Gaige entered her quarter within ten minutes and awkwardly looked about the room as he cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable. His attire was different from anything she had seen him wear before. Instead of his usual loose workout clothes, the general donned much more formal apparel. A well fitted blazer was draped across his broad shoulders and was decorated with a slew of medals on his chest. He had obviously earned his rank. His sandy hair was slicked back with some sort of gel, and he was clean shaven. His eyes held the same distance she had grown accustomed to when she saw him. Though Aurora had seen him many times, she found him to be substantially more attractive than she had remembered.
Aurora shared in his awkward discomfort, maybe more so with her newly found attraction. Here was the second man in her room today, though she had at least had time to dress herself this time, and he was to remain there until the threat of The Resistance had been extinguished. The two of them had never held a conversation outside the topic of her training with him, and the awkward silence that hung between them brought a hint of red to Aurora's cheeks. His green eyes took relief as they landed on a plush, dark gray chair in the far corner of the room. He nodded his head toward Aurora in acknowledgment of her presence, who sat perched on the sill of the viewing window, then made his way to sit on the piece of furniture.
Aurora scoffed at the mannerism. "Let me guess, you aren't allowed to talk to me. You'll just sit there like a statue until you are summoned to do something else?" She turned back coldly and looked out at the stars, her mind drifting in the vastness of space. Her feelings told her that soon this void would come to life with ships and battle, a thought that stirred sadness in her. Death would see its fortune in blood today, and she could do nothing to sway its fate. She didn't know anything of the Resistance in particular but she knew enough to know they ,like every stormtrooper, general and lieutenant on this ship, had a family somewhere, a family they may never see again. Wetness crept into her eyes but she willed it away. Her concentration broke when her companion for the day cut in.
"If I had reason to speak to you I would do so, as it stands I have none." His tone was harsh but rather straight forward.
Hearing his reaction threw her off, she expected him to say nothing at all. Her thoughts strayed to what the masked figured had warned her of. She gave into that curiosity. "Kylo Ren said he was the only person on this ship who cared what happened to me, that you and everyone else would rather see me dead for fear I could overpower you." The words fell out effortlessly and carried the tone of a casual conversation. She plastered a pleasant smile on her face and turned towards her guardian. "Is it true, if things go awry will you try to kill me?" A bigger smile crossed her face "Are you so terrified of me?"
Gaige considered her for a moment not moving an inch. He tilted his head slightly from side to side as he pondered his response. "You are strong, feared by most here, no doubt, and a wild card. You have no loyalty, but you do as you are told. I couldn't tell you if Kylo Ren is capable of caring for anything other than himself and his personal agenda, but I can tell you I am not so terrified nor have you exhibited any good reason for me to feel the need to kill you." He chuckled then continued "I have seen the darkness he uses to summon such power and destruction, and darling, I see no such thing in you."
"Well maybe I don't enjoy slaughtering the lives of the innocent as much as the rest of you." She responded defensively.
Her guardian's face softened "I know." He conceded "I don't do it for the thrill either, kid. I follow orders. I'm sure many on this ship share my feelings as well." He looked back to her face for a brief moment like he wished to say more, but his attention was taken to the scene unfolding past her.
Aurora quickly turned to the window again. Her breathe caught as she saw the large fleet of ships amassing and dropping out of hyperspace. Several large shuttles and space crafts seemed to make a defensive line in front of the largest ship in the fleet. That must be the command ship, she thought. Worry crept into her thoughts; though the ships were good in size, they seemed dated and were far dwarfed by the ship she was on. Endless numbers of small pilot ships dotted the sky making attack formation and were already being met by relentless waves of tie fighters. Looking past the battle ensuing before her, she felt the familiar draw of The Force pulling her into a trance like state. The source of the feeling was not the war lord who held command on this ship but something much more...gentle. It was like a beckoning rather than a demanding presence. Something drew her to it. Whatever the source, it was out there, amidst the scattered ships locked in combat. Not "it", but he. He was out there somewhere. Somehow she knew he was male, which surprised her. How could she sense such a thing?
The energy he admitted was strong and focused, yet peaceful, and seemed to call to her. She opened her mind and willed this light force to greet her. Something about it made her want to be consumed by this wonderful presence. Apprehension filled her as she let her guard down; she knew it could be a trap but it felt right. The presence filled her mind gently; it poured reassurance and harmony into her. It did not seek or try to take anything from her. It wanted to comfort her; the presence impressed only a few words to form in her mind. It seemed to lift the burden of the anger that pressed on her day after day and brought something she hadn't felt in what seemed like ages..hope."We are coming to get you, Aurora. I will see you soon." Aurora tried to converse back, a feat that made her head hurt. Kylo Ren had not instructed her in the art of communication through The Force. The energy began to fade. She pushed hands and forehead to the glass and begged the light not to leave her. Who are you, she thought. Just before the energy vanished she heard the soft reply like a faint whisper, "Skywalker."Aurora sighed deeply. Her mind raced. Skywalker was coming to get her? The Skywalker from the old legends her brother used to tell? The same one that her captor obsessed with finding? She feared for the man who was coming to save her. She had heard Kylo Ren talk about this man named Luke Skywalker, and whenever he did, there was always a powerful hatred that emitted from him, more than any normal day. As much as Kylo Ren had beat her in her training, she always felt he was holding back. He would give no such luxury to this "Luke" when he encountered him.
Who was she that so many would risk their lives? Maybe it was his sole mission alone to retrieve her but still, he had remained a ghost eluding all. Why would he have come out of hiding now...and for her?
"Their attack formation is strange." Gaige chimed in as he stood and walked to join her looking at the battle taking place. "It seems they aren't looking for weak points in the shield in which to strike the ship, and only a fraction of the single manned ships are attacking while the rest hold back. It's as if this first wave is a scouting campaign to bring the shields down entirely. Don't worry," he added confidently. "It is highly improbable. Our weapons are heavily distributed and far too powerful for the entire fleet of theirs attacking all at once to accomplish." Pride beamed from his bright green eyes.
Aurora shook off the thoughts flying around in her head and tried to make sense of anything Gaige just said. She focused on the near formation of fighters. They seemed to only attack and destroy the tie fighters nearest the shield and always in a straight line. They would then break formation flowing into two clusters veering off in two separate directions drawing off fighters leaving a seemingly empty space. They would then converge into a single formation and repeat the maneuver. It didn't make sense to her, which was confirmed by the man standing next to her as he laughed.
"They gain absolutely nothing, soon other star destroyers will meet at this coordinate and blast every last one of them from the sky. This is a mere suicide attempt, there aren't even-"
A blur came whipping at light speed down the path cleared by the x- wing class ships, Aurora could see it was a transport ships but only after it slowed. The vessel came to an unfortunate end as it pulled out of hyperspace too soon, ramming head first into the protective shield and leaving nothing more than a pile of debris in its place. Another ship shot into view. It came out of hyperspace inside the energy shield and plowed into the docking bay. A jarring explosion shook The Finalizer, and Aurora knew the ship had failed to brake quickly enough and exploded as it slammed into the end of the bay. The Finalizer bucked from the forceful impact. Aurora had to grip knuckles white to the ledge of the viewing window not to be thrown off onto the floor. She watched eyes glued as two more vessels, a Corellian freighter and a stolen Carrack cruiser both successfully pulled out of hyperspace within The Finalizer's shields. They blew past Aurora's viewing window out of view into the docking bay. The lack of explosions told her they were successful in their infiltration.
Gaige swore as he moved to talk into the communicator on his wrist to alert upper command the change in situation. Acting blindingly fast, Aurora lifted the large and sturdy chair her trainer had earlier been sitting with a gentle motion of her hand, and with a flick of her wrist, she sent it flying to collide with the back of his head, knocking him out cold. She scrambled to grab the restraint cuffs at his belt and secured his wrist around the foot of her bed. "I'm sorry." She spoke for no one to hear. She knew that she had saved her rescuers precious time by halting the general's communications. Time that they, no doubt, would need. She slid the com from his wrist and secured the gun he carried at his side inside the loop of her belt. It was time for her to make her move. She would head towards the hanger to meet up with the stranger who had called to her. He was on the Corellian ship; she sensed him briefly as the ship landed. She would help their cause and finally exact revenge on the First Order.