Chapter 22
The Resistance gathered together to hear the news from the spy but Poe, Finn, Rey and Saya already heard. None of them could hide their sorrow as Poe addressed the group of eager Resistance members.
"Everyone, the spy in the Resistance has given us some grim news. Somehow… Emperor Palpatine has returned."
Everyone looked panicked while Rose spoke to the team.
"Wait… do we really believe this?"
Saya bowed her head in shame. She should have told them. She should have told them about the voice those several weeks ago. But it was too late.
Poe continued on, his voice tying to remain strong.
"That's not all. Palpatine has given the First Order an entire fleet of Star Destroyers. Enough that the First Order can easily conquer the galaxy. They aren't operational yet but they could be anytime now."
There was panicked muttering again when Leia stepped up, trying to look strong for everyone.
"We have one advantage. We know Palpatine is on a planet called Exogol. However, we have no maps or charts on such a place. There is one man who may know something. An old friend of mine. Long ago, he and my brother Luke were searching for known Sith artifacts and planets. He may have some information to finding the planet."
Leia turned to Poe, Finn, Rey, and Saya.
"I need all of you to go and see him. See if he can be of any help."
They nodded and Leia turned to the rest of the Resistance.
"Everyone else, we prepare. I will reach out to all our allies and we will be ready to finish this war once and for all"
Everyone cheered and quickly dispersed. Poe walked over to speak to Leia while Saya turned to the Fowling.
Little One, I need you to stay here. Leia will take good care of you. I promise.
The Fowling had a sad look on his face but she knew he understood. She then looked over to Bayard.
I know you're tired of waiting around here. Are you ready for an adventure?
Bayard stood to attention, clearly showing he was ready to go. Saya smiled and walked over to Leia and Poe with the Fowling.
Will the Falcon be safe to fly now?
Poe snorted. "I didn't do that much damage to it. It looked worse than it was. We can leave immediately."
Saya smiled and looked to Leia.
Can you please watch over the Fowling while I'm gone?
Leia looked to the little smiling creature and smiled back.
"As long as he promises not to put frogs in the stew again, I will watch over him"
The Fowling giggled and Leia laughed, looking back to Saya.
"Keep everyone safe. And remember, I'm always with you."
Saya was surprised at her words but let it go when Leia drew Saya in for a tight hug.
"I love you, my daughter. Always remember that."
Saya felt tears in her eyes. She didn't know why but it felt as if Leia was saying a final farewell. She shook the thought away. Leia was fine. She would see her again. She was sure of it.
Saya gave one last smile to the Fowling as she ran with Bayard to the Falcon. Leia gave them the coordinates to the planet of the informant. Chewie was in the cockpit with Rey and they all quickly took off. Rose was asked to stay behind to begin helping prepare for the final battle with the First Order. C3-PO was ordered to follow along with the team as well.
Saya found a seat and watched out the window as the ship went into light speed. She wondered how long it would take for them to reach the planet.
Her eyes suddenly started to feel heavy and Saya felt herself drift away.
-!-!-!
The large room was dark with only the random lightning flashes to light up the room. Saya dropped the hood of the black cloak she was wearing to see several people in black clothes surrounding the room.
She felt herself begin to walk forward towards a very large throne made of stone. Her black dress seemed to sway with every step she took. She approached the throne and heard some kind of chanting. She turned away from the throne to look at the crowd of people.
They were all staring at her, chanting in a language she couldn't understand. She watched in amazement when she felt a large hand on her shoulder.
"My Empress"
Saya whipped around and was now face to face with Kylo Ren. But he wasn't wearing his typical First Order uniform. He looked more… regal.
Staring into each other's eyes, Kylo slowly brought his hands up and placed a large crown on her head. The chanting got even louder.
Kylo sat on the large throne, pulling Saya into his lap. She couldn't deny the warm feeling of being held by him again. She looked into the crowd of chanting people. Her attention was suddenly caught by something against the far back wall.
Saya felt her heart stopped as she saw several people chained against the walls of the room.
Rey. Poe. Finn. Rose. Chewie. Even Leia.
Saya began to hyperventilate was Kylo drew her close and began kissing her neck. Tears fell from her eyes as his hand began to travel up the skirt of her dress.
The chanting grew even louder and Saya was fully crying. She felt herself pulled back into a deep kiss from Kylo.
The chanting grew louder and louder. She couldn't take it anymore.
Saya pushed away from Kylo and began screaming.
-!-!-!
She was tugged back to reality when she felt herself begin shaking all over.
"Saya! SAYA!"
Someone was shaking her awake. Her eyes burst open and she was face to face with Poe.
"Christ, are you alright? You were shaking and crying!"
Saya wiped the tears off her face and stood.
I'm fine. It was just a bad dream. Thank you.
Saya stood from her seat and Poe pulled her into a tight hug. She blinked several times, unsure of what to do.
Poe? I'm alright. I promise.
Poe took a deep breath and slowly pulled away from her.
"We'll be landing here in just a minute"
Saya watched in sorrow as Poe walked away from her. Poe was a good man. She was sorry to hurt him by not returning his feelings. But she couldn't do it. She would only ever love one man for the rest of her life. Bayard gently nudged her hand with his head and she gave him a smile. He may not actually speak to her, but he always knew her thoughts and feelings.
She felt the Falcon land and quickly joined everyone by the entrance. The door opened and they were greeted with the bright sun. In the distance, they could all see dancing and heard loud music. They exited the ship and walked towards the music.
Finally, they could see a large village of the native people of the planet dancing and celebrating.
"The Aki-Aki festival of the Ancestors! This celebration only occurs once every 42 years!" C3-PO said with excitement.
"Every 42 years? Lucky us, I guess." Poe said with dripping sarcasm.
"Oh, indeed sir!"
The group made their way to the village and watched as they danced and sang. Saya couldn't help but smile at the happiness around her.
"Leia said the informant would find us. So everyone stay together and try to blend it."
Saya almost rolled her eyes at Poe's words. How he thought this team would blend in with the planet natives was beyond her. Especially with a Wookie, a large white wolf, and her with her long silver hair and lavender eyes.
They made it about half way through the crowd when she felt a tug on her arm. She turned then smiled down at the small child. She knelt down and the child reached her hand out with a pretty white necklace.
She spoke in a language she didn't understand. C3-PO approached from behind the girl.
"She says her name is Okasha Hara. She wishes to gift you her necklace."
Saya smiled and gently took the necklace, placing it around her neck.
Thank you, little one. My name is Saya. It's very nice to meet you.
The girl smiled and spoke in her language again.
"She says it would be an honor to know what your family name is."
Saya thought for several moments. In truth, she had no idea what her family name was. Do people of the Mahjai even have one? She didn't know.
A thought suddenly went through her head and she smiled at the girl again.
Solo. My name is Saya Solo.
The little girl smiled and ran off into the crowd. Saya stood and began following C3-PO through the crowd to catch up to everyone.
After walking for a few minutes, Saya suddenly felt a rush and her head felt dizzy. Bayard turned and growled at something from behind her.
"Saya"
She turned and was now standing a few feet away from Kylo Ren.
Her breath caught in her throat. It had been several weeks since she had seen him. She couldn't deny that she missed him. But she was sad to see he was wearing his mask.
"Saya… I offered you my hand. Many times. You want to take it. I know you do."
Saya couldn't hear any other voice but his, despite the celebrating going on around her. He began slowly walking towards her and she tried to step back from him, trying not to run into the village natives. Bayard was backing away with her, looking ready to pounce.
This isn't exactly the best time. Good day to you, Kylo Ren.
Saya closed her eyes and tried to close her mind, raising every shield she had.
"I can feel the conflict in your mind. You can't close me out. Not anymore."
She opened her eyes and he was still there. But much closer now.
"I can feel it. Your conflict with the Light Side of the Force. You question your beliefs. I know you can feel hatred and anger. If you didn't you wouldn't have been able to defeat your brother in your battle with him."
She couldn't deny the anger she felt when she did fight him.
I'm not conflicted. You are! I can see through the cracks in your mask… I can see it. You have so much regret for your actions. For killing your father. You're fighting with who you are now and who you used to be.
She was surprised he was so calm. She was sure her words would anger him.
"No… I know who I am. And I know who you are. Don't try and deny the darkness inside of you, Saya."
She furrowed her brows at him. This wasn't normal. Normally, he would be trying to convince her to go to him. To join him. Now, she wasn't sure what he was trying to do.
Why are you saying all this?
He took a step towards her. Saya was frozen with fear and confusion.
"I'm going to be the one to help you harness your power. You belong beside me, Saya. I'm going to find you. And I'm going to bring you over to the Dark Side."
Saya then noticed his mask drop slightly. She looked down. He was staring at her necklace. In a flash, his hand reached out and she felt the necklace snap and go into his grip. Her hands instinctively went around her neck and the blood drained from her face.
He looked down to the necklace in his hand, then looked up to her.
"I'll see you soon, Saya"
She was suddenly rushed with the noises of dancing and celebrating. Kylo broke the connection. He would be there soon.
Saya rushed around and spotted the group in the distance. She quickly ran through the crowd with Bayard following close behind her. She rushed up to the group, panting.
Everyone gave her a startled look.
"Where have you been?" Finn asked.
The First Order is coming! We need to hurry!
They all clearly looked panicked.
"How do you know!?"Rey asked.
Saya thought for a moment.
I saw a First Order spy! He had a communicator! I read his mind. He called the First Order to this place!
They all looked to each other, all in silent understanding.
"We need to hurry!" Poe yelled, over the singing.
They all turned and quickly made their way out of the celebrating crowd. After they were free of the celebrating natives, a figure in a black cloak suddenly rushed up to them.
"You with the Resistance?"
They all quickly nodded and the figure gestured for them to follow. They all knew they didn't have much of a choice but to trust the figure. They were running out of time.
The figure led them to a large hut not too far from the celebrating crowd. They all swiftly entered and were crammed together.
"Um, were you the one Leia sent us to find?" Rey asked.
The cloaked figure dropped his hood and smiled at the group. Chewie yelled in excitement.
"Well, he do go back a long way."
Chewie hugged the man while Poe and Finn stared in amazement.
"You're… Lando Calrissian!" Poe exclaimed.
He smiled at the rest of the group.
"Yes sir, I am. Leia said the Resistance needed some help."
Rey quickly nodded.
"Yes! We need to find the planet Exogol! Palpatine is back and has an entire fleet of Star Destroyers! We need to find him and finish him once and for all or the galaxy is done for."
Lando took a deep breath and sat down in a nearby chair.
"Many years ago, Luke and I were trying to seek out all relics left of the Sith. We wanted to destroy them. Wipe out the Sith from history. Exogol was a known planet dedicated to the Sith religion. But we never found it. All we know is it's on the outer rim. But there's supposedly a map that leads to the planet."
"Do you have any idea of where it could be? Anything at all?"
"The last Luke and I heard was there was a Sith sympathizer who had a key that would lead to the map. His name was Ahski. We traced him here, to this planet. But we couldn't find him. This was his last known location."
Rey looked to the group.
"We have to keep looking. There must be a clue here somewhere!"
"Fine but we need to hurry. The First Order is coming!"
They all quickly rushed out of the hut and Rey turned back to Lando.
"Thank you!"
Lando waved to them as they left.
"Good luck! All my love to Leia!"
They rushed out to the hut to see a large black ship flying in from the distance. It was a First Order ship.
"Over there! Speeders!" Poe said, pointing.
They ran through the sand, Bayard leading the way as he was faster than all of them. The group quickly climbed into the large vessels, just as First Order troops began rushing at them.
Poe, Finn and C3-PO rushed into one while Saya, Rey, Chewie, and Bayard went into the other one. Rey and Poe took hold of piloting the ships and they quickly took off. It wasn't long before they heard the speeders of the First Order after them.
Chew and Saya grabbed blasters in their ship while Finn grabbed one in his. They began shooting, desperately trying to stop them.
Chewie finally got a hit and the First Order's speeder jerked into the air. The Stormtrooper flying the ship suddenly punched his chest and began using a jetpack to soar through the air.
"Oh, they fly now!" C3-PO cried.
"They fly now!?" Finn screamed.
Poe looked back, then quickly faced forward again.
"They fly now!"
One of the Stormtroopers his the Speeder the girls and Chewie were in and it suddenly toppled over. The girls, Chewie, and Bayard were all thrown from the speeder while Finn was finally able to shoot down the last of them.
The small team landed in what felt like gravel. Poe stopped their speeder and the boys, along with C3-PO, rushed to go help them out of the gravel.
As soon as they were all standing on the gravel, they felt themselves begin to sink.
"What the hell is this!?" Poe screamed, trying to dig himself out.
They all began panicking. Even Bayard couldn't dig himself out. Saya watched in horror as he sunk beneath the small black rocks.
BAYARD!
The team were all up to their necks in gravel.
"SAYA!" Poe was screaming to her. She was able to glance over as his head was going under.
"SAYA, I WILL ALWAYS L-"
He was gone. Soon after him, Rey and Finn were pulled under. She couldn't see Chewie or C3-PO. They must have been gone too.
Saya held her breath as she went into the rocks.
I'm sorry Ben… I love you…
-!-!-!
More to come as soon as I can! Hope everyone is enjoying!