Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

        It was the beginning of another beautiful day in the city of Canto Bight as “Broom Boy'' woke up in his tattered blanket on a pile of dirty straw. He got up and stroked the neck of his stallmate, one of the 3 meter tall Fathiers that he maintained the stables for. Without looking he reached out his hand, his broom flew  into his grasp and he began his daily routine, sweeping the debris and shoveling the racing beasts fodder. He had always found it curious that no matter where he thought he had put his broom, it always seemed to be right where he was reaching when he needed it. 

        His real name was Temiri Blagg, but since no one had cared to ever ask, or call him by name, he had eventually (With a little assistance from the laundromat lady) made another up on his own: Wynn. It seemed fitting enough for someone in the famous Casino city, yet somehow ironic for the name of a slave, but that was the point. He even preferred ‘Broom Boy’ to the slave name forced on him since before he could remember, which is how most people referred to him anyways, no one ever caring to put much more thought into formalities with a common slave child. 

        His days were always the same. The only excitement Wynn had ever had was when he had helped some strangers go for a night gallop through the city on Fathiers; the racing animals Canto Bight was famous for. He had always been told that they weren't sentient, but he couldn't help but feel a connection to them, almost as though he could feel their thoughts, and they his. Ever since helping to free the giant beasts, upon returning the Fathiers had been even more in tune with him and he had somehow felt stronger around them.

        After their destructive run through the crowded casinos and streets that night, they had been rounded up fairly quickly, within a few days actually, some bruised and cut from their tirade through the city and all of them weakened and scraggly due to the fact Canto Bight was nothing like their planet of origin. Their natural food had to be shipped in once a week (at great cost mind you) but they were expensive animals and one of the main attractions so they were actually treated much better than he ever was. Still, since he had opened the large stable door that fateful night they all seemed to appreciate him more, as if grateful for the limited time they could roam free of their riders' painful whip strokes. 

        Since then, he had aspired to be a Resistance member (Mainly because they were the only closest thing to what had previously been known as The Rebels that he had heard fantastical stories about) and he had begun dreaming up possible ways to achieve his goal. The only thing he knew he would miss were those large eared, shaggy mounts. 

        In the meantime, he had kept sweeping and tending the stables. In the year or so that had passed since the excitement, he had hit quite the growing spurt. He must have grown a foot or more in height in that remarkably short amount of time. Being taller and stronger he began getting tasked more often with errands outside his masters compound. He loved going near the arrival pads and seeing all the ships coming and going, learning what he could about the various designs, names and shapes. E ventually came the day that The Force lined up all the necessary circumstances for him to make his move…. 

        It seemed like any other day, he had been tasked with picking up a parcel at the landing platforms, when he arrived, an almost round but flat shaped ship landed, It looked like a Corellian freighter but he’d never seen one so old and patched together, he could tell by the carbon scoring and modifications that this vessel had seen more than its fair share of action. The only thing new looking was the round dish on top. Most ships arriving at Canto were sleek, shiny and new, the majority of gamblers were nothing if not gregarious, showing off their wealth in any lavish way they could. 

        As Wynn waited for the courier to arrive, he saw none other than the same fellow that had made the whole ruckus with the racing beasts, right behind him was a shiny black ball shaped droid with a round flat top followed in turn, by another man coming down the ramp of the ship. 

        Just then the Nymhbodian courier arrived with a long narrow box, passed it to him and went on his way. He stared longingly at the dilapidated ship his Resistance friend had just arrived on. 

        Gathering all the wits and courage he could muster he headed towards it. There was a strange orange coloured slug looking creature inside the passageway to the left of the ships entrance, across from the aft cargo bay, focused wholly on fixing some unknown problem. It seemed to Wynn as though it had been to no avail, due to the multiple access panels and compartments open throughout the ship. After being repeatedly ignored by the distractedly busy  large slug, he ventured further down the twisting hall. 

        A WOOKIE! He had heard all about their penchant for pulling arms right out of their sockets and didn't want to be the next guy to pay an arm and a leg. Fortunately, the hairy giant hadn't noticed him yet either. He seemed to be making some sort of adjustments to the Holo-chess board while also trying in vain to swat away a Porg that kept troublesomely hopping from the table to the bench, and back again, intentionally staying just out of his reach. Watching in amusement was another much older blue and white R2 type droid. 

        Wynn slipped past the distracted and increasingly annoyed Wookie to the next compartment, in the forward section of the ship. He heard the Wookie roar, followed by excited whistles and a long loud screech. Frightened, Wynn quickly scanned the room and noticed a tan jacket near an open wall panel. He quickly put it on and quietly shimmied himself and his box backward into the small maintenance tube. He had once heard about the cold depths of space; and having never been, wanted to be prepared. 

        Wynn later learned that Finn had convinced Poe to accompany him to the city of Canto Bight, located on the planet Cantonica while Rey was doing her training, after he had realised the best pilot in the fleet would likely have a better understanding of their strict parking permit regulations than Rose had had. 

        He insisted that they bring along a BB series astromech droid. BB-7 was Klauds droid that helped him with diagnosis and repairs, it was black with gold coloured embellishments and a round flat topped head that seemed somehow disconnected as it rolled around. (Matching the decor of the ornate casinos of Canto Bight much better than BB-8 ever could have, in fact.) 

        Also, since the Falcon had recently been having some issues with power surges, bringing Klaud along allowed him and BB-7 to work on tracking the issues down and correcting them while they were enroute.

        That's when Wynn had taken his chance and stowed away in one of the many hiding spots onboard the Falcon. Once the three of them had gotten back they dumped out all the credits the patrons had inserted into BB-7, as Chewbacca looked on, gnawing on a drumstick. 

        "Dang ferrik! You were right about coming here! I haven't seen this many credits all together since my younger days when I ran sp....." Poe’s voice trailed off. 

        "Ran what?' Finn inquired as he checked the comms for any messages they might have missed.

        "Oh, nuthin', a good story... For another time.” 

        "O.K. Well, speaking of time, we’ve run out, we gotta get outta here! There’s a message here saying we need to go get some encrypted intel that can’t be transmitted for fear of the First Order intercepting it. We're already almost late for the rendezvous at the Sinta Glacier Mining Colony… We just happen to be the closest ones that can be trusted with the info. " 

        Poe smiled to himself, he was always amazed how Maz Kanata's line worked every time to stall or change a subject. He had used it on multiple occasions since he had heard the story of what had been happening on the ground when he had swooped down in his X-wing. Single handedly taking out a good majority of invading Stormtroopers, from the air, that were invading her castle on Takadana. 

        He imagined himself telling her "I don't think I'll see you again, aside from a hologram. So spill it!" Oh well. She had finally filled the interested people in on what had transpired once she had finally arrived at the base; following her “Labour disputes” resolution. (You guessed it, it too was another good story.. For yet another time) 

        Turns out the tale wasn’t all that interesting anyways. Just the same ol’ “guy gets his saber holding hand cut off... Someone else finds it..., Yadda, yadda, yada... They put it in a box.” story.

        Poe shook his head, as if to stop a flashback, while he came up the still open ramp bellowing “Have you got that power surge figured out yet Klaud?" 

        The large orange slug grunted and shook his head as sparks zapped from the conduits in front of him. 

        "Well hurry and get at least some of these panels shut, we might be in for a bumpy ride." Poe said already halfway to the cockpit. 

        Klaud pushed the panel back into place over the tube's opening but Wynn was still able to hear some people talking and a loud noise which sounded like multiple metal items being poured onto the floor.

        Once the ship had gotten underway Wynn waited quietly in his cramped, hiding spot for what seemed like forever. There was barely room for himself, let alone the box as well. He eventually heard the faint squeals of Holo-chess board characters being defeated and raised voices insinuating cheating as the Wookie howled in protest.

        "Was that what the Wookie had been up to?" Wynn whispered to himself. The Holo-chess game ended abruptly when a proximity alert sounded. He felt the ship come out of hyperspace and not long after, the ship started flashing and jostling around. Purple light bathed the ship, then blue , green followed by yellow . Soon some parts of the ship were even starting on fire. He wasn’t sure if he should be worried, or if people weren't kidding past times when he heard them say a ship had ‘ come in hot ’.

        He let out a big sigh of relief as he felt the ship come to an abrupt and rough landing. He heard the sound of people outside running past his tube from the cockpit towards the ramp. After pushing the panel open, he crawled out of the tube and followed everyone else through the smoke filled passageways, down the ramp and into a bright, lush jungle world unlike he had ever seen. Overcome by the recent events and the relief that he was finally free, he felt faint and laid down, falling asleep in the sweet smelling grass and foliage…

Chapter Text

        Wynn awoke with a start, he had been dreaming of strange colours, similar to how the attending 2-1B series medical droid soon described "Lightspeed skipping" as being like, as it systematically and coldly filled him in on what happened to the Falcon, how he had gotten here, and where HERE was. It would seem that when he had been found, people had just assumed that he had been trying to help fight the fire engulfing the Millennium Falcon, and that he must have succumbed to the smoke. Being that he was wearing a pilot’s jacket he was rushed to the Medical Station at once.

        “Oh, I borrowed that jacket." Wynn confessed. 

        "Yes, your bio scan verifies that you are much too young to be a pilot, the people who found you must have been fooled by your height. You were covered in so much soot, dirt and grass that they said it appeared as though you had been rolling around in a stable.”

        "At any rate" the med droid continued in its monotone voice "the scan also shows that; aside from some smoke in your lungs and some contusions and minor lacerations, your health is at an acceptable status. Your blood scan shows lower than optimal levels of nutrients, however your M-count is very high." 

        "Oh, oh, that sounds a bit concerning," Wynn said as the droid gestured him towards the exit. 

        "Negative, simply report to the Mess Hall down the corridor and to the left." the droid said curtly "Also do not forget to take your box. Or did you 'borrow' that too?" 

        Wynn hadn't eaten any rations yet today and was starving. He hurried down the passageway and could start to smell all sorts of pleasing aromas. Turning left around the bend he came to a large room. He entered the lineup and wondered what he would get, he was used to (on a good day) an eighth of a portion. 

        While moving along in the line to the counter he overheard a few older grey haired gentlemen a few spots ahead of him discussing a position opening in the Base. 

        "Yeah Bink, I'm telling you, it is a perfect job, no experience necessary. They said it's one of the fastest ways to climb up the ladder, if you know what I mean. And the pay….. You’d really be cleaning up." 

        "Well I think I know what you're trying to set me UP with, and I'm not interested Tag”

        "Okay Bink, don't say I didn't try to RAISE your spirits. If you change your mind, go to the tent they just set-up at the landing pads. New recruits are coming in on a shuttle within the hour. Tent is there to funnel them through and sort out what their talents are.... Tell 'em Holdo sent’cha." Tag said with a wink.

        "Well in that case, I’d better give you my plate and hurry down to beat the rush for the HIGHEST position before they remember that she is dea..." 

        "NEXT! Whatdaya want Beanpole, I ain't got all day" 

        Wynn had been eavesdropping so intently that he hadn't noticed the lineup moving and that an array of food was now directly in front of him. He heard Tag and Bink let out loud simultaneous belly laughs as they found the way to their seats. 

        "Uhh, what's on special?" He had on rare occasions heard unlucky gamblers ask that of street vendors back on Cantonica , always wishing he had even one credit with which to try their wares... just once. "I'm afraid I'm a bit strapped for cash… Uhh" 

        "WHAT!?! You some kinda funny guy?" The large fellow with an extra set of arms demanded as he towered over an increasingly frightened Wynn. 

        "I ... I'm Sor..." 

        "My name’s Jettster, people say I clown around but you really take the cake! Everyone knows it's all you can eat! Free of charge! Can't defeat the First Order on an empty stomach! Without the FIRST meal of the day! Heh, Heh," 

        "I can assure you I haven't taken any cakes, I uhh, yeah I just, arrived on the transport. I couldn't have taken your cake, what is cake, what does it look like? I'll help find it if ya stop yellin' at m-me." Wynn nervously stammered. 

        Dexter Jettster hadn't in his 65 years of culinary endeavors in various greasy spoons and kitchens across the galaxy ever heard anything so funny and yet so sad at the same time. 

        "Don't know what cake is, eh?" he said quietly in disbelief, as he shook his head and sat down scratching his lower back. "Well just one second, I'll fix you a meal you'll never forget! If you don't know what cake is, I doubt I'll be servin' anyone else anytime soon if I ask you to ‘just name’ what ya wanna eat. (Although your answers would probably be worth a laugh.)" 

        "Why thank you, any little scraps will do.... but ... could you use the three hands that I didn't just watch you scratch your ass with? Please?" Wynn said with a smile, he was beginning to like Jettsters gruff but playful banter. 

        Jettster laughed "Oh ho, yeah, it’s hard to keep track of where they all are sometimes…. Well... I'd ask you where you’re from, but seeing as you don't even know what cake is you're probably from some BORING place like Tatooine or Jakku. If there’s one thing I hate more than sand… It’s hearing somebody else complain about it. SO! I'll just ask your name instead." Jettster said with a big smile as he held out the large overflowing plate. 

        "Uh Yeah, a very boring place... More dust than sand really… The name’s Wynn S..." 

        "HEY! I haven't actually asked you yet! HA HA! Just kidding Wynn, it's great to meetcha! You can call me Dex. Now get outta here, I've got a big line backing up!" he said already making the next person's meal. Wynn took his plate and sat down, he watched in amazement as Dex was serving multiple meals simultaneously. All four hands working in controlled chaos as he easily got everyone left in line served.

        Wynn took longer to finish eating than anyone else and was eventually the last one sitting in the hall. Having never eaten such delicacies he intended to savour every single bite. 

        "So new guy, what's in the box?" Dex asked as he cleared some nearby tables. 

        "Uh.. Ah... going away... present.... for me" Wynn stammered, suddenly feeling guilty about not finishing his delivery pick-up. 

        "Well what are ya waitin' for?" 

        Opening the parcel, Wynn found what appeared to be a spear inside. A really rather basic one at that. 

        "Wow, that's a Nymhbus 2-1-8-7!" Dexter Jettster almost jumped for joy as he exclaimed "Custodians all around the galaxy only wish to see one of these, let alone possess one!"

        "Custodians of Peace and Justice?" Wynn asked. 

        "Ha! Ha Ha. Right kid," Dex said smiling as he took the spear to admire it more closely. 

        He deftly pushed a button and twisted the middle section. The end exploded into an array of strands, as cascading fingers of light blue electrical current danced amongst them.

        "You see? There, you can tell by these markings here, it was made in the Nymhbus system, did you know? They had some of the cleanest planets there that could ever be seen." 

        "No Empire?" Wynn guessed. 

        "Are you kidding!? The Empire was the biggest group of neat freaks in the galaxy! Haven’t you ever seen the passages on board their ships or in their bases? I suppose you wouldn't have, before your time sonny. Well let me tell you, not a speck of dust to be seen.” 

        “And they liked to use dark colours!”

        “Once the Rebels blew up the second Death Star and the New Republic took over, all the citizens there just kept it up. Old habits die hard I guess. This is the most technologically advanced instrument there is.... To sweep the floor with. It's a broom. Go on! Give it a go." Jettster playfully teased.

        Never one to disobey a command or back down from a challenge, Wynn grabbed the broom. In record time he had swept the entire mess hall. It was most soiled in the heavy traffic areas along the walls, where hungry people lined up 3 times a day to get to their food from the counter. But Dex was right, the Nymhbus 2187 made quick work of even the heavily trafficked areas surrounding the mess hall that Wynn had put a little extra effort in. 

        "Now that's what I call sweeping the perimeter! People are just going to call this place the hall! The mess is gone! Ha Ha!" Jettster said as he slapped Wynn on the back with one of his massive hands, nearly knocking him over. "Thanks for the help! With a work ethic like that, I foresee you climbing high in the ranks. Come back anytime." 

Chapter Text

        Wynn collapsed his fancy new broom and headed towards the tent that he had overheard Tag & Bink talking about. The shuttle had since landed so he took advantage of the opportunity to blend into the crowd in hopes there wouldn't be any awkward ‘Where you come from?’ questions. He patiently waited his turn until he was next. 

        "Last name" the recruiting officer said more than asked, it seemed they were having a long day. 

        "Socc." 

        "Age? You don't look 16." 

        "Oh I'm sixteen and a half." Wynn lied. 

        "Okay, always hard to gauge, I remember a little guy that looked like a toddler, had to check his Chain Code to verify it. Turns out he was over 75. They come in all shapes and sizes, I guess." he lamented. "What's with the Spear, is that Beskar or something?" 

        "I don't know what it's made of, I heard it's what the Custodians of Peace and Justice use. After my last er, short term job they said I had used it to do one of the best perimeter sweeps they had seen in ages. Cleaned up all kinds of messes left by all sorts of troopers. In fact I hear it was instrumental in cleaning up the last remnants of the Empire!" Wynn nervously stated. He was pretty sure he was remembering Jettster's helpful words properly. 

        "I sense you're in security. Want to continue in that line of work?" 

        "Well, I suppose I am a BIT nervous.....? But yes, I would like to continue what I've been doing most of my life. It’s what I do best." 

        "How would you like to do the Guard Towers on the moon of Ajan Kloss?" the officer asked.

        Wynn had heard tales about all the various nasty insects and fungus’ that flourished in the warm, humid forests of Ajan Kloss from a wealthy but kind patron of the Fathier race tracks whom it was rumoured had a reputation for smuggling spice. 

        "I wouldn't touch Ajan Kloss with a 200 foot pole!" not realising he was already standing on that very same moon.

        "Heh, heh Funny kid, I like your style! I have the perfect position for you then." the officer continued "Settle in at the bunks, until the base construction finishes, we have all been bivouacking inside the Tantive IV. Report to the Base Security Commander at ohhhhhh, quarter after 6. One last thing, you're not on the register, those manifest droids are always messing up ." he complained under his breath "What's your first name?"

        "Wynn" he replied, glad the officer had shared the same disdain of that mouldy moon, apparently distracting him enough to not think more deeply about the register error. 

        "Well, when it comes to names I guess you Wynn some and you lose some, am I right Jr. Lt. Socc?" 

        Wynn made his way to the temporary barracks, Nimbus 2187 in hand. Excited about his first official day tomorrow, there was nothing that was going to make him late. He met a few of the new recruits and more seasoned veterans until he found his bed which already had a couple uniforms on it, folded neatly, waiting for him. 

        He went and got cleaned up at the washplace and slipped into his new garb. His shoulders went back and he felt like he stood just a little bit taller with it on. The helmet wasn’t great, it seemed a bit much for his new job cleaning the base. However it was much better quality than his stable boy clothes had been. 

        As he was familiarizing himself with the surroundings he came across Tag and Bink again, this time in the large limestone cave that served as the Tantive IVs hangar as well as the Base Command Center. They were speaking with a familiar face, it was Rose Ticco. Wynn nervously rubbed the ring she had given him a year ago. As he approached they finished their conversation and Rose started to leave. 

        "I hope she can get us more of these, she said these are the last ones her buddy had, says he's decided to get out of the game, too high up in the ranks now. She's so into her engineering and watching for deserters, I don't even think she realizes she's been unsuspectingly supplying us with Death$ticks this whole time." Bink sighed. 

        "That’s too bad, they really help calm the nerves at breaktime." Tag agreed. 

        "Shhhh, the new guy’s looking at us funny... Can I help you slim?" Bink called out as they both stared at Wynn. 

        "Uh no, thanks, just new here, taking in the sights." 

       "Okay, well.. take 'em in someplace else. Top Secret discussions going on here. Hate to have to shoot ya if you start to know too much." Tag loved new recruits, they were always easy to mess with. As Tag and Bink went on their way Wynn caught a glimpse of something on the ground where they had been speaking with Rose. Picking up the glowing, slender orange tube, he placed it in his pocket, its aroma reminding him of traveling through the back alleys from the pads to the stable back on Canto Bight. 

        That evening he returned to the Mess Hall. Jettster seemed extra busy as he loaded Wynns plate with an assortment of foods that he had never seen. They all were much more enjoyable than the rations he grew up with and he devoured every last bit of it until he felt his stomach would burst. 

        "Well... How was your first day, Wynn?" Dexter Jettster asked as he waddled up, once again rounding up the dishes left at the tables. 

        "Really well, I think. Got a job cleaning some towers. Met some interesting characters." Wynn answered as he wiped his chin. 

        "Well, keep on your toes around that Tag and Bink duo. They usually seem to mean well, but for the longest time I've heard that they always seem to start trouble wherever they go, or at the very least, find themselves in the middle of it. I sometimes think the Galaxy would be better off if they had never been born. They're pushing 60 now. Hopefully they retire soon." 

        "Yes I’ve had a few run-ins with them, seem cheerful enough." 

        "Cheerful enough when they're causing intergalactic incidents too. I believe it is only through the sheer will of The Force that they have survived their many precarious situations they constantly find themselves in." Jettster chuckled "Like I said, they do seem to mean well…. Just be careful is all. Unlucky circumstances seem to follow them around like the tale of a Zillo Beast. Just long enough to whip around and smack ya right upside your head.”

Chapter Text

        Wynn woke up to a feeling he had never felt before, it wasn't the good feeling of being free and starting a new life that one in his situation might expect, rather it was an eminent foreboding feeling that all the new and different foods he had consumed recently were NOT agreeing with each other in his belly. He rushed to the latrines, eventually coming out feeling that a great weight had been lifted. 

        "All that food Dex dished up for me felt much better going in than coming out." he groaned as he set off to the Base Security Hub. "Oh my, it’s already 06:20! He began to run.

        "Lt. Duke Skystalker" 

        "Here" 

        "Lt. Onatoppa Daworld" 

        "Present" 

        To Wynns dismay, the Supervisor had already begun roll-call. There were a half a dozen or so members of the Resistance lined up piping in as their names were called. Wynn remembered what Dexter Jettster had said about the Empire being clean freaks, with this size of group working with him he figured the base would be just as clean, if not cleaner than any Imperial passageways in no time at all. 

        "Alright, that's it" the Squad Leader concluded "Figures, this Jr. Lt. Socc fella is a no show for his first day. There’s only a few things I hate, high on that list is when I realise that I'm missing a Socc!" 

        "Reporting for duty, sir!" Wynn exclaimed, sweat dripping down his forehead as he panted heavily, trying to catch his breath." 

        "Well glad you could fit us into your busy schedule Socc, can we begin our Safety Brief now? Or did you want to get a drink of water, I'm sure the First Order will wait till you're all set!" he sarcastically sneered. 

        “Ahh, if there’s one thing I hate, it's briefs !” a man with the stripes signifying a Major quietly said under his breath.

        "Okay Troops it has been brought to my attention that there has been some paraphernalia that I suspect is used for certain illicit substances, found below some peoples stations. We have a zero tolerance for anyone getting high while on duty!" he continued "Constant vigilance is required for this position, you are our first line of defense.” 

        “Oh, and on a side note, yes, I'm looking at you Richard. Don’t think your higher rank will save you, I could bust you down and send you to hang out with the Privates. This goes for every one of you Nerf herders. NO ONE is to piss off the Tower, Guards! Do you understand?" 

        "Yes sir!" the company yelled in unison. 

        "Maj. Richard Indawind: Tower number 2" 

        "Yes sir, but I'd prefer that you call me Dick, Sir. Like everyone else" 

        "NO!... Lt. Hye R. Grund, go to Tower 5. Lt. Hokka Loogy: Tower 6. Jr. Lt. Wynn Socc: Tower 1."

        "Yes sir, thank you sir" Wynn exclaimed. 

        "Being that it's your first day, I'll tell you what my expectations are. I need you to get up in that Tower there and do a sweep of the perimeter. Take these binocs and when you're not sweeping the ground, call in any crafts you see. We also would like periodic reports of wind direction. With a name like yours I think you can handle it." 

        "Yes sir, been training my whole life for this, sir." Wynn excitedly answered.

        "Then I do not envy your life... Okay people, you have your orders. Now Move Out." 

        "Yes Sergeant Fetton DeGrund!" the others answered together in one voice.  

Chapter Text

        Wynn was glad when the meeting was over, he carried his Nymhbus 2187 toward Tower 1. Once on top he surveyed the situation. It was beautiful, in the sky was the large pale red gas giant planet and a few moons, from this height he could see all the major sections of the Base. Directly in front of him were the landing pads, he could just make out some A-Wings, a few B-Wing Fighters, X-Wings and some Y-Wing bombers as well as the Millenium Falcon and some other larger crafts through the Sensor scattering nets hung from the trees above them. 

        To his right he could see just the engines of the Tantive IV poking out from inside the main cave. Just below its bank of thrusters he noticed a girl dressed in tan, reading a book. She suddenly slammed the book shut, put it in a crate just inside the cave entrance and headed below some trees out of sight. 

        On the top of the hill that the cave was located in, there were various communication dishes. Between a few of the craigie hills to the left he could just make out the beginning of a thin winding path through the thick jungle.

        Surrounding the base were the rest of the Guard Towers, he could see the rest of his team making their ways up into position atop their own perches.

        Wynn was surprised, his tower was much taller than the others, towering up well above the treetops, the low hanging clouds seemed almost close enough to touch, whereas the rest of the towers were just above the trees and painted to blend in so well that it took him a minute to spot them all, regardless of that fact, the other platforms standing areas were much larger than his. They also appeared to all have small cannons mounted on their railings.

        'If I can see them, then they can DEFINITELY see me, I didn’t get sent up here just to stand here looking around, taking in the sights. I’d better get down to business ’ He thought to himself, wanting to make a good first impression.

        Looking out at the other towers to try to guess what to do first, he saw his fellow members of the cleaning crew; none of which were cleaning at all. 

        Lt. Onatoppa Daworld wasn’t doing much, she just looked really happy. 

        Lt. Hokka Loogy was leaning on his handrail looking down at something small falling from his tower to the ground below. 

        Lt. Hye R. Grund was polishing the rail mounted cannon with confidence. ‘At least Hye is cleaning something…’ Wynn thought as he turned toward the next tower.

        Lt. Duke Skystalker’s platform was the closest one to the Hangar, he was leaning over the railing, staring intently down at the forest floor near the entrance to the cave, Wynn followed his gaze and saw two women speaking to each other, the one from the cave earlier dressed in tan clothing holding a staff, the other in darker colours with an interesting hairdo.

        They spoke for a few minutes, then the older lady retreated into the cave while the one in tan walked over towards the Falcon, which was finalizing its repairs from its last flight, the very same ship Wynn had arrived on. 

        Lt. Duke Skystalker was still watching the girl in tan, now with the assistance of his binocs.

        “Guess she has a secret admirer” Wynn surmised.

        When Wynn shifted his gaze to the last of the six towers, it almost looked as if Maj. Richard Indawind was adjusting his belt. Richard noticed him looking and flashed an obscene gesture at Wynn.

        “I can see why everyone else calls him Dick…. Major Dick.” Wynn mused. “And I have a feeling he and the Privates HAVE been hanging out… Recently.”

        Wynn began to laugh to himself “I wonder if Duke was watching? 

        Was that why Onatoppa had been smiling? 

        Pretty sure Hye was only paying attention to his own gun and I bet Hokka didn’t really give a spit…” Having had a good chuckle, he focused back on his own Tower. “Guess I’ll have to make it up as I go.”

        Hitting the button and with a twist of his wrist he deployed the bristles of the Nymhbus 2187. Since the crowsnest at the top of the pole was so small, he decided rather than just sweeping the perimeter, he would sweep the whole thing, railing and all. Just as he was getting into it he heard a craft takeoff and fly right past him as it quickly accelerated away out of sight. There was little to no time to get his binocs out and since Sgt. Fetton DeGrund had said AFTER you have completed the sweep, he figured it should be fine not to bother calling it in.

        A few minutes later he was finished sweeping and wondered what he was supposed to do next, wishing he were on one of the larger platforms that had more surface area to sweep.

        From the ground he had assumed his platform was bigger and would take some time to clean, and had only looked small due to its extreme height. He decided to use the time to get better acquainted with the small cluster of buttons on the control panel located on the outer side of his platform. There were two Comms buttons, below one of them was a dial numbered 2 - 6, there was also a switch for what he presumed controlled flood lights, and a repulsor lift control for when one wanted to return to the ground. The inner side of the bulwark were two tubes, one labeled ‘Hydrate’ and the other ‘Vac Tube’.

        ‘Those look awfully close together, if I ever need to use the Vac Tube, I had best be sure my aim is good….’ Wynn thought to himself, trying his best not to think too long about how good the aiming prowess of the previous person posted here had been. He shuddered at the disturbing thought, that despite his best efforts, still managed to creep into his mind.

        The hours dragged on slowly, aside from the one ship earlier, the only things in the air were birds, gliding hither and thither through the gentle updrafts searching the ground below for something to nibble on. By midday Wynn figured it was as good a time as any for a quick break. The small barrel shaped platform didn’t afford any space to sit down or stretch his legs, however being that Wynn was accustomed to sleeping in a stable, he had become remarkably good at making the best out of what he had. He had often gotten quite comfortable, wedging himself up in the cold, hard framework of trusses below the Canto Bight racetrack’s many bleachers. 

        He propped the Nymhbus 2187 against the railing and hopped up, swinging his legs over the side. With his backside now planted firmly inside the round opening, he leaned against his improvised backrest and had all the legroom in the world, quite literally. The deployed bristles of his broom conformed nicely between his shoulders as he rested his eyes for a moment. During that moment he heard another ship take off in a hurry, out of sight before he could twist around.

        Just then the comms speaker crackled to life.

        “Ground to Tower 1! Jr. Lt. Wynn Socc, do you read me? This is Sergeant Fetton DeGrund!” a somewhat tinny sounding voice exclaimed through the small speaker.

        The unexpected disturbance startled him, he quickly unwedged himself and got back into an upright position. Looking at the panel he saw one of the buttons had begun flashing on and off.

        “Yes sir, how may I help you sir?” he asked while holding the lit button.

        “Do you think you’re some kind of Gordelian?” the Sergeant demanded.

        “I’m not sure what you mean sir…” Wynn stammered “What IS a Gordelian?”

        “They’re just LAZY! What do you think you’re doing sitting down on the job? That tower is specifically designed to prevent that kind of behavior. This morning you didn’t report a craft, they said as they flew by they saw you sleeping! ” crackled the voice, the last part of the message hard to make out. “Now you’ve missed a second, Lt. Duke Skystalker  just reported you were laying down!”

        “Sorry sir, that’s right, This morning I hadn’t completed my sweep. Then I wasn’t sure what to do next, or when breaktime was…” he explained.

        “Hadn’t completed your sleep? So you admit it! You have an ongoing duty that should be done the whole time you are up there!” The Sergeant insisted. “You are to report any and EVERY craft or draft you detect. Coming or GOING !”

        “The platform is only so big, there is no more dirt. If it took the last guy all shift it’s surprising you hadn’t replaced them sooner…” Wynn couldn’t imagine what took the previous sweeper so long.

        “ DIRT ? What do you need dirt for? We will discuss this further tomorrow, I will be putting all of your hijinks in my report. General Organa is not going to like the sound of this one bit. Now get your act together and DO YOUR JOB !” with that the speaker went silent and the light ceased blinking. 

        Wynn decided to keep on his toes for the rest of the day, reporting even the slightest changes in wind direction. Just before he started to make his way back down to the forest floor and make room for his relief, who was below waiting to start their shift, there was a menacingly loud sounding howl from the sky above. Immediately bringing the binocs up to his eyes he zoomed in on the approaching craft. The viewfinder listed off various stats around the periphery of the reticle. It was showing transponder signals of multiple Firespray 31 Class Patrol and Attack Crafts approaching quickly, his heart began to pound. Ground to air turrets started spinning towards the sky attempting to lock onto the trespassing squadron, the other members of his team at the ready, with their finger on the triggers of their rail mounted cannons.

        Wynn closed his eyes for a second to calm his racing mind. A strange tranquil feeling came over him. With his eyes still closed he reached out and pressed the button for the comm link to inform the Base Command Station.

        “Single craft on approach, be advised, it's a Friendly. There is room for it near the southern landing pads, over.” He said peacefully.

        “Negative Tower 1, be advised we’re scrambling fighters immediately to intercept. Our sensors are clearly indicating multiple transponder signals, none of which are recognized as allies of the Resistance. And we are not expecting any guests today.” the crackly voice on the speaker stated. 

        Wynn opened his eyes, to his amazement a craft was now hovering directly in front of him, through the cockpit canopy he could see a small round face with a perplexed expression gazing at him through thick round goggles. Below there were a dozen people running toward the launch pads in their bright orange flight suits.

        “Base Command, sorry for the scare… Maz Kanata, requesting permission to land.” a sweet sounding female voice said calmly over the comm channel.

        Another female voice now filled the airways as the ship turned from Wynns tower towards the south end of the landing area “I should have known it was you.”

        “Yes, I believe you should have General Organa, I’m not sure if I’m more surprised that YOU didn’t, or that your young new Tower Sentry DID …” Maz replied thoughtfully.

Chapter Text

        Wynn slowly walked into the Mess Hall, his involuntary, early morning participation in the ‘remember that food game’ before roll-call had forced him to skip breakfast (Perhaps that was for the best considering where he had spent his day). 

        He was used to it of course, first bite of rations were normally near midday, AFTER all the Fathiers had had their fill of the cloned Vegetation exclusive of their planet of origin. It HAD to be cloned, someone had once explained when he was a young boy, their planet was only ever known to a very select few civilizations' upper ranks. Eventually after the Empire had taken control forcibly from any sepratist systems, Kamino was the only one left with the knowledge, and there had been no recent orders for more troopers. 

        To keep its location an absolute secret, they covertly gathered the best variety of genetic samples they could and never returned. They knew if they didn’t go back, no one could EVER follow. 

       They also adjusted the code just enough that external attempts at genetic duplication of their products were destined to fail, making it proprietary and further cementing their monopoly in that high priced niche of the galactic economy. 

        “WAKE UP!” Dex said loudly with a big grin as Wynn daydreamed “Well,,,,? How did it go?”

        “Something easy on the stomach please” Wynn asserted before Dex could once again test how much he could exceed the specified Max capacity of the Standard Military Issued plate. “I had a bit of a rough day”

        “Is that right, how so?” Dex asked while carefully selecting items known to soothe all stomachs, regardless of their physiological configuration.

       “Well, it was crappy right from the start. I was late and missed a couple  calls, then got in trouble for sitting down, the only thing seeming to gather dust was my Nymhbus 2187. Boring. I only saw one ship.” Wynn said as he noticed a girl a few spots back trying to hear the conversation, during his shift he had noticed her coming and going from the Base Command Center, she was seemingly someone of high import. Behind her was a remarkably unimpressed blond man with a short scruffy beard.

        “Where did they assign you?” Dex continued seeming more interested than warranted.

        “Tower #1.”

        “I KNEW IT! I had a feelin’ in my gut that you were the one that saved Maz Kanata's life. If not for your instinct they would have simply used ground turrets to blast her to bits. Your contradictory report of the situation created enough doubt to dispatch pilots to investigate instead. I told you you would climb the ranks fast, but Tower 1 is about the ‘highest’ position at this base one can get. One could say your station is above the Generals herself!” Dexter laughed as he handed Wynn his first reasonably portioned plate.

        Wynn took his plate to a vacant table wishing to be alone. Despite Dexter Jettsters enthusiastic spiel, he couldn’t help but feel the day had been a complete wash. The sooner he could forget about it and plan to try to start fresh tomorrow the better.

        The girl from the line approached with the man. “Mind if I join you?” she asked, to Wynn’s utter surprise.

        “Absolutely!” Wynn said perhaps a bit too excitedly, as he rose to his feet to greet her.

        “But Kaydel, you told me we could eat together.'' There was just a slight accent, almost reminiscent of an Imperial Officer, as well as a very apparent tone of disappointment to his voice.

        “And we can Beaumont, there are plenty of seats at this table.” as she began to sit down. “I heard you had an eventful day.” she continued with her gaze still fixed on Wynn.

        “You heard did you?”  Wynn blushed, suddenly embarrassed. Dex had been speaking rather loudly, he hoped she hadn’t caught the first part of the conversation “Aside from Segreant DeGrund’s angry criticism, and an exhilarating finale, it has been an otherwise loooong uneventful day, but it’s starting to look much better now...” 

        “I heard Maz and Leia talking. I think we need more Sentry Guards like you here on Ajan Kloss. It is a very important job you know. You seem intuitive and not too quick to ‘shoot first and ask questions later’, I like that.”

       Her phrases rattled inside his brain ‘Sentry Guard...? HERE on Ajan Kloss…? She thought HE was important?’ It was all becoming so clear to him now, he was coming to the realisation that his job might not be what he had first thought it was. Playing back earlier conversations since he had arrived, now with a new clarity.

       “Apparently not THAT intuitive, it sometimes takes quite a while for me to recognize a good thing, even when it is directly in front of me.” he admitted. “But on the rare occasion I recognise a good thing at first sight. I notice you have let your hair down, by the way. It looks very becoming...”

        Now it was Kaydels turn to blush “My name is Lt. Kaydel Ko Connix, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Jr. Lt. Wynn Socc, at your service, the base's Number One Tower Guard, it would seem...” he replied.

        They spoke throughout their dinner, Kaydel recanted a brief history of the wars, explained that Palpitine had somehow reappeared and what the Resistances plan was shaping up to be. Beaumont occasionally forced himself into the conversation whenever the topic of the Sith came up, it seemed to Wynn that, while Beaumont Kin seemed to be interested in Lt. Connix, he actually seemed more passionate about the Sith and their dark ancient lore.

        Everyone else who had been eating their dinners had gradually left the Mess Hall as they had been speaking, leaving just the three of them, as Dex started his clean-up. Beaumont nearly insisted on walking Kaydel out. Wynn said his goodbyes, he wanted to ask Dexter about a few things and was planning to give him an extra hand with the Mess Hall cleaning (not realizing how absurd that might sound to them, on a few different levels.) 

        “Well we should get together again sometime, perhaps next time somewhere with a more exciting view...” Kaydel offered, tilting her head towards Dexter as he failed an attempt of getting the back of his pants high enough.

        “Absolutely, I’ll look forward to it.'' Wynn beamed.

        They bid adieu and as his two new friends walked out, Beaumont looked back over his shoulder just at the moment Wynn reached out his hand. Beaumont watched in disbelief as the broom flew right into Wynn’s hand from roughly five feet away, he left to catch up with Lt. Connix with a very concerned look on his face.

        “Well, what’s on your mind?” Dexter asked as he started clearing the last of the tables that surrounded Wynn’s. “Thought I’d wait to do this section to give ya some privacy, until your new friends left.”

        “Thanks Dex, there is something I’m wondering about.. It seems as though ever since I arrived here I’ve been having the same dream every night, it started as just fogs changing colours, now it seems to have shadowy figures speaking throughout it. It begins with a cloud of purple light enveloping me, there is a powerful, loud, deep voice speaking but I can’t make out the words, then it changes to a light blue , a softer voice talking about steps. Then it changes to green , a strange sounding voice says ‘When the time comes, help you we will.’ Then just yellow , as it illuminates me at the end.” Wynn felt comfortable enough to share with Dex, hoping he had some more of his words of wisdom.

        “Well…” Dex said with a look of concern, “I guess I should watch how much Wroshyr Tree Cake you eat in the evenings…”

Chapter Text

        Wynn woke up extra early the next day, his heart swelling with pride knowing that he was now a Base Sentry Guard. Although his high position meant it was inevitable that he looked down on people, unlike his cruel stablemasters, when he looked down on people it was with admiration, intrigue and now he realised, to help protect them.. Having been cooped up in a stall of a stable during his free time in his past life, it was an amazing experience to be roosting in a nest looking down and around, taking in all the new sights from the sky. 

        Before going to sleep, he had decided that prior to his shift this morning, he would explore the path through the jungle that he had noticed while in his tower. He was accustomed to the labour intensive work that was required for the duties of maintaining the Fathiers stables and figured he would go for a quick run to work off some of his extra energy. He found it ironic that now that he was finally getting enough nourishment, that his workload had been reduced to simply standing in one spot. 

        He found the trailhead and started to jog along the path, the lush overgrown jungle was pleasantly cool with faint wisps of mist gently moving through the underbrush as if hiding from the sun. The large leaves and twisting vines that hung from above permitting a few sporadic beams of light to penetrate to the soft ground below. 

        As he moved along he came to a break in the forest canopy through which he could see a flock of birds flying past the red glow of t he gas giant Ajara, that his moon orbited around. 

        Below the gap in the foliage he found three downed trees, their stumps appeared to have been burnt but there were no signs of any fires in the brush surrounding them. The first two trees had a broken mechanical looking sphere between them, next to a sharpened stick and a length of red ribbon. Upon closer examination Wynn also found a handful of orange bolts below the third. He continued on past the felled trees, from behind him came a whirring sound and a sudden pain in his shoulder. Looking back he saw another of the mechanical spheres, this one flying erratically through the air towards him. A small beam of red light emitted from one of the spheres many lenses and struck him, this time in the stomach. The blast wasn’t much more than a shock, not powerful enough to injure, it was just more of a painful annoyance.

        “What laser brain would have installed this on a nice peaceful jogging trail?” Wynn wondered out loud. 

        Another blast, in an attempt to avoid the burning sensation, Wynn began to run. He enjoyed running and had often ran alongside the Fathier he shared the stall with between his feeding and cleaning duties. There was no way he could ever keep up but the Fathier seemed to enjoy matching his slower pace, as if amused by the clumsy two legged creature keeping it company. It was times such as that when he felt the most in tune with the majestic beasts.

        Another red flash, the blasts seemed to be getting more powerful with each subsequent shot. Wynn concentrated on the path ahead, his vision becoming like that of a tunnel. The sphere seemed to be lagging behind “Just a little faster” he coached himself on.  Up ahead was a large ravine with a single thick rope spanning the gap, tied to the trees on either side.

        He didn’t see it until he was right at its edge, now travelling much too quickly to stop or change direction he pushed off with all his might, envisioning one of the Fathiers on the track of training hurdles.

        To his surprise he found himself seemingly flying through the air, the jungle on either side becoming blurred. His tremendous leap ended quite abruptly as he collided with a tree on the opposite side of the ravine. He wondered how this was possible? The gap was at least twenty feet across and he had cleared it by a long shot. He began to wonder if the gravity on the moon was perhaps a bit inconsistent in some areas. 

        Another blast, impacting his leg this time, left him with no time to think. The floating ball now seemingly on a collision course with his still grounded body. Closing his eyes and bracing for the impact of another blast, Wynn instinctively raised his hand gesturing defensively to the side. He heard a crash and the sound of metal fragments falling amongst themselves. To his amazement the sphere's trajectory had drastically changed as it too struck a tree, fracturing its casing against the unforgiving trunk as its pieces fell onto the spongy mulch covered ground.

        Picking himself up and brushing off the soil from his clothes he ventured on, this time only walking down the path. He soon arrived at a tree stripped of its lower branches which had a red ribbon hanging at a considerable height compared to the forest floor.

        “Well aren’t you just full of surprises.” Maz Kanata was crouched down below the tree as if she had been expecting him to arrive.

        "I could say the same about you,” he replied.

        “Fair enough,” Maz nodded.

        "That ship of yours is quite the machine. I’ve never seen one quite like it.” Wynn said with admiration.

        “Yes, it would seem you weren’t the only one that it caught by surprise. The surface defences had me locked in their sights, thank you for identifying that I wasn’t actually a threat. How exactly did you know? That particular ship was entirely unknown to the Resistance.” She asked kindly.

        “It’s hard to describe, it was terrifying when you appeared, I closed my eyes and… well, it’s as though everything slowed down, I had the overwhelming feeling that you belonged here right now. That you meant no harm. That I couldn’t trust my eyes and ears… as though they were deceiving me somehow.… I know it must sound weird, it doesn’t entirely make sense to me either. Was like an instinct.” he explained hesitantly.

        “How was your trek here? It’s only a special few that can make it this far.” she inquired, seemingly changing the subject.

        “More challenging than I had expected, what’s with the laser balls?” 

        “It is a training path, the remotes are meant to test patience and control as well as speed and agility. It would seem that you possess at least one of the latter two traits. However there is still one more trial left to be done to complete the course, to retrieve the ribbon and make it back to the beginning. Seeing as you’ve already unceremoniously dispatched the remote, it’s just a matter of obtaining the ribbon, and walking an old woman back to her ship..’

         Wynn contemplated the situation, climbing the limbless base of the tree would prove to be too difficult, it was well above jumping height and there were no loose sticks in sight that could span the gap. “I have no time, I’m expected at my post soon, I’ll be hard pressed to make it on time as it stands already.”

        “I spoke with General Organa after I arrived yesterday. You have the day off, once you are finished meeting with me, she would like to see you at the Base Command Center. Sergeant Fetton DeGrund will be posting someone in your stead. Now then, back to it. That was quite the jump you made back there, the landing wasn’t great, but it was more than enough power for the crevasse. And you run remarkably fast, you just looked like a blur. How did you manage that?” Maz gently suggested.

        “That was different, and not intended, it just happened.”

        “It’s no different, only different in your mind, you need to let go of your conscious self. Be calm, at peace.”

        “That IS kinda what it felt like… Same as when you arrived.. But how?” Wynn couldn’t grasp the mechanism in how it had all happened.

        “It is The Force.” Maz stated matter of factly.

        “It couldn’t be, the people running the stable say only people like Luke Skywalker can use The Force, not someone like me…?”

        “The Force is an energy field that surrounds us, binds us. Do you see that rock? Well it’s chock full of The Force, everything is, including you and I, and the space in between, and I believe you have already proved that you are able to bend it to your will. You just don’t realise it while you’re doing it, you just need to learn to control it…. Allow it to flow through you.”

        He stared at her in amazement, not quite believing it could be true. With determination he looked up at the ribbon, crouched down and readied himself for the jump. With all the leg power he could muster he lept into the air, his body lifted off of the ground reaching the incredible height of about... A foot and a half, before gravity set in pulling him back down.

        “Would it help if I drew my blaster? I could shoot you a few times if that would be of assistance?” Maz playfully teased.

        “It might, but no, I would prefer that you didn’t.” Wynn replied, a bit embarrassed.

        “Clear your mind… Visualize what you are going to do… Just allow the flow..” she calmly coached.

        Wynn closed his eyes, pushed all the doubt out until there was only the task at hand left, the calm feeling came over him once more. Bending his knees he readied himself and jumped again. This time he left the ground at a much higher speed, the ribbon coming within reach rapidly. Wynn felt a sharp pain in his head, as it collided with the branch sending him reeling back down landing flat on his back.

        “Are you alright?” Maz couldn’t help but laugh a bit at the comical scene.

        “I…. I…. Think… So” Wynn said in a gasping groan, trying to pull the air back into his lungs. “Not sure I’d like to do that again”

        Closing his eyes again he lifted his hand, the ribbon swung gently in the breeze. Suddenly there was a loud cracking sound, he opened his eyes to see the ribbon descending toward him, still attached to the branch to which it was tied. Rolling himself to the side, the branch narrowly missed him, with only a few of the spindly branches striking him in the back, instantly bringing back memories of his cruel masters’ whips on Cantonica.

        Still laying on the ground he pulled the ribbon from the branch raising it up in Maz’s direction feeling sore and weary both physically as well as mentally. “Is that good enough, can we call it a day?”

        “Very well done!” Maz stated after experiencing the unexpected turn of events. “Rest for a bit, catch your breath.”

        Wynn took a few minutes and eventually rolled to his knees and slowly stood upright and said “Last time I had the wind knocked out of me like that, was when I fell off a Fathier on the training track..”

        “Fathiers? Perhaps it’s a good time for you to tell me your story” Maz suggested as she got to her feet “You can tell me all about it as you walk me to my ship.”

        They started walking back down the path, Wynn describing his life story and how he came to arrive at the jungle moon they were now on.

        “That explains a lot, I believe the Fathiers may have imbued you with some of their strength and speed, that would also explain your rapid growth in the past year as well. They have an almost precognitive ability to see a few seconds into the future, just as most fast moving animals do. You must have made quite the impression on them when you set them free.”

        “How can they be able to do that?” Wynn asked amazed

        “Also through their connection to The Force.” she answered as they traveled along the path. Once back at the trailhead Wynn collected his Nymhbus 2187 from the tree he had leaned it against in his regular, no look grab, Maz Smiled as she watched it fly into his outstretched  hand. They then continued their walk towards the landing area.

Chapter Text

        Once they arrived at her ship, Wynn and Maz stood for a moment and looked at the patched together Firespray 31 Class Patrol and Attack Craft, both of them admiring the “Mad Katana”. Although it was her ship, she had as of yet not had a proper chance to see it in its entirety.

        It had been pieced together over the years from whatever salvageable spare parts were left over, you see in the past, the formidable bounty hunter Jango Fett had tracked down and destroyed as many of that particular craft’s model as he could find. Maz had had some of her many contacts throughout the galaxy be on the lookout and be at the ready, once Fett had struck, they’d hold back until he had left and then proceeded to round up any usable pieces whether they were strewn across the surface of a planet, or floating around in the soft cushion of space. Not every component had been recovered, some had to be made. It didn’t have all the armaments that the Fetts’ ship the “Slave One” had had, but it had its own considerably versatile sleeves, with plenty of its own tricks hidden up them. 

        One of which was a very versatile transmitter, capable of ghosting multiple unique transponder signals with many options for types of projected formations and in what locations relative to the Mad Katana, while at the same time masking the craft's own signature. This came in particularly handy when flying solo through hostile space, such as the route she had taken from Takadania back to the base on Ajan Kloss. 

        The reputation the Fetts had helped earn for this particular model type was good at deterring wouldbe pirates or raiders. To appear to be a whole squadron of them, well, not too many people would stick around long enough to discover it had been a ruse. 

        When Exegols mysterious location had become an important factor in the Resistance's plight, Maz had secretly headed back to Takadania to the site of her castle's ruins to check her OWN bank of coordinates and consult her mapper. The castle had been the main, but not only, building or item of value that the beautiful property beside the lake held. The small bunkers and caches on the outskirts of the castle walls were still full of wonders she had collected throughout her many years. 

        She had already had people working on getting the “Katana” flightworthy for quite some time, when the castle was destroyed, she had instructed them to double their efforts. This time, when she had arrived back at Takadania, she was delighted to learn that it was finally ready to go.

        On her approach she had simply forgotten to disable the special transmitter.

        “Earlier you mentioned Fathiers using The Force, I don’t understand, I was always under the impression that they weren’t even sentient…?” Wynn inquired.

        “Sentient, no, intune with The Force, yes. Now mind you, there won’t ever be any Jedi Fathiers, but it does allow them the abilities they require to not bash into objects when traveling at their top speeds. Upwards of 70km per hour, isn’t it?”

        “Yes, some even a bit faster.” Wynn confirmed.

        “I always enjoyed watching them race anytime I frequented Canto Bight. Beautiful, graceful animals that they are.” Maz reminisced. 

        “You’ve been to Canto Bight?” He asked, surprised.

        "Yes many times throughout my years. There is a remarkably handsome man that I would visit there, whenever I had the need to break a code.” Maz seemed lost in a memory as she smiled silently for a moment, coming back to reality she continued, “Anyways, well done today, although it was clumsy, you got the first iteration of that course completed, to simply retrieve the ribbon. The master level requires the participant to remain undistracted by the remotes while defensively deflecting all of the remotes shots to safe trajectories. Not letting anger or fear cloud the objective of retrieving the ribbon in a peaceful way, attack being an absolute last resort, not hoped for.” 

        “Deflecting?” Wynn didn’t understand.

        “Oh yes, I forgot to mention, normally people running the course are equipped with a Lightsaber. Considering you didn’t even bring your weapon along and still managed to go the distance is impressive in itself.”Maz smiled.

        “Oh, it’s not a weapon it’s ah..”

        “I know exactly what it is, kid, this is a Nimhbus 2-1-8-7. Saved a lot of peoples skins this has.” Maz said reaching out for it.

        Wynn handed her the seemingly innocent looking broom. She pushed a button, twisted the middle section, then turned an inconspicuous dial. The Nimhbus 2187 violently exploded with blue plasma and sparks before settling to a steady light blue humming glow, as larger fingers of electricity danced throughout the bristles. Maz lifted it above her head, then swung it through the air, the Nimhbus howling and whining with each stroke of the choreographed martial routine.

        She stood still and explained “This is a weapon from a time where weapons were strictly forbidden, those who wanted to maintain their freedom and survival had to weaponize normal everyday objects of their vocation. Cleaning and farming implements lending themselves more easily to the task. They based this one on the effectiveness of static electricity to attract dust and debris, then cranked the power up to emulate an Imperial force pike or vibro-lance . Lets just say that some of the authorities were quite shocked, to learn of its stunning, true nature.”

        “You seem to know about a lot of things, how did you know where to find me? Or that I could use The Force?” 

        “I was with General Organa, we were discussing your actions during my unannounced early morning departure and more particularly, my return. That’s when Beaumont interrupted us about a possible Sith in our ranks. Apparently you made quite the impression on him in the mess hall. 

        He told us: “Not only did this Wynn guy seemed to think he had been put on a pedestal, claiming he had the highest position on the base, he also obviously must have had some kind of mind control thing going on with Kaydel, not to mention the fact he can make brooms fly and he seems to deal in absolutes a lot!” 

        Once he had left us, we discussed putting your potential to the test, since she is quite busy with the First Order and all right now, she asked me to see how well you could do on the course, with little to no instruction as to the purpose. I thought I would have a hard time convincing you to try it. So when I saw you start the course on your own I just took the shortcut directly to the end.” she told him matter of factly. 

        “So then... I passed?” Wynn asked

        “That is not for me to say, my task is to simply pass on what I have observed of you to the General.” Turning back toward the ‘Mad Katana’ she concluded “Well thank you for assisting an old girl back through the jungle, Wynn. Now you can be on your way, your meeting with the General is later on, after the midday meal.” With that she ascended the ramp and went on board.

        Wynn’s stomach growled, the mention of midday meal got him thinking about breakfast, if he hurried he should still be able to get something to eat. He took one more look at the impressive ship, then turned and walked back toward the base.

Chapter Text

        When Wynn walked into the mess hall , he noticed that Tag and Bink were among the last few people left finishing their food, the rush was over for the morning meal so he was able to walk directly up to Dex who had already begun storing the unserved food away.

        “Wow, you look beat, rough sleep? Dreaming again?” Dex asked with concern.

        “No, well, yes, I did have the dream, but I slept well enough. No, I woke up early this morning and went for a jog on the path around the base. I was shocked at how much it beat me up. I hit a few trees on the way, but I got a ribbon for my trouble…” Wynn oversimplified.

        “Well, at least you participated eh?” Dex handed him a plate. “That should restore some of your energy, and here, a cup of extra strong Jawa Juice.”

        Wynn thanked Dex as he took his meal. Scanning the tables throughout the room, he decided to sit with the infamous duo.

        “Sooo, Dexter tells me that you two have gotten yourselves both into, (and out of) some pretty hairy predicaments.” he blurted out as he sat down. 

        "Well we have survived two Death Star explosions” Bink’s chest puffed up as he answered, surprised by the newcomer’s brashness, but proud of the fact that people were still talking about their legendary lives after all this time. 

        “Yeah, the first one we flew out of, just in the nick of time (after a few earlier failed attempts.) The second, well, that was when we were both disguised as Imperial Guards in the Emperor's chambers, all dressed in the long red robes. Well, we should have been promoted to captains! We went down with the ship!” Tag added. If there was one thing the two liked to do, it was to seemingly embellish upon the already fantastical stories they had shared so often, to anyone who’d cared to listen.

        “You were onboard the second Death Star when it blew up? That’s incredible, I can’t believe you survived!” Wynn exclaimed.

        “What do you mean? Apparently no one is surprised the Emperor survived, and he got thrown down a huge hole before the whole place blew up! Once he had gotten the shaft, we took turns sitting on his throne for a bit, commanding each other to ‘Do It!’ and saying some other quotes that seemed to be,, well,,  unnatural..., Once the warning alarms started sounding, we just hunkered down into the room to the left of his throne.” Tag explained.

        "Yeah, once the blast doors closed behind us sealing us in, Tag stood in a nearby doorway, and I crouched under a sturdy looking desk near a creepy lookin’ green, floating pyramid thing that had glowing red dots moving along the panels of its sides. Luckily the chunk of the base we were inside landed right side up when it splashed down into the ocean.” Bink continued.

        “Once we had emptied a few Bacta cans on our wounds and rested up a bit, we explored the wreck and eventually found a somewhat reasonably undamaged Tie fighter in a hangar that was still able to limp us out into space.” Tag finished the story. “I hear the A-Team is out there in the Millennium Falcon right now, looking for that very same room we sheltered in… Too bad we were on fire-watch duty at the smoldering freighter when they all had their meeting. The two of us could have probably saved them a lot of running around.” 

        “Sounds like you two were really lucky!” Wynn said in amazement.

        “In our experience, there’s no such thing as luck!” Bink replied grinning with an abundance of confidence, while pretending to brush some invisible dust off his shoulder.

        “Besides, wouldn’t it have been more lucky, had we not been on it at all…?” 

        Tag changed the subject, “We hear you’re having some kind of trouble yourself. High at work, talking about something dirty on the comms, lounging around, sweepin’ on the job. 

        Sgt. Fetton DeGrund was hovering around the Command Center, anxiously waiting to hand in the report about your conduct. Hear you even have to see the General now, because of it. Poor guy, we saw her straight up slap the last person she was upset with, and he was a Commander. I don’t wish to be in your space boots right now. You might need some luck.”

        Bink continued with some concern. “She got mad at him for facing down a Dreadnought all by himself in an X-wing. Some, well no, ALL of the bombers that showed up got destroyed, but not before blowing the massive Dreadnought up...” Tag interjected, “I wonder how much worse it would have played out if we hadn’t fixed all their transponders?”

        “How do you mean, what was wrong with the transponders?” Wynn asked curiously.

        “Well, they had gotten one of Maz Kanata’s shifty friends to ‘fix’ the transponders in all of the old B/SF-17 heavy bombers , the two of us checked out their work afterwards and found they had messed them right up. They were all scrambled, if not for us even the General herself wouldn’t have been able to track where they were in space. They would have had to rely wholly on their own lines of sight, flying sensor dark, in the tight formation they were planning to fly in, well, that could have been disastrous, bumping into each other and such, they might not have even made it to the target. Sadly, they didn’t make it home either way..   Any hoo..” With that Tag and Bink stood and said “Goodluck with the boss, new guy.” and went on their way chuckling a bit to themselves while they left the mess hall.

        Wynn was getting noticeably nervous about his upcoming meeting. The conversation with the older fellas hadn’t helped with that at all. He recalled one of the earlier conversations he had overheard them having as he reached his hand in his pocket, rolling the orange tube between his fingers. He began to think he might just need somewhere or something to ease his nerves for a bit..

He stood, calling out thanks to Dex. Still wondering about the things he had experienced earlier in the day, Wynn stared at his broom, focusing, as it leaned against the next table. Reaching out his hand in the same way as he always had, this time he watched as it hopped up in the air and over into his grasp. Startled, he let go, dropping it. Just before it impacted the floor he regained his focus, holding his outstretched hand parallel to the floor.

The Nimhbus 2187 wobbled as it floated in place for a few seconds, stabilized and started to ascend into his waiting hand. A bit lightheaded from focusing so intently, Wynn smiled to himself. Although it had taken a bit out of him afterwards, he had just blown his own mind, amazed with what he had just done. It hadn’t even smacked him in the head or anything. 

It was a dreary day outside and looked as if it could start raining at any moment. Wynn found a small clearing near the base surrounded by large ferns, with trees bearing massive leaves stretching out above it, potentially blocking out any eventual rain. Wynn sat on a large stone, pulling the glowing orange tube out of his pocket to examine it closely for the first time since picking it up. There were no visible instructions, markings or even any apparent way to open the small clear cylinder. Finding himself focused on an irrelevant quandary helped with his nerves all on it’s own, he surmised that it was likely a container that inserted into some type of dispenser. 

Once he had finally decided to return it to his pocket, he fumbled his fingers and watched as the vial slipped from his tenuous grasp and dropped down onto the stone, exploding into a small cloud of bright orange vapour. Instinctively reaching down to catch the already lost container, Wynn’s face entered the last wisps of the quickly dissipating mist. His eyes instantly burned and his lungs felt as though they had been lit on fire. 

And then nothing, no mentionable emotions or feelings at all, all the fear, doubt, hate, had left him, but also along with all the confidence, aspiration and sense of meaning. He felt as though he were shrouded in a warm floating cloud, only partially connected to his body, surreal. Brilliant colours seemed to emanate from his surroundings as if they were now glowing. 

Being disoriented and not liking this new, unintended condition he found himself in, he clumsily picked up his broom and slowly stumbled back towards the bunks aboard the Tantive IV in an attempt to try and sleep it off. Hoping the Jawa Juice from earlier would help to counteract the unwanted effects more quickly, Wynn slowly found his way to his bed. He felt himself start to lose consciousness even as he began to fall for what seemed like forever onto his waiting bed below him.

This time the dream was cold and dark, the only signs of the purple, blue, green and yellow was in the colour of the lightning strikes in the far distance, the voices faint like nearly inaudible thunder.. Then a deafeningly loud, sinister, cackling laughter coming from close behind him...

Wynn woke up with a start, sweat trickling down his forehead. He had slept right up to midday, it was time to face the music and see the boss. 

He stood up and got himself as presentable as he could, still feeling very strange. As he walked by his broom, he reached out his hand as per normal. His hand closed around... nothing. The Nimhbus 2187 remained sitting as still as a sarlacc in the corner, making no signs of movement despite his outstretched hand and repeated attempts to focus. 

A bit taken aback, he picked up the broom and walked out into the lightly drizzling rain. He couldn’t help but wonder if he would be getting slapped in the face, or on the back, according to the various people he had spoken with yesterday & today, the rumours regarding him seemed to be coming from vastly different points of views.

Chapter Text

        It had begun to rain and there was a tense uneasiness at the Command Center, Wynn’s feelings of being able to take on the First Order all by himself from early this morning were gradually returning and his eyes were beginning to perceive the world more normally, the kaleidoscope of superfluous colours slowly becoming subdued. His nervousness about the eminent meeting once again settling in. He saw Kaydel speaking to the General, the resemblance was remarkable, at dinner if she hadn’t told him Kylo-Ben was Leia’s only child, he would have put money on Kaydel being the General's daughter. They both seemed to share the same graceful yet powerful presence, with a high level of dignity and decorum.

        Kaydel noticed Wynn and spoke into the General's ear while indicating his direction. General Organa pointed as if to ask “Him?” then began to approach Wynn with regal determination, her gaze appeared solemn but dignified.  

        “So I finally get to meet our mighty Sith infiltrator.” her stern glare softening to a warm smile. “Don’t mind that Beaumont, he once thought his own shadow was a Sith because it always seemed to be on the dark side. He’s well studied in their lore, but often people see what they set out to, even when it’s not really there.” 

        “Yes, I can absolutely assure you, I’m no Sith .” Wynn stated.

        “Careful young man, those are two of Beaumonts main trigger words.” she half whispered, gently jabbing an elbow into his ribs.

        “Now down to business, I’m short on time. Through various stories I’ve heard about you, I have pieced together the following tale. You covertly stowed away with an archaic weapon aboard one of my ships while the Commander of my fleet piloted it, evading not only him, but two droids, an ex-stormtrooper, an admittedly clueless slug and a Wookie. Your bio-scan says you are younger than you presented yourself to be, you appreciate a clean work environment, apparently aren't afraid of heights and have an uncanny sense of character even in the face of ominous appearances. According to Maz, you are quick as well, but clumsy and seem to prefer using your head when attempting to complete tasks, a bit too literally, perhaps. 

        You aren’t fully aware of the potential you possess inside you but have demonstrated a good base set of skills. You are a bit too easily confused regarding even the slightest minutia in conversations, but have a natural affinity with working with animals and conveying a sense of trust into them.” She spoke with wise, kind and truthfully insightful conclusions. 

        “That sounds about right. So what now?” Wynn was relieved to realise there would be no slaps coming his direction from this poised, and gracious leader of the Resistance.

        “Show me this special way you retrieve your broom I’ve heard about so much.”

       Wynn placed the Nimhbus 2187 a few feet away and closed his eyes, the effects of the orange vial still hindering his grasp of The Force. He reached out with his mind and hand, the broom shuddered and fell with a clatter onto the floor.

        “Well, it did move... I had hoped it would have taken more to impress Maz so much this morning. Perhaps just nerves, or performance anxiety? Now then, there remains the issue of your age… you are technically too young to serve actively in the Resistance. However I don’t like the idea of just dropping you back off, into bondage, unless you were to request it outright. So the safest, most suitable position for you would be back up on the Sentry Tower.” 

        “So head back to your post in the morning, we don’t have any stables here to tend and you did seem to do well enough on the post, once you understood you weren’t the janitor, that is… If the need for an animal controller with a proclivity for covert infiltrations at high elevations comes up, you’ll be the first we think of.” Looking back at the Command Centers many displays the General stated “Now I need to focus on other, more distant things, once things settle back down I’ll consider finding an appropriate person to train you further in the ways of The Force, for now practice your control.” With that she turned and left Wynn to attend to her other obligations.

        “Well you seem to have made a good first impression with her.” Kaydel said as she walked with him to the entrance of the cave. “The Falcon is arriving at Kef Bir (The planet the second Death Star crashed upon). The General needs to focus entirely on what she can sense there.” She stopped and turned “I also need to get back myself. Have a goodnight.”

        Wynn sat at the mouth of the large cave for a while, near the spot he had seen the girl in tan reading her books. Once his head was finally fully rid of the side effects of the vapours he had contacted earlier, he stood, held out his hand and felt a flow of The Force and a feeling of relief when the Nimhbus contacted solidly within his grip.

        As he started to venture out towards the rain soaked jungle for a walk, he overheard a solemn Maz explaining to the R2 unit that had watched the Wookie adjust the holo-chess Porg, that all seemed to have been so long ago now. 

        “Leia knows what must be done, R2. To reach her son now… Will take all the strength.. she has left…”

        R2 let out a soft tone, the pitched lowering sadly as Wynn looked over to see Kaydel now assisting the saddened and weary General back towards her private quarters.

        Wynn quietly made his way back to the clearing he had found earlier and sat, fondly remembering his few moments with the kind leader of the Resistance that he had gotten the privilege to experience. 

        While the mood around the base was suspenseful and tense, Wynn thought it was as good a time as any to practise his control of The Force. He focussed on manipulating his trusty broom, from here to there, one side of the small clearing to the other. It had begun raining quite heavily now, he reached out his mind, towards the large broad leaves above, gently pushing them upward and to the side, permitting the warm heavy rain to fall on his face.

        He suddenly was overcome by a feeling of great sadness through the flow of The Force, not only of someone here on the Base, but also others, in a distant place. One in pain physically and the other was plagued by sadness, guilt and doubt.

         The leaves above swung back to their positions over the clearing, releasing one last deluge of drops down around him. The more he practiced, the less weary he felt afterwards.

          As he made his way back to the shelter of the hangar, he couldn’t help but get the feeling he was in for something of great scale, about to happen in the very near future.

Chapter Text

        When Wynn returned  to the hangar he could hear the sounds of multiple people quietly crying and consoling each other. There was a very sad gloom to the air, as the sound of rain beating against the cliffs and trees could be faintly heard from outside. In the short amount of time that Wynn had been gone, her task had, in fact, taken the last of the General’s strength, she had quietly passed while attempting to save her distant son's life. 

        On the way to his own bunk, he noticed Maz, Rose, R2-D2, Kaydel and Beaumont had gathered along with a few others at the General's bedside, paying their respects to the late Princess, while more people sadly watched from a distance.

        That night was quiet, there was little to no idle chit chat between bunks, no late night jokes, shenanigans or laughs. Wynn curled up below his blanket, replaying in his mind the dramatically contrasting events and emotions, from the exciting hope filled challenges of the beginning, to the sad conclusion of his day, as well as the psychedelic confusion during the middle.

        He closed his eyes, soon drifting into a deep sleep.

        This time the dream was more vivid than ever. The purple light showing the silhouette of a tall powerful man with a smooth head. Wynn still couldn’t make out the words, but he seemed to be yelling about something. The silhouette contained in the light blue cloud was less tall and had a beard, he was talking about taking steps again, the voice seeming young and old simultaneously. The green light was exposing the silhouette of someone of much smaller stature, repeating the same message as it had before. The Yellow light now seemed somehow dimmer, with tinges of red, as if unsure. He then heard the same menacing laughter, but this time seeming to come from a great distance below, traveling amongst the growing wind.

        Wynn awoke and quietly conducted his morning routine, preparing for his day while trying his best to give people some distance as they too, somberly readied themselves. 

        The mess hall was much quieter than usual, with only the sounds of cutlery contacting numerous plates. Wynn finished his meal and after thanking a distraught Dexter, made his way to the morning roll call.

        Once up in his tower again, he looked over the scenery. The light of the morning was subdued from low hanging clouds along the horizon, a spectrum of soft pinks, reds and yellows, as if the very moon too was mourning the loss. 

        Between the visual sweeps of the sky and perimeter of the base below, Wynn practised holding his Nimbus 2187 steady a few yards beyond his railing. He was becoming fairly proficient at it and decided to broaden his field of focus. While maintaining the slow orbit of the broom around his high perch, he looked down as, once again, Lt. Hokka Loogy leaned over his railing watching a small object falling towards the ground below. He smiled watching the sheer astonishment on Hokka’s distant face as the object's descent slowed to a stop and then proceeded to return to the height of the shorter tower and begin a similar circular pattern around him, matching the way Wynn’s broom was rotating around him.

        Just then the Millennium Falcon flew down into view, there was also a large Landing Craft following behind it. Wynn immediately pressed the comms button to report the arriving ships. As the Falcon made its landing down on the pad, Wynn watched as three of the same occupants from his journey here made their ways down the still lowering ramp. Poe, Finn and Chewbacca were intercepted by a woman as they walked towards the Command Center with what looked to be an urgent purpose to their steps. 

        The woman appeared to be speaking to them as they passed her, then the three of them stopped in their tracks and simultaneously turned to face the woman. The Wookie then let out a heartbreakingly pained roar as he fell to his knees on the ground below an orange X-wing, as Poe ineffectually tried to console the distraught beast, but it was to no avail.

        The rest of the day consisted of people readying for what turned out to be a very moving memorial service. (There were plans for a much grander one in the future on one of the planets closer to the Core.) By the sheer number of grieving people who gave their renditions of the General’s great and vast achievements, celebrating her strong convictions and beliefs, it was obvious to Wynn that the General had touched countless lives across the galaxy, and perhaps even of others, far, far away...

        The proceedings were cut short upon receiving reports and distress signals from the Kijimi system. The First Order had utilized one of their numerous newly obtained Planet killing Star Destroyers to decimate the planet with its ventrally mounted superlaser cannon. The worrisome prospect of all ships being similarly equipped began to sink in as Poe, the new Acting General listened to a galaxy wide transmission declaring the beginning of ‘The Final Order’.

        Once Wynn had completed his shift, he happened to pass by Poe, sitting quietly beside the body of the late General, almost at the edge of tears.

        “I gotta tell you I, don't really know… how to do this. What you did, I-I’m not ready.” Poe said with difficulty to the silent form laying on the bed. 

        “Neither were we. Luke, Han, Leia, me. Who’s ever ready?” Lando said as he walked towards the bed attempting to inspire the young new leader of the Resistance.

        “How’d you do it?” Poe asked him “Defeat an Empire with almost… Nothing?” Poe, now standing up to approach the old wartime General who had led all those many ships during the assault on the second Death Star, so long ago.

         The wizened old man replied “We had each other. That's how we won”.  

Chapter Text

        The recent rain had brought with it a number of various flying insects, the increased moisture awakening them out from their dormant states. They started to appear in small swarms throughout the Jungle. Wynn skirted around one of them as he left Lando and Poe to their conversation. The last thing he had overheard was that Lando was planning to head to allied worlds in an attempt to convince the fleets of large battle cruisers to help. Something bugged Wynn about the plan...

        Wynn had heard rumours that the landing craft that had accompanied the Millennium Falcon contained a number of long haired Orbaks, a genus with a common distant relation to the Fathiers he had become so fond of on the planet of Cantonica. Curious, he made his way toward the landing area to investigate further.

        The herd of Orbaks was very uneasy, the fact that they were unaccustomed to space travel and now had to contend with all the new smells and sounds of this strange moon surrounding them, had put them all on edge. The people trying to lead them out of the ship so it could be cleaned properly were having visible difficulty controlling the still saddled mounts. 

        He approached one of the spooked shaggy animals and gently placed a hand on its long smooth skinned face. He could feel it calming down with his gentle touch. Reaching out with his mind, he closed his eyes and allowed The Force to flow through him, painting pictures with it of the rolling hills and sandy beaches of Cantonica, then a group of racing Fathiers at full gallop, vying for first place on a Canto Bight raceway and finally of he and his stall-mate slowly running beside each other playfully.

        Feeling a sense of calm and curiosity permeate throughout the group of animals he opened his eyes. To his complete amazement, he was entirely surrounded by the large group of tall, tusked faced beasts, all trying to get close enough to see this strange small man with whom it now seemed to them, to be so familiar. 

        Jannah approached, weaving her way through the now crowded area to Wynn.

        “I’ve never seen them take to someone so quickly.” Jannah was legitimately impressed.

        “They usually are nervous around strangers.”

        “I’ve worked with similar animals my whole life, guess I’ve got the knack.” Wynn offered as a quick explanation in the hope he could avoid needing to explain something he didn’t fully understand himself.

        Finn arrived soon after, looking for Jannah. They had a lot in common, both having been taken as young children to be trained as Storm Troopers, and eventually taking their opportunities to defect from the ranks of the First Order. 

        “You never see a speeder get spooked like that.” he said, trying to add a relatable segue to the conversation. “And they don’t need fuel when you're not using them.”

        Jannah punched him on his shoulder, knowing he was just trying to get a rise out of her, he knew full well how much she enjoyed riding the Orbaks.

        “Yes,” Wynn started to agree, “But these fellas aren’t made of metal, radar doesn’t detect them as easily, and if they get shot, they don’t blow all their occupants up…”

        Finn looked at Wynn, “Have we met? You look a bit familiar.” 

        “And they can’t get jammed by signals or grounded by magnetic shielding.” Jannah offered. 

        “You two have some good points,” Finn said, now appearing to be deep in thought. “What’s say, you and I get a bite to eat and discuss this more?” Finn said, now directing all of his attention on Jannah.

        “I thought you’d never ask.” she replied, offering her arm, she started heading with him in the direction of the mess hall.

        As they left, one of the swarms of bugs flew into the area, unsettling some of the Orbaks. Wynn watched as one particularly insect covered Orbak reared on its hind legs and ran off down the path, nearly colliding with Lando Calrissian as he approached.

        “What was that thing’s problem?” he asked Wynn.

        “If there are enough small bugs, they can overwhelm even the largest, most fearsome beast.”

        “Hmmmm, and they’re hard to shoot too….” He said, contemplatively. “Have you seen that Jannah girl?” Lando asked, “I noticed her earlier, she seemed somehow familiar to me... and if she isn’t, I’d like her to be..”

        “She just headed to the mess hall.” Wynn replied.

        “Then so will I.” He said coolly as he headed back to the base.

        Wynn stayed with the Orbaks a little longer and helped to keep them calm and together while an enclosure was built utilizing the terrains thick vegetation, the small rocky outcrops as well as the thin logs that lined the jungle floor, to close in the sections where there were no natural boundaries, it wasn’t much, but it would suffice until the ship had been cleaned and restocked. 

        Feeling hungry himself now, Wynn also headed to the mess hall to see what Dexter had cooking tonight. When he arrived he found Rose Tico sitting alone, looking at a small holo-viewer with all the information that had been gathered about the new fleet of Planet Killing Sith Star Destroyers. Which actually didn’t amount to much, no schematics, specs or blueprints, Just the few testimonials of what had happened in the Kimiji system and a single picture taken from long range, from a craft presumably escaping the new menacing piece of machinery.

       She was eating a creamy frozen dessert, in the hopes it could help console her during this time of loss that still presented the need for solutions to difficult problems that could just not wait, frustratedly she threw her hands in the air.

        “How am I supposed to find a weakness using only examples of these ships' unmistakable superiority?” she asked rhetorically. 

        Wynn had caught glimpses of her during his time here, but until now, had had no good opportunities to say hello. He placed the ring on the table in front of her while at the sametime sliding the small lever to open the face of the it, exposing the hidden Rebel emblem.

        “Sometimes the answers are close by, just temporarily hidden out of sight.” Wynn told her, hoping to inspire new hope that she could figure the perplexing problem out. Rose picked up the ring, instantly recognizing it as the one she had owned previously.

        “I didn’t expect to see this again, where did you get it?” she demanded.

        “It was a gift, from a kind girl who found the solutions to her problems hidden within a Fathier stable on Cantonica…” Wynn answered.

        Rose thought back to her and Finn’s adventurous romp through the posh city. The plan had been a long shot, and ultimately their gamble hadn’t paid out as planned, in that rich town known for its casinos.

        “Wow, you have grown up fast! How did you end up here?” Rose asked excitedly of the friend she had made over a year ago.

        “Well once you gave me this ring, I dreamed of joining up with the Resistance, when the opportunity arrived, I took it.” Wynn answered distractedly, as he watched one of the larger insects from outside now circling around his head. The bug landed on his shoulder, ‘SMACK’ he attempted to swat the bug, but had only grazed it, it flew off noticeably disoriented. 

        “Oh the poor thing!” Rose exclaimed, standing up she followed the bug, it was now flying erratically, bumping into things as it went. It came to rest on another table nearby. Gently cupping it in her hands she brought it back to Wynn. Wynn, taking it into his own hand, looked at the little creature, one of its antennae was damaged.

        “With its antenna out of whack, it doesn’t seem to know which way is up.” Wynn observed. “Ouch!” Seemingly recognizing it’s earlier attacker the insect drove its stinger deep into Wynn’s hand, then dropped, more than it flew, to the table below.

        “Let’s take it outside, so it can be free.” Rose had a soft spot when it came to creatures being mistreated. Wynn decided not to fill her in on the particulars resulting from the last time this line of thought had occurred to her.

        “I’m afraid there is no point, once a stinger gets damaged, the bug is sure to die..”

        Seemingly generating an idea Rose jumped up!

        “That’s it!” She excitedly gave him a hug and quickly ran out the door.

        As he headed back to the Base Command Center he passed by a still doubtful Poe, he slapped him on the back confidently and told him “We’re going to do this!”

        Wynn’s encouraging words reminded Poe of when he and Finn were attempting to escape the First Orders flag ship. They were nearly the exact words he had told the nervous defecting Storm Trooper. Poe’s shoulders went back as his posture changed from one full of doubt to that of a confident leader.

        The next morning Finn went to the area that Rey had often gone to read her books, there was a small droid poking around through some assorted metal objects spilling from a toolbox onto the floor. Upon inquiring Finn came to the realisation that the little droid was holding a substantial amount of information about the mysterious world of Exagol in its memory bank. When Finn brought this to Poe’s attention, they proceeded to plug the small droid into a nearby nav station, they were dismayed to learn the route travelled through massive gravity wells, magnetic cross fields and strong solar winds.

        Elsewhere on the base R2 had started chirping and whistling excitedly. C3-P0, having just had his memory restored by the blue little astromech, accompanied R2 to the Command Center exclaiming that they had come across a signal from Luke Skywalker’s X-wing. It was presumed that Rey was sending course marker signals from it as she navigated through the treacherous Unknown Regions of space on her way to Exagol.

        Poe gathered his top Generals and Command staff, once they had finalized a plan, they conducted a large meeting with everyone posted at the base in attendance. Wynn was surprised that he had gotten such a good vantage point for the meeting, he was close to the Wookie, within ten feet of the New Acting General as he began the briefing. The meeting had hardly started when Klaud waddled up and planted himself directly in front of Wynn, seemingly still unaware of Wynn’s existence. As the plans were communicated to the large group, Wynn tried to lean to the left and right attempting to see past the oblivious orange slug who almost seemed to be intentionally swaying back and forth, impeding his view.

        Once Poe and Finn had finished their inspirational speeches the base became a bustle of activity, people running around finalizing the preparations. 

        Wynn was tasked with Tower Duty again, with the large number of ships about to take off there was a great need for an eye in the sky ensuring the crafts had room to maneuver. He had also been requested to record the deployment of the fleet with a holo-cam. The request had come directly from General Poe Dameron himself, believing that the visual of the Resistance forces rising to the occasion might be helpful in convincing people throughout the galaxy to do what they could to contribute to their shared plight.

        Before ascending the tower Jannah had pulled him aside, she informed him that she had put in a request to Poe that Wynn travel along with them to help keep the Orbaks calm and ready for the eminent battle. The Landing Craft housing the Orbaks was scheduled to be one of the last vessels to depart, hopefully giving him enough time to assist launching the bulk of the armada and still not be left behind.

        It was an amazing view from above the base, people scurrying around below, readying supplies and filling the various crafts with armaments and fuel, flipping the large switches that controlled the docking clamps of the largest vessels and doing last minute systems checks. 

        Finally the time to depart had come.

        Wynn readied the holo-cam, the first craft he recorded taking off was the Millennium Falcon, keeping it steady in the viewfinder, Wynn followed its course, panning the camera to the left. As it disappeared into the distance, more crafts were rising from the thick jungle into the frame, panning slowly to the right as their silhouettes passed in front of the setting sun and then joined the now airborne Tantive IV as it brushed against the treetops slowly gaining altitude and disappearing into the distance. Wynn kicked himself, realising a bit too late that he could have used The Force to control the camera, that way he and his tower could have been included in the video.

        The time had come, Wynn hurried down to the waiting Transport. Once onboard he transmitted the newly shot footage to the Millenium Falcon, and made his way to the cargo bay where the Orbaks and troops waited in anticipation of the imminent ground assault on Exagol.

Chapter Text

        Wynn checked in with the scittish Orbaks, with all the weaponry, equipment and additional regiments of troops, the ship was now quite cramped. He ensured all the food troughs were full and set to calming the beasts while they travelled through hyperspace.

        The animals seemed as though they were doing well enough, he headed towards the forward end of the ship. They had already come out of hyperspeed, a red glow flowing down the corridor from the cockpit. The craft was bobbing and weaving through a maze of floating debris.

        Wynn could see Finn sitting beside the pilot through the open cockpit airlock. Once clear of the red fog, there was just one more short jump into hyper-space and they would reach their destination. The light blue tunneling vortex of hyper-space slowly rotated, hypnotically through the windows of the cockpit, then stopped abruptly, the distant stars turning from the long straight motion lines back to their regular pin point appearances.

        There was a blanket of Star Destroyers, two deep, floating in the atmosphere above Exagol’s surface, as though insulating it from the cold reaches of space. A barrage of green laser fire surrounding the Landing Craft. 

        Wynn faintly heard the words “Whoa, Damn it! Welcome to Exagol!” over the busy comms channels. 

        The coordinates were set, they just had to get through the thick layer of Star Destroyers to reach their target, a ground based navigation link, antenna tower. The thought was that without its external assistance, the fleet would be unable to effectively mobilize. As they closed in on the destination, now visible through the cockpits glass, the tower went dark, the triangular arrays, lowering.

        "Call off the ground invasion” Poe’s voice said on the comms.

        Finn, gazed out the window at a large dark silhouette “The signal’s coming from that Command ship. That’s our drop zone.”

        “How do you know?” Jannah asked.

        Finn looked deeply into Jannah’s eyes and in a lowered voice simply said “...I feel it.”

        Wynn felt it too. Knowing that they would soon be landing, Wynn made his way back to the loading bay. The Orbaks excitedly stamping their hooved feet on the durasteel deck plates.

       Rose came running in from the cockpit quickly finding Beaumont and Kaydel in the crowded space, she was followed closely by Jannah and Finn who made their way to the front of the group to mount their Orbaks.

        In the crowd he could barely hear Maj. Richard Indawind proclaiming “Watch out Emperor! I believe the forecast is calling for golden showers..”

      The Landing craft swiftly set down on the port forward outer deck of the large Star Destroyer. The riders were all mounted and everyone was facing the wide ramp at the ready. The front bulkhead rotated downward and the race was on. 

        The ensuing stampede of long faced shaggy beasts was off like a shot, quickly starting to close the   distance  to   the glowing antenna array, with BB-8 leading the charge.

        Those without an Orbak to ride remained  close  to  the  Landing  Craft, defending it from the numerous Sith Troopers starting to emerge from the Final Order Troop Carriers now also landing on the outer decks of the giant ship. 

       Out front of the large group of foot soldiers was Kaydel, fearlessly charging toward the hovering Star Destroyer’s regiments of Sith Troopers, with Rose and Beaumont following closely behind, Wynn bringing up the rear as he dodged the incoming fire. They slowly drove the front lines away from their waiting craft. 

      A chain reaction of explosions could be seen in the distance, starting below the transmission tower, each successive blast drawing nearer to the mission's target. It appeared that Finn and Jannah had been successful. The last explosion ending in a rather anticlimactic fashion, simply causing the tower lights to fade to blackness as the triangular arrays drooped, lifelessly. The signal had been successfully deactivated. 

        The call for the ground forces to return to the Landing Craft was sent out, Rose told Finn on a com-link to return but he replied that the massive ship was simply resetting its systems and he planned on taking the whole ship down by jury rigging a surface cannon to fire on the Command Deck above.

        Things were looking even more bleak for the remaining struggling fighter pilots above, the defending Tie fighters and heavy barrage of Ion cannon fire from the multitude of Star Destroyers diminishing their already small number of Resistance crafts, Poe watched helplessly as his forces were picked off one by one, he could hear their plaintive cries as their ships plummeted onto the unforgiving hulls of the menacing fleet. In a last ditch effort, the remaining crafts regrouped and focused their fire on one of the Destroyer’s Super-Lasers. 

        Back on the Star Destroyers surface, Rose watched as a volley of laserfire cascaded around Kaydel, causing her to lose her footing and drop to her knee on the hard hull plating. Rose ran to pick her up, helping her back to the Landing Craft. Wynn had stayed near the front lines hoping to provide cover as Rose, Kaydel and Beaumont made their ways back onboard the already powered up Troop Carrier, he found himself pinned down, unable to follow. 

        He suddenly remembered Mas’ demonstration with his broom, closing his eyes he let The Force flow through him, activating his Nimhbus 2187 to its highest setting, Wynn set off in a blur speed, appearing as an electrified glowing cloud as he ran at the highest speed he could, while flailing the charged bristles into any Troopers he passed, Having swept the perimeter faster than even he had thought possible, he began to plan his retreat. 

        Now even further from the eminently departing vessel he had arrived on, he turned back towards it, travelling at an even higher speed, the structures of the Destroyer morphing into a passing blur of blue, black and grey. Seeing he was now much closer to the still waiting ship, he knew he would make it onboard before it departed.

        His foot glanced off of one of the many red clad Sith Troopers lying lifelessly on the deck, sending him hurtling headlong into one of the many raised structures littering the open deck he had been running along. At the edge of consciousness he looked up, only to see the Transport slowly lifting off and joining the skirmish in the air...

        Having now nearly given up, Poe activated his comms for a fleetwide comunicay “My friends I’m Sorry… I thought we had a shot… But there’s just too many of them....”

        “But there are more of us, Poe… There are more of us!” Lando's excited voice filled the airways. 

        It looked as though the number stars in the distant background had increased exponentially, as thousands of military and even more civilian crafts continued to come out of hyper-space behind the Millennium Falcon. Lando’s contagiously inspiring laughter filled the comms. Wynn smiled to himself, realising the video he had shot of the fleet departing Ajan Kloss must have gone viral over the holo-webs.  

        With the immense number of newly arrived reinforcements they began making progress as they continued focussing all their firepower on the large cannons hanging from the Sith fleet’s underbellies.

        It finally felt as though the tables had turned in their favour, Destroyers were increasingly more often starting to plummet into the planet's surface below. Suddenly the skies filled with an interwoven web of lighting, causing the Resistance crafts to lose all power, sending them hurdling downwards. As the sound of a menacingly evil cackling laugh rode up the winds enveloping the multitude of space crafts.

        Wynn closed his eyes, he focussed on the recently launched Landing Craft, with all his strength he reached out his mind, drastically slowing his friends’ craft's plummeting descent into the darkness below.

        He was overcome by a feeling that he was no longer alone, as if in a waking dream he envisioned a cloud of green fog slowly interlacing with the powerful Sith lightning.

        An old sounding scraggly voice powerfully stated “ The time to help, arrived it has ”

      Then the atmosphere seemed to also fill with a formidable purple hew, as the now fully understandable deep loud voice exclaimed “ I’ve Had About ENOUGH! Of These Electrified Sith Skies, Dropping These Resistance lovin’ planes! ”

        Wynn felt a rush of power, he extended his reach to all the falling vessels, slowly bringing their chaotic descent to a stop, floating well below the still ominous fleet above, but safely above the treacherous planet below. All while still being careful to spread them enough apart that they wouldn’t damage each other in collisions. Even with the help of the supernatural disembodied voices Wynn had to put his full concentration into keeping the massive fleet of small crafts afloat.

       An aura of strong definitive yellow then permeated the blue tinged field of lightning as Rey faced down the Evil Emperor in the gloomy citadel below. The lightning stopped abruptly, the Resistance fleet regaining power to their many vessels’ systems.

         As the assault reinitialized against the still numerous amount of planet killing Star Destroyers, Wynn sat down, thoroughly exhausted by the effort it had taken him to stop the fleet from certain destruction.

        An impressive explosion shook Wynn from his distracted state, The Command deck bursting into a fiery plume. Finn and Jannah had obviously been successful with their task that had come about by Finn’s last minute decision to remain aboard. The destroyer began to list dangerously to the portside.

        Wynn became concerned, not knowing how he would escape as gravity took a firm hold of the doomed Command Ship.

        The light blue fog’s words from his recurrent dream flooded into his mind, “ You have completed your first steps, Now watch the last one, it’s gonna be a doozy… ”    

        Wynn looked around him, above the level he was on was a tall spire, protrusions from the bulkhead between the different levels of decks seemed to begin glowing with the familiar shade of blue from the dream, as if suddenly exuding their own  auras. Taking the hint, Wynn carefully ascended the makeshift stairway of glowing steps. He reached the inboard side of the tower's base just as the angle of the ship tilted past the point it could safely be stood upon. He saw the Millennium Falcon zooming towards the ship coming alongside the top deck that was now tilting close to vertical. ‘I’m saved!’ Wynn assumed to himself. He watched as two small figures jumped onto the topside of the Falcon and in through its upper hatch. Instead of coming to his aid, the Falcon quickly avoided the falling debris as it flew out of sight to continue the battle.

        “Thanks a lot, Lando..” Dismayed, Wynn stood dumbfounded on the side of his tall thin spire, now orientated parallel with the Exagol’s surface, so far below him.

       His heart soared when, in the distance, he could hear the steadily increasing volume of a familiar menacing howl. The Mad Katana positioned itself as close to the tip of the spire as it could, while still a safe distance from the ever increasing amount of loose items and equipment tumbling from atop the behemoth of a ship. It looked to be an even wider gap than that of the jungle trail, but he knew what he had to do.

        Digging deep for one last effort of his mind Wynn closed his eyes, picturing what he had to accomplish. Like a bolt he started running the length of the still changing angle of the spire. With all his remaining strength he leapt off the end, laser fire and flotsam from the Command Deck explosion whizzing past him with incredible speed. With a crash he landed crumpled on the deck inside the cargo bay of the waiting Firespray 31 Attack and Patrol craft. The large ramp slowly closed as Maz piloted it to a safe distance closer to their allies to help destroy the last remnants of the evil Sith fleet...