“Magpie! So you’re still alive down there. I knew you could do it. How goes the fight?”
Vi’s throat went tight. “The fight came and went. Thanks to a new recruit named Kriki, we managed to program the First Order ship to relay a message to their fleet, telling them I was dead, that there was no Resistance base here, and that the planet was of no significant value. And then the ship blew up due to a technical error, also courtesy of Kriki.”
Beside her, Kriki was practically buzzing with pride.
“That’s great news!” Leia said. “The first good news I’ve had in a while. Please congratulate Kriki for me, and all your team.”
“They’re here. They’re listening.”
“I can’t believe it’s General Organa!” Kriki finally squeaked. “I can’t believe you’re real! I mean, of course you’re real. Sorry. This is Kriki, by the way. Hi.”
Leia’s voice was warm, and Kriki’s fur puffed up with delight when she answered, “It’s nice to meet you, Kriki. On behalf of the Resistance, thank you for your work. Thank you all.” For a moment, everyone glowed with pride, but then Leia’s voice went businesslike again; the war wasn’t over, after all…“Magpie, how close are we to having a functional command location there?”
Vi looked around the cavern, with its crates and rough table. “We have a basic facility, and we’re adding more to it every day. We have rough barracks set up, a makeshift medbay, training grounds, bathrooms, and a kitchen. Pook is doing a great job with construction.”
“And doctoring and security,” Pook added. “Basically, all the critical tasks at which humans generally fail.”
“Sounds like Pook. And how is Archex doing? We lost connection with his tracker.”
The room went quiet as heads bowed. “General, he’s gone. We lost him in the fight. He…he sacrificed himself to save me and keep our headquarters safe.”
Vi imagined Leia, somewhere across the universe, bowing her head, too. “It’s not even close to what he deserves, but I’ll award him a posthumous medal at our next ceremony. I wasn’t so sure about him at first, but it looks like you were right.”
“He was a good man,” Vi agreed. “And he gave his all for the Resistance.”
“May the Force be with him.”
“I think it is.”
After a moment of silence, Leia sighed. “I’m glad your mission was a success. We might be sending you ships earlier than anticipated, if you can handle it. Do you have recruits?”
“We do. And several of them show great aptitude for flying.”
“More good news. It sounds like Batuu was the right choice.”
Vi looked around. Kriki, Dolin, Zade, Ylena, and the new recruits were alert and ready, if shyly clustered, hearing the voice of the fabled Princess Leia for the first time.
“The people here give me hope,” Vi said. “They make me remember there’s something worth fighting for.”
“Then keep fighting for them,” Leia said. “Just like Archex did.”
VI WAS OVERSEEING A NEW BATCH of recruits at target practice when her comlink dinged. When she put up her hand, the blasterfire immediately ceased, and all eyes followed her.
That was good. They were learning.
“Captain Moradi, there’s an urgent message for you,” Pook said. “Top secret.” For once, the droid sounded alert and anxious instead of bored, and Vi’s curiosity was piqued.
“Keep practicing,” Vi said to the murmuring recruits. “I’ll be back.”
The ruins were a busy place now, and Vi was grateful for the activity and work. They had over a dozen new recruits, and she spent most of her time training them. Kriki ran the Tech Bay and was able to get them good deals on fixed-up machines, while Dolin kept up his work at the scrapyard with Waba. Their encampment had expanded beyond the ruins and out into the clearing, as Vi had imagined it would, and an old X-wing was parked there when it wasn’t being used for flight training. She was proud of her work here—and knew Leia was, too. Hence the promotion.
When she reached the room they’d reserved for communications and strategy, she checked that she was alone, pressed a button on the long-range comm, and said, “Magpie here.”
“Magpie, it’s Green Leader,” came a familiar man’s voice. He sounded out of breath and desperate. “Look, it’s bad news. Someone has informed the First Order that the Resistance command location is functional. And that you’re not dead. And now they’re coming for you.”
“Who?” Vi asked, goose bumps rising on her arms.
“We don’t know. But Kylo Ren is on his way, along with the Seven Hundred and Ninth Legion. Those are his elite stormtroopers, chosen by Kylo himself. We’re sending help, but—”
The comm cut off abruptly.
Vi knew this feeling well—that crystalline moment when everything went wrong, when calm and quiet became anxiety and work. She allowed herself one flutter of panic—Kylo Ren himself? With the 709th? She’d heard of them. They would be much harder to deal with than Kath’s squadron had been. She had to hurry outside and tell her recruits, send word to Savi and to Kriki in town. Even Oga would want to know that Kylo Ren would soon be in the outpost.
She began walking, then jogging, then running outside. Who knew how much time they had left? Green Leader hadn’t finished his message. And what kind of help was coming?
But when she left the overhang and stepped into the clearing, all her recruits were pointing up at the sky.
“What’s that?” Houz asked.
Vi took a deep breath.
“That,” she told him, “is a First Order Star Destroyer.”
“What does that mean?”
She looked around the clearing, met every eye.
“That means it’s time to fight.”
For Rhys, who named Waba, and for Rex, who invented the starmarks.
I’m glad that Star Wars is part of you, and now you are officially part of Star Wars.
Acknowledgments
The more books I write, the worse I get at writing acknowledgments. Not because there are fewer people to thank, but because there are more, and I’m carrying so many different stories in my head that there’s not room for much else. So please know that I’m grateful for everyone who helped bring this book to life and everyone who reads it or reviews it or tells a friend about it.
Loving thanks and ronto wraps to my beloved husband of seventeen years, Craig, without whom I wouldn’t be a writer or know quite so much about Noghri. Thanks to my sweet Padawans for the hugs that kept me going through long days of editing and my mom for watching those Padawans while my husband took me out to eat real food in between the bowls of gluten-free cereal that sustained me while I was on deadline.
Endless thanks to my revered editor, Elizabeth Schaefer, who is a joy and inspiration and seemed to make this book happen out of sheer force of will, as well as Tom Hoeler, who supported me through some challenging edits and even accepted my frantic texts during Game of Thrones. Big thanks to publicist extraordinaire David Moench and the entire Del Rey team. Keith, Scott, Julie, Erich, Melissa, Anne—thanks for letting me hang out behind the booth at nearly every event. Thanks to Matt, Pablo, and Leland for making sure I didn’t make any huge mistakes in canon. And thanks to Michael Siglain for giving me so many chances to tell stories in a galaxy that’s meant so much to me my entire life.
Here’s a new one! Thanks to the Walt Disney Imagineers, Margaret and Stacey and everyone I didn’t almost hyperventilate over during a phone call. Thank you for giving us the wonderful gift of Galaxy’s Edge and for letting me be a part of it.
Thanks to my agent, Stacia Decker, for steering this crazy ship.
And to the Star Wars Writer Scum, thanks for shooting the pudu at the bar and being there for laughs, tears, and DMs about secret things: Chuck Wendig, Kevin Hearne, Ty and Daniel, EK Johnston, Zoraida Cord
ova, Daniel José Older, Jason Fry, Rebecca Roanhorse, Claudia Gray, Tim Zahn (and the Zahntourage), Cavan Scott, Christie Golden, Beth Revis, Charles Soule, Jody Houser. And while we’re at it, thanks to Denton Tipton and IDW for the chance to tell stories in the Star Wars Adventures comics!
And you.
Thank you for picking up the book. Thanks to everyone who comes to see me at a con or book signing or at Star Wars Celebration. I love putting your pins and patches on my jacket and vest, and I love seeing your fan art, and I love feeding sneaky tidbits to those of you who keep hoping I can somehow make Millicent canon. Thanks to my friend Cathy for saying hi in Target and putting up with the fact that my Writer Brain makes me hard to wrangle as an IRL friend. Thanks to Hal for my beloved Cardinal helmet. Thanks to all the Phasmas who let me take pics and to Sebastian and Calvin for always saying hi. Thanks to the 501st for making me an Honorary Member, which fills me with so much honor and pride that I get giddy. The Star Wars fandom is the most kind, enthusiastic, giving crew I know, and I hope you like the book.
Till the spire!
By Delilah S. Dawson
STAR WARS
Phasma
The Perfect Weapon (e-novella)
THE HIT SERIES
Hit
Strike
THE SHADOW SERIES (AS LILA BOWEN)
Wake of Vultures
Conspiracy of Ravens
Malice of Crows
Treason of Hawks
THE PELL SERIES (WITH KEVIN HEARNE)
Kill the Farm Boy
No Country for Old Gnomes
The Princess Beard
THE BLUD SERIES
Wicked as They Come
Wicked as She Wants
Wicked After Midnight
Wicked Ever After
Servants of the Storm
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DELILAH S. DAWSON is the author of the New York Times bestseller Star Wars: Phasma, Hit, Servants of the Storm, the Blud series, the creator-owned comics Ladycastle, Sparrowhawk, and Star Pig, and the Shadow series (written as Lila Bowen). With Kevin Hearne, she’s the co-writer of the Tales of Pell. She lives in Florida with her family and a fat mutt named Merle.
whimsydark.com
Twitter: @DelilahSDawson
Instagram: @DelilahSDawson
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Galaxy's Edge Page 38
