42. That was her number. Now with the resistance, 42 must cover her past life which proves difficult when she cannot tell her true name. And that Dameron guy . . . He needs to stop asking questions.
Follows The Rise of Skywalker
A/n: big spoilers for The Rise of Skywalker ahead, now and forever.
General Leia
When I heard a Mandalorian had landed on my base, I had to see for myself.
As the white amor emerged from the orange crowd, I could see this Mandalorian was female.
The pilots who'd been talking and messing around grew quiet. They stared at her and whispered. It was rather rude but I assumed she gets that a lot.
"General Leia," a lieutenant announced. He saluted then brought the Mandalorian forward.
"That will be all, thank you," I said. I outstretched a hand in greeting. "General Leia Organa of the Resistance."
"42," the helmet said. She shook my hand firmly.
"42, you must know how rare it is for us to come into contact with a Mandalorian."
She remained silent.
"After our last battle, we lost so many lives, including our Vice Admiral, Amilyn Holdo . . . What I'm getting at is we could really use your help."
"What kind of help," asked the Mandalorian.
"Any. Information, coordinates, even training our troops in your ways to better protect themselves," I said. "It would be a great help and deed to the Resistance."
42 shifted her weight. Other than that, she was hard to read.
"I know it's a lot to ask," I continued. "But if you could just stay for one night. We'll be entombing the fallen at dusk. Perhaps you can give us something prior to then. You get around more than anyone here after all."
"I'll think about it—"
"General! General!" called a familiar voice.
"What now, Dameron?" I wheeled around.
"It's, oh . . ." Poe stopped in his tracks as he saw the Mandalorian.
"Well, is this urgent?" I pressed.
"Yes!" he remembered. "We've got the message."
***
42
It was now dusk.
The funeral was over.
That Dameron guy the General has seemed annoyed with was now giving a speech to the troops.
"We've decoded the intel from the First Order spy. And it confirms the worst." Dameron sighed. "Somehow Palpatine has returned.
Nervous whispers broke out amongst the pilots.
"It cannot be." "The Emperor is dead!" "Dark sciences . . . Cloning. Secrets only the Sith knew."
Dameron continued. "He's been planning his revenge. His followers have been building something big for years. The largest fleet the galaxy's ever known. He calls it the Final Order. In sixteen hours, attacks on all free worlds begin. The Emperor and his fleet are hiding in an unknown world—called Exegol."
"Exegol does not appear on any star chart," said a droid. "The legend describes it as the hidden world of the Sith."
"So Palpatine's been out there all this time," said Dameron, "pulling the strings."
"Always in the shadows from the very beginning," Leia whispered.
The General looked to me. I understood why they needed my help.
"Here's the information you wanted," I began. The whole group fell dead silent. "You need a Sith Wayfinder to get to Exegol. Unfortunately, they're hard to come by. Probably only two or three in existence now."
"General, can I speak with you?" a girl piped up. She held a large leather-bound book.
They went off to talk in private.
I stood still amongst the pilots, waiting. Until that Dameron guy approached me.
"How'd you know about the Wayfinder?" he asked curiously.
"I get around."
"Are you going to be staying here? With the Resistance?"
"Not sure."
"Well, do you want to tag along?" Dameron pointed to a pancake-like ship that the girl, another man, and a wookie were boarding.
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