A/N: Hey guys, I was really inspired by the new movie so I decided to write a Fanfic. The chapter update will not be regular due to class schedule, however I will try to update as often as I can. This is my first ever Star Wars fix, so I hope you enjoy it! Feel free to leave reviews and your very own suggestions or questions about the story. I will answer your comments at the end of every chapter :) Also, a big thanks goes out to my three best friends (Cam, Lauren, and Sarah) for inspiring three of my OCs. In addition, if you would like to check this story out on another website, it is posted on AO3 under the pen name Domination.
Disclaimer: I am only going to do this once. I do not own Star Wars, however I do own my four OCs and any other characters I may or may not make up.
Starkiller Base
T-70 X-Wing Starfighter, Red Squadron
"Red One, I need you to head for the left side of the oscillator. Blue will take the right."
"Roger that, Blue One."
The little ship made an abrupt left turn, signaling to its squadron to follow it. Octavia Khaar switched on the targeting computer, transforming the X-wing into attack mode. "You ready, Seetee?" The little droid beeped a yes. The girl smiled ruefully, "Let's flatten these bastards."
She dropped the ship, gradually picking up speed as she moved closer towards the hexagonal-shaped oscillator in the middle of the First Order's base. The base was huge, bigger even than the Death Star described in her father's war stories. And if they didn't stop it – Octavia shuddered, life as she knew it would cease to exist. Literally.
"Prepare yourselves, Red." She spoke to her squad over the little microphone attached to her helmet. They were close, just a few more seconds.
"Roger that, Red One."
Five, four, three, two –
She pulled up, letting off on the controls just enough to level the ship so that she could get a clear shot. Octavia squeezed to button, letting the cannon fire. Quickly she zoomed up and zigzagged to the left, moving away from the oncoming explosion. Behind her, she could see the other troops following in her path, firing on the base before steering away.
Octavia clenched her fists around the controls, preparing for another round before noticing that the explosions seemed to have no effect. In fact, it was spotless. "Fuck!" She cursed, punching the controls and kicking for a moment before regaining a level head. Now wasn't the time to let her emotions get ahold of her. She let out a small growl before connecting her headset to her partner's ship. "Blue One, come in."
"What is it, Red One?"
"We've got a problem." Octavia looked back at the enormous base surrounded by an invisible shield. "My troops aren't affecting the oscillator. What –" She yanked the controls, shooting quickly to the right and circling back to the base. "What do we do?"
No reply.
Fuck. Octavia made quick movements back to the oscillator, deciding once again to open fire on it. Still, no scratch was made. Her troops were flying behind her and shooting, but they could probably sense her indecision by her current flying. Kriff, if she didn't think of something they were all screwed.
"Son of a bantha!" She slammed her fist into the steering system once more.
"Ya' all right there, Tav?" Octavia looked up to see her partner's blue ship fly past her, expertly showing off as he flipped upside down and handled it with ease.
She groaned. "Yeah, yeah."
"Just hang in there, Red One. I've got a – Shit!" Octavia's eyes widened as she saw her friend's ship suddenly shoot to the left, his squadron quickly following behind him. "We've got a problem! The First Order just released their TIE fighters."
"Son of a –" she reached over to connect the headset with her squad. "Red Two, do you hear me?" Octavia flipped a switch, activating her blasters. "CT, can you locate the First Order's ships for me?" Yes. The muscles in her hands cramped as she gripped the controls tight enough to strangle somebody, her head pounding with an oncoming headache.
"I hear you, Red One."
Octavia clenched her jaw as she yanked on the controls, dipping to the side to try to gain a clear shot of an oncoming TIE fighter. "I need you to take Red Four and Six and split up. I'll take Three and Five."
"Roger that, Red One."
She gave a silent nod, ready for the battle. Octavia knew going into this that the First Order would most likely send out their ships, but the Resistance had hoped that they would have made some impact on the base before they did so. Apparently things weren't going to be that easy, though. But when were they ever relatively easy?
She gritted her teeth, eyes narrowing as she locked onto her target. The TIE fighters were just as unimpressive as the last time she had seen one. Created for speed rather than endurance, the little ships were a pain in the ass but easy to take down if she could ever get a clear shot off of one. It didn't help that they were firing back at her, but the TIE pilots weren't necessarily known as being the most accurate shooters in the galaxy.
One two three… Now! The targeting module on the screen locked onto her target and she fired, the blaster hitting the enemy ship and causing it to all but disintegrate. Octavia veered to the left, narrowly missing a piece of the TIE fighter's wing that came flying back at her. She watched as Red Five flew past her, dodging a shot by another enemy ship before shooting and missing the target; it circled around, whipping out of the way of another shot before taking out the TIE Fighter. Octavia silently cheered and kept flying, moving past the wreckage dispersing into space to find another enemy ship.
She smiled. Octavia could freely admit to anyone who asked that her favorite part of going on missions was the shooting. While her close friend and flying partner, Blue One – typically Black One, during Special Forces missions – was the best pilot in the Resistance, Octavia was the best shot. And everyone knew it.
Octavia grinned as she took out another TIE fighter, dipping to the side to change angles. Blue One flew past her, his squadron of blue ships flying closely behind him. Red Two, Four, and Six weren't far behind them, and Octavia had to signal them to fly in another direction. She sighed and contacted Red Three and Five, letting them know that she was going to chase after another TIE fighter and for them to keep up a barrage on the oscillator.
"Red One, you suck at teamwork." Octavia looked up to see Poe Dameron waving at her from the blue ship flying next to her.
She rolled her eyes and flipped him off, but that only seemed to cause him to laugh. "Blue One, you and I both know I like to work alone." She could see him shaking his head from the cockpit of the ship next to hers.
"Want some help, Red One?"
She snorted. "Only from you, Blue One." Poe's ship sped up, and Octavia was left following him. The little blue X-wing fighter flew past a waiting group of three TIE Fighters, urging the enemy ships to follow him. Octavia had slowed down, almost to a stop while Poe distracted the three ships. He flew in circles around them, dodging shots and taunting them before taking off with the ships in tow. Octavia counted – one second, two second, three second, four second – and took off, following the group pursuing Blue One.
She sped up, accelerating slowly but efficiently. The girl made careful movements to hide in the shadows as she tracked her prey, waiting for one of the ships to move into a better position for her to take a shot. Finally, one made a mistake. It moved to shoot at the blue ship, but missed and veered out of position. Octavia pounced on the error, speeding up and locking the target on her computer. She fired. Hit.
One down. Two to go.
Ahead of her, Poe was flipping around, flying in a zigzag to confuse his enemy's flight patterns. Octavia rolled her eyes, but applauded her friend's skills as another of the TIE Fighters made the mistake of moving to get a better position: she had a clear shot.
Two down.
"You ready for the last one, Red One?"
"Hell yes," Octavia grinned. "Speed up, Blue One."
"Roger that." The blue ship took off in a straight line, momentarily confusing the TIE fighter that was flying through its partner's carnage. Octavia used its confusion to her advantage and swooped in, taking it out with ease. She whooped, pumping up her fist in excitement before steering around and heading back to Starkiller Base.
It was a few moments later when her mic set connected with one of her Red ships. "Red One, did you see that?"
Octavia squinted, Poe's blue ship close behind hers. Ahead of them, the giant First Order base looked as if it were having a firework show on the west side of the base. Smoke and bright light was everywhere, and if Octavia didn't know any better she would think they were celebrating. But the First Order didn't throw parties. "Finn and Han." She breathed, her mouth hanging open and her eyes wide. She knew that the Millennium Falcon had been packed with explosives, but she had no idea that they would actually use them.
But they had, and now there was a huge gaping hole in Starkiller Base's shields. Right next to the oscillator.
"Red and Blue Squadrons, this is Blue One. Prepare to mount an attack on the base." Poe's voice echoed through the headset, and Octavia mentally prepared herself. She looked back to make sure her droid was ready before getting into position. Finally.
The barrage on the base was surprisingly quick and efficient. It was led by Poe's ship, followed by Octavia, and the two squadrons behind them. They dive-bombed the target, nearly emptying all of their rounds until the oscillator went up in flames. Seconds later it exploded, pieces flying everywhere and the Resistance planes scattering from the blast. Octavia flew to the right, avoiding an oncoming cloud of shrapnel, and turned to look at the remains of the oscillator that they had spent so many resources trying to destroy.
She gaped. Starkiller Base looked to be imploding, fire and earthquake-like explosions forming everywhere. She sent up a silent prayer to anyone who was listening that her friends left on the base would get out safely. Then she sent a message to her squad, informing them to head back to base. Quickly turning away, she followed Poe's blue X-wing as the Resistance pilots all moved to head back to D'Qar. Mission accomplished.
Resistance Base, D'Qar
Octavia arrived at the base expecting some form of congratulation. Usually when arriving from a successful mission, her and Poe were greeted with a large crowd and a smiling General Organa; some even clapped for them. But this time upon arriving, she was struck with the feeling that something was wrong.
The landing bay was empty. Completely barren, save for a few of the left over ships that didn't fly. There was no one to be found.
Hopping out of Red One, Octavia went to greet her partner who was waiting next to his blue X-wing. The other troops were landing further down the strip, allowing Poe to motion her over in private. She raised her eyebrows, looking at her friend curiously.
"Does something feel wrong to you?" Poe looked about as concerned as she felt, eyeing the barren landing bay as if something were going to jump out and shoot him.
She nodded, grabbing his wrist and pulling him towards the base. "Yeah, c'mon." The pair made their way into the base, careful not to trip over their droids that were beeping happily, glad to be out of the confines of the ship. Poe's droid BB-8 appeared to be chasing CT-19. Octavia's droid was an astromech, much like Poe's, but while his was an orange-tan color, hers was black and orange. CT rolled over to her, beeping excitedly before rolling off with BB-8 in tow. Poe snorted at the two little droids and Octavia rolled her eyes.
Inside the base, Octavia saw something that she thought she would never see in a place as rambunctious and full of hope as the Resistance. It was silent. A few people looked relieved, but others were walking around like zombies, wide-eyed and frightened. Most frightening of all was General Organa sitting in the middle of the room, eyes puffy from crying and tear stains on her face.
Noticing this, Poe ran to the older woman, immediately taking her into a heartfelt embrace. "What happened?" Octavia watched as she tried to compose herself, some of the other people turning away to give the woman some space.
"Ren –" she sniffed, taking a deep breath before looking up at the young pilot, "Kylo Ren killed Han."
Octavia felt her blood go cold; her body stiffened. In front of her, she could see Poe staring at the woman in disbelief. "What?!" Octavia only hoped that her mouth wasn't hanging open like a slack-jawed idiot.
The General nodded, lips tight. "We must carry on and hope that the others escaped safely." Poe stepped back, giving her space before turning back to Octavia and moving to stand by her. The General patted them on the shoulder. "That was impressive work by the two of you."
Octavia shrugged, "It's no big deal." Her partner nodded in agreement.
The General shook her head. "Really, without you two I don't think we could have pulled this off. Go get some rest, you need it."
Octavia opened her mouth to say that they didn't need sleep, but Poe cut her off. "Thank you, General."
The General cracked a smile, "How many times have I told you two to call me Leia?" Poe grinned at the older woman before she took her leave.
Octavia turned on her partner with a glare. "What the hell? I don't need rest!"
Poe silenced her, clamping his hand over her mouth much to her annoyance. "C'mon Tav, she just lost Han. Do you really wanna argue with her right now?"
He removed his hand and she heaved a sigh. "I guess not." Leia was kind of like a second mother to her, and knowing how much the woman was hurting made Octavia feel slightly ill. She frowned before announcing to Poe that she was going to find her friend Liana. Poe looked as if he were about to say that he would join her, before Octavia clamped a hand over his mouth with an evil smirk. "Not today, flyboy."
Poe shot her a glare and Octavia couldn't help but feel smug. The brash pilot had entertained his crush on Liana for a few months now, yet he had resolved to do nothing about it. Octavia had known Poe for years, growing up with him and learning nearly everything about him, and she had discovered time and time again that he had absolutely no problems with getting what he wanted. But for some reason Liana wasn't interested, too busy with her work of helping the General plan their most recent missions.
Octavia knew for a fact that the girl liked Poe back, but she was smart enough to make the pilot suffer. Liana didn't want to make it easy for Poe, which pissed the man off to no end. Of course, Octavia took great joy in that.
Of her two best friends at the base, Liana – not counting Poe, who was nearly always in the mess hall or out working on his ship – was the easiest to find. Octavia could spot the chocolate-haired woman in the middle of a small group surrounding a little wooden table, peering at what looked to be some kind of documents. She had a look of concentration on her face that Octavia hated to disturb, but ultimately decided that she didn't care all that much.
"Liana!" Octavia called from across the room, gaining the attention of her friend who looked up from her work and quickly excused herself from the other resistance members.
Liana looked her friend up and down as she got closer, a small smile gracing her lips. "Well, you didn't die." Octavia had to hold back from scoffing. Her friend was blunt, but perhaps that's why the two were such good friends in the first place. When one found themselves constantly flying with a semi-arrogant pilot, it was nice to talk to someone a little more normal once in a while.
"Yeah, you could say that."
"The plan worked well." Liana acknowledged, referring to the strategy her and General Organa had come up with.
Octavia nodded, stretching her arms. She was feeling a little cramped from being in the X-wing's cockpit for so long. But she could feel a smirk forming. "Yup, it didn't suck."
Liana rolled her eyes. "Of course it didn't suck. It was brilliant." A pause, after Octavia mentally tried not to strangle her friend. "Chewbacca was genius to bring along explosives."
Octavia nodded. "By the way, do you know when they're supposed to arrive?"
The darker-haired girl shrugged. "Soon, I believe." She gave her friend a questioning look. "Why?"
Octavia shrugged, balancing up and down on her tiptoes. "I dunno, just a little antsy I guess." The mission had left her slightly on edge, and she thought it might be helpful to talk to Rey about it. She had never met the girl, but from the short time Octavia had spent with the runaway Stormtrooper, Rey had come up in their conversation more times than she could count. Of course, they hadn't spent too much time talking, but the times they had were pleasant.
"Have you found Sira yet? She was freaking out about the possibility of your imminent death." Liana had glanced back at the table filled with documents, as if her talking about Octavia dying was the most normal thing in the world. Well, with her job maybe it was.
She shook her head. "I can't ever seem to find her, so I just quit looking."
Her friend nodded, "Sounds about right." Liana glanced back at the table one more time before grabbing Octavia's arm and dragging her into the corner. She spoke in hushed tones. "Did you hear what happened with Han?"
Octavia nodded sadly. "Yeah." She hadn't been close to him, but saying that he had been one of her idols would have been an understatement.
Liana gave her a sad look, her face appearing tired all of a sudden. "The General's not doing too good. She wants to be strong, but I can see right through her."
"Normally I kind of envy you getting to work with the General," Well, sort of. "But I'm glad I'm not this time."
"Yeah," Liana seemed to be a little unfocused, thinking about something else before snapping her attention back to her friend. "You should go, take a nap or something."
"But –" She was tired of the suggestion. Octavia didn't look that awful. Liana waved her away and Octavia left with a loud huff and an angry glare.
She ran into Poe in the hallway. "What are you –"
"I was just going in to see –"
"Nope." Octavia stopped him and turned him around, pushing him back to wherever he had come from. Poe started to complain, but she ignored him. "We've been banished. They're working on something that's probably important."
"But –"
"No," she silenced her friend. "You smell gross. It would be in everyone's benefit if you took a shower." Poe was still in his orange jumpsuit, identical to the one Octavia was wearing. But his was covered in grease spots – most likely due to his constant habit of checking on his ship after every mission – and smelled like sweat. The dark oil stains on his face weren't helping matters much either.
"I've gotta file a report on the mission."
"That can wait."
"For Kriff's sake, Tav!" Poe threw his hands up in the air indignantly, "Fine!" Octavia could tell that her friend was trying to stay ad at her, but he was always pretty terrible at doing so.
She grinned smugly, knowing that she always got her way. He batted her head playfully as he gently shoved past her, presumably to take a shower. Octavia followed not long after, deciding that she could use a shower, herself.
The moment she entered her bedroom, she fell onto her bed in exhaustion. Octavia hadn't realized how truly long the day had been, and to top it off they had lost more than half of their fleet. She was surprised that Poe hadn't said anything about it, but it was possible that he was trying to avoid those thoughts altogether. If so, she needed to take a page from his book.
Peeling off her jumpsuit, she tossed it into the storage container at the foot of her bed, deciding that she would do her laundry tomorrow. The last several hours had been full of madness, and now she just needed to take a hot shower and sleep.
Of course, as luck would have it, a loud banging on her door sounded. She internally groaned and went to slip her jumpsuit back on, deciding it wouldn't be wise to open the door in solely her undergarments. "Yes?" Octavia huffed, swinging the door open abruptly. Immediately she recognized the man as Snap, one of the subordinate officers of the fleet.
"The Falcon is back," he said breathlessly, as if he had just run all the way from the control room to tell her. Maybe he had.
Octavia's jaw fell open, but she quickly closed it. "Finally!" She took off in a slight jog as she pushed pat the man, heading towards the docking bay. Up ahead she could already see a slight crowd forming, faces eager to catch a glimpse of the returning heroes. Octavia pushed her way to the front.
As the ship landed, she was awestruck with how big it was compared to her normal X-wing that she was accustomed to flying. It was at least two times the size and, judging by how old it was, probably a pain in the ass to pilot.
The door opened and everyone seemed to lean in, holding their breath. Chewbacca appeared first, seemingly carrying something, only to be followed by a solemn-faced girl who was carrying the wookie's bowcaster. She seemed distraught, and only then did Octavia realize that the thing in Chewbacca's arms was a person. He was bleeding all over the wookie's furry arms, tingeing the man's dark skin an ugly shade of red. Octavia leaned in closer, squinting; she recognized the jacket being worn by the injured man. It was the same one that Poe had worn nearly all day and every day before losing it in his crash on Jakku, only to find it being worn around by his savior. A Stormtrooper.
Finn.
Octavia hadn't known the rogue Stormtrooper very well, but anyone who would save Poe really deserved a pat on the back. And by the looks of it, he was practically a war hero. The man didn't deserve to die, especially at the hands of Kylo Ren.
She clinched her fists tightly as the crowd watched the rush of medics pour out of the building, whisking Finn onto a stretcher and to the infirmary. Both Rey and Poe had taken off running behind them, but were stopped by General Organa. Octavia couldn't quite make out what the older woman was saying, but it was enough for the two to relent. She watched for a moment longer before she noticed that she was being motioned over.
"General?" She asked curiously. Octavia could tell that Rey was feeling a little uncomfortable, and she really wished that she could have a chance to talk to the girl.
General Organa turned towards the base, silently telling the three of them to follow her. "We're going to have a meeting. We have things to discuss." Octavia nodded her head, moving her line of sight so that she could look at the younger girl without being too noticeable. It was only then that she noticed that Rey's lightly colored robes were covered in blood.