TARIS
Luke could not avoid the fear seaping into him now. He determinedly swerved the New Republic shuttle onto its side to avoid the onslaught of fire.
The Hunter blasted at the Interceptors that had begun to target him.
"We're going to have to land soon if we don't want to get blown up," Lando said.
Luke nodded, pulling the lever to steer the craft towards ground level.
Only ten Interceptors remained, he realized.
"Let me see if I can get him," Sam Fel said, turning his guns towards the VCX freighter.
"No, everybody get out of here if you can," Lando ordered, "We've lost."
Luke was still struggling to safely land the shuttle, which was being consumed with flames.
Smoke entered the cockpit as the personnel aboard began to cough.
"Admiral, you said not to give up," Sam replied, "So we will fight to our last breath."
"They've beaten us," Lando gasped, struggling to keep out the ashes from the fire engulfing their craft.
Finally, Luke touched the shuttle down past the swampt jungle and onto the nearby grassland.
The Hunter smiled sinisterly through his mask. "And so begins the next Jedi purge," he said.
"We haven't lost just yet," Luke said to Lando, sensing a familiar presence in the Force.
The VCX-100 began to fire on the crash-landed shuttle, ready to finish it off. Just then, a newcoming ship slammed into the Hunter's vehicle so hard that it send him spinning through the air.
"No!" the Hunter yelled as the Millennium Falcon began firing at the Syck fighters, quickly taking them out.
"Mistress Kira, be careful!" Threepio cried as Kira shot after each Coalition ship.
Kira was one with the trigger as she pumped each shot, reducing the enemy ships into balls of debris.
"Han's here!" Lando exclaimed as he, Luke, Artoo and the others climbed out of the wrecked shutttle.
"That's not Han," Luke replied, looking up intently at the Falcon.
The Hunter finally regained control of his ship, steering it around the face the Millennium Falcon. "It's the girl," he said aloud.
"We're saved!" one of the Republic pilots cheered as Kira flew directly at the Hunter's ship, accelerating her speed.
The Hunter dodged her, once again swerving so that his ship was directly facing hers.
"I recognize that flying," Sam said, observing the speed at which the Falcon dodged the blasts headed its way, "That's the kid! That's Kira Solo!"
His mind flew back to Nal Hutta, when they'd fought against the Cartel forces together.
Kira felt the Force flowing through her veins as she continued to fly over the landscape below.
Luke and Lando watched from below as the Hunter began pursuit, chasing Kira up into the clouds.
"Let's help her out!" Sam said to the remaining pilots, "Follow me."
"Copy, Rogue Leader."
"All of our craft, retreat!" Gurga the Hutt commanded from the Dor'bulla he was on, "There's no winning this fight anymore."
The few Syck and Black Sun fighters left began to pull up and fly back to their command ships.
"Cowards," the Hunter said to himself with disdain. He'd make them pay once his true motives had been realized. He did not intend to bring anarchy to the galaxy, but rather rule in the name of Palpatine and the Sith.
Closing her eyes and trusting her instincts, Kira flew the Falcon in a circle around the ships that had followed her, leading the Hunter to do the same.
The Interceptors opened fire, finally striking at the Hunter's ship.
The Hunter looked around through the window of his cockpit. He loathed to recognize that he was outmatched, but he could not deny it. The Hunter knew that staying would be probable suicide. He was not going to die in a fiery ball of gas.
"I will make you pay, Kira Solo," he said before steering his ship in the direction of the sky above. Then, without delay, the Jedi Hunter pulled the lever to enter lightspeed, launching out of Taris's system to far away.
As the last remaining Coalition ships faded out of sight, the Republic pilots began to make their way towards the planet surface.
Kira looked up at the point where the Hunter had flown away, then down where her uncle had crash-landed.
She began to fly the Falcon down towards the wreckage, deciding to push the Hunter to the back of her mind for now. She knew in her gut that she would face him again someday.
Luke, Lando and the others who had been in the fighters waited as Kira and the other pilots began to dock in the grassland outside the jungle.
Kira stood up from her seat, nervously anticipating how her uncle would react to what she had done. She knew her parents would be furious, but she hoped they would understand.
Kira climbed down from the cockpit and said, "Come on, Threepio."
She opened the hatch that led down the ramp onto the surface of Taris where Luke and the others were waiting.
As Kira stepped down onto the ground, she came face to face with her uncle, who studied her expressionlessly.
Artoo Deetoo beeped his happiness, and Threepio replied, "How I missed you while travelling in that dreaded star cruiser."
"Uncle Luke," Kira began, looking down at her boots. She couldn't look him in the eye.
Luke finished for her. "Without you, Kira, I don't think we would have made it. Thank you."
He was sincere. The Grand Master of the Order was thanking his teenage neice for saving his life.
Kira could not help but beam with pride.
"Thanks, Uncle Luke."
"Good job, Kira," Lando said.
"Thank you," Kira replied before looking over to the pilots, her eyes searching curiously for one in particular.
Finally, Sam fel caught her eye, nodding as he released one of the other men from a celebratory hug.
Kira moved closer to him, admiring his features. She wanted to say more to the captain of her father's squadron.
Finally, Sam nodded said to her, "Not bad, kid."
Kira nodded with as much dignity as she could muster before smiling widely once her face was turned away from him.
ROGUE MOON
As Han and Leia sat by their resting son in the cave, Ben pointed up at the sky and said, "Look!"
What was left of the Coalition fleet was retreating, including the Hunter's personal craft, which blasted off into the vacuum of hyperspace.
"She did it," Leia said with a small smile.
Han hugged his wife tightly, whispering, "That's our girl."
Ben stared after the fleeing ships for a moment, then turned his attention back to his parents.
"Here they come," Leia said as the Falcon emerged from the green hue of Crait's surface and flew towards the Rogue Moon where they were camped.
Luke and Lando sat with Kira in the cockpit as she flew them towards her parents and brother.
They sat silently as she prepared to land the ship. Han and Chewbacca both hauled Ben up onto his feet as the Falcon touched down on the Rogue Moon.
The ramp to the Falcon lowered to reveal Artoo, Threepio, Lando, Luke and finally Kira.
By this time, Ben's leg had been properly tended to and bandaged.
He staggered with support from Han and Chewie as Kira made her way towards her family.
Silence filled the dark, cold air as the other men from Lando's ship came out of the Falcon.
Finally, Luke spoke up. "We couldn't have made it out of there without Kira and the Falcon. She saved us all."
Kira looked down in embarrassment as Ben said to her, "You did a great job."
She looked up hesitantly as her mother said, "We know you came after us because you care."
Kira nodded. "I've been kept in shelter all my life. I hate not being able to help while all of you put your lives on the line."
Han and Leia looked at one another, exchanging pained glances.
"Look, kid, we think it's time you started training at the Jedi Academy with your Uncle Luke," Han said to his daughter.
Kira could not help but gasp in excitement. "Really?"
Leia nodded and added, "We can't hold you back forever, and you'll need the training. It's your destiny."
Overcome with emotion, Kira rushed towards her parents and wrapped them both in an embrace.
Luke bowed his head as he studied his niece. He would have a lot of work to do training her. "It won't be easy," he spoke up, "Being a Jedi takes a lot of sacrifice."
Kira let go of Han and Leia and turned to face her uncle.
"I know," she replied breathlessly, "I'll give it my all. I've been dreaming of this my whole life."
"I know, Kira," Luke replied, finally cracking a smile."
A short time later, as Lando's crew was loading up the Falcon, the remaining Interceptor pilots were making the necessary repairs to their fighter crafts.
Breaking away from her family, Kira made her way towards Sam Fel, who was hard at work fixing the shell of his damaged cockpit.
"That's twice I saved you now," she said in a teasing way.
Sam looked up and grinned in amusement. "Hey, I saved you from that bounty hunter too back on Nal Hutta."
Kira smiled back. "So that's one more you owe me."
Sam nodded and chuckled. "I'll make sure to return the favor."
"I look forward to it," Kira replied. She really meant it, too. She hoped to see this hotshot captain again.
"I hear you're going to be a Jedi now," Sam said.
Kira blushed slightly. "I am," she confirmed before adding more meekly, "Some day."
"Good luck with it, kid," Sam told her, "You're going to do great."
Kira's stomach leapt inside her at the praise.
"You coming?" Ben called to her from the Falcon's ramp.
"Be right there!" Kira replied.
She gave a wave to Sam as she hurried after the two droids.
Sam waved his hand back at her before returning to his repair job.
Inside the Falcon, Kira sat between her brother and Threepio as Han, Leia, Luke, Chewie and Lando sat together in the cockpit.
The old friends stared into the vastness of space as Han pulled the lever and launched the Falcon ahead.
CORELLIA
A Jedi consular ship waited in the hangar of the Solo family's apartment suite as Kira said goodbye to her family. Her bags rested by the open ramp as Luke silently waited with patience.
"Remember, Kira, the Force connects us even when we're not together," Leia told her daughter.
"I know, Mom," Kira said quietly. Despite her previous elation, it was all she could do not to burst into tears.
"We love you both very much," Han added, clapping both Kira and Ben on the back. He said to his teenage son, "Make sure she doesn't get into any trouble."
Ben nodded and replied, "I'll look after her."
"Not too much though," Kira added, and the four of them could not help but burst out laughing.
"There'll be plenty of room for adventure," Han said with a touch of humor.
"There's a lot to learn, but you can do it," Leia said to her daughter, "You've already proven yourself."
"I won't let you down," Kira replied. She looked around at her parents and brother huddled around her, then at Uncle Luke. "Any of you."
A moment later, Ben was leading Kira onto the ramp, helping her carry her bags aboard.
Kira closed her eyes as she stepped onto the Jedi shuttle, knowing she was stepping into her new destiny. She let the tears come down, allowing herself to mourn the loss of this chapter of her life.
Ben patted her on the back and said reassuringly, "It'll be okay."
Kira nodded and hugged her brother.
Han and Leia gazed after them as they disappeared aboard Luke's Jedi shuttle. Before climbing aboard, Luke exchanged a silent glance with his sister and his best friend.
They didn't know how long it would be before they saw one another again, but it would happen. They knew it in their hearts.
HYPERSPACE
While Ben and Kira sat in the cockpit with Master Saba Sebatyne, Luke paced inside a private room, consulting with the two ghostly forms who had appeared to him.
"Training the girl, difficult it will be," Master Yoda said, "She is headstrong and adventure seeking. Learn to discipline her mind, she must."
"I've trained many Jedi," Luke said, "I have faith in Kira."
"As do we," Obi-Wan said, "But be careful, Luke. Trying times lay ahead for her. She will have to confront the darkness that looms on the horizon."
Luke stopped and slumped against the wall.
"I can guide her through it," he promised them, "I won't let Han and Leia down. I know the dark side intimately."
"Of course you do," Yoda said, "And doubt you we do not. A great Jedi and teacher, you are, Skywalker."
"You do us very proud, Luke," Obi-Wan said.
Luke could not help but smile at the words of his old Masters.
ILUM
Inside the Force-enchanted cave, Kira concentrated on the Kyber crystals in the frosty air. She used her hands to telekinetically manipulate the shining minerals, guiding them in line with the pieces of the lightsaber hilt she had constructed.
Here she was, building her own lightsaber in the same cave where she had first confronted the dark side. She knew she would have to face it again, and next time she would be ready.
She could feel the presence of her grandfather watching over her as she used the Force to push the crystals in place. She did not see Anakin, but he was watching her from a distance, a proud smile on his face.
Luke and Ben both waited in the snow atop the icy ledge outside the cave. Years before, Luke had accompanied Ben to this same place to construct his own saber. The Force was strong with the Skywalker family, and Luke fully believed in the girl he was going to begin training.
At last, Kira emerged from the mouth of the cave.
Luke and Ben withdrew the sleek metal saber hilts from their Jedi robes and pointed them upwards.
With a neutral expression, Kira raised the hilt of her new lightsaber and ignited the brilliant blue blade. She admired the humming sound it made as she waved it through the air.
Two green blades hummed to life as Luke and Ben activated their sabers, and the three of them dipped their lightsabers forward in salute.
TO BE CONTINUED