AlwaysChillen98: I agree. Even though I support the Empire and First Order over the Rebellion and the Resistance. It its hard to get on board with some of the stuff that they do. I mean the destruction or one or several planets is a very hard thing to justify. The best you can do is place it with Hiroshima and say it saves lives in the long run. However, the Rebellion has done some pretty dark shit as well. It is one of the reasons I liked Rogue One as it finally made the Rebellion less like comic book heroes and more like an actual realistic insurrection/terrorist group. I am glad you like the Zeltron reference. I am trying to add as many Canon and EU references as I can to join the two together as best I can.
Edboy4926: As always thank you for the review. I will check out the Gundum UC anime when I get the chance. But at the moment I have at least a dozen anime and shows to catch up on and I am not sure when I will have time to start a new one.
TishaLiz: Thanks for the review. I am aware that many reviews etc have commented that they want more of Kuvira and Kylo Ren interacting and more obvious romance between the two. The problem is that neither Kylo or Kuvira are the cuddling and 'romantic walks on the beach' kind of people. I am determined to give them the kind of romance that people like them would actually find themselves in. The kind that they resist and try to deny. Even then it might be more passion then love. But I will ensure that develops albeit slowly.
Mistress Peregrine: I really appreciate the review it was very inspiring to read. In regard to your comments on the 'villains' and 'heroes' I am glad. The main point behind the story is to show that there is good and bad on both sides of every war ever fought. And I am glad that you like Kuvira. I based a lot of her character of the Kuvira from the Legend of Korra. But I am glad that I have made her an independent character for this fanfic. I also apricate the advice for the Kuvira and Kylo romance. As you pointed out given their personalities it is not easy to right them in a romantic light while sticking to their characters. I have some idea of how I think their relationship would develop. I feel that it would be more passion then love. At least at the start of the relationship. Regardless I hope I don't disappoint you and I welcome any feedback or ideas.
Chapter 12 – Battle of Takodana. Part 2
Takodana – Maz's Castle Courtyard
Kylo Ren – POV
Kylo Ren ignited his lightsaber as he mounted the crest of the hill that the girl and droid had climbed to take refuge from his troopers. But clearly based on the stunned expression on the girl's face. She had not expected to come face to face with the likes of him.
As his crimson lightsaber burst from the hilt he took the time enjoy the rasping sound of the energy blade as it flashed into existence and the hilt blades that also came to life with their beautiful crimson hue a second later.
But before he could do anymore introspective thinking, the force screamed a warning of danger in his mind emanating from the girl. Acting on instinct, he swung his lightsaber as he was forced to bat aside the blaster bolts that were sent at his masked face. With the skill and precision born of years of training, he sent them harmlessly into the rock and trees of his woodland surroundings.
He focused back to the material world and saw that the Jakku girl was directly in front of him. She was standing further along the small earthen canyon that had formed in the forest floor. She held her quaint and clearly outdated blaster pistol pointing directly at him. It would have been more impressive if the hand holding the weapon had not been trembling like a leaf. Even if it had not been he would have known of her terror even if he was completely deaf and blind to the currents of the Force.
Her face was a mask of panic and desperation as she sent another bolt of plasma directly at him. Only for him to smack it away with contemptuous ease. As he did so he could see and sense her desperation growing as she backpaddled down the canyon trying to get away from him.
He strode after her as she continued to send bolt after bolt at him in her efforts to bring him down and escape from his wrath. But all her efforts were useless. His lightsaber was always where it needed to be to send the lethal bolts of energy flying off into the distance. And in some cases, her hand was shaking so violently that she missed entirely as the bolts slammed harmlessly into the tree's and ground around him.
When she finally realised that her blaster was about as useful against him as a rock, she turned on her heel and scrambled up the side of the ditch that they had been moving down. Kylo quickly climbed up after her. He did not even break his stride in his pursuit as more blasts of red energy came flying at him.
He slapped them away and even as he did so he could see the girl's face begin to take on a hopeless expression. He realised that she was coming to realise that she could not kill or defeat him. But she had nothing else to do but keep trying, keep firing until her charge ran empty. Or, far more likely, he became bored and sliced her apart.
In truth he enjoyed the terror and fear pouring from her into the Force. He drew it into himself and used it to fuel the Dark Side that burned like an inferno within his body. He was not just feeding on her own fearful emotions in the force. He was gorging himself on them and using them to further focus and increase his own power. It was part of his master's training that was apparently derived from the techniques of the ancient Sith Lord Darth Malgus. And he was relishing the chance to use them in combat once again. But as much as he was enjoying her despair he was on a schedule.
With that he smacked away the most recently blaster bolt that she sent his way and thrust out with the force. With the speed of thought, he commanded it to wrap around the girl and bind her in place as he felt the power rush through him to obey his silent command.
In an instant the girl froze in place in mid motion. She flinched and shuddered as she tried in vain to move her no completely solid limbs. But it was to no avail. To the un-trained eye. It looked like she had suddenly decided to start imitating a statue at the worst possible time. The only sign of life that could be seen where her still moving eyes. First they widened in shock as she tried to comprehend what the kriff was happening to her. Then they began darting left and right as she desperately sought some means of escape. Until finally they dimmed in despair as she realised that there was no hope or escape from this prison of her own body. That was when her eyes stopped moving and settled back to stare at him as he approached her slowly. With his still lit lightsaber now hanging by his side.
Kylo Ren observed all these different and unique emotions flash across her face and through the force as he comes closer to her. He relishes the reaction he creates while drinking deeply from the dark side of the force as he comes to stand directly in front of her.
It was at these moments that he felt closest to his grandfather. The moment when his enemies and victims realised they were helpless before his overwhelming power. He wondered if this was how Darth Vader had felt when he was force choking a subordinate that had failed him. Or when he went into battle against rebels and they soon realised that they could never hope to harm him as he slaughtered them.
He knew he would never know for certain. But as he came to a stop in front of the terrified girl. He was confident that Vader would have understood the rush of power that he gained from his enemy's fear and despair. It was the way of the dark side after all.
"The girl I've heard so much about." He stated in a calm voice. Knowing from long experience that it tended to terrify prisoners more then shouting and posturing. He walks around her, slowly. And as he does he can see that is trying desperately to not let herself cry.
"The droid?" He asks simply. He knew that she was aware what he was after.
The girl didn't answer.
Deciding to make his point completely clear he raises his lightsaber and brings it to rest just above the place between her shoulder and her neck. He doesn't need to watch her face to know that she is looking very intently at the spitting energy blade that was inches away from taking her head off.
But despite the overwhelming fear he senses emanating from the girl. She still refused to answer his question or reveal the droid's location. Even as he felt his irritation spike. Kylo Ren could not help but feel his respect for her go up a notch. He had no compunctions about killing men, women or children to complete his wishes or his master's orders. But he was not without a sense or honour. And this girl's fortitude was commendable, if completely foolish and misplaced.
After another moment of silence. Kylo Ren turns off his lightsaber, reaches up towards the girl's face.
At first the girls appears more confused than anything. Then her confusion quickly turns to pain as she feels his power as it invades her mind and thoughts. He transcends deeper into the force as the physical surroundings of the forest falls away and soon he his delving into her unprotected mind as one might read a holo-dairy.
He flicks through her most sacred and personal memories and then discards them as one would an old boot and then moved on to the next one in his fervent search. She can't move but she strains in agony in her desperation to escape his hold.
He has to admit she has a much stronger will then he though that a desert rat like her would have. He usually found this as easy as reading a written text on a datapad. But even as he searched her mind he could feel her fighting and resisting him. She was trying desperately to keep him out of her most important memories. In those cases, it was like a thick layer of fog had been placed over his eyes and he had to increase his power in order to break through her mental barriers.
But in the end it was a waste of effort as he smashed through her mental resistance and found what he was looking for. After a beat he stepped back, surprised by what he had found, and he removes his hand from its position near her face as he releases his power. She is clearly relieved but still afraid as she feels the pressure lessen around her mind, but not her body.
"The map. You've seen it." Kylo Ren whispers in realisation.
Rey is horrified and before she can utter a denial he touches her face again and her mind explodes in pain and tears force themselves from her eyes as Kylo Ren takes even more from her mind. There is a desperation behind his mental attacks now. If he can access that memory from her mind and see the image of the map. Then he will have won. Not just this battle but everything. He would not need the droid, or the girl. He would have the information that was crucial to this war in his own possession and the rewards from his master would be infinite. With all that in mind he redoubled his efforts to rip that crucial memory image from her mind.
At this point he did not care if the mind probe left her brain dead. It would be a trivial sacrifice compared to what he gained. However, Kylo Ren, mid-interrogation, turns toward the sound of the explosions coming from the castle and as he watches, stormtroopers approach through the woods.
"Sir, Resistance fighters! We need more troops." The stormtrooper in command of the small group exclaims after snapping off a quick salute.
Finn – POV
"Drop him and put your hands on your head" The Stormtrooper ordered.
Finn and Chewie who had been carrying the crippled Han towards the area that the other prisoners had been assembled, reluctantly obeyed. They lowered Han as gently as they good to the ground, while taking care not to jostle his injured legs to much.
Still despite their best efforts. Han uttered a hiss of pain as he felt he blaster wounds in his knee's flare up with red hot agony. Finn bent down again to try and move the leg into a position that would not be as painful. But before he could even touch Han the end of a blaster rifle was jammed roughly into the small of his back.
Slowly he stood, back upright and placed his hands on his head. Knowing that there was nothing he could do for Han at the moment. And any more attempts might end up with him getting a blaster bolt to the back of his head.
He knew that Kuvira had left strict orders to keep Han and the Wookie alive, before she had got back in her TIE fighter and had taken off. As important members of the old Rebel Alliance and people with connections to the current Resistance leadership. They were invaluable prisoners. Both as sources of information and as a moral weapon against their enemies and for their own troops.
To see the great and famous Han Solo and Chewbacca in chains right in the opening stages of the war would be a crushing blow to the Resistance, its allies and any in the galaxy who might have been considering join up to their cause. It would certainly make them think twice about fighting against the First Order if their heroes of legend were dealt with so easily.
It would also have a similar effect on the supporters of the First Order that the Empire would be avenged and that the had clearly backed the winning side.
But he also knew that she had left no such orders for him. He was a nobody. Just a filthy traitor to the First Order and from the look he had seen in her eyes as she glanced at him. Nothing would give her more pleasure then slitting his throat with her vibro-blade. And he knew, even with their concealing helmets. That his former comrades were glaring at him, eager to do exactly the same thing.
In fact, he was pretty sure that the only reason he was still alive is because she wanted to have it done properly, publicly, in front of the entire First Order with laser axes by the punishment troopers.
But he knew that unlike Han and Chewie. There was no special order to keep him alive. And all it would take is one overly zealous stormtrooper eager to avenge 'Nines' and he would be 'shot while trying to escape'. He briefly wondered just how many murders had been covered up with that particular excuse. Probably too many to count.
But whatever the number was. He was not interested in adding another one to the statistic. As he and the others stood with their hands on their heads he noticed that the commander was listening to his helmet com while other soldiers began to gesture and point across the lake towards the fog that was visible through the shattered wall fragments.
As he watched he could make out the sounds and voices that were being exchanged between the stormtroopers and over their commlinks.
"We have incoming at two-eight-point six! Move! Dispatch! Move! Scramble all squads! Repeat scramble all squads! Anti-air cover en-route to our position!"
Finn was not sure what they hell was going on. But whatever it was it sounded urgent and it did not sound like it was planned by the troopers. That meant that it was probably bad for them and therefore good for him. Not that he thought he could make it to the tree line without getting blasted anytime soon.
As he mused the troopers began to move towards the still standing sections of the collapsed wall and left only a fraction of their number to guard the assembled prisoners. He remembered enough of his training to know that this was not standard First Order doctrine when dealing with a group of prisoners of this number.
By his feet her heard Han grunting and groaning as he pulled himself into a sitting up position so that he could look out across the lake as well. And through the grimace of pain a small smile started to break through.
"It's the Resistance." He said in triumph
And then a familiar roar ripping across the lake. Coming toward them across the water, X-wings and resistance spacecraft appear and without hesitating, began firing at the First Order ships! One x-wing in particular, marked in black, swoops down and takes out the remaining parked TIE fighters and troopers beside it!
The troopers return fire immediately, but it is clear from the first few seconds of the combat that they are hopelessly outmatched. Their weapons were not designed to take down starfighters and it showed as the blasts pinged off their armour while the x-wings continued to pound their positions with cannon fire and send them flying.
The strength of their weapons was such that they often they landed in several different places.
In one such case the guards surrounding the imprisoned trio were blasted to the ground, never to rise again. Finn took the time to wonder if the pilot was simply that good at aiming. Or if he and just fired and not cared if he hit stormtroopers or a bunch of randomers at an outer rim smugglers den. In the end he decided he had other things to focus on then the moral compass of the pilot.
Taking the opportunity, he and Chewie grabbed Han off the ground and (ignoring his sounds of pain) ran for cover while taking the time to grab their weapons, and Luke's lightsaber of the ground. With Han unable to stand or run they had to get him to some form of cover and as the they blasted their way to a junction wall, they brought down any trooper that tried to stop them.
In the meantime, they watched as the Resistance X-wings, led by the black one continued to dominate the skies above the castle as one TIE after another was blasted out of the sky or reduced to molten slag in mid-air.
"Woohoo! YEAH! That's one helluva pilot!" Finn cheered as the black X-wing brings down another three TIE fighters in quick succession with expert manoeuvres. With this fighter ace action, the sky battle was beginning to come to a close, as the Resistance begins to mop up the remains of the First Order forces. While on the ground the troopers that had been left to guard unarmed prisoners after the battle were being taken down by the combination of fire from the X-wings and those prisoners who had taken the opportunity to break free and grab discarded weapons of the ground.
Finn breathed a sigh of relief at the sight
At least that was until a rain of green energy bolts fired down from the sky and brought four of the x-wings crashing to the ground in a devastating attack volley.
Finn's eyes widened in horror and Han cursed as an entire new squadron of TIE fighters burst out of the smoke and clouds to bring the battle back to a bloody chaotic melee with each side fighting desperately for victory and survival.
Kuvira - POV
Kuvira banked her TIE fighter hard to the left as the squadron begins to form up on her order in battle formation. As she adjusts her controls and calibrates her targeting array she watches through her cockpit viewpoint as the fog that had settled over the castle lake gave way to the oncoming threat.
About two dozen or so Resistance X-wings were streaking across the surface of the water in attack formation. And even as she watched she could see that their wings were parting from each other to form their namesake battle stance.
She was mentally torn in that moment.
One the one hand the Resistance fighters were moving fast and furiously towards the smoking ruins of the castle that her troops were still located. They had been left there to oversee the subduing of the prisoners and the task of relocating them to the troop transports that were still waiting on the outskirts of the shattered castle courtyard walls. They would take the prisoners off world to their ships and from there to one of the many detention facilities that they had set up across their territory. To make sure that they were probably interrogated for useful information.
But now those troops on the ground were defenceless against the oncoming x-wing fighters. Their blaster rifles were not strong enough to damage the fighters or make them veer off their attack vector. The only weapon they had on the ground that could destroy them was the assault cannon. And that was not nearly accurate enough to target mobile starfighters.
Even if they had managed to make it to the troop transports. They were without weapons, armour or shields and completely unable to match the speed and manuverability of the fighter craft. They would be blown out of the sky the second that they cleared the castle walls.
The simple truth was that in a fight against the fighters and the Resistance pilots. Her troops on the ground where hopelessly outmatched.
But then, on the other hand. Those same fighters did not know that Kuvira's squadron was still within the upper atmosphere above the castle. They had clearly been waiting for the TIE fighters to leave so that they could launch their attack. But they clearly did not know just how many improvements the First Order had made to the TIE fighter since the days of the Empire.
One of which included vastly superior sensor capabilities.
So, while they thought that the TIE fighters were too far away to pick up their signatures on their scanners. In fact, they were even now preparing to descend of the Resistance attack squadron as they began to open fire on the First Order stormtroopers
Kuvira adjusted her weapons array once more as she and her squadron burst from the clouds and smoke that had provided them cover and bolted straight for the x-wings that continued to send red streaks of plasma energy into the hastily erected defences and firing lines that the troopers had been able to set up.
But she could see that the prisoners were using this attack as a distraction and took the opportunity to begin a firefight within he formerly pacified courtyard below her. She sighed. For one moment there had been order on Takodana, and now thanks to the Resistance chaos reigned on this planet once again. There was a lesson in that, she was sure. But now was not the time to be philosophical.
Now was the time to be deadly.
"Pick your targets, avoid cross fire and maintain communication channel discipline." She ordered into her commlink. Short, sweet and to the point. She barely registered the string of acknowledgments from he comrades before she locked on to a T-65B X-Wing directly below her and fired.
She watched as her green laser blasts slammed into the unsuspecting fighter on the wing junction. The impact with the close range caused the wing to be blasted clean off the fighter in a gout of flame. The x-wing immediately went into a spinning dive towards the ground before it slammed into the previously glassy surface of the lake.
Chaos quickly erupted as the initial TIE fighter attack brought down three other X-Wings in the opening volley and they either exploded into confetti or their burning hulks crashed among the battling throng on the ground, causing even more madness to erupt in the battle. The X-wings that had avoided the attack or not been targeted scattered as their attack formations were forcibly abandoned to avoid the raining green death lancing from the sky.
Kuvira circled around and found herself on the tail of another x-wing. The pilot desperately tried to veer off to the right as she sent a stream of cannon fire at the place it had been a second ago. She banked her TIE fighter and shot off in pursuit of the weaving x-wing across the top of the tree line.
The x-wing weaved to the left and she followed, firing until she managed to score a hit on the upper casing of the engine compartment and destroyed the pilots astromech droid in the process. The engine must have taken damage too as the x-wing suddenly lost power. With the sudden loss of motion and no astromech to even attempt to fix it, the ship went sinning end over end until it smashed into the forest which erupted in a ball of fire, that almost immediately began to spread.
Kuvira's instruments screamed a warning, and she manged to pull her TIE fighter in to a steep climb just before the blasts of red energy zoomed past the space she had occupied moments ago.
She pulled the TIE fighter into a semi-circle spin as she brought the ground back into her viewport. She has lost the chance to return fire on the X-wing that had very nearly ended her life a second ago. But she had been fortunate enough to come down from her manoeuvre right on top of a pair of X-wings that were blasting away at one of her squadron mates as they flew above the castle. As she watched she keyed into the intercom channel and heard the pilot, AI-3476, calling for assistance. His tone indicated that the panic of the situation was starting to override his senses, as he weaved and dodged desperately to escape the barrage.
She fired at the two-pursuing x-wings and she watched with satisfaction as one of her blasts hit the ship directly in the cockpit of the fighter. The canopy erupted in a ball of fire and the pilot was almost certainly incinerated instantly. With no control and with the pilot dead the x-wing immediately banked and spun out of control. The fighters' death throws came to a violent and sudden end as it smashed into one of the few remaining towers of the burning castle. And just like that the castle had no remaining towers.
She brought her targeting array back on the other x-wing that was pursuing AI-3476's TIE fighter. But before she could fire at the resistance pilot. The x-wing landed a hit directly on the connection between the fighter's main body and the left solar wing. The TIE went spinning out of control and plunged into the ground where it tore a burning trail through the soil before it impacted on the tree line and exploded into debris. She was mercifully saved from needing to mute the comm connection, as (in an unexpected show of fortitude) AI-3476 showed the strength die with dignity and silence.
Still, the x-wing did not get to enjoy their victory for long as Kuvira engaged the engine full throttle towards the resistance craft as she blazed away with her cannons. The x-wing had no time to react or escape and they quickly shared the fate of her lost comrade as she flew through the exploding fragments of the x-wing and climbed the sky to gain altitude.
Two of her wing mates formed up on her flanks as she ascended into the sky once more away from the treetops. As she did, she noticed that a trio of x-wings had broken off from the ensuing battle and had turned to head straight at them.
She also noticed that the lead x-wing in the centre was a distinctive black colour. She also noticed that it was a newer and more updated model of the T-70 X-wing. Clearly the best that the New Republic and Resistance had at their disposal. And she recognised the x-wing immediately.
It was Black One. The personal ship of Poe Dameron. The Resistance's best pilot fighter ace and more recently her erstwhile escaped prisoner from Jakku.
She grimaced. She had thought that Poe had died during the escape on Jakku. Probably from a result of the crash itself. She had then concluded that even if he had somehow survived the crash. He would have never made it out of the Jakku wasteland alive. While she was not typically one to assume anything. She had felt that this was one situation where the odds of his survival were astronomical.
But it seemed the Force was once again blessing the cursed Resistance with an obscene amount of luck. Dameron was not only alive. He had somehow found a way off Jakku which had been declared under standard temporary newly annexation blockade. And he had found a way back to the Resistance to prove himself a pest yet again.
But this time Dameron had no vital information within his head. And therefore, she had no reason to keep him alive this time. It was a very liberating realisation as she keyed the comm connection.
"Stay in attack formation. Take position with the sun to our rear and dive upon them". She commanded as she received confirmations from her wing mates. "And show no mercy." She added.
As the six-fighter craft came together she and he wing-mates opened fire with green lases lashing towards the x-wings. The x-wings returned fire and for a moment the air was filled with streaks of red and green. As if the sky was somehow at war with itself. By some act of miracle, none of the six fighters were destroyed in the initial volley. She thanked the sun for its position behind them and right in the faces of the x-wings as she noticed several of their shots go wide.
"Break formation engage all hostiles." She commanded. And then the lines were met, and the formations broke as the pilots took evasive action. However, before she could latch on to another target she was forced to plunge into a screaming 45-degree angle to avoid a hail red plasma that flew past her ship. She did not need her instruments to tell her who was trying to kill her. Only one pilot in this fight could have placed themselves behind her fighter that fast and fired with such accuracy while doing so.
"Dameron!" She hissed.
She engaged the engine and shot off across the forest with Dameron's black x-wing following close behind her. She dodged and weaved left and right as he continued to send shot after shot at her. She was forced to utilise all of her piloting skills to avoid them as she climbed into the sky while the blasts from Dameron's x-wing set the forest on fire with explosions.
As she moved higher into the sky she tried to keep the sun directly in front of her as much as possible. While it did blind her slightly. Her all-encompassing pilot helmet allowed her to block out the worst of the intense glare of Takodana's large system star. Dameron on the other had would only have the standard New Republic helmet. And while it did have a mediocre visor. He would be almost half blind as he fired at her. Which was a situation she preferred to keep intact.
As she flew towards the cloud line she was forced to perform a complete barrel roll to avoid Dameron's latest barrage and he responded by spinning to make his laser fire come at her from alternative angles. Diving through the clouds she was momentarily obscured from his sight and she realised that this was her chance to reverse the fortunes of this dogfight. After a moment's consideration, she took the opportunity to cut all power to the engine and to place the counter measures off.
Her TIE fighter immediately began to fall back towards the ground as the velocity force was lost and gravity began to take hold. But she was more focused on the shadow of Dameron's black x-wing, (visible through the cloud cover) passing over her suddenly stalled ship as he searched for her.
She was now behind him.
With speed borne of obsessive training she restarted the engine and systems and prayed that it did not fail to restart from the sudden and dangerous shut down. But she was rewarded with the sound of the engine reigniting and within seconds she was bursting of the cloud cover and unleashing a hail of green blasts on Dameron's x-wing. She had hoped that surprise and the unexpected angle of her attack would be enough to startle Dameron for the crucial second until her attack destroyed him.
But Dameron was not a legendary fighter pilot for nothing. While she did land a hit on his top left engine, it appeared that his ship was undamaged. He then, sent his x-wing into a curve dive to the right and soon she was in a screaming dive towards the lake with the battle still raging above and beside it.
Kuvira banked her craft and pursued him while continuing to send cannon fire down at his fighter. She was frustrated that she had been unable to bring down Dameron. Especially after all the trouble he had personally caused both her and the First Order.
But this battle was not in doubt.
The Resistance had only about two dozen or so fighters at the start of the battle. Now they had lost almost half of them and they had no chance of reinforcements that could make it to the battle in time. In contrast she was already relaying commands into her commlink to the Reclaimer in orbit to dispatch two more squadrons to the planet surface. Even then they had another three wings that could be dispatched to the battle almost immediately. That did not even begin to cover the outrageous power the Reclaimer could deliver to the battle by itself.
Meanwhile Kylo Ren himself was tracking down the droid and the information it contained. If he did not have it already. She smiled as she finished her tactical analyse. In a battle of attrition like this. There could only be one way it ended.
Still it would not do to get complacent, she admonished herself. Even if the battle was almost a certain victory. It did not mean that Dameron or someone else could not kill her before they were killed in turn.
With that sobering thought fresh in her mind she readjusted her ship and lined up her next shot to fire at the infuriating Dameron.
Kylo Ren - POV
Kylo Ren turns back to Rey, his hand still on her face. After a moment's consideration. He makes his decision. One that he knows could be the crucial decision of this whole war.
"Pull the division out. Forget the droid. We have what we need." He commands as he waves his hand across Rey's face one final time and watches as her frozen body is realised from the force status and falls limply to the ground.
Authors Note
I found out while writing this chapter that aerial combat is incredibly hard to write. At least I found it much more difficult to write then other forms of combat. With that in mind I hope that everyone enjoyed the scene I tried to create and if they have any advice on how to improve the fighter combat and battles. I would appreciate heading it. Especially as it will feature heavily in the future of this story.
Cheers. Thanks for reading.