Sorry for being a day late, but I needed some extra time to work some of this out. A big chapter with some important events and reveals that are long, long overdue.
This time: "In those seconds I saw a vista which will ever afterward torment me in dreams. I never sought to return to those tenebrous labyrinths, nor would I direct any sane man thither if I could."
"Bring us in closer!", Pellaeon yelled to his helmsman.
The Myrmidon was manoeuvring around, trying to get a good angle on the Solicitude. Canady's Star Destroyer had made a vain attempt to stop Faro and the Chimaera getting through, and had lost its position because of it. Pellaeon and Thrawn were now bearing down on the out-of-place Star Destroyer with only the small Aeternus doing its best to keep them at bay.
"Pellaeon?", came Thrawn's voice over the comm.
He was quick to answer. "I'm here, how're we looking?"
"Tano and Skywalker are both on the ground, Veers' walkers are destroyed, and our other ships have engaged the Cunctator and its escort", Thrawn explained. "In other words, we are looking well."
Pellaeon smiled with relief, "Some good news at least."
He kept watching Canady's Star Destroyer as it banked towards them. Its guns were trailed on the Omnipotence while only the Aeternus' turbolasers were troubling the Myrmidon. Earlier, they risked overshooting and hitting the ground below. Now, at this angle, the Myrmidon and Omnipotence didn't have to worry about that.
"Think we can get through them now, Grand Admiral?"
"I believe we can solve our problems with one move", Thrawn continued over the comm. "Focus fire on the Aeternus, on my command."
Pellaeon looked at the small frigate, the last remnant of their original fleet that hadn't either been destroyed or allied with Thrawn.
"Henri", Pellaeon shouted over to his Weapons Officer, making sure he'd heard the order. The other man nodded. Pellaeon raised the comm again, "On your command."
"Not yet", Thrawn replied. "I need you to advance and fire on the Aeternus."
He gave a sceptical look at the frigate directly ahead of them. They weren't exactly on top of each other, but it wouldn't take long for them to crash right into them. Maybe that's the point.
"You want us to ram it?", he asked.
"In part. Advance and fire, force them to divert all power to one area of the shields, and then we shall hit them where they're exposed. We'll take out their stabilisers and engines..."
"And we knock it into the Solicitude", Pellaeon finished for him. Not bad.
"Absolutely. We will hold the Solicitude's attention until the time is right."
The Captain huffed and looked back to his crew. First Officer Handel nodded approvingly, and Commander Kenic's smile showed that the plan had the helmsman's blessing too. In his younger days, Pellaeon would have scoffed at such a reckless plan. However, this might actually have been one of the most sensible parts of this whole ridiculous mission. Besides, one way or another, this was going to be his last mission, he knew that. Might as well try something new while he had the chance.
Pellaeon remained at the front of the bridge, eyeing up their target. He felt the subtle readjustments as Kenic took them around, wanting to come at the frigate slightly from the side to knock it in the right direction.
For a moment, Pellaeon thought again about all the people on those ships. He didn't harbour any grudges against the majority of their troopers and officers. Most of them had just been dragged along for the ride, not knowing or caring about what went on higher up the chain. There was never any getting away from that in war, but it never hurt to take a second to think of those souls that would have to die to make sure so many more wouldn't.
Kenic offered the final affirmation, "Ready, Captain!"
"We're ready", Pellaeon said into the comm, "Waiting on you."
Pellaeon watched the Solicitude's guns try their best to get through the shields of Thrawn's Chiss warship. Those same guns had battered the Chimaera only minutes earlier, yet these Arsiss-class warships almost shrugged it off. Good thing they're on our side.
Thrawn gave the order calmly. "Now."
"Now!", Pellaeon repeated it again, bracing himself on the viewport windows.
The Myrmidon lurched forward, coming in from the side of the Aeternus. Its guns blazed a wall of green fire that collided with the small frigate. An extended barrage would probably rip that ship apart in minutes, but they didn't need to destroy it completely. The air around the Aeternus rippled as the shots collided with its shields.
"They're shifting power", Yara called from the sensor station.
Got them. Pellaeon went for his comm again. "Omnipotence, open fire!"
There wasn't even a second's delay before the blue laser fire of Thrawn's ship came in from their starboard side. The Chiss gunners' aim was true and every shot went precisely to the stack of engines at the rear of the Arquitens-frigate. Of course, diverting shields still left a slither of protection elsewhere, but nowhere near enough to deal with that amount of fire.
As the Myrmidon kept coming in closer, they saw the rear of the Aeternus rocked by an explosion as the engines and fuel cells ruptured. The explosion caught the stabiliser on the side where it'd been hit, and the frigate started to dip under the gravity in the direction of the Solicitude.
Pellaeon's ship was only seconds from impact.
"Brace yourselves!", he shouted.
The bow of the ship collided with the Aeternus in a rather muffled, anti-climactic thud. There was a small jolt on the bridge, but the Star Destroyer brushed off the impact without much ceremony at all.
The Aeternus, on the other hand, didn't fare so well. The impact crushed the frigate's starboard side and sent it plummeting, right into the Solicitude's path.
There were only a few seconds before the frigate slammed hard into the Solicitude. The impact itself didn't look all that damaging. The explosion that came next definitely did. The impact turned the Aeternus into a massive fireball that melted into the Solicitude's hull. Secondary explosions started to tear through the Solicitude, ripping apart the bow of the ship.
That left a mark, Pellaeon thought drily.
His bridge erupted with a series of cheers.
Canady's ship didn't fall apart instantly, but it was definitely lost. Pellaeon didn't know how many systems they must have just lost - life support, sensors, and communications at the very least.
"It's coming down", Pellaeon said to his bridge crew. "How's its trajectory look?"
Yara took a few seconds on her screens. "She's listing, it'll come down a few kilometres from the dig site."
That was a relief. Pellaeon didn't want to find out that their last great manoeuvre had just killed everyone on the ground.
"Excellent work, Myrmidon", Thrawn sounded more than happy with the outcome. "Once Commodore Faro and Commander Vanto are done, we'll be clear for now."
Pellaeon didn't miss that last part. "For now? You think Sloane will show up?"
"Let us hope not", he replied. "Even with our numbers, we would not-" Thrawn cut off abruptly.
"Thrawn?", Pellaeon asked curiously, "Thrawn?"
What in-
"Captain!" It was Lieutenant Yara calling from the sensor station. "We have an incoming ship!"
Oh, you've got to be kidding. Pellaeon rushed over to her, cursing under his breath. He just had to go and run his mouth. There was no way they could handle the resources Sloane would have.
"Please tell me it's not what I think it is", Pellaeon half-pleaded as he came up and looked at her screens.
Yara looked up, uncertainty on her face. "Uh, no, sir. It's no Star Destroyer."
Pellaeon squinted at the display, reading the information on the incoming ship. Yara was right, it certainly wasn't a Star Destroyer. The model of the ship also left no room to doubt who was on board. Now that is unexpected...
"This is it", Rex confirmed, holding the ring in the palm of his hands.
Sabine leaned over from the co-pilot's chair. "You sure? How do you know with that thing?"
Rex chuckled and slipped the glowing piece of jewellery back on his finger for safekeeping. "I just do."
"It's alright", Ezra said, "I trust you."
Ezra hit the button to power down the Starbrid's hyperdrive. He didn't need Rex's assurance to know that they'd arrived, he could feel it. That presence in the force that had drawn him off the Chimaera all those years ago, the one he'd felt from the stars every night of his exile, the one that had driven him in the lead up to his rescue - it all led here.
The hyperspace corridor melted back into the familiar dark expanse of space. Looming large in front of them was yet another one of the barren, rocky worlds Ezra had seen so many of over the years. This is it.
"Huh", Rex mumbled from over his shoulder, "Nothing in sight."
It took another moment for the sensors to pick up the specks of activity on the planet below.
Sabine leaned forward and watched the screens closely. "Hang on, we're picking something up."
"Friendly?", Rex asked.
"I'll take us in closer." Ezra hit the engines and guided them towards the planet, watching the space outside carefully.
Suddenly, Sabine gasped. "Wait, they're Star Destroyers! Two of them!"
Karabast. Ezra instantly began checking their weapons and glanced at the shield indicator too. Then, he paused. Something wasn't quite right.
"There's other ships too", Sabine continued. Ezra looked over to his wife squinting at the screen. "Nothing I've ever seen but they're big, some sort of cruiser."
"Doesn't matter what it is." Rex got to his feet and narrowed his eyes at the planet. "Ahsoka and Luke are here somewhere and we're going to-"
Beep beep. Beep beep.
The alarm made them all jump. Ezra's first instinct was a proximity alarm, but it wasn't that. He was still getting used to the ship's noises. In fact, it was the incoming communication alert.
Ezra looked at Sabine, then at Rex. "Who's hailing us? Ahsoka?"
"No", Sabine shook her head. "Look like it's one of those unknown ships. I don't recognise the signature."
"Better than a Star Destroyer", Ezra muttered and hit the accept call button.
He almost choked on air when he saw the holographic figure of Thrawn project itself on the console-mounted display.
"Thrawn!", Rex growled.
The Chiss looked so similar, he didn't seem to have aged a day since they first ran into him on Lothal. The only difference was his uniform. Gone was that white Grand Admiral's attire, and instead Thrawn had a new black uniform on that Ezra didn't recognise. The symbol of the shoulder was unfamiliar too, but it certainly wasn't any Imperial one that he knew of.
Thrawn's cold red eyes scanned all three of them. "Ezra Bridger, Sabine Wren, Captain Rex. An unexpected-"
"Can it, Thrawn!", Rex interrupted, "Where are they?! What have you done with them?!"
"Tano and Skywalker are on the surface below", Thrawn said calmly, knowing exactly who they were talking about.
That meant one of two things. The first guess was that Thrawn had found them and tracked them here, hoping to catch them for some reason or another. However, it didn't explain the new ship, new uniform, or the fact that Thrawn didn't just blast them out the sky to begin with.
No, something else is going on. Ezra cast his mind back to when he escaped his jungle world over a year ago. After Argos bought him the time to escape, Ezra had tried to slip away before Thrawn closed in. However, before he could, Thrawn had contacted him. The Chiss had offered him a choice: try to flee, or join him. Ezra had always wondered why Thrawn did that.
Perhaps, the most likely option wasn't the correct one. Thrawn knew they were there, but for some reason he wasn't trying to kill them.
"Well...", Rex slammed his fist on the console,"You're not going to lay a finger on them."
Thrawn furrowed his brow. "I don't thi-"
"Don't worry, Rex." Sabine smirked at Thrawn, "He couldn't stop just Ahsoka and I last time, I'm sure the three of us plus the two of them will be fine."
"He's not trying to kill them."
Ezra looked at his two companions, both staring at him in confusion. They couldn't sense what he could. Ezra didn't blame them for jumping to the conclusion that they did - he had no love for Thrawn either - but they had to keep their minds on the facts, not on their preconceptions.
"I am not", Thrawn confirmed.
Sabine scrunched her face at the Chiss. "What are you talking about?"
"We are working together."
"Bah!", Rex threw up his arms, "Why would Luke and Ahsoka ever work with someone like you."
"For the same reason the three of you came out here. The same reason Skywalker and Tano came out here in the first place", Thrawn countered.
Thrawn knew. Maybe Ezra should have given him that much credit. That world that Ahsoka and Sabine had found him on was littered with old ruins, bodies, and evidence that left him with so many questions. Thrawn was many things, but definitely not stupid. With his eye for art and detail, how could the Chiss not have caught on to something out here? Especially with the Inquisitor around, the Chiss too must have noticed that something in the Unknown Regions wasn't right.
Thrawn gave them a moment to take in the news before continuing. "We have little time to explain. We all know that something dangerous is out here. I have you to thank, Bridger, for putting us on its trail. I do not claim to understand it, but I know enough to believe that it must never be unleashed on the galaxy. While some of the other members of my fleet, the Inquisitor included, did not agree, others did."
"You're trying to stop this... thing, too?", Sabine looked utterly befuddled.
Thrawn nodded. "We are. After setting up an alliance with your two friends, we also managed to get support from my own people. Together, we launched this attack. Skywalker and Tano are on the ground now, entering the ruin in which we believe this great threat is contained." He moved his eyes back to Ezra. "If you are here now, I can only assume that there is a reason for it. You Jedi have a habit of fortuitous appearances."
"Guilty as charged", Ezra replied with a bit of humour. It quickly ebbed away. "It's complicated. We just knew to come."
"A great many things are complicated", Thrawn agreed.
"So... what?", Sabine folded her arms unhappily, "We're meant to trust you just like that?"
Thrawn shook his head slightly, "No one could reasonably expect such a change of heart. However, I ask that you trust your friends. They saw fit to join us in this endeavour, so take that for what it's worth."
Ezra shared a look with Sabine. She didn't like this one bit, but he could feel the acceptance from her. Ahsoka and Luke's safety was worth whatever risk trusting Thrawn's word brought.
"Fine", Rex answered sternly for them, "As long as your people don't try killing us, we won't kill them."
"That is all we need." Thrawn started to do something on his end. "I can arrange a TIE escort. Enemy capital ships have been destroyed but fighters remain in the air."
"We can deal with a few fighters", Sabine replied bluntly. The hostility might have been gone, but she definitely didn't like having to trust Thrawn. Honestly, neither did Ezra.
"All we need is their location", Ezra added.
"Of course." Thrawn did something else on his end. "I'm sending you the coordinates now. It'll be a ruin, buried into the ground. Tano and Skywalker will be inside somewhere. Beware of allied Chiss and Stormtoopers. I'll send word ahead but I'd rather you not inflict any unnecessary casualties."
The coordinates came through for a site on the surface. All of the ships and activity they'd been picking up on the planet below were clustered around it. Getting there was going to be tricky.
"What about that Inquisitor?", Ezra asked.
"Also below, possibly in the ruin. However, I'm sure she wouldn't be much trouble to you, assuming Skywalker and Tano haven't dealt with her already."
His thoughts dwelt on the Inquisitor for a moment. Ezra was confident he could beat her in a straight fight, Luke could too. Not to mention Ahsoka, who'd already proved to be on a whole other level to all of them. The Inquisitor wouldn't be the biggest obstacle they'd face, but Ezra knew better than to ignore the potential threat all together.
"Alright, we're heading down. Make sure you tell your people not to shoot us", Ezra warned.
"I will make sure", the Chiss assured them. "I wish you every success, Bridger."
The call disconnected, leaving the Starbird's cockpit in uncomfortable silence.
Ezra had hoped he'd never run into Thrawn again out here. In retrospect, he should have known better than that. It was Thrawn that was ultimately responsible for his own exile, for the years of separation, for Kanan's death, for Lothal's misery, and so many of the things that had caused him and his friends so much pain.
Still, Ezra knew to trust him right now. Ezra felt the sincerity of his words, the honesty with which he spoke. After seeing the destruction wrought on those other planets, how could any sane person not want to stand against it? That didn't mean Thrawn was his friend, but right now the Chiss wasn't his enemy.
Sabine let out a sigh and rubbed her forehead. "I don't even know what just happened."
"Me neither", Rex agreed, "All I know is that I want to be out of this place ASAP."
Ezra nodded wordlessly and guided the ship down to the surface. His stomach turned with each passing second as they drew closer.
Luke jumped down the last few metal steps into the bottom of the pit. The ruin Thrawn had talked about stood waiting for them at the bottom. Set into one of the pit walls was a large rectangular doorway several metres across. In front of it lay a podium with an unfamiliar symbol atop it.
For all the effort it took to get her, the ruin didn't look all that impressive. However, looks could be deceiving. Luke hadn't felt such a concentrated evil since he met the Emperor. This was definitely the place.
The squad of painted stormtroopers formed up behind them, and the Sergeant walked up to Ahsoka. "Ma'am, we're ready when you are."
Luke wasn't sure if they'd be coming in with them. It never hurt to have an extra set of eyes. He nodded, "Good. Let's not was-"
"No", Ahsoka interrupted, "Keep your squad here and secure the entrance. Luke and I can handle things inside."
Luke wasn't sure whether that was the best choice, but he trusted her judgement. Then again, if this thing was as powerful as he feared then stormtroopers wouldn't be much help to them.
Suddenly, Luke felt something. He felt a little brighter, more optimistic, and more safe. It certainly wasn't this place doing it - this ruin was one of the most evil things he'd ever encountered - but there was definitely something else. He thought back to that feeling of movement he'd sensed over the last few weeks. Perhaps this was the same thing.
"Hey", Ahsoka clearly noticed his flustered reaction, "You ready to get going?"
He shook it away. "Yeah, let's do this."
Ahsoka gave him a half-smile and pulled her staff out of its sling. That odd artefact never ceased to amaze him. She pressed some unseen button and it extended back out to its usual length. Ahsoka turned and led the way towards the ruin, tapping the staff down with every step. It was a change of pace from the fast battle they'd just ran out of, but caution and patience would absolutely serve them better here.
Luke stopped and looked at the pillar set just outside the ruin. He couldn't make sense of the symbol on top of it, not what it meant or what it was made of. He stopped to brush his left hand over it, feeling the strange metal. Like so much else about this place, it felt wrong. Leaving the strange object behind, Luke followed Ahsoka in to the ruin.
It was especially dark inside. They should have been able to see down so much further than they could. Ahsoka led the way carefully down the ancient steps, leaving the muffled noises of battle behind them.
On his hip, Luke swore he felt some sort of vibrating feeling. Luke was almost getting fed up of this. First one 'feeling', then another, then another - each one more vague and frustrating than the last. The feeling kept up and Luke glanced down to the bag slung around his body. Something inside was calling for attention. Luke stopped and opened it, digging through for the culprit. That brooch Ahsoka gave him drew his mind first, but the curiosity quickly switched to another object: the compass. The blue stone in its centre was glowing brightly, illuminating the whole bag.
Ahsoka had stopped further down the stairs. "What's wrong?", she saw the compass in his hands, "What's happening?"
He faced it to her, letting her see the glow. "No idea, it's never done this before."
The compass had come into his hands on Pillio at one of the Emperor's secret observatories. Luke never knew what compelled him to take it, or what told him to bring it with him out here. Clearly, it had some purpose. Maybe he was about to find out what that was.
He pressed the catch to open it. All the dials pointed down the corridor in front of them. It was a compass, after all, but where was it guiding them?
"I'll take the lead", he announced to Ahsoka, taking the next few steps down.
She stepped aside and let him pass, following close behind with the light.
The stairs didn't go on for much further and at the bottom they found another one of those pillars. Luke looked back up the long stairs and was barely able to see the glimmers of light at the top. That other pillar was just in view, the symbol on top of it barely distinguishable from all the way down here.
Ahsoka took a step forward and waved her staff around the chamber they were in, its pure white light banishing the darkness around them. The room was large with several obscured corridors leading off from it. Another one of the podiums stood in the centre of the room and a number of tall statues were dotted around the walls, watching silently over the forgotten ruin.
"It's too quiet. There's a battle going on outside but down here there's nothing." Ahsoka was barely more than whispering, as if to drive the point home. "No one else is here, no troopers, nothing. This place is just removed, locked away from the galaxy."
Luke glanced down at the compass again. "Maybe that's the point."
The dials on the compass were just visible from the sapphire light of the lodestone. They all pointed towards one particular exit across the chamber. The compass vibrated physically as Luke held it up towards the passage. It was a clear sign of where they needed to go. He led the way, past yet another one of those identical pillars set just inside the passageway.
They climbed a handful of small stone steps and came into a short corridor. At the far end was a sealed black door. Setting his eyes on it sent a chill up his spine. That's it. After all this time, all these months, this was it.
"I think we're...", Luke trailed off as he saw Ahsoka carefully inspecting the wall to their left. "What's wrong?", Luke asked as he stepped forward.
Etched into the wall were a series of intricately carved panels. There were figures, weapons, stars, buildings - a chronicle no doubt related to what they'd come here for. Ahsoka was fixated on the very first panel. It showed people fighting beneath a great pyramid, with one figure rising from the top of it. It meant nothing to Luke.
"The pyramid...", Ahsoka's awed tone surprised him, "It's Malachor."
Of course it is... Malachor had kept turning up in their time out here. He didn't have the time to figure out what the panel was telling them, but it at least confirmed what that vision had long suggested - Malachor was key to all of this.
"Ahsoka?", Luke prompted tentatively.
She sighed and pulled her eyes away. "You're right. Let's finish this."
Together, they approached the last door. Strangely, Luke couldn't feel anything specific on the other side. There was no handle, no hinge, and no indication whatsoever of how to open it.
"Allow me." Ahsoka raised her free hand and shut her eyes, reaching out with the force. With a smooth, gentle motion, she pulled down and the door followed.
On the other side, bathed in a deep red light, was a chamber similar in size to the one they'd passed earlier. A handful of steps led up to a raised area in the middle of the room, a few paces in from the door. Around that raised area stood twelve pedestals, and on all but one of them sat an orb just like the one Luke had seen in his vision. The spheres glimmered with the same red energy that lit up the rest of the room. They were all arranged around a central obelisk, about ten metres high, mounted on two pillars.
Most important of all, Luke saw two figures.
On her knees with her back to them was a young woman with short-cut hair, an unusual lightsaber on her back. He hadn't seen her before, but he knew that it had to be the Inquisitor he'd heard so much about.
"I have done as you asked, my Lord", the Fourth Sister's voice broke the silence.
In front of the Inquisitor, trapped between the two pedestals that held up the obelisk, Luke saw the second figure look at him with a grin. It was slumped on its knees with its waist held in place by one of the unusual restraints with two more of the blue tendrils holding its arms out to the side.
Luke didn't know what he'd expected to find out here, but it wasn't this. No horrid monster, no twisted creature, no decrepit old relic - just a man. Bound in place by the ethereal blue ropes was a tall near-human man. Even slumped over on its knees, the man was almost Luke's height. His skin was a healthy tanned brown, unblemished by age or wrinkles. He had thick brown hair that fell down to his ears, and piercing blue eyes untouched by the yellow of most dark-siders Luke had known. The man was garbed in a clean black robe and tunic that clung tight to his form, showing a broad chest and thick muscled arms. Anywhere else in the galaxy, he'd have been considered handsome.
However, Luke knew looks were deceiving. For all its fair appearance, this thing's presence in the force felt foul. There was no warmth, no life, no happiness. The man was like a gaping void of darkness, utterly repugnant, and completely and totally consumed with evil.
It laughed as its blue eyes met the new arrivals. "At long last."
The man's large hand clenched into a fist. In Luke's own hands, the compass jolted and the centre stone pulsed intensely. Then, the blue glow that had started when they entered cut out.
Seconds later, the glowing blue tendrils holding this strange being in place fizzled and pulsed before dissipating into nothingness.
It slumped forward, free from its ancient restraints, as its cackling laugh echoed around the chamber.
The Chimaera's guns kept up the barrage as the final frigate escorting the Cunctator broke apart. The Arquitens-class ship dived nose-first into the bare rocky expanse far behind the dig site, billowing black smoke high in the air. It's nose crashed into the rock with a mighty explosion that soon engulfed the rest of the ship. It was just Hux now
Commandant Hux was anything but a competent military mind. A Star Destroyer and two supporting frigates should have been able to keep her and Vanto's ships occupied for a while. Under Hux's command, it was barely more than a nerf-shoot. The first frigate had gone down in seconds, fully exposed to both the Chimaera and the Unyielding's attacks. This second one had tried to move to a better position closer to the Cunctator, but it never got the chance to.
As Faro and Vanto bore down on him, Hux's resolve had faltered. From his position above the ruin, Hux had pulled back and turned the lumbering ship around, trying to gain some altitude and escape the slaughter. Faro came in from the starboard side as Vanto came up on his rear, guns tearing apart the shields protecting the engines.
"How're their shields looking, Commander?", Faro called back to Hammerly.
Hovering over the new Sensor Officer that had taken her place, Hammerly gave a reassuring smile. "Barely holding, he won't last much longer."
The Commodore turned her head back to the bridge's viewport. Off to her right, the Unyielding was slowing to a halt to take position about a thousand feet above the ruin, also knowing that Hux wouldn't be running much further.
The Cunctator's shields were straining under the fire, just like the Chimaera's own had as they broke through Canady's blockade. Finally, they gave way.
"They're down!", Hammerly confirmed.
Faro nodded over to her Weapons Officer. "Pyrondi?"
The man kept his focus on his screen, directing every turbolaser at the now exposed engines. Faro watched through the window as the left-most engine at the rear of the Cunctator was torn apart by green turbolaser fire. Pale blue fire from the Unyielding quickly destroyed the centre engine too. Its engines gone, the Cunctator was finished. It listed to the left and arced downward towards the ground.
The massive ship's bow slammed into the hard rocky service about two clicks off their port side, ploughing through layers of rocks and stone as it crashed to ground. Several small explosions were set off by the impact, the final engine overheated and exploded, the sensor array near the bow sparked and set off a large electrical explosion a hundred metres tall, and countless other areas of the ship burst into flames. The bridge survived and there was a good chance Hux survived with it, but the ship was done for.
"We got them!", Vanto boasted over the comm.
Faro rolled her eyes amusedly. "You got them? I think you're seeing things, Vanto", she joked.
"Hmph, we'll pick apart the data later", the other man promised.
The Commodore set the commlink back on her belt and gave a relieved sigh. For the most part, they'd won the air battle. Every enemy cruiser and frigate was destroyed, all of their own were intact, and they had almost complete air dominance over the site. Vanto's Unyielding had taken position high over the dig site, shrouding the area under the Arsiss-class cruiser's shadow.
Below them, Faro could still see the TIE squadrons locked in dogfights a hair's breadth from the ground. The flashes of explosions and concentrated areas of laser fire showed that the ground battle was still raging too.
"Commodore, I see everything is going well down there", Thrawn's voice came over the comm channel without warning.
"All clear", she confirmed. Faro looked out to the starboard side at the smouldering remains of the Solicitude that had crashed into the ground only minutes earlier. "I see you two up there have done your jobs."
The Chiss showed little sign of celebrating. "Enemy ships are gone for now but I have some other news for you."
She wrinkled her nose, "Is something wrong?"
"No, but there's a ship incoming to the surface. Watch your fire and make sure they get to ground safely."
A ship? She didn't have any idea why there'd be any more ships out here.
She pressed him for more details. "What ship? Who?"
"Bridger."
Faro's breath caught for a moment. The name caught her off-guard, as it had the rest of her bridge crew given how silent they became.
"What's Bridger doing out here? Why now?", she asked, doing her best to hide the surprise in her voice.
"I do not know", Thrawn admitted, "But if he is here, we must again assume there is a reason for it."
She shut her eyes and took in a deep breath. "Got it, Grand Admiral. I'll make sure everyone knows to expect another Jedi."
"Miss Wren too, and the Clone Captain Rex", he added.
Wonderful. "As you say, they'll be safe", she assured him.
Faro pinched the bridge of her nose and dropped her head. Why are they here? Why now? It didn't sit right with her. She understood Thrawn's implication when he said they must be here for a reason. The 'will of the force' as the Jedi called it had led Bridger to find all the signs that had made sure he'd come back out here, drawing him onto unknown planets and leaving Thrawn and the rest of their fleet to pick through the pieces. If Bridger was coming out here now, and bringing both the Mandalorian and the Clone with him, then something important was going down.
Perhaps this mission wasn't going to be as simple as she'd started to hope.
Luke let the defunct compass drop out of his shaking hands.
"So long", it laughed, "After all this time..."
The Fourth Sister shuffled backwards on her knees, taking in the sight of the thing she'd apparently been serving for so long. Luke looked to Ahsoka next to him. The Togruta stood defiant, not a hint of fear on her face. Luke hoped he looked that brave right now.
It got up to one knee, resting its large hands on its thigh as it took in deep, rasping breaths. "They thought... they thought that by taking the keys to the binds that they'd ensnare me here forever." It laughed again. "Ignorant fools. The keys called to their rightful place. The Jedi and the Sith knew that, and hoped it would lead them back here when they could destroy me. Instead, it led blind fools like you right where I needed you."
Luke hurriedly grabbed the compass from the ground. Still intact, the dull stone in its centre and the intricate carvings on its casing had given nothing away.
"Yes...", It could see him staring at the tiny trinket. "My apprentice found one and brought it here with the Chiss. You brought the other, young Skywalker. The final key to my freedom."
No. All this time, and it was all for this. Not a compass but a key. The force-imbued stone in its centre providing the final piece to unlock whatever had kept this thing locked away here.
As Luke looked back, he saw the Fourth Sister prostrate herself before the being. "I am ready to serve, just as you asked, Lord Snoke."
So, it had a name. Luke hadn't head of any 'Snoke' before.
The name caught its attention. Snoke's mouth twitched into a wretched smile. "So you are."
"What are you?", Ahsoka's voice cut across the chamber, reverberating around the stony walls.
Snoke's shining blue eyes focused on Ahsoka and a devious smile crawled onto its lips. "Something more."
Ahsoka took a cautionary step forward, bringing the staff forward with her. "I've seen more than you know", she replied.
Their enemy huffed a laugh at her boldness. "Perhaps you have, Togruta."
The towering man shut his eyes and pushed himself onto his feet. Snoke took a second to check his balance before opening his eyes and refocusing on the two of them. Snoke was well over seven feet tall, looking down on the other three people in the room with him.
"Once, I walked the path of the Sith", he began.
"Until Malachor", Ahsoka interrupted.
Ahsoka stood firm and held Snoke's glare. The word struck a chord in the dark-sider and Luke saw his lip twitch in anger. Luke remembered what he'd heard in the vision - "He should have died at Malachor." Looking at the man in front of them now, Luke never would have guessed that. The individual before them looked strong, healthy, and powerful.
Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them. Ben's words, among the first Luke had learned of the force, came back to him. As the anger seethed on the being's face, Luke looked past it and reached in to feel what Snoke really was. Pain, death, sorrow, hatred, and nothingness. Even the Emperor had not felt so utterly devoid of warmth and life.
"The cowards tried to use the weapon", Snoke growled, "But it did not work. It misfired and wiped out all of them. The foolish Sith at that temple as well as the Jedi sent there to destroy them. Or at least, it wiped out almost all of them." Snoke stepped forward, looming over the kneeling Inquisitor but keeping his eyes on Ahsoka. "I was at the periphery of the blast. It could not kill me, but it transformed me. The death, the pain, the power", he took in a satisfied breath, "It gave it to me."
"You're a wound in the force...", Ahsoka breathed.
Luke looked over to her. He had no idea where she'd learned of something like that, but Luke couldn't think of a better label. This being felt as if any goodness or warmth had been torn from it and replaced with unimaginable darkness.
"A wound", Snoke laughed dismissively. "I am no wound, no weakness. I am a vessel for absolute power in the force."
"You shouldn't exist", the Togruta said breathlessly. "The force can't sustain something like that. You'd destroy yourself."
Snoke sucked in a long drawn-out breath. "Ah, and yet here I stand." He turned to the side and took a step toward one of the pedestals with the orb set upon it. "It is true that, in weaker hands, such power would break most. However, for those strong enough to... conquer those limitations, the opportunities are endless." Snoke set his hand on the orb and smile amusedly. "Unfortunately, I do need the living force to sustain myself."
Luke's eye widened. The orb. Again, he remembered his vision. He remembered the hooded figure and the poor monk it murdered. The figure had drained the life out of the temple's defender and absorbed that essence into the orb. An orb just like the one set on all of these pedestals.
"These orbs...", Luke breathed, "The living force. I saw what that... thing did."
Snoke looked over at him with a sadistic grin. "I admire you both, I have to say. So much wiser and more perceptive than those that came before", he bellowed. The amusement faded and his harsh glare refocused on the orb. "They kept me sustained all this time, but they trapped me here", he spat.
"I don't understand, what is this place?", Luke asked. He looked around at the chamber, "And how did you get the orbs here if they trapped you here?"
"Oh, you misunderstand", Snoke raised his hands and motioned around, "This is my home. The Jedi and the Sith did not build this place. It was built for me. They merely used it - an attempt to insult me by trapping me here. The Jedi were too weak to kill me, and the Sith too arrogant to pass up the opportunity to humiliate me."
"Why not just kill you?", Luke asked, "Why here?"
"They couldn't kill him." Ahsoka stepped forward again but was looking at Luke. "A wound will reconstitute itself. Try to destroy it and it won't stay destroyed for long."
Snoke smiled at her sinisterly. "My, my, Togruta. Even I am impressed. Your wisdom is wasted on the Jedi."
Luke shook his head, "That makes no sense. Why would they leave you here where they knew you'd be kept alive? Why not destroy these orbs?"
"Think about it", Ahsoka answered, "If this... device is what kept him trapped here, destroying the orbs would mean that nothing would keep him here. He'd just walk right out. They couldn't kill him either, so trapping him here like this would be the only choice."
"So... what? You built a prison in your own home?", Luke squinted at Snoke.
Snoke huffed, "Prison? That is what it became but is not its original purpose." He turned his back to them and admired the obelisk towering behind him. "The living force has so much potential. However, it needs a living conduit to be unleashed. I, unfortunately, was not so."
"That doesn't explain what this damn thing is!", Luke snapped, frustrated at all the dancing around the issue.
"It's a weapon...", Ahsoka breathed, "The temple world, the destroyed planets - it has to be."
"Not the exact one I used elsewhere, the others could be moved", Snoke laughed. "But again, you learn quickly. My home needed defence and I knew exactly how to provide it. The force is many things, a weapon being but one of its uses."
Luke looked skeptically at the two pillars between which Snoke had been held. What sort of weapon had a place to stick a prisoner? "You got stuck in a weapon?", Luke questioned.
"Like he said, it needs a living conduit", Ahsoka pointed out. She turned back to Snoke, "You aren't a conduit. They trapped you in that weapon but it could never fire, not with you."
Snoke growled lowly to himself and turned back. "They did, and took the keys to my shackles that you so foolishly returned."
Luke folded his arms as Snoke continued to drone on. He wasn't impressed. "Very intimidating", Luke replied almost sarcastically. "A powerful dark sider with delusions of grandeur luring the Jedi to see his superweapon? I've done this before. It doesn't scare us."
A bemused smile appeared on Snoke's face. "Oh, is that why you think I let you come here? No, any living conduit can power the weapon. It might be the reason I was trapped here but the weapon itself means little to me. It is just a means to an end."
"What end?", Ahsoka demanded.
"I thought you of all people would know, Togruta. I can feel its mark on you. I can sense your knowledge, your understanding of it. I was denied it once. With the two of you, the power to pierce the veil would be within my grasp."
Pierce the veil? What was Snoke talking about? Why would Ahsoka know anything? What in the - wait. Luke recalled that strange vision one last time. He remembered what those servants of Snoke had come there for. The World Between Worlds.
"Ahsoka...", Luke said urgently, "The gateways."
The realisation crept over her face. "Impossible...", she turned back to Snoke, "Impossible. No dark sider can set foot there."
"The force makes everything, and it can destroy everything. The living force can break that barrier, but it must be strong. Like, say, when it is concentrated within two powerful and experienced warriors... such as yourselves."
"You're insane. You think hooking us up to that weapon of yours will give you access to the gateway?", Ahsoka scoffed.
"If I believed that, I wouldn't have wasted time talking to you", Snoke retorted. "No, as I said, the weapon is just a means to that end. It will not get me through the veil, but it will clear out my enemies to make way."
Snoke turned around and looked at the Fourth Sister. She'd been watching the whole exchange silently from her knees. A bad feeling crawled up from Luke's gut.
"You Jedi have your use to me, but now...", Snoke loomed large over the Inquisitor, "So will you."
Snoke's movement was too fast. His fingers erupted in a blast of force lightning that hit the stone at his feet and danced instantly across the room at them. Luke felt the familiar searing pain as the electricity coursed through his body and sent him flying back. Beside him, Ahsoka flew back, even she'd been too slow to react. They both landed roughly on the ground by the podium at the doorway.
Luke didn't remain stunned for long and was scrambling to his knees as soon as he landed, even as his right hand still twitched from the currents, using the stone podium to hold himself up. Snoke was simply staring at them from the obelisk, with the Fourth Sister watching them with a smug grin.
Luke held Snoke's gaze for a second, unsure of his next move. Then, his enemy's blue eyes flicked away and focused on the Inquisitor. Snoke reached out his hand to his apprentice. With a gasp, the Fourth Sister flew into Snoke's grasp. Snoke caught her by the neck, holding the woman up to eye-level with his large hands. The Fourth Sister grabbed at the hand, her legs flailing in the air. The hand around her throat flashed blue as Snoke sent a short jolt of lightning through his apprentice.
"Ah, my naive apprentice", he admonished her as she gasped for breath. "So utterly blind, so consistently embarrassing. Pathetic. Gullible. Weak."
The Inquisitor tried to struggle with the last ounces of her strength. "I wanted to help you...", she choked, "To serve..."
"You?", Snoke laughed again. "Only you could be so stupid. You were useless as an agent." Snoke turned his head to the obelisk, "At least you can be of some use elsewhere."
Snoke stepped over to the obelisk, the Inquisitor struggling fruitlessly in his grasp, and threw her down between the pillars. His fist tightened and the shimmering blue ropes that had kept him in place coiled around the Fourth Sister.
Then, Luke felt a horrible surge in the force. The orbs around the obelisk started to vibrate and glow, the red hue growing more intense. Luke felt the same horrible, unnatural feeling he'd felt in the vision as the orb stole away the monk's life force. No... no, no, no, no!
The overwhelming sensation assaulted every sense he had. He looked over to Ahsoka. She was on her knees too, pushing herself up using her staff.
"Ugh... gah...", he heard the Fourth Sister struggling against the restraints, "What's... what's happening?"
"You're doing what you always wanted to do, my apprentice." Snoke stepped aside as he spoke, stepping away from the obelisk and the orbs.
The orbs were glowing even brighter now, bathing the entire room in a blood-red glow. He and Ahsoka both looked at the podium between them. The triangular symbol atop it started to vibrate.
Snoke cackled from the far side of the room, now well clear of his abhorrent devices. "You wanted to help me destroy the Imperials, did you not? Here then."
Extending his oversized hand towards the Inquisitor, Snoke focused in and shut his eyes. His fist clenched. Everything happened at once.
The orbs erupted with a stream of intense red energy. Every stream crashed into the Inquisitor, lighting the obelisk above her with the same red glow. Luke could barely hear her screams over the deafening roar of the orbs' beams.
"Luke!" He turned quickly to Ahsoka and could easily see why. On the podium between them, the triangle was lit up too, just like the obelisk. "Move!"
He didn't think twice. Luke threw himself to the side away from the podium, as did Ahsoka. Seconds later, the obelisk shot out a massive stream of energy right at the podium. The beam went through the triangle and shot straight down the corridor to the other podium at the far end.
All Luke could hear was the roar of the weapon and the Fourth Sister's helpless screams.
"Commodore!"
The voice of her Sensor Officer surprised Faro. She lifted her head and walked over to him from the map table.
"Something wrong?", she asked him.
"Yeah...", he pointed to his screen, "Energy spike a few seconds ago from the surface. No idea what it is."
Faro peered over the man's shoulder and looked at the screen. An energy spike had come out of nowhere on the surface and was growing more intense by the second. It wasn't electronic, it wasn't radioactive, and it wasn't thermal.
"Commodore", came Thrawn's voice across the channel, "There appears to be a situation..."
"Yeah, I'm seeing it." Faro kept watching the readings go higher and higher. Unsure what to make of it, she made her way over to the top of the bridge. "Vanto?", she asked through the comm as she reached the window, "You seeing this?"
Faro waited and watched the Unyielding as it hovered high above the dig site below. She felt her heart-rate ramping up with every second. She had a really, really, bad feeling about this.
"Energy spike, we've got it too...", Vanto replied at last. "I th-", he cut off abruptly.
"Vanto?", Thrawn asked quickly, "Vanto?"
"I... it's... it's coming from the ruin!"
As Vanto said it, Faro saw a flash of red light down in the dig site. What in the-?
The flash of light erupted into a giant beam of pure energy. It fired straight up at the sky, and right at the Unyielding suspended directly above it.
"No! Move! Mov-"
The beam of energy shot up and ripped through the Unyielding's hull like a thermoblade through butter. The Arsiss-class cruiser was split in two within seconds, the blast just barely missing the bridge towards the rear of the ship.
"Eli?!", Thrawn yelled over the comm, "Eli?!"
There was only static as the beam cut out as quickly as it appeared. The Arsiss-class cruiser was burning. The attack had split the thing right down the middle. The bow of the ship started to fall to the ground. The rear - with the bridge clinging on - fell backwards and plummeted to the ground.
Both missed the dig site itself and crashed into the surrounding area. The bow of the ship came down a few hundred metres from the ruin, just clear of the battle. The rear of the Unyielding crashed down over the old Imperial camp. The field HQ disappeared under the wreckage and a wall of dust, ash, and debris went out in all directions.
"Vanto?!", Faro urged, "You still there?"
Faro could still see the bridge structure intact. The beam had cut clean through the ship and she prayed it had missed him.
"Thrawn...", Bridger's voice made her jump. She had no idea he was even patched into this channel. "That wasn't an ordinary weapon." The Jedi sounded breathless and even fearful.
"Bridger, what was that?", Pellaeon asked desperately.
Bridger sighed over the comm channel. "I don't know", he admitted, "But you need to get your people out of here now. There's nothing else you can do here."
"Not so fast, Bridger", Thrawn countered, "We stay here until we know this threat is gone, or until we breathe our last."
"Oh, so now you decide to be noble?", Bridger muttered.
Faro paid no mind to Bridger's mistrust, that was entirely understandable, but she did trust him - or at least she trusted his warning. Whatever just took out Vanto was something far beyond their ability to counter. This weapon, if that's what it even was, had torn through the Chiss ship easily. She doubted a Star Destroyer, or its crew, would fare much better.
They were cut off by a sudden cough over the comm.
"I-", a familiar voice coughed again, "Anyone there?"
Vanto?!
"Eli!", Thrawn sound relieved.
"Yeah...", another cough, "I'm... I'm here."
Faro breathed a sigh of relief, "Thought we lost you there."
There were a few panting breaths. "No, I'm alright... can't say the same for the ship though. What... what was that?"
"We don't know, though it seems obvious that it's something to do with whatever lies below", Thrawn reasoned.
"At least we didn't lose you, Vanto. We can send teams over to fetch you", Pellaeon suggested.
"Forget it, focus on the mission. We'll find our own way out", Vanto assured them.
Faro would have preferred sending someone down, but she trusted him to take care of himself and his crew. Vanto had his own responsibility, and she had hers.
Leaving Thrawn and the others to sort things out for now, she quickly switched over to another channel. "Xoxtin? How are those shuttles I asked for?"
"All ready, Commodore", the old hangar overseer replied, "Can I ask what they're for?"
Faro took a deep breath and turned back to her bridge crew.
"Attention, everyone." A hush fell over the bridge and every eye turned to her. "You all saw what just happened, and as you know, the Chimaera's hyperdrive is fried. We're not getting off this planet in this ship and there's no doubting which ship is the next closest target for... whatever that weapon was. Besides, every enemy ship is done for, which means our job is done. I'm ordering a full evacuation. Some shuttles have been prepared in the hangar and I'm preparing all escape pods for non-emergency launch."
She saw every face sink. Some went wide-eyed, some mouths fell open.
"W-what? We're abandoning ship?", Hammerly asked disbelievingly.
"Unless you've been hiding the ability to fix a hyperdrive with no materials, Commander, then yes", Faro smiled a bit, trying to inject a bit of humour. "But like I said, there's no question which ship will be in the firing line if - when - that weapon fires again. There's nothing more the Chimaera can do here."
Her bridge crew didn't answer. It had all been going so well, none of them must have been expecting it to end so abruptly. With discontented murmurs, they started to following her orders. A few officers tentatively rose from their seats and began making for the door.
Keeping her eyes on the officers yet to budge, Faro raised her comm to speak to the whole ship. "Chimaera, this is Commodore Faro. Abandon ship. All non-essential personnel make your way to the hangars or the escape pods immediately."
That managed to prompt a few more. The stormtrooper guards at the far end of the bridge exchanged a look behind their helmets before joinig the stream of people taking their leave. Only the most stubborn of her officers were holding back.
"Even me?", Lieutenant Pyrondi stood up from the weapons station.
"You see any ships to shoot, Lieutenant?" He had no answer. "Then get yourself down to the hangar."
He nodded reluctantly and joined the end of the crowd fleeing the bridge. Still hunched over the map table, Commander Hammerly looked lost for words.
"Commander", Faro caught her attention, "Go oversee the evacuation. I need you to make sure everyone gets onboard.
Hammerly stammered. "W-what about you?", she asked.
Faro sighed, "I'll be there later. I need to be here to respond if anything happens."
The Commander bit back a reply. "Aye aye, ma'am", she said with resignation.
Faro flashed her an approving smile before Hammerly turned and followed on the tail of the rest of the crew. Faro looked around at the empty bridge. Almost empty. Her eyes focused on the man still at his station.
"Agral?", she called over to the helmsman, "I meant everyone."
"You're not moving this ship without me, Commodore", he replied, "I'm staying however long you do."
Agral had a point. She didn't know how to pilot the Chimaera. If they needed to manoeuvre in any way, she'd need him here. It wasn't ideal, but it was necessary.
"As you will, Lieutenant", she conceded.
Clasping her hands behind her back, she walked slowly up the bridge, pondering on their next move. Their victory had become a lot less secure very quickly. Whatever was going on down there, it was out of their hands now. They had to trust Skywalker, Tano, and now Bridger and his friends to sort this out.
I can gloss over most things and focus on Snoke. I'm still not entirely happy with how that big reveal section played out. A lot of answers had to be given in a very short space of time and I had to balance it between giving away too much and not giving enough. The cliche of the villain explaining his secret plan to the heroes ended up being unavoidable, but that doesn't mean I'm entirely satisfied with it.
Surprise, surprise - it's Snoke. Many people figured that out a long time ago. Snoke was always a pretty safe guess for a big, dangerous, unknown force-wielder lurking in the Unknown Regions after the OT. I have not been subtle with dialogue and stuff either and there's been plenty of little things throughout that hint at Snoke. In Chapter 11 as Ezra leaves the WBW, the last voice he hears is Snoke's "there has been an awakening" line. In Chapter 20, Snoke promises the Inquisitor a place in his new "Order" and has a particular interest in Vader. Chapter 23 has phrases like "sharp tool" and "heir to Lord Vader" that are both from Snoke in TLJ. Chapter 28 sees Snoke end his conversation with an ominous "We shall see" just as he does to Kylo in TFA, and in Chapter 31 we get "Bring. Them. To. Me" in the same vein as Snoke's instructions about Rey. I don't think it was a huge surprise to most of you, so I didn't overplay the name reveal, not that the name would mean anything to Luke or Ahsoka at this point anyway. Also, that bizarre hooded figure with a mask and "chitinous fingers" from Luke's vision in Chapter 28? One of Snoke's attendants. I did say it wasn't my creation.
As for what Snoke is, he's a wound in the force created at Malachor when that weapon fired. He's pretty much a rip-off of Darth Nihilus, but he gets to keep his physical form like Meetra Surik does. However, unlike his lovely masked forebear, Snoke has found a means to 'store' force energy inside special kyber orbs. These orbs have shown up once or twice before. At Site Three, Ezra and the Fourth Sister note a smashed orb upon an altar. That is one of those orbs, the one from the empty pedestal that Luke sees here, destroyed in a battle between Snoke's followers and his enemies. Its destruction unleashed the energy within and wiped out all of the combatants, similar to Malachor's temple. The purple mist that shrouded Site Three was the residue left behind from that force energy. Luke's vision strongly alludes to the orb stuff when Snoke's attendant 'force drains' one of the monks into the orbs. For this story, Snoke's attendants are purely for the purpose of draining life. It's an almost ritualistic power he's granted them, but they're not powerful in themselves. Think of it as those royal guards that Ezra runs into in the finale. They have some crazy powers, but they're ultimately nothing special.
As for the weapon that fires, some sort of weapon has been linked to this threat since Site Two. I admit, this part did feel a bit... contrived I guess, but it's always been the plan and it fits with everything established so far. The weapon works by channelling the force energy of the orbs into a living conduit and then unleashing it as a powerful weapon. However, Snoke is no normal living conduit, so the power flows right through him in a sort of loop. Basically, the weapon can't fire properly and Snoke was just trapped in the device. As for Snoke getting trapped, it was by a combination of Jedi and Sith as he says. This author's note is getting too long, and everything that needs to be known to understand events will be in the story. However, I will have a full breakdown of the story behind Snoke, what he is, what he did, and how he was trapped in the post-story author's note. A lot of it just isn't necessary for the story and would just be piles of needless exposition. Also, the 'blue binds' that hold Snoke in place are inspired by the ones Yoda sees holding Sifo Dyas in TCW, if anyone wondered where those came from.
The chapter title and description are both unusual. They're nods to HP Lovecraft, someone I've dropped a few references to throughout this story. He is the name of a short-story inspired by Lovecraft's time in New York in which he describes meeting a bizarre man with the ability to show him the past, and ends with the man becoming shrivelled and wasting into a black mass. The whole door into another time thing was actually weirdly appropriate for Snoke in this story due to the WBW thing, as is the link with shrivelled black bodies, so it felt like a good fit. The chapter description is also from that story, spliced together from two separate lines. I'm a big Lovecraft fan, as I'm sure many others are too, and that's most of the reason behind the choice. There's nothing really Lovecraftian about this story and I'm not sure I could pull that style off even if I wanted to, but I love his stuff too much to pass on the odd reference or two.
Next time: "I lived not in vain."