7

"You revealed the location of Luke?"

Thane nodded nervously as Leia stood in front of him. Leia had called for a meeting of the rebellion remnant on Mirrin Prime. "It was that or the entire Hosnian System."

"The base is operational?"

Thane nodded again.

Leia paced back and forth across the room. "Luke is going to die. His padawans are going to die." She moved closer to Thane. "My Ben is going to die. We need to tell Luke."

"They were going to search the Gordian Reaches next anyway."

"They were going to do it anyway?" Leia screamed furiously. "This is no frivolous matter! An entire order is going to die out with Luke! The defenders of peace and justice in the galaxy- gone!"

"We can send a hologram call to him."

"Luke's the only one who knows how to fight! The padawans are too early into the training to use a lightsaber effectively. They can't defend themselves from the First Order. We need reinforcements."

"It's just us in the rebellion now. We're the only ones who could stay after the Battle of Jakku. Me, you, Admiral Ackbar, the Black, Red, and Blue Squadrons. General Solo is on Nantoon."

Leia nodded. "We don't have many ships. It's just three squadrons and Home One. The Senate refused to fund our new Resistance, so we'll have to do it on our own."

"I can contact the X-Wing pilots," Poe said.

Leia nodded. "Good. Anything else you found out from the war council?"

Thane nodded. "The First Order wants something called the Great Crystal of Aantonaii. Poe and I believe it is an ancient Sith artifact. The First Order has appointed the Knights of Ren to search for it. They've already searched Malachor and Dathomir."

Leia was wide-eyed. "A Sith artifact? I thought the Sith were gone."

"Evil can be beaten, but rarely defeated," Thane said.

"Interesting" Leia said, stroking her chin. "We must know more about the Crystal of Aantonaii. We can send a scout group to investigate Moraband. It's the Sith homeworld, so we're bound to get some clues there. Admiral Ackbar, contact a group of New Republic scouts. The Senate may hate my guts, but they still might help. Poe, contact the old rebellion members. I'll alert Luke."

"Yes, General," Poe said.

...

"Mara Jade."

The young woman entered the chamber. She was beautiful, with long, flame-red hair. She stood in front of Supreme Leader Snoke's hologram. The chamber on Starkiller Base had been constructed to communicate with Snoke. The hologram made him appear to tower over Mara and be hundreds of feet tall. Snoke's face was a pale white, weak and fragile. He was in hiding on a faraway planet.

"Yes, Supreme Leader?"

"A rebel scum has slipped the location of Skywalker, on Yavin IV. As a member of the Chimera, it is your duty to find him and bring him to me. Show no mercy, Mara. Do it with haste and dignity. Backup will arrive shortly after you do. I want him alive. If he could be turned, he would be a powerful ally. Once and for all, we will bring an end to the Jedi."

"Yes, Supreme Leader."

...
Luke sat in his private quarters, R2-D2 at his side. The force ghosts of Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Anakin Skywalker cast a dim blue glow across the room.

"Great fear, I sense in Ben" Yoda said. "Developed anger, he has. Developed hatred, he has. Hatred for the Jedi. Hatred for his way of life. Holding him back, you are. Suffering he is. Strong in him I fear the dark side is."

"I feel as if he was destined for evil," Luke said. "He has great power in the force, but he doesn't show it. I sense a presence in him- of the dark side. He wants more than the tight restrictions of the Jedi code."

"Be careful, Luke" Obi-Wan warned. "The Jedi code forbidding love is what turned Anakin. What exactly did Ben see in the maze?"

"He saw a masked figure in a cloak. He had crude, red lightsaber, and he killed Han Solo."

"Only those strong in the dark side can corrupt a kyber crystal to turn red," Anakin said.

"But the Sith are all but gone. Do you think that was showing the future?"

Luke stroked his chin. "A new Sith can't rise. My padawans are the only known force-sensitives in the galaxy. Do you think one of them will turn? Kris? Bem?"

"Difficult to see, the future is," Yoda said. "Always in motion."

"You built the maze on top of a Nexus- is that correct?" Anakin asked.

Luke nodded. A Nexus was an area that was strong in the force and could tell one's future, often warped. Luke had experienced this when he encountered a vision of Darth Vader in a cave on Dagobah when he was training under Yoda.

"I would privately teach Ben during off hours to help him better understand the will of the force," Anakin suggested. "Now, we must go. Take care, Luke. And may the force be with you."

"May the force be with you," Luke said as the force ghosts faded away.

Luke was even more lost than before he sought Yoda, Obi-Wan and Anakin's guidance.

The holo-terminal in the middle of Luke's quarters flickered to life, and the blue, holographic image of Leia was projected onto it.

"Leia?"

"Luke!" She said. "The First Order knows your location. You need to get off the planet with the padawans now."

...

Poe entered a code into the main computer terminal, and the screen turned on, showing every old member of the rebellion. This code was for an emergency where all of the X-Wing pilots needed to be contacted.

"This is Poe Dameron. The First Order has found out the location of Luke Skywalker on Yavin IV. This is our most desperate hour. Meet us over Mirrin Prime for briefing."

Temmin Wexly, nicknamed Snap and a member of the Black Squadron's image was enlarged to take up most of the screen.

"But the Galactic Concordance said that the rebellion must be disbanded, as well as the Empire. We can't go into battle without the New Republic. They'll never believe us if they'll never believe Leia."

"It's for a greater cause." Poe said. "We're doing it for the rebellion."

There was silence, until Oddy Muva's, an Abednedo and a Black Squadron member's image replaced Snap's.

"For the rebellion!"

"For the rebellion!" The rest of them chanted.

Poe couldn't help but smile.

...

"General Hux"

Hux turned around from the window of Starkiller Base, watching countless Star Destroyers and TIE fighters being launched off into battle.

In front of Hux stood Admiral Terallo, his trusty right-hand man, who also served as the Admiral on Hux's Super Star Destroyer the Precision.

"Scouts have arrived at Ranoro to find nothing, not even an abandoned or destroyed base."

General Hux growled. "Those damned rebels played us for fools. We'll prove them wrong and capture Skywalker once and for all."

...

X-Wings from all across the galaxy started to jump out from hyperspace and appear over Mirrin Prime, lining up in their respective squadrons.

"All wings report in," Leia said over the intercom from inside the Home One, with Admiral Ackbar and Thane at her side.

"Black Leader, standing by," Poe said from his X-Wing, BB-8 inside the nose.

"Blue Leader standing by"

"Red Leader standing by"

"Set attack coordinates to Yavin. Prepare to make the jump to lightspeed. Good Luck. You'll need it." Admiral Ackbar said.

"We have no idea what's out there. We need to hold off whatever is so Luke can get off the planet." Leia said.

"Copy that, General." Poe flicked the switch on his X-Wing, and it accelerated out of sight, jumping through hyperspace and re-appearing over Yavin IV to find tens of Star Destroyers surrounding the planet.

"The First block Luke from getting off the planet," Poe said. "We have to buy him enough time to get off, but we can't destroy any of the Star Destroyers since it will block his path."

"Copy that, Black Leader." Blue Three, Gavin Webb, said.

Poe felt the excitement his father must have felt in the Battle of Jakku. Flying an X-Wing in his first major battle was amazing, with three squads at his command. He was becoming his father, the great rebellion hero Kes Dameron, and he was alive. He was home.

Poe had been born on Yavin IV, and the few years with his father had happened her. He had faint memories, faint images with Kes. Riding on Kes's back, speeding through the jungles of Yavin IV on a speeder, the celebration Poe's family had after the second Death Star was destroyed, Kes chasing Poe up a tree in the jungle, and for the first time, he didn't miss them. He was reliving them by being back on Yavin IV, and for the first time, he felt like Kes was still with him. With him in his heart.

He dived into the onslaught of Star Destroyers, and the Black, Red and Blue Squadrons followed.

...

"Mara."

Mara Jade stood behind General Hux on the bridge of the Super Star Destroyer the Precision, deployed over Yavin IV. "Do you know what you need to do?"

Mara nodded. "Yes."

"Good. Skywalker is likely to be in the Temple of the Massassi, as it was a Jedi temple in the past. Do not hesitate."

"It will be done, General."

Mara left, and General Hux turned back to the window. He would not fail like his father did in the Battle of Jakku. He would lead his fleet to victory.

...

Luke came out of the Temple of the Massassi to war. Star Destroyers dominated the horizon, jumping out of hyperspace and above Yavin IV. Luke could make out TIE fighters and X-Wings in the battle. The chaos gradually moved into the atmosphere of Yavin IV.

The First Order had found him.

He didn't know how, he didn't know why, all he knew is that he and his padwans weren't safe.
They needed to run.

A sleek ship entered the atmosphere, gray and pointed, like a dart slicing through the sky. The ship landed and out stepped Mara Jade. She ignited her lightsaber, red and glowing with fury and hatred.

"Run. Hide." Luke said to his padawans. The padawans sprinted back into the temple and hid behind a set of stones.

Luke ignited his own lightsaber, glowing an emerald green. Luke charged at Mara.

...
A gentle hum of friction rang over the sounds of the battlefield as Poe led his squadrons into the atmosphere of Yavin IV, two Star Destroyers moving closer together in an attempt to block the X-Wings. BB-8 beeped nervously.

"PULL UP!" Poe screamed. The X-Wings dipped and shot back up, but Black Six, Dia Shiimo, moved the yoke a split-second too late, and they crashed into the Star Destroyers.
Poe looked back. "We've lost Black Six."

Poe led the X-Wings into a swirling mass of TIE fighters, heading at the three squadrons in a V formation over a lake in front of the Massassi temple.

"Black Squadron, break into their formation, turn back and concentrate fire on those TIE fighters. Red Squadron, Blue Squadron, cover for us."

"Roger that, Poe." Tobi Duime, Red Twelve, said.

The Black Squadron cut through the spaces in between the TIE fighters and flew in a line across the lake, the tips of their S-Foils dipping into the water, creating a line of splashes. Poe then cranked his yoke up, and the other X-Wings followed. Poe twisted upright and shot a round of lasers at the TIE fighters, exploding them, the Red Squadron following the Black Squadron from above them, the Blue Squadron from below. With the air relatively calm, Poe led his Squadron towards a Super Star Destroyer surrounded by a few smaller Star Destroyers.

"That's the Precision," Poe said. "It's General Hux's flagship. We need to cripple the ship's firepower." He led the squadrons through a small gap in between two Star Destroyers, rows of turrets lining the inside edges.

"Advance to sublight, engage thrusters," Poe said. "We're going to have to get through the turrets if we want to strike the fleet where it will hit hardest."

The X-Wings sped through the row of turrets, TIE fighters pursuing them through the gap. The tight space filled with lasers, green flashing on all sides of Poe's X-Wing. Careful and precise maneuvers were the only thing stopping him from being obliterated, which was exactly what happened to Gavin and Tobi.

BB-8 beeped sadly. "I know, BB-8. We have to keep moving if we want to save Luke." Poe sighed. "Even if we have to sacrifice everything."

The surviving pilots reached the Precision, and they soared above the top, firing lasers at whatever they could, finally reaching the main hangar. The remaining circled the hangar and shot a round of lasers at it, the hangar exploding into space.

...

"General, the rebels have destroyed the main hangar." Admiral Terallo reported.

General Hux growled. "Fire the homing missiles!"

...

Poe and his squadrons flew around the Precision, firing at the turrets when twenty-seven missiles were fired from the cannons, each heading for an X-Wing, leaving trails of blue light.

"BREAK!" Poe commanded. The X-Wings split into two groups, slicing through the air, the missiles following them. Poe dived under a Star Destroyer, spun to turn upward, and flew over it. Snap, Oddy, L'ulo, who had been transferred to the Black Squadron after the Green Squadron was disbanded, and Black Two, Kalia Mott, followed him.

The missiles spun, dipped and dived with the X-Wings over, under, and around the battlefield. Poe tilted left then right as two TIE fighters were shot and exploded. He dived again into the Star Destroyers as the missiles flew over him and back around. He spun as one flew past him and obliterated Kalia.

Poe spiraled into another Star Destroyer with Snap, Oddy and L'ulo behind him and they veered a hard right, the missiles pursuing them exploding into the bridge of a Star Destroyer.

The three squadrons reformed at the edge of the battlefield to find about a hundred small ships coming out of a Star Destroyer, heading towards the Home One.

"Home One, this is Black Leader," Poe said. "There's a line of unidentified enemy crafts approaching your vessel. What's going on?"

Thane walked up to the window with Leia and Admiral Ackbar to find a hundred or more TIE bombers.

"They're TIE bombers. Black Squadron, Red Squadron, Blue Squadron, draw their fire out into the open, cut their line of fire, take out as many as you can." He said.

Poe swooped around the top of the Massassi temple, the bombers in pursuit. They flew over the stairs in a bombing run, and huge chunks of stone collapsed down to the ground.

The Temple of the Massassi was being destroyed.

Rubble fell between Luke and Mara. They swung and sliced with pure anger and hatred, trekking up the stones as their blades clashed with explosions of light. They spun and twisted through the fallen pillars and up the collapsed staircase.

Luke ducked as Mara swung above his head, and he struck back, hitting Mara's blade. Both combatants pushed against each other, their blades locked.

Mara twisted and sliced her blade down, knocking Luke's out of his hand and onto the ground. She quickly pulled the lightsaber to her with the force, shoved it in her pocket, and gripped the collar of Luke's robe, her other hand holding her lightsaber, firmly pointed at Luke.

...

Poe flew around the Massassi temple fleeing the TIE bombers. He soared over the battlefield and over the Home One, rolling and dipping to avoid laser fire. He dived as a round of lasers was shot at each of the two TIE bombers pursuing Poe, the bombers spinning and. The attackers rose up, and Poe saw that it had been Snap, Oddy and L'ulo.

"Nice shot!" Poe said. He followed the TIE bomber squadrons over the Home One, shooting whatever he could as they dropped bombs into the engines. He followed the bombers and dived back into the battle.

...

Leia stared into the maintenance screen, seeing that the engines of the Home One had been completely destroyed. "All engines have failed! All personnel to the escape pods! We're going down!"

The Home One took a nosedive to Yavin IV, the floor steepening. Leia and Admiral Ackbar gripped onto poles as everything that wasn't bolted down to the ground fell down to the cockpit.

"Thane, get us an escape pod!" Admiral Ackbar screamed.

Thane heard what Admiral Ackbar said, and his mind became a whirlwind of various images that had been gone, long gone until now. His body stiffened.

Suddenly he was back on the Inflictor, dragging Captain Ree across the hallways, Kes behind him.

"Thane, get us an escape pod!"

The image shifted, and Thane was docked in the escape pod with Captain Ree.

"Just go!" Kes said. "For the rebellion!"

The escape pod ejected and Thane, once again, witnessed Kes die.

He had let Kes die.

One thing led to another, and suddenly Thane was on Coruscant in the main plaza, watching Zeth and Jaya get executed on the screen, the screech of the stormtrooper's blasters and the screeches of his parents, and suddenly the screams were of helpless civilians on Redan, the screeches of Gorman, and Kes's screeches of seeing her brother helplessly murdered, and he awoke when Leia shoved him into an escape pod, and Thane could see through the window that the Home One was dangerously close to the lake next to the Temple of the Massassi.

The escape pod ejected, shooting into the water, and, like Thane's heart sinking each time he had lost everything, it plunged into the lake's murky depths.

...

Mara on the ruins of the Massassi temple, her lightsaber to Luke's neck, her other hand gripping the collar of his robe.

"TRAITOR!" Mara screamed. "You Jedi are nothing but traitors. Traitors to the Republic, nearly assassinating Chancellor Palpatine, traitors to the Separatists, oppressing them in their noble, peaceful movement, traitors to the Sith, imprisoning us, fearing that we are the corrupt ones, but you Jedi fear anything dark, and by doing so, only create disorder. And you-" She pulled Luke closer. "Are a traitor to the Empire and the First Order, destroying the Death Star, killing millions and destroying years of Imperial engineering, and aiding General Leia in her puny rebellion. And now-" she threw Luke into the cell of her ship and slammed the door shut "The treachery of your worthless warriors is gone."

Mara then rasped the words that had become such an insult and so vulgar in the Empire and the First Order that they were almost never uttered, the words speaking of those who had ruined everyone who was the in the Empire and who continued to ruin everyone who was in the First Order, including Mara's.

"Jedi scum."

...
The escape pod bobbed up and down in the water as Thane fiddled with the upper hatch, and turning the lever, seeing that the Home One had been completely submerged at the bottom of the lake. The rest of the crew had fleed in other escape pods, which dotted the lake.

Thane turned to the Temple of the Massassi to see it in ruins. The great temple that had served as a temple for the Jedi in the days of the Old Republic, the temple that had served as a rebel base in the days of the Galactic Civil War, the temple that had served as Luke's Jedi Acadamy had been destroyed.

But that was not why Leia started crying.

"Luke."

The word was spoken with great sadness.

Luke was either captured or dead.

His padawans were either captured or dead.

Ben was either captured or dead, but most importantly, the Jedi were dead.

She stepped out into the soggy lake and began to swim to the shore, Thane and Admiral Ackbar following. Clothes dripping wet, they stepped into the rubble to see a sleek gray ship taking off.

She dashed toward the ship taking off. "No, no, no..."

"LUKE!"

Her shouts were lost in the boom of the liftoff. Leia frantically fished a homing beacon out of her pocket and threw it onto the ship, the small device latching onto the back. The ship rose out of Yavin IV's atmosphere and sped through the battle. A laser from Poe's X-Wing hit the back of the hyperdrive, and blue energy signatures radiated in a thin streak following the path of Mara'a ship, slicing through the sky like a sword.

Leia then turned on her intercom. "This is General Leia. All Squadrons, retreat to Mirrin Prime. Poe, pick us up in a transport. You're coming with us. We're following that ship and finding out where it's going. Luke's on it. "

"Copy that, General," Poe said. The X-Wings weaved around the Star Destroyers and shot out into nothingness, heading for Mirrin Prime.