Star Wars: Division
AvalonTheLadyKiller: *gently scrapes off the floor and puts back in chair* I'm so very sorry. Haha.
FrancesOsGood: You're very welcome. Haha. Thank you for enjoying it and leaving your thoughts. I've mentioned it a few times before, so this will be repetitive (sorry!), but for me the story doesn't feel real when it gets set up to all but force scenarios in which Rey and Kylo come together. I understand that fanfiction is a format that allows fans to express their fantasies - and therefore they don't have to be cannon or 'authentic' to the original material, and that's great, really - but for me, the fantasy is basically seeing Rey and Kylo work within the realm of the authentic world of Star Wars. And so, that's what I set out to do with this story; make it a book. An official book. So, here we are, all nice and slow paced and angsty. Haha. I'm thrilled you're enjoying it.
Chapter Sixteen
There was an expanse of rocky hills between the First Order base and the makeshift rebel camp that had been erected around one of the larger mines in the area. For the most part, everything was an expanse of the dark - almost black - soil of the volcanic planet, occasionally cut by the lava flow's bright, molten colors of reds and oranges and yellows. The river flows certainly stuck out amongst the craggy landscape, as did the white armor of the stormtroopers as they rushed about, re-directing cannons and anti-airs, slowly advancing the front line as they made steady progress against the rebel forces. He was pleased. In order for him to overtake the camp and retrieve her, his forces would need to keep making headway.
He could feel her, as he always could, when they were physically closer together. It was a sort of vibration that ran through his fingertips, not as intense as a pins-and-needles type of sensation, but with the same effect. What he could sense of her mind was foggy; it was difficult to see much of anything, but a lingering memory of pain and ache and torment lay on the surface of her mind. He remembered the feeling back on the Finalizer, the feeling of torture as his heart all but strained against the confines of his chest, and he curled his fist in anger. Hux, Sindian - the two scheming fools. He could no longer ignore their insidious machinations behind his back. It was time to engage them in their game of subterfuge, or else something like this could happen again, and Rey may not make it out alive the next time.
It wasn't long before the air matched the ground below. Filled with the smoke from burst fighter engines, the remnants of blaster and cannon fire, and the exhaust from fuel being burned, the sky became a dark, brooding cloud of battle, sliced through, occasionally, with the tell-tale reds and greens of bullets, and the violent combustion of planes that were spiraling out from critical damage. It was the world he knew. Certainly, the last time he'd been on land without the trappings of war happening around him, had been a long long time ago; the prissy, overly-worked modernist architecture of Coruscant's capital was a far off memory, walking with his mother along its glass pathways in the sky that connected one tall, silver skyscraper to another. When was the last time he'd seen the oranges and pinks of a Coruscant sunset? He remembered gazing out of their floor-to-ceiling windows in their luxury, Senatorial apartments, and seeing the horizon almost come to life with the ebbing of the daylight, one last burst of radiance before the sun sunk below the skyline and the neon signs of the city's nightlife took over. Yes, many a night he did that - alone. And the servant droid would come in, oh so chipper, and say, "Master Ben, what shall I have prepared for dinner tonight?"
And every time, in his head, he'd think, It doesn't really matter. Because it didn't. What was the point of eating at the Solo family dinner table, in all its long, polished splendor, when he would be the only one sitting there? But he'd say, invariably, one of two dishes - either his mother's favorite, or his father's, depending on his mood and who he missed more. "Excellent choice, Master Ben," the droid would chirp as cheerful as a songbird, and teeter off, leaving him there. Alone.
Nothing killed Poe Dameron more than having to turn down his X-Wing for a position on the ground, instead. But he couldn't be airborne, not this time. He was going to stay and personally guard Rey until the transport arrived, and when it did he would be the first person to hop aboard because hell if he wasn't going to take over piloting that air craft. He didn't trust anyone else to do as good of a job as him, and with all the air-fighting and anti-air cannons, it was going to be a nightmare getting off-world.
Shoulder to shoulder with Finn, they stood at the forefront of the camp to hold the line against the slowly advancing stormtroopers. Beside him, the Commander was furiously yelling orders into the communications system, trying to coordinate movements between their air units and foot soldiers. Waiting in the command tent, some few feet back from the line, was Rey, hooked up to an IV drip that was keeping her sedated. The doctor hadn't wanted to move her from medical, but Poe had argued that when the transport arrived they weren't going to have time to go running between the med-tent and the front; a quick loading, and immediate take off was their best chance. The doctor had reluctantly agreed. Poe would've taken her himself, if he had to, doctor's permission or not. Not to be belligerent, but he didn't exactly answer to the rebels of Shu-Torun, and he certainly didn't take orders from their doctor.
Then, a call signal came in. "It's a Resistance transport," said an officer at the helm of the receiver. "They've entered the atmosphere and are requesting coordinates for landing."
A Resistance transport? Poe turned towards the man. "That's the transport that's here for Rey. Direct them to the landing pad right there," and he pointed to an open area of grey concrete that was within running distance of their camp's front line. It was out in the open, which made it a risky distance to cross, but it should only take Finn and himself a few minutes to run across the gap, even carrying Rey. And as the transport couldn't possibly land directly in the camp itself, it was their best option.
"Copy that," said the officer, and then he relayed the landing pad's coordinates to the transport.
"Understood," said a voice from the other end of the comm link.
The pilot looked up and scanned the skies; he couldn't see the transport, yet. Either it wasn't low enough in the atmosphere to be seen from the ground, or it had taken an indirect entrance route in order to avoid all the dog-fighting. He figured it was the latter because the skies over their camp were looking grim and impossible to penetrate. They needed their forces to get a better grip on the air battle, but it was a difficult thing to do with their forces outnumbered due to the arrival of the TIEs with the First Order transport. The transport had also brought in a new battalion, making them outnumbered on the ground, too. They'd gone from roughly equal numbers and the ability to hold their line and keep the First Order at bay only hours ago, to just about ready to bend under their sudden swell of forces. It was a strong battalion, too, a well-trained, higher-class of stormtroopers. It was the kind of unit that came with generals.
"Hux," Poe whispered aloud, wondering. The arrival of Hux would be bad news - bad news indeed. He couldn't begin to guess why the General would be sent to help win over the mining planet, but he certainly didn't like the idea of the red-head's presence on-world. And the thought of him getting wind of an injured Rey was even more unpleasant. That transport needed to land - fast.
"We've got a problem," came a frantic call over the comm receiver.
The officer manning the station pressed the talk-button. "What is it?"
"There's too much fire," the pilot was saying anxiously into the comm. "I don't know if I can land her! I may need to circle around again! I'm afraid of getting too close and taking heavy fire. Order your planes onto our flanks so we can get in!"
"Copy that," said the officer, and he quickly gave out instructions over the link to their X-Wing squadron. The fighters were deeply engaged in battle, though. All of them responded negative on being able to peel away to aide the transport.
"Our forces are dead locked," said the officer.
"Then I can't land her," came the stressed - and agitated - voice of the Resistance pilot.
Poe recognized that voice. "Mace," he all but yelled into the comm after ripping it right from the communications officer's hand, "you land that goddamned transport before I come up there and do it myself!"
"Poe," came her uncertain voice from the other end. "Is that you?"
"That's right," he huffed. "Land. That. Transport," he said through grit teeth, enunciating each word. "I don't care what you have to do. Circle around and find an opening and then you take it!"
"Yes, Sir," she responded. Finn was relieved to hear more confidence in her voice. Above, the transport had entered their line of sight, and was gaining altitude so it could make a lap around the battle and then try to find a way in, as Poe had instructed.
The Commander clapped Poe on the shoulder, "Don't worry, friend. The bomber is airborne. First Order fighters will peel off our forces to take it down, I'm sure of it. It'll help open up the skies. The transport will find its way in."
"Good," Poe said with a firm nod. "Thank you."
"The bomber! Concentrate fire!" Yelled a First Order Captain on the other end of the battle.
"Shoot 'em down!" Commanded the squadron leader, as the X-Wings re-gained a semblance of a defensive formation and went to the bomber's aide.
"Sir," the stormtrooper saluted smartly a step behind Kylo Ren as he surveyed the battle at large. "A Resistance transport has entered the area. It looks like it's trying to land."
"Shoot to disable," he said tightly. They were not going to get her off-world.
Things in the sky were quickly escalating. The arrival of the bomber changed the entire face of the fight; while rebel and Resistance forces switched to defense and stuck close to the bomber, the TIE fighters were in all out attack mode, doing their damnedest to breach their enemy's line of defense. The Resistance had been prepared, knowing full well the bomber would become the primary focus once it got airborne, and therefore weren't panicked. Instead, the panic came when a unit of five TIE fighters, which had only just arrived in squad formation to begin adding their numbers to the attack effort on the bomber, suddenly switched directions, again, and instead went en route to the transport, which had just found a hole big enough to squeeze through while the First Order fighters were distracted.
From the ground, Poe watched several fighter planes pull off the bomber and instead target the transport as it came out of the lower atmosphere. Poe couldn't understand why First Order forces would find the transport important enough to focus on - especially with the bomber just arriving on the field - but regardless, their own planes needed to peel them off or else the entire mission to get Rey out would be a momentary bust. "Get those TIEs off the transport," he said. "Five of you. Now!"
The Commander wasn't happy with the order. "We need as many planes as we can defending that bomber. Five is too many! I know you want that transport on the ground, but we can't lose our bomber to some Resistance rescue mission."
Poe's temper flared. "'Some Resistance rescue mission?' That's what you really think of Rey? She has done nothing but aide your cause with the strength of ten soldiers, and you think of this as just some rescue mission?" He'd gotten right up to the Commander's face. Their noses were on the brink of touching. "Rey is the only Jedi left, and she's done nothing but risk her life for you and your people. You order those fighters to defend that transport or so help me, Commander, I'll - "
Several Shu-Torun soldiers made aggressive movements towards Poe as the the pilot threatened their leader. But the Commander raised a hand and stopped them; what the pilot had said was true, of course, Rey had given much of herself to their cause. "We need three X-Wings on the transport coming in. Now," said the Commander over the comm link.
"Immediately," came the response, and three X-Wings split from the air fight over the bomber and spiraled and spun their way further up in the sky, where the transport was still lowering itself closer and closer to the ground. There was some sparking on its left side, but it appeared it was only superficial damage; the transport was still fully functional.
Luckily, because so many TIEs had been directed off the bomber's destruction, the remaining X-Wings fighters were able to shoot them off - sending several crashing to the ground - and the bomber got a direct hit on the enemy camp. Several First Order cannons went up in fiery explosions that sent stormtroopers and equipment alike flying in to the air. Remaining soldiers quickly came forward to dowse the resulting fires, and a few injured troopers were carted off to receive treatment, but it was an undeniable success for the rebels. Three cannons were nothing more than rubble, and the front line was broken. Above, the bomber took a wide right turn to maneuver itself around and make a second pass. Captains on the ground pointed up at the bomber, re-directing anti-air blasters to its location. It was at its weakest when it was trying to reposition itself, so First Order forces needed to get their shots off now, while its flank was exposed.
Poe noticed the cannons re-positioning and swore. The rebels couldn't lose the bomber - its artillery was extremely heavy-duty, and therefore extremely useful. "Fire on those cannons," yelled the Shu-Torun Commander at his shoulder. The response was immediate as pilots searched the ground and found the offending anti-airs; they immediately began peppering the ground. But while the X-Wings did their best to protect the bomber and destroy the anti-airs, no one was shooting at the circling TIE fighters. Poe saw it happen in slow motion, empathizing for the downed X-Wings as only a fellow pilot can; one plane had its wing shot to shreds and spiraled to the ground, where it exploded and went up in flame. Another X-Wing was sent barreling into the side of a volcanic mountain, trailing black smoke from its fuel tank. It combusted before it even hit the rock face.
His attention was torn from the intense dog fighting and to the transport, as it finally got within range to lower itself and engage landing protocol. Finally. It didn't matter that stormtroopers were still advancing on the ground, because sooner rather than later, Rey, him, and Finn would be loaded on that vessel and taking off, and she'd be safe. It was all he cared about. It looked like it was all Finn cared about, too, as he watched the transport initiate its landing onto the concrete slab with bated breath.
The two friends looked at each other and nodded, steeling themselves. They were about to make the mad dash of their life to that transport - no stopping, no looking back, just full speed onward. They were both about to turn to the command tent to retrieve her when a Resistance blaster bullet backfired on their own line, and the piercing cry of a Shu-Torun Captain rent the air. Poe turned back to look out across the front line, and saw the outline of the one figure he would rather not be seeing, even more so than the nefarious Hux.
From the slightly obscured horizon, where greyish smoke whirled to and fro from blaster fire striking the rocks, came a tall, imposing figure - all in black. Unmistakable. While Hux arriving on Shu-Torun was a puzzle, his arrival was not; he was going to try and take Rey. He'd done it before. Well, hell, if Poe was going to let him get his hands on her again and put her in his torture chair.
"Who is that," said the Commander, not recognizing the figure as easily as Poe, who had faced him many times before.
Poe stood up rod straight and tightened his grip on his blaster. "Kylo Ren."
The wave of anxiety that rippled across the Shu-Torun forces was palpable. Kylo Ren? Here? On their planet? They were terrified. "Why would he come here," asked the Commander in a rushed whisper.
Before Poe could answer, Kylo Ren drew level with their line of defense, within such a distance as they could hear him speak, and ignited his lightsaber, so that its crackling red light was perilous in much the same way as the very lava that shaped the planet. "Give her to me," came the wrathful command through his helmet.
"Not a chance in hell," Poe all but spit back.
Kylo Ren spun his lightsaber around in a clean circle, slicing the thick smoke of the air. "Have it your way."