The ships in the fleet were preparing to jump to hyperspace. The fleet was made up of The Vaapad a Super Star Destroyer, two Interdictor-class Star Destroyers [The Trapper and The Ensnarer], The Rebel flagship Home One an MC80 Star Cruiser, four unnamed Munificent-class star frigates given to the Grand Admiral by Count Dooku, and several smaller vessels from every faction that contributed to the operation ranging from starfighters to corvettes and frigates.
It seemed the only big factions that weren't hostile to them and weren't participating in the mission were the Republics with the exception of Commander Dallows, as they believed The First Order wasn't a big enough threat to truly be worried about them, despite pleas from The Resistance.
"Elite wing be ready!", Baron Fel told his wing mates, "If things go according to plan we'll drop in right on top of them."
"Right. We'll catch them napping!" Poe said confidently, "Make sure to keep up with the rest of us, Elite four."
"Poe!", Wedge yelled.
"I'll be there, don't you worry.", Rhys said reassuringly.
"That's what I like to hear!", Poe responded.
Baron Fel flipped some switches readying everything in his fighter, "Elite three, prime your engines."
"BB8's got it for me Baron. Why do you get to be Elite One anyways?"
"Because it's an Imperial Op.", The Baron told the Resistance pilot.
Rhys was a bit confused by that, "I thought we were ATTACKING the Empire?"
"Cut the chatter", Wedge told all of them, "we're making the jump!"
The Vaapad, Trapper, Ensnarer, Home One and rest of the fleet disappeared into Hyperspace with a series of brilliant flashes. From the bridge of his Star Destroyer Thrawn watched the brilliant tunnel of light fly by as they soared across the cosmos at unimaginable speeds. They had managed to position their forces close enough to the First Order convoy that it would only be a few minutes.
The enigmatic Chiss Grand Admiral ran scenario after scenario through his coldly tactical mind and, for once, was presently satisfied with each one. A single ship, no matter how more advanced, against eight capital ships. The battle would most likely be quick, and decisive.
Thrawn would likely not have committed this kind of force to an operation like this otherwise. There were much greater threats than the First Order, or even the Empire, that required his attention. So it was more annoyance than fear when the Vaapad reentered normal space and was confronted not by a regular Resurgent class, but by a Mega-class Star Dreadnought.
This did not escape the notice of the Starfighter pilots who were automatically deployed as soon as the allied fleet exited Hyperspace. Especially those of Elite wing.
"By the Force!", Wedge yelled.
"What is THAT?", Rhys asked never having seen a ship that big.
"Snoke's ship?! How!?", Poe said recognizing it.
Thrawn spoke over the Comm, "An unwelcome, if not unexpected, development. The Imperial communication we intercepted must have been... incomplete. I have already signaled for reinforcements, though if you all follow my orders they won't be needed. Elite Wing, those TIE's that just launched are your targets. Engage with extreme prejudice"
"You heard him men, let's scrap these farm jockeys!", Elite One told the rest of Elite Wing.
Elite Wing peeled off from the other allied fighters and flew headlong into the distinctive TIE Predators piloted by the Knights of Ren. Thrawn watched the unfolding space battle, with grim consternation, in-between giving orders to the other ships in his task force.
'Incomplete'. Very unlikely: The only way 'standard Resurgent Class' could have been confused with 'Star Dreadnought', even by the wholly incompetent Imperial Intelligence division, was very purposely planted misinformation.
Thrawn's mind raced. The First Order's Supreme Leader was most likely not here with his ship. Thrawn's fleet still stood a very good chance of winning this engagement, albeit with heavy losses, and this Snoke would likely not risk his own life in such a battle. He might, however, be a Hypserspace jump away with First Order, or maybe even Imperial, reinforcements, adding an element of urgency to winning this battle.
But Thrawn wasn't worried about the enigmatic Snoke. This didn't feel like the First Order outmaneuvering them, although Thrawn couldn't afford to be arrogant enough to dismiss that notion. This felt... personal, like someone had set this entire scenario up, not to protect the Order's interests, but to specifically destroy the Vaapad and kill Thrawn himself. The only real candidate for such a plot was the only one who played the Galactic game of chess as well as Thrawn himself. He then realized who it was.
"Palpatine."
Meanwhile Elite wing engaged the TIE Predators both sides scoring little more than grazing the other at first. None of their shields had gone down yet. That being said even The Knights of Ren must've been impressed, there were 6 TIE Predators and only 4 starfighers in Elite wing, a TIE Defender, a T-65 X-Wing, a T-70 X-Wing, and the new N2 prototype to be exact.
Wrench beeped wildly as a TIE Predator was right on the N2's tail.
"Relax buddy we got them right where we want them!", Rhys told his long time co-pilot, "Do you have a lock on them!?"
Wrench beeped affirmative.
"Fire!"
The Knight piloting the TIE Predator tailing Rhys thought he was dealing with a standard N1 starfighter, so he didn't expect a vent to open up in the back of the starfighter and release a guided proton torpedo. By the time the Knight noticed it, it was too late. The proton torpedo hit its mark and blew the First Order starfighter to pieces.
"Hah! We got em Wrench! Now let's take care of the rest!"
Meanwhile bombers, frigates, and capital ships pounded away at the Mega-class Star Dreadnought and starfighers on both sides engaged each other. Two of the Munificent-class star frigates had already been destroyed, and ships across the whole of Thrawn's fleet had sustained some sort of damage. But The First Order ship had also sustained major damage.
"Grand Admiral! We're losing bombers!", a tactical officer said informing the Grand Admiral.
"Have ships target point defense and turbo lasers, their shields just went down.", Thrawn said in response.
"But ours are down as well!"
"Then that makes it an even fight."
As the tactical officer gave the order to attack new targets Thrawn had an idea. At the very least their intel was right about the component for their super weapon being on the ship. Their scans of it confirmed that when the shields went down.
"Pull one of the Munificent frigates back and prepare The Trapper and The Ensnarer to shut down their gravity wells on my command.", The Grand Admiral ordered.
Back with Elite wing the only TIE Predator that had been destroyed was the one that had been tailing Rhys near the beginning of the engagement. The other Knights were wary of that trick the N2 pulled, and now realized that they weren't just dealing with a standard N1 now.
Regardless it was quite an impressive sight and show of skill on every one of the pilots' part, none of the TIE Predators or the starfighters in Elite wing could land a solid hit on each other, until one did. A TIE Predator got lucky piercing the shields of Wedge's X-Wing and taking out his engines. The TIE Predator passed him up, but it was clear it was going to circle back around and finish him off with its red blaster cannons. The Rebel closed his eyes seemingly accepting his fate when the familiar green blaster bolts of a TIE Fighter rang out destroying the fighter.
Wedge breathed a sigh of relief. In truth his heart was pounding, he thought that was it.
"I never thought I'd say this Baron, but thank you. I owe you one."
"What are you talking about?", The Baron asked, "That wasn't me."
"But you're flying the only one flying an Imperial TIE around here close by. How wasn't it your TIE Defender?"
Soon another Knight's fighter was destroyed, and they had their answer as a TIE Advanced x1 flew through the smoke and debris of the destroyed Knight's starfighter.
A new voice came over their comms, "This is Anakin Skywalker on station to assist."
The former Lord Vader had repainted his personal TIE Fighter, reminiscent of his custom Delta-7 The Azure Angel when he was a Padawan.
Poe: "Wait. Is that-?"
Wedge: "Impossible!"
Baron Fel: "So it is true."
Another Knight's starfigher was then destroyed by the former Dark Lord and it was obvious with the way the remaining Knights were flying erratically that they were frantically trying to get the edge on this new opponent to no avail.
"Well I'm glad he is on our side!", Rhys said watching as the new TIE Fighter almost effortlessly ripped through the enemy fighters.
"Woo hoo!", Poe cheered.
Black Leader dodged and weaved around the enemy fighters. Flying with THE Wedge Antilles was awesome enough, now THE Anakin Skywalker? Now all he needed was Hera Syndulla and it really would be a gathering of the best of the best. Well, The Force end him if Poe wasn't going to do his best to keep up with them all!
His fighter, the second most advanced fighter in the group behind the N2, was still hard pressed to handle his deft, blinding fast maneuvering. The X-wing was a blur of orange and black against the background of blaster fire and menacing starships. He dodged two tracer torpedoes and fell in on the tail of a TIE Predator, only to have it disappear in a brilliant explosion right before he could fire.
"What?", Poe said surprised.
Rhys in the N2 got next to Poe's X-wing, "For the record, I could have done that in the N1!"
Poe laughed as Rhys flew past. He redoubled his resolve and flew headlong into the Knights of Ren, whooping as he went.
Vader then contacted The Grand Admiral, "Thrawn, my old friend, what're your directions?"
"Skywalker. Welcome to the fight: you and Elite Wing need to fall back from the Supremacy. You don't want to get caught in the blast radius."
"You must be mistaken Grand Admiral," Vader said looking at his own scans, "that thing isn't anywhere near critical."
That's when the former Sith noticed the Munificent Frigate falling back from the others and realized what his Chiss friend must be planning.
"Thrawn, what are you doing?"
"One droid cruiser against a ship almost as powerful as the Death Star. It is an acceptable gambit.", Thrawn explained.
"For The Empire maybe, but the Alliance doesn't have the resources to spare, we both know that firsthand. And there are more than droids aboard that ship!"
"They know their duty Skywalker. Remember your's."
"Their duty was to aid us, not to go on a suicide run!"
"This entire operation may yet prove a suicide mission for all of us."
"At least evacuate the crew first. Please Thrawn, if we want the Alliance to accept us we have to fight like them, not the Empire!"
"There isn't time. First Order reinforcements must be inbound by now."
"I'm not the only backup you're receiving either. We'll buy you time!"
"Skywalker-!"
Vader flipped off the private communication with the Grand Admiral, opening a channel to Elite Wing.
"Orders from the Grand Admiral: get close and engage the target directly."
Poe smirked, "That's insane. Let's do it!"
"Elite three, stay in formation!", The Baron ordered.
The two TIE's, pair of X-Wings and N2 created a V formation and roared across the surface of the mighty First Order vessel, going against the Knights of Ren and defense batteries alike.
Thrawn watched and sighed. Skywalker knew he wouldn't risk five of the greatest pilots on the Alliance's side for an already damaged command ship. Well, he had better be right about the reinforcements or they were all going to pay for it.
Thrawn: "He had better be right about those reinforcements. But just in case... Evacuate any none droid crew on the frigate that was ordered to pull back."
The First Order was finally starting to take Elite Wing seriously. They diverted a huge amount of their starfighters to go after them. Although Wedge's X-Wing was flying again it was a bit sluggish. Recognizing this and not wanting the pilot to get killed, Vader gave an order to Poe Dameron.
"That X-Wing isn't in good shape. Commander Dameron is it? Escort him back."
"Don't worry he can handle himself.", Poe said confident in Wedge's abilities.
"No Poe he's right. I'm not sure how long I can keep this up. I'm not as invincible as the legends in your time make me out to be."
Poe sighed reluctantly, "Alright. I'll be back as soon as I can."
Poe then covered Wedge as they made their way back to The Vaapad.
Vader turned his attention to what was ahead, "Elite One. Elite Four. Form up on me."
"Falling in.", Rhys told Vader.
"Right behind you my Lord."
Anakin was going to correct the Baron, but decided now was not the best time.
As starfighters seemed to rain in on top of them, they made short work of most while dodging fire from the starfighters, and ship defenses.
"We may be out numbered, but we're not outgunned!", Rhys said having taken out at least a dozen.
"Elite Four do you have any proton torpedoes left?", Vader asked.
"I do. This ship has double the capacity of proton torpedoes that the N1 had. Any targets you have in mind?"
"Just one. The bridge. It looks like one of the more heavily fortified places on the ship. We'll cover you."
"Wrench prep all torpedoes to fire."
Wrench beeped asking if he was sure.
"Yes, even the two left in the back."
As they made their approach the former dark lord truly showed his skill in space. Rhys was certainly glad he was on their side, because he was certain he wouldn't have stood a chance against him.
"We're making our approach. Just keep em off us for 15 more seconds.", Rhys informed the others.
Rhys hit a few buttons in the cockpit diverting power to weapons and then started firing his remaining torpedoes and his fighter's blaster cannons and the fortified bridge. When he had released all of his torpedoes the bridge had just about had it but wasn't quite out of commission yet. Rhys expertly flipped the fighter back around and fired the remaining two torpedoes in the back of the fighter, both hitting their mark and taking out the bridge.
"Yeah! We got em Wrench!"
All weapons on the ship had stopped firing.
"It won't be long until they activate backup systems!", Baron Fel informed them.
Vader contacted The Vaapad, "Grand Admiral we are pulling away. The ship is disabled, but it won't stay that way for long, if you're gonna do something do it fast!"
The Grand Admiral then sent out a communication to all allied starfighters, "All starfighters return to The Vaapad and Home One."
Meanwhile Poe in a T-70 X-Wing just outside the hanger of The Vaapad heading back to the battle.
"Oh come on! I just got back out here!"
Back on the bridge Thrawn asked for an update.
"We need to take out that ship fast. Is the crew evacuated out of the Munificent frigate?"
"Yes sir.", The Comm officer informed him.
"Get it into position then."
It was then that several Resurgent-class Star Destroyers showed up out of hyperspace near the Star Dreadnought. They obviously were not giving up without a fight. It was rare to see The First Order commit so many ships to something. If this didn't confirm the value of the Dreadnought's cargo then the Grand Admiral didn't know what would.
"Fighters, set up a defensive screen. Home One, engage the nearest Destroyer. Entrapper, Ensnarer: Qel Droma protocol. Launch the frigate... now!", Thrawn ordered.
Right before the Supremacy's systems came back on line, the Munificent frigate slammed into it at Light speed. Though an older and weaker ship than the Rebel cruiser that would destroy the First Order Dreadnought in another timeline, the Frigate still got the job done, albeit without destroying the other nearby First Order ships.
The Interdictor Cruisers, meanwhile, were prepping for Hyperspace jumps as well. Obvious bait, but one of the First Order captains fell for it anyways and tried to jump away, only to be knocked out of Hyperspace right above the Vaapad which quickly brought it's full power to bear on it. The Super Star Destroyer may have been a much older ship, but it was still a good bit more powerful.
The twin Interdictors, that portion of the plan accomplished, suddenly did jump to Hyperspace. For a tense microsecond the other First Order captains felt panic as they thought they had been rammed as well, followed by relief when they realized it hadn't been another suicide run, then panic again when they realized they had jumped behind the Resurgents, cutting off their escape.
Thrawn gave new orders, "Fighters, re-engage..."
"Yes!", Poe said.
"The Supremacy."
"Drat."
"Our scanners indicate their Hyperspace is not entirely off-line. The Command Dreadnought must not escape under any circumstances"
Zeb rolled his eyes then said on the comm, "That thing's barely still in one piece Admiral, they aren't going anywhere."
"They're fanatics, Captain Orrelios, they won't think twice about sacrificing their entire crew for the chance to keep their prize out of our hands. Hyperspace would tear them apart but not necessarily their cargo. Our Interdictors are no longer cutting off their escape"
"But dedicating our entire fighter force!-"
"He's right Captain,", Vader said cutting him off, "the main directive is too take down any chance of Starkiller returning. You'll have to handle the Destroyers yourself!"
"Wait.", Poe said surprised, "Orrelios? Garazeb Orrelios? Could you introduce me to-"
Thrawn then cut Poe off.
"Elite three, please get off the command channel. Captain, focus on your own battle. And captain?"
"Yeah, I know: It's GRAND Admiral. Kallus said you were picky about that."
The Home One continued its assault, backed up by another Munificent class, while in its hanger Elite two (Wedge) was practically jumping from his cockpit and looking around for a new, undamaged fighter.
"Nothing but A-Wings left. I was hoping for an X, oh well..."
"Grand Admiral!", The Tactical officer yelled, "Home One is getting shredded! And we're losing corvettes and smaller frigates! Sir the only heavy hitters left are The Vaapad and Home One! If we don't do som-… Wait. Detecting new contacts dropping out of hyperspace!"
Many left in the fleet were worried about this, but their fears were relieved when it was a C.I.S. fleet made up of Providence-class destroyers and Munificent-class frigates four times bigger than the initial Alliance fleet dropped out of hyperspace, and started aiding them.
"All batteries! Fire!", General Grievous ordered.
The massive fleet of C.I.S. ships moved forward and started taking the brunt of the damage, while returning fire.
Grand Admiral Thrawn was then contacted by General Grievous.
"Count Dooku sends his regards."
"I take it you are the reinforcements Skywalker signaled for?", Thrawn asked.
"You are correct Grand Admiral. Unlike the leaders of the Republics The Count takes The First Order seriously. He had this fleet standing by until we were signaled by Skywalker who had been sent in to help and evaluate the situation. Now I suggest you pull your fleet back while we cover you, as we have another ship on the way."
"Grand Admiral! Another contact dropping out of hyperspace!", The tactical officer informed the Grand Admiral once more.
A Subjugator-class heavy cruiser had just jumped in.
"We were able to focus enough of our time and resources to build that when the Republics stopped attacking us. All I know is if Dooku is committing that ship to this mission, he must have a good reason."
Thrawn could guess the Count's purpose and immediately called for all ships to fall behind the Separatist forces.
Poe felt he could still do more.
"Oh come on!"
"I just got back out here!", Wedge said feeling much the same.
"Belay that," Rhys told them, "I just spotted another pair of those Knight's fighters. Permission to engage?"
"Negative.", The Baron told him, "We follow the Grand Admiral's orders."
"Agreed.", Vader said, "I faced a Subjugator-class in the Clone Wars, the only completed model before this one. If the Separatists had built more they would have won the war, easily. Trust me: we do NOT want to be on this side of that canon when it fires"
"If you say so.", Poe said, "That thing doesn't look much more dangerous than the Command ship we just took down."
"Only by flying into it at light speed.", Baron Fel pointed out, "Let's go Elite Wing!"
Wrench Whistled
"You said it buddy. I'm amazed we're still in one piece!" Rhys told his droid and long time friend.
Thrawn contacted Zeb, "Captain Orrelious report."
"We're hurting, but in one piece. All fighters have returned to their carriers and we've pulled back."
"Very good. General? My forces are clear. Feel free to demonstrate that much celebrated Separatist military might."
The Subjugator-class heavy cruiser got into position getting out in front of all the other ships turning its port side to The First Order and started taking fire.
"General. Shields are holding at 73.27 percent.", The Tactical Droid informed Grevious.
"Then waste no time. Set the ion-cannon at maximum power!"
"Roger roger.", a droid operating some of the ion cannon systems responded.
The canon began charging up and was ready after 30 seconds, all the while the heavy cruiser was taking fire.
"Ion-cannon ready. Shields at 22.34 percent.", The Tactical Droid informed the General once more.
"Fire!", General Grievous commanded.
The ion wave blasted out of the Subjugator-class ship's cannon, and headed towards First Order ships. Although not quite knowing what they were facing they still tried to move out of the way, but to no avail. They simply weren't fast enough. As expected, the ships were disabled and stopped firing, but something else had happened as well. There was a huge burst of energy from the center of The First Order dreadnought.
"Gah!"
The former dark lord grabbed head going down to one knee after he had got out of his fighter. Rhys who had gotten out of the prototype shortly after Skywalker had ran over to him.
"Hey are you alright?"
"I... I don't know... Something terrible just happened."
Meanwhile on the bridge of The Vapaad.
"Very effective indeed General.", The Grand Admiral said looking over the situation.
"Grand Admiral...", There was a hint of unsteadiness in comm officers voice, "We're getting reports that all lifeforms on board those have... Been eliminated."
Not that the Grand Admiral so much cared for those lives, but he was concerned about what targets the C.I.S. might use this weapon on.
"General, is this your doing? Did you know your weapon would kill all of The First Order crew on those ships?"
"What?", The General said genuinely surprised, "It was never designed to do that. It's essentially the same as the Malevolence, just with better shields and power efficiency."
"It was the massive Kyber crystal they were carrying." Skywalker said, having come onto bridge without the Grand Admiral's notice. "It must have reacted to the Ion cannon in its own way, striking out against all the life around it."
"Impossible" Grievous insisted. "The two energies are completely unrelated, it shouldn't have affected it!"
"Kyber Crystals must be handled with a good deal of care and awe, General, they are far more than just rocks with energy inside them" Skywalker warned. "They are powerful nexus's of the Force with a mind of their own, you could almost say magical… Or rather… Alive."
"An unforeseen consequence, but hardly an unfortunate one" Thrawn drawled. "We have a small fleet of Resurgent class Star Destroyers for the taking, and maybe even a massive Kyber Crystal, assuming it didn't destroy itself. Or won't destroy us if we get close, for that matter."
"I elect we send some droids to find out." Grievous suggested.
Skywalker listened to them with disbelief. They had just killed thousands of people with one shot and didn't even care. They were arguing over protocol! It was all far too close to the Empire for his liking.
Maybe it was because, for the first time in decades, he was attuned to more than just the Dark Side of the Force, but the deaths of all those First Order members, bravely fighting for their beliefs only to be extinguished without warning or mercy, it bothered him deeply, despite their intentions.
Then there was the Kyber Crystal. It was like a gnawing, clamoring whirlwind in the Force, pulling at his very soul. Ultimately the First Order was evil and nearly all those men who just died were war criminals of some kind or another. But the Crystal itself seemed damaged and was still lashing out, nearly driving Skywalker to his knees.
"Lord Skywalker? Are you still with us?" Thrawn asked.
Anakin looked up to realize the entire Bridge crew, and even the communication Hologram of General Grievous, were staring at him. They looked like they were waiting for him to answer a question.
"Sorry Grand Admiral, just spaced out for a moment, Jedi stuff" Skywalker assured them. "And it's not 'Lord' anymore, Commander will do fine."
"Very well... Commander." Thrawn said, a worryingly discerning look in his eyes.
"Is there any chance I could persuade you to leave the ships be?" Skywalker asked.
The Grand Admiral raised an eyebrow. Skywalker sighed.
"I thought so..." Skywalker said dejectedly
"If we don't take these ships and that crystal The First Order or another faction will" Thrawn pointed out. "And someone strong in the Force may be able to find a way past the Kyber crystal. And we know that nearly every faction in the galaxy has those that could do it."
"Then let me go." Skywalker suggested.
"I don't have any authority over you Commander, and you don't command me anymore." Thrawn dryly reminded.
Skywalker shot Thrawn a glare. Way he saw it that wasn't Anakin.
"But if you want to help prevent the needless deaths of our forces you are more than welcome to" Thrawn agreed.
"I'll be back" Skywalker said simply. "I'm going to see what I can do to calm the crystal. It's like a living being after all."
"I'm pulling back any unnecessary forces" Grievous said.
"As will I with our own" Thrawn agreed. "We don't know how this thing will react."
Elsewhere, Elite Wing was discussing matters of their own in the hanger of the Vapaad.
"I heard stories about The Malevolence during my time" Rhys was saying. "I can see why it was so feared after seeing that ship in action."
"I wonder why The Empire or First Order never made a similar ship?" Poe mused
"Well, from what I understand, The First Order didn't have the resources" Wedge reasoned. "And the Empire was always about quantity in most cases. They likely would've deemed too expensive to make in large numbers."
"Well a single Star Destroyer against typical Rebel ships would be more than enough in most cases" Baron Fel insisted. "Making a ship like the Malevolence unneeded."
"You sure?" Wedge smirked with pride. "Cause I'm pretty sure The Battle of Scarif would've gone very differently had The Empire had one there."
The Baron shot a look at the Rebel pilot, obviously irritated.
Rhys Dallows saw that if this continued it could lead to a lot of bad blood between the two, or maybe even their respective factions. He was surprised Poe wasn't stepping in: the Resistance were famed for their skill, not their discipline. It must take a very strong arm and a good amount of leadership for him to be as successful a Commander as he was.
But then again, these were Dameron's heroes, not some hotshot rogues he could give actual orders.
"Scarif?" Rhys asked. "I've heard of that, it's some minor Republic listening post. They keep an eye on the Hutts."
"In your time" The Baron reminded him. "In ours, it was the primary construction facility for the Imperial Military. The Tie Interceptor, E11 and Imperial Speeder Bike were all created there."
Wedge cleared his throat
"Oh yes" The Baron shrugged. "And the Death Star."
Rhys found a chill still ran up his back when he heard that name. Such a nightmarish power, he was glad it arrived after his time. But then, he reminded himself, now it and even greater horrors WERE in his time.
"The Rebels attacked Scarif and stole the plans to that Battle Station; it's what allowed them to destroy it" Baron told his younger (Chronologically speaking) comrade. "Some of my best friends died fighting on and over that beach, most of the others went up with the Death Star itself. So you'll understand when I say-"
Wedge tensed and narrowed his eyes, perhaps thinking of his own friends he had lost at those battles.
"That I hold an eternal respect for the men and women of that mission" Baron Fel finished
Wedge blinked. He hadn't expected that.
"I can't help it, the Imperial doctrine respects strength" The Baron shrugged. "In the entire Galactic Civil War, no one ever displayed as much strength as Rogue One did, you honor them well Rogue Commander."
The Baron actually smiled, thumping Wedge on the shoulder. Wedge nodded back, unsure of what to say. He was saved the trouble by the former Lord Vader storming into the hanger.
"Whoa! Wonder where he's going in such a rush?" Poe asked, running over and fell in step with the ex-Sith, followed closely by the other members of Elite Wing. "So you're Vader, huh? I must admit, your grandson is scarier. Though you're the better pilot! That TIE, is it a customized-?"
"Poe!" A shocked Baron called indignantly.
"Sorry. Where are we headed Commander?" Poe asked. "The battle's over, that Separatist behemoth took out the entire First Order fleet."
"I'm not your commander" Skywalker growled.
"I've seen you fly" Poe said. "Yes you are."
Baron Fel nodded in agreement. He had no problem passing leadership over to his former Lord.
"Fine:" Skywalker said, still not even looking at the other pilots. "Then I'm ordering you to stay here. This is a solo mission."
"I thought you were a Skywalker?" Wedge asked.
The other four shoot him dirty looks and he grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry, couldn't resist." The Rebel pilot muttered
"Like you said, battle is over" Skywalker pointed out. "I don't need an escort."
"But... well, whatever you say commander" Poe said reluctantly. "But whatever you're doing: May the Force be with you."
Anakin Skywalker hadn't heard that since his best friend and mentor had left to face Grievous. That was the last time the two had met off the field of battle.
"You know what?" Skywalker said, finally facing the Resistance pilot. "You can help, Dameron."
"Great! Name it" Poe said excitedly.
"Your ship" Skywalker said
"... Name something else" Poe muttered.
For a while, Poe's respect for THE Anakin Skywalker, greatest war hero, war criminal AND pilot the Galaxy had ever seen struggled with his desire to not let anyone else use his precious ship.
"The Alliance has always said the X-Wing is the greatest fighter there is" Skywalker folded his arms. "I'd like to test it for myself."
"Fine, she's yours" Poe sighed. "But BB8's going with you to make sure you bring it back. And barring that, my droid had better still be in one piece after this as well."
"Don't worry, she's safe with me" Skywalker assured him. "May... May the Force be with you as well."
Elite Wing watched as Skywalker climbed in the cockpit of their friend's orange and black fighter, while Poe had a rushed, hushed conversation with his beloved astromech. He was still trying to give some last minute instructions as the X-Wing lifted into the air and roared towards the hanger exit.
"Don't worry, I think that guy can fly even better than you" Rhys assured his new friend.
The fighter had barely cleared the hanger before it started doing spins and loops.
"Yeah, I guess" Poe admitted. "Mind you, I'd love to have a race, just to prove it one way or another."
"Please, he'd destroy you" The Baron scoffed.
"I'm not so sure" Wedge chimed in. "My Rouges have out flown him before."
"I find that extremely unlikely" Baron Fel raised an eyebrow.
"It's true!" Wedge insisted. "He ambushed above Felucia once, and we-"
"Lord Vader did NOT ambush people!" The Baron interrupted
"Sorry, you must work for a different Empire than the one I'm thinking of!" Poe sarcastically apologized.
Rhys rolled his eyes as the Rebels and Imperial began arguing again. He sat down besides Wrench and and struck up a conversation with him instead, as his squadron-mates continued their debate.
Meanwhile, Skywalker stopped putting Poe's X-Wing through its paces and got down to business. It really was the best fighter he could remember flying, even better than the Jedi Interceptors.
He would never admit that to the Alliance of course, but he would look into getting one for himself.
The Astromech interrupted his train of thought with a series of beeps.
"Bee-bee-eight, wasn't it?" Skywalker asked. "Don't worry, the TIEs were caught by the ION blast, there's no one out here to sneak up on us. I don't think there is any hiding out there."
BB-8 beeped again.
"Yes, we're going to the Supremacy" Skywalker said. "Yes, I know it's scary."
BB-8 beeped once more.
"No, I don't think Poe was mad at you" Skywalker assured her. "He just trusts you more than me, I would too."
Skywalker shook his head. He had been flying with seasoned, professional Imperial droids for decades now. This young, excited Rebel droid was a nice change of pace. He was briefly worried if such a... non-standard droid would be up to the task at hand, but he needn't have. She performed flawlessly and the X-Wing touched down with pinpoint accuracy in the devastated hanger of the First Order command ship.
Skywalker stayed in the cockpit for a second, feeling the tremors still racing through the Force from the Kyber crystal. Once he made sure they weren't going to kill him outright, and picking out the Crystal's direction, he climbed out and set off towards it.
BB8 beeped inquisitvly.
"No thank you" Skywalker waved his hand. "The ship is unstable and Poe will kill me if you get damaged. Stay with the fighter."
Skywalker had brought along a pressure suit being that many areas of the ship had, well... Lost pressure. But that's what happens when a ship gets torn in half by another ship ramming it at light speed. He had landed in closest intact hanger that was nearest to the Kyber crystal.
Making his way through the ship he found he had to activate his magnetized boots in order to stay on the floor. He saw many First Order Stormtroopers and crew men floating lifelessly in the zero gravity of the corridors.
"Pointless... Such a pointless waste of life" Skywalker murmured.
He continued on as best he could. Some walls and debris he had to move out of the way with The Force, but after a long trek taking almost an hour he made it.
"By The Force!" He exclaimed at the sight before him.
It was a massive Kyber crystal as expected, but he didn't expect it to be this big. It became obvious why The First Order needed a ship this big to carry it as he stared out into the vacuum of space in the half of the ship he was on.
It seemed to be spinning, striking out with what looked like red lightning bolts at many nearby pieces of debris. The crystal itself had turned red and was cracked.
"I really hope this doesn't kill me" Skywalker said, stealing himself.
He made his way out of what was left on the side of the ship he landed in out into the debris field in between the two sides of the ship that were mostly intact. He could hear the crystal's wails; this one wasn't singing like the others, this one was in pain.
Using The Force he guided himself to it. The red lighting got close a few times which made him feel uneasy, but he continued anyway until he made physical contact with the crystal, and interestingly upon making contact it stopped spinning, the lighting stopped and the wails of pain turned into lesser moans of pain.
The Kyber crystal was obviously pleading for his help. Skywalker knew they were alive, but never saw one react quite like this. Using The Force to grab a flat piece of debris he sat cross legged on it, reached out to the crystal, and closed his eyes going into meditation.
The combined fleet held their collective breath as they carefully eyed the destroyed First Order vessel. From the bridge of the Vapaad, Thrawn himself watched as well, with folded hands.
"Do we have anything of Commander Skywalker's progress?" The Grand Admiral asked.
"Negative" Reported a Comm officer. "Not by regular means there is too much interference from the crystal, but that interference seems to be lessening."
"No doubt it is the doing of Skywalker" Thrawn said. "Keep me posted."
Skywalker continued meditating. He felt the Crystal's fear and calmed it. He felt its anger and quelled it. He felt its brokenness and fixed it. Using techniques taught to him a lifetime ago in the Jedi Temple, he became calm and peace himself. Any other Force user of his caliber, it would have worked perfectly. But the man once known as Darth Vader was nearly as broken as the Crystal itself, and when he reached out to it, it started reaching out to him too, plumbing the depths of his very soul.
Skywalker was almost shocked out of meditation when he began seeing visions. First a young slave boy on a desert planet, fixing machines and dreaming of seeing the stars. He sees the boy, himself, mistreated by his owners and growing in anger every year. He sees as a Jedi Knight, stranded in middle of another mission, finds the boy. He sees as the Jedi, recognizing the boy's power, offers to take him to the stars, to make him a hero. He sees as the boy leaves his mother behind forever.
A young, headstrong boy charging into battle, so sure of victory. The same boy, torn apart from the pain of losing his mother. Charging to save his closest friend, losing an arm as payment. The Galaxy, engulfed in war and chaos and death. Good friends falling on the field of battle, the boy powerless to save them. A spunky young girl, a friend to train and teach. A gathering cloud, his friend turns her back on him, his other friend slowly stops smiling.
The closest thing he has to a father whispering things, dreadful things in his ear. Telling him of the Dark Side, all its power, it's inevitable victory. A disarmed enemy, nobler than himself, struck down while defeated and unarmed. Another enemy, who should have been friend, disarmed and murdered by the Sith the boy had sworn to protect. A dozen dead Jedi Younglings on the floor of the Temple, their looks of hope turned to terror. An agonizing final battle. A huge, menacing figure in armor as black as space, as black as death.
But then, Skywalker sees something else: the coming future, instead of the buried past. His son and the Emperor's Hand aboard the Rebel ship Ghost, flying with General Kota to meet some great threat. His grandson and Vader's own twisted master, hunting Sand People in the desert wastes. And then himself, the smuggler Solo, his Wookiee co-pilot, a young Jedi woman, The Count, Grievous, Fett and two other murky figures facing a dark shadow of fire and death in the grasslands of Naboo.
Naboo! Skywalker's thoughts turned to the serene, peaceful planet. The first planet he had ever loved, so different from the harsh sands of Tatooine and the durasteel jungle of Coruscant. Flowing rivers, gentle winds, soft grass, warm sunlight, clouds lazily moving overhead. And Padme: laying there in the meadow, a lifetime ago, smiling and laughing, so beautiful the land around her turned gray. Time seemed to stop as he looked into her eyes and saw joy. Saw love. Saw peace.
With a sigh, both the Crystal and Skywalker settled.
The crystal was no longer cracked and glowed white rather than red. What was interesting was that his lightsaber floated partially deconstructed in front of him. The crystal that had been housed in the chamber had changed from crimson, and now matched the white that the massive Kyber crystal now glowed.
He reassembled his blade and ignited it. It now glowed with a white blade. He closed his eyes and hung his head thinking back to the Sith temple on Malachor.
"Ahsoka..." He whispered.
His blade now glowed white the same light her's did before he-
"Commander do you read? Are you there?" Thrawn's voice buzzed over the comm.
Skywalker deactivated his saber putting it back on his belt.
"Yes, I'm here, Grand Admiral" Skywalker replied over his own comm.
"You had many of us worried there" Thrawn reported, in the most unworried tone. "Readings showed massive fluctuations of energy, but it now shows that the crystal has stabilized. But I have to be sure: Is it safe to approach?"
"Yes" Skywalker said reluctantly. "Everything is fine now. But there is something we need to discuss."
"About what Commander?" Thrawn asked.
"The ships I have no issue with you taking, but the Kyber crystal..." He said looking back at it. "It cannot fall into the hands of those who would seek to do harm. And before you ask, no you can't use it. You'll likely just end up in the same situation as The First Order."
"What makes you so certain about that?" Thrawn said.
"This crystal... It's more than just big, it's alive" Skywalker explained. "It's a thinking, living being. I don't know how to explain it in a way you would understand, but this one is special for more than one reason. And if you try to take and use it for yourself I'll know, and you don't want to see the side of me that would come after you if you did."
"Then what would you have us do with it?" Thrawn asked again, sensing the truth in Skywalker's words.
Skywalker looked back at the Kyber crystal again, thinking for a moment.
"We'll decide in good time" He finally said. "Maybe it will tell us. Right now, we just need to secure it."
"I'll see what I can do." Thrawn said at last.
"Vader, what's taking so long?" The gravelly voice of Grievous suddenly broke in.
"Don't call me that, General" Skywalker warned
"Fine, Skywalker" Grievous said impatiently. "I know you're over there procuring the Crystal. Do you have it yet?"
"I do" Skywalker reported. "You and the Count do not."
"What are you-" The droid general began
"You know exactly what I'm saying" Skywalker interrupted. "I owe Dooku a great debt, but not the ability to destroy planets. And I don't owe you anything"
"So you're just going to hand the Kyber Crystal over to Thrawn?" Grievous asked indignantly. "You trust that Chiss Imp more than us?"
"Yes, actually" Skywalker said dryly. "We've been serving side by side for decades now. He has my full confidence. But-" Skywalker felt it in the Force as a Rebel frigate from the Home One moved into position to receive the Crystal from the disabled Supremacy. "I actually have something else in mind"