial craft.”

“You’ll have it.” She answered, a little faster than necessary. “A second shuttle has been set aside for this mission. Select your team and brief only those you need to. This mission is of the upmost importance. The Emperor has built a second Death Star. Even if we fail to destroy him, there must never be a third.”

Bodhi accepted the dossiers she had prepared him on the informant. “You have my word.”

He didn’t open the file till he was perched in the pilot’s seat as the other members of Rogue Squad, all Scarif survivors, loaded up. It wasn’t till then he saw the face of the Imperial informant. A holo of a woman, candid and some years out of date. Not a mugshot or a service record scan but the sort of holo someone might carry on their person. A holo of a loved one.

The medic who had saved his life on Eadu. And whose name he now learnt was Rochin. Rochin Mothma.

That was why the commander had such faith in the message.

***

They moved down the corridor at an easy trot, covering doorways and each other as they moved further into the facility.

Getting in had been easy. Easier than it should have been. The facility seemed to be manned by a skeleton crew while the rest of the garrison was elsewhere. On the Death Star perhaps. Or down on the forest moon. Bodhi send up a quiet prayer to the Force for the Princess and Luke’s safety. He’d gotten to know and like them both well. Even if he didn’t have much love for General Solo.

“Cover me.” He called to Melshi as he crossed to the last of the detention block controls. He had to step over a dead trooper, the smell of burnt duroplastic and flesh filling his nostrils. He would suffer for that later. For all of it. He wasn’t past the nightmares, that had become almost a familiar occurrence. Part of the fabric of his scars. But his hands no-longer shook during the fight. Only after.

He gave a triumphant ha as the door locks slammed back, echoingly loud. “Sefla, clear the cells to the left. I’ll take the right. Pao, keep the engines hot, we’re coming your way.”

He shouldered the rifle, concealing a stunner in his flesh and blood palm, just in case this one didn’t want to be rescued. Some of the scientists they’d pulled from other cells were frightened, erratic. Some were so badly mistreated they’d tried to fight off their rescues. And a desperate man could be stronger than he looked. As Bodhi’s blooming black eye could attest.

He opened the door with care, shifting his stance in readiness.

And stopped dead.

Comments

[imthepilot]

"Later." Bodhi's voice is hard as his metal hand as it grips Galen's upper arm, pulling him towards the door. "Sefla, what's the count?"

"T-minus two minutes, General." Sefla answers, a bedraggled scientist half draped over one shoulder. "We better hustle."

"Everyone fall back. Double time." Bodhi orders, half pulling, half dragging Galen towards the shuttle.

[galen_erso]

"General?" Galen asks. "Where is Jyn?"

He follows, but he looks around, scared and bewildered.

[imthepilot]

The rebels bundle him into the shuttle, along with the rest of the captives and one very busy medic. Almost everyone not in a rebel uniform looks just as scared and bewildered as Galen.

Bodhi's gone almost as soon as they're in the ship, issuing orders as he climbs up into the pilot's position.

Rochin comes over to him, sweeping a scanner over him for signs of injury or shock. "Was that your pilot I just saw?"

[galen_erso]

"Yes," Galen says. "My Bodhi."

He smiles, briefly.

"Thank you."

[imthepilot]

"Don't thank me yet." She sits down next to him, strapping herself in. "If I'm right about where we're going, this is going to be a bumpy ride. In more ways than one."

There's no air in space, vacuum doesn't carry sound but through the rear port is a bright flash as the facility explodes.

[galen_erso]

"Have you seen Jyn?" Galen says in a worried whisper, watching the facility brighten to flame and fall dark.

[imthepilot]

There's that tell-tale yank in the pit of their stomachs as the ship enters hyperspace. A moment later Bodhi comes back down the ladder.

"Ladies and Gentleman. As you might have just seen, the facility you were held on has been destroyed. With luck and planning, the Empire will believe you were killed too. We're taking you to a Rebellion safe-haven where you'll be debriefed, and where possible, returned to your families. The more help you can give us, the faster we can get you home. The journey will take a while so I suggest to get some rest."

He flicks a look at Galen. "Erso, with me." He nods up to the pilot's cabin.

[galen_erso]

"Yes, general," Galen says. He gets up, straightens his jumpsuit, and follows Bodhi. Keeping it together long enough to give all these strangers the suitable show.

[imthepilot]

Bodhi doesn't look back to see if Galen's following, pausing only once to consult briefly with Melshi who squeezes his shoulder reassuringly. "We've got this, general. You do what you need to do."

Bodhi nods and slips into a service walkway off the cockpit. It's small and dark but unlike the rest of the shuttle, it at least has the illusion of privacy.

He clears his throat, unable to quite meet Galen's eye, unsure where or how to start.

[galen_erso]

Priorities.

"Where is Jyn?" Galen asks. "And what happened to your arm?"

[imthepilot]

"Scarif." He answers bitterly. "For both, I'm afraid. I don't know what the Imperials told you but Jyn gave her life on Scarif, broadcasting the Death Star plans to the fleet."

He ducks his head. "I'm sorry, Galen. I couldn't save her."

[galen_erso]

"You mean she is dead?" Galen says. He sinks against the bulkhead, then sways towards Bodhi. "She has been dead all this time?"

[imthepilot]

Bodhi reaches out to support him. Not holding Galen so much as holding him up. He can't let himself crack. Not yet. Not till the mission's over.

"Yes. I'm sorry, Galen. She died on Scarif." He nods back towards the rest of the ship. "We're all that's left from the ground assault."

Eight of them. Out of the fifteen they landed with and the dozens of reinforcements who followed.

[galen_erso]

"Then everything I did was for nothing, I worked against your side, and you could just as well shoot me now," Galen says. "They showed me footage of her. In a cell. So I would work. So I built another Death Star, and tortured more kyber crystals, and the Force screamed at me, and I have no excuse. None."

[imthepilot]

"Galen. Enough." Bodhi holds him at arm's length, his eyes steely. "We destroyed the first Death Star. We will destroy the second one. Jyn's sacrifice, your sacrifice. They were never in vain. There is always hope."

He pulls Galen in close and hugs him fiercely. "We would never have left Eadu if we'd known you were alive."

[galen_erso]

"I was barely," Galen says, clinging to Bidhi. "Our medic pulled me through."

[imthepilot]

"Then I owe her twice." He whispers, letting his face press against Galen's neck. He breathes slowly, forcing himself to keep it together. "She tipped us off about the facility."

[galen_erso]

"Three times," Galen says, leaning his face against Bodhi's hair. "We owe her everything."

[imthepilot]

"General." Someone calls from the cockpit.

Bodhi's spine is suddenly ram-rod straight. He untangles himself from Galen, his flesh hand shaking ever so slightly as he pulls back down the mask of duty.

"I won't be able to help you, once we reach the base. They'll interrogate each of you in turn. Answer them honestly. They won't hurt you. Our- connection is well known so they may ask you about that. I know I'll be asked when I'm debriefed. When it's over, I'll find you."

[galen_erso]

"Everything," Galen says, pulling himself together to stand straight. "Noted, general."

General. Really. That may be the most bizarre bit yet.

[imthepilot]

Bodhi almost flinches at the way the title sounds on Galen's lips. He's a long way from the sweet young pilot who said goodbye to Galen in the shadows that last time on Eadu. Battle hardened and embittered.

"Tell the others the same. They're safe now. And we will get them home."

Not until after the data core two of his team extracted can be analysed. But that doesn't need to be said here.

He nods towards the cockpit, taking up the pilot's seat once more. "We'll be out of hyperspace in five minutes. Best you get strapped in."

[galen_erso]

Galen walks back to the other rescued scientists and the medic, and tells them. First, to strap in, and then, to trust the rebels.

Some of the others are less than confident, and one even calls Bodhi 'Galen's fellow traitor'.

[imthepilot]

Rochin has a few sharp words for the one who steps out of line, checking on the couple of scientists the storm troopers were particularly rough with before they were rescued.

The entry vector into Delta Base was not an easy flight. New Kisge's heavily wooded temperate zone provided excellent cover but flying under the massive canopy of trees took skill. The shuttle banked several times before levelling out and coming to land.

Bodhi came back, raising his voice as his men formed an escort. "Do as instructed and we'll have no trouble here. We're not the Empire. Most of you were held against your will. The sooner we're done here, the sooner we can get you home. Anyone who needs medical aid, let an officer know."

He lets his men herd the scientists of the ship, scanning for signs of trouble. His eyes linger on Galen.

[galen_erso]

Galen feels the same -- he almost stumbles on his way off the shuttle because he keeps looking at Bodhi.

[imthepilot]

They're herded into a mess hall, food brought out as they wait. Delta base is mostly durocrete bunkers but big skylights bring in the dappled sunlight from the towering trees above.

It's several hours before they get to Galen. All the time, Bodhi is nowhere to be seen.

The interrogation is polite enough. A tired looking middle aged officer with two younger ones keeping watch in case it gets less friendly. Just the basics - his name, his history, how he came to the Empire's attention.