The comlink trilled. Wylan hurried to answer it.

It was one of the Pathfinders. "The fleet just appeared in the sky," the man said. "They're here, and they're about to be destroyed."

Wylan swore. "Jesper!" he shouted. "We're out of time!"

"I know!" He glanced around the room, full of ticking detonators. "I think that's all the charges set."

"Good." Ruby strode into the room, closely followed by Matthias. "We're finished here, too. Let's blow this thing, and go home."

"Can't disagree with you there," Wylan heard Jesper mutter. They strode out of the control room, locked the door behind them, and hurried to get outside of the base before the fuses wore through. They could still hear the ticking, though, and it got louder, and louder, and faster and faster, until-

"Run."

Run, run, keep running, round that corner, and there it was, there was the door-

Wylan leapt forward, putting in as much momentum as he could-

The blast continued his momentum, searing his back and slamming him through the open door, into the sunshine and head over heels on the grass. He landed with an oomph, winded but unharmed.

"Did it work?" he asked, dazed. "Is the shield down?"

"Shhh." Jesper held up his finger. "Listen."

After a moment, Wylan could hear what he was talking about: the soft whirring of the reactor.

Matthias swore. Jesper punched the ground. And Wylan. . . Wylan felt his chest cave in, felt his face crumple, felt himself begin to sob.

That had been it. That had been their last shot at succeeding in a mission vital to the Alliance, and. . .

They'd failed.

The Pathfinders were crouched over one spot on the ground, around one person.

One of them glanced up then. "Are any of you medics?"

Wylan shook his head dejectedly, and watched the others do the same. The Pathfinder sighed, shoulders trembling a little bit, then stood aside to show the reason he'd asked.

The Pathfinder who'd been inside with them, with the sunburst on her face - Ruby, Wylan remembered - lay on the ground on her side. A piece of shrapnel had permeated her back; it went right through, protruding from her stomach.

She was dying.

She tried to whisper something, but she was too weak. A Pathfinder knelt down next to her to grasp her hand. Ruby curled round herself round it.

"What is it?" they asked, impossibly softly.

"I said," she panted, "at least. . . I'll get to see. . . the General again."

Jesper open flinched at that, but Wylan's attention was fixed on Ruby, whose hand suddenly went limp, her body still.

The Pathfinder next to her look up, tears in their eyes.

The silence that fell was the worst thing Wylan had ever heard.

"Alright," Matthias said. "We've lost all our explosives. We blew up one wing of this facility, but the reactor remains unharmed. What people have we still got - who survived?"

Wylan did a quick head count. Three Pathfinders were missing, and Ruby was. . .

Well.

"Right," Matthias said again, though Wylan could hear the strain in his voice. "We have eight Pathfinders, a sort-of-Jedi, and two former Imperials. What weapons do we have? Blasters?"

Wylan and a bunch of the Pathfinders waved theirs in the air.

"I have my-" Jesper reached for his waist and cursed. "I had my lightsaber." There was an edge to his voice - Wylan was next to him in a heartbeat, hand resting on his shoulder. "It must've - got caught in the blast or something, I-"

"Right." Matthias tried to move on, but he was at breaking point as well. His words petered out, until there was nothing but silence. They all knew it was hopeless.

Wylan looked at Matthias, who gazed back at him mournfully. He couldn't believe he was going to fail. Not like this.

He looked at Jesper, whom he'd considered kissing less than an hour ago. That hour felt like an age; he couldn't bear the thought of doing anything so happy now.

Then he looked up at the sky. At the Death Star, where they'd no doubt taken Nina and Tamar, but also beyond that, to the twinkling shapes beyond the atmosphere that he knew were capital ships hell-bent on blasting each other into ashes and stardust.

Inej and Kaz were up there, fighting for their lives. Inej, who'd pulled him into the main bulk of the Rebellion when he thought he would hover on the outskirts forever; Kaz, who despite his (many, many, many) flaws had never failed to come through for them all when they needed him.

And not just them. All the other friends he'd made in the Rebellion, all of his brothers and sisters, united in their decision to look tyranny in the eye and say no more, unafraid of the answer they would receive.

At least, at first. Because they just received it, and Wylan was very much afraid.

"I'm sorry," he whispered into the silence of the glade. He wasn't ashamed of the tears that rolled down his face. I am angry because I care. I am sad because I care.

There is nothing wrong - everything right - with caring.

He sobbed again, and was dimly aware of Jesper wrapping his arms around his shoulders, then of Matthias following suit. Then the Pathfinders caved in and sought that carnal, physical reassurance as well, and Wylan knew it would all end with the knowledge that even in defeat, he was not alone.

Not anymore.

"Thank you," he choked out. "All of you. And-" I'm so, so sorry, was what he was going to say, but something stopped him from saying it.

Matthias's arm was around his shoulder, his left hand close to his face. The only thing in Wylan's field of vision was Matthias's wrist-mounted comlink, the sound emitter directly next to his ear.

And it was beeping.

Nina's back still ached, still ached awfully, but she pulled herself up the stairs to collapse next to Tamar and squeeze her hand, give her the tiniest bit of support she could offer.

It only seemed to excite the Emperor more - although that might have been the appearance of Rebel battleships beyond the viewport.

"Now, behold," he said softly, "as the mighty Rebellion falls."

"My friends will get that shield down," Nina said spitefully, glowering up at him. "And then they'll destroy this ship, with you on it. The only thing you've won is time."

"Time is all I need." The Emperor sounded no less sure of himself than he had before. "Especially when I have this."

Nina and Tamar shared a look of confusion.

"You still don't understand?" Morozova leaned back. "Well then, allow me to demonstrate. Consider yourselves fortunate to be witnesses to the power of this fully operational battle station."

No. She looked at Tamar; Tamar looked back.

No. No, no, no-

The Emperor was speaking into a comlink. "You may fire at will, Commander."

A part of Nina didn't believe it. Couldn't believe it. Certainly, the Emperor may have fed them the information they'd received, but so far it had been accurate. And the information had said quite clearly that the battle station wasn't operational.

But if it wasn't operational, then there was no way it would all vibrate at once as the reactors were powered up. Nor was there any way that it could fire a massive green beam of light and hit the nearest Rebel cruiser, leaving only ashes behind to rain down on the Death Star's armoured surface.

But it could do that.

And Nina was forced to watch as it did.

"Watch yourself, Rotty, three from above," Dirix snapped into the comms next to her as Inej looped round the fire of a particularly persistent TIE.

"Acknowledged. Green Two, Green Three, form up. I'll take the leader."

This was chaos.

There was nothing but violent streaks of colour and violent swearing as she yanked the controls this way and that, the Barrel wobbling like its namesake. She hardly dared to blink, even as-

"They're going for the medical frigate!"

She swore again, then she and Dirix pulled them round to get Kaz a clear shot at the enemy ships. He didn't disappoint, the rapid rattle of the guns punctuating each hit until they went down. Not a single shot was wasted.

They flew through the cloud of fire and debris, past the medical frigate, and suddenly Inej had a clear view of Koroleva's flagship and the other Destroyers. They weren't participating in the battle, just hanging back, like they were setting up a blockade.

"Only the fighters are attacking," Inej said, frowning. "What are those Star Destroyers waiting for?"

They turned to run at the Death Star and ran another scan; the Empire had stopped jamming them the moment the battle commenced. The shield was still up.

They turned back to the Star Destroyer, even as a cruiser moved to engage it, the crimson plasma bolts spitting back and forth-

Only for there to be a flash of green as the cruiser exploded.

Inej blinked; Dirix took a shuddering gasp. "What the-"

They turned back so the Death Star was beyond the viewport, even as another beam shot out from it. This time, a Rebel starfighter flew right into it, intentionally, so it didn't destroy it's intended target: the medical frigate.

"That blast came from the Death Star," she observed, voice becoming increasingly shrill with every word. "That thing's operational!" She jabbed the comms. "Home One, this is Green Leader."

It was General Lantsov who replied. "All craft, prepare to retreat."

"We won't get another chance like this, General."

"We have no choice, General Ghafa. Our cruisers can't repel firepower of that magnitude."

"Nina will have that shield down!" she insisted. "We've got to give her more time!"

"That's a sweet sentiment, Wraith, but Zenik isn't on the moon," someone cut into their comms.

"What?" She jammed the comlink. "Who is this?"

"General Ghafa? What's wrong?"

"Whoever it is, they're hailing us individually," Dirix said, hands flying over the console. "Lantsov and the other ships can't hear them."

"Open a private comm channel with them, then," Inej ordered, then spoke into it when he did. "Who is this?"

"Don't you recognise me, Wraith? Our acquaintance was short, but-"

"Dunyasha," Inej hissed.

"Precisely." She sounded smug. "I captured Zenik on the Sanctuary Moon. She's probably dead by my master's hand, by now. And now I'm going to kill you." Just before she clicked off the comms, she said, "I want you to know who it was who did it, when you die."

Then there was silence.

And among that silence, a feeling. More instinct that anything else, but nonetheless an instinct that had Inej shouting, "Reroute power to the rear deflector shields"

Dirix did it without question, and after a moment the ship rocked and bucked beneath them as they were battered by intense power behind. Dunyasha had struck.

If they hadn't reinforced the rear shields, they would have been killed.

Dirix's eyes were wide. "How did you-"

"I don't know." Inej just shook her head. "But we need to-"

"Impressive, Wraith." Dunyasha was back. "But this battle's not won yet. I'm coming for you." The comm clicked off again.

Instantly, they could hear Lantsov hailing them. "General Ghafa, Commander-"

"We're here, General," Inej said.

"What's wrong."

"Nothing," she said, meeting Dirix's eyes and nodding slowly. "Minor comm malfunction. We have to press the attack."

There was a silence, then Lantsov sighed. "Agreed," he said. "We can't afford to retreat. Continue your assault."

"Acknowledged, General," was all Inej could say before they were forced to swerve away from a particularly vicious TIE fighter. That must be Dunyasha. "If I may, I advise you to take on the blockade."

"We won't last long against those Star Destroyers."

"You'll last longer than you will against that Death Star." She flipped a few switches on the console. "I'll lead the fighter squadrons against the TIEs, and into the Death Star once the shield's down. But you have to clear our path out of here, so we can jump the moment that thing's blown."

She felt odd, giving Senator Lantsov orders, but they were technically of the same rank now. She was authorised.

And he knew it too, judging by the smile in his voice. He put the slightest emphasis on her title as he said, "Acknowledged, General."

Inej nodded, then switched off the comms, seeing Dunyasha turn to face them again. She came at them, relentless; Inej flipped them over, then over again, the g-force pressing down on her and Dirix, leaving them gasping for air.

For a moment, they saw three X-wings engage with three TIEs. Saw them bait them closer and closer to the shield, and saw how one of the TIEs drifted a little too close. It exploded on impact, shrapnel damaging the other two and leaving easy pickings for the X-wings.

Inej watched that, and then she turned her gaze towards the Death Star.

She glanced at Dirix. "I have an idea."

As upset as Nina was at the sight of the burning cruiser, Tamar was. . . distraught. She hadn't moved in at least a minute, staring at the spot on the ship that was the bridge, mouth agape in horror.

After a moment, Nina understood.

That cruiser had been her brother's ship.

Tolya was dead.

"Such is the fate of all Rebels," the Emperor said dismissively. Koroleva echoed the sentiment. Nina didn't think she had ever glared at someone harder. "And now you have the privilege of watching it happen."

"My Destroyers are in attack position," Koroleva said. "If they were to attack, it would be over that much quicker-"

"No." The Emperor's tone was final. "Hold the blockade; don't let the Rebels escape. Do not attack."

Nina said Koroleva's fists clench, saw her shoulders tense up. . . Then they sagged. "Yes, my master."

"You haven't won yet, Chancellor," Tamar spat. The Emperor scowled at the title. "As long as there are any of us alive, we will continue to resist and fight you. As long as there are good people in the galaxy, the Rebellion will survive."

The Emperor just rolled his eyes.

"Your arrogance is your weakness," Nina told him.

He rolled his eyes again. "Your faith in your friends is yours."

It was Koroleva who said. "Tamar. Your brother is dead. Your Rebellion is about to die. It's time to stop fighting."

Her tone was oddly placating, enough to give Nina a pause - did she really care about her estranged friend? - but Tamar just snarled. "Never."

Her hand went for her waist, but her blaster had already been confiscated. So she didn't bother with weapons - she just flat out lunged for the Emperor, arms outstretched like she was going to wring the life out of him with her bare hands-

She didn't get without a foot of him. Morozova just lifted his hand, and a short burst of Force Lightning blasted her backwards. She landed on the stairs and slid to the bottom - Nina was surprised she didn't break any bones.

The Emperor lowered his hand. "Pathetic."

Tamar screamed and charged him again, and for a moment of instinct as she did, Nina summoned her lightsaber to her and struck down, down at the Emperor's neck, down in a strong slash that could carve his very head off-

Only for the blade to be met by Koroleva's. Nina stared at her. She could feel it again, the pool of fury just within her reach. She dipped her fingers in it, felt it rush through her, the strength that came with it. She could lift her hand and choke Koroleva to death, like Koroleva had choked so many people. . .

. . .and then, if she survived, her friends would never look at her the same way again. Inej would be afraid; Jesper wouldn't let her train him; Matthias would be as repulsed by her as he'd been when they first met, because now he'd overcome his distaste of the Jedi he'd gained a distaste for the opposite.

"Give in, Zenik," Koroleva mocked. "You can't deny your feelings."

"I will never turn to the Dark Side," Nina hissed, pushing harder on their joined blades, watching them creep closer to the Emperor's neck. . .

"So be it," Koroleva said, then retracted her lightsaber and swung.

Nina jerked her arm back to avoid it, her grip loosening for a fraction of a second; Koroleva called the lightsaber to herself again, and Nina was left defenceless again.

She turned to Tamar, writhing on the ground now from the Emperor's second round of the Lightning. Nina's still-aching back twinged in sympathy.

Then, the Emperor seemed to have had enough. He yanked Tamar up by the throat again, her feet kicking wildly and her face rapidly turning red.

"I tire of this." The Emperor's voice was ringing. "Lady Koroleva, finish her."

It seemed to Nina that Koroleva was caught off guard, just for a moment. "What?"

"Kill her," was the irritated reply. "Before she causes any more trouble."

Koroleva looked at Tamar, hanging helpless in the air, but didn't move. Her lightsaber stayed unlit in her hand.

The Emperor sighed, thoroughly done with the proceedings. "Fine. I'll kill her myself."

He threw Tamar against the wall. She fell to the ground in a boneless heap.

Her spine's snap was the worst thing Nina had ever heard.

Koroleva still didn't move.

"Agent Lazareva," Morozova said, speaking into his comlink. "Have you eliminated the Wraith, yet?"

Nina took a deep breath, waiting for the blow to fall-

There were sounds of blasts and cursing, then the stilted reply of, "Not yet. . . my master. . ."

There was a sound of disgust as the Emperor switched the comlink off. "A pity. That would have made this that much more painful. Koroleva?"

She looked up.

"You have disappointed me today," he said, eyes drifting to Tamar's corpse, "but you can redeem yourself. I had hoped to wait until the Wraith was dead, but. . ."

He looked straight at Nina, then kicked her in the shins. Still weak from the assault with the Lightning, she collapsed onto the floor just above the stairs. The metal was cool against her cheek - she stared across it, to Tamar's cooling corpse a few metres away, before turning to look up at the Emperor and Koroleva.

"Since she won't embrace the Dark Side, she is of no further use to me."

Nina couldn't help it as she started shaking. The Emperor's next words fell like a bell tolling someone's death.

"Kill the Jedi." The Emperor smiled as he said it. "Kill her now."