Archive of Our Own

“In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire, for a safe and secure society.”

“Protect the timers; even if we die here, the Jedi can still finish the mission.”

“I’m not about to let you die, now move.”

"You and whose army?"

"Yours."

Nym woke from his dream if one could call it that. Usually, when he slept it felt like some deity wouldn’t stop throwing his life back at him in a vague attempt to tell him something. The Declaration of a New Order had reached most worlds with a capable signal. Nym listened many times over; being nearly two hundred at the time, he had seen much of the world come and go, but the Republic had been a centerpiece of the galaxy, even if he worked outside of it most times. 

Nym sat up in his bed and reached up to adjust the blue face tendrils associated with his Feeorin biology. He looked at his left arm, geez must be early, he hadn’t had this part of his arm since well before the Clone Wars. He reached out towards his nightstand, and the repulsors of his prosthetic flew it over and popped it into place. He kept his blaster in that hand at night just in case of emergencies. He eyed his piece before standing up and holstering it. 

When Nym had heard about the “Jedi Rebellion'' over twenty-one years ago, he scoffed. He’d known Jedi High Council member Adi Gallia, and he would go as far as to call her a friend. She had become the liaison to his Lok Revenants after helping him take back their world from Cavik Toth. She stayed true to her word and gave him the respect he deserved as the leader of his group. The special room he’d had dedicated to house her and her former padawan Siri Tachi when she’d come along had remained untouched for almost the same amount of time. It was the first room next to Nym’s at the end of the hall, and each morning he stood for a moment in thought when he left his room. In the period between Adi’s death to a saber-wielding beast and the Republic’s own death, no one had replaced Gallia out of respect for her and Nym. Siri, already gone by that time, would have been the only acceptable option. Both were commemorated in Nym’s compound with portraits flanking the door of their room. When the Empire followed up on their old connection, Nym told them he wanted nothing to do with the new regime and wanted to be left alone. Isolationism was a very popular sentiment on Lok. Nym’s military might was known enough by the Empire that they decided to adhere to the Feeorin’s wishes. If Nym hadn’t been the unanimous leader of Lok by then, he now stood unopposed.

“Mornin’ Nym” The small Toydarian, Reti, Scavenger and Mercenary who needed a little help taking care of himself, pulled Nym from his thoughts. 

“Reti!” Nym did his best to not seem like he was brooding even though they stood in front of Adi’s room still. “How did the scrap mission go?”

“Very good, boss. A few crates of E-11s, and enough TIE parts to build an Ugly. And a very nice suit” Reti ran his hands down his chest, showing off a suit originally made for a human which he had cut to fit his small round form. “We ran into some trouble, but luckily, Vana got a shot off first, fastest shot, shot heard round the galaxy that Vana.”
Nym chuckled. “Well, I’m glad we sent her with you, then.”
Reti nodded. “She wouldn’t have let me leave without her, not since…the incident!” The two of them cackled and traveled down the hall until they heard a banging coming from the mechanical room.
“Jinkins, that you?” Nym poked his head inside. 

“Yeah boss, I’m trying to optimize the system,” The burly Bith was covered in grease and crouched over in the tiny space trying to fiddle a pipe into the system, a first step before he would come back with some more intense tools. He slid his goggles up on his forehead and squinted his eyes, small by the standards of a Bith. Once an engineer with the Nubian Design Collective, unappreciated for his design, Jinkins let it get stolen along with himself, and that design became Nym’s ship, Havoc . “It seems like something fell into it during dinner last night; my room was three degrees too humid. Reti didn’t happen to find a new ventilation conduit on his scrap mission, did he?”
“Nah! Just a buncha useless blasters and whatnot. I’ll keep a lookout just for you, Jinkins.”

“Reti, there you are!” The aging dark-skinned woman known as Vana Sage, former Naboo Royal Security, former mercenary, former Alderaanian , she’d been passed around for years before joining Nym’s pirate band. She walked up to the Feeorin and Toydarian, peeking into the mechanical room. “You told me you were gonna go get your head checked.”
“Well I was, but our fearless leader seemed like he needed a distraction.” Nym and Vana traded looks. In the past year, Nym had become more secluded. Those who knew him for years would call him a very charismatic being, but lately, he’d been content to sit and let others handle his business for him. A meeting with Han Solo had forced him to alienate the Rebel Alliance to a degree, as Nym was looking out for Lok and its people, While they unofficially answered to Nym, officially they were Imperial citizens on an Imperial world.

“Are you alright, Reti?” Nym avoided the topic. 

Vana held her gaze for a moment but looked at Reti. “We had to fight off some stragglers. Stormtrooper got up and headbutted him before I got a shot off.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. I just feel a little sore.” Reti smoothed out his scalp with both hands. 

“You could have a concussion!” Vana shook her head.
“Clear away from the door please, I must retrieve my hydrospanner.” Jinkins squeezed out of the crevice of a room and walked off.
“Reti, we ain’t as young as we used to be.” Nym almost laughed at the phrase. Sure, his team was growing older, but in his second century, the Feeorin felt stronger than ever. A common side effect of the aging process for his species. He could outlive every one of his crew members. “Let Vana take you to the doctor. I’ll see you at dinner.” He gave them a nod before going to his main chamber.
The orange piscine Sol Sixxa stood at attention, tall enough to be at eye level with Nym. “An unmarked ship landed at the port. Its two passengers will be here shortly.”
“You cleared them to land?” Sixxa and Nym had a history as two fierce leaders who’d once been at odds. Prior to the Clone Wars, Nym had been contracted by the Maramere government to hunt him down, but quickly realized their combined hatred of the Trade Federation was worth more than the credits, though they still collected that by faking Sixxa’s death. In the twenty-six years since this conflict, the Mere revolutionary occasionally stepped out of line due to insecurity. Going from leader to lieutenant led him to make calls Nym wouldn’t approve of.

“I cleared it, sir.” The voice belonged to Nym’s first mate, Kole, a con and master of disguise, a Chadra-Fan without direction until Nym started pointing.. “I recognized the ship.” The graying Chadra-Fan handed Nym the pad to see for himself.
It took Nym two seconds to know who’d be on that ship; he handed the pad back to Kole and let out a whoop. Before he could even sit down in his chair, he went to the front door. Kole and Sixxa rushed after him; it was never a good idea for their leader to stand in the open at the front door. It opened just as they arrived. “Rhys Dallows! The one that got away!” Nym spread his arms wide. “What’s that in your hair?”
The man Nym knew as Rhys Dallows, who had once been a young Naboo RSF pilot. A breath of fresh air and a welcome old member of the gang, Rhys gave him a big grin. “Don’t you know Humans go gray, Nym? Well, except for Vana last I heard.” A younger blonde man stood next to Rhys. “This is Luke, he was sent along with me. Luke, that’s Nym, Kole, and Sol Sixxa. Don’t let ‘em push you around.”
“The Lok Revenants supplied General Rahm Kota’s Militia, didn't they?” The young man’s blue eyes fixed intently on the blue Feeorin. 

“Yeah, well they stopped being profitable, on account of all being dead. Did you know Kota? He was a rancor on the battlefield.” Nym had one of his men close the door before guiding the two into his meeting chambers.
“No...I was recruited after he’d been killed. I have a vested interest in people like him.” Luke pulled a piece of durasteel off his belt, Nym knew immediately what it was.
“You’re a Jedi?” Nym said with some reverence, which almost surprised the pirate himself.
“My father was, but I am without a master. But that’s not what brings us here.” Luke turned to Rhys.
“Pooja Neberrie of the Naboo Resistance sent us here. They’re working closer with the Alliance, and once they sent Luke to talk to us, my superiors hatched a plan.”

Nym narrowed his eyes. “And what might that be?”

“You have a soft spot for your friends, and even if you won’t admit it, a respect for the Jedi.” The matching smiles of Rhys and Luke made Nym amused and sick at the same time. Even in his fifties he still had the hotshot confidence and youthful naivety Nym remembered so well.
“I did not respect the Jedi, I respected one Jedi, two tops!” Nym crossed his cybernetic arm over his flesh one. 

“What was her name?” Luke spoke with deep interest. Nym knew if this was any other person, he’d have ended the conversation. 

“Master Adi Gallia. Not many Jedi would slum it with a pirate, but she loved me!” Nym grinned, putting his hands on his hips. He noticed Luke smiled like he was remembering someone. “Come with me; you’ve put me in a good mood. Rhys, I’m sure you’d like to catch up with some people.”
“Yeah, where can I find Vana?” Rhys tilted his head. 

“Right here.” A blast door across the room opened to the head of security.

“I do not have brain damage!” The Toydarian stroked his busy beard.

“Guess I have a lot to catch up on.” Rhys crossed the distance and greeted them warmly with a hug.

“Come on, Luke.” Said Nym as the two passed the group of pilots and walked through the blast door. “I don’t know any Jedi Masters who can train you, but I can show you an authentic Jedi Master’s room, unopened since the Clone Wars.”
“Wow! All for free?” Luke grinned sheepishly. 

“You’re pushing your luck, kid,” Nym spat. “but I guess you probably don’t carry many credits on you.” 

“Not a one!” Luke smiled at him, he clearly had experience talking to guys like Nym.

Nym rolled his eyes and as they reached Gallia’s room, he pressed a button on his cybernetic hand, the pinky finger extended a small key which Nym stuck in the side of the door. “I’ll understand if you feel a little overwhel-” Nym pulled out his blaster and shot. A Salt Mynock dropped to the floor dead. “How the kriff did this get in here?”
“Captain, you haven’t opened that room in twenty-plus years,” Jinkins was in the mechanical room down the hall with power tools trying to remove whatever was clogged in the system. “You wouldn’t let anyone clean in there, so for all we know Adi left food in there last time she was here, and animals got in. Hey wait a min-”

Nym closed the door to the engine room and walked back to Luke. The two checked inside the room: The walls were peeled, and there were signs of animals. Luke smiled at the pirate and stepped inside, and he sat in the middle of the room and closed his eyes. Nym recognized the meditation stance, as Adi had done it many times before. Nym shuffled his feet waiting for the boy to finish. When Luke opened his eyes he stared wide at the wall before blinking again.

“What is it?” Nym looked at the wall, wondering what Luke could have seen. 

“I thought I saw my old master for a moment…”
“Hm, Adi did pick this room out special, I moved Kole down the hall over it. Who was your master?”
“Ever heard of Obi-Wan Kenobi?”

“He was a big name during the war, but we never met. I must have seen him at the celebration after the Battle of Naboo, but we watched that from a balcony. He survived the purge then?”

“Long enough to set me on my path, but he died defending me.” Luke rubbed his temples.

“Tell you what,” Nym went into Adi’s closet and found a single robe on the rack. “You’ve earned this, kid.”
“Are you sure?”
“Not like I have much use for it. Seems to be the only thing left behind. How about you keep it safe?”

Luke put on the robe, he furrowed his brow but nodded at Nym. “Thank you, Captain.”
“Nym will do fine, come on, I guess it’s time I listened to Rhys’s proposal.” The two walked back and Nym led Luke to the social chamber he knew Rhys, Reti, and Vana would head to. It was a smaller room with comfortable red seats. Rhys was telling them a story of a recent dogfight while he worked with the resistance. Of all Nym’s recruits, Rhys was the one who had been Republic-aligned, there was always a level of respect between the two, but the only reason Rhys joined Nym finally was because the Republic was gone. 

“-So I clipped two TIEs with my starfighter, minimal damage, but the two of them curved into each other almost immediately. I didn’t even turn around to look.” Rhys put his hands behind his head. 

“Woah woah, look at this guy!” Reti cackled.

“So what do you think is smarter? A Vulture droid or a TIE pilot?” Vana leaned in curiously. 

“Fifteen years ago I’d say the Vulture. I guess most of the bad pilots crashed by now.” Rhys answered after some thought. “Hey there Luke, you both gettin’ to know each other?”
Luke smiled. “Nym seems like a good being. I can tell why you respect him so much.”
Nym raised the ridge over his eye. “Mr. Dallows been talking up his old boss?”

“Might as well dispense with the pleasantries. The two of you want something from me and I’m beginning to worry it's the same thing Solo wanted a few months back.”
“You know Han?” Luke’s eyes flickered for a moment.

Nym made a very guttural noise. “It is! You want me to join the Rebel Alliance; well, it ain’t happening, I look out for me and my own, and joining the fight puts a target on all their backs.”

Rhys slumped at how quickly Nym maneuvered the situation. “I know a little bit about how you think Nym. Here’s what comes to mind. Why let Moff Kintaro and his goon General Otto push you around? The Alliance would protect this place. Hell, I’d pull some strings to get stationed here if you joined.”
“Kintaro’s a buffoon; he doesn’t realize what goes on in the Sarin Oversector, and he’s got way bigger fish to fry if he did decide to do something. If the Lok Revenants go on the offensive, they’ll put someone in charge over here who might actually do something about the situation. We play their game, it keeps us safer.” Nym continued to stand as the others lounged in their chairs. 

Rhys rubbed his temples. “We conduct operations in Sarin, since its shipyards are used by the Alliance, and we sent someone recently to sow the seeds of dissent in Otto’s base. We were able to intercept direct orders from Kintaro to ‘rid the planet of pirates.’”

“Otto’s forces wouldn’t be able to compete with us. Even after that business with the Sulfur Lake Pirates, we’re at peak strength, that shoulda sent a message.” Nym finally dropped into one of the seats.

Luke spoke up. “They’re sending part of the fleet here. We didn’t learn this until we were in the system, but we weren’t going to abandon you. I made the call and ordered backup from the Alliance, but we don’t know when they’ll arrive.”

“Last time I did something for the Alliance, I got Peralli killed.” Nym thought of the Mon Cal pilot who’d died transporting a former associate and his girlfriend to Corellia.

“Finn Darktrin?” Luke seemed to recall. His eyes were intense.
“You know him? He’s a former associate, ran off, and joined the Rebellion.” Nym crossed his arms.

Luke nodded “We later learned he was undercover as part of the Empire. Dusque blew his cover when we found her. Was he here long?”
“So I guess he and her didn’t work out? I thought she could do better anyway. Finn was here a few seasons. He was nothing special.” Nym mulled over his time with Finn here. He had his chosen few, but he could always use foot soldiers, so Finn had been good for that.
“Anything you ever told Finn, the Empire probably knows now too,” Vana spoke up. 

“Nym and Finn absolutely hated each other, the way they’d glare at each other! It was…kinda like what you’re all doing now.” Reti once again shut his mouth.

“Help me defend our home, and we’ll discuss Lok’s joining the Alliance after.” Nym got up, reached out a hand to shake, and Rhys did the same. “We had lunch prepared, and I hate to let a meal go to waste. Vana, assemble the herd, I’ll be in shortly.”

…

The dining room had been set up ornately; a long table held what Nym would call his family. He pointed Luke to a guest chair and took his place at the head of the table. Nym glanced around the room, upon the four durasteel walls of this room, treasure, holos, and images of himself and his crew over the years, his two Kusak Hounds, Razor and Scourge relaxed on the floor behind his chair. Nym then looked at his dinner company. 

On Nym’s left sat the diminutive Kole. Next to him sat Vana Sage, Vana sat talking to Rhys Dallows, and Reti piped up every time he could get a word in. Luke sat at the other end of the table. Nym found his optimism almost infectious and wondered if this man could bring back the Jedi with his sheer force of will. Perhaps he should not have let Luke sit next to old Jannik the White, leader of the Reevan Clan. The albino Rodian was spinning Luke the tale of how Nym had helped destroy Jannik’s rival, Evo the Blue of the Cairn Clan, earning the service of the Reevan Clan. Sol Sixxa sat next in the line rolling his eyes at the story, and definitely would not be telling Luke his own. 

Jinkin’s seat was empty; no doubt he was still working in the engine room. 

Nym stood up with a glass of Corellian Ale, “A toast, to my friends, new and old. Credits come and go, but the most important thing will always be the people in this room.” Everyone raised their glasses in cheers.

“Rhys and Luke have informed me that the Lok Revenants have become more trouble than we’re worth to Moff Kintaro. Forces will be coming down on our heads very soon. I’ve activated Havoc Squadron, and we will be flying with them. Jannik will command the ground forces, and the rest of you are in the sky with me. Someone needs to get Jinkins over here-”

“Hey Nym, I finally got whatever was stuck out but you’re not gonna like it.” Jinkins stood in the doorway shakily.
“Jinkins, what’s wrong?” Nym looked the Bith up and down, he didn’t seem to be harmed.

Jinkins looked at Nym terrified “I figured out what was jammed in the machine, it was a thermal-” The building shook and the lights turned off for a moment until the backup generator kicked in. “detonator…”

“What?! Why didn’t you take it out?” Nym unholstered his blaster causing Jinkins to crouch down before realizing that wasn’t what was happening. Everyone else pulled out their weapons.

“I did sir, that was why the backup generator still works. I threw it outside as fast as I could.” Jinkins explained.

“Battlestations, just what I told you before. We aren’t letting them take our home!” Nym got moving. “Kole, you’re in Havoc with me.”
“You got it, Boss” The Chadra-Fan followed closely behind.

“Rhys, your old starfighter is in the hangar.” Nym gave him a forced grin.

“I’ve grown pretty accustomed to my new ship, Luke should be able to fly that.” Rhys gestured to the young man, “Jannik, I might need an escort to my ship. It’s at the guest lot.”
“The Reevan clan is on your side!” The Albino Rodian unsheathed his sword and began to run towards the entrance. Rhys quickly followed. 

Kole opened up the comms. “Alert, alert, we are under attack! This is not a drill. Battlestations, please.” He set it to repeat and it could be heard throughout the compound as the group made their way to the hangar. 

As the squad approached the doors, Nym received a comm. “What the? General Otto. To what do I owe the pleasure?” He said through gritted teeth.

“You know what you need to do Nym. Surrender to us, and you’ll be able to have a nice retirement, your friends will be spared, but all equipment will be confiscated by the Empire. Our forces dramatically outnumber your own both on the ground and in space.” General Otto smoothed out his mustache, from what was picked up in the holo, he seemed to be inside a vehicle of some sort.
“Same to you, scuzzbag!” Nym hung up. “Let’s get at it people.”

“Attention Lok Revenants,” Otto’s voice rang out over the intercom. “Nym has decided to throw your lives away instead of bending the knee, I will give you the chance now to leave. There is no need to die in this fool's name.”

“The Imps hacked into our system!” Kole exclaimed. “How’d they do that?”

“I’ve got a feeling Finn had something to do with it,” Vana spoke up.

Jinkins blinked a few times in thought. “Finn Darktrin? Our software hasn’t been updated since he was last here, if he did something the forced shutdown would have triggered it. I’ve got to go see what I can do to fix it! Kole looks like you’ll be flying the Freefall .”

“I’ll do my best not to dent her! You get that hack out of the system” Kole and Jinkins exchanged a nod before Jinkins ran off.

“Alright, no more mucking around. In the air, people.” Nym boarded his Scurrg H-6 prototype bomber, Havoc. The design had been deemed too violent by the Nubians, just the perfect amount of violence for Nym. The ship was close to an elongated hexagon, longer than it was wide, and each side had a group of laser cannons, Nym’s cockpit sat in between these cannons near the front, and a turret was nested just above the cockpit. Today he’d fly alone. Kole wasn’t necessary to fly it, but Nym liked having him around in there. He watched as Kole got into Jinkins’s own Freefall -class bomber, appearing quite similar in shape to the Starfighter Luke was getting into. 

“That’s a Naboo Starfighter!” Luke put on a helmet kept in the cockpit. “Someone does a lot to keep it maintained, but Rhys has been out for a few years hasn’t he?”

“Yeah, he left Wrench to take care of it. Couldn’t bring it back to Naboo without it being noticed.” Nym went through prep sequences to lift off.
“Who’s Wrench?” Before Luke could finish, an electronic scream filled the room as a blue Astromech droid whirred over from a chute in the wall and was lifted into Luke’s Starfighter.

“Right there, he was the droid Rhys flew with since before the Battle of Naboo. Same deal as the ship, Rhys thought he’d be a better help here. It reassured me that the kid would be back eventually.” Nym looked around at the other ships. They were all ready to take off. The hangar bay slid open at the ceiling. Nym went first followed by Luke and Kole. Reti took off in his light freighter, Zoomer , which was shaped a bit like the Toydarian, little legs stood under the bulk and the wingspan was double the side of the body. Vana in her three-pointed, star-shaped Guardian Mantis and Sol Sixxa in his own Scurrg H-6 prototype bomber brought up the rear. 

Finally, the group could see what was going on outside. Stormtrooper Battalions marched through the city towards the compound, and already some had crossed enemy lines. Heads rolled as they saw Jannik and Rhys running toward the landing pad where Rhys had parked a modified A-Wing, large enough for him and Luke to sit comfortably. Nym carefully placed some shots to scatter the stormtroopers who were across the pad from his two friends. Rhys looked up at the group of ships and saluted before climbing into his own. Jannik pointed his sword in the air and ran off. 

Rhys was shortly in the sky with no complications. Everyone tuned in to the comm channel. “Thanks for the assist. Is this everyone?”

“Not quite,” Nym said as a squadron of various fighters approached. “You might be familiar with Havoc Squadron? I think it’s rather nice of me to allow the Alliance to recruit on my property. They must have had some people ready.
“Hello Nym, this is Warvog Arkon.” Nym didn’t need the clarification as he dealt with him frequently and recognized the Twi’lek’s voice immediately, but this was just how Arkon was. “The Alliance is on their way.”
“Let’s hope so.” Nym scanned for ships as they broke atmosphere, but so far nothing.

“Rhys, what makes you think I can fly this ship?” Luke asked over the comms.

“The N1 is a great ship, especially after the modern refitting, and it must be pretty straightforward. Back at the Battle of Naboo, we had a kid flying one.” Rhys said nonchalantly. 

“What?!” Before Luke could say anything else, a Star Destroyer jumped out of hyperspace. 

Nym rolled his eyes as he heard Havoc Squadron do roll call because he preferred to know the names of the beings he flew with. In the very least I should be Havoc Leader. I fly the Havoc. Nym pulled himself from that thought and saw at least twenty TIE Fighters coming towards them. 

“Nym Flight, diamond formation.” His seven ragtag fighters did as they were told. The first charge was the most uniform they ever were in a battle, but the formation immediately broke as they passed the squadron of approaching TIEs. Nym was able to shoot a wing off the leader of the formation as they passed, although this likely wouldn’t affect any of the tactics the TIEs would employ other than scattering them for a bit. 

Luke had also managed to hit a target in the sweep, Nym noticed. He laughed at the idea of having a Jedi Pirate as he flew down and circled back to the TIEs. He dodged to his left as a few TIEs aimed directly at him before he fired back. Nym’s fire struck another TIE, and its wings drifted off as its cockpit became no more. He flew over the explosion as he searched for more of that stupid model to destroy. 

Sol Sixxa crossed in front of him, taking down another as Nym accelerated across the battlefield to meet one of the ships. It juked around Nym’s shot and turned on its side as it slid above Nym’s head, and all he saw was the black wing of the ship. After it had cleared the bulk of his ship, Nym operated the turret and fired into the TIE. The explosion was just a little too close in proximity to the Havoc, and Nym’s sensors reported light damage to the hull.

Turning his vehicle around, he saw that more TIEs were being launched from the Star Destroyer. Havoc Squadron rushed to meet them as Nym Flight fended off what was left of the first wave, being about six fighters. Two flew towards Nym, a shot was soaked by shields, and the other scorched his hull on the left wing. Nym had at least managed to take out one, and Reti had shot down the one behind him. 

The group caught up to the Havocs and were now in range of the Star Destroyer. It did not waste shots trying to hit the starfighters. Nym knew that this ship would be used for orbital bombardment if they didn’t take it out. This was exactly why Nym flew a bomber. 

“Luke, you’re with me!” He accelerated towards the Star Destroyer with the young man on his tail. This might be the closest he’d ever been to one. He sure hadn’t been on one before and crossed his fingers he never would. The first thing he noticed was a barrage of laser fire from the batteries that sat on top of the capital ship. He fired a proton torpedo at it, hitting the area near it close enough that it surged. “Luke, you ever blow up something this big?”

The comms were quiet for a moment, a TIE exploded behind Nym. “Yes.” Luke finally answered. 

Hmm, I’ll have to ask him about that one. Nym continued down the hull of the Star Destroyer, he and Luke dodged and shot laser bolts at cannons and the occasional TIE. Taking advantage of the compliment of enemy craft being distracted, they’d do what damage they could here. “Any clue what those circle things are called?”
“Those are Sensor Globes I believe.” 

“Let’s pop 'em.” Nym and Luke barrel rolled to separate sides of the ship and began to make the charge. They unleashed laser fire on the orbs sitting at the very head of the Star Destroyer, like the eyes of a hideous monster. At the last second both pilots fired three protons each at the globes. “That oughta keep them from focusing on bombardment.” They continued flying along the back of the ISD until they were hugging the bottom and continued to fire on it. By the time they came back to the tip, the ship’s hull was scorched. The pilots looked at each other's ships noticing how they had taken damage. They regrouped with the other fighters, who were finishing off the remaining TIEs.

“I’m not seeing more? Did we win?” Reti started asking over the comms. Two more Star Destroyers dropped out of hyperspace. “Me and my big mouth.”

Forty TIE Fighters came soaring towards the group. “Alright let’s try a circle,” Nym ordered, and the group formed a circle that held formation vertically as they flew towards the TIEs. They’d be able to take down a lot of them, but this was pushing it. Havoc Squadron flew close by, definitely having taken some losses. “Long live Lok!” Nym cried out as space was filled with red and green light. TIEs exploded across the battlefield. Nym felt his craft take hits, but he’d made sure the Havoc was tough ten times over. One to two, not bad odds. He checked his instruments, not good. He was glad Kole wasn’t aboard. 

Reti came across the comms “I think somethings coming out of hyperspace!” two EF76 Nebulon-B escort frigates, a Dauntless-class heavy cruiser, and two assault frigates burst into existence.

“I think we did it,” Kole whispered as though expecting another set of Star Destroyers to appear. 

“It’s not over yet!” Luke continued to chase after TIEs. The rest of the group did the same. Nym finished off another TIE by shooting its wing off. Nym’s sensors lit up as he picked up two TIEs behind him, as he was about to perform an evasive maneuver, he saw a proton going straight at Luke. He took the shot and watched the Proton explode before it hit Luke as Nym felt his controls fry. 

“Kriff!” Nym’s comm system shut down. His ship continued in its propelled direction. Lok. As his ship entered the atmosphere, Nym used the stabilizing instruments to slowly right himself as he descended to the surface. Near the ground, Nym began to pull up and as he hit the terrain he felt the whole ship rumble, Lok was a lot of dirt, Nym could have wished to have lived on a full desert world but this wasn’t that bad. He finally came to a stop on the outskirts of Nym’s Stronghold. 

Nym breathed a sigh of relief, for about five seconds before an AT-ST came out from behind a building, on creaking legs it walked over to Nym, looking closely at the Feeorin in his cockpit. Nym began to cycle the turret. Fried . 

“It would seem that one of us reigns victorious, Nym.” The pirate heard Otto’s voice out of a speaker on the walker, loud enough that it pierced the hull so Nym could hear it. “Without you, there is no resistance on Lok. This planet is the Empire’s!” The cannons aimed and Nym tried to open the ship to no avail. Not in the sky, but I'm in my ship.

Just beyond the AT-ST, on the roof of a building stood a figure in a hood, a blue lightsaber glowed at their side.
“Adi?” Nym shook his head and then remembered.

Luke jumped from the building and landed on the shoulder of the AT-ST where the swiveling head met the legs, and he first cut the concussion grenade launcher off the right side of the vehicle's head. A grenade would have been the worst thing the AT-ST could have thrown at Nym, Luke was distracting it perfectly. 

Luke hopped back behind the head as it tilted to where he was previously. He crossed to the other side and cut off the cannon from the left side of the head. He was too slow this time and was smacked by the head of the AT-ST only managing to cut off the nozzle of the front gun which rested at the mouth of the vehicle before he was knocked off. 

Nym shouted out as Luke hit the ground. He put his hands against the window and watched as Otto once again focused on him. The general attempted to shoot but without the nozzle the shot burst across the front, scorching it. Nym watched the now unarmed walker stumble back the way it came. Luckily it went the opposite way from Luke. Nym went to the back of his ship and attempted to open the door, with pure adrenaline he kicked it over and over until the landing ramp finally came down. He ran over to Luke.
“You okay kid?” Nym turned him over from his stomach. 

Luke winced and sat up. “For a moment there, I felt different. As though Master Gallia’s spirit was here. Almost like she owed you one before she could move on.” He smiled weakly. 

“Good old Adi.”

…

“So how’s this gonna work?” Nym stood in the middle of town, where Rebel Alliance soldiers had landed, cleaning up bodies and tending to the wounded. He held a bottle in his hand and offered it to Rhys after he took a swig. 

Rhys took the bottle and drank from it. “We’ll move into that outpost Otto held. He managed to get away. Not a huge loss, our intel says he was put here to avoid an execution. He has nothing to go back to, and luckily Kole was at the base when they were looking around. He did a near-identical impression of Otto and told Imperial High Command he’d won the ground battle. The Naboo Resistance decided to join up with the Alliance so they’ve put me in charge over here.”

“Oh yeah? Well, these people won’t listen to you any more than they listened to Otto.”

“I’m counting on it. I’m just the military commander. You’ll keep your place as the planetary leader, and I’ll report to you.” Rhys handed Nym back the bottle.

“Maybe I should come up with a title. Prime Minister Nym?” He cackled.

“The Lok Revenants are extremely well trained. Little to no casualties. I doubt you’ll need us too much with that little fleet we know you’re putting together, but we’re gonna keep some extra forces here for a time to make sure Otto doesn’t come back. Hey Wrench!” Rhys squatted down to greet his mechanical friend. “Great job out there. I’m gonna be sticking around this time, it’s gonna be like old times.”

“To old times,” Nym said after finishing the bottle. “And new beginnings.” 

“Hey guys!” Luke rounded a corner. “Looks like the Alliance already needs me somewhere else, so I’m gonna be moving out with the transport in about an hour.”

“Couldn’t have done it without you, Luke.” Nym raised his bottle to the young man. 

“That Starfighter handled great Rhys. You said a kid flew one of those?” Luke’s eyes shown with curiosity. 

Rhys nodded. “During the Battle of Naboo, I came in just in time, there was a kid on the comms, must have been eight or nine. I didn’t think about it for a long time. Not until I joined the Naboo Resistance, I met a Gungan who had been on the ground fighting droids that day. He told me his friend had flown in that ship. His name was Anakin Skywalker.”
“My father.” Luke’s eyes grew wide. 

“He probably had an astromech to help him out too. Still an impressive feat.” Rhys grinned.

“Guess it’s in your blood kid!” Nym turned as Reti, Jannik, Vana, Sixxa, Kole, and Jinkins approached. “Guess we’re part of the Rebellion now. Whadya think?”

“Never thought I’d see the day the Loks let themselves get absorbed.” Reti gasped.

“Oh I managed to scrub our systems, we shouldn’t have any more problems.” Jinkins cut in. 

“Let’s hope Finn tries to pull that again. I’ll skin him alive.” Nym took a deep breath. “Something tells me not much is changing, and I sure hope not. I could go a few more centuries, but the rest of you are getting old!”