Chapter VIII:
The only way

Kyle reached the enemy encampment within four hours. Knowing that he was walking to a trap, he prepared well for the encounter. As soon he got close, he hid the glider behind the rocks, and climbed up the mountain bordering the camp. From that height, the Jedi Master had an excellent view on the situation at hand.

The enemy was prepared for an attack. Makeshift bunkers were surrounding the fortified area, numerous AT-STs patrolled close by, accompanied by multiple squads of stormtroopers. The prisoners were well hidden from plain sight, it was a challenge to locate them even for a trained Jedi. Kyle could see the containers lying in the middle of the camp, and he could feel the numerous people entrapped in them.

For a lone warrior, it seemed to be impossible to get there in one piece; but he couldn't just walk away. He took a deep breath, and activated the mines placed in the distance.

An explosion shook the land, sending countless pieces of rocks into the fiery air. For a moment, the stormtroopers stood in silence, watching the impossible unfold before their eyes. Then, all of a sudden, dozens of soldiers and vehicles seared off towards the blast area. Kyle watched them disappear in the horizon, then he made his way into the camp.

Only two-dozen stormtroopers remained in vicinity, accompanied by two walkers. There could be still a few soldiers in the bunker, although they represented the least of his concerns. Once the attack has begun, the rest of the imperials would quickly realize their error, and get back here before he could finish his task. He had to move fast, otherwise Mira's estimation would soon prove to be correct.

He waited for a few minutes, then, as the AT-ST passed by the rocks, he launched his assault. Stepping to the ground behind the walker's unsuspecting pilot, Kyle ignited the blue lightsaber, cutting both of the legs with a swift blow.

The mechanical beast fell on the ground with a loud thud, shaking the ground underneath it. Countless soldiers turned towards Kyle in that moment, opening fire at him within an instant. The Jedi Master held his hand before him, stopping all incoming shots with a single thought. Kylo Ren wasn't the only one who could do that.

For a moment, the troopers looked at him in deadly silence, then they looked up the sky, watching the Jedi jumping above the shots, and striking them down with a deadly blow. Kyle moved fast – even for a Jedi –, stepping out the way of desperate shots, slicing down his foes with quick and sudden blows. Yet even a Jedi Master had his limits.

As Kyle struck down two stormtroopers with a fierce, horizontal blow, the remaining AT-ST's gun swept through the air, as it unleashed a pair of deadly shots. He jumped away, but it was too late for getting out of the blow's wide radius. The explosion pushed him into a huge, oval shaped rock, possibly breaking a few of his ribs.

Struggling with the pain, he jumped up from the ground, facing the deadly beast and half a dozen troopers accompanying it. Feeling blood in his mouth, he remembered back to the hangar, where Mira turned the table around so easily. But it didn't matter how much he tried, he couldn't figure out how to do what she did.

Thus he did the opposite.

Reaching out with the Force, he grabbed the walker, and slammed it into the troopers standing beside it. The vehicle broke into pieces with a fiery blow, killing everyone who dared to stand too close. Only four soldiers survived the explosion, plus two men from the bunkers. As they opened fire at him, Kyle knew what to do.

Deflecting the shots with his lightsaber, the Jedi Master strode forward, getting the ones in the bunkers from the distance, and dealing with the others up close. After a quick strike, only two stormtroopers remained. Kyle cut one into two with a sudden strike, then he leapt next to the other one, slicing off his hand as he fired a missed shot, the he cut his head off with his next attack.

He felt remorse after the slaughter. Despite his age, and the things he went through, there was still some part of him that opposed war in its entirety. He missed Mira from his side, yet he understood her decision. He understood it as completely as Luke did. He was proud of the latter, but the first one made him scared beyond measure.

As he thought about his own good will, he got near the containers, inspecting the lock on the one closest by. The reinforcements should had been far away, giving him some time to free the people trapped in them. After a few seconds, he realized a simple cut was all he needed to open them.

The containers door swept open after the cut. A squad of black stormtroopers stood on the other side, keeping their weapons steady in their hand. In his shock, Kyle hesitated for a moment. By that time they could have easily killed him, but they did no such thing. The doors of the other containers swept open, and a small army marched towards the intruder.

There were no civilians to save. They never been here the first place.

At the moment of the shock, the black armored trooper before him fired his weapon, knocking him out with a stun-shot.


Luke stared at Ariss with anger. They young girl did not wrong to him, and actually proved to be more help than anyone else in this situation. Even though, he was about to explode in his anger. First Snoke got her wife and his followers, then Rey was next, and they had no idea where to find her. The Supreme leader could do to her anything he wanted, yet here they were, slowly drifting in space, trying to evade their enemies instead of fighting them.

"I'm sorry, I lost them… I have no idea why, but…" Ariss pleaded, then she fell silent. Being a clone, the young girl grew fast, and seemed like much more of a teenager than someone who lived only for a few brief years. With it, her intelligence was growing as quickly as ever, but now she was puzzled to find the right words. "There is someone stronger in this. Someone a lot more stronger than me."

"We can't let Kyle and Mira chase them alone," Luke shook his head, unable to believe what he had just heard. "We are all that's left from the Order after they got that shuttle. If…" he continued, but suddenly he was the one who couldn't find the right words.

It was over. The New Jedi over crumpled and collapsed before his eyes, and he was powerless to stop it. Maybe, with enough time passed, he could be able to live with it, but not with the loss of his only child.

"She is right," Ahsoka said, standing at the other side of the cabin. He thought she would add his title to the back of the sentence, but now, with everything that going on, the togruta's mind was too occupied to consider herself the part of another destroyed Jedi Order. "They are on their own, Luke, just as we are."

The three of them here, and those in there were all that was left of their creed. Another mistake, and this number would plummet into nothing, they all knew that very well.

"Then we go against Snoke," Luke said with anger. "Ariss, you can find it, can't you?"

"I know where he is, but…" she answered, not knowing how to say what she meant to say.

"If we go, and we lose, we are finished," Ashoka spoke, being the only one who was used to this kind of situations. "There will be no third Jedi Order, we would simply cease to exist."

"He has my kid," Luke answered, gritting his teeth. "If we can get to him, then maybe…"

"We are not assassins," Ashoka interrupted him.

"And who's saying that? Vader's only surviving apprentice?" Luke raised his voice. Deadly silence accompanied his words.

Ahsoka looked at him, shocked, hurt, angry, yet determined not to make a scene out of it. The togruta took a sharp glance at him, then stormed out of the cabin, so she could calm herself in her room.

"She is right," Ariss darted, she seemed even angrier than Ahsoka was. "If we do this, even if we win, we are no better than the Sith."

"So what?" he raised his voice yet again. "He has my kid."

"This is not you," she shook her head in disbelief.

"You think?" he asked. "Just watch me when we get to Snoke."


Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! :)