When emotions had cooled and their pod had touched down planetside, Rose promised Finn she would never make fun of his armor snobbery again.
By the time they were picked up and returned to base, the sun was starting to peek out over the horizon. Finn was in and out of consciousness the whole ride over. Rey never let go of his hand, even when they landed and he was shuffled off by several medics. She went with them, leaving Poe, Rose, and Ben in the command center. Poe wiped his hands over his eyes, trying to temporarily banish his exhaustion. Ben had to wonder how long they'd be able to keep this up. With everything that had happened, he'd almost forgotten that they'd been going non-stop all day.
He'd learned long ago how to sustain himself with the Force, first as a Jedi through calm meditation, and then fueled by rage. At the moment, neither was very prominent, so it was a labor just keeping his head up.
"How are we lookin' on that trace?" Poe asked, fighting back a yawn.
One of the analysts stepped around to the controls of the central holoprojector and keyed it on. "That worm you placed is transmitting live intel on their blockade," he said excitedly. "We'll need a few hours to analyze their flight pattern, but once that's done we'll have an escape vector for evac."
Rose's eyebrows arched. "A few hours?"
"It's a tight sensor web," he replied with a frown. "These cultists know what they're doing."
"Nothing's impenetrable," Poe said.
The analyst nodded.
Poe finally let out his yawn, which prompted Ben to do the same reflexively.
"In the meantime," Poe said, "let's all get some rest. Make sure the ships are prepped and ready for a quick exit. We're gonna need our pilots at their best, just in case something goes wrong. Great work everyone."
A chorus of, "Thank you general," echoed from the command staff as Poe sidled off toward the barracks. Ben stood there awkwardly, unsure of where to go. Apparently none of the others knew what to do with him either, because they gave him one glance then summarily ignored him. Benign neglect, he supposed—if they didn't bother him, maybe he wouldn't freak out and kill them all. The notion irritated him far more than he'd expected. It was irrational and pointless and…really, what had he expected?
He'd been their prisoner less than a week, an uneasy ally for a day—and their enemy for more than seven years.
Ben sighed hard and made his way halfway to the brig before a familiar furred arm snagged his shoulder. He froze and slowly turned to face the owner of that arm, looking up to see deep brown eyes staring down at him. Ben swallowed slowly, unable to speak.
Chewbacca held his gaze for a long minute, then jerked his head toward one of the hangars. It was only when Ben followed him in that he realized what was in that hangar. He swallowed hard, legs feeling numb as he strode toward the Millennium Falcon. The last time he'd been in this ship, he'd been unconscious for most of it and in pain for the rest. No time to really process what had been happening. Now…
Every step up the ramp was a reminder. Anakin was right. Destroying his lightsaber wouldn't have changed anything. By the look on Chewie's face, he knew it too. Then he raised his arm and pointed into a specific room in the middle of the ship. The one with the beds. Then Ben understood. If he wasn't welcome in the base, then this ship would be his home. For now, at least. It was Chewie's ship with Han gone—
Ben froze up, forcing himself past the flood of memories to find his voice. "Thank you," he whispered.
A furry hand smacked his back lightly (for a Wookiee), forcing him a step into the room. Ben winced and nodded to him, then chose one of the beds and climbed in still wearing his clothes.
Something Chewie was vocally miffed about. He fussed over Ben until he decided to change into something that would let his still-injured body breathe.
"All right, all right!" Ben griped.
He pulled something from one of the hatches. Smelled a tad musty, but it was in his size. He held it up in Chewbacca's eyeline.
"Happy now?"
The Wookiee bounced his head side to side and chuffed a bit, then turned about and closed the door behind him. Ben sighed hard, sitting down on the edge of one bed. He ran a hand over the covers once he was changed. It was basic and bare, but better than the cots in the brig. This was the closest thing to home he had left—and Chewbacca knew it. His eyes stung as his head fell into his hands.
I don't deserve this.
He stopped himself right there. Maybe it was true. Who was he kidding? Of course it was. But that didn't matter right now, because the people on this base didn't deserve to die—and Dameron had made one thing abundantly clear. They needed their pilots in top shape. All of their pilots.
So he climbed under the covers and surrendered himself to a fitful sleep.
…
The Mirialan head doctor on call shook her head slowly. "Unbelievable," she said. "There's no trace of the original injury whatsoever."
Rey's eyebrows shot skyward. "None?"
She shrugged. "Whatever you did, he seems in better condition than when he left."
Rey worried at her lip a little. "Then why is he still unconscious?"
"Well, the human body is enormously resilient, but such a rapid regeneration must still take its toll. Think of it like months of bacta therapy applied in a matter of seconds." The doctor shrugged. "At least, that's my theory."
Rey nodded slowly. "You'll keep an eye on him?"
She nodded. "Of course. I'll let you know if anything changes."
"Thank you."
Rey headed to her quarters to get some shut-eye when she caught a glimpse of Poe stumbling toward the barracks. "Hey!"
He stopped and sluggishly turned toward her. Stang. He looked how she felt.
Rey bit her lower lip slightly. "I'm…sorry if I've been avoiding everyone lately. I didn't mean to make you worry."
Poe huffed. "No offense, Rey, but it's been so busy I hardly even noticed." He frowned. "Though I guess in hindsight, you have been a little…"
"Distant?"
"Moody."
"Ah."
He frowned deeper. "Which is completely understandable. We all loved Leia, but she was like your master, wasn't she? From the…little I understand about Force bonds, that gave you two quite the connection."
Rey stared at the ground. "It did."
They were silent a while.
"Well, best thing we can do now is carry on her mission." He slapped her arm and smiled. "That means getting some rest." Poe frowned when she didn't move or reply. "Hey, did something happen on that ship? Besides, you know, Finn getting…"
She stared at him. "That wasn't enough?"
He shrugged. "Point."
Rey bit her lip. "That Squire you met—I killed her."
Poe's eyebrows shot upward. "Whoa. Like…really? Not just…blown up with the rest of the ship?"
Her head shook.
He chuckled. "Good for you."
She frowned. "I just keep thinking about the way I felt when it happened, the way I acted." Her jaw tightened. "It was the same rage that got us into this mess."
Poe's lips pursed. "Hey, I can't begin to understand the nuances of the whole Jedi thing, but…we don't have to be defined by our emotions. Yeah, stuff happens to us all the time and we can't control that, but the one thing we can control is the way we respond to it. I mean," he chuckled, "look at me. You know the kind of temper I have. Believe it or not, it was way worse when I was younger."
Rey grinned. "Really? You were even more difficult than you are now?"
He chuckled and scuffed his boot on the ground. "Yeah, I was a real hellion back in the day."
She smiled warmly. "Well…you'll have to tell me about that someday."
Poe's smile faded a bit. She saw a hint of pain in his eyes.
"Yeah," he said. "Maybe someday. But right now—"
"Sleep, yes. Am I flying with Black Squadron tomorrow?"
His head shook. "Devastating as that initial attack was, Chewie managed to protect most of our pilots. You're on the Falcon. I'm thinking transport protection detail."
She nodded. "Makes sense. Hopefully Finn will be awake enough to be my gunner."
Poe grinned. "He's the best in the business." He ruffled her hair. "Get some rest, Rey. And if you ever need to talk…"
Rey hugged him briefly. "I appreciate it. Good night, Poe."
"Night."
…
Morning came bright and early, bringing with it a fresh perspective and a solid flight plan. The analysts had worked all through the night to finish their preparations. Using Ben's stolen technical plans, they'd managed to work out the approximate sensor range of each Corvo-class frigate and identified a weak point in their net. They had less than thirty standard minutes before their window of opportunity, at which point there would be maybe two minutes of blind spot before the next scan came. Hopefully that was enough for an emergency hyperspace jump. They still had to figure out where to go next.
Ever since the commando assault the previous day, they'd refrained from sending out any transmissions lest the Sith intercept it and find more of their allies. They had no contact with the rest of the Resistance network, no ready destination. Poe made sure to keep everyone's attention on the more pressing matter of getting the hell out. So far, it was enough to keep morale from tanking.
"Blue Squadron will be the vanguard, test the waters in case we're wrong about their numbers. At which point Red Squadron will scramble to form a protective barrier around the transports." Poe waved to Rey. "You and the Falcon will be leading that formation. Black Squadron will be the ringers, that last push to get everyone out if all else fails."
A hand shot up from the crowd. Poe turned toward it to see someone unexpected attached.
"Where will I be?" Ben asked.
Everyone stared at him. For fairly good reason too. He was wearing…well, regular clothes, for once: dark brown pants and rugged travel boots with a beige shirt whose rolled-up sleeves came down just below his elbows. If it weren't for the trademark scar across his right cheek, Poe might've mistaken him for any other Resistance fighter in that getup.
Poe frowned. "Passenger duty."
Ben arched a curious eyebrow.
"You're doing nothing."
He huffed. "I save your life here, you trust me to watch your back up on Tenebrous One, and now you want to be picky about what I do?"
Someone from the assembled crowd shouted the first response. "You expect us to forget what you've done? What you are?"
"We should just leave him here!" someone else yelled.
The command center was quickly descending into pandemonium. Despite the press of angry bodies, Ben looked unperturbed—more annoyed than worried.
"Enough!" Poe's bellowing voice silenced the rest. "I get it! Believe me, I understand what you're all feeling. I know we've kinda been coasting along, ignoring the bantha in the room, but…" his lips pursed tightly, "let's face it: they already tried to kill him and we're not in a position to refuse able help." He glared at Ben. "No matter how despicable the source."
Ben frowned deeper.
"So for now…" Poe sighed hard. "For now, we treat him like anyone else. When we're finally out of danger of imminent death, then we can revisit this. Until then, I expect you all to follow my lead. Understood?"
A faint murmur of assent eventually rumbled through the crowd.
"Good." Poe turned back to Ben. "Did you have something in mind?"
Ben uncrossed his arms and stepped up, a malevolent smirk tugging at his lips. "My personal fighter is still in working order—" he arched an eyebrow, "—assuming you haven't scrapped it for parts."
"Not yet," Rose grumbled.
"Excellent. Then I'll be part of the vanguard, since you and the Falcon are assigned elsewhere."
Rose frowned at him. "How do we know you won't bail on them the moment trouble shows?"
Ben shrugged. "Ideally, they won't even know we're gone. And if I do 'bail,' none of you expected anything from me to begin with, so…what's the risk?"
Poe's jaw tightened. "Fine. Rose, have someone show him to his fighter."
She frowned at him. "Yes, general."
As Ben sidled off toward the hangars, Poe refocused on the plan, trying to remember if he'd missed anything.
"I think that's everything," he muttered. "Rose?"
She shrugged.
No one else spoke up, so he slapped the holotable. "Everyone dismissed. We launch in T-minus twenty-five. May the Force be with you."
Everyone dispersed to their respective stations, packing up the last of the equipment in readiness to leave. Poe had noticed two people who were notably silent during that exchange, specifically Rey and Finn. The former he understood, somewhat. She was reluctant to speak on Ben's behalf thanks to her outed secret bond with him. Finn, on the other hand, seemed more pensive than anything. Poe pulled him aside after the meeting.
"Hey, what's your read on him?"
Finn frowned, fiddling with his helmet. "I don't know for sure. He's pretty good at masking his feelings."
Poe bit his lip, staring off toward the hangars. "What does your gut tell you?"
Finn sighed. "That he has his own agenda and it lines up with ours. Or, at least, it doesn't run opposed. He said he came here for Rey, and I believe that much is true."
"Didn't he try to kill her?"
"Oh, multiple times, but that last…" Finn grimaced, "I could tell he didn't want to."
"Well, they've barely spoken since you let him out, so what does that say about your theory?"
Finn shrugged. "That their relationship is a lot more complicated now." His jaw tightened. "And until they uncomplicate it, he has another agenda."
Poe's head shook slightly. "Like what?"
"If he feels anything like I did when I left the First Order, he's after redemption." Finn frowned deeply, glancing toward Ben's hangar as he turned for the Falcon. "But he'll settle for revenge."
…
Ben climbed into his TIE Silencer and flicked his comms. on. Static screeched across the line until he switched to the frequency provided by his escort. Then there was a din of chatter and check-ins as Ben performed his pre-flight check. It belatedly occurred to him that he didn't have a callsign. A frown creased his lips as he keyed his mic.
"Solo, checking in."
A moment of silence passed before he heard a feminine voice reply. "Copy, Solo. This is Blue Three. I'll be your flight leader on this run."
Ben grunted. Seemed "Solo" would be a sufficient callsign for now. So much for treating him like everyone else. He stamped down that bitter thought and keyed his mic.
"Copy," he replied. "Standing by."
After being in charge for so long, first as Snoke's second, then as Supreme Leader, he'd expected to rankle at having to follow orders. Honestly, a large part of him felt relieved at not having to lead.
"Blue Squadron," said Blue Three, "ready for takeoff. Standard formation—A-Wings on the rear corners, X-Wings as spearhead."
Ben nodded to himself. A-Wings had considerably weaker shields to account for their increased speed and maneuverability. It made sense for the tougher X-Wings to be front and center. Unfortunately, his Silencer fell in neither group given that it was a prototype that combined the best of both and then some. Apparently, Blue Three accounted for that.
"Solo, you'll take our flank. Watch our blind spots and get ready to fill the gaps if needed."
"On it," he replied.
His engines were warmed up and ready to go.
"Ready for launch in three—two—one…good flying."
Blue Squadron took off in rapid sequence, hovering just off the ground long enough to angle toward the horizon. A projected flightplan flashed onto Ben's tracking computer, including an artificial horizon and an augmented-reality interface showing their course. They hit the throttle as soon as they were aligned, launching in a ragged formation that staggered out even more as they got more room to maneuver. The 3D wedge quickly came together as they flew just above the treetops of the lush jungle.
Ben had to admit, for a pack of ragtag misfits with makeshift equipment, they had exceptional discipline in the way they flew. Many of them were probably ex-military from the New Republic, but still. Given how much the New Republic had demilitarized in the years leading up to its destruction (driven in no small part by First Order manipulation), he was surprised to see so many capable pilots still in service. Well, they had destroyed Starkiller Base.
His Silencer banked in at the rear of the formation, keeping his weapons inactive for now. Flying low, minimizing power—it was the only way they'd avoid the frigates' sensor web long enough to find that blind spot. Long minutes passed in silence, allowing Ben to glance around and check on the other squadrons. Red Squadron was behind them and to the side in a diagonal, with the Millennium Falcon at the head. Behind it were several pairs of X-Wings and two CR90 corvettes of Corellian make. At the center of the formation, the most protected spot, was a large-bellied GR-75 transport, no doubt filled with their command staff.
Black Squadron was even further back and smaller than the other two, with barely half a dozen fighters in all. From what he understood about their makeup, they were the most elite pilots in the Resistance. Still, six fighters wouldn't make much of a difference against the amount of firepower the Sith had at their disposal. Hopefully they wouldn't have to resort to such desperate tactics. Stars help them if they did.
"Everyone keep it tight," Blue Three transmitted. "We're approaching the sensor gap. Get ready to climb on my mark."
Ben gripped the controls a little tighter.
"One, two, three—mark!"
As one, the front line of Blue Squadron arced sharply upward. Each line that followed performed the same maneuver once they reached that point. Ben followed suit when it was his turn. Looking backward, the motion was very awkward for the larger ships, but their maneuvering thrusters just managed to compensate for the sharp angle.
"As soon as you reach the prescribed angle, punch it!" said Blue Three. "Our window's gonna be tight as-is."
Assuming the analysts had properly calculated the frigates' sensor range and they weren't already targeted. Ben gave it a minute of full thrust before he relaxed a bit. If the Sith vessels were in range, they would already be under fire. They were halfway out of atmo when a warning light started flashing on the sensor array. Ben frowned and checked the readout. He keyed his mic.
"Blue Three, I have an anomalous reading on my scanner—faint ion discharge off the port side of our formation."
A moment or two of silence passed. "I'm getting nothing on my end. Could be a false positive, or traces of a previous orbit."
His gut was churning. His head shook. "I don't think so. Check again."
He heard a faint sigh. "Wait." More silence. "Black Leader, we've got incoming ion signatures—faint but getting closer."
Poe's voice quickly answered. "Copy. Keep going, Pava. Black Squadron, move to intercept."
Ben's sweaty palms chafed against his gloves as his breathing quickened. Something was wrong. They were in the dark zone, and they still should've had another two minutes before detection, much less interception. Unless…
His eyes flew wide open. "They have a redundant network! It's a trap!"
The empty blackness of space in his viewport was instantly filled with the massive front profile of a slate-gray Xyston-class Star Destroyer. A split-second later, two smaller Scar-class Star Destroyers jumped in on either side of it, along with a veritable swarm of TIE Daggers. TIE Fighters poured from the hangars of either Scar-class like insects, streaking toward them. Ben swore violently, arcing off from the rest of the formation to give the enemy a smaller target. The rest of Blue Squadron scattered just in time to avoid the opening barrage of turbolaser fire from the capital ships.
It was an initial burst to suppress and soften them up for the main fighter assault. An A-Wing off Ben's bow burst into flames when one of the green laser bolts tore off its top half.
"Deflectors full front!" Blue Three shouted. "S-foils in attack position!"
Ben's weapons powered up just in time for him to pop off a burst with the wing-mounted heavy cannons. An overeager TIE Dagger met its end when two of the bolts punched through its shields and sheared off a wing. The other Blues opened fire in a ragged volley that claimed a few more kills. One X-Wing lost an engine shortly before the rest of the wing followed, spinning out of control and nearly crashing into another Resistance fighter. More TIEs flew past them, going straight for the transports. The ventral cannons of the Scar-class Destroyers flared with light, firing concussion missiles toward the larger Resistance ships.
Ben keyed his mic. "Red Squadron, watch it!"
"I see them," Rey replied.
The Falcon's quad-cannons lit up, cutting through two TIE fighters as the unwieldly ship performed a smooth spiral between their formation. The X-Wings behind finished off what they missed, and the corvettes started taking long scatter shots at the incoming missiles. So far, the transport's shields were okay. Those concussion missiles wouldn't do much against shields of that magnitude. Still—
The Xyston-class opened fire on the transport, tagging one of the corvettes in the process. The small, elongated vessel listed with the impact. When Ben checked his readout, its shields were already mostly depleted. If he remembered right, the heavy cannons on the Xyston-class could only fire a shot at maximum power every minute or so. If they could find some way to disable those cannons…
That thought was quickly banished when a pair of TIEs locked onto him, sending warning klaxons erupting through the cockpit. He'd been shot down once in the past day. He had no intention of experiencing a repeat incident. Amid dodging fire from the two fighters, he glanced toward the capital ships. The Star Destroyers were bearing down on them at full speed, but with the sheer amount of firepower at their disposal, he was surprised the Resistance fleet hadn't taken more losses. It was almost like they were just firing warning shots.
A splash against his shields told him the same couldn't be said for these fighters. Scowling, he slammed the starboard maneuvering thrusters into overclock and went full reverse-thrust. The effect flipped his ship about 180 degrees and gave him a perfect shot on both fighters. He tore through their shields with the light cannons mounted on the Silencer's central module, then destroyed what was left with a burst from his heavy guns. Ben scowled at the massive red blob on his tracking computer. If they were going to survive this, they had to create an opening right now. With those Destroyers blocking their only lane out, there was no way through—and they just didn't have the firepower to make one.
The noose was steadily being tightened and there was nothing he could do about it.
…
Poe couldn't count the number of close calls so far. The Dagger pilots were a special kind of crazy. One might even say suicidal, with how blithely they threw themselves on the Resistance's defenses. Still, they had the numbers to do it and it was making a considerable dent. The transport's shields were already failing, and the corvettes were severely crippled, practically limping along without any weapons or other defenses. Rey, Chewie, and Finn were doing their best to provide cover with Red Squadron, but…
"Poe, we're getting killed out here!" Pava shouted desperately. "General, what do we do?"
Solo was right. This was a trap all along. They must've placed an additional layer of tracking vessels on a separate network. Compartmentalization of resources for extra security—or something. It was a classic Imperial tactic and he cursed himself for falling for it. But what choice had they had?
"General!"
He blinked, heart sinking by the second. "My friends…I'm sorry. I thought we had a shot." His voice dropped to a whisper. "There are just too many of them."
An analyst on the command ship shouted something that made him shrink even more. "General, another hyperspace signature incoming!"
Poe slumped over, fingers tight around the controls.
"Wait—it's not Sith!"
He blinked and looked up, eyebrows knitted in confusion. Another blink, and he saw it appear.
A massive, legendary vessel he'd only ever heard stories about.
He could just make out the gray form blotting out Ajan Kloss's sun as it overshadowed the enemy ships. The crimson plasma that erupted from its numerous cannons a split-second after jumping in gave him a much clearer picture. The trapezoidal stern and long, flat prism of its main body. The tower-like bridge where the main body and stern met. It was a slightly darker gray than the slate of Star Destroyers—and three times the size.
A Kad-class dreadnaught.
That overshadowing presence quickly demonstrated it wasn't just for show when its opening salvo shredded the next wave of incoming TIEs and pounded the hangar bays of the two Scar-class Destroyers. The smaller ships' shields floundered as their turbolasers struggled to reassign targets. The massive vessel angled itself to face one of the Scar-class more directly. Its front batteries flared with light for a moment. Then Poe was utterly blinded and squinted against the sudden glare.
When his vision resolved into something intelligible, his jaw dropped. The leftmost Scar-class was cracked in half, its sheared pieces falling in opposite directions as the explosion in the center blossomed outward. The cloud of debris and fire that billowed from the giant corpse consumed hundreds of fighters all around it. From the dreadnaught itself, swarms of dots emerged, streaking toward Poe and the ailing Resistance fleet. He recognized them almost immediately: Mandalorian Fang-class fighters. Their elongated wings started spinning around the cockpit, unleashing a devastating torrent of orange plasma on a formation of TIE fighters who couldn't realign in time.
Two other flights of Fang fighters arced off to relieve Red Squadron while the dreadnaught made to serve as a barrier between them and the Xyston-class.
Poe huffed in disbelief and tapped on his center console. "BB-8, hail that ship!"
When the static vanished, a familiar voice answered with a hint of smugness. "That's for cutting it close at my execution."
Poe grinned ear to ear. "Xel, you son of a gundark! Thought this war was 'hopeless.'"
"It was. I just neglected to mention I was leaving to make sure it isn't."
He shook his head.
"Now get your injured onboard! There's something I gotta show you."
The dreadnaught turned about, aiming toward the Xyston-class that was already smoking and bugging out—toward the planet. Xel let them run, and Poe wasn't about to argue. The corvettes limped aboard the much larger ship, docking in its ventral bays as all squadrons matched the dreadnaught's transmitted hyperspace vector. Poe retracted his S-foils, taking stock of how many ships were left. He frowned.
Too few. Way too few.
Shunting that aside, he primed the hyperdrive and waited for a destination. He curiously glanced back at the fleeing Star Destroyers to see that they were actually hovering in orbit over Ajan Kloss. He squinted when he saw movement on the top of the Xyston-class—armor plating that was peeling away from the center. His eyebrows knitted when he saw the hollow cylindrical gap running the length of the ship. It started flaring with red light moments later. BB-8 squeaked. Destination locked. Poe charged the hyperdrive right as that red flare turned blinding.
His eyes widened when a thick beam of crimson energy lanced from the Star Destroyer and stabbed into the surface of the planet. When it vanished, there was only a smoking crater where their base used to be—along with a massive portion of the surrounding area. The blast wave kept expanding before his very eyes. At this distance, that meant—stars, the firepower behind that blast alone far eclipsed that of even the First Order fleet-killers. In all his years, he could remember two incidents of such destruction, and only in the annals of history.
The destructions of Jedha City and the Imperial records facility on Scarif.
Feeling the blood drain from his face, Poe hit the controls and let the image fade into the calm blue tunnel of hyperspace.
…
When their hyperspace vector came to an end, it was in an empty system, to no one's surprise. Xel would never have led them directly to their end destination so as to avoid tracking. That also gave them plenty of time to dock the rest of the fleet. Poe and the Falcon were directed toward hangars very close to the command tower, and it quickly became apparent why.
When Finn stepped off the Falcon, his father was right there.
"Buir," he breathed, lunging at him.
Xel took his attack hug in stride, chuckling as the others slowly joined them. He held Finn at arm's length, taking in his appearance.
"Looking good, ad'ika."
Finn huffed. "It's been a week."
Xel shrugged and turned toward Poe, who still looked confused.
"Okay, I have a lot of questions," said the general. "First of all, what the hell was that all about when you stormed off, and why didn't you tell us you were coming back?"
Xel nodded slowly and waved them toward the door. "Come with me."
When they entered the chamber beyond the hangar, Finn and the rest came to a brief halt. Men and women of all different species milled about in various grades of armor, some helmeted, some not. Finn knew every last one of them was Mandalorian.
"I apologize for the deception," Xel said, leading them on. "I was still reeling from losing Jayc." He frowned. "Truth is, I still am. However, it was never my intention to abandon you, only to make it look that way."
Rey's brows knitted. "Why?"
"I know how possession works with Sith spirits. Sidious only let you see what he wanted you to see. If he had planted some additional monitoring system while he had control, there'd have been no way to know in advance. So I had to make it look good just in case."
Poe nodded slowly. "Make it look like you'd walked away for good, like we were the only opposition left."
"Exactly."
Poe turned to Finn. "Did you know about this?"
"What?" he said. "Of course not."
"I suspected what his decision would be," Xel said, "so I decided not to tell him. I only told the twins once we were already gone." He grimaced. "Keili was…vocal about not wanting to leave."
Poe's eyes widened. "Is Keili here?"
Xel smirked faintly. "No, but she'll be waiting for us where we're headed."
The ground beneath them lurched slightly as they jumped to lightspeed.
The commander splayed his arms outward as they made their way to the command deck. "Welcome to the Parjai!"
Parjai—Victory, Finn mentally translated.
Xel continued. "One of only two Kad-class dreadnaughts ever manufactured. It's the pinnacle of a MandalMotors design family produced exclusively for the Knights. Over six hundred turbolaser batteries covering every angle, plus a couple dozen ion cannons, no less than ten concussion missile launchers on each side—"
"And an infinite-mass driver built into the bow," Poe interrupted in awe. He explained when Finn frowned at him. "Basically accelerates massive slugs to relativistic speeds and hurls them at a target. That's what cracked that Star Destroyer back there."
Xel smiled and nodded.
Rey gaped at her surroundings. "I remember this from Threepio's lessons. This was the ship that won the Battle of Athiss!"
"In many ways, yes. The main Sith fleet couldn't keep up with the sheer firepower of this beast, but their flagship I destroyed personally." He frowned. "Had to. We were out of time."
Finn cocked his head. "How do you mean?"
Chewbacca roared and rumbled for a bit.
Poe's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, how is that possible? One ship can't do all that."
Finn eyed him curiously. It almost sounded like he was trying to convince himself.
"It's true," Xel said. "The Eclipse-class Super Star Destroyer was the Emperor's answer to a more mobile showstopper. He had the first one commissioned before his death—his physical death at least—but never saw it finished. The second was built in secret by Keldon's engineers using an unmapped system in the Unknown Regions."
Rey frowned. "So, the Eclipse was essentially another Death Star?"
"No. Its axial superlaser was based on the same technology, but because of its sheer magnitude, the size of the SSD's reactor was too small to output the same destructive power. Instead, what we're looking at is the equivalent of a single-reactor ignition from the first Death Star." He formed an expanding bubble with his hands. "Massive planetary destruction, but not quite obliterated. Enough to destroy continents."
Finn nodded slowly. "That would've ended the ground fight on Athiss instantly."
"Yeah."
Poe frowned deeply, staring at the ground as they stepped into a turbolift. "So…do you think they could…scale down that reactor? Y'know, given enough time and resources?"
Xel glanced back at him. Finn stared at the side of his head.
"Possibly," Xel said hesitantly. "Why?"
Poe shook his head as BB-8 chimed in, whining at the top of his vocalizer.
Finn felt the blood drain from his face. "They what?"
"That," Rey stammered, "that can't be right. Ben would've told us if…"
She shifted uncomfortably.
Xel's eyes narrowed. "Where is he, anyway?"
Poe cleared his throat. "It's a…long story."
"Well, where we're headed, we'll have plenty of time."
…
The trip was a long one, all right. Long enough to fill in Xel on the events of the last day or two. And long enough for his crew to track down the hangar where they'd sent Ben. By the time Finn and the others finished their story, Ben was ushered through the turbolift under heavy guard. All of them bore Kal signets.
Xel's eyes instantly snapped to the lightsaber hanging from his belt. He stared at Ben for a long time. Ben surprisingly didn't flinch under his gaze.
"You have some questions to answer, Solo," Poe said.
That accusatory tone finally got a reaction out of him, though only in the form of knitted eyebrows.
"Care to explain this?"
Poe waved to BB-8. The droid projected an image—a recording of their final moments in the Ajara system and the aftermath of the blast from the Star Destroyer. Finn saw Ben's eyes widen dramatically over the course of the recording.
Finn frowned at him. "Let me guess: something else they didn't tell you."
Ben swallowed visibly and shook his head.
Poe sighed hard. "How many Xyston-class does the Final Order have?"
"I…I'm not sure," he stammered. Ben looked up, thinking. "Most of the fleet is comprised of weaker ships like the Xiphos and Kopis-class, but…" He sighed hard, leaning against a databank. "The Xyston were meant to be the backbone. Of the thousand or so ships under their command, I'd say…maybe a hundred?"
Finn felt the air punched out of him.
Poe didn't look much better. "A hundred…Star Destroyers, each capable of annihilating entire continents? How the hell did they hide a superlaser that runs the length of the ship?!"
BB-8 trilled and rolled back the recording to show the armor lifting away.
Poe waved dismissively. "No, I meant from him!"
Ben stared at the image, then at the ground. "It wasn't on any of the schematics I saw, and those retracting plates must shield the added power output from detection." His jaw clenched. "They never wanted me to know the whole truth about the fleet."
"Because they already knew their 'Itharii' was returning," Rey said quietly. "Through me."
Ben nodded grimly. "There is one piece of good news."
Xel sighed hard. "Let's have it, then."
"The cult may have had the engineers to build this fleet, but they didn't have the population to fully staff them. That was where the First Order came in."
Finn's eyes widened. "Project Resurrection. That's why you restarted it."
Ben nodded slowly. "They—we needed more able-bodied recruits to man those ships."
"And we've been disrupting that at every turn."
He waved to Finn. "Exactly. As it stands, the Final Order is only at a fraction of its full deployment strength. Since the Xyston-class are highly specialized, I can only assume it will take more time to find and train enough bodies to serve as at least a skeleton crew for them. The vast majority of what's currently deployed is First Order or weaker ships from the Sith fleet."
"That's why they only spared a few specialized ships to take us out," Poe said. "They couldn't deploy anything more without tipping their hand."
"So," Finn shrugged, "still outnumbered and outgunned, just not as much as we could be."
"Yet."
Xel sighed hard. "It's not great, but at least we know." He gave Ben one last glance, then turned toward the main viewscreen. "Coming up on our destination now."
Finn faced forward, waiting with anticipation.
The moment they dropped out of hyperspace, his eyebrows went halfway to his hairline. Filling the viewscreen was a sphere of blue and green blanketed in sporadic clouds of white. Finn could just make out the forms of large capital ships in orbit around the planet, along with several satellites of unknown function. Xel stepped to the front of the group and grinned, waving one hand toward the planet below.
"Welcome…to Odessen, home of the Fortress Eternal!"
…
Xel brought everyone aboard the Kote be Aliit to shuttle them to the surface. Odessen was a beautiful garden world with rolling mountains and lush forests. All of which were put on display on the ride down. Finn pressed his face against the transparisteel of one window to get a better look, sensing Rey approach at his side with a wide-eyed look on her face.
He turned and smiled at her. She smiled back. Then they saw it.
A massive structure, a fortress etched into the side of a mountain. It looked in some ways like a giant mushroom, with a curved surface as the top of an old, central structure. From the center of this building rose a spire not dissimilar from the Knights' headquarters on Mandalore—a new construction still being worked on. The Kote flew past this spire and the massive anti-air cannons mounted around it to land in a secure hangar area shielded on either side by rocky peaks. They all followed Xel down the ramp in single file.
"This place is incredible," Poe said, looking up and around at the sheer scale of it.
"I'm glad you think so!"
The new voice drew their attention further into the hangar, to a familiar red-armored form. Poe practically stumbled toward her, eyes fixed on her smiling face.
"Kei," he breathed.
Keili smiled wider. "Hey, flyboy."
When their moment lasted a little long, Xel cleared his throat.
She sighed and waved them on. "Come on. Let me show you around."
The impromptu tour led them from one high-vaulted room to another, with Keili and her father serving as guides.
"This place is something of a family heirloom," Xel said. "My namesake and his partner built it to serve as a headquarters for their fight against a man known as the 'Eternal Emperor.'" He smirked and glanced back at the others. "Sound familiar?"
"Anyway," Keili said, "it's been defunct for millennia, this entire planet wiped from records to preserve its sanctity. Our ancestors left its location for us in a databank only their descendants could access."
"We've been putting it back together for months, making our own additions just in case." Xel brought them to a stop in the middle of a central atrium. "Needs work, but…seems apropos that it serve its purpose once again." He waved at their surroundings. "So, what do you think?"
Poe took it all in, a smile gradually forcing its way onto his face. "It's perfect."
Keili grinned and slapped his shoulder. "Then let's get to work."
…
The first point of business was supplying a landing area for the Resistance personnel. An underground complex the Mandalorians had been excavating was expanded to supply the needed space with the help of the new manpower. Networking their communication database was a simultaneous project managed by Rose and the analytics team. Rey and Ben held some more precarious supports in place with the Force. Everyone who could lift a hammer aided in the construction, yet the sheer scale still required long hours to complete even a fraction of a structure.
Hours turned to days, days to weeks. Reports across the galaxy warned that the Sith were on the move, but Zay Versio and the Mandalorians were still actively sabotaging their recruitment efforts. Getting a command-control center online was their priority.
As Xel put it, "They're doing their job so we can do ours."
Finally, the defenses were in place and the command center was operational. Only one piece remained—a final touch Keili had been designing for a while. They all assembled at the front, between the two massive anti-air cannons. Keili smirked and handed Poe a remote.
"Care to do the honors?" she asked.
Curiously, he took the device and hit the button.
Over the main entrance, a massive banner unfurled. The majority of it was a deep, vibrant blue. In the center were three familiar symbols laid over each other in tones of white and gray. First was the starbird, the iconic symbol of the Rebellion and Resistance. Within it sat the winged morning star of the Jedi Order. And over it all, serving as the mount and foundation for the other two, was the saber signet of the Mandalorian Knights.
Poe's jaw dropped as he slowly turned from the banner to Kei. He quickly matched her ear-to-ear grin. "Your design?"
She nodded. "Figured we all deserved a little recognition, considering how much we're putting on the line."
Poe just nodded and turned back to the banner, breathing deeply as they all took it in.
…
"All right. With command-control finally up and running, we now have everything we need to start fighting back."
"Well," said Rose, "not quite. We still need more intel, a weak spot, something. Even if we knew how to reach Exegol, we don't have the means of crippling their fleet."
Ben tapped the wall next to him with his knuckles. "I think I can help with part of that. The flight recorder on my fighter took down the route I plotted to reach Exegol the first time. Your techs should be able to extrapolate the destination coordinates from the navicomputer."
Keili nodded. "It's a start. But just knowing where they are isn't going to be enough."
"Agreed," he said. "Even at only partial strength, they outgun us ten to one."
Tei'ana stepped up. "Zay and Cerril have been running some recruitment of their own in the Mid and Inner Rim. Right now it's a race to see who gets the edge in manpower first."
Xel's head shook. "Even that won't be enough if we can't arm them properly."
Rey stepped up excitedly and tapped a datapad in her hands. "I actually had an idea about that."
Xel waved for her to continue.
She laid the pad down and connected it to the holoprojector in the center of the room. "Remember Cymoon I, that factory world Kei and Tei blew up?"
"Well," Keili interrupted, "technically we didn't blow up the whole—"
Xel sent her a sideways look.
She cleared her throat. "Right. Continue."
"Well," Rey said, "I was glancing over the after-action report and saw that the factory they destroyed was sending regular updates to a station on Mechis III."
Xel frowned. "Mechis III—I know that world."
She nodded. "It's another industrial planet, in the Inner Rim. Historically, they deal mostly with droid manufacturing."
Poe arched an eyebrow at her. "But with a little ingenuity and adaptation, that could be shifted to ships, weapons—anything we need."
Finn grinned nastily. "And with the debt Edin Varz owes us for leading us into that trap, we could get a permanent administrator the Crymorah won't even question."
"You really mean to trust that snake?" Ben asked. "After everything?"
Keili frowned and crossed her arms. "Far be it from me to agree with him, but he has a point."
"Oh, trust has nothing to do with it," Finn said. "It's a little thing called blackmail."
Kei eyed him curiously. "I'm listening."
He smiled. "It's simple. He's operating a smuggling ring in Hutt territory without their backing or permission. Varz might not be afraid of us, but I'll bet my nonexistent life savings he's afraid of them. We threaten to expose his little operation…"
"And we have a new pet akk," Ben finished with a smirk. "Devious. I like it."
Finn snorted and grumbled, "You would."
"So," Xel said, "Fin'ika and the twins will go to Nar Shaddaa to cash in that debt. The factory on Mechis III—"
"I'm going," Rey said. "It was my idea."
He shrugged. "Fair enough. I'm tagging along too. Been out of the field long enough, I think." Xel turned to Rose. "Tico, think you can help us with security?"
She winced. "I better stay here. There are still a few glitches in our intel network that need to be worked out."
"Ah."
R2-D2 squealed and rolled forward, spinning his head in place.
They stared at him.
Rey shrugged. "He is one of the best slicers I know."
Finn frowned. "Y'know, speaking of droids, where's yours, buir? I haven't seen Tor in months."
Xel visibly fought back a smile, looking off to the side. "Oh, he's…working on a personal project of his. Probably won't be around for a while longer."
Finn sensed there was a lot he wasn't saying, even underlying threat behind those words. Whatever "personal project" this was, his instincts said Ne'tra Tor would have quite the part to play before this war was over.
"In all likelihood," Poe said, "you'll need a strike team to help take that factory. Chewie, you up to lead one?"
The Wookiee shook his arms in the air and roared loudly.
Poe grinned. "Then everyone arm up! Pava, you're on close air support with Blues Two and Six. If things get messy, you'll need to soften up their defenses."
The pilot grinned and nodded to him. "Be a pleasure, general."
Rose sharply cleared her throat, staring at Ben. "Poe. You said we'd discuss the bantha in the room weeks ago."
Poe frowned and stared at their uneasy ally. "Yeah. Look, this isn't a conversation to be had out in the open, so…do you mind?" He waved toward a nearby conference room.
Ben frowned and nodded, moving off with Poe, Xel, the twins, and Finn. Rey nervously looked on, staying put. Poe stopped in the doorway so the others could pass, looking back at her.
"You comin'?"
Rey blinked and released a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. Once they were all inside, Poe shut the door behind them.
"We all know who you are and what you've done," Poe said, "so there's no need—or, frankly, time to rehash all that." He was silent a while, took a deep breath as he leaned over the conference table. "I don't think there's a person in this room who's a stranger to second chances, and…you've been…pulling your weight these past couple weeks." He looked around the room. "If we're all in agreement, I'd like to grant him provisional fighter status, with all the proper clearances and whatnot." Poe frowned and looked at Ben. "I think it's what Leia would've wanted. Any objections?"
Everyone was silent for a while, until Keili scowled and stepped up.
"I have reservations," she said, "and I know my sister does as well." Kei faced Ben directly, hazel gaze hard. "Just answer one question truthfully: what are you really after? What's your agenda? What is it you want more than anything?"
Ben stared back at her blankly, eyes flickering to the side as a frown creased his lips more with every passing second. A flash of fury entered his eyes a moment before he faced her again.
"I want to eradicate the Sith," he hissed. "Every—last—one."
Finn stared at him, eyes narrowing curiously. "Why?"
Ben blinked. Rey could see the surprise in his eyes. The silence dragged on for a while.
"I could give you…half a dozen reasons," Ben said softly as he stared at the ground. "They…manipulated me, betrayed me, tried to kill me." His head shook. "But they all sound hollow…even to me." He looked up at them. "So the truth is," a shrug, "I don't know. I don't know why I'm so hell-bent on it…just that I am." His jaw tightened. "And for now, that's good enough for me."
Rey stared at him, frowning. Her eyes slipped shut for a moment. For the first time since…well, since Ahch-To, probably—she chose to access her bond with Ben, to sense the truth or lie in his words. The blinding surge of rage she felt could've slapped her across the face. Unlike every other time she'd connected to his mind, that was all there was on the other side, like an impenetrable wall. Rey's eyes flew open as she staggered back half a step, breath shuddering. If anyone noticed her reaction, they didn't let on.
Not even Ben.
"Fair enough," Poe said at last. "You'll be in analytics decoding that nav course from your ship. If we're gonna assault the Sith fleet, chances are we'll need to bring some big ships through to even the odds, and we need as much intel as possible."
Ben frowned a little, glancing at Rey, then nodding.
Poe nodded and pushed himself upright. "Okay. Then I'll tell the others and that's that." Poe was halfway out the door when he stopped and looked over his shoulder at Ben. "Don't screw this up."
And then there were six.
AN: The first arc of Act II is done! This is one I'd been planning for a long time, especially that space battle. Adding lore and tech to the Star Wars universe is something I always enjoy, especially during eras of history or events that are otherwise untouched.
On that note, the biggest point of business regarding the Final Order: the Xyston-class Star Destroyers. The canon capability of each having enough destructive power to annihilate a planet is horsecrap. There. I said it. It took more than 20 years to build the first Death Star, another four or five to build the second, and then 30 (far as I know) to build Starkiller Base (which, btw, was built around an existing planet instead of as its own structure). With four decades and all the kyber crystals they could want, they'd never be able to put that much firepower into such a relatively small ship and mass-produce it.
Now, my solution: the Eclipse. In the Legends timeline, Emperor Palpatine commissioned a Super Star Destroyer equipped with a single-reactor superlaser. For those of you who've seen Rogue One, you know that although it doesn't destroy an entire planet, a single-reactor shot is devastating to anything it strikes and creates massive planetary fallout probably on an extinction scale. Thirty years to scale that down into a standard Star Destroyer? Sounds a bit more plausible to me. And to have the whole fleet comprised of these ships is also bonkers, so of the thousand or so ships in the Final Order, only an even hundred are Xyston-class. Still terrifying, but slightly more realistic given the dearth of resources and manpower needed to maintain the project's secrecy.
As for the Resistance's new home, those of you who play SWTOR may recognize it from the Knights of the Fallen Empire expansion. Odessen is important for a number of reasons, most of which Xel and Keili already explained so I won't belabor the point. The rest will come later, but suffice to say it focuses on our currently-at-odds bonded pair.
That's all for now. Stay tuned for the next story arc, which will be released one chapter a week once it's done.
Drake out.
P.S.: In case it wasn't readily apparent, the banner hanging from the Fortress Eternal is the same combined symbol as in the cover art.
Musical Inspirations:
Star Wars: The Old Republic
- The Mandalorian Blockade: start-1:16—Ben's agenda/flight check/assignments, 1:16-2:11—launching the evacuation/threading the needle/incoming threat, 2:11-3:14—trap sprung/desperate defense/tightening noose, 3:14-3:49—Poe's despair/too many/hyperspace signature. 3:49-4:41—"—it's not Sith!"/infinite mass driver/"…that's for cutting it close", 4:41-end—giving hope/base destruction/hyperspace
The Mandalorian: Chapter 2
- Celebration: start-0:38—dropping from hyperspace/"Welcome to Odessen…", 0:38-1:01—arrival at the Fortress Eternal, 1:01-2:06—reunion with Keili/tour/"…let's get to work", 2:06-3:03—rebuilding the Fortress Eternal, 3:03-end—"Care to do the honors?"/a new banner