Star Wars: A dyad in the Force Chapter 9: Declaration of war, a star wars fanfic

Warning: Major Spoilers of TRoS.

Note: This is a Reylo FanFiction (slow-burn)

「Act 9: Declaration of war 」

The Falcon landed into the jungle base as the ramp was released, and Poe, Finn, Chewie, and the droids rushed to find General Organa. Poe seemed happy to see Commander D'Acy waiting for them. She greeted them. "Poe," she said in a heavy voice, "Something happened. Finn..."

Finn interrupted her. They were facing many serious problems at the moment. "This can wait,"

Poe gazed at the Commander. "We gotta see the General,"

D'Acy gazed at them with grief. "She's gone!" she said with a lower tone.

'Gone?' Poe repeated into his head. He froze, staring at the commander, his mind lost, and refusing to accept that General Organa was no more. Chewie dropped to his knees. The truth was unbearable. He had lost Han, Luke, and now Leia. Finn tried to comfort him, but he pushed him away, grieving louder.

Poe remained there, lost in his memory now. His heart was aching; he could not move his feet. He even didn't realize as Beaumont started unwrapping his bandages on his arm and cleaning his wound. "We came so near," he admitted in a whisper, "I'm sorry."

Beaumont went on spreading bacta gel on Poe's wound and renewing the bandages. D'Acy appeared again next to him, "Poe, you need to see this."

Poe could not understand as he looked at them both. How could they both work after losing General Organa? Leia was gone, and the Resistance with her.

He followed D'Acy as she led him into the communication console, with Beaumont falling them on their heels. She pointed to the message that had arrived, "Kijimi's been destroyed."

"Kijimi..." he was now drawing in deeper Agony. His first thought was Zorri. "How?" he wanted to know.

"A Blaster from a Star Destroyer," they answered.

The reply didn't make sense. He shook his head. "No! Impossible. It would take... No.." he kept repeating in denial. They had never seen Poe in such a state. He could get more emotional than other resistance fighters. He kept his friends dear and could ignore direct orders if he needed to save them.

"It was a new Sith fleet. Out of the Unknowns. The Emperor sent the ship from Exegol." Beaumont said.

"They have planet-killing weapons?" he added in horror. "Of course they do. Every one. This is how he finishes it."

Then a new message was played in a loop. "The Sith flame will burn. The resistance is dead. All worlds, surrender or die. The Final Order begins."

Suddenly, everyone turned and faced Poe. He lifted an eyebrow, confused. Rose explained to him, "Leia made you acting general. What now?"

"We wait for orders." Commander D'Acy said, looking him in the eyes.

He was confused. What was Leia thinking? At first, he wanted to refuse. He had never run from anything in his life, but he wanted to run now. Leia was gone. He could not agree with that reality. He would not take her job. He wasn't ready. He had made terrible mistakes; he still had a lot to learn.

Then he recalled what Leia always told him. "Failure is the greatest teacher."

Later the same day, he went and sat beside Leia's covered body. The force had not yet claimed it. Because her mission wasn't done yet, he could hear R2-D2 and C-3PO arguing. R2-D2 wanted to restore his friend's memory. He shook his head.

"I gotta tell you," he said. "I don't know how to do this. What you did... I'm not ready."

"Neither were we. No one is ever ready!" a strong voice was heard, and Lando walked from the shadows and sat next to Poe.

"Luke. Han. Leia. Me. Who's ever ready." Lando added.

Poe gazed at him. Lando was filled with grief, as well. When he arrived, a little too late, Leia was gone. He never managed to say goodbye.

"How did you do it?" he quizzed in earnest. "How did you defeat an Empire with almost nothing?"

Lando fell in silence, and a few moments later, he responded. "We had each other. That's how we won. We were friends."

A small smile appeared on Poe's face. He thanked Lando and went on looking for Finn. And he found him soon. Finn ran towards him. "I gotta tell you something." Fin said in urgent.

"I gotta tell you something," said Poe at the same time, "I can't do this alone. I need you, Finn. I need you in command with me. Tell me yours." Finn had not only became a close friend to Poe, but he was also needed to fight this war.

"This droid..." he tilted his head, a bit surprised but accepted the offer. "That's really nice; I appreciate that."

Poe interrupted him, "General!" as he saluted.

Finn explained to him about the droid. What Ochi did and how everything was connected with the little girl, who was Rey. Poe gasped ant the new information.

They rushed and had the new data that the small droid offered analyzed. But everything was a mess. When hope was lost, they heard beeping sounds. Someone was sending new coordinates. It was the map towards Exegol.

"It's Rey. She is sending us the coordinates to follow and find Exegol. We are going to bring the battle to their district. Get ready; we are going to war!" Poe announced, and everyone in from the resistance was following. Lando would make sure to send out a signal for aid calling anyone who would want to help. That's how their departure started. And soon, every ship of the resistance flew over to Exegol.

Flames had risen over the ocean of Ahch-To as Kylo Ren's TIE was burning. Rey's eyes were still filled with tears as she stood and watched the TIE burning. Now she could understand why Luke ended up in exile, why he gave up everything. Rey decided she would never go back. She would never - never put her friends in danger again. She would never see Ren again. She would shut herself from the force. She would live her remaining years in Ahch-To.

She pulled out Luke's lightsaber and gazed at it. The galaxy would be better without her. She was holding the weapon of a Jedi, But she was no Jedi. Rey threw it into the fire.

Suddenly, a hand appeared and caught it before it landed in flames. "A Jedi's weapon deserves more respect," he said.

"Master Skywalker!" she cried out, surprised.

His eyes narrowed, asking her, "What are you doing?"

Later the same night, she ended up sitting close to the firepit. She was so tired and exhausted from battling with Kylo Ren and healing him. She remembered her previous action. "I did everything I was trained no to do," she told him. "I drew my saber first and attacked Ren."

"But then you healed him," Luke corrected her.

"I just gave him some of my life. At that moment, I would have given him all of it... died if I had to," she said honestly.

"And your action saved him," again; he corrected her.

"I saw myself in the dark throne. I saw what I could become. I won't let it happen. I'll never leave this place. I'm doing what you did." she said.

Luke sighed, "I was wrong." he admitted. "It was fear that kept me here. What are you most afraid of?"

"Myself," she said. She knew the answer. But saying it was difficult.

"Because you're a Palpatine." Luke said and watched her reaction, "Leia knew it too."

"She never told me," Rey mumbled, confused. "She still trained me."

"Because she saw your spirit. She saw your heart," Luke said.

"I wanted Leia to think I was as strong as she was. I'm not!" she confessed.

"Leia was stronger than all of us," Luke added.

Rey looked at him, spacing out. She thought if the dark side ever tempted leia. She was a Skywalker too. They have tried to turn Luke. They managed to turn Ben. But never Leia. She was unturnable. She recalled Finn. He could be like Leia. He was special that way.

"I don't think I can do it without Leia," Rey said again.

"Rey, Some things are stronger than blood. Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi. Your destiny. If you don't face Palpatine, it will mean the end to the Jedi. And the war will be lost." Luke said.

This time Luke told her the truth. About Leia, why he had stopped training as a Jedi. "Rey, this is your fight," he added.

Her heart sunk. She wanted now to do the right thing. And she would. Since her journey started, Rey was never holding back. She was moving forward. Even when she was afraid, she would face her fears. She took Luke's old freighter and found soon everything she needed. Luke also gave her Leia's saber. She connected the Wayfinder from Ren's TIE to Luke's ship.

Rey exited hyperspace. The planet Exegol was finally before her, shrouded with darkness and clouds. The console beeped, warning about the approaching atmosphere. She ignored it. Rey flew through the unfriendly skies of Exegol. Her ship slowly lowered, and she finally landed. Exegol was a horror of a planet. The air was hot-filled with dryness. She noted the dark building and felt something dark calling her. Rey pressed on. It was time to confront her fears.

This place of evil must have been there for centuries. She felt the air around her heavy as she climbed down. Suddenly she noted that she wasn't alone. Figures scurried in the shadows. Rey stepped towards the dais. She paused when she felt darkness close by. And soon she heard a voice.

"Long have I waited. My grandchild has come home. I didn't want you dead. I wanted you here, Empress Palpatine."

「Upcoming Chapter: Act Ten」

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amyunder: Thank you for reading and reviewing; I hope as well this story to be able to grow into something promising slowly.