High Heavens (Star Wars - Luke Skywalker)

XVIII - Yavin IV

"Stars, Mara, I thought I'd never see you again," Strata told her, pulling away. "I don't think I've ever been so worried about such an arrogant nerfherder."

Mara laughed. "I missed you too, kid."

"And we missed you," Raze said, embracing Mara as well, although not as long as Strata had. "Not sure how we managed without you," he adds.

"I'm glad you had each other," Mara said, earnestly. "That's all we have in times like these... Oh, and I nearly forgot!" She gestured Luke and Han towards her. "I have a couple friends of mine here," she said to her squadron as the two made their way over. "This is Luke Skywalker, and Han Solo. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be here."

"Any friend of Mara is a friend of ours," said Kiara.

Raze dipped his head at the two. "We owe you one."

"Happy to be of service," Han stated lowly. He was still scoping the place out, taking it all in, in his own way. "But if you don't mind, Mar', I gotta go talk to a man about some money."

Mara frowned as he walked off, knowing without a doubt that he was going to get his reward and fly off as soon as he did. He'd probably leave without a goodbye, too, just to rub a little salt in the wound. He was so petty, she wouldn't even be surprised.

"Anyways," she said, shaking it off. "What about the others? Mal-Ray, Paril? Did they make it out?"

The 'others' she was referring to were the other survivors of the Battle of Scarif. Mara had left the Battle in such a hurry, heading straight to Leia's Blockade Runner and Tatooine that she hadn't even had a second to check if the rest of the squadron was okay.

"Most of them got out just fine," Raze assured her. His face fell slightly, as he added, "But, we lost Laren, Taslet, Vangos, and... Merrick."

Mara's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "Merrick?" she echoed. "But he was our commander."

Kiiara spoke up first. "Yes, but, you were Merrick's second. Now that he's gone, the Blue Squadron leader would be you."

Mara stared for a few seconds, repeating the words over in her head to make sure she had gotten it right. Then she looked at Strata and Raze, almost needing them to confirm it for her, but they just nodded in agreement with Kiiara.

"Oh," she said quietly. It made sense, she supposed. She had been Merrick's second-in-command. "Right, of course."

Strata smiled at her. "There's no one else we'd rather follow," she reassured her.

Raze nodded, as well. "Merrick chose you for a reason. He knew you'd be able to lead us."

Mara nodded slowly a few times, before jutting her chin. "I'll do my best."

Kiiara smiled at her. "We know you will."

Mara gave another nod, before clapping her hands together. "Right, well." She turned towards Luke. "You should go talk to Leia about getting a place in the squadron. I know the Red Squadron has an opening, but we definitely have space." She forced a wry smile. "I'm going to go look for Elix, but I'll meet up with you in a bit?"

Luke nodded, although he looked a bit daunted at the idea of navigating this place on his own. "Sure, no problem. I'll have Leia send you a transmission."

Mara saluted him, before heading off. "Good luck."

"Oh, and Mara?"

She turned back at Luke once more.

He gave her a smile. "You'll be a great Commander, so don't worry about it."

She laughed a bit, the title of 'Commander' sounding odd when paired with her. "Thanks, Luke. I'll see you soon."