Book 2:

The Last Jedi

Chapter 2: Plans and Training

Leia, "this is bad!"

Poe, Finn and BB-8 were all standing on the bridge with Leia, Admiral Ackbar, and a woman in purple named Admiral Holdo.

Finn was back in his normal clothes, with the back of his jacket stitched up.

Poe, "we took out a Dreadnought! With very little casualties!"

Leia, "that may be, but you need to pull your head out of your cockpit Poe! The First Order are right after us!"

Ackbar, "not every problem can be solved by jumping into an X-Wing!"

Holdo, "we need to come up with a plan."

Finn, "we're really nowhere. Deep space. How are Rey and Jace going to find us?"

Leia held out a small device, "with this."

Finn, "a cloaked binary beacon!"

Leia, "to light their way home."

Ackbar suddenly picked something up.

Ackbar, "proximity alert!"

Poe, "that can't be…."

The group all looked through the view of the bridge, and witnessed the First Order fleet jumping out of Hyper-Space.

….

Kylo Ren was in his own TIE Fighter, leading a few othersm

Kylo, "follow my lead."

….

Leia, "they tracked us through hyperspace!"

Poe, "I don't get it! That should be impossible!"

Holdo, "apparently not."

Finn, "so if we jump to lightspeed, they'll just find us again."

Leia, "Holdo, Ackbar, rally the others!"

Ackbar and Holdo ran out with Poe, Finn and BB-8.

Leia yelled, "full engines ahead! Get out of range of the Star Destroyers and the fighters will fall back!"

Unexpectedly, Leia feels her son through the force. He's close!

….

Aboard his fighter, Ren feels his mother as well.

And as he's about to shoot the bridge, he hesitates.

But another First Order pilot doesn't.

The bridge explodes, sending everyone out into the vacuum of space, including Leia!

….

Hux, "The Resistance has pulled out of range, return to the fleet."

Kylo, "no."

Hux, "they won't last long burning fuel like this, it's just a matter of time."

….

As Kylo Ren's TIE Fighter flies back to rejoin the First Order, we see Leia floating within space.

But suddenly, her eyes seem to open! She feels the Force flow through her, allowing her to guide herself back to the ship safely!

Poe and Finn are there to help get her inside as she goes through a pressurised room.

Two droids move her onto a gurney.

One says, "life signs are weak, but she's fighting."

As the droids carry off Leia, Finn picks up the device she had that fell to the floor.

He looks at it, determined.

And he thinks, 'I gotta find Rey and Jace!'

….

Back on Ahch-To.

We see Chewie sitting in front of a campfire with Padme, Nine, and little Thumper being held by the young Jedi.

The two were catching up over all of the time they hadn't seen one another.

Chewie was about to eat a roasted Porg on a stick, which Padme had given him an earful about.

But Chewie stopped when he saw several Porgs sitting across from him.

All of them just keep staring at him.

He growled, scaring all but one away.

This one's starts to give him big sad eyes.

Chewie growls at him, making it fly away, but now Chewie can't bring himself to eat the meal he had cooked.

Padme snickered as she held Thumper.

But she noticed her father slipping into the Falcon.

….

Luke moved over to the chess table.

He had a very sad and lonely look on his face.

But that's when he heard a familiar beep.

Luke, "Artoo?"

Luke saw his old friend move towards him.

Luke, "Artoo!"

Luke knelt down to his old friend, smiling at the little droid he had gone on so many adventures with.

Leia, "yeah, I know."

Artoo beeped at him.

Luke, "hey, it's a sacred island, watch the language. Old friend. I wish I could make you understand. But I'm not coming back. Nothing can change my mind."

That's when Artoo began playing a recording of Leia.

The one Luke had seen so long ago.

The message that kick-started his journey.

Luke, "that was a cheap move."

"But an effective one."

Luke turned to see Mara there, dressed in an old purple tank-top and pants under her jacket.

Luke, "I remember that outfit. You wore it when we were stranded on that swamp planet."

Mara, "what can I say, I hold onto a lot of outfits. Hell, I think some of them could fit Rey or Padme now. Even that yellow jumpsuit Ahsoka gave me years ago."

Luke, "is she still alive?"

Mara, "she's been with the Ghost Crew for years now, keeping hidden from the First Order with Ezra. Cal has been hiding with his crew aboard the Mantis."

Luke, "I can't believe those old teams are still kicking."

Mara, "you can't keep good soldiers down."

Luke and Mara shared a chuckle.

Luke, "hey? Do you still have it?"

Mara smiled as she pulled a certain item from her jacket.

A lightsaber.

She ignited the purple blade that surged from it.

Mara, "after you and Padme vanished, I did the best I could to continue Owen's training. He's a master with his saber, and he takes after both of us when it comes to the Force."

Luke, "Padme has come a long way, using the Jedi texts as a guide. She's a better Jedi than I was at her age."

That's when Luke got lost in thought.

Mara knew what he was thinking about.

She deactivates her saber and says, "that girl has great potential. Owen saw it first hand. If you can't protect the Resistance, who will?"

Mara gave her husband a quick kiss on the head before walking off.

That's when Luke made a decision.

We see later, Luke confronts Rey and Owen, who had been sleeping right next to one another when he arrived.

Luke explained, "tomorrow at dawn. I will teach Rey the ways of the Jedi. And why they need to end. And when you understand, you will leave me alone on this planet to die."

Owen gave a solemn nod at his father's words.

But before Luke left, he said, "and when you leave, please take Padme with you. She deserves a better life off of this planet. Not waiting for her father to kick the bucket."

And with that, Luke left the two of them alone.

….

We see Ackbar and Holdo standing before the rebels on the ship.

Larma D'acy was addressing everyone.

D'acy, "General Organa... Leia... is unconscious but recovering. This is the only good news I have. Most of our leaders are gone."

C-3PO, "oh, dear, oh, dear."

D'acy, "and thus, chain of command falls to Admiral Ackbar and Vice Admiral Holdo."

Holdo, "Thank you, Commander. There are four hundred of us... on three ships. We're the very last of the Resistance. But we're not alone."

Ackbar, "in every corner of the galaxy... the downtrodden and oppressed know our symbol... and they put their hope in it. We are the spark that will ignite the fire that will restore the Republic."

Holdo, "that spark... this Resistance, must survive."

Ackbar, "we are currently working on a plan of escape. We plan on using the last remaining transports to get away, using the ship as a decoy."

Holdo, "but we'll need some form of distraction to do so. Someone to sneak on board the First Order ship, and shut down their trackers long enough for us to escape."

Ackbar, "when a team is assembled, you will be notified."

Holdo, "to your stations. And may the Force be with you."

As everyone scattered, Poe ran up to the Admirals.

Poe, "Admirals, are you sure this plan of yours will work?"

Ackbar, "it is our only plan that will limit casualties. But we need a group to send off to find a way onto the Star Destroyer."

Poe, "hmm…. I think I have someone…."

….

Near the escape pods, we see Finn trying to sneak into one.

But that's when he hears a voice say, "what are you doing here? You're…."

Finn turns, and feels his face heat up at the sight of the young woman in front of him.

This is Rose Tico.

Paige's sister.

Finn, "hey, hi. Uh, I was... Uh, you know…"

Rose, "you are Finn! The Finn!"

Finn, "The Finn?"

Rose, "sorry... I work behind pipes all day. Doing talking with the Resistance heroes is not my forte. Doing... Doing talking, yeah... I'm Rose."

Finn, "breathe."

Rose, "okay."

Finn, "yeah, look I'm not a Resistance hero. I'm just a guy who got lucky. But... It was nice talking to you, Rose. May the Force be with you."

Rose, "wow. You too. Good. But you are a hero. You left the First Order! What you did on the Starkiller Base. When we heard about it, you teamed up with a real Jedi! My sister Paige said... 'Rose, that's a real hero. Know right from wrong... and don't run away from when it gets hard', she said. You know... Just this morning, I had to stun... three people who were trying to jump ship. In this escape pod."

Finn grew nervous, "what?"

Rose, "they were running away."

Finn, "that's disgraceful."

Rose, "I know."

Finn, "anyway, uh... I gotta get back to what I was doing, so."

Rose spotted the bag he had with him, "what were you doing?"

Finn, "just, just, uh checks."

Rose, "checking the escape pods."

Finn, "no, it's routine checks."

Rose, "while boarding one... with a packed bag."

Finn, "okay. Listen, I…"

Finn didn't get to finish before he was stunned by Rose.

He woke up a few moments later, to see Rose dragging him down the hall.

Finn, "I can't move. I can't move."

Rose, "I know."

Finn, "what happened?"

Rose, "I'm taking you to the bridge and turning you in for desertion."

Finn, "I was not deserting- I told you that…"

Rose, "my sister just died…"

Finn felt immediate guilt as he saw tears at the edge of Rose's eyes.

He wanted to comfort her.

If he wasn't stunned.

Rose, "... protecting the fleet. And you were running away."

Finn, "I'm sorry. This fleet is doomed... If my friends come back to it, they're doomed too. I've gotta get this... I've gotta get this beacon very far away from here, then they'll find me and be safe. One of them is a Jedi, mind you!"

Rose, "you're a selfish traitor."

Finn, "look, we cannot outrun the First Order fleets."

Rose, "we can jump to lightspeed!"

Finn, "well they can track us through lightspeed."

Rose froze up, "they can track us through lightspeed?"

Finn, "yeah. They'll just show up 30 seconds later and we'll have blown a ton of fuel. Of which, by the way, we're dangerously short on."

Rose, "they can track us through lightspeed. I thought that was just a rumor."

Finn, "well, now it's not. And they could... I can't feel my teeth. What did you shoot me with?"

Rose, "active tracking."

Finn, "what now?"

Rose, "new hyperspace tracking... Hyperspace tracking is a new tactic but the principal must be the same as any active tracker."

Finn, "so they're just tracking us…"

Rose, "only tracking us…"

Finn and Rose, "from the lead ship!"

They both noticed how close their faces were to one another, and pulled back with warm faces.

Rose, "b-but we can't get to the tracker. It is an A-class process they'll control from the main bridge."

Finn, "well, I mean, yes, but every A-class process…"

Finn and Rose, "has a dedicated power breaker."

They both grew warm faces again.

Rose, "b-but... Wait, but who knows where the breaker room is on the Star Destroyer?"

Finn, "I'm the guy who used to mop it. If I can get us there..."

Rose, "I can shut their tracker down."

….

Later, Rose and Finn tell Poe about their plan to elude the First Order, since they are only tracking from the lead ship.

It worked perfectly with the plan Ackbar and Holdo said.

And with Finn and Rose, Poe had the team they needed.

Finn, "if we can sneak on board the Lead Star Destroyer and disable the tracker without getting caught…."

Rose, "they won't realize it's off for one system cycle, about six minutes!"

Finn, "that buys the Resistance fleet enough time for the transports to escape to the hidden base undetected!"

Poe, "how did you two meet?"

Finn, "just luck."

Poe, "good luck? Or bad luck?"

Finn and Rose felt their faces grow warm again as Rose answered, "not sure yet."

Finn, "Poe, we've got to do this. It'll save all of us, including Rey and Jace!"

Poe, "actually, he prefers Owen now."

Finn, "huh? That's gonna take some getting used to."

C-3PO was standing near Leia and said, "If I must be the sole voice of reason, I am not sure if Admiral Holdo will approve of this plan."

Poe, "I doubt it, but I'm sure Ackbar will!"

C-3PO, "that was not exactly…"

Poe, "all right... You guys shut down that tracker. I'll be here to let Ackbar and Holdo know about the plan. The question is... How do we sneak the two of you onto Snoke's destroyer?"

Roze, "we steal clearance codes?"

Finn, "no, they are Bio-Hexaencripted and rescrambled every hour. We can't get through their security shields undetected. Nobody can."

….

Maz is shown in a hologram, "could I do it? Of course I could do it. But I can't do it, I'm a little tied down right now."

They see Maz blasting at various things in the background.

Finn, "Maz, what is happening?"

Maz, "a union dispute, you do NOT want to hear about it. But, lucky for you... There's exactly one guy I trust that can crush that kind of security! He is a master codebreaker, an ace pilot... a poet with a blaster."

C-3PO, "oh my. It seems that this codebreaker can practically do everything."

Maz, "oh yes, he can."

Everyone made a grossed out face by the way Max said that.

Maz, "you will find him with a red ploom flower on his lapel... rolling on a high stakes table... in the casino... on Canto Bight."

Poe, "Canto Bight? - No, no. That's... Maz... Is there any way we can take care of this ourselves?"

Maz, "I'm sorry, kiddo. This is rarified cracking. If you want to get on that Destroyer, I know only one option. Find the master codebreaker."

And so, as Finn, Rose and BB-8 are ready for their mission….

….

We see Rey and Owen slowly wake up, having slept in each other's arms that night.

As they gazed upon one another, smiles graced their faces.

Owen, "well hello beautiful."

Rey blushed as she said, "stop it."

Owen, "no, I mean it Rey. You're beautiful."

Rey gave an ecstatic smile as she and Owen shared a kiss.

But as they finished and sat up on the bed, they suddenly felt something.

….

Kylo Ren was sitting at a table, having the wound on his face sealed so it wouldn't be as noticeable.

That's when he felt something as well.

….

Rey quickly pulled out Han's blaster and shot right in front of her.

….

Kylo looked down at his chest in gear, but nothing was there!

….

The connection ends for a moment as Rey and Owen see the hole in the hut Rey had created.

Rey and Owen quickly ran out, and somehow saw Kylo Ren there. They could see him, but not hid location.

….

He could see them, but not where they were.

Kylo, "you'll bring Luke Skywalker to me."

Owen and Rey didn't even flinch from what Kylo tried to do.

Kylo, "you're not doing this. The effort would kill you. Can you see my surroundings?"

Rey, "you're gonna pay for what you did!"

Kylo, "I can't see yours. Just you. So no. This is something else."

Owen, "I don't care what it is. I can't stand to see you after what you did!"

They suddenly heard Luke.

Luke, "what's that about?"

Rey and Owen turned to the old Jedi, but when they turned back to Ren, he was gone.

They looked to the hole to see two weird crab-like aliens trying to fix it.

Rey, "I was cleaning my blaster. It went off."

Owen, "I keep telling her to put the safety on."

Luke, "let's get started."

As they began to walk off, Rey asked, "who were those things?"

Luke, "caretakers. Island natives. They've kept up the Jedi structures since they've been built."

Owen, "I don't think they like us."

Luke, "I can't imagine why."

….

Later, we find Luke and Owen standing by Rey as she sat on a square cut stone.

Padme was a little further away with Mara, as to not disturb the training.

But even from that distance, they could feel that something was about to go down.

Rey, "Master Skywalker, we need you to bring the Jedi back because Kylo Ren is strong with the dark side of the Force."

Owen, "mom and I are only two Jedi. Ahsoka and any other Jedi are too busy with the smaller battles."

Rey, "without the Jedi, we won't stand a chance against him."

Luke, "what do you know about the Force?"

Rey, "only a little. It's a power that Jedi have that lets them control people and make things float."

Owen cringed at that. He should've explained the Force a little more to Rey.

Mara and Padme cringed as well. The former hoping she could instruct the girl about the Force more."

Luke, "impressive. Every word in that sentence was wrong. Lesson one, sit here, legs crossed. The Force is not a power you have. It's not about lifting rocks. It's the energy between all things, a tension, a balance, that binds the universe together."

Owen, "you stole that from Master Kenobi."

Rey felt something when she heard that name.

Luke, "doesn't make his teachings any less sound."

Rey, "okay. But what is it?"

Owen, "the Force isn't something physical Rey. It's more mystical."

Luke, "close your eyes. Breathe. Now, reach out."

Rey literally reached out with her hand. Owen had to cover his mouth so he wouldn't laugh out loud. Luke grabbed a blade of grass and started touching Rey's hand with it.

Mara and Padme had to cover their mouths as Rey gasped in surprise.

Rey, "I feel something."

Luke, "you feel it?"

Rey, "yes, I feel it."

Luke, "it's the Force."

Rey, "really?"

Owen and the others were nearly in tears.

Luke, "wow, it must be really strong with you."

Rey, "I've never felt anythi- OW!"

Luke had smacked her hand with the grass.

Owen and the others couldn't hold their laughter any longer, and laughed hard for a solid minute as Rey glared at them.

Rey, "you meant reach out like... I'll try again."

Luke, "breathe. Just breathe. Reach out with your feelings. What do you see?"

Rey, "the island. Life. Death and decay, that feeds new life. Warmth. Cold. Peace. Violence."

Owen found an earnest smile on his face as he heard Rey's words.

She was finally starting to grasp what exactly the Force was.

Luke, "and between it all?

Rey, "balance. An energy. A Force."

Owen felt the exact same way when his father trained him.

Luke, "and inside you?"

Rey, "inside me the same Force."

Luke, "and this is the lesson. That Force does not belong to the Jedi. To say that if the Jedi die, the light dies, is vanity. Can you feel that?"

Owen, "the Force is kept in balance by those who see this."

Rey, "there's something else beneath the island. A place. A dark place."

Owen felt a chill in his breath.

Every Jedi had to face something like this when training.

For in order to serve the light, you must face the dark.

Luke, "balance. Powerful light, powerful darkness."

Rey, "it's cold. It's calling me."

Owen remembered his test. The darkness that called to him was a large barren tree, hollow in the middle, and it had tried to call it him.

He knew the sane thing was happening to Rey.

Luke, "resist it, Rey. Rey? Rey!"

A large crack formed in the ground as Rey came out of it, breathing heavily as Owen rubbed her back gently.

Luke, "you went straight to the dark."

Rey, "that place was trying to show me something."

Owen, "whether it was good or bad is left to decide."

Luke, "it offered you something you needed. And you didn't even try to stop yourself."

As Luke tried to walk away, Rey continued, "but I didn't see you. Nothing from you. You've closed yourself off from the Force. Of course you have."

Owen looked at his father.

That's how he had remained hidden for so long.

He cut himself off from the Force!

That's why Owen, and any other Jedi still living couldn't sense him.

Luke, "I've seen this raw strength only once before, in Ben Solo. It didn't scare me enough then. It does now."

Rey and Owen shared a look of unease as Luke ran off past Mara and Padme.

Mara walked over to the two of them.

Mara, "it's gonna take quite a bit to convince him."

Owen, "you could always train her, if dad can't."

Mara, "maybe, but I may need help for that..."

….

Meanwhile, the Resistance, Ackbar and a sceptical Holdo were watching as Finn, Rose and BB-8 took one of the shuttles off to find this Master Code-Breaker.

As the ship flew off, Finn said, "alright, we've got eighteen hours to find the code-breaker, we gotta hurry."

And thus, the crew began their mission to save the Resistance….

….

Reviews:

Guest: I never read that much of Legends. And so I had no idea about that. One idea I had was, Luke still dies, but at the and on Tatooine, the other Force Ghosts use a large amount of power to restore Luke to life. Or I could have Mara not accept it at first, but eventually accept the idea. It depends on how the story goes.

Amanny: they're able to get to him a smidge.

….

Big changes here! Ackbar survives, as he and Holdo actually hear Poe and Finns idea, and allow Finn, Rose and BB-8 to accomplish it! And they actually tell everyone about their plan. And some slight dialog changes, since I'm using a transcript and the Graphic Novel in order to help me write this.

Also, I'm gonna follow through on Finn and Rose becoming a couple, unlike the movies, where they kept giving him a different romantic interest every movie.

And I gave a bit of foreshadowing, hinting that Mara is gonna be one of Rey's teachers.