—Chapter 18: Interception—

The trip from Arkanis to Kamino wasn't long, but it still took far too much time for Hux's liking. He was still seething by the time they arrived. The Finalizer dropped out of hyperspace at Kamino to find a Resistance frigate surrounded by a cloud of X-wing starfighters and the Adragna clearly visible leaving Kamino's atmosphere.

This sight did nothing to calm Hux's mood. Why are there no TIE fighters? He fumed inwardly as he surveyed the stolen vessel leaving Kamino with no apparent attempt being made to stop it.

He shrieked into the face of his bridge lieutenant, "Deploy fighters, now!"

The lieutenant wasted no time enacting Hux's directives. The squadrons of TIE fighters aboard the Finalizer had been readied en route to Kamino, and were prepared for immediate engagement with the Resistance forces. Without delay, a swarm of TIEs spilled out of the hangar and began intercepting the X-wings.

"Surface canons, target that frigate!"

Unlike the cloning facility on Kamino, the Resistance fleet was prepared for an engagement, and their defenses were already up. The Finalizer needed to get closer if it was going to penetrate the frigate's shields. Hux gave the order to close the distance.

Poe and the rest of Gold Squadron had led the exodus from the planet's surface. He had seen the First Order ships right as they appeared and had ordered his squadron into a defensive formation. By the time the alarm from Snap came in his headset, he had already seen most of Blue Squadron safely aboard the Adragna, and Red Squadron was bringing up the rear. The rest of the squadrons had already docked with the frigate, and the hangar doors remained open for the remaining fighters to find their way inside.

Poe's adrenaline spiked as the opportunity to engage with the TIEs presented itself. He held his squad together in a conservative posture as the enemy ships approached. Poe smiled as they got just close enough, and his ships leapt forward, abandoning all pretext of defense as they engaged the TIEs in full on attack. The tactic took the TIEs by surprise, and their hesitation cost them dearly as Gold Squadron cut through them like a hot knife through butter.

"Red Squadron, there's a group of TIEs flanking us to hit you. Look sharp!" cautioned Poe into his headset, as he noticed the TIEs circling in the distance.

Rey and Ben were both excellent pilots, and most of Red Squadron could hold their own, but Finn was at a tremendous disadvantage in the face of a battalion of TIE fighters. His terror was evident from the heavy breathing that could be heard over the comms channel. Rey feared for her friend.

"Finn, just head straight for the hangar! We'll cover you!" shouted Rey into her headset.

I'll cover his right flank, you cover his left, she projected to Ben.

He can't get himself back to the frigate on his own? I'd prefer to deal with the TIEs, answered Ben.

Promise me! she replied. Ben could feel her concern for Finn through the Force. Sighing in frustration, he dropped back to cover Finn. He blasted two TIEs making aggressive overtures toward their position, but ignored three more that would've required him to depart from Finn's left flank. They barreled toward the hangar as fast as they could go. It was all Ben could do to protect him.

They were almost to the hangar when Ben spotted the three TIEs coming up behind them. He wasn't in a good position to intercept them without leaving Finn wide open. I need you to cover me! he called out to Rey.

"Finn, just keep going, I'll get them off you!" Rey knew that she would have her hands full trying to protect him from three TIEs. Finn was great with a blaster, but his skill with evasive maneuvering was considerably less impressive, so she was counting on Ben to keep him protected. In turn, she did her best to cover Ben.

The TIEs locked on to Ben's X-wing, which had dropped in behind Finn to shield him from the TIEs' attacks. Ben knew that if he attempted to dodge, Finn would be struck instead, so he remained where he was. He was a savvy pilot and strong enough with the Force that he could deflect most of what was likely to come at them, provided Rey could prevent it from going on for too long.

Unfortunately, the onslaught of fire came from all of them at once, and he couldn't deflect it all. One of the TIE's shots connected, and Ben's left engine was disabled. He managed to maintain his defensive positioning, but the loss of the engine would make further evasive action challenging. They were almost to the hangar.

Just lost an engine. Are you handling them? Ben asked, nervousness creeping in. He didn't want to disappoint Rey by allowing Finn to die, but he wasn't anxious to give his life for him either.

With two well-aimed mag pulses to the offending TIE, Rey cut the attackers down to two. I'm working on it, she replied resolutely. Just see him into that hangar, she pleaded.

Ben sighed, but kept up his position as human shield. They would be in the hangar in seconds.

Rey took out another of the TIEs, but she had attracted pursuers of her own. Poe was busy defending the other pilots. Torn between attacking and defending, Rey's concentration lapsed, and Ben took another glancing shot to his X-wing, causing him to careen dangerously off course.

"Ben!" shrieked Rey as she took out the last of Ben's attackers, a little too late. Finn was making his landing approach, but now she had Ben to seriously worry about. She veered alongside his X-wing and reached out, calling on the Force to push him back toward the hangar opening.

Ben's X-wing came to a clattering halt in the frigate's hangar, crashing into starfighters that had already been parked and deboarded by their pilots.

Ben! Are you alright?! she screamed into his mind.

Yes, I'm fine, but we just crippled a few X-wings with that landing. Just get back here so we can take off! Most of the fleet is here already!

Rey was no longer on course to reach the hangar, but she had seen both of her comrades to relative safety. She would need to circle back around before she could get her own X-wing docked.

From the observation deck of the Finalizer, a group of three masked strangers clad in black watched with interest as the chaos unfolded before them.

"Did you see that?" asked a tall individual with a slim build and a strange lilt to his voice, gesturing to the hangar on the Resistance's gangly frigate.

"See it? I felt it," answered a shorter observer with a voice that was distinctly feminine, even through the effects of her mask's voice modulator. "There's a pilot out there with a strong Force sensitivity. Not Kylo, though, I don't think."

"No, definitely not," answered the tall one. "He's out there too, but this was different." The third individual quietly nodded his head in agreement. "Whomever it is, I would be very interested to meet them. Wasn't Prarathi observing from the hangar?"

"Yes, she was," replied the female. She stepped over to the wall adjacent and tapped a control panel. "Get me Prarathi Ren," she commanded.

"Yes ma'am," replied the unseen officer.

After a momentary silence, an answer came through on the channel. "Dammit, I was just getting into a Silencer. What is it?"

"Did you feel it?" queried the female.

"Yes, of course I felt it. Why do you think I was heading for the Silencer? Now leave me be so I can have some fun."

"Bring them back, Prarathi."

"Gladly, Sharna. Let that fool general know not to interfere with me, and I'll bring him a worthy prize." At that, the channel clicked closed, and Sharna Ren resumed her place at the transparisteel window.

She nodded appreciatively at the view. "This should be good."

Poe, who had been busy blasting TIE fighters in defense of the frigate, finally got the feeling that his fleet was just about clear of the TIEs. "Snap, is everyone in? How's the Adragna?"

"About to make the jump to lightspeed," answered Snap. "We just have a handful of fighters out there. Start getting everyone back in the frigate."

"Roger that." Poe opened a channel to all the fighters, "Okay everyone, that's it, the kids are good to go, so get in the hangar. Pull out!"

A series of assents came back at him, and the remaining fighters began to scramble. Suddenly, alarms began blaring from Poe's console. "TIE Silencer, incoming!" he shouted. One of his fighters exploded before his eyes as the Silencer swooped in from out of nowhere.

"Look out, Poe!" It was Rey. She was still out here.

Heeding her warning, Poe whipped into a barrel roll as blasts from the Silencer came at him. Narrowly avoiding the damage, he veered sharply to the ventral face of the Silencer, getting under it to avoid its attacks.

Poe wasn't normally so rattled by a challenge, but the number of targets for this formidable foe to choose from had dwindled to little more than himself and one of his dearest friends. Setting aside his usual bravado, he took a defensive posture. "Rey, that's a Silencer! Get to the hangar, now!"

Rey wasn't ignorant to the threat. "I know, I'm trying to evade, but it's on me!" Rey couldn't shake the Silencer, in spite of her best efforts. More than once, she knew she should have been hit, but it just fired in circles around her.

Is this pilot messing with me? she wondered to herself. I should be dead…

Rey, you need to get back here, now! It was Ben, calling into her mind with an urgency she'd never seen from him before.

What is it? This TIE is acting weird, like it's playing with me or something.

Ben started to respond, but she was suddenly too distracted to pay him any mind. Her X-wing lurched, and she was knocked around inside her cockpit, tumbling toward the Star Destroyer. Recovering her senses, she looked at her instruments, and none of them made sense—her X-wing wasn't behaving according to the readout. She felt herself hurtling closer and closer to the Finalizer, and she couldn't get her controls to respond. She reached out with the Force to try to stabilize her vessel, but even that didn't work. Her engines cut out, and her trajectory had her on a collision course with the Finalizer's hangar doors.

"Poe, that Star Destroyer is about to fire, get in here, now!" yelled Snap in Poe's ear. Poe's heart sank as he watched Rey's X-wing careen right into the open hangar doors of the massive enemy vessel. He had no choice but to withdraw, and quickly.

Coming to an abrupt stop inside the hangar, Poe was hit by a brief wave of nausea as the sudden unsettling acceleration of the frigate entering hyperdrive combined with that of his X-wing as it landed. He retched for a moment until the feeling passed before popping the hatch and crawling out of the cockpit.

The hangar was a mess. Emergency fire crews were attempting to put out a blaze that had erupted around a pile of twisted X-wings smashed into the corner of the hangar. Finn was sprawled on his hands and knees nearby, having been obviously sick on the floor only moments ago. Ben was staring out at the blur of hyperspace visible out through the hangar entrance. He looked frozen.

Poe approached Finn, bending down to rest a hand on his shoulder.

Finn heaved. "Rey…" he managed between gasps.

Poe's lips creased into a tight line, and he could only manage to pat his friend firmly on the back, feigning assuredness that it would be okay. Glancing back at Ben, Poe saw that he hadn't moved from the spot he was rooted to, still transfixed.

With a heavy sigh, Poe left the hangar.

Back on the Finalizer, it was all Hux could manage not to pace furiously up and down the bridge. As an alternative, his fists were balled tightly at his sides and the blood vessels on his shivering, flushed countenance bulged dangerously. He was fit to explode, and his First Lieutenant did not relish having to speak to him. She opted to silently collect data from her instruments so she could be ready with whatever information he was likely to ask for once he found his voice. She didn't look forward to that moment, but at least she would be prepared for it.

Telecommunications had picked up nothing—forces on the surface weren't responding to her queries. She had deployed a reconnaissance shuttle to the surface about ten minutes ago, and she hoped they would soon be reporting back.

Mercifully for Lieutenant Durvas, that crew was quick to get back to her. "General, Commander Brunsley of the reconnaissance mission is making contact from the surface."

One of the blood vessels on Hux's brow reduced slightly at the news. "Put him through, Lieutenant."

"General, it's a real mess down here. We found scores of dead stormtroopers, a couple of officers who'd been left unconscious in the Central Command office, and extensive damage to the physical facilities."

"And the children?" asked Hux, not that he didn't feel certain of the answer.

"Gone, sir. I'm afraid all of the children were stolen, and one full cloning chamber was put into growth stasis."

This last bit of news came as a surprise to Hux. "That seems odd, Commander. You mean they just turned off the acceleration for one random chamber full of soldiers?"

"No sir, they didn't just turn off the acceleration, they turned off growth altogether. They're just sitting there doing absolutely nothing—total hibernation."

"Well, turn them back on!" bellowed Hux.

"We tried, sir, but we're locked out. According to our technicians, even if we were able to break back into the system, the stasis they're in is intended for clones who are fully developed, unincorporated from the system, and just waiting to be deployed—we would need to reboot the system anyway, even if we weren't locked out, just to restart their acceleration. However, in the case of these clones, they aren't anywhere near old enough for deployment, but their nervous systems are still fully integrated. The technicians were concerned that rebooting just to override the lockout might cause a power surge that would compromise their viability entirely."

"Well, they're no good to us if they're not battle ready. Reboot, and if they die, they die. If we have to start a new batch from scratch, that's still better than having thousands of little girls uselessly roaming the facility."

Without warning, the bridge doors opened, and a tall, masked figure in black strode nonchalantly through the opening. The figure approached Hux calmly, as though there was nothing at all awry, and began to speak. "General, we have collected a young woman, a Jedi, from the Resistance fleet. We are currently holding her in detention. Would you like to see her?" Heard through the effects of a vocal modulator, the general bristled at the distinctly eerie quality of the odd voice.

As irksome as Hux found this individual to be, the news he brought appeared to give Hux pause. Turning his head to the dark visitor, his irritation subsiding, he replied carefully, "A Jedi woman?"

"That's correct, General." Lieutenant Durvas shuddered involuntarily when the man spoke. He waited patiently, casually, for Hux to process the news.

He turned briefly back toward Lieutenant Durvas and the comms panel through which he'd been speaking to Brunsely. "Commander Brunsley, you have your orders." Then, to his masked visitor, he replied, "Take me to her," a renewed determination in his demeanor.