Chapter 22 – Deceit and Disaster
Ania had been trudging along the path to the village in question on Jakku when she suddenly stumbled. She only barely managed to catch herself before falling face first into the sand. In spite of the oppressive early afternoon heat, Ania suddenly found herself shivering as a terrible cold washed over her.
"Ms. Skywalker? Are you okay?"
Brushing her hair out her face, Ania looked up to see Poe looking at her with that seemingly perpetual expression of concern etched across his chiseled face.
"I'm fine," she insisted automatically. "Just tripped, that's all."
Poe nodded as he held his hand up to his eyes and looked away. "There's the village over there," he said, using his other hand to point toward the horizon. "What did you say it was called?"
"Tuanul," Ania told him absently as she contemplated the sensation she had just experienced.
Her skin had gone clammy and was covered in goosebumps, the hair on her arms sticking straight up. Suppressing a shiver, Ania rolled down the sleeves of her Jedi robes which had previously been irritating her in the torrid desert head. Now, however, she wrapped the black cloth around her tighter so as to fend off the chill.
All of a sudden, Ania was startled when she felt something bump up against her left leg. Leaping away, she instinctively reached for her weapon and produced it from her belt.
"Hey!" she heard Poe exclaim. "Back down!"
Ania blinked once as she realized she was pointing the hilt of her lightsaber at Poe's droid, a round astromech droid with white and orange coloring. Intimidated by her hostile reaction, the little droid rolled away from her and tilted its domed, semi-spherical head toward his master.
"BB-8, are you okay?" Poe asked, giving her a dirty look as he walked past her toward the droid. BB-8 made a series of beeps as he spared a few nervous glances toward Ania.
"Tell your droid to stop running into me," she demanded as she clipped her lightsaber back to her belt. "He nearly knocked me over!"
"What is your problem?" Poe asked as he turned back around to face her, arms crossed in front of his chest.
"My problem?" Ania repeated haughtily, placing her hands on her hips as she stomped her right foot in the sand. "Who do you think you are talking to me like that?"
Poe clenched his jaw and pointed an accusative finger at her. "Stay away from my droid," he said.
"Happily!" Ania shot back. "As long as he stays away from me!"
Poe snarled at her before shaking his head. "Come on, BB-8," he said, beckoning his droid forward as he pushed past her. "Let's get away from her."
Ania watched with a frown as Poe and his droid retreated down the path toward the village. Once they were far enough away, Ania let her belligerent posture fade as she leaned down to rub her leg tenderly. While she wouldn't admit it to Poe, she did feel bad about how she had treated his droid. The unexpected nudge against the back of her calf had triggered a flash of phantom pain which, in combination with the already ominous sense of dread she had detected through the Force, had caused her to snap at both Poe and his innocent droid.
Gritting her teeth, Ania waited a few more moments for the pain to subside. Ever since her injury, Ania had experienced these bouts of phantom pain whenever she was startled. She had asked her mother about it, but she hadn't been able to provide her with an antidote. It was very likely a purely psychological phenomenon. Either it would go away in time, or it wouldn't. It was as simple as that.
Ania kept her distance from Poe as she resumed her trek down the sandy path toward Tuanul. It took about five more minutes before they reached the periphery of the quaint village. "Hey," she called out gruffly as she reached into her robes. "Give this to your droid." Producing a blinking tracking fob, she tossed it to Poe who caught it with both hands. "This will take us where we need to go."
"And where might that be?" Poe asked curiously as he kneeled down to the ever-receptive BB-8. "Here you go, buddy," he said, inserting the fob into the droid's outstretched compartment.
"Some man named Lor San Tekka," Ania finally disclosed.
"What's so important about him?" Poe asked as he stood up and brushed off his hands against his tan flight jacket.
"He has something I need," she said vaguely, furrowing her brow so as to tell Poe to stop asking questions. Unfortunately, he didn't catch the meaning of this gesture.
"You're not going to… hurt him, are you?" he asked cautiously.
Ania quirked an eyebrow at him. "Why would you think that?" she asked him.
Poe blinked a few times as he shared a look with BB-8. "Uh… no reason," he said. "Let's get going. Do you know where to go, BB-8?"
BB-8 whistled in affirmation as he rolled away cheerily. She and Poe both looked at each other warily for a few moments before Poe extended his hand. "After you, ma'am," he said.
Ania narrowed her eyes, wanting to interpret this gesture as sarcastic yet not being able to. Once again, Poe seemed to be entirely genuine. That seemed to be his defining characteristic, and that was something Ania was not accustomed to. Her automatic assumption was that strangers tended to be duplicitous and manipulative. That didn't seem to be the case with this pilot, however.
"You don't have to call me that, you know," she said as she marched past him, following the trail BB-8 had left in the sand.
"What would you prefer?" Poe asked.
"Just Ania," she said.
Behind her she heard Poe begin to follow after her. "Well in that case, you can just call me Poe," he said.
Ania snorted and shook her head. "Not happening, flyboy," she said with a smirk.
Despite Ben's steadfast insistence that he was fine, Zorq demanded that a med droid be sent over from the destroyer to tend to him. As the droid was being prepared for the space walk, Ben and Zorq went over the plan in hushed voices. The negpod was a small vessel, and even though the walls were supposed to be sound proof, they didn't want to risk being overheard by the First Order delegation which was waiting for them in the next room over.
"Is the fleet in position yet?" Ben asked from his seat along a white plastic bench.
"Almost," Zorq told him. "It will take them about fifteen minutes to jump into the system, so we've got to time the strike just right."
"Where is the beacon?"
Zorq patted his chest. "Around my chain," he told him. Ben nodded, having not noticed the nondescript silver chain until now. Typically, such an unusual sartorial choice would have popped out to Ben, but everything about Zorq's attire was unorthodox. Having peeled off the clunky space suit, Zorq was revealed to be wearing a thin mail over a black shirt which was unbuttoned near the neck, revealing his muscular red and black chest. Along his belt were a pair of blasters clipped onto a holster on either flank. To top it off, he was wearing leather, steel-pointed boots.
"You like it?" Zorq asked, noticing his fascination with the mail armor. "It's made of Beskar," he told him with a grin. "A little gift from a Mandalorian friend of mine. It's the strongest material in the galaxy. Nothing can pierce it."
"Is that so?" Ben asked, arching his eyebrow skeptically. "Not even this?" Reaching to his own belt, Ben produced his lightsaber and gave it a twirl. Zorq's smile broadened as he appreciated the elegant weapon.
"Truth be told, I forgot you even owned that thing, Skywalker," he said. "You sure do keep your Jedi business under wraps."
Ben shrugged modestly as he returned his weapon to his belt. "My mother wants it that way," he confessed. "If I had my way, I'd be using this a whole lot more."
Zorq chortled, clearly agreeing with the sentiment. Just then, the door to the small reception room slid open and a med droid floated in flanked by two soldiers in spacesuits. Zorq stepped aside and at once the levity he had somehow managed to conjure in the aftermath of Ben's traumatic episode came to an abrupt end. As the droid looked him over meticulously, Ben thought back to the raw, absolute sensation of terror which had overwhelmed him during the spacewalk. What was it that he had seen? Was it going to take place in the near future? If so, was there anything he could do to prevent it? He desperately wanted to contact his mother to tell her what had happened, but there simply was no time. The meeting with the First Order had to take precedence in this situation, no matter how ominous and disconcerting his vision may have been.
"I'm fine, can we move on, please?" Ben asked irritably as he waved aside the droid which was checking his ear canal for some inexplicable reason. "I had a heart attack, not an ear infection," he told the droid snidely.
"He does seem alright," Zorq commented to the commander who had just returned to the room.
"That's because I am alright," Ben insisted as he stood up, ignoring the protestations of the med droid.
"Sir, I have not completed your evaluation," it said in an exasperated voice. "Please sit down."
"Let's get this started, shall we?" Ben proposed as he unceremoniously shoved the med droid out of his way when it prodded him in the hip with a dull needle. "We've kept the other delegation waiting long enough."
Zorq hesitated for a moment as he glanced over at the irritated med droid. "Okay, fine," he acquiesced. "But if you have another –"
"I'm not going to," Ben insisted with a groan. "Can we please get going?"
"Alright," Zorq said with a begrudging nod. "But we're not leaving this negpod until we're completely confident you can make that spacewalk, you hear me?"
Ben grumbled his agreement. While he was irked by all the unnecessary precaution Zorq was taking, he couldn't deny that it also was a bit flattering. Despite his coarse and oftentimes prickly demeanor, it was clear to him that Zorq genuinely cared for Ben's wellbeing. Whether that be for purely political reasons or for personal ones, Ben didn't know nor did he particularly care. All that mattered was that Ben knew he was valued as an individual and not as a Skywalker. That truly was a novelty for him.
"Lead the way, Commander," Zorq said to the soldier at his side. The commander saluted before beckoning his two subordinates forward. The three men came into formation in front of the door leading to the conference room. With a press of a button on the control panel, the door slid open and the soldiers stepped inside with their blasters held against their chests.
Zorq and Ben followed after them a few moments later after giving them sufficient time to warn them if there was a problem. The soldiers peeled aside and permitted them entry in the conference room. A single rectangular table dominated the room which, despite being the largest in the whole negpod, was quite compact. The walls were white and featureless, the conspicuous lack of windows serving to amplify Ben's already great anxiety. Seated at the opposite end of the shiny black table was the man whom Ben had seen in hologram-form from Zorq's office: General Hux. The First Order general had a taut, pale face with high cheekbones and a pointy nose. His thin, colorless lips were twisted into a subtly smug smirk which Ben immediately found to be off-putting.
Upon laying eyes on Zorq and himself, Hux stood up out of his seat and gave them a slight bow of his head. Ben reciprocated the gesture while scrutinizing the man's outfit. He was wearing a well-fitting dark grey military uniform reminiscent of the Imperial ones Ben had seen in old holopictures. At once, Ben was struck by the formality of the general's attire; this was a man who considered himself a genuine political actor rather than merely an anti-republican terrorist.
"Chancellor Zorq, Senator Skywalker, it is a pleasure to finally meet you," Hux said in a smooth voice. "Please, take a seat."
Zorq and Ben glanced at each other, both taken aback by Hux's debonair demeanor. Silently, the two complied with Hux's entreaty and took a seat at the two chairs at their end of the table.
"Before we begin, may I ask why you feel the need to maintain your security detail?" Hux asked with a frown toward the soldiers who were standing at attention by the exit. "As you can see, I have no comparable entourage," he added, gesturing to the empty space behind him. "It would only be fair for you to dismiss your guards so that we may negotiate under more equitable circumstances."
"I will do no such thing," Zorq said without hesitation. "You and I are not equals, General. Do not delude yourself into thinking that we are."
Hux shrugged off Zorq's brusque retort with a blasé tilt of his head. "Very well," he said calmly. "But I want it known that you have no need for security on this shuttle. Indeed, you are far safer here than you would be in your own office in the Senate building itself."
Ben frowned at this comment as he detected a hint of humor from the general. Leaning forward, Ben probed Hux's mind through the Force in the way his mother had taught him. He had become especially adept at reading people in this manner, having fine-tuned his already sharp intuition with his mother's instruction.
"What are you doing?" Hux asked him, sounding perturbed by Ben's scrutiny.
Ben leaned back and inclined his chin curiously. Hux seemed to be quite satisfied about something. Could it merely be that by agreeing to meet with him, he and Zorq had stroked the man's likely prodigious ego? Yet intuition suggested that there was more to this than narcissism…
"Let's begin," Ben said, disregarding Hux's question. "We were under the impression you wanted to negotiate, General."
"Indeed," Hux said, eying Ben with greater suspicion as he interlaced his fingers in front of his mouth. "I am afraid the negotiations will be quite short. You will either submit your complete surrender, or I will unleash the full extent of my forces upon all worlds foolish enough to support your Republic."
Stunned, Ben and Zorq stared back at Hux with incredulous expressions for several tense moments. "General Hux, you told us you were willing to agree to a ceasefire on Alderaan," Zorq was finally able to say. "Whatever happened to that?"
"Well you see, Chancellor, that was a lie," Hux said with a smirk. "I have no need to compromise. The capabilities of my forces vastly outmatch yours. I am being quite merciful to even give you the opportunity to meet with me, you see."
"Is that so?" Ben asked skeptically.
"Indeed, it is," Hux said, a glint in his pale eyes as he turned to Ben. "Gentlemen, I invite you to redirect your attention to this holoprojector. Reaching into his breast pocket, Hux produced a small puck and slid it across the table. Bursting to life from the device was a projection of a planet.
"What is this?" Zorq asked, sounding as baffled as Ben felt.
"Do you not recognize it?" Hux asked innocently. "This is your precious capital Chandrila. The seat of the New Republic itself."
"Why are you showing us this?" Ben asked, a sense of dread brewing within him as he stared down the general.
"To demonstrate the extent of my capabilities," Hux answered. "You see, Senator, in five minutes this world will be destroyed and the New Republic will be no more unless you are willing to surrender right now."
Ben's mouth fell open, at once sensing the veracity of Hux's terrible words.
"You lie!" Zorq bellowed, not sharing Ben's insight. "There's no way you have that kind of power! Planet destroying technology was destroyed along with the Death Star at Hoth! Everyone knows that!"
"Would you care to test that theory?" Hux asked dryly.
Unable to offer a comeback to this, Zorq turned to Ben with wide eyes. Meeting his compatriot's gaze, Ben merely nodded. "It's true," he said hoarsely. "He's not lying."
"Very wise of you, Senator Skywalker," Hux said snidely. The despicable man stood up and placed a datapad on the table which he must have kept on his lap until now. Spinning the pad around, he pushed it forward and rested it next to the still-active holoprojector. "On this datapad you will find the conditions of your surrender," he said. "I encourage you to sign before it is too late. Millions of lives will be spared should you choose to do so."
"You're disgusting," Ben spat, anger along with bile rising up within him as he seethed at the general.
Hux sneered at him. "The sentiment is mutual, Skywalker," he retorted coolly. "Now, shall we?"
Clenching his jaw, Zorq stood up and reached across the table and dragged the datapad toward their end of the table. Pushing out his chair, Ben stood up as well, but he didn't bother to look at the datapad. He was too angry to even consider signing the document. Without knowing what he was doing, Ben raised his hand toward Hux who abruptly grabbed at his throat with both hands.
"Skywalker! Stop!" he heard Zorq exclaim in shock.
Ben ignored the Chancellor's demand as he found himself lifting Hux into the air. His vision was tinged with red as his right arm shook with fury. As he struggled against Ben's inexorable grip, Hux's legs flailed desperately in the air as his eyes rolled back into his skull.
"Stop him! Stop him!"
Acting on self-preservationist instinct, Ben dropped Hux and spun around just as the three soldiers rushed toward him with their blasters pointed at him. With a slash of his hand, he sent them flying away into the back wall where they collided with a deafening crash and fell to the ground, unconscious. Producing his lightsaber, Ben activated the white blade as he marched across the table toward Hux who was struggling back to his feet. Kicking him square in the mouth, the general fell back down onto his back and looked up in terror as Ben pointed the tip of his blade at Hux's throat.
All was still for a few moments as Ben stared murderously at his foe. Blood trickling down his chin and onto his formerly immaculate uniform, Hux's red-stained lips curled into a smirk. "Go ahead," he taunted. "Kill me and your planet gets destroyed."
Ben hesitated, the tip of his blade quivering on account to the tremors running up and down his arm. Feeling Zorq's eyes on him, Ben looked up and across the table. "Don't do it, Ben," he enjoined him. "Use your brain."
"We can't just surrender!" Ben protested.
"What's the alternative?" Zorq asked him.
There was none. They had no choice but to surrender. It seemed the war was lost as soon it began.
"Would you like something to drink, young Skywalker?"
Ania smiled sweetly at the avuncular old man and nodded. Having arrived at Lor San Tekka's humble abode, Ania had entered alone, ordering Poe and the droid to stay outside. At once, she had been charmed by San Tekka's humility and hospitality.
"I must say, I am surprised to see you here all alone," San Tekka said as he returned with a glass of water in hand. Ania pursed her lips nervously as she reached up to accept the glass. Feeling parched from having walked for so long in the Jakku heat, Ania took the opportunity to stall for time as she considered how best to explain herself.
"My mother is quite busy at the moment," she said, setting the glass down on the wooden bench beside her. "She would have come herself, but she didn't have the time."
"I see," San Tekka said as he sat down on the bench opposite her. "And your brother? How is young Ben? Luke always spoke so highly of his nephew."
"He's, er… he's well," she said awkwardly. "Forgive me, Mr. San Tekka, but –"
"Please, call me Lor," the man interrupted with a playful smile, the wrinkles around his tired eyes crinkling with amusement. "It's too much of a mouthful otherwise."
Ania smiled and nodded. "Well you must understand that I am short for time, Lor," she said. "My mother is counting on me to find this map."
Lor craned his head back as he leaned back against the daubed wall behind him. "Yes, yes," he said with a hint of weariness. "You Skywalkers always do make haste."
"Do you have the map?" Ania asked as she leaned forward toward him.
"I have a map," Lor said, reaching into his coat pocket and producing a small data chip. "Whether it leads to your uncle, however, I do not know."
"What do you mean?" Ania asked, aghast. "You said it would help us find Luke!"
"Indeed it will," Lor said, bowing his head. "Whether he is still there, however, remains to be seen."
Ania furrowed her brow as she sat back upright. "Explain," she ordered, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Lor smiled wanly at her as he looked down at the data chip in his right hand. "I found a copy of this map buried in the soil on Yavin near the ruins of Luke's Jedi Temple," he said. "I knew Luke had been looking for the planet where the Jedi Order was born, but I never knew he had actually found it. Why he would have buried it on Yavin, I have no idea."
"Maybe he wanted you to find it," Ania suggested.
"Unlikely," Lor said with a shake of his head. "If he wanted me to know about this map, he would have told me himself."
Dismissing this point as irrelevant, Ania extended her hand toward Lor. "May I have it?" she asked.
Just as Lor was about to drop the data chip into Ania's outstretched hand, the two were startled when Poe rushed into the room – his eyes wide and his breath ragged. "I told you to stay outside!" she exclaimed, jumping to her feet and giving Poe an irritated look.
"We've got to go," Poe said, ignoring her protestation. "Right now," he added, sparing a look toward a startled Lor who was still seated.
"What is this?" the old man asked her. "Who is this man?"
"He's my ride," Ania told him. "What are you talking about, flyboy?" she asked, turning back to Poe.
"First off, my name is Poe," he said with a bit of attitude. Ania opened her mouth to offer a snide comment of her own, but Poe continued on without giving her a chance. "Secondly, the First Order is here," he told her.
"The First Order? What do you…"
Ania trailed off and her eyes widened when she sensed something. She wasn't quite sure how to describe it. It was dark, comparable to Snoke in that sense, yet it was also oddly familiar.
"Ania?" Poe asked.
"Lor, give Poe the map," she ordered, accidentally referring to Poe by his name for the first time. It didn't matter, however. She now had far graver matters at hand. "Get back to the ship and leave," she instructed the frazzled pilot who had just pocketed the data chip.
"What? No way!" Poe said. "You're coming with me."
Ania shook her head. "I'm staying," she said, drawing her lightsaber from her belt and activating it with one swift motion. Poe's brows shot up his forehead as he looked down toward the bright white blade which was humming by her side.
"If you're staying, I'm staying," Poe countered.
"The map is too important," Ania said, growling in frustration at Poe's obstinance. "Take it to my mother on Coruscant."
"But why won't you come with me?" Poe asked.
Ania didn't answer as she contemplated this familiar yet ominous presence in the Force. She had to find out what it was. For some reason, she knew that she had to do this.
"Just do it," she demanded finally. "Go now, while you still can." Poe hesitated for a moment longer before nodding. "And Poe?" she added just as he was about to turn around to leave. "May the Force be with you."
Poe's brow twitched and he looked as if he had more to say, but evidently he decided against it. Spinning around, Poe pushed the curtains aside and ran outside.
"You wield a purified saber," Lor's voice suddenly said, startling her slightly.
Ania arched an eyebrow at Lor. "I do," she confirmed flatly.
Lor nodded at her with a curious expression. "Most interesting," he mused contemplatively. "You are your mother's daughter, aren't you?"
"What is that supposed to mean?" Ania asked.
"Be wary of the dark side, my dear," Lor told her gravely. "As much Skywalker I see within you, I see just as much Vitrius."
"As you should," Ania said proudly, inclining her chin as she looked down at the seated Lor. "I am Vitrius' daughter." Lor frowned at her, yet Ania looked away without waiting for a response. "I thank you for your help, Lor," she said as she strengthened her grip around her lightsaber.
"Think nothing of it, young Ania," Lor told her. "I serve you proudly as I served your uncle. May the Force guide you in all your endeavors."
Ania considered these words for a moment longer before nodding toward Lor in a sign of appreciation. With that, Ania pushed through the curtain and out of the house. The sun was beginning to set now and the horizon was alight with a brilliant orange and purple hue. Ania didn't spare any time to marvel at this view, however, because she was far too concerned with the massive vessel which was descending from the sky toward her. Surrounding the ship was an armada of lesser troop transport vessels which were also making their way toward the tiny village. Why were they here? Had they come for the map? If so, how did they know about that?
Stepping away from Lor's home and toward the approaching ship, Ania felt that engrossing presence growing closer and closer. Her hair whipped back in the wind as the ship let out jets of propulsion as it prepared to land.
"Hey!" a voice suddenly called out to her. "What are you doing? Take cover!"
Looking behind her, Ania saw an Abednedo crouched behind a limestone wall. Blaster in hand, he beckoned her toward him. Sparing one last glance toward the approaching fleet, Ania turned around and rushed over toward him.
"What's going on?" Ania asked the Abednedo as she fell to the ground by his side, lightsaber still active in her right hand.
"First Order raid," he told her in a deep, guttural voice. "This is the biggest one I've ever seen though," he added nervously. Just then, Ania swiveled her head around when she heard the first of the troop transports land down on the sand about a hundred yards away. "Hey, what's that you got there?" the Abednedo suddenly asked her. "Some kind of energy staff?"
"Something like that," Ania told him absently as she scanned the horizon. "Say, you got a spare blaster I could use?" she asked, suddenly realizing how conspicuous her weapon was.
"Sure thing," the Abednedo told her, reaching to his side holster and producing a small pistol. "Use it well."
As she accepted the blaster with her left hand, the tense silence was suddenly shattered by a fusillade of blaster fire. Deactivating her blade, Ania hastily reattached it to her belt before grasping her petite weapon with both hands. Getting up on her knees, Ania honed in on the Force to guide her bolts as she opened fire on the wave of First Order Stormtroopers who had just arrived. She shot down four enemy troopers before seeking cover behind the wall once more.
"There's got to be over a hundred of them!" the Abednedo exclaimed. "We're doomed!"
"Not yet we're not!" Ania yelled as she jumped up once more and shot a Stormtrooper directly in the helmet. Ania opened fire on the fallen trooper's companion yet missed when he dropped to his knees to tend to his comrade. Curious, Ania watched for a few moments as the trooper dragged his friend away and toward shelter.
A strangled scream next to her shook Ania out of her ill-timed moment of contemplation. Turning toward the sound, Ania saw that her Abednedo friend had been shot in the shoulder and was lying in the sand on his back. Falling to her knees, Ania dragged the Abednedo up off the ground and propped him against the limestone wall.
A massive explosion rumbled in the distance, causing Ania to look up in fright. Discarding her blaster, Ania drew her preferred weapon and got back to her feet. Leaping over the wall, she deflected a pair of bolts before charging head on at the approaching wave of Stormtroopers. The armor-clad solders hesitated when they saw her running toward them, and in their moment of pause Ania jumped forward and sliced down at her nearest foe. With mechanical precision, Ania whirled her white blade around her as she deflected bolts and severed limbs. The blood pounded in her ears as she fought off trooper after trooper. Power surged around her as she ceased to even think about what she was doing – acting on pure instinct and allowing the Force to guide her actions.
"Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!"
The Stormtroopers began to scamper away and Ania made to follow them when she was struck head on by a vicious cold. Looking up, Ania bared her teeth as she saw a figure in a black cloak approaching. At once, she knew this was the person she had been sensing. This was the person whom she sought to find.
"Who are you?" Ania asked, bending her knees and raising her lightsaber high as her opponent came to a stop several feel away from her. Now that he was closer, Ania could see that the man was wearing a helmet which entirely obscured his face. Her eyes darted down and away from the mask when she saw the man produce a lightsaber of his own and activate it. Ania was not surprised to see that the blade was red.
"I am Ren," the man said, his voice now doubt modulated by the mask. "And you are my enemy."
Ania hissed at the man, recognizing the name from the knights who had killed her grandmother and set fire to Luke's Temple. "I will also be your death," she said ferociously, sparing no more time to begin her offensive. Rushing toward the man, she slashed down and met his red lightsaber directly over his face. Her opponent was taller than her, yet not as much as she was used to. The only people whom she typically fought against with lightsabers were her brother who towered over her, and her mother who was about the same height. Therefore Ania found herself having to improvise as she tested Ren's different fighting style.
Despite that, Ania began pushing Ren back as she unleashed wave after wave of strikes and jabs. Her confidence grew with each successive step Ren took in retreat. She knew she as an exceptional duelist – her mother had told her as much – but she had never before tested her abilities on a genuine opponent. With her mother's teaching, Ania had transformed from a desperate street fighter into a formidable and highly skilled warrior! The mysterious Ren didn't stand a chance against her!
Inspired by this thought, Ania found herself redoubling her efforts as she sliced and slashed with greater vigor than she had ever fought with before. She could sense Ren's panic as he stumbled away from her unrelenting offensive. Suddenly, Ren tripped on the hem of his own cloak and went tumbling down the ground. He managed to roll away from Ania's blade which went slicing through the sand, yet he was unable to get back to his feet. Ren seemed to be utterly defeated.
"Hold your fire!" he heard a voice call out.
Looking up from Ren, Ania saw that she was entirely surrounded by Stormtroopers who were training their blasters on her. The rest of the battle had concluded as the stiff resistance of the villagers had been finally quelled. Now it was just her standing in the midst of the First Order forces.
"Drop your weapon," she heard Ren demand from the ground. Looking back down at her defeated opponent, Ania snarled and pressed the blade closer to his throat.
"You're not in a position to negotiate," she said.
"Neither are you," Ren countered. "Hand me the lightsaber."
Ania hesitated, realizing the futility of her position. What good would killing Ren be if she got shot herself? There was no way she could fight them all off.
"Good," Ren said as Ania lowered her weapon and sheathed the blade. Taking a step away from Ren, she watched with disgust as the masked man got back to his feet. "Now give me your weapon."
"I defeated you," Ania said stubbornly, hoping to appeal to this man's sense of honor. "You don't deserve my weapon."
"That's funny," Ren said as he took a step toward her, their faces merely inches apart. "I don't feel defeated."
Ania's finger twitched over the trigger as she resisted the urge to impale Ren in the chest. The thought made Ania feel nauseous, however, as she recalled the symmetry of the situation to the one she was in three years ago with her father.
"Your weapon," Ren ordered one last time. "Give it to me."
Bowing her head, Ania raised the hilt with both hands and extended it to Ren. This was a tainted blade, after all. Perhaps it was not a great loss to lose it. The moment Ren placed his gloved hand on the hilt, however, the both of them froze when a seismic disruption in the Force rippled around them. Ania looked up in awe to meet where she suspected Ren's eyes were. Despite not being able to see his face, Ania could sense that he was just as shocked as she was.
"What was that?" she asked hoarsely, their three collective hands wrapped around the weapon in an odd expression of solidarity.
"Death," Ren said, his garbled voice sounding hoarser than usual. "Something horrible has happened."
Hux had left ten minutes ago after Ben and Zorq had reluctantly signed the articles of their surrender. He had demanded that they stay behind on the negpod for an additional fifteen minutes so that they didn't try anything that might jeopardize their arrangement. Ben was pacing agitatedly back and forth along Hux's side of the table when something caught his eye. Turning his head back toward the holoprojetor which was still active in the middle of the table, he saw a cloud of debris and smoke where Chandrila used to be.
"Zorq!" Ben exclaimed, startling the Chancellor who had been rubbing his forehead wearily at his seat at the opposite end of the table. "Look!"
Looking up sharply, Zorq's eyes bulged out of their sockets as he saw what had happened. He stared in silence for a few moments before leaping out of his seat and smashing his fist against the table. Much to Ben's shock, a web of fissures radiated outward from where Zorq had struck the plastic table. He had never seen plastic break like that.
"That bastard!" Zorq roared as he reached into his breast pocket and produced the beacon. "He lied to us!"
Feeling overwhelmingly dizzy, Ben collapsed down into the nearest chair as a horrific tremor pierced the Force. Holding his hands to his mouth, it suddenly dawned on him what had happened. Chandrila – the planet he had called home for the majority of his life – was gone. The Senate, the Republic, and his life as he once knew it had been destroyed in one swift blow. He felt sick to his stomach as he doubled over in his chair.
"Send the Fleet to Alderaan!" he heard Zorq bark. "Do it now!"
"Zorq, why?" Ben asked, his voice husky and strained. "What's the point?"
"I will not bow down to this barbarism!" Zorq roared, pointing a meaty finger at him. "I am still the Chancellor of this Republic, and I will not surrender unless every star system in the whole galaxy is destroyed, do you hear me? We're not going down without a fight!"
Despite his lightheadedness, Ben shakily got back to his feet. Pressing his hands against the fractured table to support himself, Ben gave Zorq the most determined nod he could muster. "Then I will be honored to fight alongside you, sir," he said, summoning up a resolve he didn't know he was capable of. "We will fight until the end."
It seemed the Republic would not die so easily this time around.
