15. Not Alone

She felt Han's death when it happened, her dad. So did the rest of the family.

"Oh, Chewie," she cried when the Wookie returned, looking more sad than she had ever seen from him. "I'm so sorry."

"Waaaaaaaa," he said softly before wrapping her up in a big, warm hug. She buried her face in his fur and fell into his arms.

"Kes, I'm so sorry." Poe held her as she cried.

"Ben - I'll kill him," she vowed.

She felt Luke's death when it happened, her uncle. Again because of Ben, her brother. Would the killing never end? Would she lose her whole family? Her birth family, as well as her adopted family?

And now she felt Leia's death as it happened, her mom, she reaching out to her children one last time. One moment she was there, and then suddenly - nothing. She was gone.

At her sudden and shocking grave news, Poe fell silent, and Chewie wailed.

An even greater solemnness had settled over the Resistance base when they returned.

"Then General, she's-" one of the officers came up to them.

"We know," Poe told her. "We know."

"Chess, Leia made you Acting General," Rose told her.

"Me?"

"Yes."

"I need to see her."

Soon she found herself sitting at her mother's bedside. "I'm not sure I ever really thanked you and Dad for doing what you did, taking me in. Raising me as your daughter, raising me alongside Ben as his sister. I only hope and pray that you know how much it meant to me, you giving me a family and home when I no longer had one."

She turned upon hearing footsteps to see Poe. "Just wondering if you wanted some company, but I understand if you'd rather be alone."

"Thank you." She wiped some tears away. "Come sit."

He sat down beside her, they leaning into each other for support.

"All this makes whatever we were fighting about seem pretty silly."

"Yeah, it sure does." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaned into him, he pressing a tender kiss to her forehead.

She sighed heavily. "Acting General - I can't do this alone. Will you share the command with me?"

"Of course."

"General."

"General." Poe then sighed. "They hit Kijimi."

"What?"

"They have planet-killing weapons on every ship in the new Sith fleet sent from Exegol."

"No-"

"Yeah."

"Oh, Poe - I'm so sorry." That meant that Zorii, everyone, was dead.

"Yeah. I gotta tell you, I really don't know how we're going to do this." Poe faced Leia. "What you did - I'm not ready."

"I don't know if any of us are," Chess agreed.

"Neither were we."

"Lando!" Chess jumped to her feet to hug him.

"Luke, Han, Leia, me... Who's ever ready?"

"How'd you do it?" Poe asked. "Defeat an empire with almost nothing?"

"We had each other. That's all we needed. That's how we won."

The couple exchanged a glance. "Where's Finn?"

"Poe! Chess! I need to talk to you about something-"

"We need to talk to you about something: we need you in command with us."

"This droid has - thank you, I appreciate that."

"General."

"General." Finn returned.

"Generals," said Chess.

"This droid has a ton of information about Exegol." Finn pointed to D-O who sat at their feet.

"Wait, what, Cone-face?" cried Poe.

"I am D-O."

"Sorry, D-O."

"He was going to Exegol with Ochi of Bestoon."

"The guy Uncle Luke and Lando were tracking," said Chess.

"Yes, exactly."

"Why was he going there?" asked Poe.

"To bring a little girl he was supposed to take from Jakku to the Emperor. He wanted her alive."

Rey.

The three Generals gathered at the heart of the base.

"This is how he finishes it," said Poe.

"Listen," said Rose. "It's on every frequency."

"The Resistance is dead. The Sith flame will burn. All worlds, surrender or die. The Final Order begins."

"All the information we need for an airstrike on Exegol," said Finn, plugging in D-O to their computers.

"Yeah, except how to get there," said Poe.

"Yikes, are you seeing these readings? It's a mess out there."

"I'm terribly sorry! I'm afraid R-2's memory bank must be crossed with his logic receptors-" C-3PO was walking over to them, R-2 in tow.

"3PO, you're back!"

"That's right, Mistress Franceska, I am. Turns out, R-2's storage units were much more reliable this time - and thank goodness too! But he says he is receiving a transmission from Master Luke."

"Plug him in!"

"That's an old craft ID," said Poe as a tracking image blinked up on the screen. "That's Luke Skywalker's X-wing."

"It's transmitting course marker signals on its way to the Unknown Regions," explained 3PO.

"Oh it is good to have you back!"

"It's Rey," cried Finn, staring at the blinking image. "She's on her way to Exegol. And she's leading us there, showing us the way."

"Call a Resistance meeting. Everyone gather round!"

"Come on, Buddy," Chess called to the forlorn Chewie. "We need you." He growled sadly and joined her.

"As long as those Star Destroyers are on Exegol, we can hit them," Finn began.

"They can't activate their shields until they leave the atmosphere," explained Rose.

"Which isn't easy on Exegol. Ships that size need help taking off," said Poe.

"They do so by using a signal from a navigation tower like this one." Chess pressed a button and a hologram image popped up for everyone to see.

"Except they won't, not this time," said Finn. "Air team's gonna find the tower, and ground team's gonna blast it.

"Ground team?" asked someone.

"I have an idea for that," Finn promised.

"Once the tower's down the fleet will be stuck in atmo for just a few minutes," continued Poe. "With no shields, no way out."

"We think hitting the cannons might ignite the main reactors," explained Rose.

"There's our chance," agreed Lando.

"Fighters and freighters can take out their cannons," said Finn. "If there are enough of us."

"There's not enough of us!" someone cried.

"He's right," said Connix. "We'd be no more than bugs to them."

"That's where Lando and Chewie come in," said Finn. "They'll take the Falcon to the Core Systems, send out a call for help for anybody listening."

"We've got friends out there," Poe reminded them all. "They'll come if they know there's hope."

Everyone began murmuring. "What about Crait?" someone cried. "No one came then, why would they now?"

"They will," Chess insisted. "A friend recently reminded me that the First Order wins by making us think we're alone." She shared a look with Poe, squeezing his hand, and he knew she was talking about Zorii. "But we're not alone."

"She's right, good people will fight if we lead them," Poe agreed.

"Leia never gave up," Finn reminded. "And neither will we. We're gonna show them we're not afraid."

"What our mothers and fathers fought for we will not let die," Chess said, noticing a smile from DJ where he stood away from the crowd. "Not today. Today we make our last stand."

"For the galaxy, for Leia, for everyone we've lost," agreed Poe.

"They've taken enough of us, they've taken enough from us. Now we take the war to them," finished Finn.

Everyone split up, preparing themselves for the oncoming attack.

"I need to change." Chess headed off to their hut.

"Now?" cried Poe.

"I can't fight as a Jedi dressed like this. "Suit up-Flyboy." She stepped out of their hut a few minutes later in long, white robes. "I'm going after Rey. I feel a pull - the light, the dark, and the balance all gathering together."

"For what?"

"That's what I'm going to find out. Hey-" She stopped Poe before he could rush off to his X-wing. "May the Force be with you."

He grinned. "Always."

And off we go to the final battle! Only a few chapters left!

As always, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! :)