The Children of the Stars

Message in a Star Destroyer

Valin was unconscious in the Falcon's medbay, but the wound had been healed with a bacta patch. He was stable, and would wake up eventually.

Allana was certain of that.

But after tending to her brother's best friend, her mind turned to other things, like the corrupted holocron she'd held. Was it corrupted by the nexus nearby, or the remaining aura of Darth Sidious, lingering in the place like a ghost?

Or was there something else going on?

Whatever the reason, there was one certainty in all of this. The information had been near-useless. All they knew was that Rey had been to Jakku— but she clearly wasn't here anymore.

The question was where Rey had gone next.

Allana sighed, and entered the Hellhound Two in search of answers.

She couldn't imagine how her mother felt, sleeping the cold of the fallen AT-AT.

She was about to leave after a quick examination that she hadn't missed anything when her eyes fell on a book. Made with dried flimsi and leather, it had stood up to the dramatic temperatures of Jakku.

Allana picked up the book, and returned to the Falcon, where there would be at least some light to read it all by. She sat there, as the moon and stars moved overhead, reading her mother's scrawled Aubresh.

No one had taught her to read or write— she'd had to teach herself. She'd had to teach herself everything.

Allana now felt even worse about how she internally rebelled against her position in Hapes. It was a blessing, that she'd had so many people willing to help and guide her, even if it hadn't felt that way at the time.

Then Allana came across it.

The critical missing piece of the puzzle.

The capacitor that kept the metaphorical ship from flying.

The Star Destroyer's best for scavenging, Rey'd written in her diary. Most scavengers say it's all picked over, and not worth the dangers. I disagree— but I'm small enough to get to the places the others can't reach.. So I guess I'm at an advantage there.

Her mother's favorite place was the Star Destroyer.

It was a wild hope, but it was one that sprang eternal all the same. What if there was a clue in the Star Destroyer?

Allana shut the book, and stood up. She placed it on the dejarik table, and looked up to see Valin. He was murmuring something in his sleep— something like the hissing guttural language the holocron spat when it began to glitch.

A part of her knew she shouldn't leave him alone.

But she had to know. Her mother would save the galaxy, if she returned. And Valin would be fine.

Allana stood, gripping her saber-staff tightly. And out she went, into the night.

The moon met the highest point when she finally made it to the Star Destroyer. She turned on one end of her saber-staff, holding it aloft in front of her horizontally as a form of protection and as a flashlight.

The old warship creaked and shadows swayed in the darkness of the Jakkuvian night.

But she couldn't turn back. Besides, they were only shadows, Allana assured herself. Nothing like the strange men out in the canyon, or the observatory.

When Allana entered the main part of the Star Destroyer, she could feel it.

The presence of a kyber crystal.

Not just any, she realized as her hear skipped a beat. Objects could carry residues of emotions and memories in the Force. Sith masks were powerful for carrying rage and anger.

But powerful light things could remain, too.

Rey never wore any jewelry except for exactly two rings and a single necklace.

The first ring was the Palpatine signet, gifted to her by historians on Naboo. The second was her wedding ring.

The pendant was a mother's, with the birthstones of each of her six children, as per Alderaanian tradition— although it was usually a ring and not a pendant.

But six kids wouldn't fit on the first.

In each of the tiny crystals, Allana could always sense the resonance of herself and her siblings.

This pendant, she realized, was left in here.

Furthermore, it couldn't have been an accident. Rey never took it off, not even for sleeping or swimming.

There had to be a message left in the memories, in the Force around the object, Allana realized.

She closed her eyes and reached out, her finger numbly pointing to where it was in the main chamber of the Star Destroyer.

When she opened her eyes, she internally groaned. She'd have to make herself fly up there.

As she'd discovered when she carried Valin to the Falcon, flying was harder when you were going up than when you were going down.

Allana closed her eyes again, recentering herself. Sensing the cold of the planet, but the heat of the fires in the villages. The desert coming to life, and the bones deep in the sand. The dark of the night and the light of the moon.

The balance.

Allya give me strength.

With that, Allana jumped.

Pushing up with the Force, she landed on a thin ledge, and quickly had to get a good grip. Her footing was weak, and she nearly fell. She managed to kick wildly and end up with good footing after all.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she then reached into the open shaft, calling the pendant to her in the Force. It reached into her hand, and she pocketed it.

After a flying descent, and removed the pendant from her pocket, letting the memories wash over.

But it was only one word that was new.

Korriban.

Allana sprinted into the Falcon, filled with the manic energy of a full moon and accomplishment. She shook Valin's shoulder in her reckless excitement.

"Valin, wake up, I know where Rey went next—"

He rolled over in the medbay, and his eyes flashed open— Sith yellow.

Allana cried out and stumbled back, falling into the dejarik table.

Valin started to convulse, his eyes rolling back into his head before he slumped over completely.

Allana picked herself up off of the floor slowly. Then he shifted, sitting up quickly.

"Valin?" she called out his name tentatively, and her voice wobbled.

"Allana— is everything okay?"

His eyes were hazel.

"Yeah, yeah." Allana coughed and faked a smile. "You're okay, that's good. We found it— where Rey went. We need to go to Korriban."

"Alright." Valin swung his legs over to the floor and placed a hand over his stomach.

"Are you alright?" Allana asked. "I used a bacta patch—"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He waved his hand dismissively. "Come on, let's get off of this junkyard."

"Yeah."

Still, Allana stared after him a moment. Strange things had happened here. She could only hope that they wouldn't follow her.