Chapter Text
Malbria walked along the stone pathways of Vadena, a large town full of shops, cantinas, restaurants, and life. This was her favorite town on her home planet of Jemzu. The bustling of Jemzarians and other species alike going along their day filled her ears.
Jemzu was a forest planet in the Core Worlds region that was known for their military and navy. Underneath the large forests, there were many mineral deposits that allowed the Jemzarians to live lavishly. There was a melting pot of species that lived on Jemzu, many escaping from the war, knowing the King and Queen remained neutral. The King, Jaredavi Lovett, and the Queen, Lora Lovett, were loved by all. That included Malbria Lovett, the princess.
The planet was flourishing and heavily protected with their large military. Many towns covered the surface of the planet each having their own specialities. Vadena was known for their expensive and luxurious jewelry and clothing.
Malbria’s mother and best friend Am’vera joined her in finding a new matching set of jewelry for the upcoming ball in honor of her and her mother’s birthday.
“What color is your dress again?” Am’vera yelled from across the store. She turned her head towards the blue Twi’lek. She was staring at her holding a necklace bust with a sparkly silver necklace with sapphire gems.
“My dress is orange, Vera. I don’t believe that would match very well,” Malbria said as she approached the necklace.
“Orange? I hate the color orange,” she put her finger in her mouth and acted as if just hearing the color orange made her gag.
“I know you don’t like orange. It clashes with your skin tone,” she held up her fingers doing air quotes, “but it looks quite good with my hair. Plus it is more of a light orange, like the sunset.”
“Have you found anything yet, Bria?” The queen walked around one of the spinning displays of earrings. “Your father is probably wondering what is taking us so long.”
Am’vera set the sapphire necklace down and faced the queen. “No not yet, she is just so picky. Can never find something as perfect as the idea in her head.”
The princess gave Am’vera an annoyed look but quickly turned around to continue looking. She wanted something purple to match her eyes. The queen was going to wear purple for her special day so she thought it would be nice to subtly match.
As she wandered down one of the corridors in the shop, she immediately found a beautiful pair of Corusca gem earrings. They had gold metal with one bigger gem at the base of the earring, and 3 dangling gems of various sizes. Malbria quickly looked around for the matching necklace, but before she could look too hard, she found her mother behind her holding up the necklace of her dreams.
“Looking for this?” She gave her a big smile as the princess went to grab for the necklace. It had a dainty gold chain with matching Corusca gems draping around the bust.
“This is perfect! Thank you momma,” she gave her a big hug.
“Okay me next!” Am’vera snuck up behind her looking at the set.
-+-
Malbria walked out of the store with her silk bag which carried her new jewelry set. After she found something for Am’vera, a pearl necklace with a fire ruby in the center, they walked down the pathways back up to the palace.
She was supposed to be home already, helping with the planning and designing of her and her mother’s birthday ball. The princess had promised her father she would pick the flowers and make the itinerary for the night. She already chose the flowers but hadn’t started the itinerary yet.
Every year, she would help with the ball for their birthdays. Malbria always wanted to make her mother felt extra special, even though it was both of their special days. She would wake up super early the morning of her birthday and sneak out of her room and down to the kitchen. The queen’s favorite breakfast food was french toast with chopped meiloorun fruit with moogan spice syrup. The princess would strategically design the platter of food, the french toast in the middle, chamomile tea in the right corner, a jogan fruit in the left corner and napkins and silverware on the sides. The chefs used to help her when she was younger, but she got the hang of it, eventually doing it all herself. Then, Malbria would take the platter up to her room, turn on her favorite holodrama and wake her mother up to her surprise.
She remembered the second year of her secret plan to bring her breakfast in bed. The seven year old had just woken up to her alarm, changed, and slipped on her slippers. As she went to pull her door open, her mom went to open it from the other side. Shocked, she almost dropped the platter of food she was bringing her. Malbria got angry and told her she ruined her surprise. She was grateful, but this was supposed to be her thing, she came up with it first. From then on, her mother reluctantly decided to let her do the surprising.
“He just doesn’t like commitment, ya know?” Am’vera’s voice broke the princess from her thoughts. “I just really like him and if he doesn’t want something serious, I guess I’m okay with that for now.”
Am’vera had been talking to this guy for months now. It started off as something that was only physical but she gained some feelings for him. “I don't understand what you see in that man,” Malbria muttered under her breath. “It seems like you aren’t a first priority.”
“I just don’t know what to do. He’s really–”
The sound of various sizes of ships entering the atmosphere interrupted their conversation. The princess looked over to her mother. “I thought we didn’t have any scheduled landings today.”
“We don’t,” the queen shouted over the deafening sound of the ships.
Quickly, the three of them walked up the rest of the path to the palace. There, the king was waiting for them at the entrance. “What took you so long, and only for one bag of items.”
“What’s going on honey, who landed?” Her mother said to the king as the girls made their final steps up the large staircase.
The hanger bay was to the right of the palace. A large platform made of concrete where the navy ships were settled. Many of the ships haven’t flown in decades, where some were just recently built. Among the rows and rows of ships, Malbria watched as the four unknown ships with the Resistance logo on the sides, landed in an empty space.
The palace guards hurried out of the large doorway from behind her father. Some selected to stay and guard the royal family whereas the others ran down the steps to the landing pad.
Malbria stared down at the ships watching a few people walk out from the blast door. There was a man, just a few years older than her, with dark hair. He was quite handsome. A woman stepped out next, she was older with gray streaks in her hair. She was wearing a gray dress with a cloak, the princess recognized her as Leia Organa. She knew her as the leader of the Resistance and one of her mothers old friends. A few more people walked out of the main ship with Organa.
The guards escorted them up to the palace as the king and queen told her and Am’vera to go wait inside. She watched as her parents, Organa, and a few guards walked into the palace and then into the large meeting room to the right.
She didn’t know exactly what went on in that room but she knew it wasn’t good. The princess stayed with Am’vera hiding in one of the side rooms trying to hear what was happening. Organa and the dark haired man suddenly came storming out of the room. “Well if they won’t help us, then what are we going to do? We need more ships!” The man shouted in a hushed tone.
“Poe, relax. I know what we need to do,” Organa whispered to her companion. Something like guilt washed over her face.
Malbria couldn’t hear anything else as they made their way back to their group and down to the ships. Next, the guards and her parents came out of the meeting room. Her father rushed up the stairs towards his office. The princess immediately ran out of the room and up to her mother. “What happened? What did they want?”
“You don’t need to worry yourself with this Bria. Let me and your father handle this,” her mother stated as she placed her hand on her cheek. Am’vera came out of the side room and ran to her side asking the same questions.
Sighing, her mother divulged, “They wanted us to join them in the war. Your father and I reminded them we are remaining neutral. It seems they didn’t agree with that answer. Leia asked me the same question a decade ago and when I refused, she decided to never speak to me again, until today. They are worried the First Order will destroy the planet just for our navy. But–”
Her mothers voice was cut off by a loud explosion. Malbria screamed as she felt the ground shake around her. It was as though an earthquake was running through the city. The deafening roar of blaster fire filled the air as explosions erupted around the trio. Malbria looked at her mother, a panicked look was on her face. The queen grabbed her and Vera’s hand and ran with them into the side tower to get to the basement of the palace.
“What is going on!?” Am’vera yelled. Malbria let go of her mothers hand to look through the window to see what was happening. A missile rained down on the landing pad striking a large freighter. Her legs crumbled underneath her as the shockwave rang along the ground.
Malbria felt the foundation of the tower start to shake, the weight unable to hold itself up as the next missile hit the ground. She stood frozen, a mixture of disbelief and terror coursing through her veins. The explosive rumbles reverberated through the air, drowning out the desperate cries and pleas of the people that worked on ships on the landing pad. Smoke and debris filled the sky as chaos unfolded in every direction.
“Come back up, it’s crumbling!” Malbria yelled. “We need to get out of the tower!” The next shockwave knocked her to the floor. She scrambled to get up as the tower was falling apart around her. The princess tried to look down the stairs to see her mother and friend but a piece of the tower’s roof fell and covered the entrance. Tears streamed down her face, mixing with the sweat and dirt that clung to her trembling skin.
Her father slid behind her, put his arms through her armpits, and dragged her out of the tower as it tumbled down. She screamed for her father to let her go. “MOTHER! VERA! NO NO NO, PLEASE!”
As the dust started to clear, she stayed in her fathers arm. When she couldn't hear any more missiles and the ground stopped shaking she looked up at your father. She could tell he was terrified, too scared to tear his eyes from the destroyed tower. As she left her fathers arms to approach the tower, the guards came rushing in.
“Sir, we have been attacked by the Resistance. The landing pad is destroyed. Only five ships–”
“I don’t want to hear about that. My wife…she, she’s stuck.” The king ran over to the tower trying to move the fallen rocks out of the way.
Malbria stayed glued to the middle of the grand hall. Staring at the tower, wiping her tears as more and more fell. More guards came into the palace and began moving rocks out of the entrance of the tower.
She didn’t know what to do. What could she possibly do to help? Her mother and her best friend, she knew deep down that they were most likely dead, but she couldn’t admit it to herself. The pit in her stomach grew bigger and bigger as the guards continued digging with no luck.
-+-
Today was the funeral for everyone lost during the attack, including the queen and Am’vera. Malbria stared back at herself in the mirror. She wore a long black gown with a sheer black veil covering her face. She quickly wiped her face of tears and walked out the door.
As she walked down the stairs, her father came down next to her. Saying nothing, he grabbed her hand as they made their way to the grand cathedral. As Malbria stood in the solemn halls of the church, the weight of grief pressed heavily upon her heart. The air was thick with sorrow, and the room was filled with a somber silence.
The funeral of the queen and all those who were lost in the attack had drawn beings from all over the planet, united by their shared loss and loyalty to the king and queen of Jemzu. The vibrant hues of flowers cascaded across the casket, the colors offered a brief respite from the darkness that surrounded Malbria. Those were the flowers she had picked out for her mothers birthday.
She stepped forward to her mothers casket, a tremor ran down her spine. She gazed at her face, she looked so alive, the makeup covered the injuries she collected during the attack. The princess stepped up to the altar to share some memories of her mother.
“Today, we gather to bid farewell to all the incredible souls that were lost in this horrific attack,” she began, her voice resonating with both anguish and defiance. “My mother, her love and guidance shaped me into the person I am today,” she felt a pain in your chest, unable to finish what she wanted to say.
She took a deep breath and continued. “I remember when I was younger, she would take me out to the clearing behind Amsa. There were wild flowers everywhere. We would bring a blanket and a basket of our favorite foods and have a picnic. We would stay there all day just talking and being in each other's company,” she felt her heart break as she remembered all the times they went there together. She turned towards her casket, “I love you so much mother, your smile could chase away any fears and your laughter could light up the darkest of days. You taught me to be compassionate and the power of resilience. I will miss you until the end of my days.”
“I also lost my best friend,” her voice cracked. “She was always by my side, through joy and hardships alike. She always had my back and was ready to fight anyone who had a problem with me,” She couldn’t say anymore. It was too much, at any moment she felt like she was going to break. Am’vera had been her friend since childhood. They went on countless adventures and shared many of the same dreams and aspirations. They were inseparable, Vera could read her thoughts with just a mere glance. But now, their presence was forever lost, replaced only by the haunting memories of laughter and shared secrets. “I love you Am’vera and I will miss you forever.”
She slowly walked back down to the seat next to your father. He gave a speech next and then countless others gave speeches for their lost loved ones and their queen.
-+-
It took Malbria a week before she was able to visit their graves. It’s like she had been in a haze, not letting herself break down and let everything out. She walked down the paths of the city towards the cemetery. She saw as the people around her were back to their normal day to day lives.
She watched as a woman crouched down to a little girl who was crying. She had dropped her ice cream on the pavement. The woman wiped the tears from the little girl’s face and told her everything was alright, and she would get her a new one. She turned away before they would see her staring.
She visited Am’vera first, laying a bouquet of white cori-lilies atop her headstone, then she moved to her mother.
The family crypt stood as a solemn and timeless monument, tucked away in the back center of the ancient cemetery. Weathered stone walls enclosed the crypt, bearing the marks of the years that have passed. The entrance was adorned with intricate carvings of angels and floral designs. It had pointed arches and towering spires reaching towards the galaxy. Overhanging trees casted shadows over the stone bricks, creating an eerie feeling around the building.
She made her way inside, immediately walking to her mother. It was dimly lit, only illuminated by the flickering candles on the walls. The air was cool and still, carrying a faint aroma of incense. The walls were lined with stone shelves, each having a marble plaque bearing the names and dates of those who have passed.
Tears started to well in her eyes as she stared down at the plaque with her mothers name. She recalled the laughter, the moments of pure, unadulterated happiness that she once believed would last forever. The reality crashed over her with an agonizing finality: they are truly gone. The tears streamed down her face dropping onto the dress she was going to wear for their birthday party. As the world around her felt like it was crumbling, her grief became her anchor, pulling her deeper into her sorrow. Yet, somewhere within the anguish, a flicker of determination sparked. She needed justice. The Resistance needed to take accountability. They took her mother, they took her best friend. They needed to pay.