Star Wars: Revelations/ Chapter 6: Return to Carlac

“Wolffe!” Leia screamed and at that time, Wolffe slowly yet surely turned around to eye the princess. Sweating profusely, a droplet of water raced downwards and eventually absorbed into the commodore’s cybernetic eye. Forcing the cybernetic eye to abnormally twitch a little bit, Wolffe showed no signs of emotion. He faced Sing’s corpse once more, only to see blood emit from the once lively body.

“Ponds?!” Wolffe yelled through his teeth again.

Ponds moved in closer. He decided to console Wolffe, but while doing so, his optics were as fixated on the cadaver as Wolffe’s were. “Wolffe, it’s gonna be fine. Listen to me,” Ponds acted as if he was embracing Wolffe. Instead, he leaned his face closer to Wolffe’s left ear. “Thank you.”

Wolffe finally met eye-to-eye with Ponds, who gave a serious nod and patted Wolffe on the shoulder. Patrick chimed in, “It’s okay, Coyote. Everybody makes mistakes.”

Leia instantly ended her short silence. “Rahr, that’s Wolffe. And this is not just a mistake. It was a costly risk that could’ve ended with palpable results.” Leia then felt a slight pulse in her temple, as if it had a heartbeat. Rahr felt exact same pulse.

“Princess? Rahr? What’s the matter with you guys?” Ponds questioned, promptly dismissing the thought of Aurra Sing’s death.

Shaking, Leia hesitantly responded, “I-I feel a battle is coming.”

“I feel it too. Not just one of those silly, lame battles. A big one. Ah, pardon my Jawaese but I HATE this Hell-like feeling!” Rahr shrieked and collapsed. “I’m okay, I think! Now wait just a minute. Leia, how come you sensed a battle like I did?”

A chill filled the room along with complete silence for twenty long seconds. “Are you a Jedi too?” Rahr continued.

Wolffe, still dazed in his own mind, sat down and recommended the princess do the same. “I don’t know, Patrick. I, um,” Leia stuttered.

Cougar Stanton walked in as well. “Is there any way I can be of some assistance?”

Wolffe snapped out of his trance, “who the Hell are you?”

“The name’s Cougar Stanton, sir.”

“Ponds? Ponds?” Leia asked several times, disregarding the fact that Ponds was right next to her.

“What is it, Princess?”

“I’m just - I need some rest but I can’t. We need to get moving. Wolffe, we’ll deal with your dilemma later. There are more pressing matters to be discussed. Ponds, Rahr? Where did you both come from?”

“It’s actually really funny!” Rahr exclaimed.

“It’s actually not. We came from the Koros-Strohna. The main Yuuzhan Vong ship,” Ponds informed.

“But what also isn’t funny is how we were almost undetected the entire time. Then what was really interesting was when the First Order leader allowed us to escape by letting us shoot him,” Cougar decided to chime in himself.

“Yeah! Too funny!” Rahr permitted himself to crack up with results of everyone staring him down until he ceased. They all exited the holding cell with soldiers removing the corpse of the once evil Aurra Sing.

“Listen, you all seem like good beings of the galaxy. Go to Carlac where the rest of my former affiliation lies. They will help,” Cougar removed his bronze-painted helmet, revealing visibly mental scars on his burnt face.

“Oh yeah. About that,” Rahr began, edging to get Cougar’s attention.

“We had quite the quarrel with them right before the battle of Yavin,” Ponds said, aiming off towards the princess, spotting her getting up from the chair.

“Really? Hmm. Let me travel with you to Carlac. If they see me, presumably they will forgive your past crimes. It’s an old Mandalorian code to give others second chances if they mean well. Yet again, times have changed.”

“Nope! Not gonna work, Cougar!” Rahr, somewhat oblivious to what Stanton said, felt an urge to say something that made him feel useful.

“It’s your call, Princess,” Ponds assured.

“Alright. We head to Carlac. Cougar, thank you for your efforts to help bring peace to the galaxy. Wolffe, stay here. Please, if anything goes haywire, we need you for our backup forces,” Leia spoke, trying to forget about Sing’s fate. Wolffe nodded, still refusing to say any more syllables.

~

Hours passed by, feeling like centuries on their way to Carlac. Shaking, Ponds again contemplated his life along with the Clone War. He examined his pistols, the exact ones he used during the Clone War. There, he spotted several marks of blood on it. Leia sat down again with Rahr as they chit-chatted away, desperate for a distraction. Cougar, who was navigating, informed they were nearing the planet’s atmosphere. The small vessel landed on a thick covering of snow with Death Watch members instantly approaching with guns at their disposal. Cougar stepped out first with his arms up in the air. He signalled to the other three and they followed. Still with their weapons drawn, all Mandalorians who spotted Cougar let out a gasp. Once Leia saw who was in front of her, she as well, expressed a slight gasp of her own. “What are you doing here?” A female voice sternly questioned.

“Mistress Katan. Please, tell our people to lower their weapons of war,” Cougar politely asked.

“Cougar Stanton. I had not even heard of your name let alone seeing you in person for quite some time. What are you doing with those pieces of scum? You do know they obliterated most of my men a few years ago, right?” Bo Katan accused, pointing specifically at the princess. “I don’t care what happened to you, Stanton. But I do remember telling the rebels to never step foot on my land again or I will kill them where they stand.”

Leia felt an urgency to stand up for her troops but Cougar read her mind and darted in front of her, preventing Leia from stepping forward. “Please, ma’am. These are good people. Good people who might have done mistakes in their past. But look at you all. This is no way to live! Carlac? The planet is a frigid wasteland. I see you have shacks with open fires. No formal town, no city hall. Nothing. Now please, for all things right in the force assist us in this upcoming battle against both the First Order and Yuuzhan Vong!” Cougar’s temper forced a couple of Mandalorians to close in on his position with guns still ready.

Katan slowly signalled to them, denying any further movement. Choking up, Katan moved in closer to Cougar and whispered, “I can’t. They, um… they are all watching us!”

“Let us help you. Please,” Leia said, overhearing. “No!” Katan suddenly raised her voice. “Like I said, if you ever set foot on my land again, I will kill you where you stand. I’m sorry, Cougar. I have no choice.” Katan then quickly went for her gun and attempted to pull the trigger.