A/N: Trigger warning for description of death. Hang with me on this one…
As thoroughly satisfying as it had been to dress down his old nemesis, Ben knew Hux's suspicious mind would continue to question why he hadn't been notified of this apparent inspection. Eventually the general would discover that, actually, there had been no official visit scheduled, and then the search would be on.
They had less time now than they'd had before.
Finn kept a brisk gait as he led them through the labyrinthine hallways, pointing out features of the battlestation as they went—for the benefit of passersby rather than the people he was speaking to. Ben and Rey kept their focus ahead, impassive masks and imposing postures keeping the passing officers and troopers at bay. Poe and Rose followed close behind.
They came to a lift station, and Finn claimed an empty capsule. The doors whooshed closed behind them. Finn leaned over and punched in a couple numbers, and the lift began to rise.
"The control room is on this next level," the ex-trooper explained. "You'll take a right out of the lift and go all the way to the end of the corridor. Turn left, then right again at the next main crossing. You'll see a set of double doors down the hall on the left; it's in there."
Ben nodded.
"We'll meet you there once we've finished," Finn continued as Poe hefted the strap of the satchel over his shoulder. The metal casings of the explosive charges inside clinked dully.
"See you then," Ben grated back.
When the lift doors opened, the team stepped into the corridor. With a brief nod to one another, Finn and Poe turned left while Ben, Rey, and Rose went right.
Rose stepped into the lead, following Finn's directions as she led the Knights on their continued mock inspection tour. This corridor was much quieter than the ones closer to the docking stations below. A couple officers passed them going in the opposite direction, eyeing them curiously, but at Rey's blank stare, they quickly kept walking.
When they rounded the final turn, Ben spotted a pair of Stormtroopers guarding the double doors. Finn hadn't mentioned there being a guard in place. Had Hux stationed them there? Was he keeping an eye on them? There were cameras hidden in every corner, always watching… One obvious slip-up now, and they'd have the entirety of Starkiller Base upon them.
They approached the doors. Rose, to her credit, kept her chin high and acted for all the world as if she was supposed to be there. Ben and Rey kept a silent, intimidating presence behind her.
As they neared the doors, the troopers noted them and straightened, moving slightly in front of the portal. Clearly, they would not simply be allowed entry.
Rose came to a stop before them. "Stand aside," she ordered, with hardly a waver in her voice.
"Identification?" one of the troopers countered.
Ben stepped around Rose and came toe to toe with the trooper. He towered over him. The trooper subtly stepped back.
"We've been sent by Lord Sidious to inspect this battle station and investigate exactly how you managed to let the Resistance slip through your fingers." He paused for effect, then growled, "Move."
The troopers exchanged a look, then stepped out of the way. One activated the panel, and the doors whooshed open.
They stepped into a buzz of activity. Technicians sat at an array of computers and controls across a vast dashboard, while officers reviewed readouts and gave directions. Yet more troopers milled about the periphery of the room, hands resting on their blasters.
One of the techs noticed their arrival and said something to her superior officer. A few others noticed too. The officer spoke with another ranked official, presumably the highest-ranked person in the room, who glanced their way. Two Stormtroopers fell in to flank him as he approached them.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of this most unexpected visit?" the officer said. He glanced from Rose's insignia to the masked faces of her counterparts.
"Sir, these Knights of Ren are here on Lord Sidious's orders," Rose explained. "In the wake of the battle on Crait, they've been instructed to inspect Starkiller Base and identify—"
"What happened on Crait was a fluke and nothing more," the officer dismissed. His gaze shifted once more to Ben and Rey. "You can assure Lord Sidious that this battle station is fully equipped to snuff out the remains of that pesky Resistance and prove to the galaxy once and for all the might of the First Order. Soon, there will be no resistance left from any quarter."
"That's good to hear…" Ben made a show of checking the officer's insignia. "Admiral." He stepped closer, the mask giving his voice an inhuman edge. "But I'm sure you'll understand the Dark Lord's hesitance to take you at your word, especially after that pesky Resistance wiped the floor with the might of the First Order on Crait." He looked around the room. "My comrade and I will inspect your control room now. I would appreciate it if you and your men step outside, in case there are any more… flukes."
Beneath the admiral's obvious affront at being ordered around, Ben could sense the first inklings of fear beginning to stir. "Does General Hux know about this inspection?" the admiral asked.
"The general has been made aware," Ben replied, a smirk evident in his tone.
But the admiral didn't make a move to leave. The troopers on either side moved their hands down to grip their blasters.
"Was I not clear?" Ben asked, cocking his head to the side. Flicking a hand, he slammed the troopers aside with the Force. They went skidding across the floor to crash into the computer terminals. Before the admiral had a chance to react, Ben brought his other hand up, his thumb an inch from his forefinger. The admiral gasped and reached for his collar.
The troopers in the room snapped to attention as the officers and techs cowered back. One of the troopers radioed for backup.
"I don't like repeating myself," Ben hissed gratingly.
The purple-faced admiral gave a shaky nod, and Ben released him. The man collapsed to the floor, sucking in desperate lungfuls of air.
"Everyone out," the admiral gasped. A couple troopers attempted to help him up, but he shook them off, climbing to his feet and impatiently jerking at his coat hem before striding out. The other personnel trailed out behind him.
Rey activated the panel and locked the door behind the last of them. She pressed a finger into the servomotor switch and pulled off her helmet.
Rose was already crossing the room. She set her bag of charges on the floor by the main computer terminal. "See if you can find anything about the base's charge level, nearby planetary systems, anything to give us a clue as to what they're planning," she instructed. "We'll need to override their directives before we can input the coordinates for Exegol, otherwise we could cause a misfire. Trust me, we don't want that."
Rey joined Rose at the dashboard, surveying the computers for recent activity. While they did that, Ben took off his own helmet and looked around the room for cameras. Chances were they'd already been seen, but if he could limit their exposure, that would help. He found and disabled several cameras while the girls worked.
"Found it," Rose announced. "We were right, they have been recharging. They're at approximately sixty-five percent charge; estimated time to full charge is another thirty minutes." She toggled through another menu, eyes flicking over the readout. "Oh, no. These coordinates are for Ajan Kloss."
"What?" Rey cried.
"How did they find out where we went?" Ben demanded, striding over to look at the readout over Rose's shoulder.
Rose shook her head. "I don't know. I don't see a record of a trace or anything. But somehow they found out."
Ben ran a hand through his hair as he cursed under his breath.
"Surely there's a way we can radio back and warn Leia," Rey said. In case we don't succeed, Ben sensed her unspoken thought.
"Not without the First Order being able to trace the call," Rose replied. "I didn't think to leave one of our comms with her. If the First Order finds out we know their plan, they'll deploy several dozen ships to go wipe them out. The only thing we can do for the Resistance is not let the First Order know we found out, and hope that Finn and Poe get their charges positioned soon."
…
Finn's perspective
They'd been making good time, avoiding the main thoroughfares by skirting through side corridors. Poe held the bag of charges snugly against his hip.
"It isn't much farther," Finn said over his shoulder.
They peered around the next corner, but then Finn was shoving Poe back. "It's Phasma," he hissed. "Go, go, into that storage compartment!"
The two men ducked inside the crevicular compartment in the wall, stifling their breath as they listened. Outside, the clap clap clap of Stormtrooper boots sounded off the sleek floor as a regiment passed through the hallway, led by the infamous chrome-plated captain.
"Isn't this why we disguised ourselves as officers?" Poe whispered.
Finn was shaking his head before Poe had finished speaking. "Phasma knows me," he explained. "She'd recognize me with or without the disguise."
"So what do we do?"
"I don't think she saw us. We'll wait her out, then check and see if the coast is clear."
"And if it isn't clear?"
Finn hesitated. "Then you act like you caught me sneaking on board, and hand me over. Take the charges, get to the thermal oscillator, and finish the job."
"Finn, I can't do that!"
"Yes, you can." Finn set his jaw. "This mission is bigger than me, or you, or any of us. It's for the Resistance. For the galaxy. We have to win."
Poe studied him for a moment, then nodded. "You're right, buddy. All right." He held up a finger. "But it isn't going to come to that."
They waited a while longer, long past when the sound of the troopers' boots had faded into the distance. Poe checked the digital time readout on his wrist. Finn knew they were cutting it close.
"I'll check," Poe offered, and scooted toward the door. Easing it open, he poked his head out and glanced around the corridor. He slipped through the door and looked around again, then peered around the corner, down the hallway and then back the other way.
"All right, it's clear," he said. "Let's go."
Finn crawled out after him, hefting the satchel of charges, and they continued down the corridor.
…
Ben's perspective
Ben and Rey made their way around the perimeter of the room. Every so often, Rey dug a charge out of the bag Ben held and stuck it underneath a computer terminal. If all else were to fail, they could at least detonate the charges and destroy the control room, thus delaying any further planetary destruction.
"Eighty five percent charged," Rose announced from the dash. "Think they've realized yet that this isn't a sanctioned inspection?"
"They've definitely realized by now," Ben replied, holding the bag open as Rey reached in for another charge. She activated the suction grip and stuck it beneath the next terminal.
"I think I've finally found a way to override the directives," the engineer said a few minutes later. She tapped through a sequence on the keyboard, entering line after line of code. "Sure would be easier if we had a droid with us," she muttered under her breath.
Ben shared a smirk with Rey, but then a sound outside caught his attention. Rey perked at the sound, too. They turned toward the door in the same instant.
"...they're inside."
"Cover the door panel. On my mark—"
"Rose, we're about to have company!" Ben cried.
Dropping the bag of charges, he and Rey raced back across the room. The door was already sliding open. Ben threw out a hand, countering the controls and stopping the door from opening any farther, but a Stormtrooper had already wedged his shoulder through. The trooper maneuvered the nose of his blaster into the room and opened fire.
Rose screamed, grasping her arm as she fell out of the chair and hit the floor.
"Rose!" Rey shrieked. Ducking behind the terminals, she raced to her fallen friend's side.
Ben threw up his arms and braced himself. The flurry of blaster bolts froze in midair.
"Go, Rey!" he shouted. "Finish it!"
…
Finn's perspective
"It's just ahead," Finn said in a low voice.
A couple patrolling Stormtroopers came to attention as the two officers strode by. Finn gave them a little nod of acknowledgment as they passed.
They took the next turn, Poe casually checking behind them as they rounded the corner. There was still no sign of Phasma or her regiment. In fact, they'd hardly seen anyone at all. It was starting to become eerie.
Finn led them to the end of the corridor, where a door barred the entrance to the oscillation chamber.
"You know the code?" Poe asked, hovering behind Finn as he kept watch on the corridor. They were too exposed here.
"The janitorial staff all used the same code to get into places to clean," Finn explained. "It should still work…" He trailed off as he tapped the keys in sequence, then waited.
The keypad buzzed, and the light switched red.
Finn frowned. He typed the sequence in again.
Rrr. Red.
"Come on, buddy," Poe urged behind him.
"You're not helping," Finn muttered back. Bringing trembling fingers back to the keypad, he carefully typed the sequence in for a third time.
Rrr. Red.
Finn smoothed a hand over his hair, feeling a fine sweat break out on his forehead. "Kriff. They must've changed the code."
"Can you take a guess?" Poe raised his blaster. "Want me to shoot it?"
"No!" Finn hissed back. "You'll just set off an alarm and bring the closest regiment down on us!"
"Then what are we supposed to do?"
"Just… give me a minute!"
Taking a steadying breath, Finn looked again at the keypad. And then he cocked his head to the side as a sense of peace washed over him. Several keys began to stand out to him, inexplicably distinct from the others even though he couldn't see any visible differences. He carefully typed in the sequence.
Ping! Green.
"Let's go," he said, getting to his feet and shouldering through the door.
…
Ben's perspective
Ben glanced over his shoulder for a split second before facing the door again. Rey had knelt by Rose's side to examine her friend's injury, but she was on her knees now, finishing the sequence from the cover of a terminal as the engineer guided her. Her slim fingers flew over the keyboard as she entered the streams of code.
Sweat beaded across Ben's forehead as he gritted his teeth against the onslaught. It was taking every bit of strength he possessed to keep the troopers at bay. An officer had plugged a droid into the control panel outside and was trying to resend the command to open the door. At the same time, several troopers were physically pulling at the door in an attempt to overpower Ben's hold on it. They were gaining access inch by steady inch.
Another blaster muzzle aimed through the widening gap, and then another. They fired into the room at will. Calling upon the Force, Ben stilled each bolt. A glittering array of them were now crackling in the air before him, poised to kill the moment he lost his grip.
"Rey, hurry!" he grunted.
…
Finn's perspective
They hurried into the oscillation chamber, their boots clopping along the mesh metal catwalk and echoing through the vast space as they ran. Both men had their blasters out now, primed and ready to fire.
"The pillars," Finn said, pointing ahead.
"On it," Poe replied.
Finn took out an armful of charges, then handed the bag to Poe. The pilot sprinted down the catwalk to a ladder and began to climb down to the next level.
Finn picked up the first charge, activated it, and stuck it to the nearest structural pillar. Down the row he went, activating and sticking. If they could destabilize the integrity of the chamber, they could collapse the thermal oscillator and destroy the entire base. He only hoped they weren't still around to see it happen first hand.
"How you doin', buddy?" came Poe's voice from below.
"Almost there," Finn replied. "Only a few—"
A blaster bolt pinged off the railing next to his hand, and Finn jumped back, ducking down to the floor on instinct. He whirled around, searching for who had shot, and gasped.
Phasma had found them.
"FN-2187," she intoned, stepping forward. "How lovely to see you again."
…
Ben's perspective
"Ninety five percent," Rose gasped, gripping her upper arm tightly. Blood seeped between her fingers and into her sleeve, staining the dark fabric even darker.
"Nearly there," Rey muttered. "Hold on, Ben!"
Grunting with the effort, Ben shifted his stance and shook sweaty strands of hair out of his face. The troopers had opened the door a few more inches; it still wasn't wide enough for an armored body to slip through, but they'd taken aim with a few more blasters. Hundreds of bolts hummed in the air in front of him.
He knew he wouldn't be able to hold them off much longer. He was panting, his entire body trembling with the energy he was channeling. No human being could do this for long, not even one as strong in the Force as he was. Sooner or later, his control would buckle.
He bit back another groan. "Rey, I can't hold them much longer!"
…
Finn's perspective
With a shout, Finn raised his blaster and opened fire, running backward along the catwalk away from the towering terror. A couple bolts ricocheted off the chrome-plated armor, but Phasma barely flinched.
"Finn?" Poe shouted from below.
"Your friend sounds concerned," Phasma cooed as she pursued him. "As well he should."
She raised her own blaster and took aim. The shot rang out, hitting inches from Finn's feet before flying off into the chamber. Finn stumbled back.
"Finn!"
Finn glanced away from Phasma just long enough to spot Poe on the next level down, looking up through the catwalk. He saw the moment Poe recognized his assailant's armor. The pilot blanched, then headed for the stairs.
"No!" Finn screamed at him. "Run, Poe! Run!"
Phasma advanced on him. "Poe Dameron, is it? The infamous golden boy Resistance pilot?" Finn could hear the terrible smirk in her voice. "Don't worry, FN-2187. Once I am through with you, I will take care of your friend, too."
"No, you won't!" Finn snarled back at her. Scrambling farther down the catwalk, he shot at her again, clipping her pauldron enough to force her shoulder back and pause her step.
The armored head snapped back to stare in his direction, and he could feel the captain's icy glare on him. "You think I won't?" she sneered. "I will end you. I will end your friend, and the other friends I suspect you brought on board with you. I will find your rebel-scum comrades and end them, too. I will end the pitiful excuse of a Resistance for which you threw away your life, and I will revel in glory as the First Order claims its rightful rule over the galaxy!"
"Is that so?" came a smug voice from behind her.
Phasma paused and turned. Poe stood on the catwalk behind her, casually hefting a charge in his hands.
"Think fast, Chrome Dome,"* he said, activating the charge and throwing it at her.
On instinct, Phasma caught the charge. The sticking mechanism adhered to her metal armor.
With a roar, Finn grabbed a hold of the railing and launched himself into the air. His boot connected with the underside of Phasma's helmet, the momentum of his kick carrying her up and over the railing. She screamed as she fell through the empty air.
Poe rushed forward and grabbed Finn's lapel. "Time to go!"
The two men ran back the way they'd come, Poe holding the charge remote aloft as their pounding footsteps echoed through the chamber. Ducking through the door, Finn slammed the controls shut, and Poe punched a finger into the activation switch. As the door whooshed closed behind them, they heard the telltale sound of explosions in the distance.
"Let's find the others and get the hell out of here!" Poe panted.
…
Rey's perspective
Rey keyed in the coordinates and pushed them through. The computer readout pinged as they were accepted, officially overriding the directive for Ajan Kloss with Exegol instead.
"One hundred percent," Rose whispered. "Do it."
Swallowing, Rey looked out through the viewport, as the last of the starlight faded from the dark expanse of space. It was now or never.
She slammed her palm down on the button. Far beneath them, in the deepest reaches of the planet-turned-battle station, she could feel the great weapon rumbling to life. And then—
Red energy burst out of the planet's equator in a monstrous beam miles wide. It glared across her retinas, and she was forced to look away as it shot out into space, through the galaxy and into the depths of the Unknown Regions. For a moment, the blaster fire behind her paused as even the Stormtroopers looked on with a mix of awe and horror, as the unfathomably vast weapon spent its payload in a violent explosion of raw power.
Rey knew the moment the weapon had found its target. She felt the force of the impact as the beam hit the rocky planet surface, the way it ruptured the stone crust and seared through to the core, the way the planet suddenly could take no more and began to expand. The rock crumbled, wavered, and then exploded outward into white-hot dust. It lit the sky for just an instant, before it scattered into the dark reaches of space, blown entirely out of existence. Within her, she felt a shift in the Force as it acknowledged the end of a very great, very Dark presence.
"Rey!"
She spun just in time to see a blaster bolt slip free of Ben's hold. It struck him in the arm, and he cried out.
In an instant, hundreds of crackling bolts ripped through the air, striking him simultaneously and peppering the surrounding technology with boltholes. The combined force of so many hits blasted him off his feet, and he slammed into the terminal behind him and crumpled bonelessly to the floor.
"Ben!" Rey screamed.
Stormtroopers began to pour through the door, their blasters raised and primed. Rey turned to face them. A ragged, inhuman scream tore out of her, and she threw her hands up and shoved back with all her might.
Blue-white lightning arced from her outstretched hands, crackling across the room and striking the oncoming troopers. The force of the impact threw them back into the half-open door with a series of sickening crunches, and they slid lifelessly to the floor, their weapons clattering all around them. The thick steel door buckled in the violent concussion, the squealing sound of wrenching metal rending the air as the doors twisted and bowed out into the corridor beyond.
The troopers and officers in the corridor watched the destruction in shock. A few of the troopers started to back away, raising their blasters to cover their cowardly escape as they began to retreat down the corridor.
Snarling, Rey tore after them. She crooked her fingers at their retreating backs, and more lightning surged forth, forking and crackling toward them. It blasted the closest troopers off their feet to slam into the walls. They fell motionless and smoking to the floor. Having watched their counterparts die in front of them, the others dropped their blasters and made to run. Channeling her fury, Rey extended an arm to haul them back.
"Rey."
She focused on the fleeing troopers, intent on finishing them. She'd end them, every last one of them—
"Rey."
The tone caught her attention more than the sound of her own name. Rose sounded close to tears.
Rey turned.
The engineer had knelt by Ben's slumped form. She was watching Rey with tears in her eyes. Ben wasn't moving.
All other thoughts fled as Rey stumbled across the room and skidded to the floor beside him. He'd hit the computer terminal and collapsed to the floor in an awkward half-curl, his face and shoulder pressed against the slick black floor tiles.
Rey wrapped an arm underneath him and heaved him over into her lap. He was dead weight in her arms. His head lolled alarmingly over her arm, and as she caught him, she bit back a gasp. A shock of thick, dark blood marked a trail from his nose and mouth down over his chin. More blood ran from several lacerations marring the side of his face where numerous stray bolts had clipped him. One had even notched his ear, and the hair on that side of his head was wet with blood. She looked him over, taking in the ragged holes in his shirt, the dented and destroyed armor plating that had been meant to keep him safe.
"Ben?"
He didn't stir. His eyes were heavy-lidded, dull and unseeing.
"Ben."
Blood had pooled on the floor beneath him, smeared across the tiles in his wake. It had soaked through his ruined shirt, was soaking into her sleeve and her pants beneath him. A frightening amount of blood. Too much blood.
She spread a hand over his still chest, frantically feeling for any signs of breath, then pressed two fingers into the pulse point in his neck, willing his heart to beat, begging to feel something.
"Ben."
No. This wasn't happening. It wasn't possible. He'd promised her. And she would've felt it if he'd… Knotting her fist in his cowl, she screwed her eyes shut and reached out with the Force, searching for a sign, something, anything...
Only the barest flicker was there, and it was fading fast.
"Ben," she breathed. "Oh, sweetheart. Hold on; you… you have to hold on…"
There was a commotion at the door as Poe and Finn skidded into the control room, blasters out.
"Come on!" Poe started. "We gotta go—oh."
Blinking back her tears, Rey bent over Ben, smoothing his hair away from his face with shaking hands, desperately willing the Force to heal him. Stars, she was so scared… "Ben, please," she whimpered. "I can't lose you."
Rose was weeping. Finn dropped to his knees and pulled her into his chest.
Ben wasn't moving. She curled over him, gathering him into her chest. "Ben, be with me," she pleaded.
Poe was there, kneeling beside her. "Rey… he's gone," he whispered softly.
"No, he isn't."
"Come on, we've gotta go… this whole place is gonna blow…"
They were getting to their feet. Someone was tugging on her arm.
"Come on, Rey," Poe repeated.
She shivered and clung tighter to Ben. "No."
"Rey—"
"No."
A wave of static was ebbing around her. It felt like the salty rush of the sea, like the tingle of electricity in the air right before a storm. She curled over Ben's still form as the sensation built up, looming over them, intense and growing. It swelled to a crushing point—
And then she shivered as it broke and crashed over her, gooseflesh rushing up her limbs in its stinging wake. She gasped as everything crystallized in her mind.
The Force was with her, and she was with the Force.*
She knew what she had to do.*
Gently lowering him to the floor, she bent over him and placed her hands on his chest, then bowed her head and closed her eyes. "Be with me," she whispered.
Be with me.
She could feel it moving through her hair, like a wind that wasn't there, lifting the fine strands framing her face, fluttering beneath the edges of her cloak. She felt Poe step back, and heard Rose gasp from the circle of Finn's arms near the door.
The pent-up potential grew warm, too warm, white-hot, and then suddenly it shot down her arms in a sharp, thunderous crack! Dust on the floor around her whooshed away in a rolling cloud, and there was a feeling like static shock in her fingertips that snapped and arced from her to Ben. The warmth drained out of her in a rush, flooding him with her life force.
She felt the faint spark stutter alarmingly under the onslaught, but then it begin to flicker anew. Below the tattered holes in his shirt, the pale flesh began to knit itself back together.
Hardly pausing to breathe in her desperate relief, she repositioned her hands, resting them more firmly on his chest. "Be with me!"
The static snapped again, this time with a bright blue flash and an ear-splitting discharge. His body flinched uncontrollably, and she felt the heart beneath her palm squeeze with renewed strength. The lungs filled with a rattling breath as his chest rose sharply once, twice, and then evened out into a strained, weak pattern.
She let out a shuddering sigh of relief. He was alive. He was gravely injured and still in serious danger, but he was alive for the time being.
Poe knelt beside her when she wavered on her hands and knees. "You okay?"
She nodded, and levered herself the rest of the way to her feet. "I'm okay." She looked at the others. "Let's go."
Curling her hands under Ben's shoulders, she Force-lifted the unconscious man from the floor. With Poe steadying the weakly-levitating man under one arm and Rey ducking under the other, they dragged his limp form down the corridor after Finn and Rose. The toes of Ben's boots scuffed along the sleek black floor, leaving a smeared, dripping trail of blood as they went.
As they crowded into the lift, Rose turned back, aimed the charges' remote down the corridor, and punched the activation switch.
A/N: Starred (*) phrases were borrowed or adapted from Star Wars!