The Farm, Pasaana:

The mercenaries blow open the front door to the farmhouse and throw in a grenade that detonates before they themselves enter, guns blasting. They begin to search the house and finds nothing.

One of the mercs walks up to the captain. "Sir, its empty. No ones here."

"Search the surrounding area" the captain says. "If they're on foot I want them found. And tear this place apart. Rip all the floors open!"

The Tunnel, Pasaana:

A metal door in a cave opens and our heroes step out of the tunnel and head for the entrance of the cave.

"We got a skiff waiting up ahead" Boolio says. "We've kept it around in case we ever had to make a quick escape."

"Good thinking" Poe says. "You seem prepared for anything."

"These days you have to be" Boolio says. "Otherwise you're dead."

Aalia shakes her head. "Boolio, you're always so dramatic."

Suddenly, they are attacked by a giant Sand Snake, a snake that grabs Aalia with its jaws and throws her to the side into the rocky wall. A couple of blaster rounds hits the snake but it swings its body around, knocking over most of our heroes and then proceeds with biting Boolio to death. Chewie shoots it with his bowcaster and wounds it, the snake screams and then wraps its tail around Chewie and constricts him. The snake moves in with its head, jaws open and ready to swallow Chewie whole. But it stops, clearly struggling, being strangled even. It releases Chewie who tries to regain his breath. Meanwhile, Rey is reaching out with her hand, Force Choking the Sand Snake until it dies and falls over dead.

Finn pushes himself off the ground. "Whatta... Whatta hell was that thing?"

Jannah looks at Boolio and Aalia in shock. "What have I done? I didnt... I never..."

Rose comforts Jannah. "It's not your fault. You're not responsible for this. You had nothing to do with this."

"This happened because I brought you here" Jannah says. "How is this not my fault?"

"They had a choice, just as you did" Rose says. "They chose to help us. You are not responsible for their choices. You did not kill them, do you understand? You didn't."

It is with heavy hearts that our heroes continue to the caves entrance. Outside is the Storm Canyons, well named since the strong winds that push through the canyons are incredibly strong and powerful. The skiff is secured to a small dock not far from the cave and they head for it, struggling to walk in the wind, and climb onboard.

Poe looks around. "How the hell does this thing work?"

"It's a wind-skiff" Rey says. "Or close to it atleast. We had similar skiffs back on Jakku for crossing the saltflats. Chewie, help me with this."

Rey and Chewie push a mast into position. As it locks in place, a big square sail unfolds from the mast itself and is instantly filled with the wind; the strong wind pushes the skiff and almost rips it from the dock, throwing everyone off their feet. The wind pulls on the skiff, threatening to damage it as it is secured to the dock and the mountain.

Chewie growls and Poe agrees. "We're getting ripped apart! We need to detach, now!"

Rose gets over to the docking-clamps, removes her cybernetic hand and uses her tools hidden in her wrist to operate on the mechanism. As she succeeds, the skiff flies off into the canyon, the sail and wind propelling it forward. Rey hurries to grab the rudder and manages to avoid a crash, merely scraping the paint off the side of the skiff. But Rey finally gets the skiff under control as she rides the strong winds down the canyons.

Jannah sits on her own up front, lost in her own thoughts, sad over what has taken place. Finn walks up to her and sits down with her and offers her a flask of water. She takes it and drinks, followed by a sigh.

"Thank you" Jannah says.

"You got caught up in a war" Finn says. "I am truly sorry we got you involved in all of this."

"I've been helping the Republic every now and then for a few years now" Jannah says. "Resupplying your ships whenever your spies have needed it. Good money. The Republic pays well. I guess I figured if I helped you out, helped you escape, the pay might have been even better. Turns out it was the cost that increased, not the pay."

"You can come back with us" Finn says. "The Republic always has a need for good people. Come back with us, and maybe, all of this, might have a meaning. Help us bring down the First Order, help us defeat them, and all that has happened today will not have been in vain. It's worth considering."

"Me?" Jannah says with a sceptical smile. "A soldier?"

"Why not?" Finn says. "The wookie is an old smuggler. Rose is a mechanic. Rey was a scavenger on a desert planet. And I used to be a First Order stormtrooper."

"You?" Jannah says in disbelief. "A stormtrooper? I thought you were all clones."

Finn smiles. "No, Im not a clone. Sorry. Just regular people. Kidnapped, lied to, indoctrinated. Our lives destroyed by the First Order so that we can destroy the lives of others. It needs to stop. And we need every help we can get. Be it from a smuggler, a mechanic, a scavenger... Even from maintenance crew working in a dockingbay on a backwater planet like this. Think about it. We could use you."

Finn and Jannah turn to look at the canyon around them and the terrain up ahead as they both contemplate their current situation. The skiff leaves the canyons and travels over open plains, still with the wind in its sail. Everyone seems relaxed. Suddenly blasterrounds detonate around, heavy fire hitting the ground and they are forced to come to halt. With weapons ready, they watch as two mercenary vessels circle them overhead and come in for a landing. The mercenaries disembark and surround our heroes, together with the mercenary captain. With our heroes trapped, a First Order shuttle arrives and lands as well, allowing officers and stormtroopers to set foot on the planet. The First Order officer calls out to our heroes.

"Surrender! You are surrounded! You have no chance of escape! All I want is the girl known as Rey! If she comes with us without any trouble, I promise to let the rest of you go! You will be free to leave, unharmed! But only if Rey surrenders without any stuggle! Refuse this offer, and you will all die and I will still bring the girl back to the First Order!"

Our heroes study their enemies.

Poe sighs. "Well, we are surrounded, outnumbered and outgunned. My bet is we're all gonna die today. What do you think, Finn?"

"I thought you were supposed to be the optimist here" Finn says."

"That is me being optimistic" Poe replies.

Rose gets upset. "Will you two stop with your banter and figure out a way to get us out of this mess!"

Rey unhooks her lightsaber as she studies their enemies. "I got an idea... We'll use the skiff as cover and head for the rightmost mercenary shuttle. Hijack it and get the hell out of here."

Chewie growls in agreement.

Finn nods. "Sounds good enough for me."

Poe studies the scene. "To hell with it. I cant think of a better plan. Let's do it."

Jannah isnt reassured. "That's it? That's how you come up with a plan? Just wing it on the spot and hope you dont get shot?"

Poe shrugs his shoulders. "Pretty much."

"So luck?" Jannah says. "That's it? You rely on luck?"

Finn nods. "Yeah... That's about it. Most of the time."

Rose isnt pleased either. "You get used to it."

Janna shakes her head. "I doubt it."

Rey activates her twin lightsaber. "Alright... Everyone ready? On three. One, two..."

The enemies come under heavy fire, one of the mercenary shuttles gets blasted to pieces. The Falcon circles overhead, firing its ventral guns. The First Order soldiers and officers hurry back to their shuttle and get back onboard. The Falcon guns down mercenaries and the last shuttle, while the First Order shuttle takes off and hurries to get out of trouble. The Falcon follows the First Order for a short while and then breaks off and head back to our heroes, letting the First Order shuttle head for the skies at speed. The Falcon lands not far from our heroes and lowers the ramp. BB-8 and D-0 comes speeding down the ramp and BB-8 rolls up to Poe and D-0 to Jannah. The two droids are greeted with warm hugs and smiles. Lando and Zorii come down the ramp as well.

"We havent much time" Lando says. "The First Order arrived with a cruiser only moments ago. My bet is they already have TIE Fighters on their way down to attack us. We better leave." Everyone hurries onboard. The Falcon takes off and leaves the planet.

The Falcon flies through hyperspace. Finn and Poe are playing the hologram-game with BB-8 watching; Finn does a move and BB-8 shakes his head. Rose and Chewie are doing some repairs on the ship. Rey leaves, almost sneaking off and enters a cargo-hold. Stepping inside, she is covered by blue light.

"Master" Rey says.

"Is this a good time?" Luke asks, annoyed. "I'm not interrupting anything am I?"

"I'm sorry for that."

Luke sneers and shakes his head. "Well, I will not keep you busy for long."

"What's the matter?" Rey asks.

Luke turns serious. "Something has happened. Something is affecting the Force. It's like a shadow that is growing, slowly pulling a veil over the Force."

"How? What has happened?"

"I don't know" Luke says. "All I know is that the last time the Force behaved in this way, the Emperor was alive. I fear that the Sith have returned."

"The Sith?" Rey can hardly believe it, not fully capable to understand how it will affect the Force and the galaxy.

Luke turns to her and looks troubled with the gravity of the situation evident in his eyes. "We have work to do."

First Order Capitol World:

An old school Super Star Destroyer exits hyperspace. Three shuttles leaves one of its many hangars and is escorted by a dozen TIE Fighters ( same design as the Sith TIE's from Rise of Skywalker ). The TIE's and shuttles flies down to a planet. In the atmosphere they fly in over a huge city with tall structures, until they reach an impressive palace/fortress. The three shuttles lands on a large platform and their passengers disembark; 48 Stormtroopers ( looking very similar to the Range Troopers/Train Troopers in the Solo movie ) along with three high ranking officers, the officers guarded by eight Dark Troopers ( as seen in Rogue One ). They are received by a large formation of First Order stormtroopers and Grand Admiral Armitage; the visiting officers approach Armitage.

"Grand Moff Kabalek" Armitage says. "Welcome to the heart of the First Order."

"Grand Admiral Armitage" Kabalek replies. "I had hoped to face you in battle one day. It seems my hopes have been in vain."

"I wouldnt rule out anything, as of yet, grand moff" Armitage says. "These are uncertain times, after all."

"Indeed" Kabalek says.

And they all turn to enter the palace together.

Food is being placed on a table, a great feast. The table is long with two First Order officers on one side ( Armitage being one ) and two Imperial officers along the other. Kylo Ren, without his helmet, sits at one end of the table and Kabalek at the opposing end.

Kabalek sips his wine before speaking. "The Core Systems Alliance has been at peace with the New Republic for eight years. Trade is growing each year, security within our borders equally so. Peace with the Republic benefits the Core Alliance at the moment."

"And peace with the First Order doesnt?" Kylo Ren asks.

"The Core Alliance and the First Order are not at war as far as I know" Kabalek says.

"No" Kylo Ren says. "Which is why I find it most troubling that you continue to raid our systems along our border. Forcing me to place troops and ships far away from the battles I fight with the Republic. You can see how this is... irritating."

"And what do you suggest in order to change this situation, Supreme Leader" Kabalek aks.

"Grand Moff Kabalek" Kylo Ren says, "I want you to raid the Republic instead. The tide of war is about to turn and the New Republic will feel my full wrath. The Republic will be open for invasion, weak and disorientated. It is not the First Order you should harrass with your warships, Grand Moff. Strike at the Republic now and you will be able to hold on to what you claim from them without effort."

"And you know this how?"

"Plans are in motion" Kylo Ren reveals. "I will annihilate the Republic fleet, rob them of their ability to continue this war. If you attack, the Republic will have no chance to recover. All that would remain, would be for us to divide the spoils between us."

"And you have assurances?"

"I am strong in the Force" Kylo Ren replies. "As the leader of the last Imperial remnants, I would think you of all people would have a great deal of respect for such powers. And the wisdom that it provides."

Kabalek smiles and places his wine on the table. "The galaxy, as it is, is burning. It has been burning for quite some time. Thanks to Jedi Knights, Sith Lords and the Knights of Ren and your petty squabbles. I have precious little respect for your kind, Supreme Leader."

"Be that as it may" Kylo says, "but you know better than to ignore the wisdom provided by the Force. You are fully aware of the insights it can provide. Your seat of power, Grand Moff, is Coruscant itself. You know of all the secrets within the Jedi Temple. All the secrets hidden by the Emperor in his chambers. You know better than to ignore me."

Grand Moff Kabalek gives it some thought. "Cripple the Republic fleet" he then says, "and I will invade the New Republic with all the might that remains of the old Empire. However, should you fail, and instead provide me with an opportunity to invade the First Order... I will do so. I suggest, Supreme Leader, that you do no fail."

"Grand Moff Kabalek... You need not to worry."

To be continued...