Book 1:

The Force Awakens

Chapter 8: StarKiller Attack

We see Jace, Han, Finn and Chewie cross the terrain. Nine was left back at the ship. Walkers appear on the horizon. The group takes cover behind a base structure. Chewie carries a black duffel of explosives.

Finn, "the flooding tunnels are over that ridge. We'll get in that way."

Jace, "it pays to have a man who was on the inside."

Han, "what was your job when you were based here?"

Finn, "sanitation."

Jace double takes, "uh, come again?!"

Han, "sanitation? Then how do you know how to disable the shields?"

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

Jace, "woah, woah, woah! Finn, I wanna save Rey as much as you do, maybe even more, but we've gotta stop the First Order from destroying everything!"

Han, "people are counting on us! The galaxy is counting on us!"

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

Han, "that's not how the Force works!"

Jace, "have you listened to anything I've explained to you about it?!"

Chewie groans, making Han ask, "oh really, you're cold?"

Finn, "come on!"

They follow Finn on the snowy hike. On the horizon, the laser siphon shoots into the sky, slowly sucking the sun dry.

….

In the control room.

Technicians are at work, as the sun sucking is seen in the window behind them.

Hux, "report."

An officer replies, "weapon charged in fifteen minutes, sir."

….

In a corridor, a trooper waits to board a Transport Compartment. The door whooshes open, and Jace and the others are there!

FN-9330, "hey!"

He fumbles for his blaster but Chewie shoots first. The Trooper flies back, dead.

Chewie drags him out of sight. Han and Finn peer around a corner, wary.

Jace watches their backs.

Han, "the longer we're here, less luck we're going to have. The shields?"

Finn, "I have an idea about that."

Han and Chewie follow Finn.

Jace walks right behind them.

Jace, "hold on Rey, we're coming!"

Captain Phasma heads down a corridor, with some slight bandages on her arms from Takodana.

Suddenly Phasma is T-boned hard and fast. Shoved into a narrow cross-corridor by Chewie.

He puts his arms around Phasma, forcing her to face Finn, who holds his blaster on his former captain.

Han stands behind Finn.

Jace has his saber ready to activate.

Finn, "remember me?"

Phasma, "FN-2187. I was hoping you had perished on Takodana after your friend knocked me out."

Finn, "not anymore. The name's Finn, and I'm in charge. I'm in charge now, Phasma. I'm in charge."

Han, "bring it down. Bring it down."

Jace, "no, bring it up! Heh."

Finn, "follow me."

Finn smiles as they lead Phasma away.

….

Rey peers nervously around a corner.

She runs down a long, glossy hall, taking cover in an alcove, the Trooper Guard's rifle held tight.

From this alcove, she can see down another long, perpendicular walkway. On one side of it, a stone and steel wall. On the other side, a vast atrium, with a railing-free drop off, the white pill-light design descending hundreds of feet.

At the end of this walkway is an open hangar door, revealing hundreds of TIE Fighters parked outside.

Rey's plan is clear. But the problem: between her and the ship she wants to steal, is a group of Stormtroopers. Guards, in conversation.

As she tries to think about what to do next, we see, far behind her in the perpendicular hall, another group of Storm- and SnowTroopers headed her way!

Rey's mind races, another peek out and she runs fast across the walkway, and climbs down, her fingertips disappearing over the edge just as the Troopers approach and continue.

Rey holds on carefully as the guards walk off, not seeing her over the edge, a death drop below her.

But then she sees something and has a brainstorm. She strenuously cross-climbs to an invisible service hatch, which she opens, and climbs inside the wall, closing the hatch behind her.

A remarkable image is seen, inside are the inner workings of the base.

She looks tiny by comparison, Rey climbs amid the incredible infrastructure, a single drop to infinity beneath her. She is between the light source and the white pill shapes, as she makes her way across the gigantic infrastructure.

The Stormtrooper guards, above the drop off into the atrium. What they cannot see is a shadowed silhouette of Rey against the endless white pill lights as she climbs across the space, beneath them, toward her exit!

….

In the control access point.

Phasma sits in front of a workstation.

Finn, Han and Chewie have their blasters aimed at her.

Jace has his lightsaber on clear view for her to see. Phasma reluctantly works controls on the workstation.

Finn, "you want me to blast that bucket off your head? Lower the shields."

Phasma, "you're making a big mistake."

Jace activates his saber and speaks in a threatening voice, "do it."

Chewie groans as Phasma hits a few more buttons, the controls beep and click. "SHIELDS DISABLE INITIATE."

All eyes are on the workstation.

Finn, "Solo, if this works, we're not going to have a lot of time to find Rey."

Jace, "and we aren't leaving without her. We've come too far to lose her now."

Han, "don't worry guys, we won't leave here without her."

The controls beep and click.

"SHIELDS DISABLED."

Phamsa, "you can't be so stupid as to think this will be easy. My troops will storm this block and kill you all."

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

Jace, "let's toss her somewhere cold."

Han, "is there a garbage chute? Trash compactor?"

Finn, "yeah, there is…"

Finn and Jace grow big malicious grins on their faces as you can hear Phasma gulp.

….

An alert:

"Officers at their consoles, urgent!"

An officer yells, "General, their shields are down!"

C-3PO, "thank the Maker!"

Leia, "Han did it! Send them in!"

Admiral Statura, "give Poe and Mara full authorization to attack."

Gulch, "Black Leader, go to sub-lights. On your call."

….

We see the X-Wings in lightspeed.

Poe, "Roger, base. Red squad, blue squad, Jade Shadow, take my lead."

Nien Nunb pilots and acknowledges the order in an alien language.

Another pilot, Yolo Ziff, "dropping out of lightspeed."

Mara, "let's give these First Order chumps Hell!"

With concussive blasts, the X-Wings appear and roar towards the Starkiller Base planet!

….

The crashed Falcon is seen, two parked TIE Fighters and a troop transport ship beside it.

….

At a distance, the X-Wings drop from the sky towards the hexagonal oscillator structure in the distance!

The squad of X-wings dive bomb the Oscillator, as the Black Falcon leads. With various X-Wings joining in.

We see Mara's ship prov8ding cover fire, and doing an amazing job of it.

Poe, "almost in range! Hit the target dead center, as many runs as we can get!"

Mara, "we're on it!"

As Snap pilots, he says, "approaching target."

Nien Nunb acknowledges.

….

Back in the control room.

Large explosions atop the distant oscillator are seen through the large windows! Alarms blare as Hux moves quickly to see the damage. He turns sharply to a First Order Officer and orders, "dispatch all squadrons…"

Colonel Datoo, "yes, General."

….

Poe, "let's light it up!"

The X-Wings five bomb the oscillator, all of them hitting it in succession.

LT. Bastian, "direct hit!"

Ello Asty, "but no damage!"

Poe, "yeah, we gotta keep hitting it! Another bombing run! Remember, when that sun is gone, that weapon will be ready to fire! But as long as there's light, we got a chance."

A beeping from BB-8, riding in the back of his X-wing, makes Poe look out. And he can't believe what he's seeing. Dozens of TIE Fighters!

Poe, "guys, we got a lot of company!"

Mara, "let them come! They got nothing on us Poe!"

Mara's the First to fly in, her ship taking down two TIE Fighters in a matter of seconds!

….

In the Junction area.

Jace, Finn, Han and Chewie take cover, Chewie pulling some explosives out of the duffel. They see blast doors nearby.

Finn, "we'll use the charges to blow that blast door. I'll go in and draw fire, but I'm gonna need cover."

Jace, "that's what I'm for."

Han, "you sure you're up for this?

Finn, "Hell no. I'll go in find and try to find Rey. The troopers'll be on our tail. We have to be ready for that. There's an access tunnel that'll leads-"

Han starts pointing with his chin to something behind Finn.

Finn, "why are you doing that? Why are you doing- this? I'm trying to come up with a plan."

Jace turns, and grows wide eyes, and a huge smile as he says, "Finn, you gotta see this!"

Finn turns, and sees Rey, climbing out from behind the wall, carefully climbing back up to the main level! He can't believe it! Chewie murmurs his relief. Han is maybe more grateful than anyone.

Except for Jace who says, "Force, how does she do it?!"

….

Back at the Resistance base, a Resistance Technician turns to Leia.

Admiral Ackbar, "the Oscillator's still standing."

The officer, "X-wings coming back for another round of attacks!"

….

Rey climbs up to the corridor, vigilant. She hears a sound, and swoops her rifle at…. Finn, Jace Han and Chewie! She cannot believe it! All Finn wants to do is hug her, and she him, and especially Jace.

Han, "are you all right?"

Rey, "yeah."

Han, "good."

Finn, "what happened, did he hurt you?"

Rey, "Finn! Jace! What are you doing here?!"

Finn, "me and Jace came back for you."

She is speechless. This is all she's ever wanted anyone to do.

And she had two people go out of their way to find her.

Chewie talks, and Rey's eyes nearly tear up.

Finn, "what'd he say?"

Rey shrugs, smiles, though nearly in tears, and says, "... That it was your and Jace's idea."

Finn awkwardly smiles. It's his nature. They embrace.

Rey, "thank you."

Jace feels a little bit of disappointment from the hug.

But as Rey moves from Finn, she hugs Jace more tightly.

Rey, "I knew you'd all come for me!"

Jace, "I told you Rey, I'll never abandon you!"

Rey moves away just enough to capture Jace's lips for a moment, surprising both her friends, especially Jace.

Finn actually finds himself happy about seeing Rey and Jace like that.

Finn, "how did you get away?"

Rey, "I can't explain it. And you wouldn't believe it."

Jace, "I think I could."

As Rey and Jace gazed at one another, neither had to say anything.

Jace could feel the Force inside of Rey.

Han, "escape now. Hug later."

….

The X-Wings dogfight with the TIE Fighters on the surface of the snowy planet. All of the fighters scream past one another. Poe's fighter nearly collides with a close-passing TIE Fighter!

Mara has the most Fighters in her tail, but she's easily able to avoid them.

Snap, "I got one behind me. See it?"

Jess, "yeah, I'm on it!"

A heavy cannon emplacement launches a missile that shreds an X-wing fighter.

Jess, "Furillo's been hit!"

Snap, "watch out for ground fire!"

The X-wings roar across the sky, blasting and dodging the TIE Fighters and missiles.

Mara, "give it everything you've got!"

...

Jace, Han, Finn, Rey and Chewie, run out into the snow, stopping, eyes on the sky, watching the lop-sided battle.

The heroes all turn to each other, with resolve in their eyes.

A long moment of communication.

Han, "they're in trouble. We can't leave. My friend here has a bag full of explosives. Let's use 'em."

….

A Resistance Technician turns to Leia, Kaydel Ko Connix is their name.

Connix, "General, are you seeing this?"

Vober Dand, "wo more X-wings down. That's half our fleet destroyed."

C-3PO, "and their weapon will be fully charged in 10 minutes! It would take a miracle to save us now."

….

The oscillator structure, near darkness.

Han and Chewie arrive here to find three security Stormtroopers approaching a Maintenance Hatch. Instantly, Chewie takes out the middle one with his Bowcaster. Han and the other two Stormtroopers open, but Han's aim is true.

The alarms start blaring.

Meanwhile, at the Junction station.

Running inside from a parked snowspeeder, Rey opens a service hatch. Finn and Jace are behind her, as she reaches into the mechanics of the place, very much like the moment we first saw her scavenging.

She yanks a piece of tech from the machinery and the hatch opens for the others! Han and Chewie, having been on the lookout, step inside, weapons poised. Chewie moan talks once again.

Han, "that girl knows her stuff. Jace made a good choice."

Han and Chewie divide the explosives, talking in bushes tones.

Han, "we'll set the charges at every other column."

Chewie groans to Han, who looks around and reconsiders.

Han, "you're right. That's a better idea", he checks his detonator, "you take the top. I'll go down below. Detonator. We'll meet back here."

They head off in opposite directions.

Han finishes placing an explosive. He checks that he's all-clear and hurries down to the next level. Chewie climbs up a level.

A squad of Stormtroopers snap to alert as Kylo Ren approaches.

Controls are hit and the huge door opens. Without hesitation, Kylo walks into the oscillator.

A colossal cylindrical structure. Dark corridors and catwalks litter the place. Kylo Ren comes to a stop and scans the structure. He senses something and motions the Stormtrooper Squad upwards.

Kylo, "find them."

They rush past him. Kylo Ren turns slowly, and heads down.

The Stormtroopers move up the ramp, weapons ready, checking carefully where blind corners intersect from the perimeter.

They come round to the next higher level. When they've passed, we see Chewie in the shadows of the grillwork.

Once they're gone, he plants another charge.

….

The Snowspeeder comes to a stop outside the structure. Finn, Jace and Rey stop for a moment, and look to the sky. The sun is nearly gone!

….

Han finishes setting a charge and is about to move on when he heard something and conceals himself behind a wide, vertical support. He peaks around the edge and his whole demeanor changes.

Han sees Kylo Ren appear and stop at the railing, looking down into the filter.

Han looks at his son with a tortured storm of feelings welling up within him.

He resumes his hunt, and heads directly towards where Han is hiding! Kylo Ren has an increasing sense of Han's presence as he moves closer. He comes to where Han was hiding, but Han is gone, and nowhere to be seen.

From his hiding place in a narrow, power chamber in the wall, Han watches his son pass only a few feet in front of him.

Han shifts his position in the tight compartment, so he can watch Ren's progress. Kylo Ren turns onto a flat bridge that bisects into the open space.

Unaware of his father, Kylo Ren walks purposefully across to the opposite side. Han watches his son walk off, the sound of Kylo Ren's boots receding.

This is Han's opportunity to escape, but Leia's words echo through his mind. He makes a decision and moves out, to the edge of the catwalk. He calls out, strongly, "Ben!"

The name echoes around the entire area as Kylo Ren srops, far across the vast catwalk. He turns, "Han Solo. I've been waiting for this day for a long time."

Jace, Finn and Rey make their way into the space, opening a hatch that allows a small beam of precious fleeting sunlight to stream down like a spotlight on Han and his son. Finn, Rey and Jace get to a railing and look down. They can see and hear Han and Kylo Ren on the catwalk below.

Jace's face has the most fear painted onto it as he watches the exchange.

Han, "take off that mask. You don't need it."

Kylo, "what do you think you'll see if I do?"

Han moves toward Kylo Ren.

Han, "the face of my son."

Kylo takes off his mask. Han is frozen for a moment, jolted upon seeing the face of his son for the first time as a man."

Kylo, "your son is gone. He was weak and foolish, like his father. And his Uncle. And his cousins. So I destroyed him."

Han, "that's what Snoke wants you to believe. But it's not true. My son is alive."

Several levels below them, Chewie comes to the rail to watch.

Kylo flares, "no. The Supreme Leader is wise."

Up above, Finn, Chewie, Jace and Rey watch. Stormtroopers dot the perimeter of the structure, watching the scene.

On the bridge, Han moves closer, stern in his resolve.

Han, "Snoke is using you for your power. When he gets what he wants, he'll crush you. You know it's true. Jace…. Owen, and Padme could see through him. I know you can too!"

Kylo hesitates. Somehow, he does know it, "it's too late."

Han, "no it's not. Leave here with me. Come home. We miss you. All of us. Me, your mom, Owen, Mara, Chewie, R2, Threepio, we all miss you."

For the first time, Kylo Ren seems truly conflicted. Tears flood his stoic eyes….

Kylo, "I'm being torn apart. I want to be free of this pain."

Han takes one step toward his son, but stops himself.

Kylo, "I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?"

Han hears his son's voice again, pained and vulnerable. The voice he'd hear when he would skin his knee. The voice he'd hear when he had a nightmare about Mynocks. The voice that would bicker with his cousins.

Han only heard Ben Solo.

Han, "yes. Anything."

Kylo Ren unholsters his lightsaber and slowly extends it to Han, within a foot of Han's chest. Han almost can't believe it. The moment seems to last forever.

Even Jace finds himself filled with a bit of hope at seeing this.

And just then, the last beam of sunlight streaming through the open hatch vanishes.

Han actually smiles, and reaches out for the dark weapon…. But with the light now gone, Kylo Ren's eyes fill with darkness.

He ignites the lightsaber!

The fiery blade shoots out, right through Han's chest and back!"

Kylo, "thank you.

Above, Finn and Rey gasp and scream at the sight. Jace is in shock, tears streaming down his face as he can't even yell in pure agony and rage.

Finn mutters, "Solo."

Rey, "No, no."

Jace, "Uncle Han…. No!"

Han's last moment is looking into his son's face. Han's knees buckle. The blade tilts down with him... until Kylo Ren extinguishes it, and Han holds onto the catwalk, his life slipping away.

Finally Han falls back off of the catwalk, falling into the abyss below him.

….

Leia, feeling it instantly, drops into a seat, devastated.

Han Solo is gone.

Her husband is gone.

A hero was no more.

….

Reviews:

Guest: Rey is gonna end up with Jace, so whichever name she takes depends on the story. Also, I've already finished most of the story, but maybe I'll find some way for Luke and Mara to have a happy ending with him being dead. Like, maybe his ghost sticks around to stay with Mara? It depends. Also, if and when Luke dies, his death will be different from the original. He would actually duel Ren in a lightsaber duel, where he allows himself to be struck down so the Resistance can escape, and we see him unite with all of the other Force ghosts.

mmat: Ahsoka and Ezra are with the Ghost Crew from Rebels, while Cal is with the crew of the Mantis from Jedi Fallen Order. They're the Jedi still alive and in hiding while the Resistance looks for Luke.

Zero: Rey is gonna be the granddaughter of Obi Wan and Palpatine. Jace, Chewie and Rey all give Leia a hug. We'll have a little more time for Rey's training, and I'll try to fit in a scene where Jace is knighted.

Amanny: thanks for voting.

Max: fixed it.

….

Han is gone! It still hurts!

For those wondering, I've been using a transcript of the movie in order to help me right this story. I've been making changes here and there, and wording a lot of parts differently, but it's been a great help with writing this story. I plan on doing the same thing for Last Jedi and Rise of SkyWalker, but those stories will have a lot more differences