Sanctuary - The Story of Saraya Ophil

Chapter 10

Saraya's time with the Resistance, a whole six years, flew by. Since she had grown up with a completely different daily routine, it took her some time to get used to everything. She became friends with her roommate Evangeline - also known as Lily - and Kaydel.

After several planets were taken over by the First Order and there was no more hope for them, including Vodran, Saraya asked Leia to step down from her political duties. The President had been murdered, and thus there was no chance of reclaiming her homeland. She no longer wanted to be a senator of a planet that stood in contradiction to everything she believed in. Leia had nothing to argue against this, and so Saraya was assigned other duties. She took on several transport flights as a pilot but also spent some time in the command center to perhaps make herself a bit more useful.

During this time, a new, dark figure emerged in the history of the galaxy—Kylo Ren. Both she and Leia knew that it had to be Ben. However, neither of the two women ever spoke of this fact. It was too great a loss for them to admit. The only connection Saraya still had with Ben were rare nightmares and the bitter aftertaste that followed the next morning. Only Lily knew about her nightmares. After all, she couldn't hide her restless sleep from her roommate when she occasionally woke up uneasily or even talked in her sleep. Saraya kept this fact hidden from the remaining Resistance forces. For her, it was a chance to let go of the past and start anew, even though it pained her to close that chapter. To close the chapter on Ben Solo.

Saraya had just returned from a mission. She had received medical supplies and fuel for the Resistance's ships from various supporters. Together with R4, she prepared the YV-666 freighter for landing. The light YV-666 freighter was a spacecraft class from the Corellian Engineering Corporation and had been in the possession of the Resistance for some time. It deviated significantly from their other design principles and, with its three decks, was at the upper limit of light freighters. The YV-666 was known for its resilience and ease of flight, which is why it was often used for such missions. The modular, environmentally shielded cargo bay could hold a remarkable amount of goods, and it was now bursting with medical supplies and fuel after Saraya had visited the supporters.

During landing, the maneuvering fins at the rear extended. She activated the mechanism to lower the boarding ramp. Once the landing procedure was complete, members of the Resistance hurried over to unload the cargo. Saraya walked down the ramp and grinned when she spotted Kaydel. "Did you miss me that much?" she called out to her friend. Kaydel rarely appeared in the hangar. She preferred to spend her day in the command center.

"Actually, I was hoping that a bit of time alone would do your ego some good, but here we are, and you're still overconfident," Kaydel replied with a grin, tilting her head slightly.

In her hand, she held a DataPad, which now caught Saraya's attention. The brunette stepped closer to Kaydel and tilted her head to get a glimpse of the display. Kaydel consciously raised the device slightly, preventing Saraya from seeing the file she had opened. She had instructions from Leia and intended to follow them.

"What do you need?" Saraya asked. Since her attempt to look at the DataPad had failed, she figured she would have to get the reason for Kaydels presence in the hangar out of her some other way.

"General Organa asked me to send you to the briefing room as soon as you got back."

Was there a meeting? The fact that Kaydel was here and not also in the briefing room made her suspicious. What was so important that Leia could do without members like Kaydel? Meetings were usually listed in the daily schedule of the members. Had she overlooked something in her calendar before leaving yesterday? She raised her finger and pointed at the DataPad. "Am I in trouble?"

Kaydel sighed and used her free hand to turn Saraya around and gently push her toward the entrance of the underground corridors. "You'll find out soon enough. Now go. They're waiting for you." But since her friend still wasn't moving, Kaydel raised her eyebrows. "I'll supervise the unloading with R4."