Deep beneath the Final Order Fortress, the detention cells hold an extremely important prisoner. Usually only reserved for political tortures and private executions, Finn is surprised to not find himself aboard the Finalizer when he wakes. In truth, Finn has spent no time in the detention or security levels of the Star Destroyer he once called home, having never committed offences of non-conformity before. So, as he rouses from unconsciousness, it takes him a moment to realise he is elsewhere and extremely uncomfortable.

Finn hangs from a wall, his hands and feet secured behind him by large stun cuffs. His armour and body glove has been stripped, his dark shirt and navy trousers drenched in sweat. The room is empty and dimly lit, a walkway before him running to the far entrance opposite. The gutter surrounding the room hisses with steam, and the red and black colour scheme matches the fortress his cell is built beneath. As Finn peers dazedly around the room, an eyesore comes into view wearing a white uniform and cloak.

"The ever rebellious FN-2187," saunters Hux as he descends the stairs, flanked by Lieutenant Quonit and two Stormtroopers whose armour Finn doesn't recognise. Quonit's arm hangs uselessly in its sling and he looks deflated, and disheveled. Hux comes to a stop and towers over his prized prisoner.

"How does it feel to be back?"

The curl in Hux's smirk makes Finn sick. Not only that, his head is ringing from where he's been stunned unconscious. A cut somewhere in his mouth leaks blood.

"You know Armitage,-" he speaks Hux's forename with great relish. "-when it was Phasma overcompensating with her shiny armour, I got it. She was nothing special, just a big coward. I saw it when she died."

Finn lifts his head and looks into Hux's narrow eyes, smiling knowingly.

"But seeing you in that-"

He indicates to the pristine whites Hux wears so proudly.

"-You really are just playing dress-up, aren't you?"

A vein pulses in Hux's temple but he keeps his cool. He opens his mouth to respond but Finn isn't done. He spits onto Hux's chest with as much relish and noise as he can muster. Blood splatters across the creaseless white tunic and begins to stain scarlet. Hux's face turns from sheer revulsion to avid rage, grabbing Finn's face with a gloved hand. Finn simply laughs at him.

"I am going to broadcast your execution to every single Stormtrooper," he hisses at the still laughing Finn. "And it is going to be a warning, to all those who dare step out of line, to any who even think of insubordination. Am I playing now?"

But Finn is in high spirits. He has already forfeit his life, he did so when he ordered his team to leave. All of this is just a bonus.

"If you think showing off my death is going to inspire loyalty, you're more stupid than you look."

Finn's grin is disfigured through the fingers that hold his face in place.

"I was something of a big deal aboard the Finalizer. I reckon you faking my death came back to bite you didn't it?"

Hux's nose wrinkles as he scowls down at his foe, but realisation dawns upon him; the traitor speaks truth. He shoves Finn's face roughly and turns for the door, patience prevailing once more.

"You may be right, FN-2187."

Genuine surprise crosses Finn's face as he watches his captors exit.

"Looks like I'll have to find another way to inspire obedience in my troops."

The four sets of footsteps disappear, and Finn is left alone. Though the night comes, Finn cannot sleep. In all likelihood, it is his last night alive.

The Resistance have taken refuge in a large hall near the centre of the temple, now being used as a temporary barracks. Old roots and vines criss cross the high ceiling, and smaller stone alcoves surround the room. Resistance soldiers and staff have relocated generators for light and heat, though they had trouble carrying them down the great stone steps after crossing the stone entrance. Most personnel remain in here, safe on their sleeping mats and in the vacuum of hyperspace. It will be hours yet before they reach their destination, a patch of uninhabited wildspace. Some still tinker away making repairs to starfighters in the hangar, others patrol the corridors, others study glyph translation charts Rose has made. But Rey is not among them.

Far from the high hall in the belly of the temple, Rey has found a small room near the peak of the upper pyramid. The room hasn't seen much sunlight in nearly a thousand years, filled with dust and dead vegetation. But Rey isn't sleeping. She has laid a ragged sheet down and spread her junk net and tools across it with one goal. Sparks fly as she works away trying to fix BB-8's body. She reassembles parts of his main circuitry and makes sure his personality matrix is intact. The soft yellow hue of her clothes has been completely blotted by soot, grime, oil, and grease. Removing her goggles, Rey attempts to jumpstart the little droid, but he doesn't respond.

Her frustration peaks after hours of trying, and she tosses the welding torch into the wall opposite. Her yell is lost in the resounding 'CLANG!' that echoes throughout the empty room. BB-8 head and body sit lifeless before her, the rest kept in her junk net. Rey reaches into the gloom and picks up something laying on her unused sleeping mat. She folds the leather jacket in her hands and holds it to her face, thinking of Finn, of BB-8, of all she has lost. The great sadness she held inside for so long is gone, but pressure comes from the outside now - a crushing, all encompassing loss. The dried tear streaks on her cheeks become wet once again.

Reaching out, Rey looks for Ben through their bond but cannot see him, cannot feel him properly. Is he hurt? Is he... gone? That one thought strikes such fear into her heart she closes her eyes. First BB-8, then Finn… she doesn't know if she can bear to lose Ben too. The cloak he'd put around her shoulders sits just to her right, but she can't bear to look at it. It feels so cruel to be punished like this, adding to the weight of an impossible task ahead of her. Whilst dealing with all this, how can she stop the prophecy?

"May I come in?"

The voice could have been mistaken for Leia. Rey turns and sees why - Luke appears as she first encountered him, over a year ago on the cliffs of Ahch-To. His handsome robe of white, cloak of grey, leather belt and boots are almost translucent. A peculiar shine surrounds him, and he makes no visible impression on the stone doorway he stands in. Luke tilts his bearded head, waiting for Rey to grant him entry. She nods and he crosses the threshold. He stares at the ceiling, and reaches out his bare right hand to touch the wall opposite. His footsteps make no sound.

"Amazing."

Luke's fingers brush over the glowing crystal veins, light dancing through the wall and illuminating glyphs decorating the gloomy room.

"Old, but still full of life. Is this your doing?"

Rey nods.

"A flying temple, with unimaginable powers at your command..."

Luke lets out a rasping chuckle of delight. "I knew I was right about you."

He speaks as though confirming his trust in Rey, but she avoids his gaze. She is unsure if he is even really there. He looks younger somehow, his hair less wiry, and his right hand is not prosthetic. Luke gazes down at his once student with nothing but sympathy. He takes a seat opposite her on a stone plinth.

"Rey-"

"Don't."

Luke becomes wary as Rey glares at him through fresh tears.

"Just don't."

Luke crosses his hands before him and fiddles for a moment. "What do you think I'm going to say?"

Rey rolls her eyes. "It doesn't matter. None of it matters anymore."

Luke moves to retort but Rey stands, silencing him once more.

"I've lost so much and it has gotten me no closer to any answers." Frustration permeates her voice as she stares down the spectre of her master. "I'm….I'm overwhelmed."

Her lip trembles, but Luke simply sits there listening. She carries on, the words coming out unbridled by shame.

"I couldn't save Finn, I couldn't be there for Ben, and I can't protect the Resistance from what's coming and escape the Knights of Ren! No matter who wins this war, the prophecy will doom us all!"

She's breathing heavily now, all her worries spilling forth like vomit. She points angrily at BB-8's lifeless body.

"AND I CAN'T PROTECT THEM FROM IT!"

Silence falls as she allows her deepest fear into the room. Her breathing is teetering on rasping sobs. She looks away from Luke and her gaze settles on her bag, which lies open at the head of her sleeping mat. She can see the worn, crude doll that her mother had given her all those years ago. She'd kept it all this time, holding on to the hope, the wish that they would return. But it was a lie she believed. Now the sobs come.

"It's never-ending." She whispers to herself between sobs.

Looking back just a few hours, the Rey who stood triumphantly holding a lightsaber, who felt powerful, hopeful even, seems like such a naïve fool. But now Rey's hopelessness turns to anger, to self-loathing. Her parents sold her. She failed to protect Finn, Ben, BB-8. And she will fail to protect the Resistance too.

"I...I can't stop it."

The silence holds for a few seconds, then Luke stands and faces her. His bright blue eyes seem to look straight through her.

"Rey, I didn't come here to lecture you. I came here to thank-you."

He smiles quite plainly but Rey just stares back, dumbfounded. She searches his face for deception. What could he possibly…? Luke can't help but laugh at her expression.

"Ha! You really are something, you know that Rey from nowhere? You see the best in everyone you meet, but you think so little of yourself. It's baffling."

Luke crosses his hands behind his back and begins to walk around the room, circling Rey.

"Not only did you inspire me to face my nephew, you've done so for many others. It was you who rescued the Resistance from the clutches of defeat, you who supported young Finn in seeing the truth of the war when nobody else would, you who believed in Ben when nobody else would. Who gave them the guidance to face their fears? Who trusts her instincts and protects the Resistance from within some kind of flying fortress! You!"

Luke indicates excitedly around at the ancient temple. Rey stares at him, speechless. Can the temple do more than she'd anticipated? Luke is practically overflowing with enthusiasm as his pace quickens, coming to a halt before the door.

"This is what defines you as a Jedi, Rey. Your relentless belief in others, your boundless compassion. It ripples out and brings so much to so many, and you refuse to see it. My sister was right. The one who is in need of this kindness the most is you. Turn it inward. Be kind to yourself."

Rey is paralyzed by Luke's praise, but manages to fumble her way to the stone seat. Luke watches over her warmly as she runs her hands through her long hair. She looks up at him and maybe, just maybe, she is starting to believe. In her memory she can see Finn, alive thanks to her. In the deserts of Jakku, BB-8 asks if he can stay with her. On Ahch-To, Ben reaches out a hand to touch hers. She tells Luke, on the verge of tears, that she will not fail him. Leia holds her hand as they both feel Luke become one with the Force. But something still nags at the young Jedi, stopping her from appreciating her own successes.

"The prophecy. I don't-"

But Luke shakes his head. "I don't have the answers Rey, but I know you do. You can't stop it, so what can you do?"

She looks from Luke to the floor and thinks, hard. Maybe she is seeing this all wrong? The prophecy is inevitable, so what can she do about it? She thinks of Ben, whose cloak is rolled at the edge of her sleeping mat. She thinks of him outstretching a hand to her at her lowest, a few hours ago, a fresh cut still present from where their blood was needed for the prophecy. Why their blood? She tenses her fists, thinking hard. The cut on her palm opens again making her wince, the pain distracting her from how-

Suddenly, her eyes fly open. She stands, heart pounding. Realisation floods her. She goes over the feats the Oracle described hours ago in her head and her perky smile returns. She turns immediately to Luke but he raises a hand.

"No, as I said, I came here to say it first." He looks into her eyes and they sparkle with admiration. "Thank-you."

Rey bows her head in gratitude and suddenly, Luke is gone. Alone again, she breathes deeply and fully. The answer was before her the whole time, but she understands now why she couldn't see. Leia and now Luke both saw to that. Beyond that, Rey has a hunch why Luke had specifically wanted to thank her, and she decides to test her theory.

The corridors of the Millennium Falcon are quiet. The patter of rain can be heard hitting the hull as Chewie and Lando prepare the old freighter for flight. R2 and 3PO have been enlisted for jobs in the cockpit, and the common area is strangely still. A few porgs still nest in the walls of insulation and wiring, but their snoozing breathes are barely heard.

Leia sits in the captain's quarters, the protective suit and cloak she wore in Zoh's putrid atmosphere folded on a desk she leans against. Two old metal objects sit upon the desk as well; a battered, silver lightsaber hilt and two gold dice connected by a chain. Beneath the covers opposite Leia sleeps her son, bacta and oxygen being pumped into him by a medical mask and tubes. What little of his face can be seen is bruised, bloody from his fight with the Knights of Ren. Leia watches over him, but not alone.

The old General can sense a presence in the room. She hazards a guess as to who.

"Rey?"

Leia's senses sharpen and she can roughly see Rey standing there, looking over Ben. their bond is strong enough now, even when one is unconscious. Rey's garb is dirty, her hands bruised and grime clings to her face and hair. She looks exhausted, but there's an energy to her that Leia can't decipher, I look in her eye. Rey is completely focused on the man beneath the heap of blankets.

"Is he alright?"

Leia reaches out and strokes the hand of her son, nodding. Relief floods Rey's heart. She is out of tears, but she wants to cry with joy. A quiet smile spreads across her face as her and Leia gaze at each other, revelling in the success of their pact for just a moment.

"I'm sorry Leia, but I've come here to ask more of him," begins Rey. "Of you both."

Leia's gaze turns to confusion. Anakin's welded lightsaber hilt glints behind her on the desk.

"Meaning?"

"I need him to fight alongside me. I won't be able to do this alone."

The Jedi knows the danger of what she asks, but there is only one way to win. Leia's eyes narrow accusingly, but Rey is ready with the truth.

"It's more than that, this goes beyond prophecy and war. I want him by my side," Her heart beats frantically as she actualizes her affection. "It's about time I admit that."

Leia tilts her head, knowingly. It appears Rey took her advice after all, and is finally being honest about her feelings. She knows what glints in the Jedi's eye now. She felt it for Han, a powerful force. But she has just got her son back, and her motherly guard remains strong.

"Does he have to go?"

Leia's words are sharp, unforgiving, cautionary to any that might put her son in harm's way. But Rey's resolve hangs on one single fact; Ben is her only hope.

"Yes."

Rey waits with bated breath. She is keenly aware of what she asks of a mother; to allow her son back into the reach of death. Leia straightens up, retrieving her father's battered weapon, gripping it tight.

"Then of course he'll fight," she replies, a flare of defiance infusing her words. "He is my son."

Deep in the uncharted territories of wildspace, the ancient temple exits lightspeed with a jolt. The patterns on its exterior glow hot white, then return to the cooler yellow-green. The temple needs rest before it can take another jump, and the Resistance uses that time wisely.

The centre of the control room is occupied by two pieces of apparatus; the large stone astrolabe rings that map hyperspace routes, and the levitating stone orb and plinth that control the temple's main functions. Scattered across the rest of the room stand large stone blocks that recall terminals and datascreens. They glow with sensory and visual data, akin to the cockpit controls of a traditional flagship. The far wall of the room offers a windowed view of a blanket of stars, protecting the breathable atmosphere inside with a multi-layered magnetic shield. Though these instruments are a wonder of both ancient and modern space travel, members of Resistance Command gathering in the control room have more pressing matters.

Upon a great circular stone table, Jaytu operates a holoprojector that illustrates a worrying sight. Multiple layers of information and blue images shimmer in the air before them; a planet surrounded by a ring of debris from excessive excavation. Several near built Star Destroyers in industrial wells. A thin building where soldiers are taken to be reconditioned. And the Final Order Fortress, a behemoth of metal blocks, towers, and a near impenetrable outer wall. The holoimage of this stronghold dominates the room.

"-have less than a day before those Star Destroyers reach completion, General" Jaytu was saying. "If we are to launch an attack, it's now or never."

Major Snap Wexley examines estimations of enemy ships before him, attempting to work out the odds compared to the strength of their Starfighter Corps. No matter how he looks at it, the Resistance are outnumbered at least six to one. He gazes at the apprehensive expressions of his fellow squad leaders, then to Poe.

"We were lucky to lose so few against the Finalizer General, but this..."

The veteran pilot rubs his fingers together anxiously. "They'll overrun us within minutes."

The other squad leaders and their wingmates murmur in agreement. Colonel Terez sits deep in thought, her mind attempting to organise their ground forces in a route to success. Her advisor Commander D'Acy works away on a datapad of her own, attempting to maximise their still depleted attack force. Commanders Connix, Rose, and Jaytu watch the colonel closely, and she stands.

"The Supreme Leader and his senior command will take refuge inside the fortress, no doubt about that."

Terez indicates to one of the towers amongst the high walls of the shimmering fortress before them.

"If we can get close enough, we'll storm the gate and break down their defences. But Snap's right. Their TIEs will blow us out of the sky once we get close. Not even the Craitstar will survive."

"A hornet's nest," adds Snap.

Captain Nien Nunb drops his head in shame. Terez strikes the stone table with her fist in frustration, shuddering the holoimage.

"Come on there must be something we can do! We can't let them inflict their fleet upon the galaxy again, look what happened last time!"

The memory of the Hosnian Prime disaster hasn't dulled in time. Most in Resistance Command remember, some looking up in the sky to watch the New Republic wiped out in one shot from the dreaded Starkiller Base. Commander Rose gets to her feet defiantly, her eyes red from tears.

"What about Finn?!"

Terez averts her gaze away from her courageous Commander, the loss of Finn still etched into the hearts of all gathered - in those who called him a friend, an inspiration, an idealist, or occasionally over the top and annoying. The sting of losing such a central figure in the Resistance hangs heavy in the room.

"If Finn's alive," says Rose, her words full of anguish. "Then we owe it to him. He needs us. If we can rescue him-"

"No."

Poe finally speaks. All eyes look to him, standing at the head of the table, eyes staring at the holoimages with blank acceptance. But Rose's face contorts, abandoning all etiquette.

"Poe! We can't give up on him, he was right! His recruits risked their lives for us, for this intel! He gave his life for it! We have to do something!"

Poe matches her anger with a sad, knowing smile. "I know he did Rose, but we can't match the might of the Final Order. They have more ships, more troops. They've taken so much, and we won't survive facing them now. Finn is more than likely dead."

Rose stares at Poe in disbelief. Jaytu falls into her seat, the pressure of living up to Finn's sacrifice crushing her. Dejectedness grips Snap, Terez, the squadron leaders. There's so few of them, and they can't hope to match their foes.

"I'm sorry," Poe begins with wincing finality. "But our attack is over."

The reality finally drops with all its weight onto what remains of the Resistance. At the end of all this fighting, all their struggling for rebellion, for survival, their spirit is finally defeated. The spark grows dim.

But not for long.

"Poe," says a voice behind them. "Finn is alive."

Poe turns, and so do his Resistance allies. The woman who stands in the doorway is wrapped in a bright, honey coloured garb and elegant cloak, her hair flowing behind her in the curious atmosphere of the temple, accents of green amongst her uniform matching the temple's fauna. The physical and mental wear from Rey's duel with the Knights has been replaced by determined optimism. Poe, Rose and the other commanders stare at Rey in shock.

The Jedi steps into the light of the holo, a calm smile across her face.

"We're not alone," she assures Poe. "The spark we've given so much to nurture will finally burn bright. We have more allies than you think, more strength than you know, and Finn is not lost. The Resistance can rescue him."

Poe meets her gaze in disbelief. Allies? Power? Hope for Finn? He can't even comprehend these things.

"How?" Asks Rose desperately.

Rey smiles knowingly at her. She takes the datapad from Jaytu in one hand, and touches the palm of the other to a crystal glyph on the edge of the table. The glyph glows, and Rey wills the room around her to change. Immediately, the table sinks into the ground and the floor around them begins to move unnaturally. Poe, Rose, and the other Resistance commanders steady themselves and watch in awe as the stones and crystal making up the room morph before their very eyes, Rey seeming to command it with just a touch. The circular table sinks further, and Rey stands atop it. Circular rings of stone around the table form a sunken pit, where Rey places the datapad inside a stone slot in the floor. Two large crystals appear from holes above and below her, projecting a crystal-clear image of the First Order Fortress into the dusty air. The thirty or so Resistance members gathered manage to stay standing as the grinding stone comes to a halt finally. Rey is still smiling at Rose.

"This temple is a conduit of the Force, and it can be molded to suit our needs."

She points behind her at the crystal-generated holoimage.

"And that's not all. The temple and I can fortify you against the Final Order's ships. We can get you close to the Fortress and protect you once there. Inside you will find both Finn and Senior Command, whose capture will end the Final Order once and for all."

"What about the Star Destroyers?" Asks Poe anxiously. "The troops on the Finalizer will overwhelm us, let alone the thousands of new recruits gathered inside that base."

Poe's anger increases at the sight of Rey's coolness. How can she feign confidence like this? Pretend this isn't their most desperate hour?

"Even if you kept every air and ground vehicle off our backs, how are we going to match the might of over four thousand Stormtroopers?"

Rose searches Rey desperately for answers, but Rey regards Poe with stoic content.

"We can't match them Poe, but we can save them. Finn was right. The Final Order is held up on fear, not loyalty. With the help of those kidnapped and forced to fight, we can end this. If we're the spark, they're the fire that will burn the Final Order down."

Confidence radiates from Rey as she stares Poe down. Jaytu's heart stops in her chest. Is Rey suggesting…

"An uprising?"

Rey nods at Jaytu, but Poe's anger only doubles. He's already had to accept the loss of Finn, he can't lose anybody else. He won't. He descends the stone pit to stand level with Rey, the green light of the holoimage haloing her.

"Your powers are impressive Rey, but this can't be done." His dark eyes penetrate her blue, willing her to see their hopeless situation. "Insubordination on the scale you're proposing is impossible. Who will turn them against their masters? You?"

Rey's perky smile returns as she lets out a dry chuckle. She pulls a folded jacket from her belt-bag and offers it to Poe in answer.

"No, that's not my path. But the man who defeated Phasma? Who liberated Stormtroopers? Who ordered a ceasefire? Who spoke out against Hux? He believes it can be done, and so do I. This is his plan. Finn will lead the uprising."

Poe stares at the leather jacket Rey holds out to him. His eyes sting as his fingers move over its rough, worn exterior. He holds the shoulders as it unfolds, and the familiar smell of Finn wafts up to him. Underneath the iron exterior of the Resistance Leader, a woman's voice speaks inside Poe's head.

Hope is like the sun; if you only believe in it when you can see it, you'll never make it through the night.

The grief that Poe has buried deep refuses to be contained. His hands tremble as he holds the jacket. It will take strength to hope again, to dream that he'd see Finn again, that this can work. He believes in Finn more than anyone else, but he'd been a soldier for so long, so used to accepting tragedy and death, this kind of dream is far beyond his belief.

"How?" Poe's voice cracks as he challenges Rey, his eyes still on the jacket. "How do you know this will work?"

"Because he'd do the same for us. He risked it all to save you. He rescued Jaytu and more from the horrors of Reconditioning. And he came for me when I..."

For the first time since entering the room, Rey's calm demeanour cracks. The naïve girl who left the Resistance behind aboard the Millennium Falcon shines through - unsure, scared. But she regains herself, drawing breath deep, preparing the words she refuses to hide any longer.

"He came for me when nobody else would. For an orphan whose parents sold them, this meant the world to me. It was everything."

A tear glints in Rey's eye but she smiles through the anguish. This memory isn't something she hides from any longer, it can't control her like it used to. She has hold of the inner skeletal monster that lived for so long inside her, and she squeezes the life from its body. No more. Never Again.

"And I know that it will mean everything to them, too. The Final Order has built their strength upon the backs of orphans, they are the ones who win their wars. This will be their downfall. These tortured people deserve our help, and together we will unite and burn down their masters."

Rey looks to Rose, just off to her right. She smiles wide as Rose can barely contain her tears.

"This is how we win."

Rey is suddenly joined by Jaytu, who grips her freckled hand. Rey is slightly startled with this rigorous show of solidarity, but Jaytu is determined. She looks at Poe with sharp brown eyes, seeing his despair, and nods in agreement with Rey.

"It can be done, General. What I've been given is precious, and my brothers and sisters will see that too. They hope for it, for this kind of chance."

Terror floods Poe's body. He looks around at Jaytu's intimidating hopefulness, and Rey's knowing optimism, at Rose's teary belief, at Snap's growing assuredness, at Terez's determination. The Resistance is coming round, the spark blossoming into a flame that can shine across the stars, even burn a regime to the ground. But he stands at its centre, and he can't deny the fear that paralyzes him.

He lost Finn once, how can he even consider risking that again? How can he risk the Resistance, these people, the man he can't live without, on this chance? This battle will change Poe's life, and that scares him. He will either emerge richer than any man alive, or everything he loves will be killed. And there are foes who had promised that outcome, foes that Rey has failed to stop.

"Those 'hunters', that prophecy." He lowers the jacket and indicates around at the ancient temple walls. "This is where they complete it, isn't it? You can't stop that, can you?"

The buzz of optimism that has been gathering momentum around the room dies suddenly as all eyes turn to Rey. Fear grips them. Not of Stormtroopers or TIE Daggers, but of masked warriors dressed in black with bombs, blades, and scarlet lightsabers. They wait for Rey's answer, but she has nothing but the truth.

"No, I can't stop them."

Shock crosses Jaytu's face, whilst Rose is flooded with fear. But Rey isn't done.

"But the Jedi can."

"What do you mean?" These words don't rowse Poe from his anxious stance. "You are the last Jedi."

Rey's smile is wide and full of elated excitement.

"Not anymore."

Rey turns and reaches a hand towards the shimmering green holoimage, commanding the temple through the Force to show what she wishes. The projection of a tall, imposing figure fills the room. His face is wrapped in a cowl and recognizable helmet, wearing a long tunic of black. In his gloved hands he holds a crossguard saber aloft, ready to strike. A tinge of nostalgia blends into Rey's excitement.

"The Supreme Leader is no more, I have seen to it. He and his Knights will not interfere with the rebellion, Kylo Ren is gone!"

The silence breaks as the room erupts into disbelief and cheers. Jaytu holds her head in her heads, scarcely able to believe it. Rose throws her hands around Rey's neck, barely able to comprehend her friend is capable of such power. Colonel Terez slaps her on the back, and Rey looks slightly overwhelmed as she continues to hold Poe's attention.

"It's true, Hux and his men are all that remains." She breaks away from her congratulations and takes Poe's hand. She puts both on the jacket and forces it into his chest.

"The Jedi will triumph. I know how hard this is, but I need the Resistance to hope again."

She grabs his hands tight.

"I need you to hope again."

Poe stares at her. She knew. She can sense his pain, she knows it as well as he does. She knows that risking it all is so hard, so unforgiving in the face of certain destruction. Poe realises that there is no running away. If they run now, the Final Order will decimate the galaxy, as they did to Hosnian Prime and countless others. And they wouldn't last long after there isn't a galaxy to save. In truth, Poe can believe in rescuing Finn. But looking into Rey's eyes, he understands how similar their journeys are. Both naïve in their own way, brought to the truth kicking and screaming by somebody who loves them. And now it is their chance to return the favour. Poe isn't stupid; he knows what Kylo Ren being 'gone' means. If she can do that for Kylo Ren, how can he refuse? How can he turn his back on Finn in his hour of need? He can't. He won't. And as Poe puts on the jacket, he knows he can save Finn.

"You got me, Jedi. For Finn."

Rey's smile is so wide her cheeks hurt.

"For Finn."

The two leaders hold each other close for just a few more moments of solidarity before breaking apart.

"Listen up!" Poe turns to address the room. Rey reaches out with the Force. The image of Kylo Ren disappears, to be replaced by the visage of the Final Order Fortress once more.

"We've cultivated this spark for this moment. This is it. Everything we are, everything we've learned, every advantage we've fought for and every battle we've survived has led to this moment. We can't do this like the Rebels, like the New Republic. They failed because they tried to overpower this enemy, to obliterate them. But we aren't them. We will burn them down, destroy their very core, and help the galaxy finally heal."

Rey watches Poe in awe for a moment before she steps up beside him.

"Our primary goal is the rescue of Finn. I can sense he is being held in the Final Order Fortress, therefore I will guide us close enough to initiate a ground assault. I'll protect you from the Finalizer and any ships pursuing us."

"The bulk of our troops will occupy the front, whilst a small infiltration team will enter through these entranceways and access the cells, rescue Finn, and inspire... an uprising!"

The holoimage changes to show several gutters that travel below the outer wall and into the lower levels of the Fortress, zooming in on the cells Finn is currently being held in.

"If I know Finn, he'll have the words." Poe grins nostalgically, thinking back to the arguments between him and Finn in a new light. "Rose; can you slice into the comms? Get Finn's message to the troopers?"

Rose pulls a ring of silver slicing keys from her bag.

"Finn was captured with the jammer, but I can find a way into the comms if I'm inside!" She replies, enthusiastically. Poe and Rey beam at her.

"Without Ren and his Knights, they're at a disadvantage," continues Rey. "Once our allies have increased, we'll pincer the remaining forces between us and capture Hux and his goons. Then, this war will be over!"

"FOR FINN!" Both leaders shout together.

"FOR FINN!" Reply thirty voices in unison, some anxious, some determined, but all hopeful and resolute in their mission. The mood heightens in the control room as Resistance Command are united in their plan of attack. Whilst they chatter in agreement, Poe leans over to Rey.

"Are the Knights going to come for you?"

Rey nods. "The Oracle has seen it. They will come during this battle."

Poe looks at her optimistic face with a growing sense of powerlessness and concern for his friend.

"You sure you'll be alright facing them alone?"

Rey smiles confidently back, as though ready for the fight already, excited even.

"I won't be alone."

The wide viewport of the senior command tower rattles against the scarlet maelstrom of sand that beats the surface of Othkore. The tower is the largest of the Final Order Fortress' five. Erected at the fort's centre, the command tower gazes upon the entrance gate and beyond. Whilst its four siblings guard each corner of the wall, the command tower was created to withstand explosive bombardment, and can only be accessed from two entrances either side, which are now under heavy guard. These walkways descend to the main entrance courtyard below, where the oversized gate now opens to admit one of their own.

Admiral Griss, one of the Final Order's Senior Command and second in power only to Hux, surveys the courtyard with disapproving eyes. Stormtroopers arm themselves with mounted repeating blaster rifles and metal crates for cover, readying themselves for battle. Tall and intimidating metal sentries known as K-8IX Conformity Droids stand dotted around, though they do not aid in the war preparations. Their purpose remains mysterious to Griss. Their behavior and blank faces remind Griss of prison wardens. A veteran of the Galactic Civil War, Griss is suspicious of Hux's recent ferocious climb to power. The old Admiral ascends one of the staircases towards the command tower, keeping his loyal guard of six scarlet armoured Stormtroopers close and ready for when Hux will inevitably betray him. The thick blast doors open into the command tower interior and Griss prepares himself.

"Admiral Griss, as prompt as ever."

Hux doesn't even wait until Griss crosses the threshold before childishly reinforcing his superiority. Though Griss' blood boils, he meets Hux's petty remark with a curt nod and joins his fellows at a large round holotable. Generals Engell, Bellava and Quinn acknowledge his presence with a look before returning their attention to Hux. The red-haired leader is practically beside himself with power gluttony. A cartoonish grin crosses his pale face as he stands on an elevated platform, looking beyond the red tinted windows to the rumbling storm beyond. Griss notes that his uniform is freshly cleaned, as though he'd pressed it excitedly before coming here. Griss scowls in distaste. Hux approaches the holotable from his platform.

"Excellent, now all of Senior Command is here-"

A large holoimage of the fortress they now stood in the centre of appears.

"I have personally gathered intel that suggests a Resistance ambush upon our location is imminent, and have already started the preparations to wipe them off the face of our planet."

Hux gazes around confidently at his senior officers but is met only by shock and disappointment.

"They know of Othkore?" Replies Engell, masking panic. "Our origins here were closely guarded for years during the New Republic!"

"How is this possible?" Demands Griss gruffly. "How did they know to look for us? And how did they succeed?"

"The details are irrelevant," retorts Hux, his voice rising slightly. "All that matters is they're saving us weeks of tracking them down."

Hux indicates around the room. Several squads of Stormtroopers and at least thirty of the tall, expressionless K-8IX Conformity Droids line the room in droves, guarding both entrances and even leering over the several petty officers reading sensory data.

"We are more than prepared to fend off a few hundred trigger-happy radicals. Our fleet of Star Destroyers nears completion, and we have destroyed or intimidated all military opponents. The Resistance will meet their end here, on Othkore."

He turns and looks beyond the window, across the track to where the five Star Destroyers are being built day and night, and where the Finalizer sits, refuelled and armed.

"It's ironic," mutters Hux, more to himself. "So many years mining and building in secret and now the war ends here, where we started."

Hux feels as though his years of patience have finally paid off - he is the senior commander of this loyal and ever expanding military force, facing a defenceless galaxy ripe for conquest. No longer does he bow to weak willed men like Kylo Ren, Snoke, or his father. No longer does he beg for scraps. He holds the power to reshape the galaxy, to wrestles its despicable unfairness into order. Unfortunately for Hux, he has inspired little confidence and vision in his subordinates.

"What of the Resistance's new defences?"

The dramatic excitement building inside Hux diminishes. He rounds sharply on Admiral Griss.

"That unnatural floating ruin? What of it? Our visual scans registered no weapons, no offensive capabilities of any kind. It's nothing more than a cracked shell."

Griss forms his gloved fingers into fists behind his back, but maintains his cool.

"Its qualities are unknown, therefore it presents a risk. We have no idea what offensive, defensive, or spacefaring capabilities it possesses."

Hux allows a moment to pass, staring at each of his outdated commanders one-by-one.

"Distinguished Commanders, I will make something perfectly clear." He speaks with the air of one addressing very ignorant children.

"I am not confident because I have smelt too much of my own perfume, or because I believe myself invincible; quite the contrary. Through planning, preparation and patience have I gained all that we possess from those that wished to use us, and I will do so again."

The sincere passion in Hux's voice is shocking enough to hold the attention of his commanders. Hux waves a gloved hand around them.

"I have poured countless hours into pushing the boundaries of what the Final Order is capable of: weapons, tracking, recruitment, conformity, and yet more I have prepared away from prying eyes."

His watery eyes flicker to the K-8IX Conformity Droids and the very Fortress they stand inside, his manner of a keen boy eager to show off new toys.

"So I will say this; I do not underestimate the Resistance. They are desperate, cunning, and unpredictable. But they, like some of you here, underestimate me. I have multiplied our defences, tripled our avenues of counterattack, and laced this Fortress with dangers that will punish their brashness. The Resistance will face their death here, one way or another."

"Grand Admiral!"

The petty officer's voice is strained as it calls from behind the five leaders gathered at the holotable.

"Proximity alert! These hyperspace readings are impossible to-"

Hux façades a stoic look of calm. He sweeps from the table, ignoring the chorus of confusion rising from his sensory detection officers, and strides before the tall scarlet-tinted viewport once more. Griss, Engell, Bellava and Quinn follow him. Hux waits patiently, hiding his apprehension from his colleagues. Engell spots them first.

"They're here."

Every single muscle in Hux's face is taught with anxiety, but he pushes through.

"Then they come for their death."

Though Hux's words are full of malefic confidence, what appears before him next shakes even his deep rooted assuredness. The ancient temple arrives suddenly, exiting hyperspace mere miles above them. The piercing red sun of Othkore is suddenly obscured, throwing the Fortress into shadow. The stone octahedron fills the very sky, it's dark exterior permeated only by antique patterns glowing hot white. Dust and other debris falls from its great sloped walls, vines and trees still clinging from its years of slumber. The supernatural floating terror hovers closer to the architectural fortress Hux watches from, the two citadels courting towards an inevitable death match.

"W-what is it?" Splutters Admiral Griss, his years of naval experience shrinking in the shadow of the temple. Hux's heart beats frantically, but he controls himself.

"A cracked shell, Griss." Hux's tone is tort. "Raise the Finalizer to meet her."

Griss contains his disbelief. "Yes, Grand Admiral."

They watch from the command tower viewport as the triangular Star Destroyer rises from the sunken well it was built inside. The approaching ancient temple descends towards the scarlet pathway leading to the Fortress, and the Finalizer advances on the temple's rear to intercept from underneath.

"Launch all fighters, seize control of the airspace," commands Griss.

But before Griss' orders can be met, the behavior of the temple reacts to its Star Destroyer pursuer. The temple's descent is altered with lightning fast precision, reversing to intercept the approaching Finalizer head on.

"How? How can it-" Questions General Engell in disbelief, but Hux isn't concerned with the supernatural marvel.

"Evasive manoeuvres!" He calls to his commanding officers. "Do not let the target get close! All fighters and turrets, open fire!"

The Finalizer does as commanded. A spew of TIE Daggers fills the air from each of its side hangars, and a barrage of emerald laser fire surges towards the approaching temple. The turret fires finds its mark upon the stone walls, but explodes uselessly against the thick magnetic shield that keeps the temple protected. Meanwhile, the temple's speed only increases towards the Finalizer as it slowly retreats towards the engineering wells. But it is not quick enough.

"Prepare for impact!" Calls the officer commanding the Finalizer bridge, as they and their staff are tossed like ragdolls as the tip of the metal flagship meets the reverse point of the temple's lower pyramid.

The temple's speed, stone exterior and magnetic shield become a devastating battering ram. The Finalizer's nose is blunted and its trajectory completely rendered from control as the temple bulldozes it from the air. The TIE Daggers evade their downed flagship and swarm the temple itself, trying and failing to pierce the shield with ion missiles. The temple keeps up the pressure, forcing the Finalizer down to the ground. Just shy of the sunken well it rose from, the underbelly of the great Star Destroyer meets the durasteel floor with a sickening crunch. Its three huge engines sputter and die as it is rendered a useless wreck, the many officers and Stormtroopers inside reeling from the impact.

"Tsk," sighs Hux, as though the destruction of his personal and only Star Destroyer is a minor setback. "How long until the other five are in the air?"

"Almost ready Grand Admiral," comments General Engell looking over her datapad. "But we've got another problem."

Hux squints through the viewport. The temple has halted in midair. Two squads of Resistance fighters depart their stone base and shoot towards the engineering wells, their motives unsavoury for his five unprepared Star Destroyers.

"There's fourteen of them," Hux retorts with simpering relish. "All Fighters! Divert and overwhelm them!"

The swarm of TIE Daggers do as ordered, abandoning their barrage of the temple's shield and giving chase to Shell and Cobalt Squadron. They don't get very far, however. Deep inside the temple, a hand reaches out and commands the power of the Force. A layer of the magnetic shield expands, enveloping the enemy starfighters. The TIE pilots suddenly lose control of their vehicles, staring around wildly as their ships are frozen in midair, held by the magnetic might of the temple itself. The sudden panicked chatter of the Finalizer fleet comms is interrupted by Hux.

"What's going on?! Pursue them! Get them!"

The Y-Wings and B-Wings of Shell and Cobalt Squadron loop the engineering wells in a handsome arc, dropping ion payloads on the newly-built Star Destroyers housed below. One by one the downed flagships succumb to the Resistance's weapons, the ion explosions short circuiting their systems and rendering their engine immobile. Hux's voice strains slightly as he commands his aerial defences yet again.

"Wing Leader, why are you disobeying a direct order?!"

"We're frozen here, Grand Admiral!" Comes the spotty response over the TIE fleet comms. "It's some kind of stasis field! It's holding our fighters in place!"

Hux squints at the halted swarm of fighters around the distant temple, and realises with a pang they aren't hovering. Each fighter shakes slightly, as though trying to break free from an invisible force. Fear tinges Hux's heart, but he cannot afford it to take root. The two Squadrons of Resistance bombers deposit their final payload atop their last downed Star Destroyer. Hux grinds his fear into anger.

"Failure will result in Reconditioning. Do you understand, pilot?"

"Y-yes sir!" Comes the crackled response across the comm line.

The squadron leader's TIE Dagger fires its twin engines at full speed, attempting to break free of the magnetic stasis field. It only succeeds in pushing the capabilities of their metal starfighter too far, as it is torn apart and explodes in a shower of amber fire. Now a greater fear enters the hearts of all the TIE pilots who watch.

"That goes for all of you!" Hux's voice is cold and without mercy in their helmet comms. "Insubordination means Reconditioning!"

Shell and Cobalt Squadron enter the safety of the temple's hangar, and the TIE Daggers are freed from their stasis. The wreck of the squadron leader's TIE falls through the air, and the pilots left behind hesitate.

"Pursue those fighters! Destroy the defences of their base! Do it now!"

Hux's voice inspires fear in the pilots, but the presence of the ancient temple is overwhelmingly terrifying. It only takes one at first. A straggler on the edge of the pack turns his TIE Dagger skyward and engages his hyperdrive, fleeing the danger as he is overcome by fear. Then a few more catch on and escape before they're noticed. Then half a squad flee as well.

"NO!" Hux's voice fills the entirety of the senior command tower. "You cowards!"

The last of the deserters disappears into hyperspace, leaving a mere seven fighters to deal with the colossal threat before them. The temple ignores their pursuit and begins to move etherily through the air, advancing towards the fortress. The peak of the reverse stone pyramid hovers mere feet above the scarlet runway as it approaches. The remaining TIE Daggers circle and fire relentlessly, but they are mere insects to a colossal floating giant.

"How?" Hux mutters to himself, his mask of military confidence beginning to slip. "How is this possible?!"

The answer to Hux's question lies deep inside the temple core room. Rey sits cross-legged before the statue - its stone arms still open, head bowed, Rey's lightsaber powering the molten heart of the ancient temple. Surrounding Rey is an intricate ringed dial of patterns and glyphs, reacting to her movements and thoughts. Rey herself is immersed in the Force, her calm mind welcoming its influence like a river filling an empty pool. Through the Force she and the temple are one. She can sense the remaining TIE Daggers surrounding the temple, as through the stone bricks are her own flesh. She focuses on her target - the Final Order Fortress - and the temple moves through the air by Rey's sheer force of will. Rey's body hovers a foot off the ground, her cloak rippling around her as the barriers between her body and the Force become harder to distinguish.

The noise of the remaining fighters fills her senses, and she outstretches a hand before her. The circle of ancient characters surrounding her glows and moves accordingly, mechanical and magnetic forces in the temple alter themselves in accordance with Rey's mental command. This time, the magnetic shield expands and pushes the TIE Daggers away forcefully. The pilots inside lose control of their vehicles as they are tossed away into the air by another invisible wall. Rey's eyes are closed but her senses are sharp, and she can feel the fear and hesitation in the hearts of the remaining pilots.

"You're all clear Poe."

Rey's voice doesn't come from her mouth, but instead reverberates ethirily around the temple's crowded hangar, another of its curious powers.

"The Force is with you, Resistance fighters."

"I hope so-!" Calls back Poe, as his U-Wing leaves the gloom of the hangar behind, entering the dusty atmosphere of Othkore.

"-We're going to need it."

The U-Wing leads a ragtag group of bulkier starships; the Lady Luck, the Craitstar, the Stormtrooper transport, and several other single fighter ships. The larger ships land on the scarlet durasteel approach of the Fortress, close enough to the outer wall as their cargo is revealed; the majority of the remaining Resistance forces, armed with all they can carry, pound the durasteel runway and storm towards the Final Order Fortress. Colonel Terez lugs a heavy repeating blaster onto her shoulder, whilst twin gunmen Lo and Le survey the battlefield with menacing grins. Poe's U-Wing lands smartly at the front, and forty or so Resistance soldiers exit his ship. His coat clasped around him to protect from the dusty winds and his EL-16 blaster rifle held aloft, Poe joins them and beckons to those behind.

"This is it! Advance, take the gate! You heard the Jedi; the Force is with us!"

A legion of over two hundred Resistance soldiers meet Poe's words with a cry of enthusiasm and storm forward, rifles raised. The remaining TIE Daggers have regained their controls and speed to intercept the ground forces now dashing for the Fortress, but they're no match for the six A-Wings that cut through the sky to intercept.

"Razor Squadron! Protect our troops with your lives!" Comes the voice of Captain Tam Ryvora over the Resistance fleet comms.

The TIE Daggers ion fire never meets their marks as they're either blown from the sky, or flee in fear of death and Reconditioning. Soon, the airways are clear as the Resistance surges towards the Fortress in the shadow of the hovering ancient temple. The senior staff watch the fleeing of their last aerial defence fleet with anxious attention, but Hux has regained his self-assuredness. From behind the glass of the senior command tower, he sneers at the advancing Resistance foot soldiers.

"Commander, the Resistance are targeting the gate. Send in the first wave."

The twenty foot gate doors recede, and the majority of the fortress' Stormtrooper guard spill like blood onto the runway. With very little protection between, the advance of the Resistance is halted as blaster fire begins to colour the air between the galactic foes.

"Tam, we need cover!" Calls Poe into his wrist comm.

A sweep of ion missiles answers him, halting the advance of the Stormtroopers. Some retreat back into the safety of the fortress outer wall as Captain Tam leads a strafing run above them. Poe beckons to his fellow soldiers as they quicken their pace once more, but Poe realises too late that the Stormtroopers retreated for another reason.

"Find cover, now!" He yells, diving down into a lowered gap in the runway.

The slow clunk of AT-ST walkers can be heard, as four pairs exit the fortress' gate and form a line of defence. Blaster fire from their frontal cannons catches some Resistance fighters by surprise, and Poe's mind moves fast.

"Commander Tico, how we doin'?" He mutters into an encoded comm line.

"We're almost there, Poe!" Comes the crackling reply.

Rose, Jaytu, and the team of ex-Stormtroopers tiptoe in the shadow of the rear wall of the Final Order Fortress. Having crowded themselves into a small Resistance transport pod, Rose has piloted them successfully behind the fortress as soon as they'd entered enemy space, the overwhelming presence of the ancient temple distracting the Final Order's sensor officers. With her jammer captured along with Finn and without the parts for a replacement, Rose couldn't rely on it for protection, only luck. Leaving the pod behind, Rose leads her team to a large metal grate that lifts free, exposing a network of large tunnels leading underneath the outer wall.

"Going dark now, keep them off of our scent!"

"Roger that Commander," Poe can't stop the yearning in his voice from breaking through. "Go get him, Rose!"

But the assault upon the fortress gate has hit a serious snag. Razor Squadron performs another strafing run and downs an advancing AT-ST, but at the cost of one of their own ships that spirals out of control to crash into the durasteel floor. It'll be another minute before Tam brings her wings back round, and by then the AT-ST's will be on Poe and his soldiers.

"What do we do, General?" Calls Commander Connix to Poe's left, but Poe doesn't need to answer.

He remembers what casts the shadow they're all standing in, and looks behind at the hovering ancient temple. Deep inside the temple's core room, Rey senses the approaching line of seven walkers and reaches out a hand towards them. A wave of magnetic energy surges towards the metal walkers and envelopes them, lifting them into the air and towards the temple itself. As they rise, some of the Final Order pilots flee through the top hatch in terror. The AT-STs long mechanical legs flail helplessly as the remaining pilots inside are thrown around their box cockpit. The walkers come to an abrupt stop against the lower face of the temple, and there they stay - trapped by the temple's magnetic field.

Poe's grin stretches from ear to ear as he barely contains his awe at Rey's newfound confidence and power. He leaps from cover and pushes forward.

"Quick! Take the gate whilst they're defenceless!"

Poe spearheads the advance as all of his troops are within metres of the gate, which begins to close. But General Dameron is ready, his study of the plans Finn secured serves him well.

"Colonel, now!"

Colonel Terez and seven of her soldiers stop, crouch, and take aim at the gates. Their larger repeating blaster rifles punch holes in the outer gate, and destroy a key mechanism. Both doors stutter and stop, unable to close as Poe leads his soldiers across the ground they've won. Soon, Resistance soldiers pass through the outer wall gate and into the vast entrance hall, which is filled with Stormtroopers. Hux and the senior staff watch them enter from the senior command tower looming above.

"Engage them!" Shouts Hux at the surrounding officers and commanders. "I don't want a single Resistance soldier to step foot outside that entrance hall!"

Poe's stalling tactics are directly challenged now. Inside the tall fortress wall, they no longer have the aid of Razor Squadron's support, who are now dodging and evading fire from turrets affixed atop the outer wall towers. And Poe's forces of a few hundred now faced the overwhelming defences of many more Stormtroopers, outnumbering them at least five to one.

"Hunker down and engage!" Calls Poe to his soldiers. "We've gotta buy them more time. Commanders; this is stage two."

The commanders of the ground forces understand Poe's coded language, and direct their groups. The Resistance huddle behind barricades, and change the blasters to 'stun'. The Stormtroopers have set up several lines of defences; barricades of their own and heavy blaster rifles mounted at strategic intervals up the twin outer staircases leading to the senior command tower. But the Resistance won't budge, and more and more scarlet armoured Stormtroopers fall, blasted unconscious by Resistance blasters.

"Grand Admiral," whispers Engell gingerly, examining her datapad. "The Resistance are targeting our Stormtroopers with stun blasts."

"What is their game?!" Demands Admiral Griss. "Are they mocking us?"

But Hux's suspicion flares. The Resistance must need those soldiers alive for some reason, but why? Hux's ignorance prevents him from seeing the truth, and he concludes otherwise. One of his hunches eventually proves fruitful.

"They're stalling. Bottleneck them here and send the second wave to approach from the other side of the gate."

Below Hux, Poe is likewise attempting to reorganise his forces. He begins first with their priority mission. He opens a comm to Rose and is delighted to see his signal is received. Progress has surely been made.

"We're holding the gate. Have you got him yet? Commander Tico?"

"We're almost there Poe!"

Beneath the Fortress, Rose, Jaytu, and their squad of a dozen Resistance agents shine torches down a wide metal tunnel. Rose turns down a passageway to their left and checks her wrist. A small holoimage of the tunnel system appears, aiding her navigation. Her torchlight finds a small hatch, meant for maintenance staff.

"Just up ahead here!" Rose calls into her comm and to her teammates. "Jaytu, there!"

Jaytu steps in front of Rose and raises her green and yellow poncho, revealing a large blaster rifle.

"You better step back!" She says, confidently.

The blaster rifle fires, punching holes into the thick hinges of the hatch. Jaytu prizes it open.

"Let's go!"

Rose and her team enter a thin corridor filled with steam, their boots pounding metal grating. Their mission has taken them far below the Fortress, and they approach its lower levels. All pause to wait for two Final Order sentry droids to pass, before dashing up a larger corridor amidst the steam. Their hearts beat ceaselessly with apprehension; a firefight between them and any adversaries, win or lose, will mean their cover blown and their mission failed. The intel they gathered leads them to believe this part of the fortress is loosely guarded, but as they draw closer to their target, so multiplies their foes defences.

"Stop," whispers Rose, holding out a hand. "Wait."

The small team duck into a small crop in the grated wall and hide amidst the steam. Two Stormtroopers and a tall conformity droid march down the hallway, their clanging footsteps disappearing out of sight.

"Have any of you seen those droids before?" She mutters to the team of ex-Stormtroopers.

Rose looks to Jaytu for answers on the unknown droid, but Jaytu shrugs her shoulders. Huf and Leven, who are enjoying being out of Stormtrooper armour, scratch their chins and join the rest in shaking their heads. Rose listens for more guards.

"Alright," she whispers. "The detention cells are just up ahead."

The team holds its breath as they press on. This is their chance. Their mission is deemed more important than their friends making a stand high above them at the gate. Some grip their blasters with shaking hands or sweat more than usual, but underneath all that anxiousness there's excitement - they may yet save Finn from a terrible fate, and watch him lead a rebellion of their brothers and sisters.

Rose grins, the same hope burning within her too.

"Ready?"

They all nod. Rose darts out into the gaseous corridor, her team hot on her heels. They arrive at a large ladder and hatch, which Rose quickly scales and opens. Popping her head above the hatches frame, Rose gazes around the detention cells of the Final Order Fortress. She is at the centre of a crossroads between several rooms, only one of them being used. Jaytu follows Rose and pulls each member of the team out as Rose approaches the door control. Her skills at slicing have improved over the past year and the door clicks open. Blasters raised, Rose and her team enter the cells and dart to the far wall, and are met with a sight that fills them with dread.

"Rose?" Jaytu lowers her heavy blaster rifle looking confused. "What's going on?!"

Rose turns away from the empty binders on the far wall. She fails to mask the panic in her voice.

"I...I don't know."

Jaytu searches the room frantically, and to no avail. The infiltration team watch in horror as all their efforts are made completely redundant.

"Where's Finn?!"

Rose lifts her wrist commlink to her mouth.

"Poe, he's not here! I repeat, Finn's not here!"

Out in the ongoing battle for the gate, disbelief breaks across Poe's face as he hears these words come from his commlink.

"No," he mutters, anguish filling his chest like ice. "No that's impossible, they wouldn't-"

High above Poe Dameron, Grand Admiral Hux stares down with satisfied malice. General Engell, ever persistent to stay in his good books, updates him once more.

"Grand Admiral, there's been a security breach in the rear waste pipeline."

Hux lets out a cruel, childish chuckle.

"So predictable."

He points at one of his senior officers stationed in the control well.

"Lieutenant Quonit, begin the transmission across all channels. I want them all, friend and foe, to see this."

Finn blinks. Unpleasant sounds and harsh light wake him from unconsciousness. He can just about open his eyes, staring into the clear sky. The sun isn't visible from where he is sitting, but he can feel its heat on him. The howl of the wind buffets his hair, and he can taste sand. His senses sharpen and he lolls his head to the left. A scarlet armoured Stormtrooper stands there, looming over him. There's one to his right too. He tries to look down at his hands and feet but can't - his head is held in place by a metal brace. He strains his wrists and ankles against similar bonds. Finn is confined in an elevated chair. His ears pick up on an acute sound, and he recognises a droning inflection. It is the despicable sound of Armitage Hux's smug voice, bolstered mechanically to several times its usual volume.

"-ur precious FN-2187. May this be a lesson to all Resistance traitors and Stormtrooper alike,-"

Before him, Finn can pick out that he is on a balcony or roof, with high walls and an entrance out of view. Before him, a Final Order sentry droid points a holo-transmitter at him. It is filming him and his Stormtrooper guards. But why? Hux's speech drones on, and Finn can pick out a childlike excitement in his voice that makes his heart stop.

"-let this be a lesson in conformity, to all those who believe resistance is a valid option in my galaxy!"

The two Stormtroopers turn towards Finn. One lowers their blaster and presses a button on a control panel before them. Finn's bonds tighten, forcing his head into forward position. The sensation is familiar and ice cold dread fills his body as buried memories begins to surface. This isn't a chair, it is a Reconditioning Unit. Finn looks up as several long metal arms extend before him, some with needles, syringes of fluid, and sharp utensils. Though fear grips his body, Finn fights back. His face is one of tort rage as he faces that which has haunted his nightmares for years. Before the first needle touches his skin, he realises why he's being filmed.

Finn's screams fill the very air around him, as they are broadcast galaxy-wide. Upon the worlds his own cries of rebellion were transmitted to not twenty-four hours ago, now Stormtroopers and officers gather at their respective garrison to watch FN-2187 get his comeuppance. In the trooper barracks on Canto Bight, Scout Troopers and TIE pilots stand in ordered lines, watching a holoprojection of Finn's torture as their commanding officer scrutinise them for any insubordination. Inside the cockpits of TIE Daggers patrolling Cloud City, pilots watch from behind faceless helms as Finn's screams fill their heads. Inside the rundown garrison of Coruscant's Level 1212, Stormtroopers stand in seven lines of ten, watching as Finn is reconditioned before their eyes. Three officers walk amongst them, ready to shoot anybody who displays behavior that isn't emotionless conformity.

Finn's deafening scream is heard around the Final Order Fortress. In the detention level, Rose, Jaytu, and their infiltration team share looks of despair and tearful anguish as their friend is tortured. But it's worse for Poe and his soldiers. From behind his barricade of crates and ammunition carriers, Poe gazes with eyes filled with tears and rage as his Finn writhes in pain, the holoimage broadcast in perfect clarity above him and his soldiers. Fear grips the hearts of the soldiers of the Resistance, replacing the bolstered confidence they had gained from the safety of Rey's temple and Poe's charismatic leadership. But their foes pause too.
Stormtroopers engaged at the gate gaze up, their expressionless helmets masking their horror. Some push on, but some begin to remember their Reconditioning at the hands of their superiors. But they must push on, must suppress their fear and outrage to continue their orders, lest they face the same fate as Finn.

"Reconditioning is the cure for such chaotic behavior." Hux's voice is broadcast loud and clear, his disdain intact.

Deep in the temple core room, Rey's expansive senses fill with the fear and anguish emanating from seemingly every direction. The sheer force of such emotion causes Rey to sweat, overwhelming her. But she has been overwhelmed before, and she is in control now. She always was. And she has sworn to protect others as she should have been.

Rey breathes deep and concentrates, searching for a familiar presence. She finds it, Finn. He's alive. She searches for another one close to Finn's presence.

'Rose.'

She spoke her friend's name into the Force. Deep in the fortress Rose tilts her head, looking for the source of the familiar voice reverberating inside her head. She wipes the tears from her cheeks.

"Rey?" She calls back, aloud.

'Finn needs you, Rose.'

Rose jumps slightly at the answer coming from inside her own mind. Once she takes in Rey's telepathic words, Rose's face screws up in despairing guilt and she replies.

'Rey, he's not here! And Hux's is using my signal, my jammer to broadcast what he's doing to Finn! He's dying.'

Rey's face is blank as she hovers a foot from the ground, cross-legged, and calm. But a single tear drops onto her cheek.

'I know,' she responds. 'But Finn is near you. There's still time. Find him, save him. Without him, the Resistance is lost.'

Rose wipes a sleeve across her face roughly, burning away the cold grip of fear with blazing compassion. Her friend still needs her.

"Right."

She turns to her team.

"Finn's still here somewhere, this holoimage is live. Let's do what we came here to do."

Her fiery determination spreads to Jaytu, Huf, Leven, and all the others. They answer her in unison, the only respectable way they know;

"Yes, Commander!"

There is a unique sensory response in the Force that surrounds the intense pain Finn is experiencing. Rey's senses are sharp and extensive, thanks to her deep connection to the ancient temple, and she can feel this response emanating from the Final Order Fortress, like a sea creature disturbing the surface of the water as it writhes in pain. Rey allows herself to hope, to trust that Rose can do what she so wished to do herself. If their roles were reversed, Rey would cut down any obstacle and opponent between her and Finn. They'd both gone through so much, both apart and together, and she will force the galaxy to give them a reprieve from all the hurt, all the despair that it has so unfairly bestowed upon them. And those responsible will face justice.

But Rey has a far more important role to fill.

She must protect the statue behind her - the core of the temple itself. Its thin arms are open, head lowered and chest bare. Inside its molten heart hovers her lightsaber, held there by magnetic forces and powering the very temple she occupies. Rey, a few technicians, pilots, and several nests of porgs are the only current occupants of the temple, but she senses the approach of several more as they manoeuvre their jagged ship into a crevice far below her.

Several men clad in dark robes and armour step forth into the unexplored corridors of the temple's lower levels. Rey recognises two of them by their lust for violence in the Force, and is disheartened to see them still living - Cardo and Vicrul. The other four she knows only by name and face - Kuruk, Trudgen, Ushar, and Ap'lek. The Knights of Ren, reunited at last, rid of the weak master, and with fate on their side have come to fulfil the Oracle's prophecy. Rey is not as naïve as to stop them as she once attempted, but she still needs time to prepare. For now, Rey listens as the dark warriors discuss their plan.

"Where, Vicrul?" Ap'lek sharp mechanical voice is accusing, impatient.

Vicrul pays no attention as his own keen senses permeate the gloomy corridor they stand in, lit only by the glow from outside.

"Above us," he mutters darkly. "The heart of the temple, it is this way."

"This is too easy," grumbles Trudgen, raising his vibrocleaver suspiciously.

"You're wrong!" Barks Kuruk. "Look! The Buzzard barely survived."

Kuruk points his rifle at the jagged ship behind the group. Its engines have been hampered by forcing the hull of the ship through the magnetic field, and its corners and edges have been blunted and squashed. Trudgen shrugs.

"I don't see a difference. She still flies."

"Yeah!" Cardo adds, gleeful at the discomfort of Kuruk. "She did her 'duty'."

"Enough bickering!" Hisses Ap'lek. "Vicrul, lead on."

"The Jedi is here, somewhere," whispers Vicrul, as though Rey crouches behind a corner. "She will fight us to her dying breath."

Ushar laughs, which sounds more like the bark of a wild beast. "Ha! As has been foretold. What can one Jedi do against us?"

High above them, Rey grins at those words. She can sense the aggressive passion that drives them, vengeance, lust for violence, and she will face them as Vicrul says. But not yet. Rey lowers one of her hands and flexes her influence in the Force. The veins of crystal that extend out of the circle of glyphs surrounding Rey flashes, firing like the synapses of a large crystal brain. The corridor that the six Knights traverse through rumbles.

"What's that?" Trudgen demands. "That noise?"

Vicrul stares around, trying to categorise the power that makes the stone walls shudder around him.

"I don't know."

"It must be her!" Cries Cardo, his heart full of vengeance. "She-"

But Cardo never finishes his insult. Ahead of Vicrul, up the stone stairs leading to the temple's upper levels, a rushing sound makes him stop dead. The temple has its own organic air and water filtration system, orchestrated through a web of vines, plants and trees that make up an integral part of the ancient temple's bionetwork. Rey doesn't understand much of it, but she can sense where some of the water reserves are kept, and how to release them.

The Knights of Ren are suddenly engulfed in a ferocious torrent of water. Swept of their feet, the masked warriors descend violently down the steps they'd just traversed, but these are no ordinary warriors. Using their hands and weapons, they cling to the walls and challenge the tide.

"It's the Jedi!" Yells Vicrul over the rush of water. "She's doing this!"

"Raaaah!" Yells Ushar as his prosthetic metal fingers scrape the wall of the corridor. Ap'lek forces his executioner's axe into the wall, and pulls himself above the stream of water.

"Split-up!" He commands. "She'll have a harder time tracking us individually. Hunt her down."

Not having any qualms about going it alone, the Knights fight the water and cut off onto different paths, leaving Ushar to stubbornly climb the water-filled staircase. But Ap'lek's cunning pays off. Though Rey shifts doorways and alters the elevation of their paths, she can't prevent their approaches individually. Rey opens her eyes and her feet extend to touch the floor. A shrewd determination crosses her face, replacing the calmness she held when connected to the temple. Her sphere of sensory information shrinks, though it has strengthened thanks to being connected to the temple. Though not as acute, she can feel the six Knights travelling towards her, spreading out into separate paths.

Her hand itches to grip her lightsaber. She turns to look upon the gleaming silver hilt as it hovers in the statue's chest, giving it life. The yellow-green glow fills the room. Rey cannot use it to fight. She gazes to her left, through the high windows of the temple. Through the magnetic shield she can see the outer wall, and the many rectangular buildings making up the Final Order Fortress. She doesn't just need to buy time for the Resistance, she needs to stall the Knights of Ren until help arrives.

She sets off, weaponless, the Force her only ally, resolute in her mission to herd the Knights into her trap.

High upon the central building of the Final Order Fortress is situated the public executioner block, usually used by the Final Order to punish insubordination within their ranks. Hux decided to use this to film Finn's Reconditioning, as it is close enough for him to access from the senior command tower, but far enough away that the Resistance will not be able to find it, under heavy guard, and it's appearance will stir fear in his Stormtroopers. Unfortunately for Hux, there is one thing he hasn't encountered for.

Amidst Finn's screams, Hux continues his mocking of the Resistance:

"Soon FN-2187 will be rid of his weakness and rejoin our ranks, to do what he was meant to do; restore the Final Order to power, and provide us with our birthright; the galaxy itself!"

The degradation of Finn to a mere pawn in Hux's grand game is meant to override the influence he has in the Resistance and Final Order. At the moment, it is working; the hearts of Finn's Resistance friends grow heavy with despair and his Stormtrooper siblings with fear, but in some of them, another emotion burns hot and unbound - outrage.

Some still only fear for their own lives. BP-7937, who is controlling the Reconditioning Unit Finn sits in, has been scared into following orders to the letter from now on. But his fellow guard, TN-2729, has other ideas. Her heart burns with anguish. She has become slowly more disturbed and disgusted watching Finn be tortured into madness before her, and as her empathy for Finn multiplies so does her contempt for the cruel Grand Admiral. She holds her blaster in her hands, but they shake at the swirl of emotions inside her.

"TN-2729!" Barks BP-7937 opposite her, the voice coming through her helmet. "Control yourself."

But TN-2729's shaking continues. There's only one way it will stop, and she knows it. She aims her blaster pistol at her partner.

"S-stop it," she says, shaking with rage. "Stop h-hurting him."

But BP-7937 is more scared of Reconditioning than he is a blaster pistol. His hand stays on the control pad but moves, slowly, towards his own blaster.

"Lower your weapon, TN-2729," he commands in a low voice. "That's an order!"

"I said, STOP!"

As BP-7937's hand finds his pistol grip, he is forced backwards by the impact of three blaster bolts piercing his scarlet breast plate. He lands hard on the floor, a smoking hole in his chest, dead. The Reconditioning Unit powers down, and Finn gasps in relief and breathes deep and heavy.

"Who….?" Says Finn weakly.

TN-2729 walks around the apparatus holding Finn and pushes a button. The bonds holding his hands and feet release, and he almost collapses to the ground. TN-2729 catches him, hoisting him up. He looks up at her, dazed.

"Who're you?" He whispers.

TN-2729 honestly doesn't have an answer, so she repeats her number at him. Finn realises he's being rescued by a Stormtrooper.

"That's not a name. What's your name?"

TN-2729 pauses for a moment, then does something so dangerous it makes her heart leap. She takes off her helmet and tosses it aside, revealing her short crop of curly hair and brown eyes.

"My name's... Tunine. I'm here to rescue you."

Finn looks into her eyes. After taking such punishment, his charismatic grin dazzles her. Tunine quickly realises that her voice just reverberated round her, and spots the sentry droid opposite them still broadcasting a holo across the stars. Panicked, she raises her blaster pistol and reduces the droid to scrap. She arms Finn with a spare then boosts him to walk.

"Let's get you out of here," she assures him. "We're about to have a lot of company!"

Below them in the senior command tower, a deathly silence has fallen on all those present. The holo transmission was cut from broadcast just moments ago, as Tunine introduced herself on air after committing a grievous act of insubordination. The gravity of the backfiring of this broadcast weighs on all present. The petty officers barely dare to breath. Lieutenant Quonit looks down at his boots, holding his useless arm anxiously. General Engell studies her datapad profusely. Admiral Griss stares ahead, burying the resentment and embarrassment from what he'd just witnessed. Grand Admiral Hux has his back to all, compartmentalising his reactions to what had just happened through sheer force of will. Finally, he speaks.

"Lieutenant Quonit," his voice is low, but rage still bubbled beneath. "Dispatch a team to the roof of the war room to secure TN-2729 and FN-2187 immediately."

"Yes, Grand Admiral."

"Than-"

In his attempt to keep his mannerism intact, Hux had almost stretched his façade too far. He catches himself, and alters his 'Thank-you' into something more deserving of his rank.

"Be quick about it."

His words are almost drowned by the sound of gunfire below him. The transmission has bolstered the courage of every Resistance soldier, whilst leaving each Stormtrooper a whirl of fear and confused relief. More and more armoured soldiers fall, stunned by Resistance blasters.

"Keep pushing!" Belts Poe over the din of blasters, a vigorous grin plastered across his face.

Either side of the stretch of land the Resistance slowly encroaches upon, two sealed blast doors open and the third wave of Stormtroopers spill onto the staircases, doubling the foes numbers. Among them march the tall guard droids, who resist the stun bolts of the Resistance blasters far better than Stormtroopers do. Poe dashes forward to support the frontline of the left staircase.

"What are those?" Poe mutters to himself whilst dodging blaster bolts. He skids behind his troops and yells over their volly.

"Don't let them take a foothold, push up those stairs! For the Resistance! For Finn! FIGHT FOR FINN!"

The web of energy coursing through the ancient temples walls are mysterious but not invisible to Ap'lek. He can faintly sense the energy converging up ahead, and decides that is where they are destined to emerge victorious. His leather boots barely make a sound on the dusty stone floor, though his clothes are still damp and heavy. He holds his weapon before him, ready to strike at a moment's notice. Ap'lek peers into a side path, but finds another suspicious dead-end. He reaches the end of the corridor and almost cuts Ushar in half, who appears from a hallway to his right.

"Argh!" Curses Ushar. "Watch you blade!"

"Watch yourself!" Ap'lek snaps back. "I told you to split up. Why are you here?"

Ushar growls angrily, daring Ap'lek to accuse him of stupidity. "I don't know… the walkways..."

"The Jedi is wise to our methods," comes a synthesized voice from behind.

Ap'lek and Ushar turn to lay eyes on the grated mask of Vicrul, holding his vibroscythe aloft. Vicrul examined the opposing hallways his brothers had just appeared from.

"She has changed the temple around us. There's only one way to access the core room now."

"Where? Where is it Vicrul?" Ap'lek asks eagerly.

Vicrul points with a gloved finger ahead at three tall doorways. The three warriors cross the threshold into a familiar atrium. Large pillars stretch up the walls and interlink across the impressively high ceiling. To their right, the afternoon sunlight of Othkore parts through six tall windows, the Final Order Fortress visible beyond, the sound of blaster-fire muted somewhat through the magnetic shielding. But the sight the three brothers crave lies at the opposite end of the room. Up several large steps of stone, with cracks showing the glowing yellow-green crystal veins, stands the handsome statue of stone. Surrounded by glowing patterns and glyphs, her detail less face is lowered, her arms parted, her chest bare, and inside - a lightsaber, glowing in the heat of molten fire far below them. Vicrul sneers from beneath his mask.

"That's it."

The Knights of Ren aren't ones to pause on ceremony. All three of them lurch forward, Ap'lek fumbling beneath his damp coat to retrieve the red, cracked crystal he'd ripped from Kylo Ren's lightsaber not hours earlier. He grips it tight in his hand, tasting victory, but a loud rumble answers their advance. Even as their boots pound across it, the floor begins to move. A grinding sound, like a mortar meeting pestle, is deafening to their ears. The three warriors stagger backwards as they watch the steps of stone rise, the statue elevating higher up the far wall as it is lifted out of their reach. The crystal veins before them are exposed further as the stone bricks shy away from them, placing the statue out of their reach. A circle of glyphs glows on the floor before the statue, and the stone bricks morph to form a staircase digging into the rock to a room below, and out steps a triumphant Jedi.

"You!" Hisses Vicrul at the sight of Rey.

Rey smiles a confident, perky smile. Her loose hair catches on the heated air below her, the molten glow casting her in extreme light. She sheds her cloak, preferring the movement allowed by her light sleeves and flowing tunic. A defiant glint sparkles in her brown eyes as she watches the Knights of Ren below her.

Ushar swings his warclub onto his shoulder, ready. Vicrul aims his vibroscythe aggressively and Ap'lek hides the crystal in his right hand, holding his axe in his left. A welcome mechanical laugh greets them as Trudgen, Kuruk and Cardo join them from the rear. Two bombs spark in Cardo's hands, which itch to pay Rey back for the injuries he suffers from. Kuruk loads explosive rounds into his rifle, and Trudgen vibroclever scrapes across the floor behind him. The Knights of Ren are ready to kill. Over-confident and gleeful, Ap'lek encroaches.

"Step aside, Jedi," he shouts at Rey. "You cannot halt fate!"

"You're right," retorts Rey, overflowing with tenacity at the challenge before her. "And neither can you. The Force is with me."

Behind Rey, in the heart of the statue, hovers her Jedi weapon. Deep down she yearns to put the shimmering blade between herself and the Knights of Ren, but she has to find a new way. She stands atop an elevated plinth, the statue just behind her. Descending a few feet and across the room are her six armoured foes. As they surge forwards, planning to overwhelm her, she calms the race of thoughts in her mind. She crouches down, places her palms onto the crystal veins before her, and pours her desire into the Force. The crystal veins pulses like synapses, and the room bends to her will.

Below; Ap'lek, Ushar, and Vicrul gain ground as they climb the stone steps towards Rey, but their relatively easy ascent vanishes. The large slab Ushar stands on suddenly pulls itself from beneath his feet, sending him flying into Trudgen. Ap'lek dodges and weaves, but a brick moves aside and his foot falls through the floor, where he's trapped. Kuruk unleashes a barrage of blaster bolts, only for a stone shield to shoot up to protect Rey at the last moment. Cardo and Vicrul are thrown backwards by a telepathetic blast in the Force, skidding into loose rock and debris. The Knights of Ren do not just fight Rey, they're fighting the very temple itself.

Sweat drips from Rey's face as she fights to keep her concentration intact, it takes all she has to subdue such nimble warriors. But she must keep up. The outcome of the prophecy depends on it.

The sound of blaster fire rings high as a wounded Finn and his rescuer dash down a tall corridor of the Final Order Fortress.

"How do you know where we're going?!" Calls Tunine as she returns fire at their Stormtrooper pursuers. But Finn looks with more than just his eyes.

"It's an instinct. A feeling. More than that..."

Finn's heart swells as he nears the person he can sense through the Force. He holsters his blaster and turns a corner, opening his arms and calling his friends name.

"Rose!"

"FINN!"

He had never seen the short technician run so fast. She dives into his chest and wraps her arms tight around him, the tears coming thick and fast. Finn kisses his friend on the head as she cries.

"We could hear you, on the broadcast-" she says between sobs. "I'm so sorry, I-"

But Rose's needless apology is drowned by the mass of arms and faces that surround them both, all reaching to hug Finn. A single tear wells in Jaytu's brown eyes. Huf apologises over and over, whilst Leven ruffles Finn's hair.

"We thought we'd lost you," murmurs Jaytu.

"Well, you got me back!" Finn says through a huge grin.

"Is this really the time?!" Barks Tunine at the happy group, as she rounds the corner with blaster bolts just skimming the wall that shields them. Finn admits to himself that she's right. He taps her shoulder with his fist.

"This is Tunine everybody!" Then he pries Rose from his chest. "What's the plan Rose?"

Rose wipes the tears from her face and suddenly looks maliciously determined. "Follow me!"

Just below them, Poe is having his own problems. The Resistance is shrinking rapidly, and the K-8IX Conformity Droids are proving a problem for the stun tactics. Poe grows tired of their protection to stun blasts, switches his blaster settings, and headshots an advancing droid. It falls to the ground with a 'CLUNK!'

"Don't waste your stuns on droids!" He calls to his forces. "Come on Rose, where-"

But a noise to his right answers him. Either side of the battlefield, the Resistance pushes to take the twin stairways that lead up to the senior command tower above, and reinforcements being pumped in through blast doors at the bottom of the staircases are proving difficult to overcome. From behind a barricade, Poe watches as the gaggle of Stormtroopers to his right are ambushed by stun fire from behind, and he sees a face emerge that makes his heart leap out of his chest. He dashes from his barricade, dodging enemy blaster fire and the bodies of stunned Stormtroopers to throw his arms around the one man he desired to see again.

"FINN!"

Finn practically lifts Poe off the ground as they pull each other close. When they break apart, Poe pulls the familiar leather vest from his shoulders and returns it to Finn, a look of flush anger across his face as he straightens the garment tightly.

"That's for almost throwing your life away! Don't you ever do that to me AGAIN!"

Rose, Jaytu, Tunine, and the infiltration team look worried at this outburst. Finn looks slightly reproachful, but can see Poe is only half serious.

"Well I'm back now, General." They both share a look of genuine longing, before Finn clears his throat.

"What's the plan?"

Poe nods, slapping Finn on the shoulder excitedly and peaks round the corner of the blast door, pointing.

"Hux and his lackeys are up there, but there aren't enough of us to storm this place."

"That's where you come in!" Pipes up Rose excitedly.

Finn looks at her, confused, then to all the determined faces of Jaytu, Poe, and the entire group.

"Me?" He asks, nonplussed. "What can I do?"

But before any of his friends can open their mouths, the newcomer speaks up.

"What you said to Hux," begins Tunine, finding the words as she goes. "About them using us, about Reconditioning… you were right."

Understanding dawns on Finn. "The uprising?"

Poe nods. "Your new friend here is right, only you can do it. Only you can get these people to see the truth."

Finn stares at Poe with a whole new understanding and appreciation. He finally sees what Finn has wanted him to see. But Tunine has more to say.

"That might be more difficult," she begins reproachfully. "Hux has some kind of personal device that can cause us pain, makes it hard to think inside your helmet. That's why I left mine behind."

Finn's usual kind and welcoming face suddenly knots in deep resentment and anger. Rose feels his contempt too, but her study of the detailed holos of Othkore aid her yet again.

"I think I know where we can override both that and Hux's broadcast; the Supreme Leader's throne in the war room!" She says, confidently. "We'll have to be quick though."

"Right," Poe is back to being the leader of the Resistance. "Rose, Jaytu. Get Finn to this war room and get his voice heard, we need all the help we can get if we're to overwhelm their defences."

He prods a finger into Tunine's chest, who becomes anxious.

"You," he says, a look of utter seriousness challenging her. "Thank-you so much for your bravery, but I need you to look out for Finn again. Can you do that?"

Tunine responds in the only way she knows how.

"Yes, sir!"

"Right! The rest of you, with me!"

The remainders of the infiltration team roar with approval, upholstering their blaster and joining the firefight still raging behind Poe. Rose, Jaytu and Tunine prepare as well, but Poe notices something in Finn's eyes that kills victory, kills revolution, and can haunt a man forever. Doubt. Poe does the only thing he can; pulling the jacket he'd worn all the way through the battle, and returning it to Finn. The familiar feel of it's leather around his shoulders, Finn perks up.

"Thanks, Poe," he says earnestly, but Poe can still sense apprehension. "I just, don't know if I-"

But Poe Dameron has seen enough. He has witnessed Finn do such wonderful, courageous things and proven himself not only in his eyes but all of their allies and enemies. He'd challenged his friends for good reason, and they stand here, now, driven by his voice and sacrifice. The fact Finn can't comprehend his own greatness, his own success, angers Poe so much his discipline slips for a moment. And he does the one thing that will both shock Finn and reveal just how Poe feels about him.

Poe grabs Finn's face in his hands and kisses him.

He holds for just as long as he will give himself, before breaking away. Finn looks completely stunned for a moment, then sheer joy breaks across his face. Just behind him, Poe can see Rose practically vibrating with awe. But Poe ignores this, and with his heart beating fast, he tells Finn exactly what he needs to hear.

"You can do this," he holds Finn's head close, their foreheads almost touching. "I believe in you."

Finn is speechless for once, studying every facet of Poe's face. He nods, a flame of hope igniting in his chest. Poe finally releases him.

"Now go!"

Finn turns without a second glance, joining Jaytu, Tunine and Rose as they dash up towards the war room. Poe moves to rejoin his forces in the push to take the senior command tower, hoping with all his heart and soul he will see Finn again.

And as Finn runs through the corridors of the Final Order Fortress, dodging patrols and sneaking up corridors, he thinks of nothing but Poe. Of the man who believed in him from the beginning. Of the man who put clothes on his back. Of the man who was among the first to speak for his character rather than his ability to kill. Finn's cheeks hurt from smiling, and he realises that all the support and approval the Resistance can offer wouldn't have measured up to what he's just been given. In a silent prayer, Finn thanks the Force for bringing him and Poe together.

"It's through here," whispers Rose.

She pokes her head around the corner of the walkway whilst Finn, Jaytu and Tunine pause. Beyond, two pairs of Stormtroopers patrol the hallway, and the tall door to the war room.

"You take them two out," suggests Tunine, indicating the furthest guards to Rose and Jaytu. "I'll take the ones coming at us."

Finn begins to speak up but all three silence him. They push their backs against the walkway wall and await the approaching guards. The two armoured Stormtroopers turn towards them, and see Tunine first.

"Hey w-"

Neither of them get a word out before Tunine hits one with a stun blast from her pistol, and shoves one guard into the other. Rose and Jaytu dash out into the wide corridor, closing in on their targets, and drop them with two well aimed stun bolts. Tunine straightens up.

"Should I remove their helmets?" She asks, tentatively. Finn shakes his head.

"If this throne does what Rose says it can, we won't need to."

The two of them approach as Jaytu holds her blaster rifle aloft, Rose slicing away at the door controls.

"The codes are a day old, but-"

The tall durasteel doors retreat into the wall, and the four infiltrators enter the war room; rectangular and high ceilinged with a thin holotable at its centre, surrounded by a number of empty chairs. The largest is just before them, more of a throne, slightly raised and with controls inlaid in the arms. The swirl of Othkore's dusty atmosphere beat against the tall windows opposite them in a constant storm.

"Walk me through this, Rose," mutters Finn as she beckons him to sit in the throne.

Its tall and sharp design is ill-fighting for him, but he makes himself comfortable all the same. Rose frets over the arm controls with her ring of slicing keys, whilst Jaytu and Tunine cover the entrance. Rose flashes Finn a slightly malicious little grin.

"The 'Grand Admiral' has reverse engineered my jammer to work for him, but we'll use that against him." She tinkers with the controls as she speaks to Finn.

"This throne is the only other place with that kind of access, and if we use my signal, he can't."

Rose finishes her alterations of the throne controls, flipping a metal cover back over the circuitry.

"Right! Done! We'll be broadcasting in about ten seconds."

Beads of sweat appear on Finn's temple, as his eyes dart from side to side uncomfortably. He rubs the back of his neck.

"Just a few seconds to think of what to say to save everyone then..." mutters Finn.

Rose places a small hand on his large one, gripping it tight, and flashing him a self-assured smile.

"Remember what Poe said. I believe in you too, Finn."

Finn nods at her, fighting back the impulse to pull her into another hug. "Well I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. Thanks for saving me, twice."

Rose's cheeks squish as she smiles. She indicates a countdown with her fingers, then the holorecievers in the chair activate, and Finn's face is broadcast into every Final Order frequency available.

"Stormtroopers! This is Finn, of the Resistance."

All around the Final Order Fortress, Stormtroopers react to the voice emanating inside their helmets, looking to one another in confusion. Inside his defended tower, Hux whirls around to look upon a giant holoimage of Finn's face. His frustration almost dispels his tactical arrogance.

"Impossible! How are they doing this?" Demands Hux. "I want this transmission terminated now!"

"Grand Admiral!" Shouts General Engell over Finn's words. "They've infiltrated the war room! It's coming from the Supreme Leader's throne itself!"

Hux's frustration turns to horror as he realises he's been shut out of his own comm system. The only thing holding his soldiers in line now is fear.

"I was like you once," continues Finn earnestly. "Just a number. Eight-Seven to my squad. But everything, from my training, my armour, my name - it was all just a tool of the Final Order, of control. They've promised you the galaxy but who will win it for them? You will. And who will enforce their rule whilst they enjoy the spoils? You will. Because you are not soldiers to them - you are weapons. That's why you don't have a name - because weapons don't need names. You were raised to do one thing, and you believe you don't have a choice…"

Pain and frustration permeates Finn's face, but he pushes on.

"I'm here to tell you that you do. There's always a choice. You don't have to kill for them, for captains and officers who don't know your name. You can do anything you want; run, escape, fight, live. The only thing keeping you in line is your fear. Don't fear these cowards! You outnumber them a hundred to one! Throw away your helmet, deny them that control over you! In my first battle I made my first real choice; I will never kill for them again. Now I'm here making another one: the people who treated me this way do not deserve to do as they please!"

In the atmosphere around Othkore, the squadron of TIE Daggers who fled earlier slow down. Aimless and without masters, they cannot go back. But the face and voice that speaks to them over comms gives them a second option. Three officers at the trooper barracks on Canto Bight panic as they try to cut the transmission, but already Scout Troopers and TIE Pilots have heard Finn's words, exchanging knowing looks.

"Because they DON'T CARE!" Finn yells across hundreds of worlds. "THEY WILL TORTURE AND SHOOT YOU THE MOMENT YOU BECOME USELESS TO THEM, THEY WILL GIVE YOU NOTHING! BUT WE ARE NOT USELESS! WE MAKE OUR OWN DECISIONS!"

Tears stream down Finn's cheeks as he remembers the years of being neglected, of being ashamed of showing his face, his humanity. The same anguish is felt in the cockpits of TIE Daggers circling Cloud City, of the seventy rundown Stormtroopers who watch Finn's message in their Coruscant garrison, their officers now wary, and finally those on Othkore. Most have only seen simulations, forced to see their enemies as just numbers too. Through the Force, Finn can feel his pain mirrored across the stars. But he won't leave them to suffer.

"THROW AWAY YOUR HELMET, YOUR NUMBER, YOU DON'T NEED IT, YOU NEVER DID! AND IF YOU ARE ANGRY LIKE I AM, OUTRAGED AT BEING TREATED LIKE YOU'RE NOTHING, FEEL THE PAIN OF BEING TREATED AS WORTHLESS, AS WEAPONS, THEN STAND! STAND WITH THE RESISTANCE ON OTHKORE, RIGHT NOW! YOU WERE NEVER NOTHING, THAT WAS ANOTHER OF THEIR LIES! TOGETHER, WE CAN TAKE THAT AWAY FROM THEM. NO MORE NUMBERS. NO MORE RECONDITIONING. NO MORE STORMTROOPERS! NEVER AGAIN!"

It begins slowly at first. A refused order, a hesitation. But soon the dominoes begin to fall. Within moments, the barracks on Canto Bight explode into a firefight. The fleeing squadron of TIE Daggers fleeing Othkore slowly, one by one, turn back. The skies of Cloud City are suddenly clear of patrols. The city of Canto Bight catches fire. Three officers lay dead as the metal grating of Coruscant Level 1212 reverberates with the sounds of rushing Stormtroopers, and the clang of discarded helmets. The spark catches, and fire burns throughout the galaxy.

"It's not working Grand Admiral!" Yells a petty officer.

The senior command tower is raught with chaos. Stormtroopers quiver and shake as they're controlled by a sonic signal emanating from Hux's wrist, the K-8IX Conformity Droids leering over them. But Hux ignores the dozen or so Stormtroopers in his vicinity, instead focusing on a much bigger problem.

"EXPLAIN!" He demands, spit flying from his mouth. "EXPLAIN WHY WE CAN'T STOP THIS TRANSMISSION!"

The petty officer looks terrified as she scrambles over her comm controls. "Th-the pirate slicing signal we reverse-engineered is being used." She splutters. "Whilst it's active, we can't broadcast your signal, Grand Admiral. We can't even relay orders to our garrison fighting down there!"

Hux turns his anxious gaze around the room. All Stormtroopers around him are under his control, and he doesn't have the conventional means to broadcast his own method of conformity over comms. He sneers to himself, he is worrying too much. All those years under his father have taught him one thing; never underestimate fear.

"It matters not!" He retorts with false confidence. "My men are exceptionally trained, programmed from birth." He approaches the viewport again to bare witness to the battle for the staircases below. "They will not fall to such-"

But what Hux sees shocks him to his core.

The blaster fire has stopped.

Poe Dameron, bruised and bleeding, pokes his head over a pile of debris. He doesn't look into the multiple blank masks of Stormtrooper helmets. Instead, his eyes are met by the gaze of so many different faces. Brown eyes, green eyes, dark hair, curly hair, bald, buzzed, scarred. So many look back at him with determination, anguish, sadness, drive. They have all been touched by Finn's words. Poe knows this when he realises the only sound he hears is the clatter of helmets as they hit the floor.

Finn holds his head in his hands. Years of repressed sadness and rage have worn him, and he feels as though he's aged several years. His cry for solidarity took strength he didn't know he had, but it is done. Rose, Jaytu and Tunine stare at him in awe. It's silent in the war room, apart from Finn's heaving breaths. Then, a chime sounds from Rose's commlink.

"Finn? Buddy, you there?"

Finn looks up, dazed. "Yeah?"

"Get down here, now. It worked. It worked!"

Shock and relief floods Finn's body. He looks at Rose, whose eyes are fresh with tears of sorrow and grief for her friend.

"I'm looping your broadcast," she says quietly. "Along with the coordinates for Othkore. Hux won't be able to get through now."

Finn nods. Jaytu and Tunine pull him to his feet, but their expressions are different. A mix of sympathy, anguish, and triumph. The four of them arm themselves and rush towards the exit, down the corridors and turbolifts, facing no guards. As they approach the blast doors they left behind not minutes before, some Stormtroopers are still out cold, whilst dotted around are discarded helmets. Finn's heart leaps. When he enters the courtyard of the senior command tower, he has no words for what he sees.

A huge force advancing up the staircases towards the tower. The soldiers are all mismatched, with the yellow, brown, orange and green of the Resistance uniform mixed in with the bright scarlet of Stormtrooper armour. Finn can see Resistance soldiers and Stormtroopers alike, fighting side by side. If there are any Stormtrooper loyalists Finn didn't spot them, as only a legion of K-8IX Conformity Droids hold firm at the blast doors of the command tower, their tall stature and heavy blaster rifles proving threatening for even such a magnificent force as this. Finn dashes across the almost empty courtyard to join the front lines, and he's immediately noticed. Helmetless Stormtroopers turn in shock when they recognize him.

"It's the Finn!-"

"-FN-2187! I heard rumors for so long-"

"-We're with you til the-"

"-Did you really kill Phasma?! I-"

The chorus of voices overwhelm Finn is he is hounded from every angle. He is speechless. Rose congratulates her new allies, whilst Jaytu and Tunine try to give answers of their own. From the front line, Poe pauses between a volley of blaster fire to watch his new allies recognise a legendary hero. As Poe watches Finn's face light up with happiness, he feels as though he is floating.

"Colonel!" He calls to Finn over the din of the battlefield. "Let's do this!"

Finn sets yearnful eyes upon Poe and nods.

"Resistance!" Finn yells triumphantly. "With me! Seize the tower! Let's take these cowards down for good!"

A cheer goes up from over four hundred Stormtroopers and Resistance allies. Blaster bolts scar and burn the armour of the droids standing between them and their goal. From General Poe Dameron to the youngest Stormtrooper recruit, in that moment, every single person fighting for the Resistance can taste victory.

Through the Force, Rey hears Finn's words. She can feel the pain he has hidden for so long, and the strength it takes for him to release it. Though Rey is proud of his words, and the effect it has on the battle below, there is only one feeling that fills her mind; relief. Her friend is safe. Things are looking up for them.

But Rey's concentration doesn't waver. Still she commands the core room of the temple to alter at her behest. Still she forces these formidable warriors back, her control and finesse increasing. Still the barrier between her and the temple weakens, as her reactions become that of moving stone and levitating rock, attacking an outraged Trudgen and defending her from the blaster bolts and bombs of Cardo and Kuruk. For Rey's ally is the Force.

Unfortunately, the Knights of Ren have each other.

As Ushar falls prey to yet another telepathic blast, Ap'lek uses him as a fleshy springboard to leap high into the air. Before Rey can react, Vicrul does the same by hiding in the shadow of Cardo, dashing swiftly between the barrage of loose rocks that meet him. Rey forces the other four warriors back with another blast in the Force, but the cunning pair approach her now, ready. She braces for an attack, lifting rocks and debris into the air with pure thought, but Vicrul ducks, and Ap'lek targets not her but the statue behind. Panic surges through Rey - the prophecy!

The rocks drop from the air and Rey calls her weapon. The light of the yellow-green blade fills the space as it sweeps through the air in a commanding arc. The blade rips through Vicrul's vibroscythe and shoulder, and darts towards Ap'lek, who has ample time to roll backwards down the stairs and avoid it. Vicrul staggers backwards too, but retrieves a vibroknife from his jacket and points it at Rey, determined.

Without it's crystal power source, the power of the ancient temple begins to fade, slowly. The walls shudder, kicking up dust, and the magnetic shield begins to weaken. A gust of wind blasts through the high windows to Rey's left, carrying in the red sand from Othkore's surface. Rey had no choice but to call her lightsaber to her, not wanting to risk any of them getting close. But Ap'lek knows this too. Without the aid of the temple to stall them, the other four Knights ascend the steps. Rey holds her saber firmly but the six brothers surround the stairs below her. Even from a few metres away, she can hear them whisper in the language she doesn't recognise.

"Mes niant sis nuriga, kia tave ren,"

The mechanical voices and faceless helms make a terrifying chorus. All six of them stand level, weapons raised, chanting together.

"kia tave jen'- garthaz, kia tave hadzuska,"

They watch fear and panic colour the edges of their foe's emotions, tasting their kill.

"kia tave jena'tes is visa zveris."

But Rey is no longer ruled by fear, by naive deception. As the temple slowly loses altitude, Rey knows this was always going to be the outcome. Faced by her chanting, intimidating foes; Rey smiles. Though her back is against the wall, she has all she needs to truly defeat them.

"Grand Admiral, our forces are being overwhelmed!"

"-can't reach the garrison, they're not responding!"

"We've lost the courtyard-"

"They're closing in on the blast doors, we're losing droids Grand Admiral! Stormtroopers and Resistance both, the stairs are almost lost!"

Voices of panicked officers fill the senior command tower. Armitage Hux feels as though his brain is being cooked inside his skull. Veins bulge uncomfortably in his temple as his head reacts to a lifetime's worth of stress. And he reaches his limit.

"SHUT UP!" He screams. "WILL YOU ALL JUST SHUT-UP!"

Silence. The only sound is the ringing of his wrist-mounted device, and the clicking of Stormtrooper armour as the forty or so guarding the room struggle against its power. They're frozen in place, paralyzed into servitude. Hux's breath comes in heaves, gritting his teeth against a sharp headache as he tries to think.

"General Engell," begins Hux in a voice trembling with frustration. "Mobilize all Stormtroopers and Conformity Droids in this room. They will bolster our defences."

Engell looks from her fellow Generals to Hux in astonishment.

"But, Grand Admiral, they have more-"

"DON'T!"

Hux raises a single gloved finger, silencing Engell.

"I...am well aware… of what I am doing. They will cover the doors against insurgents, they will lay down their lives for the Final Order. They will do what they were raised to do. Get it done."

Engell does as ordered. The remaining Conformity Droids march alongside the forced Stormtroopers as they line up against the blast doors, unable to resist. Some of their hands shake as they hold their blasters aloft. Hux pays them no mind, glad only that they are still under his control. It's all under his control. The blast doors open and the sounds of the clash outside is loud and chaotic. The droids and troopers surge out onto the battlefront, leaving behind few remaining troopers until there's only a handful still present to protect the senior staff.

"What next, Grand Admiral?" Asks Admiral Griss, barely withholding his disdain. "What do we do now we are outmatched and outnumbered?"

Hux turns to survey the room. His face is tort in a horrific smile, the vessels in his eyes red and ready to pop.

"Bring up a holo of the battlefield, Lieutenant Quonit,"

The command tower, outer gate and courtyard appear before Hux in holoimage form. The gate is still half shut, with over four hundred enemy soldiers storming up the split staircases. They are nearly at the door.

"What do we do, Grand Admiral?" Asks young Quonit in a small, desperate voice. Hux can smell defeat poisoning the young officer's mind, but not for long. Hux's eyebrows disappear up his forehead as he is barely able to suppress a mask of madness.

"Prepare 'Contingency Kull', Lieutenant."

The colour drains from Quonit's face. He hovers a hand over a button to the fortress' controls, terrified.

"R-ready, Grand Admiral."

"Hold on a minute," interrupts Admiral Griss, looking around at his fellow Generals in shock. "What is the 'Contingency'? What-"

But Hux's eyes bulge wide, ignoring Griss.

"Arm, Lieutenant."

Quonit activates his control panel. On the holo and outside, hundreds of anti-vehicle turrets suddenly appear from shielded mounts atop the fortress' outer wall. Instead of turning outward to search for enemy starfighters, they turn inward.

"Grand Admiral, what about our own troops?!" Screeches General Engell.

"YOU CAN'T!" Yells Admiral Griss over the still whirring sound of Hux's sonic device. "YOU'VE SENT OUR TROOPERS OUT THERE TOO! YOU CAN'T-"

But Admiral Griss never speaks again. Two blaster bolts hit him, one in the chest and one in the neck, as he lurches towards Quonit's hand on the controls. With a gasp of air and a gurgle of blood, he stares horrified at the cowardly maniac he allowed to squirm through the Final Order's ranks. The nozzle of Hux's SE-44C blaster pistol still smokes as he returns it neatly to his belt, his admiral parade uniform still pristine. His gaze moves over the body of Griss to Quonit's terrified expression.

"Fire."

Just outside the blast doors, Poe and Finn are making ground on the frontlines.

"Stun the troopers, destroy the droids!" Calls back Finn as he adjusts his tactics for the situation at hand. But the setting sun of Othkore picks out something that makes his heart stop.

"Poe!" He points to the peak of the fortress wall. "What is-?!"

But Poe has no time to explain.

"Hux has gone mad!" He yells. "Take cover! Wall turr-"

The mounted blasters of the fortress wall fire inwards in unison. They aren't made to target enemy soldiers, so their blasts are random without guidance, but their radius is huge. An entire squad of Resistance and ex-Stormtroopers meet their end as an ion missile detonates the hastily made barricade they cower behind. Several others destroy a large portion of the outer staircase, Colonel Terez retreating her back against the wall, watching as her soldiers are slain. Snap Wexley is knocked backwards, his ears ringing as several volleys hit the wall he is using for cover. The explosion catches some of Hux's personal garrison guarding the blast doors, whose muscles twitch from the sonic transmission affecting their helmets. Even as fire and ion energy sweeps towards them, they are unable to react and are engulfed, screaming.

Poe cannot hear anything. The multiple explosions have blown one of his eardrums. He squints around, in the fire, sparks, debris, smoke, and sees a familiar hand. He dives for Finn and shields him with his body, holding him close, summoning his remaining strength. All thoughts of the battle slip away, and Poe only prays for survival.