A/N: Hey there! I know I'm here earlier than usual, but I just wanted to treat you today, so here comes. And I wanted to remind you all that next chapter will be the last until Episode IX is out...sometime in 2019. ;)

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its characters. I only own my OCs Cas Andé, Tani Kenobi, Niobé Skywalker and Sehr, as well as the plot surrounding them.

10. Crait

The planet they landed on reminded Cas painfully of something she had seen in Tani's mind when Han Solo had died – when she had broadcasted feelings and memories so strongly that Cas herself had seen it all pass before her eyes as if she had been there. The whole of the world was pure white, cold and uninviting, but once the shuttles landed, they moved the sheen of white to reveal a blood-red soil.

When checking the planet's specifics on the command screen, Cas learned that Crait was in fact covered in salt. And that the base they were going to hide in had once upon a time been a salt mine.

After checking each of her crewmembers – including her Uncle – disembarked safely, Cas exited the transport herself, erupting in a huge and rusty hangar. A noise akin to the chiming of bells caught her attention, and she noticed a creature not unlike a fox standing close to her, seemingly sniffing out her scent. It looked made of pure crystal.

"Cas!"

She whirled around, purple eyes filling with relieved tears when she saw Poe – and Leia behind him – hurry to her. The pilot didn't waste any time in taking her in his arms, and she wrapped her own around him, relieved to see him well even if their current predicament was hardly safer than the one before. Over his shoulder, she saw Leia smile at them affectionately, and when Poe released her, Cas went to embrace the General.

"I was so scared something had happened to you…"

Leia entangled herself from the young woman's embrace and framed her face with her wrinkled hands. "We were even more scared when we heard that you had taken it upon yourself to pilot your own shuttle! Was it…?" She didn't finish, but Cas knew what she was silently asking.

She nodded. "I felt them fire on us in the Force, so I took command. Poe's teaching helped as well," she added with a smirk to the handsome pilot.

He was back to his ordinary roguish self, all trace of his crazed mutiny far behind. There must have been something to tell there as well.

Cas was half-tempted to ask when someone yelled "Incoming!" and they had to hurry back to the entrance of the hangar.

A First Order shuttle was flying right their way, heading straight for the hangar's entrance. Leia quickly ordered for the blast doors to be lowered, and Cas grabbed a blaster gun, standing next to Poe and other soldiers while waiting for the ship to crash into them.

At its speed, there was no doubt that it'd actually manage to get through, and when the hull broke through the closing doors and the remnants of the shuttle slid over and over, further into the hangar, a mass of what remained of the Resistance's fighters was gathered to prepare for any kind of foe.

A window opened, and several soldiers started firing at it until two pairs of hands raised and someone yelled "Don't shoot, it's us, it's us!"

Cas' heart leaped in her chest as she recognized the voice, at the same time as Poe exclaimed "Finn, Rose!" before his brow furrowed and he added "Where's my droid?", which made Cas roll her eyes in mock exasperation.

She watched with a small smile as the man hurried towards where BB-8 was happily rolling down the ship's ramp, and the two being reunited was something far too cute to be forgotten. The relationship between the two was extremely peculiar, and there again, Cas felt like there was a story to be told.

The Resistance organized itself soon after the reunion – Finn embraced Cas tightly, which surprised her, but apparently the former Trooper had become another, warmer man during his and Rose's adventure, and it didn't displease her.

Lieutenant Connix and several others were assigned to the old communication devices, to try and reach possible Rebellion allies who would possibly come to their rescue.

It was becoming clearer by the minute that the First Order was going to come after them. There was no way that they'd stay there, in the ruins of their mother ship, and let the people who destroyed their fleet remain on the ground, safe and sound.

Supplies were counted and put in a location where they'd be protected from blasts and possible theft from the cute crystal foxes; and a team of soldiers was sent ahead in the tunnels to search for useful tools and quarters to sleep in.

Cas stood close to Leia all the while, and often, the older woman would take her arm, squeezing and smiling at her in reassurance as if everything was going to be fine. But both of them knew, felt, that it was not going to be the case.

Cas felt something strange within the Force, something that had started after her vision of Rey and Kylo Ren. There had been a massive twitch right after that, and now that she…'dug' into it, she could feel that the Light Side had become stronger, as if something dark had been annihilated. But at the same time, the Dark Side was pulsating with hate and anger and rage, all centred around one person. She felt that it was Kylo Ren, and her instinct in this was rarely wrong.

She ignored where Rey was currently, but she was alive, this was sure at least, and it relieved her greatly after the vision she had endured. After that, after the adrenaline from the escape flight had worn off, she had been secretly certain that the young girl had perished, and had felt a huge wave of relief wash over her when she'd felt her strong signature when she looked for it.

An hour after landing, however, another twitch in the Force made Cas stare blankly at the closed blast doors, until she muttered, too low for anyone but Leia to hear, "They're here."

Leia stared at her sadly, as if she, too, had felt it, and she turned away to order battalions around. Poe, Finn, Rose and a couple of remaining pilots, among which Exer, were sent to retrieve some old and battered land fighters; while another, bigger battalion, including Cas, was sent to the outside tranches to scout ahead and fight whatever was coming their way.

Cas put several different blasters at her belt, choosing those that looked the more powerful and less energy-consuming, and ordered a group of people to follow her outside. Crait's atmosphere smelt like blood, but it was only a side-effect of the salt covering it, making the scent more manageable somewhat.

After taking position at the right side of the blast doors, Cas used some binoculars to watch ahead, and was mildly surprised to see several machines that looked eerily like old AT-ATs walk their way, a First Order 'bat shuttle' – or that's what she called them anyway – flying ahead, obviously the commanding ship.

Something in the Force told her that Ren was standing in that shuttle, and it made her hiss in anger. They hadn't been so close to each other since he had destroyed the Temple and killed her fellow Padawans, and it made her skin crawl in disgust.

When the land-fighters exited the launching hangar – unfortunately situated right over the blast doors, which meant that all of the pilots landed rather violently on the salty ground – the AT-ATs halted their march and launched a series of TIE fighters from their bellies.

Cas cursed, wishing she'd been in her mother's old Jedi shuttle to blast those things off the skies, but apparently, small blaster guns seemed to do the trick, and when the TIE moved to target the land-fighters – which had targeted the huge battering ram heading for the doors – she couldn't help but lean over the tranches' side to follow them.

"Miss! I mean, Padawan Andé, what are you doing?" yelled one soldier as she climbed out of the hole and eyed the TIE fighters that seemed bent on hurting her friends – on hurting Poe.

A diversion. They needed a diversion. They needed someone to anger their commanding officer enough that Poe and the others could destroy the ram, or run back to safety.

So she advanced over the salty ground, her feet drawing patterns that looked like bloody wounds. She went to stand facing the AT-ATs, some good ten yards in front of the remaining soldiers, ignoring their worried shouts and pleading that she comes back. Reaching in the Force, she searched for the spot of darkness she could feel in the shuttle overhead, and touched his soul with hers for the first time in forever.

Just to make him know she was there, she launched a quiet "Hello, Ben" before retreating into herself and launching her whole energy into the AT-AT facing her. Outstretching her arms in front of her as if it'd help, she reached for the machine's wires, those holding its legs together, and pulled, pulled, pulled stronger even, not caring for what happened around her.

She screamed under the effort, all her muscles feeling strained and drained with what she was trying to accomplish, and Cas was not aware of the Millenium Falcon flying overhead and blasting the remaining TIE fighters off the skies to save her skin. Her brow was sweating, her ears were ringing, but at last she felt it, felt those wires being pulled apart by her will, and she made a ripping gesture while the wires ahead of her effectively ripped apart from the metal beast's sides.

The AT-AT stumbled, its pilot trying to regain control, but after two seconds of intense groaning, it tilted forward, and crashed into the salt, catching on fire right after.

Cas sighed in relief and exhaustion at the same moment, and fell to her knees, then to her front, completely depleted of any vital energy. But she didn't care, at least, her friends had heeded her distraction and were safe, she could feel it.

So she welcomed the darkness that suddenly reached for her, and she smiled to herself as she faded, content that, at least, she had managed to save those she cared for…

A/N2: I want to address the fact that Cas still doesn't know that she actually has been closer to Kylo Ren than she realises. She still doesn't know he was on Takodana the day she and her mother joined with the Resistance.