Armitage Hux entered Starkiller Base's command center with a spring in his step. Having seen the Supreme Leader upset with Kylo Ren had made his day and he had the feeling that nothing could spoil the mood. The command center personnel exchanged confused glances, unused to seeing the General without a scowl.

Hux crossed the room and ascended the steps to the observation platform, keeping his eyes fixed on the blue afternoon sky outside the panoramic window. "Major Kent, begin charging the weapon."

Major Kent, already at attention, straightened herself even more. "Yes, sir." She turned to the gunnery crew. "You heard the General, commence charging!"

Deep in the volcano of Ilum, the magma chamber started to fill once more. Molten rock swirled and coalesced around a monstrous jumble of Kyber crystals fused by the most profane magics. The volcano's throat sounded a low rumbling groan, as though the mountain itself was agonized by what was happening.

Leia glanced at all the faces that had assembled around the command center's map table and a sense of nostalgia for the Battle of Yavin filled her. The sensation wasn't entirely pleasant, though, as there was the same deep feeling of anxiety.

Poe leaned over the table and addressed the High Command and the other Resistance officers around him. "The scrying data from Snap's reconnaissance flight confirms Finn's report." He gestured towards Snap.

Snap nodded. "The First Order has somehow created a Dark magic weapon built into the entire island of Ilum."

One of the officers pouted. "Like a magic cannon?"

"We're not sure how to describe a weapon of this scale."

"It's another Death Star," Major Caluan Ematt said shuddering.

"I wish that were the case, Major," Poe said, pressing runes to bring up an image on a nearby looking glass. "This was the Death Star..." A rotating image of the fortress appeared on the glass. "...and this is Starkiller Base."

Everyone gasped and started muttering at the size of the weaponized island. The entirety of the Death Star could comfortably fit inside the top third of the mountain alone.

Han shrugged. "So it's big."

Admiral Ackbar stared at the black and green images of the fortress and the island. "How is it even possible to power a weapon of that size?"

Finn spoke up. "It uses the power of a volcano. As the weapon is charged, the magma chamber fills and it's infused with magic."

An aide excused herself as she pushed through towards Leia. "Ma'am?" She handed the General a message from the Autopress.

Leia's face hardened as she read the paper. "The First Order... They're charging the weapon again now. Ileenium is the next target and at the current rate of energy buildup, they will be able to fire just after sunset."

Worried murmurs spread through the command center.

"Oh, my," said Threepio. "And without the Republic fleet, we're doomed."

Han nodded slowly. "Okay. How do we blow it up? There's always a way to do that."

"Han's right," agreed Leia with a smirk.

Admiral Statura stepped forward. "In order for that amount of power to be controlled and contained, the base has to have some manner of sigil drum."

"There are two," Finn said, moving to the looking glass and pointing to the northern and southern slopes. "Precincts 47 and 24."

Statura shook a finger as he thought. "If we can destroy the containment drum, it should destabilize the magic and cripple the weapon. Maybe even the whole island"

Poe lit up. "We'll go in there, we'll hit that drum with everything we've got-"

"They have a fortress ward around the island," interrupted Admiral Ackbar.

"Okay, we'll deactivate the ward." Han looked to Finn. "Kid, you worked there. What do you got?"

Finn set his jaw. "I can do it."

Han smiled. "I like this guy."

"I can disable the ward, but I have to be there. On the island."

"We'll get you there." Han tapped Chewbacca's arm.

Leia sighed. "Han, how?"

He smirked. "If I told you, you wouldn't like it."

"So we disable the ward," began Poe, "we take out their sigil drum, and we blow up their big gun."

Chewbacca roared, voicing his approval.

Poe nodded. "All right, let's go."

The assembly dispersed to go about their pre battle duties. Sky pilots headed to their machines to perform their checks, rockets and fresh ammunition belts were loaded, and nautical automata, micronaut and otherwise, were placed into their cradles.

Poe was in the middle of his checks when he saw Finn passing by. The sky pilot smiled and thumped his friend on the shoulder. Finn smiled back, then continued on his way to the Millennium Falcon.

Han knelt on the Falcon's deck, trying to get at least one of the Treeby guns working again. "Chewie, see what you can do about that bent capstan."

Finn started walking up the gangplank carrying a heavy black crate.

Han called out Finn's name. "Be careful with that. They're explosives."

Finn nervously glanced down at the crate in his hands. "Now you tell me." He slowed down and cautiously carried the crate below deck.

Leia ascended the gangplank, remembering all the adventures that she had experienced on the Millennium Falcon. She walked over to her husband. "You know, no matter how much we fought, I've always hated watching you leave."

Han shrugged. "That's why I did it." He stood and walked towards her. "So you'd miss me."

Leia smiled. "I did miss you."

Han gave a soft laugh. "It wasn't all bad, was it? Some of it was... good." He winked.

Leia's smile became a sly smirk. "Pretty good."

They both chuckled.

"Some things never change," Han said, still smiling.

"True. You still drive me crazy."

Han pulled Leia into a hug. She rested her ear against his chest and closed her eyes. They gently rocked side to side, so glad to be together again, but sharing the feeling of the loss they had endured.

"If you see our son..." Leia croaked. "...bring him home."

Han held his wife close. He would do whatever it took.

Kylo Ren seethed as he roamed the halls of Starkiller Base. He no longer wore his robe over his lamellar armor as he had inadvertently ruined it while destroying the interrogation room, which only added to his foul mood.

A stormtrooper jogged up to Ren and saluted. "Sir, a sensor node was tripped in Hangar 718. We're searching the area."

Kylo glanced at his own wrist, wondering why he hadn't been informed by comm crystal, only to find that he had shattered it. "She's just beginning to test her powers," he said, picking the comm crystal shards out of its socket. "The longer it takes to find her, the more dangerous she becomes. Call in four more squads to join the search."

Several corridors away, Rey pressed herself behind the frame of a blast door, waiting for the sounds of stormtrooper boots to fade away. An announcement over a nearby broadcast crystal startled her and she stifled a yelp. Once the announcement ended, Rey peered around the doorframe and adjusted her grip on the carbine. Not seeing anyone, she moved on, continuing her search for something she could sail.

As the Millennium Falcon moved through its Hyperion stream, Finn joined Han and Chewbacca on the bridge. "How are we getting in?"

Han leaned back in his chair. "Fortress wards are impenetrable. You can't even open Hyperion gates on the other side."

Finn frowned. "I know. I was hoping you'd have an idea for how to sneak in."

Han shrugged. "Kind of. You can't open a gate on the other side of the ward." He looked to Finn. "But I've never heard anything about opening one on the boundary itself."

"You're not serious."

"We'll either make it through or we won't have the time to realize it didn't work. Get ready, Chewie."

Finn sat in the chair behind Chewbacca and gripped the armrests tightly.

Han looked at the brass box. "And... Now!"

When the Falcon came out of the Hyperion gate, everything was shimmering like oil on water as reality tried to make sense of how to rectify the conflict of the fortress ward and the gate existing in the same place. There was a quiet pop and the Millennium Falcon launched forward like a bouncing rubber ball with the keel rising completely out of the water.

Han's eyes almost fell out of his head as his ship hurtled towards the frozen Ilum coast. Finn screamed and Chewbacca roared in terror, sure that they were going to die.

The Millennium Falcon's keel splashed back into the surf, sending a cold spray of saltwater into the air. The ship lurched violently and the heavy stern's inertia wheeled it around just enough that the forward energy threatened to roll the Falcon. She slid to a stop on the pebbly shore, creaking as her hull settled.

Han sat staring into space for a moment. "...It worked."

Kylo Ren's new comm crystal chimed. "Sir, she was not found in Hangar 718, but all troops are on high alert."

"Put every hangar and dock on lockdown. She's going to try to steal a ship to esc..." Kylo lowered his arm and turned his head. "...Han Solo..."

Finn, Han, and Chewbacca trudged through the snowy northern forest, bundled in the warmest clothes Han had on the Falcon. The grey sky darkened as twilight drew ever closer.

"Never thought I'd wish for another tauntaun," Han grumbled.

Finn pointed through the trees. "The flooding tunnel is just over that ridge. We can get in that way."

"What was your job when you were based here?"

"Sanitation," Finn answered.

Han grabbed the back of Finn's collar and spun him around. "Sanitation?! Then how the Hell do you know how to disable the ward?"

"I don't. I'm just here to get Rey."

Han's eyes burned. "People are counting on us! The world is counting on us!"

"Solo, we'll figure it out... We'll use the Force."

"That's not how the Force works," Han hissed.

Chewbacca growled.

Han scoffed. "Oh, really? You're cold?"

Finn freed himself from Han's grip on his collar. "Come on."

Han tried thinking of another retort, but could only come up with an exasperated "gah." He and Chewbacca followed Finn.

General Hux watched with mild disappointment as the snow came down outside. He had hoped that the sky would stay clear so that he could watch the weapon's beam arc towards Ileenium. It was of little consequence, though. Either way, the Resistance would be erased from the world. "Status report," he demanded, not turning away from the window.

"Weapon will be charged by sundown, sir."

Hux nodded. No more than twenty minutes.

Poe's crystal crackled to life and the words he had been waiting to hear came through. "Black Leader, the Falcon has landed. All sky pilots are clear for takeoff."

Poe started his crosswing's engine. "All right, Black Squadron, let's get in the air. Hold at altitude and wait for my signal to open gates. We're going in at full throttle."

"Roger, full throttle."

Snap smirked. "Is there any other speed?"

The flooding tunnel had proven easy to infiltrate, but a new problem arose when they reached its end. Blast doors sealed the tunnel off from the rest of the base. Han looked at the door in front of him and frowned. "So, how do we get through this one, kid?"

Finn stepped in front of the door's sigil plate. "I've still got the sanitation access code. They don't usually bother to change that."

Han raised a skeptical eyebrow. "And what if they changed the code?"

Finn tapped in the sequence. "Then I guess we try knocking."

Han huffed a dry laugh and to his pleasant surprise, the doors slid open. On the other side, a stormtrooper turned in alarm. "Hey!"

Chewbacca put a magic crossbow bolt into his chest.

Han looked around for any more troopers, then beckoned his companions. "Let's go. The longer we're here, the less luck we're going to have. How do we get the ward down?"

"I have an idea about that," said Finn.

Captain Phasma strode down the corridor towards her office with her hand, as ever, on her sword's pommel. She was well aware of the weapon beneath her feet being readied again, but did not intend to watch its firing this time. The death wrought by the weapon was nothing special to her. The anarchistic wastelands of Parnassos that forged her had numbed her to such things.

Something very large and very furry suddenly tackled her to the floor. Strong as she was, whatever had a hold of her was even moreso. Phasma was roughly lifted to her feet with her arms pinned behind her back and came face to helmeted face with a familiar man standing in front of her.

Finn smiled bitterly. "Do you remember me?"

"FN-2187," Phasma replied flatly.

Finn smirked and shook his head. "Not anymore. The name's Finn and I'm in charge." He aggressively jabbed his thumb into his sternum. "I'm in charge now, Phasma! I'm in charge!"

Han tapped Finn on the shoulder. "Bring it down, bring it down."

Finn sniffed. "Yeah." He glared back at Phasma. "Follow me."

Rey hugged the wall and watched the patrol of stormtroopers pass her by. Once they were gone, she emerged from her alcove and jogged in the direction they had come from.

The corridor led to what Rey at first thought to be just some vast chasm, but she quickly deduced that it was an empty drydock for a Star Destroyer. She was about to walk to the railing overlooking the enormous berth when she heard a pair of voices from around the corner.

"Hey, my shift ends in fifteen. Do you want to head to the mess for a bite?"

"I can't. They have me at the docks helping to bring in the gunpowder shipment."

"Oh, is that the new stuff?

Rey moved behind a collection of crates against the wall and peered around them. She saw two stormtroopers idly chatting and a TIE fighter just outside the drydock's entrance, the latter giving her hope. Suddenly she heard the faint marching of a patrol moving towards her.

Thinking fast, Rey slung the carbine over her shoulder and darted to the railing and climbed down a hanging rope. She held her breath as she hung there, praying to whatever would listen that she had gone unnoticed.

After several seconds, the footsteps above her faded away and Rey allowed herself to breathe again. Against her better judgement, she looked at the dizzying expanse below her. A short distance away sat an entrance to a ventilation shaft, easily accessible with the rope and a bit of swinging.

Rey lowered herself and gently swung back and forth. She gripped the rope tightly with her legs and hand and reached for the handle to open the shaft. Her first attempt failed and her stomach lurched ad she nearly lost grip on the rope.

She tried again and this time turned the handle. The vent grate opened on the back swing and as she swung forward, she leapt. Rey's hands caught the top of the grate while her feet landed on the vent's lower lip. Not wanting to waste time, she nimbly crawled into the shaft and closed the grate behind her.

Chewbacca shoved Phasma towards her office's master control console. Even with her mirror polished helmet concealing her face, Finn and Chewbacca could sense the glare she was giving them.

Finn put the muzzle of his carbine to her temple. "Do you want me to blow that bucket off your head? Lower the ward."

Phasma stared at the console. "You're making a big mistake."

Finn narrowed his eyes. "Do it."

Chewbacca growled.

Phasma wordlessly started to tap out a rune sequence.

Han entered the office, stepping over the corpses of the guards. Finn looked up. "Solo, if this works, we're not going to have a lot of time to find Rey."

"Don't worry, kid. We won't leave here without her."

A barely audible deep hum came from the control console. Phasma scoffed. "You can't be so stupid as to think this will be easy. My troops will storm this block and slaughter you all."

"I disagree," Finn said with a shrug. "What do we do with her?"

"Is there a garbage chute?" Han lit up. "Trash compactor?"

Phasma balked.

Finn smiled and nodded. "Yeah, there is."