"Luke searched for it. He looked for it for a long time." Rey said enthusiastically. "He nearly found it!"
Sol lowered herself onto a nearby crate.
"He said to get there you need one of these." Rey turned the book towards Sol. A drawing of a pyramid shafted object lay in the bottom right-hand corner. It was intricately detailed.
Sol frowned. "I don't recognize it."
"It's a Sith Wayfinder," Rey explained. "They are compasses that lead to Exegol and other places of importance to the Sith."
"In order to stop what we know is coming. I need to finish what Luke started. I need to find Exegol and the emperor. "
"Rey, do you realize how dangerous that's going to be? You would be going into Sith territory and gods know what weapons they have." Sol said, concerned edging into her voice.
"That's why I want you to go with me."
"What?" Sol interrupted.
Rey sat up. "You know the force. You can help me find Palpatine. Please Sol."
Sol licked her lips.
"Fine. I probably wouldn't have been able to get out of this anyway."
Rey smiled and reached forward to hug Sol. Sol tentatively hugged her back.
"Thanks," Rey said then hastily stood and ran off.
Sol sat there for a second mulling over what she had just agreed to.
"You have that look again. What are you thinking about?"
Sol whipped around in her seat. Leia had made her way over.
"She's so ambitious," Sol said. "Rey has a habit of just jumping into action without thinking."
"She reminds me of Ben," Leia said taking the spot where Rey had set.
Sol smiled. "In a way she does. Both stubborn and hardheaded but doing what they believe is right."
There was a moment of silence between them as they reveled in their thoughts.
"I will bring him home Leia. Not only for us but I've felt it. He wants to come home, but he's so scared of leaving." Sol said quietly.
The general nodded sympathetically.
"You are doing more than I could ever ask for."
"I'm doing what I believe is right."
The next morning Sol was up bright and early. She changed into fresh clothes Leia had provided but she kept Luke's cloak. Clipping her lightsaber onto her belt, Sol was ready to go. She had decided to leave her ship in the care of the resistance, and they would be taking the falcon. Sol met Rey by the front of the base so they could walk to the falcon. Rey showed up quickly, looking eager to start their adventure. Together they walked over to the falcon where a crew was working on last-minute preparations. Sol noticed Poe and Finn walk over and she tapped Rey's shoulder and nodded to them. Rey turned from where she was examining the falcon and walked over to Poe.
"You got her up and running?" Poe asked as he and Finn approached. Rey nodded and made her way over to the two men, Sol following behind.
"I'm going to pick up where Luke left off, start where his trail went cold. The forbidden desert of Pasaana." Rey said seriously.
Poe looked unfazed. "Yeah, I know. We're going with you."
He clapped Rey on the shoulder and nodded at Sol before climbing up the ramp and into the falcon. Rey looked shocked.
"I'm going with Sol. I can't have too many people going. I don't want to put you in danger." Rey said, catching Finn's arm.
"It will be fine, Rey. We have Sol." He smiled. Sol shot him a look.
"Look we're doing this together. That's final." Finn said and BB-8 chirped enthusiastically. The two men disappeared into the falcon, chewie, and 3-P0 following behind.
Looking behind Rey, Sol watched the general appear and Sol looked at Rey then at Leia. Leia nodded and Sol got Rey's attention.
"Leia wants to speak with you. I'll be on the ship." Sol said with a smile and patted Rey's shoulder as she passed. Stopping at the ramp, Sol looked back to watch Rey go up to Leia. Turning, Sol stepped up the falcon's ramp and into the ship. She bee-lined to the cockpit where she sat in one of the pilot's seats and began to flip through the switches, beside her chewie gave a delighted whine.
"It's good to see you too buddy." Sol grinned and finished her preparations. Feeling Rey enter the ship again, Sol left the pilot's seat to make sure she was coming that way. It wasn't hard to find the young Jedi but when Sol did her expression was troubling.
"You okay, Rey?" Sol asked, concerned. Rey looked up with an uneasy smile.
"Yeah. Just a lot to think about." She said nodding before brushing past Sol to the cockpit.
Sol watched her go before shaking her head and going back to the crew quarters. It was probably nothing, Rey was a tough woman. Sol felt the ship take off and sat down in a nearby chair. She pulled out her saber and used the force to make it hover in her hand.
It wasn't her first saber. Her first saber was destroyed in combat. Sol had dearly loved her old saber. It was made of bronze metal and parts were wrapped in leather. Her first kyber krystal was a stunning green. The color of a wielder who was particularly strong with the force. Both hilt and krystal were destroyed during a mission with Luke and a couple of the other padawans.
Her current saber was a family heirloom according to Luke. He had assigned the padawan's to look into their family history as an assignment. Sol was surprised by her family's history. One that she thought was simple and miserable was once powerful and well known but not for the reasons she wanted. She was related to a powerful man by the name of Prince Arcann Tirall son of Emperor Valkorian. There were many stories of their family, both a mix of good and bad but the dark outweighed the light. Upon this discovery, Sol had decided to talk to Luke about finding Acrann's resting place. Luke had been apprehensive but understanding. They traveled to the planet of Zakuul. A massive city-planet filled with towering skyscrapers and the bustle of ships. Sol could remember the dread and excitement she had felt when they entered the family's mausoleum.
-Flashback-
"Sol you know you don't have to do this," Luke said catching his padawan's shoulder before she could escape from him. Sol's youthful face peered back at him with willful determination.
"They were my family. I should at least see where they lay to rest." Sol's voice was unsettlingly calm. Luke nodded and removed his gloved hand.
Together they entered the large room. It was made of a beautiful white marble, everything from the walls to the plaques on the coffins of her family members. Sol approached the first one. A long velvet rope lay in front of her, separating Sol from the marble coffin. The sign attached to the coffin read: Prince Thexan Tirall, Second prince to Emperor Valkorian, brother to Vaylin and Arcann.
Sol moved onto the next coffin, onto the next plaque. Senya Tirall, Wife of Emperor Valkorian, Knight of Zakuul, Mother of Vaylin, Arcann, and Thexan.
And onto the next: Prince Arcann Tirall, First son of Emperor of Valkorian, Brother to Thexan and Vaylin, Second Emperor to the Eternal Throne.
And the next: Vaylin Tirall, Daughter of Emperor Valkorian, Empress of the Eternal Throne.
Before Sol could continue to the next one, she was interrupted.
"You seem interested. Most people just come for a quick look around."
Sol spun around, hand going to her saber hilt only to find it not there. She sighed in remembrance. It had been destroyed. A young man in a crisp white uniform watched her with an eyebrow raised.
"They were my family apparently. I am related to Prince Arcann. I came to learn more." Sol explained.
"Oh?" The man said. "How do you know?"
"I have Senya's Diary." Sol produced a leatherbound book from her satchel. She talks about her son's family on Odessen. Many of my family members in the past were from Odessen."
The man's mouth parted in shock, but he quickly closed it and furrowed his brow.
"How do you know they were related to Prince Arcann?"
Sol pulled a gold pendant from her robes. At the end of the chain was the symbol of the family, a dragon curled around the base of a gold throne. The man went to hold it but Sol pulled the pendant away.
"That-That's an original. No one has seen that design in generations. That belonged to Arcann." The man's eyes were now wide.
"Who are you?"
"Sol Valara," Sol said putting the pendant back under her robes.
"Can I help you, sir?" Luke's voice drifted from behind Sol. The man stood up abruptly.
"May I ask who you are?" The man asked.
"I'm Master Luke Skywalker. Sol is my padawan." Luke answered.
"I'm Kelidon Dyernton. It's such a pleasure to meet two Jedi! We don't meet them very often." He cleared his throat. "I'm a lead historian for the eternal family. I have something that belongs to this young woman here. If you would follow me, I would like to return it to its rightful owner."
Sol looked over at Luke who looked at Kelidon.
"Let's have a look."
Kelidon took both of them out of the Mausoleum and to a building across the way. It seemed to be a historical museum of sorts, but Sol was too preoccupied with following Kelidon to get to look around. The historian took them back through a hidden door and down a long hallway.
"We keep some of our high priority artifacts back here, pieces that are too special for the actual thing to be put out into the public," Kelidon said putting a key into a keypad on the wall. A large door was opened allowing them access to a small room covered into cabinets and desks full of artifacts. Kelidon searched through a few cabinets before finding the one he wanted. Luke and Sol stood patiently by the entrance.
"Aha," Kelidon said putting in a key code for a small cabinet. The drawer hissed open and Kelidon produced something from inside. When he turned back towards them, Sol's eyes widened. It was a lightsaber hilt.
"This hilt belonged to Prince Arcann himself. In his final request before he passed, his highness requested that the hilt be passed down through his family and not to stray."
The lightsaber hilt was handed to Sol who gingerly took it. The saber was a sleek black and silver design with gold engravings around the emitter. It was a perfect weight.
"No one had claimed it yet. But now you. It belongs to you if you wish to take it." Kelidon said mystically.
Sol let the saber fall between her hands as she weighted it out.
"It's beautiful." She said quietly. Sol looked towards her master and smiled.
-Flashback End-
Sol was thrown from her memory as Rey's body covered the doorway to the crew quarters.
"There you are." Rey smiled. "I couldn't find you."
Sol smiled apologetically. "Sorry. I was thinking."
"It's fine. We're about to reach Pasaana. I just wanted to update you."
Nodding, Sol stood. "Thanks for the warning, I'll be out there soon."
Rey smiled again and left to return to the cockpit. Sol looked down at the saber hilt in her hand. The eternal saber. She sighed and clipped it onto her belt. Time for a new adventure.
Woooo...... pretty big chapter for today huh? Bit of a Lore Drop as well but I promise it's relevant. For those who may be unfamiliar with the family Sol is associated with, they are from a star wars game called Star Wars: The Old Republic, specifically from the Eternal Throne Arc. I started playing through it recently and that whole arc was really interesting and I loved the characters who were involved. I decided to add my own flare here and there to keep things hopefully more interesting lol. I'll see you guys next chapter!- Nat