Leia sat in the Raddus' captain's cabin, filled with a deep sense of melancholy. The heavy cost of the escape from D'Qar compounded with the loss of Han had pushed her ideology of hope everlasting to its limit. Now, she could feel the despair from young Rey. Luke wasn't coming.
The Raddus gently shuddered as it emerged from a Hyperion gate. Leia's untouched teacup softly rattled on its saucer. The General dabbed her eyes and stood, heading for the door to the bridge.
Elsewhere, Poe, Finn, and Bibi-Eit emerged from the ship's laundry, with Finn sporting a fresh set of clothes and Poe holding a folded bundle of leather. Together, the two men and the automaton moved quickly up the corridor.
"So," said Finn, starting to count on his fingers, "you blew up Starkiller Base..."
"Yep," Poe confirmed.
"Rey beat Kylo Ren..."
"Mmm-hmm."
"And the Resistance got the map."
"Right."
"You won, right? Why doesn't this feel like winning?"
Poe sighed. "We came out of hiding to attack Starkiller. Didn't take long for the First Order to find our base. Now, we gotta regroup to go back at them."
"I believe in what you guys are doing here, but I didn't join this army. I don't want you to think I'm something I'm not."
"Hey, hey, hey. It's fine, you're all right. You're here, with us, where you belong." Poe handed Finn the bundle of leather.
Finn unfolded it to find it was the leather jacket that Poe had given him. On the left side of the back, a large gash had been repaired with amateurish stitching.
Poe smiled sheepishly. "I fixed your jacket. I'm, uh, not much of a sewer, but..." He cleared his throat. "...you know, I was busy saving the entire fleet."
Finn smiled and thanked Poe as he put his jacket on. Poe led the way towards the Raddus' bridge.
The moment Poe stepped onto the bridge, Leia made a beeline for him and slapped him across the face. "You're demoted."
Poe sputtered. "What? Wait! We took down a dreadnought!"
"At what cost?"
"You start an attack, you follow it through."
"Poe, get your head out of the cockpit. There are things that you cannot solve by jumping in a crosswing and blowing something up! I need you to learn that." Leia started to walk away.
"There were heroes on that mission."
Leia stopped and looked back to Poe. "Dead heroes. No leaders." She turned and left him.
Finn watched the navigator update the fleet's position on the map table as Leia walked over to do the same. "The Sea of Oetchi? We're really in the middle of nowhere. How's Rey going to find us now?"
Leia pulled up her sleeve to reveal a beaconstone bracelet. The ghost of a smile crossed Leia's lips. "To light her way home."
Beaconstones are rare opalescent gems resembling moonstones that are found in mountain springs on the islands of Iego. Each is a perfect pale blue sphere about the size of a human thumbnail and glows with a faint light. When cut in half, each side glows brightly when pointed in the direction of its mate. Unlike with tracking beetles, only the paired halves can be used to find one another.
Finn nodded. "So until she gets back, what's the plan?"
"We need to find a new base."
"One with enough power to get a distress signal to our allies scattered across the Outer Rim," Commander Larma D'Acy added.
An alarm suddenly started blaring.
"Proximity alert," Admiral Ackbar called out.
"Oh, no," one of the scryers gasped. "They found us."
Poe's jaw dropped. "That's impossible."
Two dozen Star Destroyers slipped from Hyperion gates, forming a pair of arcs behind and to either side of the Resistance fleet. One more gate as large as all the others combined opened between the two arcs. A coal black ship larger than there had ever been before or has been since sailed out, blocking out the twilight sun.
This was the Supremacy, less of a flagship for the First Order than it was a floating capital city. Built from the last three Super Star Destroyers in existence joined side by side, the Supremacy alone carried more firepower than the total of its Star Destroyer escorts. The central tower at the apex of the superstructure glowed with a blood red light.
Captain Idrosen Gawat couldn't believe his eyes. "That's Snoke's ship..."
"You've got to be kidding me," Poe said. "Can we jump back into Hyperius?"
"We have enough energy left in the crystal for just one trip," Kaydel Connix elucidated. "It would need to recharge for at least a day after that."
"Well, do it. We got to get out of here."
"Wait," Leia said. "They've tracked us through Hyperius."
Finn shook his head. "That's impossible."
"Yes. And they've done it."
"So, if we open another gate, they'll just find us again and we won't be able to get away. They've got us."
"Not yet, they don't," said Poe, full of his characteristic defiance. He looked to Leia with a smirk. "Permission to jump in a crosswing and blow something up?"
Leia smiled. "Permission granted." She turned towards Ackbar. "Admiral, swing us around!"
"Helm, full astern! Engage wards! All hands to battle stations!"
The Star Destroyers' forward cannons erupted, belching out fire and clouds of sulfurous smoke. Shells hammered the fleet's shield wards, sounding like incessant rolling thunder. Underlaying the cannon fire was the comparatively soft droning of a hundred TIE engines.
Kylo Ren gripped the control sticks of his sleek black and red TIE, the Whisper. His eyes burned with anger as he led led his sky pilots towards the Raddus. "Follow my lead."
In the Raddus' main hangar, crews rushed to rearm and refuel the thirteen remaining flying machines. Tallie climbed into her father's bladewing and pressed the startup rune.
Poe and Bibi-Eit rushed through the corridors, heading for the hangar. As the micronaut sped ahead, Poe called after him. "Don't wait for me! Hop in and fire her up!"
The Resistance fleet's shield wards swirled with dazzling colors while the hammerhead cargo frigate Vigil burned out of control in the midst. TIEs rattled off bursts of Moze gun fire, harassing deck crews and antiair gunners.
Kylo flew the Whisper through the Raddus' shield wards, coming dangerously close to the ship's deck. He opened fire on the distracted antiair batteries, destroying four on his first pass. Deck fire crews sprang into action to extinguish the fires before they could spread, only for Kylo's second pass to cut them down.
Kylo swung his TIE around again and noticed the Raddus' open hangar doors. He primed a rocket and reentered the shield ward, hugging the side of the Raddus as he made his approach. Oblong portholes and white hull paint rushed by, but Kylo kept his eyes on his target. He pressed the firing rune and banked away as soon as the rocket was in the air.
Poe and Bibi-Eit came around the corner and into the main hangar just as Kylo's rocket hit one of the refueling tanks. White hot flames ripped through the hangar, engulfing every flying machine within. Ammunition boxes, bombs, and rockets exploded nearly instantly under the intense heat. The pilot and the micronaut saw only a yellow-orange wall before being thrown back into the corridor by the concussive force.
Poe groaned as he reoriented himself. All he could hear for the moment was ringing and muffled popping. After a few seconds, his eyes adjusted and he saw everything in the hangar burning wildly. The heat radiating out stung Poe's tongue as he stared slack jawed at the inferno.
After the bulkhead doors sealed, Poe looked around him. Bits and pieces of metal lay strewn around him, but he seemed to be uninjured.
Bibi-Eit, on the other hand, had had his head knocked off of his body. He squawked unhappily for a moment before the magnets on the underside of his head caught those in his body. His halves reconnected with a clank.
Finn sprinted up the corridor. "Poe! Poe, are you all right?" He knelt next to his friend and helped him to sit up.
Poe groaned. "We need to get out of range of those Star Destroyers."
Admiral Ackbar cupped a finned hand to his ear hole. "We need to what?"
Leia raised her voice over the blaring alarms. "Full engines ahead! Get out of range of those Star Destroyers and the fighters will fall back."
Ackbar nodded and touched his comm crystal. "All craft, full steam! Concentrate rear wards!"
Cannon shots continued to pound the fleet's wards as the ships turned. Kylo Ren and his wingmates cut across the path of the Raddus just in front of the bridge, prompting the crew to duck reflexively.
The only one to not flinch was Leia, who looked out at her son's TIE sadly. She felt the anger inside him, but what spoke to her more was his pain, guilt, and sadness.
When Kylo swung the Whisper around for a run, his breath hitched as he sensed his mother's presence. He had the perfect shot to take out the bridge.
Kylo's hand shook as he reached towards the rune. A tap was all it would take. One tap and his past would be dead.
He blinked rapidly, trying to hold back tears. Slowly, he pulled his hand away from the rune.
Kylo jumped as a pair of rockets from his wingmates screamed past him. Everything slowed down as he watched them fly straight towards the Raddus' bridge.
Leia sighed and closed her eyes an instant before the rockets hit. The explosions tore the bridge apart, throwing debris, bodies, and limbs onto the deck and into the water.
Horror gripped Kylo as he watched his mother thrown through the air. A tear fell from each eye when she hit the sea. His left wingmate suddenly caught an antiair shell and he tried to compose himself. Kylo and his right wingmate peeled off.
The small communication font on Kylo's dash rumbled and he passed his hand over it. General Hux took form in the silver liquid. "Ren, the Resistance has pulled out of range. We can't cover you at this distance. Return to the fleet."
Kylo grunted and slammed his fist against the frame of his cockpit. He turned back towards the Supremacy as his other wingmate went down in flames.
Hux stared out at the distant Resistance fleet from the Supremacy's bridge. "Captain Peavey."
The newly transferred inveterate captain raised his eyebrow. "Yes, General?"
"What is the point of all this..." Hux turned and swept his arm towards the Supremacy's bridge crew. "...if we can't blow up three tiny ships?"
Peavey frowned. "Well, they're faster and lighter than us, sir. They can't lose us, but they can keep us at a range where our cannons are ineffective against their wards."
Hux scoffed and looked back out the window. "Well, keep up the barrage. Let's at least remind them that we're still here."
"Very good, sir."
"They won't last long burning coal like this. It's just a matter of time."
Leia's body slowly drifted down into the murky depths of the sea. Her undone grey hair and torn robes gently fluttered in the water's current. A curious fish swam towards her upward reaching hand but fled when her fingers twitched.
Leia extended her fingers towards the hull of the Raddus and opened her eyes halfway. Her descent stopped, then she started back towards the surface feeling the Force lift her.
Finn, Poe, and Kaydel Connix stood at the railing, scanning the debris strewn water for anyone who survived. The three of them cried out in unison when Leia breached the surface. The rescue crews already in the water rowed over to her and carefully pulled her on board. Medical crews placed Leia on a gurney as soon as the rescue boat was hoisted back up.
"Move! Out of the way! Make room!"
"Life signs are weak, but she's fighting."
Multiple bleeding lacerations crisscrossed Leia's exposed skin, but this was not what concerned the Raddus' medical crew the most. The impact with the water's surface had broken three of her ribs and collapsed a lung.
As Leia was wheeled away, Finn saw her beaconstone bracelet slip from her wrist. He picked it up and looked it over while turning it in his hand.
While Rey lay curled up asleep outside Luke's hut, the stone on her bracelet slowly pulsed with a soft light. She whimpered quietly as she dreamed of her fight with Kylo Ren. Real events mingled with twisted dream logic, creating a nightmare scape.
On the shore by the Millennium Falcon, Chewbacca roasted a pair of porgs over a small campfire. Grease sizzled as it dripped from the meat and a delicious aroma carried on the breeze. Chewbacca slid one of the birds off the iron spit, taking care not to burn his hands. He was about to take his first bite when he heard a porg coo from off to his side.
Four of the seabirds stood at the edge of the firelight, staring at him with their big black eyes. Chewbacca roared at the porgs, scattering them as they screeched in alarm. The Wookiee was about to try for a bite again when one of the porgs came back. It cocked its head and chittered curiously.
Chewbacca looked to the living porg and roared again, scaring the seabird away. He then cast his gaze to the roasted one in his hands and moaned sadly. It smelled so good, but he couldn't bring himself to eat it now.
Luke watched and waited for Chewbacca to fall asleep before quietly ascending the Millennium Falcon's gangplank. He tracked his eyes over the moonlit ship as memories flooded his mind. There were the Treeby guns that he and Han used in their escape from the Death Star, there were the claw marks left by Red Five after saving him in Bespin, and there was the repair to the damage the top of the mast sustained during the Battle of Endor.
Luke stepped onto the bridge and ran his hand over the back of his chair. A glint on the ship's wheel caught his eye and he smiled sadly. Han's gold dice hung as ever from one of the spokes. He undid the loop and put the dice in his pouch.
The familiar smells of wet fur, sweat, old leather, and gun oil greeted Luke on entering the passenger cabin. He took a seat at the semicircular bench around the Dejarik table and looked around the darkened cabin. Something keg shaped moved towards him from the shadows, beeping and chirping softly.
Luke pulled his hood back. "Artu?"
The nautomaton whistled excitedly.
Luke smiled. "Artu!"
Artu trundled over to Luke, beeping and whistling a litany of questions.
Luke sighed. "Yes. Yes, I know."
Artu warbled angrily.
"Hey, sacred island, watch the language."
The nautomaton beeped sadly.
"Old friend... I wish I could make you understand. But I'm not coming back. Nothing can make me change my mind."
Artu rotated his head towards a small communication font on Han's desk. The silver surface took the shape of Leia in a hooded robe.
"General Kenobi, years ago, you aided my father during the Great War. Now he begs you to help him again in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request in person..."
Luke looked to Artu. "That was a cheap move." He continued to watch the recorded message.
"...This is our most desperate hour. Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."
Luke sighed and hung his head.
Rey awakened with a gasp to see Luke looming over her. She scrambled to a seated position.
"Tomorrow at dawn," said Luke. "Three lessons. I will teach you the Ways of the Jedi and why they need to end." He walked into his hut and closed the door.
A faint smile crossed Rey's face as she laid back down.
Kylo Ren sat hunched over the edge of his bed with his fingers gripping his hair. Every night was the same; nearly sleepless as the faces of every person he had killed filled his mind. The guilt he felt tore at him even though he knew that as Vader's heir they shouldn't. Tonight, the face of his father haunted him the most.
'Ben, this is my friend Chewie. Aww, it's okay, you don't need to hide. I know he looks scary, but he's a big softie... There, see? He won't hurt you. He's promised to keep you safe.'
Kylo roared and pulled at his hair. Killing Han was supposed to make the guilt and pain vanish! It was supposed to be his ultimate test! All it did was exacerbate the disgust and loathing he felt towards himself.
It had also driven that girl further from him.