The Millenium Falcon left the hangar at the last second.
...
Rey and Kylo Ren were thrown into the wall as the Star Destroyer jerked forward violently.
...
In the mess hall, Finn, Poe and Chewbacca stumbled, grabbing hold of tables and chairs to keep their balance. Even after the initial jump, the ship continued to shake. Not just shake but vibrate and jerk back and forth under their feet as though alive.
...
On the bridge, Leia's eyes were closed and her hands moved the stick nonstop. Course correcting the ship as it moved through hyperspace a dozen times every few moments.
...
Lower on the ship, Phasma and her escort were thrown against the walls.
Phasma took her chance.
"Armor override, Code: IXX234. Activate," she said, and the two Death Troopers flanking her fell forward, armor locking at the joints.
"Binders unlock, Code: 1324YH. Activate." Phasma's binders dropped off.
She slammed her elbow into one stormtrooper's helmet, knocking him against the wall, kicked another in the chest, knocking him stumbling into two others. Phasma took the blaster pistol from the first stormtrooper's belt, flipped it to stun and fired one, two, three, times. The remaining stormtroopers hit the ground.
"I'm sorry," Phasma said. "But you should have believed in me. You were supposed to have my back no matter what."
She rushed away.
...
In the engine room, Zeb held tight to a railing as the entire room vibrated around him.
"Sir, I don't know what's going on up on the bridge, but the engines don't like it," a technician reported. "If I didn't know any better I'd say someone was trying to pilot this thing manually."
"Just keep it online," Zeb ordered.
...
The Finalizer
"Emperor's black bones, they actually did it," Hux muttered as the Conqueror jumped to lightspeed. "Do we have their transponder signal?"
"Tracking now," a bridge officer said.
"Pursuit course," Hux ordered. "Run them down. We still have men aboard that ship."
...
The Crait System
The Conqueror, with the New Hope still attached, dropped out of Hyperspace. The bone-white surface of Crait loomed in the viewport.
"Just like dodging blaster bolts," Leia said, releasing the controls and slumping slightly.
"Princess, that was amazing," Hera breathed. "I can't believe that actually worked."
"Me neither." Leia looked up suddenly. She sighed. "We're not done yet."
Sparks began flying from the control panels as she spoke.
"Zeb," Hera said into her commlink, "What's going wrong down there?"
"Every damn thing!" Zeb snapped over the line. Things seemed to be exploding somewhere nearby. "Our power cells don't agree with First Order engines, we took the systems from cold to full power too fast, whatever kind of flying we just did burned out half the relays."
"Ma'am!" a Resistance soldier called from the main controls. "We came out too close to the gravity well of the planet. We're being pulled down."
"Divert all power to the engines. Take it from life support if you have to. Keep us in the air," Hera ordered.
"Don't bother," Leia said. "We need to get down to the Alliance base somehow."
"We're landing the Star Destroyer, aren't we?" Hera said.
"We're landing the Star Destroyer." Leia grabbed the controls again as the ship dipped into the atmosphere.
Flame blossomed across the hull.
"We don't have shields!" Hera said as every gauge on the console red-lined.
Bits of the hull began peeling away.
Leia manipulated the controls, her eyes sliding shut again. The Conqueror began to turn sidelong, putting it's port side, and the docked bulk of the New Hope, planetward. The New Hope's hull lit up as it broke the atmosphere ahead of the Conqueror.
"We have thrusters," Hera called to Leia.
"Keep them on standby," Leia said calmly, eyes still closed. "If we fire them going at these speeds we'll tear the ship in half. Wait for my mark."
Below, Crait's arid surface gleamed with reflected sunlight.
"Ackbar," Leia said into the comm. "Do you still have remote access to the New Hope?"
"Affirmative," Ackbar said.
"Detach now."
The New Hope's docking clamps detached. The two ships separated. The Conqueror's plunge leveled off slightly without the other ship's mass.
"Thrusters one and two, fire," Leia said.
The two thrusters on the Star Destroyer's starboard fired, righting the ship, prow pointed at the planet's surface.
"Cut one and two. Fire six and eight."
The thrusters fired on the ship's underbelly, pushing against the ship's terminal dive.
"It's not enough," Hera said. "We're still going to hit prow first."
The surface loomed in the viewport. Somewhere below and behind, the New Hope made landfall, crashing to the planet's surface with an explosion that reduced the ship to flame and shrapnel.
"Fire five and seven."
The thrusters fired along side the others on the ship's underbelly. Slowly, grudgingly, the prow began to lift. The sharp cracks of stress fractures spiderwebbed across the hull as the ship's inertia fought with the lift of the thrusters.
"Fire all ventral thrusters," Leia said.
"But the stress on the hull. We'll snap in half," Hera said.
"Do it."
All the thrusters on the underside of the ship fired.
The hull groaned. Deep in the bowels of the ship, things began to snap.
Leia let go of the controls with one hand. She extended it towards the viewport. Or maybe the whole Star Destroyer outside. It didn't snap in half.
The dusty surface of Crait swirled as the firing thrusters skimmed the ground. Then the Conqueror's underbelly hit the ground. The ship jolted as though it had been hit by a broadside.
"Cut ventral thrusters. Fire forward thrusters," Leia said tightly. Her brow was furrowed and her outstretched fingers were shaking.
The forward thrusters fired. The Star Destroyer's skid across the flat surface slowed. Ahead loomed the jagged mountain range the Alliance base was built into.
After a few moments, it stopped.
Everyone on the bridge let out a breath.
Leia lowered her hand. She slumped in her chair.
"Did..." Hera pointed out at the hull. "Did you...?"
"I prefer not to think about it." Leia wiped a thin trail of blood from her nose. "Would you mind taking over operations for a moment? I think I need a minute."
"Of course." Hera got on the comms. "All forces, we've landed on Crait. Deploy off of this deathtrap and set up outside. There's still stormtroopers on this thing."
The Supremacy. Detention Wing
The door to Wedge Antilles' cell slid open. Luke Skywalker walked in. He waved his hand and Wedge's binders fell away.
"Hey, Wedge," Luke said.
"Hey, Luke." he slumped forward out of the bindings. Luke caught him before he hit the floor.
Wedge looked up at Luke. "You look terrible, man."
Luke smiled. "Likewise." he helped Wedge to his feet.
"And it's about damn time," Wedge said.
In the corridor outside, the floor was littered with unconscious stormtroopers. Luke quickly freed the rest of Rogue Squadron.
"It's really him." Tallie whispered to Wedge. "He's so short."
"Don't bring it up. He's sensitive about it," Wedge whispered back.
Alarms were blaring around the Supremacy.
"All hands, report to escape shuttles. Evacuation in progress," An automated voice said over the shipwide comms.
"What's the plan, Luke? We have to take this thing out while we have the chance." Wedge said.
"There are millions of innocent people here. We can't blow it up," Luke said dismissively. "I've been responsible for enough death in my lifetime already."
"But Luke, you don't understand the situation-"
"I understand perfectly, Wedge. Trust me. I've taken care of everything."
Artoo warbled indignantly.
"Okay, Artoo's taken care of most of it," Luke said, patting the droid on the dome. "Let's get moving. We don't want to be on this ship when it leaves."
Luke and the pilot's rushed out of the detention wing.
...
On the Supremacy's bridge, Admiral Daala was losing control of her ship.
The thousands of secondary power cores scattered around the ship were jettisoning into space. Bulkhead doors were slamming shut around the ship and the crew was rushing to enter escape pods due to the automated alert system.
"What in the name of the Emperor's soul is happening?" Daala demanded. "Someone stop this!"
"There's nothing we can do, ma'am," a bridge officer said. "Whoever got into the system has the Supreme Leader's command codes. Executive override. They can do whatever they want."
Daala lowered her head into her hands briefly. "Dictatorships," she muttered. "Do we have eyes on the Supreme Leader?"
"There aren't any security cams in his private chambers. Supreme Leader's orders."
"Of course there aren't. Find him. We're not losing the Supreme Leader on my watch. And where is Skywalker?"
...
Luke and the pilots rushed down the Supremacy's massive hallways. The urban sprawl of the ship's residential decks were visible through the viewports lining the wall.
The walls rumbled as the engines began powering up.
"Artoo left them enough fuel for one jump," Luke said as they ran.
"Is it too much to hope there's a star on the other end?" Wedge said.
"A First Order planet."
"Luke, we can't win the war like this."
"Then we don't deserve to win at all."
They rounded the corner into a group of stormtrooper's going the opposite direction. The Trooper's unholstered their blasters.
Luke sent all of them crashing into the wall with a Force push. He made a tugging motion and their weapons flew out of their hands. Rogue squadron picked them up and kept moving.
"It really is nice to have you back," Wedge said.
...
"Ma'am," A bridge officer said in halting tones.
"What?" Daala demanded. "Spit it out."
He motioned her over and pointed at a camera feed on his console. Snoke's body was lying in a hallway. He wasn't moving.
Daala went silent for a moment. "Deploy a medical unit immediately. And..." she lowered her voice. "Speak of this to no one."
"Ma'am," another officer said. "We have Skywalker and the prisoners in the hangar. Forces are in pursuit."
...
Luke backpedaled, lightsaber moving in a green blur before him as blaster fire rained down on him. The pilots rushed into the empty hangar.
"Hyperdrive equipped ships only," Wedge told them as they rushed for the docked ships.
Luke continued deflecting with one hand, raised his other towards a TIE hanging from a maintenance rig near the ceiling. The cables snapped and it fell. Luke caught it with the Force and sent it slamming down in front of the hangar doors, blocking them with twisted metal.
The pilots began climbing into and powering up the hyperdrive equipped TIE special forces fighters, one to a ship.
Luke ran over to his X-wing. He tore off the clamps binding it to the floor with a wave of his hand.
The Supremacy continued to rumble as the engines primed.
"We need to get to the Resistance's secondary rendezvous," Wedge said. "If anyone survived, that's where they'll be."
"I don't think so," Luke said, "Leia was very close by a little while ago."
"Can you find them?"
"Possibly."
The doors on the other side of the hangar slid open and stormtroopers began rushing into the hangar.
"Get out of here," Luke said, blade buzzing and sending blaster bolts slamming into the walls. "I'll try to contact you once I find them."
Rogue Squadron lifted off in the TIEs, blaster fire bouncing off the hulls. They shot out of the hangar.
Luke lept atop his X-wing, still deflecting shots. Artoo opened the canopy and he dropped in. Luke took the X-wing up and blasted out of the hangar.
The Supremacy jumped into hyperspace behind him.
As Luke set the navi-computer for where he'd sensed Leia last, Artoo sent an alert across the screen.
In all the confusion, Luke hadn't sensed it.
Luke threw out both hands and closed his eyes just as the explosive planted on the bottom of the X-wing detonated.
Crait. The Conqueror
Rey shook her head and got to her feet. Sunlight was streaming down from a rupture in the ceiling high above, revealing the cargo pit they'd fallen into. The entire room seemed to be at an angle.
Kylo was at the top, several meters up.
"Ben, wait," Rey called.
He rushed away.
Rey looked up the length of the sheer metal walls. She took a deep breath and tried to jump, calling on the Force. She made it about halfway up, before falling back down to the hard deck plating. She grunted and sat up. Before she could try again, Finn poked his head over the edge.
"Rey? Are you okay?"
"Better now."
Finn threw a line down to her, and with Poe's help, pulled her out.
Finn handed Rey her lightsaber. "Kept this warm for you."
Rey touched his bruised face. "You should have been more worried about your face."
Finn put his hand over hers. "It's feeling better all of a sudden."
"Ugh," Poe said. "Come on, you two."
The Resistance forces were assembling outside the Star Destroyer on the salt flats. Several groups of men were welding the hatches on the ship shut behind them, while others set up portable computer stations and hauled stolen crates of First Order weapons and supplies.
Rey, Finn and Poe were the last out.
"We've got most of the First Order soldiers trapped in there," Ackbar was telling Leia, who was sitting on a crate, the picture of exhaustion. "But they won't be stuck for long. And the Finalizer will be on the way. We need to mobilize our forces and get to the Alliance base."
"Mm-hmm," Leia said, practically bleeding exhaustion.
"That was a hell of a feat, Princess," Ackbar added. "The Force really is with you."
"Tell that to my headache."
"Ma'am!" a technician called from where they were setting up the portable stations. "We have contact on the scanners! It's the Republic!"
As he spoke, ships began dropping out of hyperspace and coming down into the atmosphere. They were led by the Viscount-class Star Defender Wild Hunt, captained by Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo. It was flanked by two Mediator-class battlecruisers, as well as several Bothan Assault cruisers and Corellian Corvettes.
A cheer went up from the Resistance forces as the ships came into sight in the clear sky above.
"We're receiving a transmission!" the technician called.
Leia made to rise.
"Rest," Ackbar said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I will handle this. With this many ships on our side I almost hope the First Order tracks us here. It'll be my pleasure to kick them all the way back to the Unknown Regions."
Leia seemed about to protest. Then she slumped and let out an exhausted sigh. "Go ahead."
Ackbar made his way across the long expanse of salt towards the holoprojector the technician had just set up. His boots crunched in the salt granules. A brisk wind whipped across the flats, sending up tiny whirls of salt. Beneath the white salt was another, red mineral that painted the salt red as blood as it danced in the air.
Hera and Zeb directed troops on the other side of the Resistance's setup. Poe went over to Leia while Rey and Finn sat down on a crate beside Chewbacca. BB-8 rolled over to Threepio.
Ackbar reached the holoprojector. Amilyn Holdo, with her lavender dyed hair, appeared on the small projector.
"Vice Admiral Holdo," Ackbar said. "We can't begin to describe how happy we are to see you. You've arrived in the defintion of the nick of time. I'm sending you our position."
"Received," Holdo said. "Is Leia... is the Princess there?"
"Yes. She's fine, she's simply resting."
Holdo closed her eyes briefly. "That's... That's... Good to hear. Very good indeed."
"I'm sure she will be very happy to see you again. Shall I have her come over?"
"No. No. that will be quite... quite alright. Yes." her voice lowered and she looked away from the projector. "Quite alright."
Ackbar looked at her closely. "Amilyn?"
She looked back at the projector. Her cheeks were glistening. "Forgive me, Admiral. Please forgive me."
Ackbar stood stock still for a moment. Then he whirled.
"Princess! Princess, it's a-"
The turbolaser blast hit the holoprojector. It, and everything near it, was incinerated. A plume of crimson stained salt shot into the air from the blast. It slowly drifted down to the ground.
For a moment, there was silence. Leia gasped, hand clutched to her heart as she felt Ackbar pass.
"No..." she whispered.
Then the rest of the Republic ships opened up on the Resistance position.
Rey thrust out her hand, Force pushing Poe and Leia a half dozen meters across the salt, an instant before a laser bolt slammed into the ground right where they'd been.
More laser bolts hit the ground, sending up plumes of salt and red crystal with every blast. And sending charred bodies falling to the ground. A dozen men died in the first barrage.
Hera hit the ground, one of her head tails blown off.
The Wild Hunt
Amylin Holdo's hands gripped the railing tightly as the bridge was lit up by laser fire.
"No one look away," she told the crew. "I want all of you to remember what we did here."
"Vice Admiral Holdo," Hux said from the holoprojector behind her as the Finalizer came into the system. "Remember your government's deal with Kylo Ren. Our sleeper agents are prepared to strike from the heart of your population centers. The Resistance dies here, today, on this desolate rock. And the War is over. And at long last there is peace in our galaxy."
"I know." Holdo said. She didn't look at him. She watched through tear-thick eyes as the Resistance was slaughtered below.
...
Poe opened his eyes and sat up, crimson dust falling off of him. A charred body hit the ground beside him with a dull thump. Poe scrambled to his feet. He pointed at the Alliance base set into the mountainside, far across the salt flats.
"The base-" his voice failed him. He coughed. "The base!" he called. "Everyone get to the base!"
Laser bolts continued to hit the ground, throwing up plumes of red.
Leia hadn't moved since she'd hit the ground. Chewbacca scooped her up with one arm as he ran by.
Rey pulled Finn to his feet.
Zeb grabbed Hera, clamping his hand over the stump of her head tail.
They and the ragged Resistance soldiers ran for the Alliance base.
As the Republic ships repositioned to aim their cannons back on them, they launched a squadron of T-85 X-wings.
The Finalizer came into the atmosphere. It launched a wing of TIEs. The TIEs and the Republic X-wings met in the sky and formed into one squadron. They dove for the fleeing Resistance.
The Wild Hunt
"Ma'am," an X-wing pilot said over the comms. "I have a clean shot on those TIEs."
"Do not engage," Holdo said. "Stay on task."
...
One Resistance soldier didn't join the others. He ran in the opposite direction, towards the weapons crates. He pulled a rocket launcher from one and fired it. It took out a TIE fighter. Before he could fire again, laser fire from the fighters lanced down on him. The weapons crates exploded as they were hit. The soldier was consumed in the explosion.
...
The Resistance ran across the salt flats.
The TIEs and X-wings came down into an attack run.
A barrage of laser fire hit the soldiers from above and behind.
Five fell on the first pass.
As the fighters came around, six soldiers stopped and spun, firing on the ships. Most of the shots went far wide. The ones that did hit had little effect.
The men were cut down by laser fire.
"Keep going!" Poe shouted.
Laser fire hit the ground on all sides of them, sending up puffs of red crystal.
The fighters took out another dozen men; then they were over the Resistance soldiers and swung around again.
Only half the men were left by now.
Rey looked at the hundreds of meters still between them and the open gates of the base. She looked back at the fighters. She slowed, falling to the back of the group.
Then she stopped and turned.
The fighters came around, hulls glinting in the sun.
Rey activated her lightsaber.
"All forces," Hux said over the comms. "Target the Jedi. Destroy her."
Rey held her lightsaber in a defensive stance.
Finn looked all around him. "Rey?" then he looked over his shoulder. "Rey!"
He turned.
Poe grabbed him by the arm. "She knows what she's doing. Keep going!"
"I can do this," Rey whispered to herself.
Then the fighters came into range.
Laser fire lanced at Rey.
The first few shots fell short, but then the pilot's found the range.
Rey blocked the first laser bolt. The force of it jarred the lightsaber in her grip and sent her stumbling backwards. Rey found her footing in time to block another laser bolt, stumbling again. Laser bolts continued to rain down around her, throwing up puffs of crimson. The impact of each deflected shot shook Rey's body like a blow. Her arms shook, her legs wobbled. Chips of rock thrown up from the ground cut at her and the heat of the laser bolts seared her skin with every close call. She fell backwards as she blocked the next shot, catching herself on one hand. She came to her feet, blocking another laser bolt. Still off balance, the force of the shot spun her around and sent her slamming to the ground on her knees. Rey angled her blade behind her back, catching the next shot blind. And when the laser bolt hit, it sent her blade rebounding into her back. Rey cried out and fell forward, a livid burn across her back. Rey rolled onto her back, blocking the barrage from the ground. Laser fire hit the ground on all sides of her. The impact of each laser bolt on her lightsaber forced Rey a little deeper into the salt, while more shots tore at the ground around her, until Rey lay in a tiny crater. Rey's forearms shook as the laser fire hammered down on her. Each blast rebounded her blade closer and closer to her face. Most of the fighters had gone past her. The last X-wing fired one final shot. Rey's blade was pushed back into her face for a moment before she was able to pull it away.
Finn heard her scream from a hundred meters away. "Rey!" he shouted, turning again.
Chewbacca caught him by the collar with his free hand and dragged him towards the base. The first soldiers reached the massive threshold carved into the mountain and rushed inside.
"The door controls!" Poe shouted as they rushed into the dusty interior, full of antique Rebellion era consoles. The technicians began brushing the dust off the computers and getting them online.
The fighters came around for another pass.
"Finish her," Hux said.
Rey scrambled for her footing as the fighters closed in, one hand pressed to her face.
In one of the X-wings, the pilot's hands shook. "I can't do this," he said. "Breaking off."
The X-wing left formation, swinging around in a wide arc and coming at the squadron from behind. He made weapons lock on a TIE.
"Lieutenant Alveron," Holdo said over the comm. "Stand down immediately. I can't allow you to compromise the treaty."
"No can do, ma'am. That's a Jedi down there. No way."
On the Wild Hunt's bridge, Holdo steeled herself.
"Target anti-fighter cannons," she said.
"Ma'am?" The gunner said. "Is that your order?"
"It is. Fire."
A single shot rang out.
The X-wing was blown from the sky.
Rey took her lightsaber in both hands as the fighters closed in.
"We have power!" a technician called from the base's interior. "We can lower the doors."
Poe held up a hand from the threshold. "Wait."
Rey ran for the base.
As the fighters came into range, she turned, blocked one shot, stumbled, kept running.
The majority of the fighters got a lock on her and opened up.
Rey turned again. She blocked one shot, three, six. The seventh blew her blade from her shaking fingers. Rey thrust her hand out, calling it back to her without thinking. The hilt was blackened but the blade still sprang to life.
Rey blocked as she ran.
"Rey!" Finn called from the threshold. "You're almost there."
Chewbacca set Leia down and unslung his bowcaster. He sighted up and fired. The shot tore through a TIE's cockpit and sent it crashing to the ground.
Laser fire rained down around Rey. She stumbled under the impacts, fell forward. She landed on one knee, spun to block another shot. Three more slammed into her guard rapidly, knocking her onto her back.
Finn and the other soldiers at the threshold opened fire on the fighters.
Rey blocked from the ground, pushing herself backwards in slow increments towards the door with her feet. Her fingers blistered under the heat of the laser bolts. Jagged rocks tore into her back.
"Rey!" Finn called to her. "Rey, the salt!"
Rey turned her head towards him. Small plumes of red-stained salt were still being thrown up by the impacts of the laser bolts.
Then Rey understood and slammed her palm into the ground. The Force left her in a burst, sending a cloud of crimson particulates into the air. Suddenly the fighters were firing into the cloud blind.
Rey scrambled to her feet, holding her blade before her in the red haze with one hand, shielding her eyes with the other. Laser bolts streaked through the cloud on all sides. Several went into the base, hitting the consoles in a shower of sparks.
"The doors," Poe said. "Now."
The massive blast door began to lower.
Finn looked between Rey stumbling through the cloud, and the slowly lowering door.
Then he ran out into the cloud.
Rey stumbled, falling forward. Finn reached her in time to catch her. He dragged Rey inside as the blast door closed.
Darkness fell over the interior of the base. Laser fire hammered into the door briefly before the fighters were forced to break off.
Dim lights guttered to life in the corners.
Silence fell as well.
The few surviving medics rushed to the wounded.
Finn lowered Rey down on a bench in the corner.
"Rey, it's okay." he placed his hand over hers, which was still clutching the lightsaber's hilt. "You did it. You can let go now."
She didn't let go.
Finn took her fingers and peeled them away from the hilt as gently as he could. Strips of her skin came with it. The hilt was searing to the touch. Finn dropped it.
He looked her over for serious wounds. "Rey, can you tell me if anything hurts?"
"Finn," she said distantly. "I think something's wrong."
"A lot of things are wrong. Did you get hit anywhere?"
"Finn," Rey's head was lowered and her hair was fallen over her face. "I can't see anything."
Finn went silent for a moment, and dead still.
Finn raised her head as calmly as he was able. He smoothed her hair back off her face. Where her lightsaber had been forced back against her face, there was a livid burn. Right across Rey's eyes.
"It's okay, Rey," Finn said quietly. "Your eyes are just closed."
She raised her hands to touch her face. "I don't think so..."
Finn caught her wrist and lowered her hand back to her lap gently. "It's fine. I'm just going to call a medic to make sure." he waved for a medic.
"You don't have to lie, Finn. It doesn't hurt."
"I'm fine," Leia said, shrugging the medic away. "Go look at her."
The medic rushed over.
He looked at Rey's eyes. He ran a scanner over them.
"Well?" Finn said.
The medic looked between Rey and Finn.
"It's okay," Rey said. "Tell me."
"If I had access to proper facilities the damage wouldn't be permanent," the medic said. "But... these are not proper facilities. I'll see if I can find some bacta. If I can't... I'm afraid there isn't anything I can do."
"What do you mean there isn't anything you can do?" Finn demanded. "You're supposed to be a medic. Help her."
Rey patted Finn's arm. "It's okay. Let him go do his job."
"I'm sorry," The medic said. Then he rushed off to his next patient.
The Finalizer
"The base is heavily shielded, both by a generator and by that door," Hux said to Holdo over the holoprojector. "However, between our combined firepower and a sufficient amount of ground artillery, we should be able to breach it."
"They're already beaten," Holdo said. "The Resistance is finished. Just let them surrender."
"You know as well as I do they won't. They are fanatics. The only way to end this is their utter destruction. My orders are clear. They all die. Especially Organa and the Jedi." He regarded Holdo. "Remember, their lives for the lives of everyone who will be spared this war."
"I know," Holdo said quietly. "Force help me, I know."
"I'm glad we agree." Hux turned to an officer. "Deploy walkers. And someone find Kylo Ren."
...
"Oh, hello, Master Ben," Threepio said. Most of his chassis was buried under salt.
Kylo dragged Threepio out. One of the droid's legs was missing.
"Oh, dear. This is all just awful, isn't it?" Threepio said.
"Yes," Kylo said.
First Order transports came down from the Finalizer. They hovered low over the salt flats and began unloading hulking All Terrain MegaCaliber Six walkers. Other craft brought down a number of antique AT-ATs and AT-STs that flanked the AT-M6s as they marched on the Rebel base.
"I don't mean to impose, Master Ben, but surely there is something you can do about this appalling mess. Isn't there?" Threepio said.
"Maybe," Kylo said. "Or maybe there was never any saving them."
"I do calculate the Resistance's chances of survival as... well... I'm afraid I'm not equipped to calculate values that small. However, in my many years I have come to a rather curious conclusion, after much observation. Some individuals seem to have the ability to defy the odds at every turn. Are you not such a person, Master Ben?"
"I don't know," Kylo said.
"Oh. Well, I am only a droid. What do I know?"
"What indeed?" Kylo knelt beside Threepio. He produced a set of tools from his belt. He pulled Threepio's severed leg out of the salt. "Let's get you fixed up, old friend."
On Kylo's belt, Hux's voice blared from his comm unit. "Ren? Ren, I know you're receiving me. Ren, pick up this instant."
Kylo muted the comm unit. He set to work on Threepio.
Alliance Base
The medic had found a handful of bacta patches somewhere in the base. They'd been expired for about twenty years.
Rey waved him off when he brought one over to her. "Save it for someone who needs it."
"Rey," Finn hissed. "Take the damn bacta."
"I'm not dying. Other people are."
"But ma'am..." The medic said. "You're a Jedi. You're, well... We need you."
"You're right. I am a Jedi. What makes you think I need eyes to see? Go help someone else. The Force will provide for me."
The medic walked away, suitably impressed.
"Can you really do that?" Finn asked. "See with the Force?"
Rey shrugged. "I dunno." she chuckled. "Sounded good though."
Finn didn't chuckle. "Rey, you're going to kill yourself for them."
"All the other Jedi are dead. Maybe that's what I'm supposed to do."
"You aren't a real Jedi. You said Skywalker didn't even train you."
Leia walked over to them unsteadily. "Tell me about my brother." she sat down beside Rey.
"He..." Rey trailed off there.
"That's a start," Leia placed her hands on either side of Rey's head. "Hold still," she added,."I'm not much good at Force healing."
"Princess, you can't. You're still weak."
"Hush." Leia moved her fingers over Rey's eyelids. "My brother."
"He... wouldn't help me."
Leia closed her own eyes. "There are many kinds of help."
"You don't understand. He wasn't... He wasn't what he was supposed to be."
"Who are you to say what anyone else is supposed to be?" Leia's brow furrowed in concentration.
"He wouldn't come back. He knows the Resistance needs him but he still wouldn't do anything. All of it is his fault. He made your son into Kylo Ren."
"You think you know everything, Rey. That's not your fault, you're young. But you don't." Leia's head fell forward and she began breathing heavily. "It's... my fault. All my fault. I failed my children..." then she fell backwards.
Rey caught her before she hit the floor.
"Not... finished," Leia whispered.
"It's okay," Rey said, blinking rapidly. "It doesn't hurt anymore."
"Did... I fix you?"
"Yes, you did it, Princess. I'm better."
"At... least I can still help... someone..." Leia's eyes slipped closed. "Luke will come. When we need him, he'll come." then she passed out.
Finn helped Rey lay Leia down on the bench.
"She didn't really heal you, did she?" Finn said.
"I'm not sure." Rey rubbed at her eyes. "I still can't see but my eyes feel all funny."
"I guess that's something. Do you think Skywalker's going to come?"
Rey shook her head. "No."
...
The remaining members of the Resistance, around seventy all told, huddled in the Alliance base. The rumbling footfalls of the First Order walkers in the distance shook the base and made the lights on the consoles flicker. Dust drifted lazily in the bars of sunlight slanting through the view slits in the door as the sun dipped towards the horizon. Small, crystalline fox-like creatures prowled deep in the base, giving the soldiers a wide berth.
"This is commander Poe Dameron of the Resistance," Poe was saying into the empty crackle of the control room's ancient comm unit, "If there is anyone out there sympathetic to our cause, we need you now. The Republic has betrayed us. If the Resistance dies here, there will be no one left to stop the First Order from taking the rest of the galaxy. We've spent years fighting for you. Now's the time to fight with us."
All that came from the comm unit was static.
"I've tried every Resistance frequency I know," Poe said. "If any other ships survived the Supremacy's attack, they aren't responding. And neither is anyone else. Anywhere. I don't know if this equipment is malfunctioning or... if nobody cares."
Finn held Rey's hand as the three of them stood in the control room. It seemed more for his comfort than hers.
"Sir," Lieutenant Connix said, poking her head into the room. "The walkers are getting closer. People are starting to wonder what the plan is."
Poe looked around to see who she was talking to. Then he realized it was him. "We're... working on it."
"Is that what I should tell them, sir? 'Working on it'?"
"Tell them we're all making it out of this."
She nodded once. "That's better." she left.
"So," Rey said. "What is the plan?"
"They have complete aerial superiority and this base has no means of counter attacking. I can't figure out why they don't just bombard us. The shields can't withstand that much firepower for long. Why are they deploying walkers?" Poe mused.
"Because they're a bit smarter than you," Zeb said as he entered. He was walking with a pronounced limp. "Look at where we are, kid. Built right into the mountain. If they bombard the whole base from orbit, all they're gonna do is bury the door in more rocks when the mountain comes down. Dig us in even further."
Finn pointed at red dots on the screen representing the walkers. "They're in a standard heavy artillery formation. And the capital ships are all moving into position for supporting fire. First Order siege tactics are pretty simple. Hit what you're sieging so hard it goes down in the first hit."
"If that door goes down, we're done for," Poe said. "What kind of weapons have we found in here?"
"There are thirteen Ski speeders in the launch tubes," Zeb said. "But there's a reason we left those things behind back in the Rebellion. They're death traps, even when they're new. After thirty years... well, you couldn't get me in one if you paid me."
"Anything that won't kill us if we try to fly it?"
"Just one. Come on," Zeb said. "You'll like this."
Zeb took them to the base's small launch bay. In addition to the ski speeders, a battered T-65 X-wing rested in the bay.
Poe's eyes lit up. "I can work with that." he looked at Zeb. "So what do we do?"
Zeb shrugged. "You tell me. I just shoot things. Tell me when it's time." Zeb walked off.
Deeper in the base, a crystal fox pawed curiously at BB-8. BB-8 warbled at it. The fox slipped away, seeming to vanish into the shadows. BB-8 deployed a light and shined a beam after it. BB-8 examined what he saw for a moment. Then he rolled to the control room.
He whistled extensively.
"Crystal foxes? Passageways?" Poe echoed. "Did you just find a back way out of here?"
BB-8 beeped an affirmative.
"Alright, Finn tell me everything you know about those walkers." Poe said.
...
"Seventy-one of us left in this base," Poe said to the assembled Resistance members. "We may be the very last of the Resistance. We're backed into a corner here. No one's coming for us. If we want to make it out of here, we're going to have to do it ourselves. BB-8 has located a series of old mining tunnels going out in every direction from this base. We're going to begin evacuating out the back as soon as we're done here. All our wounded and non-combatants. As for the rest of us, the First Order isn't just going to sit there and let us walk out. Someone's going to have to stop them. We have ships, and we have tunnels under the salt flats. Our remaining pilots will use Ski speeders to engage the walkers directly. The rest of the men will be planting explosives in the tunnels below. We're going to blow those walker's feet out from under them. I know it seems bad. But we're going to make it out of this. Because we have to make it out. We are the spark that will ignite the fire that will burn the First Order from the galaxy. Now everyone get to work. We don't have much time."
Finn drew Poe away as the men set to work arming themselves and preparing the wounded to be moved.
"We don't know if those tunnels lead out of the mountains or just further down. And even if we did, there's nowhere to go. This planet is a wasteland. There isn't a way out."
"I know," Poe said. He jabbed a finger at the Resistance. "They don't know."
"Those people think they can win. We're going out there to die."
"And we're going to take out as many of them as we can before we do."
"No one's even going to know what we did here."
"Maybe they don't have to. We know. We're here, for now, and we know. That'll have to be enough."
At the front of the base, Resistance soldiers pried open the floor grating leading to the tunnels under the salt flats. At the back the rest prepared to venture into the mine system as crystal foxes scurried between their feet. The booms of the walker's footfalls grew louder.
Rey found her lightsaber on the floor unerringly and clipped it to her belt.
"Stay behind me out there, Finn. I'll keep you safe."
Poe and Finn exchanged glances.
"Rey, you're evacuating with the wounded," Poe said.
"I can still fight."
"We know you can fight. That isn't the point. You're a Jedi. You're the most important asset we have. If there's any chance of making it out you have to take it, for the good of the war effort."
"I'm not just leaving you-"
"Rey," Finn said. "Someone has to make sure they all make it through the mines. If anyone can do it, it's you. You have to save them."
Rey turned her head in the direction of the non combatants. She reached out and found Finn's hand. "Come with me."
The base shook. Poe looked at the door."I have to get the ships ready," he said, rushing towards the launch bay.
Finn looked after him. "You know I gotta stay."
"This isn't your fight. You're only here because of me," Rey said
Finn lowered his head for a moment. "No. I'm not here for you. I'm here because it's the right thing to do. Now get out of here. Like Poe said, the war effort needs you."
"Yeah. Of course." Rey let go of Finn's hand. "I'll see you again. I promise." she left for the back of the base.
Finn caught up to Poe, who was lingering by the door.
"When we're out there under fire," Poe said. "You're going to regret everything you just said to her."
"I already am."
...
As Rey walked, one hand pressed to the wall, she closed her eyes and bowed her head.
On the salt flats outside, Kylo Ren looked up.
"Ben," Rey said.
"That's not my name." Kylo said.
"It was once. And it can be again. We need you now. You're the only one who can save the Resistance."
"Why would I save the Resistance? Look around, Rey. This was all me. My plan. I did this."
"You can still stop it. Everyone told me Luke Skywalker was the galaxy's last hope, but I know better. It's you, Ben."
"You're wrong about me."
"Ben, your mother is in this base. Are you going to let her die?"
"I don't have a family anymore."
"No. I don't have a family. I'm the one who's all alone, not you. You don't get to pretend you are because you're mad at them."
"This is so much bigger than family. Look. For the first time in history the Republic and the Empire are at peace. Working together against a common enemy. It's a shame it had to be the Resistance. But none of this was my choice, I'm just making the best of it."
"You know it won't last. Even if you really would keep the peace, the rest of the First Order won't. You aren't saving the galaxy, Ben. You're just putting the war on hold."
"There is no saving the galaxy, Rey. Just because Luke Skywalker and the rest did it once, a long time ago, doesn't mean it can happen again. Miracles don't happen twice. The conflict will never end. The Dark Side will always come back. And no one gets a happy ending. All you have is time. And I gave everyone more time."
"You're really not going to help us, are you?"
"I'm sorry. But you all made your choice. If I could save you I would."
"Then we have no hope."
"I'm sorry. But what you've been looking for doesn't exist. There aren't any heroes. The Jedi will never be what you wish they were. No one's coming to save you."
"Ben," Rey said. "You sound just like Luke."
Then her presence left.
Deep Space
An X-wing drifted among the stars. It was powerless and debris hung around it like a halo. In addition to the chunks of metal, a haze hung around the ship. The haze was oxygen. Luke was holding it there against the pull of the vacuum. His eyes were peacefully closed as he meditated, his breathing faint. On the console, the one remaining function, the ship's emergency beacon, blinked red.
Luke opened his eyes as the Millennium Falcon dropped out of hyperspace.
The Falcon's cargo bay doors opened. Luke stretched out his hand and the haze of oxygen formed into a corridor between the X-wing and the cargo bay. Luke let the canopy drift away and pushed off the X-wing. He drifted to the cargo bay. Artoo released from the X-wing, activated his rocket boosters and flew in after him.
The doors closed behind him.
Luke and Artoo stepped through the airlock into the main ship.
Han Solo was waiting for them.
"Always surprises me the kind of old junk you can find floating around in space. And there's an X-wing, too," Han said.
"Han!" Luke threw his arms around him. "Chewie wasn't sure if you were going to make it."
"He always exaggerates. I've gotten worse scraps shaving." Han hugged Luke back. "Speaking of, what's that all over your face? Did Chewie cough up a hairball?"
"I've been told it makes me look distinguished."
"Come on, kid. You're not fooling anyone. We all know you're a wide eyed farmboy under that thing." Han pushed Luke away. "Alright, that's enough of that. We don't want to ruin our reputation."
"Where are we going?" Luke said.
"Crait."
They went to the cockpit. Han glanced at Luke sidelong. "Is it bad?"
"Yes. I sense Leia is in grave danger."
"Yeah," Han said. "I can sense that too." he punched in the coordinates. "Ready to show those upstarts how we did it back in the Rebellion?"
"Dying to."
The Millennium Falcon shot into hyperspace.