01 | batuu gone bad

"I DON'T THINK THIS IS THE BEST IDEA FOR US, VIVUS."

EMPIRE BASE, BATUU, OUTER RIM-

"I have the worst feeling about this."

A thundering rattle echoed through the building that Kyra and Alora were in, causing the younger woman to instinctively duck. Dust rattled down on them as stone began to fall from their places in small pieces, the fact that the building was most likely coming down becoming more and more obvious with every second.

It was an old and rundown base, and it wasn't one that Kyra had been all too keen on storming into in the first place. The young woman had felt something in the Force swirling about the base, some ominous message of what was to come. It was unsettling as soon as she stepped foot on the planet, the feeling overwhelming as she scoped out the surroundings of the base before they lit the charges to make it explode before their very own eyes.

Kyra's mother wasn't being much help to make the situation better either. She had been rather silent on this mission, and there was a look in her eyes that Kyra couldn't read. It scared her- her mother was normally an open book with her. But during this mission? She had just been a stone cold wall of neutral expressions and few words.

"Remind me why we thought this was a good idea?" Kyra called out to her mother, blaster raised as she gave a quick glance over her shoulder, hoping there was no Imperial trail on their back. The troopers had already sounded the alarm, even though the system that they had rigged to let the Empire know of intruders wasn't a part of the ancient building the base was stationed outside of.  "The building is coming down on us, and we didn't even get what we-"

"Maz sent us a call." Alora sighed, her daughter's negativity exactly what she didn't need in that moment. "The Resistance needed a group to come and raid this base on Batuu, as they're starting to set up with the Empire here. If we can take it down, it means that there's another safe planet for us, Fallon." Her mother scolded Kyra, the  two using their code names, uncertain of who was watching or listening around them.

Because according to history, the Ceydeas were dead.

"Okay, yeah, I get that." Kyra panted, trying to catch up to her mother, who was a couple of paces ahead of her. Her right hand was actively gripping her blaster, trying to be as cautious as she could be while going through the collapsing tunnels of the base.  "But why did we come here? The Resistance could've sent anybody. We know that they're active in this part of the galaxy. Vivus, we even saw one of their ships coming into this system. Or hell, they could've just sent in a squadron of X-Wings to blow this base to pieces! It's not like they specifically needed us for this mission."

"Don't want to have this conversation right now." Alora gritted her teeth, trying to focus on the sights and sounds around her. Everything seemed to echo, and the rattling sounds of the base coming down because of the charges they had set in the modernized part of the base that Kyra had blown to bits earlier seemed to drown out any other noise that would even remotely help the two women make it out. "We have enough on our hands besides the actual reason that we're here."  The Empire had known the Resistance was coming, Imperial forces that weren't standard at a base set-up crawling around the original entrance to the base.

There was a new entrance now- and it was because the two had blown their way in. And they had blown most of the base to pieces already, running through the rest of the abandoned base in hopes of escaping- or so Kyra thought. She wasn't sure what else her mother had planned, whatever ulterior motive was behind her actions, but she knew that the explosives that they had gotten from Din weren't the only thing that Alora was worried about.

Kyra missed the man. She hadn't seen the Mandalorian man who was their weapons supply in a couple of months, Alora being the one to execute the meet ups with him. It was too dangerous for Kyra to be out in the open as often anymore, Alora getting scared as Kyra got older and older that her developing powers were going to make them more vulnerable.

Kyra didn't think it was too much of a problem. There weren't too many people who had been chosen to wield the Force like she had anymore. She wasn't even supposed to have these powers, from what her mother had told her, the Ceydeas chosen for another path- to take down the Jedi and the Sith if their powers had ever gotten out of control. But the Force had decided that with the Sith Lord Luke Skywalker ruling over the galaxy, a Force sensitive Ceydea was exactly what the galaxy needed.

It didn't make life easier for Kyra, though. There were always the risks of death although they had diminished quite a lot. The Inquisitors inside of the Empire (a system of assassins that had slowly diminished after Luke Skywalker came to power and all the Force sensitive people in the galaxy were killed) not a threat. And besides, there was probably only one person who could sense her in the galaxy- and he had no idea she existed.

"But, Vivus-"

"Fallon, I told you." Alora snapped, turning her head sharply to give a glare at her daughter. She wanted the conversation to be over- this wasn't a topic that they should be discussing while on a mission that held so much important value to her. "Drop it. We'll discuss it later."

There was an audible groan that escaped Kyra's lips, frustrated that her mother was withholding information from her- yet again. It felt like with every mission nowadays there was always an ulterior motive unknown to the young woman, the ease of missions like trying to raid an artillery base for the Empire or causing a ruckus at an Empire Day parade over.

It was like she was a child again, except this time instead of withholding secrets of Jedi and heritage, she wasn't telling her important information that could decide if the two were going to live or die. And Kyra quite liked her life, and she didn't want her mother to be the reason that she died.

"You knew what this mission entailed. Don't go groaning about now." Alora warned her daughter, reaching the end of a hallway that extended both directions. Tentatively reaching her blaster out first, she peeked out to her right, finding the coast to be clear. She turned the corner quickly, Kyra still waiting behind in the hall, waiting for her own time.

As Alora crept down the now shaking ancient stone building where the Empire set up base, there was an unsettling feeling that crept into her stomach. She had known that it was a trap, that was clear as day when they had arrived, but there was something else lurking in the shadows of this base- a secret that the woman didn't want to unearth. It was something that she didn't want to find- but it called out to her all the same, like a familiar voice that she had shoved to the back of her mind.

It confused Alora- what she was feeling. She was no Jedi, nor was she Force sensitive like her daughter that now accompanied on the missions, but she could even tell why Kyra was liking this mission less and less. There was something off about the Batuu base, like a bad omen or the start of something big.

Something that was going to drastically change their lives.

"Vivus!" Alora's daughter's voice broke her from whatever trance she was in, the familiar sound of blaster fire ringing out five times in a row. Kyra has spotted a tail on her mother, and taken them out clean and efficiently. She gave her mother a look that seemed to say What the hell was that about? before she cleared the left side, seeing no more troopers coming their way except for the ones on the ground. "Watch your back."

"Noted." Alora took a deep breath in, the fact that she had a five trooper squadron almost blast her to bits rattling her a little bit. Continuing to make her way down the right side of the hallway, it seemed as if the lights began to flicker in and out as Kyra creeped behind her mother, blaster still raised. They were close to the place that the thing that Alora needed was- she was sure of it.

"I don't like the looks of this." Kyra commented, seeing the lights rattle and flicker in and out again. A small amount of light remained for another moment longer before all of the lights completely went out, the young woman giving a sigh as she reached into her belt, grabbing the lightsaber hilt that she was so familiar with, about to ignite it for light.

"No." Alora stopped in her tracks, placing a hand over Kyra's, stopping her from igniting the saber. Pressing the hilt carefully, Alora made sure to lower the saber down from where Kyra had it angled upwards, encouraging the young woman to put it away. "Not here. Not now. There's something here- a presence that I'm not sure about. We've gone unknown about who infiltrated the base for this long, we don't need to give away our cover now."

"What's the harm?" Kyra sighed, still gripping her lightsaber within her hand. She wasn't just going to put it away just because her mother told her to. There was an unspoken motive to what her mother was doing, and she wasn't sure if she was exactly on board with having an unspoken secret with Alora anymore. "It's not like these Empire idiots haven't seen a lightsaber before. They've heard the stories."

"Doesn't mean you should amplify them." Alora mumbled, taking the lightsaber from Kyra's hand, watching her daughter sputter in shock for a couple of moments before grabbing her blaster again, mumbling curses. Tucking the saber that was originally Luke's (before he had lost his hand, of course) into her own weapons belt, Alora still kept the position she had leading Kyra throughout the base. The woman did grab a small flashlight she had, placing it right over where she would shoot the weapon just to console her daughter.

Another rumble shook the base, more loose stones and dust falling from the sky and the walls as the two women walked through it. Stumbling forward, Kyra gave a grunt, almost falling onto her face in the almost darkness. She was becoming less and less amused with this mission- it was too risky. She was okay with raiding a base, sure, but under the circumstances of it almost collapsing on them?

Absolutely not.

Running down the tunnel even faster, there was another crossroads that laid itself out in front of the two women. There was a dark tunnel that kept going on straight, and a hallway that turned right, much more well lit- and it even appeared to be an exit from the hellish base. Looking at the two options, Kyra knew which she would prefer to go. There was something that unnerved her about the darker tunnel- and it wasn't just the fact that there was no light. There was something festering inside of there that had some deep dark secret, something hidden that wasn't supposed to be found.

And Kyra was pretty sure that her mother wanted to find it.

"Vivus, I don't think going down that tunnel-"

"Just watch my six and stand guard. I'm going in there because there's something that we need to recover from this base before we absolutely blow it to pieces." Alora interrupted her daughter, reaching into the small satchel that she had also brought on the mission, bringing out the small ball explosives that the Mandalorian had given them. "Canvass some of the area around here and prime the explosives. This is one of the weakest spots in the base, and we can collapse it from this point. But do not press the trigger until I'm right behind you. And if you encounter anyone other than me-"

"I'll be sure to blast them with my blaster." Kyra finished the sentence for her, grabbing the explosives from Alora's hand with her free one, nudging her head to the weapons belt where her saber still swung. "It'd be nice for me to have my primary weapon with me though, just in case."

"I'm keeping the saber for now." Alora gave Kyra a look that said You really thought you'd get it back so easily?, telling the young woman everything that she needed to know about how her mother was in that moment. "You have your blaster if you encounter troopers, and if worst comes to worse, just use the Force." The woman shrugged, a small smile coming to her face before she turned away from her daughter, venturing deeper into the darkness of the hallway.

Watching her mother walk away, seeing her be swallowed into the shadows, Kyra rolled her eyes, grabbing her own flashlight to light up the area around her. "Just use the Force." She grumbled, mocking her mother as she kept guard. "Use the Force, why didn't I think of that?!" Kyra retorted to no one, the base around her giving a small rumble in response to whatever Kyra was thinking. "Thanks for that humbling advice, Mom." She yelled into the darkness, hoping her mother could hear how unhappy she was in that exact moment.

She was playing watchdog while her mother got deeper into something that shouldn't be messed with. And Kyra hated it. She hated everything that was happening right now- how her mother had a blatant disregard for everything that was going on- and for the fact that she was alone, with no backup, inside of a base that she was pretty sure was going to collapse before they made it out.

Walking down the right hallway, having one charge in her hand, Kyra placed it on one of the walls, pressing a button and hearing a small whining sound when she did so. It was a sound familiar to her- a sound that she had gotten so used to that it didn't even hurt her ears anymore. And she knew what that sound meant. There was one charge primed- now she just had- four more charges to go.

Walking over to the other side of the lighter hallway, Kyra lit another charge, the sound just indicating that there was another piece of the puzzle falling into place. Reaching into her weapons belt, Kyra was prepared to grab the next charge, but the familiar sound of a blaster clicking into place was heard behind her, stopping her from doing anything further.

"Hey! Hands up!" The voice shouted at her, the woman giving a groan as she thought that a Empire trooper had found her. Closing her eyes, Kyra cursed every single star that there was in the galaxy that she had, out of every single mission that she had been on, gotten caught on this one. "Turn around slowly, and keep that blaster and the charges in your hand. I don't want to do anything drastic and make the place fall down on us."

Keeping her blaster secure in one hand and the charge she was grabbing in the other, like the man had said to, Kyra slowly turned around, her eyes meeting someone that most certainly wasn't the Empire. Her eyes met the deep brown eyes of a Resistance member, the insignia branded on a leather jacket he was wearing that Kyra could barely make out. She could faintly see the shocked look in his eyes as they stared at each other, the man unsure of what to do.

"Blaster on the ground, and make sure that those charges aren't primed. I want that satchel on the ground too." The Resistance man threatened, his blaster indicating where he wanted the weapons to go. "I've had enough problems getting into this base for the Resistance, I don't want you to become another one of those problems."

"You're making a mistake here." Kyra warned, placing her blaster and the satchel full of the explosives and other secret weapons they had gotten on the ground, sliding it over to the Resistance man. "We aren't the enemy here." She kept her hands up as his blaster was still trained on her, never wanting her lightsaber more than in this moment.

"As if I'd believe that. No one just comes in to destroy an Empire base. Not alone, anyways. I know you have a partner." The man retorted, keeping a careful watch on what Kyra was doing. This woman was a complete mystery to him, from the hood that was around her head that disguised most of the features of her face, the only features sticking out her deep brown eyes and her long brown hair that spilled out of the hood. "You better answer this question honestly, otherwise I'm not too sure that you and your partner are going to make it out of this ordeal alive. Who the hell are you?"

"We're just here to make the Empire's job a little harder, and take the Sith down. With us, if need be." Kyra cautiously explained, eyeing all of the exits and hoping that her mother would come to help her out in this awkward situation soon. She was trying to figure a way out of this situation without a fight, but considering that the Resistance member still had the blaster trained on her, she would probably have to use the Force to get out of it- which was the last thing that she wanted to do.

Alora had hated the fact that they were slightly exposed to the Resistance through the channel they had kept with Maz. She never wanted to be on their radar, and having another group on top of the Empire chasing them down was less than ideal. But since this dumb Resistance member that had most likely come here on a mission of his own had to interfere with their plans, they would start a chase that Alora was definitely not going to be happy with.

Especially since Kyra was about to expose the fact that she was a Force sensitive being.

"You. You're Soterios." It clicked in the Resistance man's head way too late. Kyra was already three steps ahead of him in his moment of shock, the young woman watching the man that she assumed was about her age falter at the fact that she was a part of a myth that was pretty well known throughout the galaxy.

"Half of it, yeah. So do us a favor and leave us the hell alone." Kyra warned through gritted teeth, seeing the man not drop his blaster from its position where it was trained upon her. "We're not here to hurt you. We just want to complete our mission and head out."

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you leave." The man seemed almost apologetic as he turned his blaster to stun, now knowing that the woman wasn't as grave as a threat. "The general has been searching for Soterios for years- she's not going to be happy if I let you slip through our fingers. The Resistance needs people like you within our ranks."

"Well, we don't need the Resistance." Kyra reached out her hand quickly from its place from above her head, calling out the Force and pulling the blaster hard, the feeling in her gut that she knew was somewhat of a "Force instinct" pulling hard with her. The blaster found its way to her hand, the young man seemingly shocked by what had happened in front of him. "But don't get yourself too bent out of shape about it."

Shooting him with the blaster, Kyra was able to stun the man, watching him fall to the ground with a rather large thud. She gave a small wince as she saw him go unconscious, walking up closer to take a better look at him after gathering her satchel of explosives and her blaster from the floor. "Ooh, that's gonna leave a mark." She whispered, getting a good view of him now that he wasn't hidden in the shadows.

To her surprise, the man was kind of... well, attractive. He had unkempt curly hair that reminded Kyra of the reeds by the krill ponds of her home that never seemed to grow straight, and he had rather good bone structure (though Kyra was definitely not paying that much attention to him). She almost felt bad for knocking him out- the key word being almost.

Hearing footsteps behind her, Kyra raised her blaster, seeing her mother's face pop up into view again. There was something that she was holding in her free hand- and the young woman wasn't sure what it was, exactly- but she knew it was the exact object that had so many secrets on it, the thing that the Force was screaming at her to hide it again.

"You have some Empire problems?" Alora gestured with her head to the unconscious man that Kyra was standing over, looking at the woman with an almost impressed glance. She was surprised that the young woman was able to incapacitate him so quickly- especially when she hadn't been gone for that long.

"Resistance, actually." Kyra tucked the blaster that she had stolen from the Resistance man into her weapons belt, another new weapon that she could use in a fight. "He seemed to be on a mission that wasn't sent out over the distress call- although we do have a problem."

"What is it?" Alora looked annoyed as she watched her daughter give a wince, dreading the conversation that was going to come next. "Well, he kind of figured out who we were. And he saw me- you know-" Kyra gestured with her hand the fact that she had pulled the blaster out of his hand, watching her mother's face fall even lower than where it had been before. "So, uh, now the Resistance knows what one of us kinda looks like. And they know that there's two of us, and that one of us-"

"Can use the Force. Great." Alora mumbled, trying to tuck away whatever object she had into her jacket, gesturing for her daughter to give her the satchel of explosives back. "We'll deal with that aftermath later, I guess. How many explosives did you set?"

"I got two in before he got to me. I'm assuming that you set some inside of that hallway too." Kyra answered her mother's question, getting a nod back. "I think it's enough to collapse this area, but I wouldn't advise leaving the Resistance member in here for when it falls apart. Leia'd have a fit."

"You're not wrong about that." Alora gave a huff of agreement, trying to debate what was the best course of action. "You try and drag the Resistance member close to the exit that we're by. Let's hope the idiot can make his way back to whatever X-Wing that he flew in on. I'll finish setting the charges, and then we'll get the hell out of here."

"I like that plan." Kyra agreed, nodding her head as she tucked her own blaster into her belt, realizing that it was going to take two hands to drag this Resistance member out of the base by his feet. Looking at her mother one last time, Kyra saw an impatient look on Alora's face.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's hurry and do this so we can get out of here."

<~•~>

hello and welcome back !!

this chapter was written out mostly tonight, although some of the dialogue was a big brain moment from me when we were in Yellowstone in June, so thanks past ash!!

a lot of the lore though was added tonight- and yeah, I made Kyra force sensitive in this universe. there's a reason why she was chosen to in this universe, which is explained in the chapter, but in our regular toast universe it didn't happen when she was born because the empire had been defeated, and there was no real "threat" yet. in this universe though, there is, which is why she is.

I know it makes her kinda op but I promise I'm not gonna make her like a Mary Sue, she's still out idiot kyra so 😛😛 yeah

a n y w a y s

Y'ALL REALLY THOUGHT I WOULDN'T BRING IN POE CHAPTER ONE GET PRANKED, HE IS BAE AND SO BAE MUST BE INCLUDED IN CHAPTER ONE

istg me and starkvader do this in every first chapter even if it isn't our Poe fics, because, cmon, it's POE 🤩🤩🤩

alright so I think that's everything, if you have any questions about the AU, feel free to comment on this paragraph and I'll try to answer them since a lot of it is just in my brain and not on the page. if it does involve spoiler though, I'll tell you and just give you a vague hint maybe

ALSO LET'S ACKNOWLEDGE MISS remuslupout BECAUSE SHE MADE ME SOME AMAZING GIFS FOR THE EPIGRAPH Y'ALL GO CHECK THOSE OUT 🤩🤩

okay I hope you guys enjoyed and I'll see you in the next one!!