Chapter 19
Allana closed her eyes as she ran her fingers across the cool metal of her X-wing. Her orange flight suit was on, and her hair was braided in a loop around her head, courtesy of Ami.
"Allana," a voice said behind her, making her turn around.
"Uncle Luke," she said once she caught sight of him. "What are you doing here? I thought you were helping Lando load up the First Order Transport."
"I was," he smiling, "but I have something for you."
He made a gesture with his hand and R2 came out from behind.
"He may be old," Luke began, "but R2's much better than whatever droid they're giving you."
"Uncle Luke, I can't take him. He's yours."
"I'm too old to fly X-wings. He's gotten me out of the worst fights I've ever been in. He'll take good care of you."
"Uncle Luke…"
"Just shut up and take him," Luke said pulling her into a tight hug. "Just promise me that you'll take good care of him."
"I will," Allana said kissing his cheek softly. "Thank you."
…
"Are you ready?" Admiral Ackbar asked, his face more serious than Poe had ever seen it.
"I am sir."
"You're a good fighter Dameron," Ackbar said, gathering up his data pads. "We're counting on you. Don't screw this up."
The sound of someone clearing their throat made them both look before Poe could respond.
"If you're done scaring the kid," Leia teased, "I'd like to speak with him."
"Of course, General," Ackbar said, making his way to the door. "I'll see you out there, Commander."
"Yes sir."
As soon as the door was shut behind him, Leia turned to Poe.
"Don't take it personally," she said. "He tries to intimidate every one. He claims it helps them get ready for battle."
"If anything, it makes us all feel worse."
"I know," Leia said smiling. "I can't believe that this is it."
"It feels like we've been fighting the same war my whole life," Poe said softly.
"Tell me about it," Leia said sinking down into chair. "It's going to end soon though. One way or another."
"Do you think we actually have a shot at this?"
"I…I think this is our best option. I think that the longer we wait, the harder it's going to be."
"That's not an answer."
"Poe, in my lifetime I've seen two governments rise and fall. I've watched as planets were destroyed, and I've fought the same war for my whole life. I saw the Jedi be restored to its former glory. I've lost everything, gained everything, and lost it all again. We don't have good odds. Every logical part of my body is screaming at me that this is a bad idea."
"Then why are we doing this?"
"Because it's all we've got."
Poe didn't say anything.
"Poe," Leia said softly.
"Yes General?"
"Your mother would be so proud of you."
"Yeah?" Poe asked, the corners of his lips turning up in a tentative smile.
"Yeah. Now, go. Your squadron is waiting for you."
"Thank you, General."
When Poe's hand was on the door knob, Leia called out.
"One more thing Dameron."
Poe turned around slowly.
"Don't let Allana play hero. Keep her from doing anything stupid like her father used to do. I can't lose her too."
Poe smiled at Leia.
"I'll take care of her. I promise."
…
Rey was loading the last crates of blasters and oxygen tanks into the First Order ship when Allana ran up to her.
"Hey!" Allana said, breathing heavily.
"What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in your X-wing by now."
"I know. I just had to tell you something first."
"Okay," Rey said, searching her face. "Is everything okay?"
"Fine. You're fighting my brother today."
"I know. Allana, I'm going to do everything…"
"I know you will Rey. I'm…. I'm here because I want you to do what you have to do. Even if that means killing him. Give him a chance, but if he doesn't take it, do what you have to do."
"He's your brother Allana. He's my cousin."
"I know that, but he hasn't been my brother in a long time," she said, tears creeping into the corners of her eyes. "And I don't want to lose my cousin because you're trying to bring him back for me. It's okay to be a little selfish Rey."
Rey stepped forward and pulled Allana into a bone crushing hug.
"Come back safely," Allana murmured.
"You too. Be a little selfish."
The girls pulled back but stayed an arm's length away from each other.
"May the force be with you," Allana said smiling.
"May the force be with you."
…
When Allana got back to her X-wing, R2 was already in position and beeped at her when she climbed up the ladder.
"I'm not late. I still have a few…"
Allana trailed off when she caught sight of something sitting on her controls. She reached out and gently grabbed the set of golden die that had hung in the Falcon's cockpit for her whole life from their place on top of a sheet of flimsy. Allana, the flimsi said, your dad always used to call this his good luck charm. He would hang it in the cockpit of every ship he flew. I thought that because the Falcon isn't being flown today, you might want to have it with you. Please be safe out there. I want you back in one piece. Love, your mother.
Allan smiled softly and tucked the die and the note into her flight suit pocket.
"Hey," Poe said softly, poking his head in the cockpit. "You ready?"
"I think so. Hurry up and get us out of here before I change my mind."
"We're going to be fine," Poe said, kissing her forehead. "I have a good feeling about this."
"I think you're the only one."
"Very funny," Poe deadpanned. "I should get going before we get yelled at."
He leaned in gently so his lips grazed her own.
"I love you," he said smiling.
"I love you too."
…
Lando let out a low whistle when they were right up against the Star Forge.
"This thing is huge," Ami said quietly.
"No kidding," Finn said, his eyes wide.
"Now for the test," Lando said while gently gliding the ship up the planets shield.
Everyone held their breath as the ship made contact with the shields. When it made its way through, everyone exhaled loudly.
"Star Forge to Transport 118," a voice crackled over the speaker, "what is your business here?"
"Transport 118 to Star Forge," Lando said, motioning to his kids to stay quiet. "We're here to install a part on the surface cannons in section twenty."
"I don't see you on our schedule."
"Check again. It was a last minute decision."
The comm went quiet again and the tension in the cockpit became almost tangible.
"I see you now. Be quick about it. There's rumors that the Resistance may be planning an attack. It might become difficult for you to leave."
"Yes sir. Transport 118 signing off."
"How did they get us on their schedule?" Finn asked.
"Someone back on the base hacked into their communications system. Ami, comm the base and let them know that we're in and they should send the first round. Finn, go and tell Luke and Rey that we'll be touching down momentarily and we're going to need to move quickly."
Lando visibly relaxed when both of his kids were out of the cockpit. Chewbacca, his copilot for today, growled at him.
"I am not nervous," Lando bit back at him. "You're nervous."
…
The inside of the Star Forge was white and sterile with the smell of smoke tinging the air.
"Okay," Lando said turning to Finn, Luke, Ami, and Rey. "Finn, Ami, you are coming with me to the control room. As soon as the shields are down and the remotely controlled TIEs are disabled, we're going back out on the surface and helping the others plant detonators. Luke and Rey, we'll meet you on the other side of this."
"We'll comm Chewie when we're done," Luke said shaking hands with Lando. "Good luck out there."
"Right back at you."
"Rey," Luke said, "we have to go. You can hug your friends when we get back."
Rey pulled herself out from Ami's arms, said goodbye, and followed her father down the hall.
"Okay," Lando said, grabbing his blaster from its holster. "Now the fun begins."
…
The Rogue Squadron flew in formation, just out of reach of the First Order ships.
"Rogue Squadron," Poe's voice said over the comms, "this is Rogue Commander. I just received word from General Organa. The first wave of squadrons have engaged First Order fighters. Now it's our turn. Rogue Five, can you remind us all what the plan it is?"
"At first we are trying to take out as many First Order fighters as possible," Jessika Pava said. "Once the shields are down, we leave that job to the other squadrons, and we go to the other side of the planet and try to destroy the Control Room that regulates how much power the Forge is getting from the sun. If we are successful in getting the Forge to stop reciving power from the sun, then we go help wherever we are needed."
"And once the General gives the signal to pull back," Poe asked.
"We get the hell out of there," Allana said.
"Good. Let's get started."
…
Lando, Ami, and Finn crept around the base, jumping behind hallways whenever anyone walked by. After many, many close calls, they made it to the Command Center. Lando entered in the stolen codes and the door hissed open. Before the men in the room even had time to react, Lando, Ami, and Finn fired, killing them instantly.
"Hurry," Lando hissed. "We don't have much time."
Ami quickly took a seat in front one of the large monitors and quickly began typing. Lando overrode the controls on the door so they only opened if locked from the inside, and Finn switched one of the monitors to the live feed from the security cameras right outside the door.
"Where are you Ami?" Lando asked, taking a seat on one side of her.
"Close. For such an impressive weapon, it has awful software protecting it from hackers."
"They probably thought no one would be able to even make it on the planet's surface," Finn said. "Let alone be able to make it into the Command Room."
"Kriff," Ami said suddenly.
"What?" Lando and Finn asked in unison.
"I need a passcode, and I don't have one."
"The I.D. cards," Lando said quickly. "There were I.D. cards on the men in the room. Maybe their numbers are the password."
"We can try," Ami said, jumping up to get one.
They all held their breath as Ami quickly typed in the code. After a few seconds the screen changed.
"Oh, thank the force," Ami said getting back to work.
"Don't thank the force yet," Finn said slowly. "Troopers are making their way over here."
"I'm almost done," Ami said, typing franticly.
"You need to be done now," Lando said.
"They're trying to get in," Finn said, his voice bordering on frantic.
"The shields are starting to go down. I'm disabling the remote TIEs right now. Just give me five seconds for this to work."
"We don't have five seconds!" Finn said. "We need to get out of here now before they call for backup."
"I'm done, I'm done. Let's blast our way out of here."
"The shields are down Leia," Lando said into his commlink as Ami put in the code to open the door. "The shields are down and the TIEs are disabled."
…
"The shields are down everyone," Poe's voice said over the comms. "We need to move people."
"I've got a TIE on my tail and I can't shake him," Lieutenant Bastian said.
"We're coming Bastian," Poe said. "Just hang on."
Before any of them could even get close, his X-wing went up in flames.
"Commander what just happened," Leia said.
"We lost Rogue Two. We couldn't get there in time."
"Get back to your mission and stay close, so that doesn't happen again."
"Yes General. You all heard her, let's get going."
The remaining five members of the squadron took off towards the other side of the planet. They performed tight turns as they maneuvered around other Resistance fighters and dodged shots from the surface and from the air.
"I see it," Jessika said. "It's that black building about six hundred yards in front of us."
"Alright everyone, pull up," Poe ordered.
They all pointed their noses away from the planet's surface and went up at full speed.
"On my count, start heading for the planet and fire with everything you've got," Poe said. "One, two, three."
They all turned so fast you could barely see it and dove towards the surface.
"We're not making a dent!" Allana yelled over the noise of blaster bolts hitting metal.
"We'll just go again."
"TIEs headed our way," Captain Threnalli said.
"Okay, Rogue Three, Four, and Five, keep them occupied. We'll handle this."
Allana followed Poe's movement's as they got ready to make another dive.
"This isn't going to work," she said as they dove down.
"We don't have another option."
"What if we try making one of those TIEs ram into it? It'll give us a lot more force."
"It's worth a shot. Everyone, try to get a TIE to crash into the command center. Rouge Six and I are going to keep shooting at it."
The comm frequency was silent for a minute.
"I've got one lined up," Nien Nunb said suddenly. "Get out of the way."
Allana and Poe quickly pulled up and watched as Nien Nunb expertly guided a TIE right above the command center and shot it down. Everyone sat silently as they waited. As soon as the TIE made contact, the room exploded. The other X-wings burst into cheers, but Poe kept his eye on the steady stream of energy coming from the sun. Seconds after the explosion, the current disappeared. That's when he allowed himself to smile.
"Alright everyone," Poe said, "we're not done yet. Let's go finish this."
…
Luke and Rey quietly entered the throne room, their hands resting on their sabers. The room was quiet and dark, the only light coming from floating yellow orbs. A large black throne sat in the center of the room, and behind it was a wall of windows that allowed them to see the fighting that was going on. On either side of the room were steep drop offs that lead to who knows where. Before either of them could move another step, the throne became illuminated to reveal Snoke sitting there with Kylo Ren at his side.
"I wondered when you would get here," he said, his voice making Rey shiver. "I knew soon enough Jedi Master Skywalker would be knocking on my door with his little apprentice."
Snoke stood up and walked over to them.
"I heard," he said, tracing his finger along Rey's cheek, "that she kept Kylo Ren out of her head. It's quite impressive."
"Well, she is my daughter."
Kylo Ren made a choking sound.
"What's the matter nephew?" Luke asked. "Did no one tell you?"
"Don't mind my apprentice," Snoke said waving his hand. "I have a proposition for you Master Skywalker."
"I don't think I'll like it."
"Maybe. I was going to kill you both when I first heard that you here, but I've changed my mind. I won't kill you…if you give your daughter to me to train, and you promise to lie low on some deserted planet."
"Why do you want to train her?" Luke asked, his face getting dangerously to activation switch. "You already have a successor."
"Your nephew has served his purpose. I have no need for him anymore. Especially now that I know that there is another stronger than he."
Luke looked past Snoke and watched as anger and betrayal flit across his nephew's face.
"No deal."
"Let me put this another way," he said, a twisted smile forming over his face.
He suspended Rey in the air and shocked her with force lightning until she screamed.
"How about now? We can keep doing this until you agree."
"Never," Luke said, finally igniting his own saber.
"Very well then."
Snoke summoned his own saber and in the process, allowed Rey to fall to the ground with a loud thud. Luke nudged her through the force, and after discovering that she wasn't seriously injured, he focused his attention on Snoke.
Once Luke had captured Snoke's attention, Rey pulled herself to her feet and turned to Kylo Ren.
"Ben," she said softly.
"Ben is dead," Kylo Ren growled, igniting his own saber.
"No, he's not," Rey said pulling out her lightsaber. "He's still in there. I can feel it. You just have to stop fighting the light in you."
"There's none."
Their lightsabers met in a violent crash. Kylo Ren attacked her so fast Rey could barely keep up.
"Snoke doesn't care about you," she said in between strikes. "Did you hear him just now? You're just means to an end. Even if you win today and I die, Snoke will just replace you when he finds another force sensitive. You are nothing to him."
"I'm nothing to my family either. At least this way, I can rule the galaxy the way I see fit."
"Your family does care about you. Your mother is in agony over what is happening today."
"Leia," he said swiping at Rey's side, "is weak."
"Your sister…"
"My sister is naïve. She's a child. She always sided with our father. She doesn't know the truth."
"Would it kill you to say her name?" Rey asked, wincing from a small cut he had managed to make on her arm.
"Allana," he hissed, "is not my family."
"Because she wouldn't help you spy on the Resistance?"
"You know nothing about her."
"Neither do you. Ben, Luke is your family. I am your family. We want you to come home."
"I told you," he said, backing her into a corner. "Ben is dead!"
A swipe at her legs made Rey fall to the ground and knocked her lightsaber out of her hands. Kylo Ren held his lightsaber dangerously close to her throat and kicked her lightsaber over the edge and deep into the planet.
"You may have found the people you believe to be your family, but you are still a worthless scavenger."
Rey flicked her eyes over to Snoke and Luke and saw that Luke had Snoke pressed against a wall with a lightsaber pressed against his throat.
"Your Supreme Leader seems to be in a little trouble," Rey said, nodding her head in that direction.
Kylo Ren averted his eyes from her for a second, and that was all the time she needed. Rey hooked her legs around his and pulled him down to the floor. She managed to grab hold of his saber at the exact same moment Luke severed Snoke's head clean off.
"We're giving you a choice," Rey said, using the force to keep his arms pinned to the ground. "You can come home, our we can kill you."
"I'm never turning," he choked up. "The light side is weak. You all are weak. I would rather die than join…"
Kylo Ren was cut off by Rey force chocking him.
"Let me try this again," she said, tightening her hold. "You will come with us, or we will kill you."
"Rey," Luke said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Stop."
Realizing what she was doing, Rey immediately let go and backed away. Kylo Ren turned on his side and gasped for air. Luke and Rey watched as he stood up.
"You crazy bitch," he spat out. "It seems like we have more in common than I thought. You can feel the pull can't you? Just give in. It's so much easier than fighting it."
"I will never be like you," Rey said. "I will fight it my whole life."
"We'll see about that."
Kylo Ren snatched the saber out her hand and began striking at her, only to have Luke's saber be in his way.
"You will not kill another person I love," Luke growled. "You killed my wife, you killed your father, and you all but killed your mother. I will not let you take my daughter from me too."
Kylo Ren slashed violently, but Luke stopped him with ease. Luke managed to back him up so he was standing on the ledge. One step backwards would cause him to plummet to his death.
"I'm giving you one more chance Ben. This is it."
"I don't want what you're offering."
"I gave you a chance," Luke said before stabbing him in side in the exact spot he had stabbed his own father.
"I'm sorry Ben," Luke murmured. "I failed you."
With that, he pulled the saber back. Kylo Ren's body went limp and crumpled to the floor and Luke's feet.
"Let's get out of here," Luke said, placing his arm around his daughter's shoulders.
…
Back at the base, Leia wasn't able to breath. She sank down into a chair as tears filled her eyes.
…
Allana gasped sharply, and she almost flew right into the path of a TIE.
"Allana?" Poe asked over their private comm.
"He's gone. He's really gone this time."
…
"General," Admiral Ackbar's voice said over the comms, "my men have finished their tasks. We're just waiting for your signal."
"Major Brance, what's your status," Leia asked.
"All the detonators have been placed, and the men are being loaded on the transports as we speak."
"Good. Lando?"
"The three of us are ready, and Luke and Rey are seconds away."
"Okay then. Attention all Resistance personnel, we are activating the detonators in three, two, one. You have now one minuet to make it out of range. Get out of their now."
A chorus of yes Generals came over the comms, and Leia sat back in her chair and exhaled slowly. She watched as Resistance ships made their way back to the base as the Star Forge exploded in brilliant fashion behind them.
AN: Hi all! I apologize for the long wait in-between chapters- school has been monopolizing my time lately. This the last real chapter of this story. An epilogue should be posted sometime this week or early next week. I've already started it and hopefully will finish it after I post this chapter. Please leave a review!
