Chapter Seven
Pursuit
Two old Aki-Akis sat side by side atop a hill. They looked up as the crew of the Millennium Falcon crested the rise and ran past, C-3PO shuffling along hurriedly in the rear. In the middle distance, a line of ships descended from a Star Destroyer hanging above.
"There! Those speeders," Poe said, pointing at a pair of vehicles hanging from a metal docking station at the edge of the festival. The group ran past some sort of metal-encased beast to them. Poe dropped to the ground underneath a blue transport skimmer and began working on the underbelly. Rose opened a panel in the side of a red speeder and rewired it.
C-3PO stumbled to a halt. "No need to worry, I made it," he said, waving his metal arms.
The blue speeder coughed and spat dust out of its triangular front grille. Poe scrambled to his feet and turned as he heard shouts and screams from the midst of the festival. Solonny Ren strode menacingly through the crowd towards them, Ott and Lorl shoving aside celebrants on either side of her.
"We gotta go!" Poe called.
Rose, Rey, Chewbacca and BB-8 had already set off aboard the red skimmer. Finn and C-3PO got onto the blue speeder behind Poe and sped away.
A First Order Jet trooper standing atop a rocky outcropping watched the two skimmers heading in the direction of the city, leaving twin trails of dust in their wakes. He lifted a white comlink towards his helmet and reported, "I've spotted the fugitives."
The Resistance-commandeered skimmers zipped across the sandy plain. Green blaster bolts flashed by them, one hitting the blue skimmer. Finn lost his balance and Poe ducked.
Rey looked behind them. A pair of First Order Treadspeeders were tearing across the desert, unloading their side mounted laser cannons at the skimmers. Rey pulled out the blaster pistol Han Solo had given her and fired at them. Chewbacca joined her with his bowcaster, but their shots were absorbed by the treadspeeder bikes' shields. BB-8 beeped worriedly.
One of the treadspeeders' metal bodies sprang upwards, catapulting a jet trooper seated behind the driver into the air. The other speeder executed the same maneuver a moment later. Chewbacca growled unhappily.
C-3PO pointed at the jet troopers soaring after them and shouted, "Ah, they fly now!"
Poe looked over his shoulder. "Jet troopers! I hate these guys."
Rose banked her skimmer to the right, while Poe peeled off towards a canyon. The jet troopers began to fire explosive rounds into the desert ahead of the rounded red skimmer, the blasts blowing sand into the air. Rose veered between the explosions while Rey activated one of her lightsaber's blades, deflecting blaster bolts with her left hand while returning fire with her right.
The blue speeder zoomed down the narrow canyon.
"Did we lose 'em?" Poe asked.
Finn shouted over the engine noise. "Looks like it."
"Excellent job, sir!" praised C-3PO.
One of the treadspeeder bikes jumped off a low hill and entered the canyon. It fired. The blue skimmer swayed as it was struck again.
"Terrible job, sir," chided C-3PO.
Rose piloted her speeder between two lines of thin metal poles, dodging the other treadspeeder bike's fire. BB-8 examined a metal canister leaning against the back of the craft. He beeped a question.
"Not now, Beebee-Ate," Rey told the droid.
The astromech tapped a circular indentation in the metal drum with one of his arms, producing sparks. After a few tries, he punctured the casing and yellow powder began to leak from it. The canister twirled into the air before exploding.
The treadspeeder pursuing them drove directly into the cloud of pigment. The driver tried futilely to wave it away. Unable to see the terrain, he careened over a rocky ridge and flew into the air.
Rose swerved, giving Rey a shot at the treadspeeder. Rey took it, pumping blaster fire into the exposed underside of the enemy vehicle, which blew apart.
"Never underestimate a droid," Rey said as Rose gunned the engine and sped away. The burning wreck of the treadspeeder fell to the ground behind them. The jet troopers left white trails of vapor behind them as they continued the chase.
The other treadspeeder still hounded Poe, Finn, and C-3PO. Finn occasionally returned fire, more in hopes of keeping the enemy driver off balance than out of any real hope of damaging the bike, which rolled over or leapt all obstacles. A shot from the First Order speeder struck a pole in the middle of the skimmer. Finn ducked into a crouch.
A coil of rope hanging next to Finn caught his attention. He grabbed the metal hook attached to one end of the rope and threw it at the ground ahead of the treadspeeder. It caught in the speeder bike's track, pulling the rope after it. The treadspeeder shuddered as its internal mechanisms sparked and flamed.
Finn tied the other end of the rapidly uncoiling rope to the blue skimmer's central pole. "Poe?" he called.
Poe braked and pivoted the skimmer simultaneously. The treadspeeder bike swung around on the end of the rope and crashed into the canyon wall, where it exploded. Finn, Poe, and even C-3PO whooped and cheered as they left the canyon.
Chewbacca scored a bulls-eye on one of the jet troopers. The soldier screamed, hit the ground, and rolled before lying still. The red skimmer passed the trooper, following the poles as they curved to run parallel to a canal.
Poe pulled up beside them. "Did we get all of them?" he asked.
The final jet trooper flew into view, firing his blaster. He was met by a barrage of fire from the crews of both skimmers. One of the bolts struck the trooper in the chest, sending him corkscrewing through the air. He slammed into a cliffside and blossomed into a fireball.
"Keep following the canal," Poe said. "It leads straight to the city."
Suddenly, an explosion rocked the desert, the blast wave launching both skimmers skyward. The Resistance crew splashed into the canal as the Knife 9zipped by overhead.
"Will the agony ever end?" moaned C-3PO as he sank into the water. Chewbacca grabbed him and began paddling towards shore.
A double-masted razorsail catamaran floated on the water a few meters away, tied to one of the metal poles. Poe swam to the boat's ladder and climbed aboard. Finn and Rose followed him and untied the craft while Chewbacca pulled C-3PO and BB-8 on board.
"Get on!" Poe called to Rey.
"No," said Rey. "Get to the Falcon. I'll hold them off."
Poe looked stricken.
"Go!" Rey shouted.
Finn tugged Poe's arm. The pilot took the helm. He threw a glance over his shoulder before activating the razorsail's turbofan and speeding away.
The Steadfast bore down upon Bonadan as two more Resurgent-class Star Destroyers arrived from hyperspace, flanking it. Aboard the Steadfast's bridge, Hux looked upon the globe shining beyond the viewport.
"Obliterate any ships leaving the planet!" the Chancellor commanded. He turned to the gunnery captain. "Charge the primary weapon!"
Rey looked at the horizon, where a tiny dot crept into view from behind a dark hill. She focused on her breathing. When she could make out the outline of the approaching ship, Rey removed the lightsaber from her belt and activated one of its blades.
The Knife 9 drew closer, skimming along the surface of the desert. Hattaska Ren piloted the vessel with cold precision, while Solonny, Jaedec, Ott, and Lorl sat in surrounding cockpit chairs. The red-tinted viewport threw a ghastly light on the Knights of Ren.
Rey watched calmly as the craft accelerated towards her. She dropped into a crouch, facing away from the ship, her lightsaber ready at her side.
The Knife 9 was almost touching the ground as it streaked towards the Jedi. Rey looked over her shoulder, judging speed and distance. Then she began to run.
The Knights' ship drew closer and closer. Just before it reached her, Rey leapt upwards. She seemed to hang in the air as her lightsaber sliced through the Knife 9's left wing where it connected to the ship's hull. Rey landed on one knee in the cloud of sand kicked up by the vessel's passage.
The left wing of the Knife 9 sagged, the partly severed attachment point unable to support its weight. Hattaska Ren looked at his instruments in alarm as the ship shook. Finally, the damaged wing broke off completely. The transport collided with the ground and flipped end over end before bursting into flames.
Rey rose to her feet as the cloud of dust dissipated. She shut off the lightsaber and turned to head for the city, but a movement in the distance caught her eye. Through a haze of heat, she watched the Knights of Ren emerge from the smoking wreckage of the Knife 9. They stalked slowly towards her.
Rey looked up as she heard a familiar whine of engines. The Millennium Falcon swooped towards her from the hills surrounding the city, halting just above the ground.
"Hold her steady," Poe shouted to Chewbacca, seated beside him in the cockpit. "Finn, move fast."
Finn stood on the lowered boarding ramp. "Rey, come on," he yelled, beckoning with his arms.
Dozens of TIE Fighters screeched towards the Falcon. "Locked on target," one of the pilots said flatly.
Poe watched the approaching swarm of fighters silhouetted against the low-hanging sun. "Finn, we're about to be cooked!"
Rey steeled herself and took a running jump.
"Come on, I got you," Finn said as he grabbed Rey's arm and pulled her aboard.
Poe pushed open the throttle and the Millennium Falcon shot away, TIE Fighters and green energy bolts whizzing after it.
Finn and Rey rushed to the gun wells, Finn taking the bottom turret while Rey swung into the top seat. They opened fire on the pursuing TIEs while Poe steered between two of the tall hills surrounding the city.
The Falcon shuddered as it was hammered by laser fire. Damage alarms blared.
Poe shouted over his shoulder, "Finn, Rey, you're supposed to be getting rid of those things!"
Finn struck one of the TIE Fighters. It spiraled into a hill and exploded. "Got one!"
"How many left?"
"Too many," Rey shouted back as she took out another TIE.
The gunnery captain of the Steadfast reported, "Primary weapon charged, sir."
"Fire!" ordered Chancellor Hux.
Black-helmeted gunners flipped switches and adjusted gauges, aiming the axial superlaser mounted under the Star Destroyer. The giant cannon fired a beam of blazing red energy towards Bonadan. Hux's pale face glowed in its light.
The Millennium Falcon zoomed over the dark side of the planet. Chewbacca pointed into the darkness and growled.
"What?" Poe shouted, flipping a switch on a panel to his left to turn on the headlights.
Chewbacca roared and motioned. Poe turned in time to see the Steadfast'ssuperlaser crack open the ground before them with a thunderous roar. Chunks of ice, rock, and ice-covered rock spun upwards. The Falcon lurched as a large piece of debris struck its right side. Chewbacca growled.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know," Poe said.
C-3PO stepped into the cockpit. "I'm afraid our shields cannot withstand a superlaser of this magnitude—"
"Tell me the odds, Threepio. I like numbers," Rose requested.
While the protocol droid rattled off figures, Poe yelled into his headset. "We can't make the jump with all this debris."
The Falcon wove around the chunks of planetary crust. Several TIE Fighters collided with fragments of stone and blew up, but others evaded them, shooting at frozen rock and the Resistance ship alike.
Poe buzzed across the surface of a frost-covered mountain whirling into space. "Finn, we can boulder these TIEs," Poe said.
"I was just thinking that," Finn said, swiveling his turret and firing on the mountain. The peak blew apart, sending rocky projectiles wheeling into the path of the pursuing craft. Explosions flared behind the Millennium Falcon as it rocketed out of the debris field.
"We're clear!" Rey shouted.
Poe told Chewbacca, "Punch it!"
The Millennium Falcon streaked into hyperspace. Five First Order TIEs disappeared after it.
The Falcon dropped out of lightspeed on a twilit world covered in crystalline stalagmites sticking diagonally upwards. Poe heaved on the controls, narrowly missing one of the spikes. Stray fire from the First Order TIEs hit the stalagmites, sending shards of crystal flying.
"They're still on us!" Finn yelled as the ship rocked. "How are they still on us?"
"They must have some sort of homing beacon hidden on board," Poe fumed. "Rose, scan the ship."
"Roger."
Poe zigzagged between the huge spires. One of the TIE pilots tried to dodge Rey's fire and ran directly into one of the projections.
Poe pulled the lightspeed lever back. Streaks of light appeared outside the cockpit, building into a bright flash that disappeared to reveal the blue cloudiness of hyperspace.
"What are you doing?" Finn asked.
"Lightspeed skipping," answered Poe, stretching to press buttons on a side panel.
Rey shouted, "You can't lightspeed skip the Falcon!"
"Actually, turns out you can," Poe said. Control panels sparked as he pushed the lever forward and they dropped into the midst of a forest of tall, white towers. Huge mirrors attached to the buildings reflected the freighter and starfighters as the ships wove between them. One of the mirrors sliced an unlucky TIE in half.
Rose studied a portable scanner. "I can't find any trace of a bug," she said.
"Keep looking," said Poe as the mirror-spires blurred into blueness.
"Sir, they've left the Bonadan system," an officer informed Chancellor Hux.
"Our fighters are still in pursuit," said a comms technician. "They're in the Crystal Chaos of Cardovyte."
"Set course for Cardovyte!" Hux commanded.
"No, wait," said the comms tech. "They're on Ivexia now."
"They must be lightspeed skipping," Commander Sellik postulated. "There's no way a ship this size can keep pace with them."
"We don't have to," Hux said. "Order the Relentless to set course for Ivexia. Tell the Xyston to await my orders."
A band of children rode fathiers along a cliffside overlooking the ocean. They cheered as the Millennium Falcon swept past in the skies above. One of the children, a boy wielding a javelin made from a broom, lifted a silver ring with an inlaid Rebel Alliance starbird in salute.
Three remaining TIE Fighters dropped out of hyperspace. Finn grazed one of them. The starfighter crashed onto the beach, its flaming, wingless cockpit rolling across the sand.
"I've got something!" Rose shouted. "There's a transmission being beamed from this ship."
"How do I shut it down?" Poe asked.
"It's not coming from the ship itself," she said. "It's coming from. . . Beebee-Ate?"
Poe jerked the hyperspace handle back and then forward. They were now racing through a murky green nebula.
"Okay, Beebee-Ate," Rose said, kneeling before the droid. "I'm going to have to turn you off for a bit."
BB-8 beeped his assent and bobbed his dome, before falling silent as Rose found a switch on its underside. The lights on his metal body went dark.
The Millennium Falcon rolled, dodging enemy fire. The triangular maw of an immense worm-like creature reared out of the emerald mists before it.
"Last jump, maybe forever," said Poe.
C-3PO screamed as the creature prepared to engulf them.
Poe shouted, "Hold on!" as he threw back the lever once more. The Millennium Falcon shot past the monster and into hyperspace as the two remaining TIE Fighters crashed into its throat. The creature closed its three-tusked mouth over them and dove back into the green gloom.
The Steadfast dropped out of hyperspace into the Typhonic Nebula.
Chancellor Hux stared into the clouds. "Well, where are they?" he snapped.
"Sir, the droid's signal cut off a few dozen ticks before we arrived," a comms tech informed him. "Their last known position was here in the Megafauna Chasm."
An officer reported, "We've lost all contact with Hush and Incarnadine Squadrons."
"No sign of the Corellian freighter," said a sensor technician.
"So they've slipped away again," said Hux. He allowed himself a moment to stew. He had been on the cusp of catching the last Jedi, her companions, and the Millennium Falcon to boot. If he had managed such a feat, when both the Supreme Leader and his precious knights had failed, it would have been irrefutable proof that Kylo Ren should be taking orders from him, not vice versa. Now the opportunity for such a coup had been snatched from his grasp.
The voice of a comms officer disrupted his brooding. "Sir, we're receiving a message from Coruscant. Highest priority channel."
Hux said wearily, "Put it through."
"It's just a line of text," said the technician. "It says, 'Chancellor. Return to the Capitol.' The odd thing is, there's no signature code."
Hux stiffened. "Repeat that."
"I said there's no signature code."
Hux stared blankly into the verdant nebula.
"Sir? Are you all right?" Commander Sellik asked.
"Of course I am," Hux said testily. "Set course for Coruscant. Immediately."
The bridge buzzed with activity as Hux turned on his heel and left, lost deep in thought.