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Chapter 5 – Assassination

Leia had summoned the top leaders of the rebellion and Luke in the control room in the Headquarters of the Resistance in Yavin IV. This brought back many memories to both Leia and Luke. It was in this same room that Leia had directed the attack against the Death Star. This memory gave everyone hope. If they could defeat the dark side once, they could do so again.

Rey had not been called to this meeting. Considering the nature of the subject they were about to discuss, both Luke and Leia did not want Rey to know what they were planning. The subject of discussion was Char Bright. His victories against the Resistance and the New Republic made him famous and now he was on the top of the list of the people the Resistance wanted dead.

"Char Bright is a dangerous enemy!", Leia said. "We must not underestimate him. He is a military genius and has defeated again and again our forces despite his forces being numerically inferior and outgunned. The only way to put an end to this is to assassinate him. I want volunteers for a squad to board his capital ship, the 'Conqueror', and kill him. It is a dangerous mission and I cannot guarantee the safe return of those who will take on this task, even if Char is successfully killed. "

"I volunteer!"

Leia and the others turned around and saw Finn smiling.

"You are back.", Leia replied. "Good to see you."

"Too bad I will not be staying long.", Finn said with a grin on his face. "I have a score to settle with Char from Hoth."

"I volunteer too!", another resistance trooper said.

Soon more than twenty soldiers had volunteered for the mission. Those were more than enough for the assassination attempt. Leia was about to brief them with the details when she heard Rey's voice. "I volunteer too."

Leia turned around in utter surprise and looked at Rey. "Are you sure? Char is your friend."

"No more.", Rey replied. "By aligning himself with the First Order, he betrayed me. Our friendship is over."

"Good. This will increase our chances of success. Char's capital ship, the 'Conqueror', is according to reports collected from our scouts heading towards Tatooine. One of our fleets shall engage his in order to lure him into battle. During the battle, Rey, Finn and the rest of the squad will board the 'Conqueror', head to the bridge and eliminate Char. Are there any questions?"

"I do have a question.", Finn said. "Char is no fool. He is not going to commit head on in a direct assault. He will realize that there is a trap."

"True. But he will expect a battlefield ambush, not an assassination attempt on his life. Any other questions?"

As no one asked any question, Leia concluded the briefing. "You should all be prepared in about two hours. May the Force be with you. "

With the briefing over, Luke approached Rey and said, "Are you sure you want to do this? You should not let your emotions rule you."

"Do not worry, Master.", Rey replied. "I am up to the task. I will not let my past friendship with Char derail the mission."

"I am not worried about you sparing Char as much I am worried about your hatred of him.", Luke said. "I can sense you anger. You took to heart his joining of the First Order and consider this a personal betrayal. But you should not let your anger cloud your judgment. This mission isn't about settling personal scores or getting revenge."

Rey sighed. "You are right, Master. I will try to maintain my calmness and not do anything that will endanger the mission or my commitment to the light."


The 'Conqueror' was floating in space, leading an armada of Star Destroyers. At its bridge, Char and Max were watching the countless stars and waiting silently. Max broke first that silence. He asked, "Sir, do you have any friends?"

This question surprised Char. So far, his relationship with Max was a purely professional one and they talked only about their assignments or military tactics. "Only one.", he replied. "Why the sudden interest regarding my personal life?"

"Well, since we work together for so long, I thought that we could trust each other with more than professional information."

"As my previous answer should have indicated, I am not one who makes friends easily."

Max smiled. "I can see that. So, who is this one and only friend you have? A fellow officer? Someone from your home world?"

"She is from my home world, Jakku. I haven't seen her for a long, long time…"

Char sighed. Max was surprised by this as Char barely ever showed any emotion about anyone.

"You miss her, don't you?"

"I do. Once I am at the top, I will return to Jakku for her."


Rey walked into the shuttle that was going to take them to Char's capital ship. Finn was already inside and inspecting his laser blaster while the rest of the crew was moving supplies into the shuttle.

"I see that you are far better now.", Rey said to Finn.

Finn smiled. "Indeed. Not even Kylo Ren and his lightsaber could hurt me. That's why I am confident about this mission."

He paused for a moment. "I am glad to see you too. How has your training with Luke been?"

"Well, it was somewhat exhaustive but I learned lots of things about the Force and improved my swordsmanship. Next time we face Kylo Ren, I will be more than ready for him."

"Well, for now let's focus on this Char dude."

Finn hard heard about Rey and Char being old friends but was somewhat reluctant to ask about it. When he did decide to do so, his fingers were being crushed in the rhythmic grip of his other hand and he put on a smile on his face. "So, you and that Char were friends?"

"A long time ago."

"I can imagine that it must be kind of hard for you to kill your former best friend, right?"

Rey did not reply and so Finn decided to change his question. "So, how did you two met?"

This question brought back many memories to Rey. She remembered when she first met him. They were just children. Neither of them had any friends and so they had only each other. They used to lie on the sand and watch the stars on the night sky. They would talk about all the strange worlds they had heard about and which one day they would visit together.

"We met back in Jakku."

Finn could sense that Rey was not willing to talk anymore about Char, so he dropped that subject. "Whatever, we must prepare for the mission. We shall be leaving in a few minutes."


An officer walked to the bridge of the 'Conqueror' and saluted Char and Max. He then reported, "Sir, a Resistance fleet is approaching us. According to my report, we outnumber them. Shall we attack them?"

"We need to destroy that fleet if we are to reach Tatooine.", Max added. "I say that we take the initiative and attack."

"I am not so sure about it.", Char replied. "It seems too good to be true. This may be a trap. It would be reckless to attack head on without scouting the area for any ambush."

"On second thought, I will have to agree with you.", Max admitted. He then turned to the officer and said, "Send 10 Tie Fighters to scout the area for any ambush and report back immediately. Do not engage if you find enemy ships."

"Yes, sir!"

Char thought silently for a moment. "I have a bad feeling about this. My instinct tells me that things are not as simple as they look. If we can come up with ingenious strategies, so can the enemy."

"Maybe, but I am sure that you will be able to prevail.", Max replied. "So far, you have led us to one victory after the other against all odds. I fully believe in you."

Char smiled.

"Thanks. That means a lot. Especially since it's coming from one of my most vocal critics."

"Well, we have come a lot way since that time when we were minor officers and leading the attack against that Resistance asteroid base."

Only half an hour later, the officer was back on the bridge with the report of the scouting party. "Sir", he said, "our scouts report that there seems to be no ambush."

"See, I told you it would be all right.", Max said.

"Well, let's take the initiative then and strike hard. Officer, direct our fleet towards the position of the enemy fleet. We are going to attack."

Before the officer could leave, Char stopped him. "In order to avoid any unpleasant surprises, make sure to let a Star Destroyer behind. In case I need to make a surprise maneuver or things do not go as planned. We outnumber them anyway."

"Yes, sir."


Finn was nervous, more than Rey. Back in Yavin IV, he hadn't thought much about the dangers of the mission but the closer the shuttle got to its destination, the more nervous he became. He put on awkward smile and tried to pretend to be brave but he was breathing heavily and one could easily tell that he was really worried.

"Do not worry.", Rey said. "If we could survive Kylo Ren and the Starkiller Base, we can sure survive this. Weren't you all brave only a few moments ago?"

"I am still brave.", Finn replied. "At least I am trying to be so. But you are right. We will survive. I am just a bit worried because Char hasn't got his reputation for nothing. He is an excellent strategist and tactician and his troops are battle-hardened and experienced. They have fought battle after battle, most of the time outnumbered and outgunned. I am still not sure how we will get past all those troops and into the bridge. We are only twenty-five people."

"That's our strength. Because of our few numbers, we will be able to sneak onto the bridge without alarming everyone on the ship."

"We've arrived to the battlefield!", the pilot of the shuttle shouted. "It seems that the battle is raging on. I will try to approach the 'Conqueror'."

Tie Fighters and X-Wings were shooting each other and the deafening sound of explosions and screams could be heard from miles away. Star Destroyers and Resistance Capital Ships were firing with their laser cannons, decimating anything getting in their way. On the 'Conqueror' itself troopers were rushing in all directions, bringing ammunitions to the cannons or heading to the docking bay. Tie Fighters were launching from the ship every minute and heading towards the battle. On the bridge, Char and Max were discussing the battle taking place.

"What is the situation?", Char asked.

"We have damaged heavily three of their capital ships", Max replied, "and their X-Wing squadrons have suffered heavy losses. But so have our Tie Fighters. They are putting more of a fight than usual. According to a report this is because they are led by Poe Dameron, best pilot of the Resistance."

Char sighed. "Thankfully we outnumber them. I never thought I would see the day when I would owe my victory not to my superior intelligence and strategic skill but due to superior numbers."

While Char and Max were discussing, the Resistance shuttle was making its way to the 'Conqueror'. The shuttle was barely able to avoid the blaster fire of the Tie Fighters and the laser cannons of the Star Destroyers. It lurched forward as fast as it could. Suddenly, it was hit by enemy fire. The whole shuttle shook.

"What is going on?", Finn asked.

"It seems two Tie Fighters are coming after us.", the pilot said.

"Can't you shoot them down?"

"Are you forgetting that this shuttle has no weapons?"

"Can't you outrun them?", Rey said.

"I do not know.", the pilot replied. "I shall try. It is our only hope."

The shuttle sped forward but it was hit again by enemy fire. The entire ship shook violently and fire engulfed the exterior of the shuttle.

"We have lost the shield and we have suffered heavy damage.", the plot said. "One more such direct hit and we are all dead."

"Can you fix the shield?", Finn asked Rey.

"I will try. I may be good at repairs but not so good."

"Damn! We should have brought BB-8 with us."

"Well, let's hope my skills are good enough or we will become galactic dust."

"I knew that this mission would not end well!"

Rey sighed. "If you stopped whining, I would be already fixing the shields."

"I will try to buy us some time!", the pilot shouted.

The shuttle made some maneuvering to avoid enemy fire but the Tie Fighters were closing in. Suddenly, both Tie Fighters exploded. Their explosion shook the shuttle.

"What happened?", Finn asked.

"It seems that one of our own shot them down. It was an X-Wing pilot.", the pilot replied. "That pilot sends us a message."

Poe Dameron's voice could be heard: "I am glad you are ok. Now get to the 'Conqueror' and finish the mission."

Finn laughed. "I knew Poe would save us."

Rey too grinned. "Have some good news. I've repaired the shields."

"Good.", the pilot said. "We are closing in on the ship."

The shuttle sped forward and landed on one of the docking bays of the 'Conqueror'. Stormtroopers surrounded the shuttle and targeted it with their blaster rifles while others set up machine guns. Thankfully for the Resistance troops, the Stormtroopers were not many as most of them were too absorbed with the ongoing space battle.

"Well, now it's time for you to do your Jedi tricks.", Finn said.

The shuttle's opening hatch opened and Rey and the other troopers rushed out of the shuttle. Before the Stormtroopers could open fire, Rey used the force to send against them a powerful force wave which shook them and threw them away. The Resistance troopers then opened fire with their blasters while also throwing grenades at them. The explosions engulfed the docking bay in fire and shook the place. Some of the Stormtroopers attempted to fight back but Rey ignited her lightsaber and deflected their fire, allowing for Finn and the troopers to easily finish them off with accurate fire.

"The docking bay seems to have been cleared.", Finn said. "Now, let's split up. Four troopers will go to the ammunitions room and wreck the area to cause a distraction. Other four shall place mines in other docking bays and explode them to create another diversion. The rest will follow me and Rey to the bridge."

Finn paused for a moment, took a long breath and then said: "May the Force be with you!"