TishaLiz: Thanks for the review. As always they are greatly appreciated. The chapter was not originally intended to be so long. But as ai got closer to 100,000 words I wanted to reach that threshold. Kylo Ren and Kuvira will be meeting up in the next few chapters. I am still juggling the various idea's I have for their reunion. But I will do my best to make it a story that lives up to the expectations.
Rhyming With Oranges: Thank you very much for your review. You said many very meaningful and inspiring things. I wish I could cover and respond to all of them individually, but I will simply say that I greatly enjoyed reading your review. And I found your words very meaningful and I felt very privileged by what you wrote. With that said I will continue to try and live up to your expectations and I hope you will enjoy this and future chapters.
Artemis Persephone Jackson: Glad to hear it. I hope you find this chapter just as engrossing.
buzzsaw935: I know. I had a lot to cover based on the game but in order to live up to Kuvira's personality and military sensibilities I have to make sure that Iden and Zay were defeated. Then I was faced with the fact that Kuvira is not going to be an idiotic 'bad guy' who captures their enemy again and again only for them to escape and wreck further havoc. Once Kuvira learned there was no advantage to be gained from keeping Iden and Zay alive she wanted them eliminated. I also chucked in the violence and emotions to make the chapter interesting and to make sure that Hask and Iden got the final showdown their story deserved.
Digital hell 12: Glad to hear it. I hope that you will like what comes next. If you have any suggestions or questions please review and let me know.
Shade Yes I know. If I am going to sum up Kuvira in one word it would be practical. She will make peace when it is in the First Order's interests. She will kill and maim and torture without hesitation if it the best course of action. She will show mercy to her enemies if she feels it will pay off in the long term. In the case of Iden and Zay she has no reason to keep them alive if they have no information on the Resistance that she can use. And unlike the serotypical 'villian' she is not going to allow them any chance to cause trouble in the future. She wants them taken out of the equation. In regard to Shriv, she wants his information, but she must stop him from escaping. The most practical solution? Make sure he can never run away again.
Chapter 17 – Darkness Falls
Resergent Class Star destroyer – Retribution
Kuvira - POV
"Admiral we are coming out of Hyperspace 1,153,200 kilometres from Starkiller base." The tactical officer reported as Grand Admiral Kuvira strode into the bridge. Her uniform was pristine and her black great coat billowed out behind her with the telltale signs of having been freshly pressed and steam cleaned. Her newly polished boots shined out as they strode across the bridge walkway with an audible rhythm.
The Admiral herself was equally manicured. Her hair cleaned and tightly done up in its usual military braid. Her eyes were tired and faded from strain and exhaustion not so long ago. Now they were blazing with purpose and conviction once again. They were sober and alert.
"Maintain distance from the planet until we get an understanding of what is happening on the surface. I will not be caught in an explosion." She commanded in a voice that was full of conviction and purpose. Now that she had been given time to rest and recuperate, (baring the unfortunate matter in the hyperdrive chamber). She was ready and eager to resolve this situation on Starkiller, and even more eager to remove the cancerous infection that was Armitage Hux from the First Order.
As soon as the words were out of her mouth the star destroyer jolted and the blue swirling tunnel of hyperspace shattered into then many streaks of starlight that stretched across the viewport. Soon those fell away too and the obsidian coloured ether of space with the white pinpricks of the stars filled the viewscreen as the ship came back into real space.
Starkiller base appeared in the view instantly. The iconic planet and the unmistakable firing barrel of the planetary weapon were easily visible even from this distance.
From their current position everything looked peaceful. The fleet was no longer in oribit and they were too far away to see any signs of life or activity with their naked eyes. Even the presence of the massive continent sized gun in the centre of the planet could not take away the strange sense of peace that seemed present around the planet.
But Kuvira understood that in that moment. The greatest weapon of the First Order and possibly all of history. The culmination of decades of hard work was at stake. She also knew that this was a pivotal moment in her life. She could not explain it, especially not to her own normally logical and analytical mind. But she had a sense that a great part of her final destiny would be realised here.
Kuvira had always scoffed at the idea of destiny and prophecy. She felt that the whole concept was merely a crutch for those who preferred to wait for cosmic forces to decide their fates, rather then take their fates into their own hands. She knew she did not have her destiny written in the stars in the sky or on the lines of her palm. She had not asked the Force or any other power to make her a Grand Admiral. She had not asked the powers that be to grant her the many victories that she had won over the course of her life.
She had done all that. Just as the people who followed her orders had done that to ensure that they gained what they wanted.
In her mind. That was the great difference between herself and the insipid Jedi Order. The Jedi saw what they wanted, and they waited for the Force to provide or guide it to them.
She saw what she wanted, and she took it. With whatever means and her disposal. She would not wait for her destiny to he handed to her like a gift-wrapped life day present. She would forge her own destiny with nothing more then her own blood and sweat. She forged the galaxy to bend to her own will.
In the end, that was the core of what she believed in. Those with the vision and the will to make what they wanted a reality would always be destined to rule.
The Supreme Leader had the vision. She had the will. Now they just needed to make the galaxy bend to their designs.
"Admiral, we have received communications from Starkiller command." The comms officer reported. "They are saying that they have about four dozen Resistance fighter craft still attacking the planetary oscillator with turbo lasers and proton torpedoes. So far the oscillator has taken no serious damage beyond the armoured outer shell. The local TIE fighter squadrons have been deployed as well as the seeker missile launchers.
The garrison commanders confirm that a dozen Resistance fighters have already been shot down. But casualties are high, and the base commanders are concerned that if the oscillator continues to take fire it will lead to minor damage. This could in turn complicate the weapon." The comms officer reported as he began to grow visibly nervous at the thought of the Starkiller weapon detonating so close to them.
Kuvira nodded her understanding. But then she asked the question that she was very keen to know. "Where is General Hux in all this?" She asked in a voice that betrayed nothing.
The comms officer relayed the question to the planet garrison commanders and then waited for the response to come back. "He is within the command centre Admiral." He replied.
Kuvora nodded. "Excellent, inform the General that he and the rest of the senior commanders are to evacuate if they have not already done so. They are to board their ships and head to the Retribution. They will be safe within the warship."
She paused. "Also make it clear that this is an order, not a suggestion. I want Hux and the senior staff on the Retribution immediately." She commanded in a tone that brooked no argument. "I also want my Praetorian guards to be assigned to General Hux. His safety is to be their prime concern." She added flatly.
As the comms officer nodded and began to relay her orders she considered the situation. There was a very good chance that the Resistance attack would fail without her help.
The oscillator's armoured construct was ensuring that no damage was being taken by the delicate machinery within the giant machine. The Resistance fighters were superior in skill to most of her own pilots (she reluctantly admitted), but they were outnumbered and in a long battle, quantity eventually won out over quality.
As it stood the Resistance was attacking a target that they could not damage. All the while they were slowly being whittled down by enemy fire. Meanwhile the weapon would be ready to fire very shortly (if the looks of the system's sun was any indicator) and when it did the main Resistance base would be obliterated.
To any reasonable viewpoint it seemed that the First Order would win this battle without her having to do anything. Baring the unexpected or the miraculous, their total victory was imminent.
But the unexpected and the miraculous had been the Resistance's and the Rebel Alliance's trump pazaak card too many times in the past.
She had seen time and time again how they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat or managed to escape an assumed perfect net, only to cause trouble later.
And therefore, she would not consider this battle won until every last Resistance fighter in the sky of Starkiller was destroyed and reduced to ash and bone.
She turned to Hask, who was standing to the left of her on the bridge. The commander had been very quiet and subdued after the final confrontation with the now deceased Iden Versio and her daughter in the hyperdrive chamber. She supposed that was to be expected after all that had transpired. He may have hated her and she him, but they had once been very close. To see a person like that die. Even more, so to be the one to kill her. That would take some time to adjust to.
The commander was also favouring his uninjured leg. His wounds had been treated and his broken nose had been seen to by the med droids. His stab wound in his leg was wrapped with a bacta infused bandage that would inject the healing fluid directly into his injury. It would prevent infection and ensure that the wound healed much faster then it would otherwise.
"Commander, the ship is yours. I expect you to monitor the situation on the planet closely. I also want you to ensure that all the evacuees from the base are properly accommodated." She ordered as she turned to leave the bridge. As she did she gestured to the aide standing to attention on the side.
"Order the hanger crews to prep my TIE interceptor for flight and have squadrons Alpha and Gamma scrambled and launched from the ship to engage the enemy immediately" She relayed never breaking her stride as she did so.
Hask watched her leave the hanger with a small sigh and a familiar sense of resignation. Grand Admiral Kuvira was famous for her willingness to fight the enemy personally. Be it in a TIE fighter or on the front lines in battle or on the deck of her command ship. Kuvira was capable of leading her army and fleet anywhere.
It was certainly effective to inspire their stormtroopers and it gained the respect of many worlds that they annexed to the First Order.
However, it also gave the majority of the high command heart attacks every time she left the safety of the bridge. It was due to a combination of the possible repercussions that would fall on them if the Grand Admiral was killed on their watch. But it was also due to the knowledge that if Kuvira died without a chosen or recommended successor, then the inevitable power struggle could potentially do crippling damage to the First Order.
He did not even want to think on what would happen if that vicious half-mad sociopath Armitage Hux managed to ascend to Kuvira's place. He doubted that would happen as Hux was not respected by his fellow officers. But it was a possibility he did not want to have come to pass.
He could only hope that the Admiral's battle skills would see her through this battle as well. And if the worst did happen. He could only hope that the Supreme Leader would stop a potential power vacuum from doing to much damage.
And so, he stood and watched the Admiral leave the bridge and headed to the hanger to reclaim her TIE interceptor. He had wondered why she had instructed for the TIE fighter to be prepared and fitted with her specifications when she had boarded the star destroyer.
As he turned back to his duties. He could not help but wonder if Admiral Kuvira had a fighter prepped for her every time she came aboard a new ship. Just in case.
Less than ten minutes later. Kuvira stepped down the hall as she made her way through the corridors to the officers and special forces TIE fighters that were prepped in a secure separate facility from the main hanger.
She did not have time to get into her pilot's gear with the battle raging on the surface. Instead she had simply discarded her Admiral's greatcoat as it would be cumbersome within the cockpit. However, she had it folded under her arm as it was sure to be cold on the surface of the planet when the sun was completely gone.
While she had no intentions to land the TIE on the planet. She entertained the possibility that it would become necessary. If she was shot down but survived, for example. She would have a better chance of braving the increasingly cold elements with her coat then without it.
She made her way over the newly commissioned TIE interceptor that was having the fuel cables removed and the final maintenance check's being performed by the hanger crews. It was not her own personal interceptor, which was still docked in the hanger bay of the Reclaimer. But it was the same model and would do for this battle.
The crew workers stepped back from the TIE as she approached and all saluted, as was expected. She nodded to them in appreciation for their work and speed as she walked to the steps that would allow her to enter the fighter.
But just as she placed her boot on the first step she heard a voice behind her. "Grand Admiral, a moment of your time, please." The voice called out.
She turned and she saw it was a young man walking over to her with short cropped blonde hair. He was a junior aide if the insignia on his uniform was accurate. He was carrying sealed metal suitcase at his side that shined in the polished hanger bay.
He made his way over to the Admiral, who stepped of the ladder and turned to face him with an expression on her face that was half expectant and half impatient. She was typically happy to see to matters that needed her attention. But she was about to head into battle and time was an incredibly important commodity.
Clearly the young man recognised that fact and her silent impatience as he came to a stop in front of her and snapped of a quick salute. He did not need to be prompted before he began explaining his presence here.
"I am sorry Grand Admiral, put you requested that this item be delivered to you as soon as it was completed. You stated to bring it 'without delay'." He explained deferentially as he held out the suitcase to Kuvira, who looked at the case with a slightly puzzled realisation.
She recalled that she had indeed said that this item was to be delivered to her. She had ordered its construction when she had arrived on the Retribution just before they had jumped to lightspeed back to Starkiller base. She had known it would be ready by the time they arrived back at Starkiller. But the events with Iden Versio and the Resistance attack had driven it from her mind.
Slowly she took the offered case and dismissed the junior aide with a nod of thanks. He saluted and left the hanger, smiling as he knew he had not made a bad decision in holding her up with something trivial.
Kuvira studied the case for a brief moment. Then she gripped it and began to walk back up the stairs to the TIE fighter.
As she lowered herself into the cockpit she placed her coat and the case in the space behind her pilot's chair. She would ordinarily not take the item with her, much less into battle. But time was off the essence and the two fighter squadrons would nearly be ready to follow her out of the star destroyer and launch themselves into the fray.
She had no time to place it somewhere else and giving it to the hanger crews might distract them (however briefly) from their duties. In a fight the smallest loss in efficiency could be catastrophic and she would not be the root cause of that.
She dismissed all thoughts of the item within the case as she fired up the engines and moved he fighter to the hanger entrance, once she received clearance to depart from the control centre.
As her fighter broke out of the hanger and flew into the ether of space she performed her flight checks and control response times. Everything appeared to be in order. And while the TIE did not have the familiar feel of her own one, it was responsive and well maintained.
With that she gunned the engine and activated the com channel to the thirty fighters that were forming up on her from their own hangers.
"All fighters form up and assume formation G-37 on my wings. Maintain comm discipline and ensure your weapons are active." She commanded in a voice demanded obedience.
She was rewarded with a chorus of confirmation reports from the TIE pilots, all confirming they were ready and standing by.
"The Resistance is trying to destroy the planet's oscillator and they are throwing everything they have at it. If they succeed in destroying it the weapon will implode in on itself and the entire planet will be lost. All our remaining personnel on the planet will die. And all your work to make Starkiller operational will be wasted." She stated in a tone that hinted at the indignity at the situation.
She allowed the pilots to grumble and murmur among themselves in anger, before the two squadron commanders hushed them. She would never be the orator Hux was, but she was satisfied that her pilots understood the nature of this upcoming fight.
"We will not allow that to happen. Follow me now. We will meet this rabble with the iron discipline and strength that the First Order and you all embody. And like leaves against a hurricane they will be swept aside!" She proclaimed proudly in as stirring a voice as she knew.
She was not meet with cheers as the pilots remembered the earlier rebuke about comm chatter. But she could feel their determination as if it was a palpable sensation. It made her feel a firm sense of pride in her pilots and her troopers.
But she shook that away and allowed the cold tactical mind of the Admiral reassert itself. She would allow herself feel pride and make speeches when the battle was won, and not before.
She gripped the controls of her TIE and barked out a final command. "All fighters form up and engage the enemy with all prejudice." She commanded.
With that the thirty-one First Order TIE fighters shot away from the Resurgent class star destroyer and flew towards the planet like a flock of vengeful coruscanti hawkbats.
Poe – POV
Poe swore as he was forced to witness yet another attack run on the First Order oscillator yield absolutely no damage.
His mood was further blackened by his knowledge that the same attack run had cost the life of R-6 and his x-wing as a TIE blasted it from behind. The fighter exploded into atoms that rained down on the oscillator roof down below in a burning rain. He briefly thought that it was fitting. As if the spirit of R-6 and his fighter were trying to attack the oscillator beyond the grave, no matter how feebly.
It was then that he saw another missile from the First Order ground turrets flying towards him at full speed. He pulled his x-wing up into a steep climb that brought him banking into the clouds and narrowly allowed him to miss the missile as it went careening past and slammed into a pursing TIE fighter.
He tried to feel happy about that. One less TIE fighter trying to blast him out of the sky could only be a good thing. The fact that it was blasted down by the First Order should have just added some delicious irony to the situation. But he found he could not summon up the feeling.
Friendly fire was something each pilot lived in fear of. The entire concept was terrifying. Not just at the thought that you might be killed by an accidental shot from your own side. But that you could be the one to inadvertently kill your own comrade and friend.
Even when it happened to the enemy it was hard not to emphasise with the tragedy of the TIE pilot and what his last moments of shock and betrayal must have been like.
Poe pulled himself out of his thoughts as he banked his x-wing to the side and unleashed his turbo lasers on a TIE fighter that streaked past his line of sight while chasing an x-wing. The TIE vanished in a ball of fire as the laser blasts connected and blew the ship to dust.
That was a death he could at least take some pleasure in. However dark that made him feel.
The Resistance had sent almost its entire fighter force on D'Qar and its surrounding bases to this fight. The plan was objected to by some, as it would leave their own base totally defenceless. But thankfully wiser heads had prevailed by pointing out that a billion star-fighters would not save them if that weapon fired at D'Qar.
There was also the fact that their recon ships had detected a massive First Order fleet surrounding the planet in a defensive perimeter. They felt that the more X-wings and A-wings they sent, the greater chance that enough of then would be able to break through the First Order fleet.
That had thankfully not been a problem as they entire fleet was gone by the time their attack force arrived at the planet. He was still trying to puzzle out why that had happened. But everytime he did he found he could not help but imagine where all those ships might have been sent if not here.
For all he knew that fleet could be bombarding Coruscant or Corellia into ash at this very moment. But he could not think on that right now.
He had to focus on his mission. But right now, his main focus was on staying alive as the TIE fighters re-converged and sent green laser blasts raining down on him and the other members of Black Squadron.
He swung his x-wing left and right as he flew low over the dark metal surface of the oscillator, all the while dodging green energy that slammed into the surface structure all round him. He hoped that it might contribute to damaging the oscillator, if in a very small way. But clearly the TIE pilots knew that the structure was much to strong to be affected by their weapons and continued firing away with no restraint.
Poe reached the end of the structure and shot out over the snow-covered ground, kicking up a trail of snow as he streaked past. As he flew, he took aim at a First Order anti-aircraft turret that was even now spewing energy blasts at him and his friends.
It was incredibly difficult to aim his sights while at the same time dodging every which way to avoid being hit. But with a skill born of natural talent and experience he aimed and fired off a series of blasts slamming into the turret which had its barrels blasted off its main structure and started to belch black acrid smoke into the sky.
Poe flew through the rising thick smoke as he pulled hard on his control stick and brought his x-wing into a turn that caused the x-wing's body to groan in protest of the intense g-force. It was a borderline suicidal move for any pilot to attempt. The risk of the fighter breaking in half or losing just one wing was too great.
But Poe knew his x-wing as well as he knew his own body, and he knew what it could take.
The crazy manoeuvre brought his x-wing into a tight turn that was at least 120 degrees and allowed him to suddenly face the three TIE fighters that had been chasing him so doggedly.
Before any of them could even comprehend what had just happened. Poe let fly with his turbo lasers and sent red streaks of energy slamming into the enemy fighters. The enemy trio disintegrated and not a moment to soon as he was forced to fly through the wreckage just as it came apart.
He gave a small whoop in celebration, (making sure that his commlink was muted. He was flight leader after all) and dived down to send more proton torpedoes on the oscillator.
He took careful aim at a still burning spot on the structure. A sign that one of their attack runs had just been detonated on that same spot. He hoped that if he aimed this just right. Then the two impacts on the same spot would do what one could not.
He fired the protons and watched as the blue balls of light slammed into the metal surface and erupted into fire. But as he peeled away to avoid yet another seeker missile from the defence turrets. He could see that the combined blast had no effect.
The oscillator remained undamaged and as he watched he saw another seeker missile collide with another x-wing which shattered into flaming debris.
"Marilo's been hit" The voice of Jessika Pava came over the commlink as she flew her fighter past the spot where Marilo had been killed not seconds before.
Poe cursed silently. He could not let his frustration show to his fighter squadrons. He knew from long experience that a combat leader needed to maintain the calm (almost cockiness) during battle. If he started to show doubt then his people would start to lose their own belief that they can win.
"They take down one of ours, we take down three of theirs. That is how it works." He quipped with his usual humour in his voice.
He heard some sniggers through the intercom as his pilots chortled softly at his joke while forgetting to mute their connections. "But remember these flying Kor slugs are just a distraction. Focus on the oscillator, we need to take this weapon down." He reminded them.
The squadrons rattled off confirmations before they resumed their attacks on not the oscillator and the enemy fighters.
But Poe was starting to feel his own concerns creep into his thoughts.
So far they had not even scratched the oscillator. At least not the part of it that actually mattered. And he had lost nearly a dozen fighters already. Not to mention the fighters that had been destroyed since the first wave of the attack hours before.
It was starting to seem like this battle was hopeless. They had destroyed many enemy fighters, at least enough to equal their own losses. But that was not the point. They could destroy every TIE fighter on this planet, and it would not make a difference if they could not take out the weapon.
Even now he could see the shadows on the ground by the trees and the buildings starting to fade away as the light of the sun began to get noticeably dimmer.
Every second that the light in the sky and across the world get fainter and fainter. Poe felt a little of his resolve fade with it.
He would fight on until the bitter end for the Resistance and the New Republic. He had fought for them for years. And he had always known that there might come a day when he would be called on to make the ultimate sacrifice for the people that he cared for.
But he had always imagined that it would be during a battle that they stood a chance of winning. But unless something changed very soon. He was not sure how they were going to pull this off.
'Apparently no one told the First Order, they were meant to put an exhaust port in the side of that damn oscillator.' He mentally joked in a tone that was half sardonic and half exasperated.
"Black One we have incoming!" Oddy Muva reported in a tone that snapped Poe back to the present. Just in time as he was forced into a barrel roll spin to avoid the simultaneous attacks of both a TIE fighter and one of the seemingly endless seeker missiles.
Poe fought to keep his stomach in the right place as the g-forces worked havoc on his equilibrium. Finally, the attack died down as the TIE fighter was intercepted by one of the A-wings. The pilot managed to score a direct hit on the TIE wing coupling and the explosion sheered off the solar wing from the rest of the TIE.
The fighter immediately went into a screaming dive at an angle of 45 degree straight down. As he watched its descent, he saw the stricken fighter come down on the tree line. The resulting collision tore several tree's up by the roots and ensured that the pilot had no chance of survival.
Poe righted himself and activated his com channel. "Please tell me there are friendly." He asked in a tone that convinced no one he expected that answer.
Before Oddy could respond his instruments light up like fireworks and BB-8 screamed a shrill warning in his headset ear piece.
The next thing he knew the very same A-wing that had saved his life seconds earlier was struck directly in the cockpit by a green blast. The pilot likely never knew what hit them as the fighter disintegrated into shrapnel. Poe took some small comfort in that.
All around him he saw green blasts falling out of the sky like rain and bombarding the Resistance forces as they broke off all their attack runs and desperately scrambled for cover.
As Poe watched he saw the new swarm of black TIE fighter reinforcments shooting out of the atmosphere like lethal rain. He caught a glimpse of what he assumed was the enemy attack force leader. A black TIE interceptor was at the head of the charge.
As he watched he saw that same interceptor bring down another x-wing as it blasted elongated nose of the x-wing until the nose broke clean off. With its systems damaged and its balance lost from the nose, the x-wing fell from the sky like a rock with smoke marking its path to its death.
Poe quickly returned fire and destroyed two of the new reinforcements as they shot past him on their vertical dive attack. But then he keyed his com link again.
"Break off attack and gain altitude. We can't fight all these TIE's and the ground defences. All pilots regroup in the upper troposphere!" Poe ordered as he pulled Black One into a steep climb into the increasingly darkening sky.
Rey - POV
Rey was momentarily able to forget the bone chilling cold she was enduring in her Jakku clothes as she watched the battle rage over the planet that she was trying to escape from.
She watched the blasts of energy fly like lightning bolts, along with the explosions and fireballs that shook the ground and blazed in the sky, on the trees and in the snow around them. Even as she watched she saw an x-wing get blasted out of the sky and come crashing down just a few metres away from them.
Han staggered forward as best he could on his heavily bandaged legs.
He had apparently refused to be left behind on D'Qar despite the wishes of the medics on the base. Besides as he had pointed out very clearly. No one else was able (or stupid enough) to land the Millennium Falcon on the planet at a calculated lightspeed jump.
So, his legs and knees were wrapped in bandages and he had been treated with kolto injections to deaden the pain and to allow him full (if slower) movement. But in that moment his attention was on the sky as well and not is fragile legs.
"They're in trouble. We can't leave" He said in dismay as he watched the Resistance forces bolt for the upper atmosphere. Fighting tooth and nail all the way.
He turned back to face them with a grim smile emerging on his face. "My friend has a bag full of explosives. Why don't we use them?"