Chapter Text
ABY 29
They’d known this day was coming since the days they’d first trained for the New Republic as peacekeepers. When General Organa had been disgraced, they’d communicated on encrypted channels. The decision had been an easy one, for the three children of Rebel Alliance soldiers. When all three had requested leave from their respective positions at the same time, it may have raised some eyebrows, but they were family after all.
They met on some backwater planet, away from the prying eyes of New Republic forces.
The moment all three Andor children met in some backalley cantina, they all knew there was no going back.
Dobeen Kal-Andor sat with Jaq Andor, his arm casually draped around his husband as they caught sight of Biva and Lev Andor slipping into the cantina. The tall Togruta nodded to his brother and sister in law.
Lev’s expression held suppressed excitement. Biva’s was far more reserved. Jaq frowned faintly as he watched his sister. There was a buried sorrow in her eyes he hadn’t seen the last time he’d spoken to her over holocall.
“So this is it?” Lev asked his older brother as he slid into the booth across from Dobeen and Jaq.
“Looks like it,” Jaq replied, taking a sip of the watered down swill that passed for ale here. “I put in a call to Shona, she should be here tomorrow morning.”
Biva’s brows creased. The green Mirialan looked faintly concerned. “Does she know where to take us.”
“She’s Bodhi and Vexei Rook’s daughter, she has more contacts than Mama and Papa in some ways,” Jaq snorted. “Yes, she knows where to go.”
They didn’t say the words ‘Resistance Base’ aloud. They never knew who might be listening.
“Where’s Euxor?” Dobeen asked, frowning at Biva. He knew that Biva and the human male were engaged, so not seeing him here was odd.
Biva’s eyes clouded a moment and she straightened.
“First Order Attack on one of the outlying colonies,” she replied in a very low, taunt voice. “He was on kriffing patrol duty.”
Jaq and Dobeen both stiffened. Lev put an arm around his sister, though she remained carefully upright.
“How long ago?” Jaq asked.
“Two weeks,” Biva spat. “If my decision wasn’t made before, it is now.” She clenched her fist. “And no I don’t want to talk about it.”
Dobeen and Jaq could only nod.
“We’ll make it count,” Lev told his sister.
She only shrugged and grabbed Jaq’s drink from across the table, draining the rest of the tumbler.
If her brothers and brother in law kept a close eye on her the rest of the night and she noticed, Biva didn’t say anything about it.
They all arrived, mostly sober, at the spaceport the next morning, waiting at a pre-appointed berth.
When the Breakwater landed and the cargo hatch dropped, none of them wasted time before boarding.
Shona Rook met them in the cargo bay, a tall human woman that Jaq had met twice before, once at the wedding, with her. The dark skinned woman regarded the Andor siblings with steady brown eyes and gave them a welcoming smile.
“All aboard,” Naeim Rook greeted them. “It’s good to see you again.”
“You too, Naeim,” Lev greeted his cousin’s wife. “Good to know we’re in good hands.”
Naeim chuckled. “Oh aye, Shona and I will get you there in one piece. We’ve done a couple of supply runs already to the base.”
It took a few hours before Shona to ensure the ship was refueled, but soon enough they were off.
After Biva’s third tumbler of whiskey, Shona firmly cut her off.
“Drinking yourself to a stupor won’t bring him back,” Shona replied in a caustic tone.
Biva glared at her cousin.
“Don’t look at me that way, Biva. I know how you feel, believe me I do, but you cannot drink yourself stupid.”
“Or she’ll kick your sheb the way I kicked hers,” Naeim replied calmly.
Biva locked herself her quarters and refused to come out for the rest of the flight.
Jaq and Lev drew straws on the approach to D’Qar. Lev got the short straw.
“Biva, you have to come out,” Jaq insisted, knocking on the door. “Or so help me I will hack this door. We’re about to land.”
It took another ten minutes to convince her to open the door willingly. Jaq took a good look at his sister and shook his head. At least she hadn’t been drinking for the past day and a half, but clearly she’d seen better days.
“Come on, Biva,” he told her quietly. “We will have friends on base at least, you know that. You’re no good to the Resistance if you drink yourself to a stupor…and Euxor wouldn’t want this of you.”
Her back stiffened, but Biva grabbed clothing from her bag and went to the ship’s refresher. By the time they landed, she was cleaned and dressed, though red-eyed, and standing with her brothers and brother in law as they hit D’Qar.
None of them were surprised at the small crowd that had gathered as she ship landed. Nor could they find themselves surprised when Bodhi and Vexei Rook met them at the end of the cargo ramp. Vexei took a long look at Biva and pulled her into a tight hug, and Biva could not find it in herself to pull back from her aunt.
“You’re parents are scheduled to arrive in another few days,” Bodhi informed Jaq and Lev as Vexei took charge of Biva.
Jaq frowned. “Mama and Papa, why?”
Dobeen snorted and slugged his husband lightly in the shoulder. “You didn’t think your cousin wouldn’t send word to your parents that you were defecting from the New Republic to the Resistance, Jaq?” he asked. “I’m surprised they aren’t already here, actually,” he glanced at Bodhi.
“They were, a few weeks ago,” Bodhi replied. “But then Baze was having some issues with Chirrut and they took a short leave.”
“How are my uncles?” Lev asked.
Bodhi sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Baze and Chirrut aren’t getting any younger,” he admitted. “But they agreed to remain with Kes Dameron back on Yavin 4, help him out where they can. Though they would prefer to be here.”
“I can’t say I’m surprised to see you,” Jaq admitted.
Bodhi laughed. “Vexei and I have been running supply runs for almost a year,” he admitted. “Shona and Naiem joined up earlier this year. It’s a kriffing family reunion.”
“Almost,” Biva said softly from where she still pressed her head against her aunt’s shoulder.
Bodhi nodded, sorrow flickering over his expression. He exchanged a glance with Vexei and she nodded, then shifted and put an arm around Biva’s shoulder. “Why don’t you and I take a walk?” Vexei suggested as she lead Biva away.
“Well, you all might as well report to General Organa, you three at least,” Bodhi said to Lev, Dobeen, and Jaq. “She won’t be surprised.
Within a few weeks, the Rogue One children had settled into life on the Resistance Base. Jaq got pulled into the pilots pool, Dobeen and Biva were training and running short operations with the ground pounders, and Lev was in the medical wing, treating injuries as they came in.
No one seemed surprised to see the young medic defect from the New Republic, and his help was gladly accepted in the medical wards of D’Qar base.
The arrival of Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso-Andor was greeted with muted joy by their children. The Andor children worried about their parents, the Andor parents worried about their children, and it was the start of a cold war, and they all felt the hole where Euxor had been previously, but there was still joy of being with family again.
Almost three months had passed when Dobeen’s squad was called away on a rescue mission.
“Former New Republic forces ran into some trouble on the outer rim,” Dobeen explained to his husband and sister in law as he suited up. “Guess my squad drew the straw this time, you’ll probably be on next time Biva.”
The Mirialan nodded as she checked over his blaster. “Just be careful,” she told him. “We don’t need another hole in this family.” Her eyes went distant a moment, as they always did when she thought of Euxor, but then she shrugged and turned back to her duty.
Dobeen was surprised when the squad was assigned to the Oblivion, since it obviously wasn’t a military ship, for the extraction.
“Those are in short supply,” Bodhi explained as Dobeen and his squad settled into the crew quarters. “And Vexei and I have done an extraction before. I’ll stay on ship while she goes with you.”
It was nearly a week later when the Oblivion returned to base. Jaq Andor had just gotten off of a patrol and desperate needed a shower, but he was there, gnawing on a purloined ration bar as he waited for the ship to land. There’d been one communication from the Oblivion since they’d left, alerting medical to be on hand when they landed.
Lev shoved his older brother out of the way as the ship landed. He and three other medics hurried aboard with stretchers to move the two critical patients they’d received reports of.
Jaq waited anxiously until Dobeen limped off the ship. He gave Jaq a surprising grin and pulled Jaq into a tight embrace. “We’ve got to find Biva!”
Then Dobeen was off, limping through the base on a search for his sister in law, leaving Jaq following behind, confused as Force.
Biva was on the mats with another groundpounder when Dobeen came barreling into the room. “Biva, you’ve got to get to medical. We found him.”
Biva dropped her opponent and stared dumbly at her brother in law.
Jaq blinked, picking up on Dobeen’s words at last. “You can’t mean?”
“We extracted Euxor and half his squad,” Dobeen replied to the unspoken question. A shadow passed over his face “It’s bad and he needs surgery, but they do expect him to survive.”
Biva bolted from the training room.
It was nearly four in the morning local time, the following morning, when Euxor awoken from surgery, and saw the brightest smile he’d ever seen on an exhausted Biva’s face.
The war was beginning again, but perhaps they would all be okay. At least they were together.