High Heavens (Star Wars - Luke Skywalker)

XVIII - Yavin IV

Han, Leia, and Chewbacca were all in the cockpit when Mara and Luke arrived. The forest moon of Yavin, where the rebel base was centered, was green with gargantuan trees and thick with vegetation. The whole forest was shrouded in an almost eerie mist. After Leia directed Han and Chewie to the base, an ancient temple, rotting, but massive came into view.

"Is that it?" Luke asked.

Mara nodded. "That's it."

Not more than a few minutes later, an external voice came in from the telecommunications intercom.

"Crew members of the YT-model freighter; please identify yourselves."

Leia moved towards the speaker, bending over to say, "This is Princess Leia Organa. I'm here with Captain Nevaeh of the Blue Squadron starpilots and a group of other allies. I request access to the base."

"Princess Leia, Captain Nevaeh, of course," the man said. "A transport will arrive to bring you to headquarters as soon as you land."

It sounded as if he was going to log off, but then he added one more thing;

"Captain Nevaeh, I've been told to tell you that your squadron eagerly awaits your return."

Mara's smile was uncontrollable, as she remembered that there had in fact been some survivors from Scarif - including most of her squadron. Collecting herself, she replied steadily, "Thank you. Please notify them of my arrival."

"Right away, Captain. See you at the pick-up point."

The communication fizzled out just as Han lowered the Falcon to a grassy clearing, big enough to fit the Falcon. Mara was the first one off the loading ramp, followed closely by the others. They only had to wait a few minutes until an armored military speeder rolled up. The group climbed on, save Chewbacca, whom Han instructed to look after the ship in his absence. The speeder rolled under the canopy of trees, the cries of fantastic creatures all around them, until they finally entered the temple base. The transport came to a stop in a starship hangar.

"You're safe," said Willard, a commander of the rebels, embracing Leia. "When we heard about Alderaan, we feared the worst."

"We have no time for our sorrows, Commander," Leia insisted, walking off with him. "We must use the information in this R2 unit to help plan the attack. It's our only hope."

"You look excited," Mara commented to Luke, who was gazing around the hangar in awe.

Luke shook his head. "I've always wanted to make it here. It's amazing."

Mara smiled a little proudly, looking around as if she too was seeing the place for the first time. "It's alright. Don't worry, you'll get tired of it real quick."

"Mara!"

Mara whipped around at the sound of her name, eyes lighting up when she saw a small blonde girl racing towards her, tailed by a pair of other pilots. Her face broke into a smile, and she eagerly met the young blonde with a hug.

The girl was Strata Truden - a pilot of the Blue Squadron, like Mara, and by far the youngest, at only sixteen. Strata had been with the Blue team since she'd first arrived in the Rebellion, and Mara had always done her best to look out for the girl. Mara had been young when she'd joined the Rebellion, too, and had felt a strange kind of kinship when she first met Strata. She had taken her under her wing her very first day. 

The other two with her were Raze Highland and Kiiara Vox. Raze was a Twi-lek who had been with the Alliance even longer than Mara had, and was infamously known as a 'reckless pilot'. His skin - a greenish, yellow color - was littered with smalls scars and burns alike, from the dozens of crashes he's barely escaped. Kiiara, on the other hand, was nearly spotless, in terms of scars. She was human as well, from a lonely planet in the Outer Rim (a hot planet, probably, judging by her dark skin and sun-touched hair). She'd been with them for little over a year or two, but she had proved herself as a capable flyer more than once.