(Author's Note: Good evening, everyone. I am proud to present to you the next chapter in the soon concluding saga, and without much more to say, here we go!)

Scrambled yelling and grey blurs surrounded my vision as Krennic's arm and another white ligament stretched around my body. I had hardly adjusted to the scenery of the Star Destroyer, and the multiple crewmen sprinting towards areas of yellow and red. I was put down on a bed as my body vented its heat, the chilling air becoming even more bone-cold as the seconds flew by.

I recognized the medical team sticking and prodding me with different instruments, as they soon cut off my right sleeve. I didn't recognize the gravity of the situation until I finally took a second to examine my arm, despite my eyes beginning to fail me.

A puddle of red and black surrounded where my full arm used to reside comfortably, with white protrusions and fleshy pink tissue sticking out. The pain was fleeting as the faintness slipped in slyly, causing me nearly to close my eyes.

"-needs the b-…immedi-…he'-…losing h-…"

Jumbled and odd phrases and words blasted around me as I tried to make sense of them. My complex thoughts and basic processes began to even fail me now.

"Damnit! Just sa-…-im…we can-…"

I was able to at the very least match the words to Krennic, who was speaking to who looked like an alarmed ensign and stormtrooper.

Warmth began to return to my body, my heartbeat beginning to kick again.

Feeling returned to my body as my previous limp and catatonic state fled with haste. With this new sensation, a dull and intense pain returning to my arm.

"Fuck," I yelled as I went to grasp my arm.

Though, when I went to reach over, I realized I couldn't as my other arm had been restrained to the bed. Two medics turned to me, relief filling their faces.

"Admiral Praxon! Thank the stars you are awake!"

I quickly retorted, "No shit! What on earth happened? Where am I and where is the listening post?"

The medic went to reply before Krennic butted in, "Now is not the time for this! Praxon, you need to get your bearings right now. We are under attack!"

My mind couldn't withstand the flood of stimuli, which resulted in me to ponder at the flurry of words he had told me.

"What…?" I uttered.

"Did that just fly in one ear and out the other? WE are under attack, Praxon!"

I still couldn't comprehend what Krennic was getting out, despite it being crystal clear of the dire situation.

Pulling myself out of the bed and swung my legs over, only for one of the medic to yell, "He cannot lea-…"

I felt myself fall back as I had forgotten about my other hand being tied down, only for me to snap my head to it.

The medic glared at me, before undoing the strap and stating, "He has to leave, EK 782. Aldrenich can't handle this himself."

With my hand now freed, I made my way off the bed and walked with Krennic who was now beginning to break down the situation which had occurred in the time I had been stunned.

"It happened as soon as the listening post was destroyed, Praxon. Two MC80 cruisers jumped out of hyperspace, alongside some CR 70 Corvettes. There was also a Quasar Class Carrier which brought compliments of fighters with them, and we are just barely holding out."

Upon exiting the room, I made my way towards the bridge only to see what my absence had wrought, which was fires scattered throughout the corridor, alarmed and panicked crewmen asking for orders from a scrambling Aldrenich, and the barrage of red coming from the two cruisers.

"They were waiting for us, it seems."

Krennic quickly spat out, "Classic Rebel Tactic."

I turned from Krennic to Aldrenich and addressed everyone on the bridge, "Lieutenant Aldrenich is now relieved of command. All gunners, intensify the octuple barbette turbolasers on the MC80 cruiser on the right, bring all remaining power to the shields, and deploy our fighters."

Aldrenich pivoted, "Sir, I've already deployed the squadrons. We only have half a squadron of Interceptors, and a few bombers which are being engaged."

My eyes widened at the claim, "Damnit, of course," as I paced towards the Communications Officer, "Send a signal to Thrawn and his fleet. We need their assistance immediately."

Returning to the bridge, I watched as blast after blast of our turbolasers hit the cruisers, only to be countered by another few blasts from the two cruisers. Our shields were also being pelted by Ion Torpedoes from the incoming Y-Wings, which brought on a sense of nervousness.

"Fuck it! Divert all auxiliary power from the shields and put it to the forward batteries. I want those incoming fighters destroyed!"

A hologram of the Blue Chiss appeared in front of me, "Admiral Praxon, what seems to be the problem?"

"Thrawn! We need your assistance immediately, it was definitely a trap, an-…"

The ship rocked violently as the infamous alarm sounded throughout the bridge, which also brought me to my back as my legs were swept up from beneath me.

Getting up with an exasperated aura, I continued, "Thrawn. Two MC80 cruisers are bombarding us, and we are nearly out of fighters. Get the fleet over here, or else we are going to lose the Star Destroyer."

Thrawn smiled with a more than usual unhinged gesture, "You are a competent Admiral, are you not? I'm sure you can handle yourself until we arrive."

My mouth gaped open at the calm yet ominous demeanor of Thrawn, "Is this some joke, Thrawn? Help us or WE will die, and YOU will lose another ship."

His expression shifted at that mention before simply replying, "I am en-route, hold them off Admiral."

The hologram disappeared before my eyes as I returned my focus to the on-going battle, only for an Ensign to approach me and state, "We've lost our frontal shields, sir."

"This soon…? How long has this engagement going o-…How long have I been unconscious…?"

When the ensign went to reply, another shutter rocked the ship as I looked forward towards the main structure, surprised to see no damage or problem on the exterior.

"What was that?" I yelled out.

"We've lost the bridge deflector shields and engines, sir! We're vulnerable!"

…

Out of all my years that I've been in this "game," I have never had the bitter and groundbreaking words of those that had previously been stated, ever been uttered, nor would I have ever imagined I would hear them.

"Dear celestials…INTESIFY THE FORWARD BATTERIES, I DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO GET THROUGH!"

Vibrations rattled through-out the ship as we could feel the power of the Octuple Barbettes shooting in tandem at the cruisers, while the smaller laser cannons targeted the fighters swooping in up an attack path. Y-Wings attempted to get their bombs in, but luckily, they were shot down with little effort due to the competency of the gunners.

I didn't wish to test my luck though, due to the fighter squadrons nearly being eliminated, and just a few of my hand selected Aces were just barely staying afloat, as they communicated to each other with such passion and efficiency that I thought we might be able to bring this under control.

Their time ran out though, as the last two TIE interceptors were ended as their pilots cried out over the comlinks. A scoff escaped me as I marched over to the gunners, telling them to pull all power from the main cannons and to all auxiliary systems and the laser cannons as a massive torrent of fighters poured in.

Fighter after Fighter, Bomber after Bomber pelted the exterior of the Star Destroyer, before laser bolts began to fly near the bridge observation windows. Not wishing to end up in the vacuum of space, I ordered all crew to place the Auto-Engaging Weapons Systems online and for them to evacuate the bridge.

At this time, my stump began to bring tremendous pain in which I collapsed to my knees and yelled with anguish.

"My hand! Ughhh…" I whimpered softly.

I brought myself back to my feet and made my way to the bridge escape pods, not wishing to have this Star Destroyer be the sight of my grave. Krennic, who had seen my struggles ran back and helped me towards the nearest pod.

I saw on the screen pods ejecting one right after another as the bright blue switched to the dull red that faded in and out of contrast. I glanced at the button and without a second thought, I slammed my left hand down on it, quickly pushing us through the tunnel towards the trajectory path of "safety."

The battle from the bridge seemed less severe than what it was from an outer view, since multiple scorch marks and torpedo strikes scarred the surface of my precious ship. Wreckage floated aimlessly around the destroyed shield domes affixed above the command tower, and large chunks of the lower structure being aptly punched out of the Star Destroyer.

Without respite, Thrawn and his fleet of Star Destroyers emerged from hyperspace and with little to no effort and time, annihilated the attacking ships, and rounded up the remaining fighters which were taken care of by Thrawn's Tie Defenders, and his Clawcraft that he had specially designed for his fleet.

It didn't take long for the patrol craft to round up the Escape Pods and return them to the Chimaera which brought the thousand or so survivors back onto Thrawn's ship. Despite my worst thoughts, my ship had apparently survived the battle relatively in-tact, but heavily damaged and in desperate need of exterior repair.

As the pods were loaded into the hanger bay and opened up by the hanger crew, I saw Thrawn coming down the stairs with an armed escort of men, as an aura of disappointment seemed to beam from him. I turned to Krennic, who only shared the same sense of dread as the Grand Admiral drew closer.

"Your ship is nearly destroyed, you acted careless in going down to the surface to take care of the listening post, and you could've very well died, Reylan. My only question is how you could act so careless." He calmly stated.

"Thrawn, you can't hold me responsible for what had occurred. I went down to the surface to find out what the message was about and it was-…"

I quickly shut up as the pain crawled back up to prominence, causing me to stifle some grunts and to hold my phantom limb.

"And what happened to your arm?" the Chiss asked condescendingly.

"A rebel," I choked, "was running at me with a vibroblade, in which time, I was handling his partner…he got the upper hand and sliced through my forearm."

"How unfortunate…"

Krennic decided to chip in, "If it is any consolation, Thrawn. Reylan did his best on the field and it wasn't his fault that we were blind sided in the blizzard. They grabbed the upper hand and it was just a matter of when."

Disapprovingly, he answered, "If you did any research, Director Krennic; you might've realized that it was the Kriseau Militaire cell. They are notorious for choosing their battlegrounds and making the enemy come to them. They wait to strike, rather than the tactics the Rebel Alliance puts into play."

Clearing the lump in my throat, I spatted, "Listen, if you want to have a conversation about this, wait until I recover from my wound, Thrawn. Otherwise, just leave me alone."

Smiling, Thrawn nodded his head and gestured towards the stairs, "Until our next time, Reylan."

Intending to go to the Medical Bay, I began to walk my way there until I soon found myself losing my bearings and collapsing near the beginning of the stairwell.

Unknown Time Afterwards…

Ringing ears, distorted vision, and a dry taste in my mouth welcomed me back to the land of consciousness. The warm and comfortable gel like furnishing I was on turned out to be a medical bed that bared the markings of the Chimaera at the head of the bed. A surgical droid floating around, while the medical unit shuffled around the bay, looking at a few other subjects who were most likely navy troopers.

I went to pull myself up from the bed, disregarding the memory of what had happened to my hand, which made me slammed back onto the bed with a groan. Due to the infancy of the wound and for not having the stump with me for long enough, my instincts, let alone feeling hasn't adapted to my new life style.

The monotonous tone of the medical droid chimed, "You are awake. How are you feeling?"

Without glancing at the droid, I pulled myself up with my other arm taking the strength, in which the droid spoke up, "I would suggest against that type of behavior. You are still not fully healed."

"I think I am good enough to sit up, don't you think," I questioned as I pushed myself back against the head.

The side effects slowly wearing off and my vision becoming clearer again, the medical droid began to ask a series of questions, while also probing my body and taking what in my mind were superficial things.

"Your response time is still moderately slow, but for the time being, it seems you are recovering at a miraculous rate from your wound. A sure sign of good health and good tidings." The droid responded.

He shuffled off towards the next patient as I patted down my body, only to find that I was wearing the customary garb for a wounded soldier. My uniform hanged lazily from a coat hanger and the other accessories which couldn't be hanged, carelessly thrown on top of a bedside table.

It was only then did I realize that someone was sitting next to my bed, quite obviously asleep, and with the consideration that it wasn't a cladded white figure, I was curious as to who it might've been.

Upon tapping the man's leg, his eyes came to open up as his pupils were placed on me.

"Ahh, you are awake Reylan. That's great news."

After hearing his first word, I knew that it was Lieutenant Aldrenich, due to his accent and tone of voice.

"Lieutenant. What are you doing here?"

His mouth formed a smile, "Well, we are en-route to Fondor, where the Revengeance will be repaired…hopefully. There we will also meet up with the 14th Fleet as we make our way to Endor in about a month."

My eyes furrowed at his claim, "Endor…? Why are we going to Endor?"

Lieutenant Aldrenich laid back in his seat as air blew out from his nose, "Well, the Emperor is planning something big from what the High Brass told us. He is requesting all fleets to send everything they can so that when the time comes to destroy the Rebellion, we can do it in one big show of ultimate power."

A moment of silent fell between us before he added in, "And, he apparently has a very special gift for the Rebellion when they do come."

Attempting to grasp at the situation, I asked, "A special gif-…oh. He must be talking abo-…hmm. I assume that Thrawn is taking the 7th Fleet and going to be one of the first ones there, eh?"

He shrugged, "I don't know what Thrawn is doing. He hasn't come out of his quarters since your episode in the hanger two days back."

"Two days…it has been two days since th-…" To say the least, I was flabbergasted.

"Yea, you've been in a coma for two days. The doctor on-board said due to your exhaustion and fatigue, but the fact you are awake brings at least some comfort to us all."

He then peaked his voice, "Oh! That's right, someone wanted to speak with you."

I went to question who the Lieutenant meant before he cut in, "He told me once you were better, you should head over to the Officer's Lounge on the 27th floor here, on the Chimaera. He said it was something very important."

"Well, I should be going then," I stated as I attempted to pull myself up, only for Aldrenich to place his hand on my shoulder.

"You can worry about this when you are better, okay? You are rather weak right now, and I doubt that you'd want to have another couple of days bound to a bed, yea?"

The medical droid reproached the bedside, "Reylan Praxon should be fine for the time being, Lieutenant Aldrenich. You may continue your duties and I shall keep an eye on the Admiral."

I saw the droid pull a needle up to his view, before going towards the injector for my IV. I rapidly ask, "Hey, what are you doing, droid?!"

He pushed the plunger down in which the droid answered, "You require sleep, and due to your tension right now, it is best if I force you to sleep. My apologies."

I turned to Aldrenich as he stood up from his seat and proceeded to the door, my eyes slowly following suit as the ringing in my ears and my vision blurred.

My thoughts began to pour into the empty recess of my mind, colorful apparitions and photo-esque memories lighting up and flickering out like a dying star. With all the chaos that I've endured, I've rarely had the time to contemplate on my personal life, let alone what I have missed with my family.

War, it seems to bring out the worst in all of us, and when a person can't express their emotions or their fears and obstacles, I suppose we all lose a piece of ourselves. I never got to have an official mourning for my parents or my sister, and I suppose that is something that eats at my night and day.

I remind myself that I joined the Empire for my own personal goals and gains, but I seem to also forget the reason I joined was to protect my dear little sister. She was always complaining about her school life, and how she would argue every day she'd get back from school about how the other girls had something that she wanted, in which she would throw a little tantrum until she got it.

Father…he always gave in to his little girl, and if he couldn't make his daughter happy, then he'd make sure that whatever she was livid or sullen about, that it would be given back to the aggressing party tenfold. Even now, I can hardly hold a grudge against him, despite what he did to me as a kid. He did it for my future, and everyone's future, and I hardly recognize his sacrifices up until now.

Now pondering this, I suppose I even forgot the cherished words and the "taken for granted" phrase of I love you, or the meaning of family as it has been over three years now. Had I not been in the dark abyss of my mind, I'm pretty sure I would've cried if I had these thoughts.

And poor mother, only wanting to see her sweet son to grow up and to make a difference in the galaxy, only for her to be cold-bloodedly snuffed out of whatever she held dear, not able to utter much in her final moments. The cold claws of deaths, slowly creeping up her body until it had finally taken her.

Perhaps, this is a place and time I can at least say I am sorry that I was never there for you guys, and that had I been more cautious, I could've placed hundreds of men outside the lakeside manor and had protected them but throwing what-ifs aren't going to change anything. I-…I guess now pessimistically speaking, I am alone in this galaxy and the only real happiness I had is now nothing but ashes in three plastoid jars I keep.

But, here and now, I make this promise. I will destroy this rebellion and stomp out their hope and their cause. Come the Battle of Endor, we will crush every ship, annihilate every fighter, and kill every last one of them so that my promise to keeping the galaxy safe could at least be fulfilled, as an oath I gave to my sister.