Chapter 10
The rain fell heavily on the open glade of Kaller. It was still dark and would be another few hours before the sun would rise, although no one would see it beyond the portentous rain clouds. Multiple small mud huts were erected beside each other, each able to house two of Luke's students. Large raindrops drummed on the huts and ground, muffling any sound of approachers. Small rivers formed between the huts as the water rolled down their roofs and then down the gently angled slope of the glade.
Ben Solo led his six followers, the Knights of Ren, to the sleeping Jedi Padawans. The rain continued to hide their heavy feet. "Start with those huts," Kylo Ren ordered. "They are the most advanced in the Force. Kill them while they sleep."
Gabo, Kiam, Tanut, and Jax entered into a separate hut each. The doorways flashed red with their lightsabers after Tanut and Jax had entered. A blue electric light and electric crackling came from the other two. Chilling screams arose from within and a young teenaged Iktotchi, his horns not full grown, came running out of the hut Gabo had entered. He yelled to wake the others and lit his lightsaber. Gabo pursued him out of the hut but there was no need. Lura had shot the boy through the head, her blaster muzzle hot from the blast.
The rest of the huts emptied as the Jedi Padawans rushed out. Eight were left, aging from fifteen to twenty standard years. They looked in shock at the approaching masked fighters, their lightsabers ignited to defend.
Lura fired into them. A Togruta girl fell under her fire, her body writhing in the mud. Another Padawan effectively deflected her blasts. Sakiah ran up to this Padawan, ignited her double blade baton and attacked. He blocked the first high blow but was not quick enough to parry the opposite blade of the baton which cut through his leg. He fell, and Sakiah slashed through his torso, without a thought that she had once been friends with that Padawan.
Jax, a lightsaber in one hand and a blaster in the other, ignited his jetpack and flew above the Padawans that were now assembling in one place to defend. He coolly fired down on them, hitting one and killing him. Then he dropped behind them and attacked with broad swings of his lightsaber. The other Knights of Ren closed in around them.
"We need to get out of here," one of the oldest students said—a Kyuzo. He took off his heavy disc helmet and threw it at Kylo Ren.
Kylo Ren was caught off guard as the helmet hit him in the facemask, knocking him back and creating a small dent. He staggered a moment, stunned.
"There, follow me!" the Kyuzo said as he ran toward the stunned Kylo Ren. The four other Padawans attempted to follow. They deflected Lura's and Jax's blaster fire, but one in the rear fell as Tanut readily sliced him through the back.
Jax fired up his jetpack again to fly over them and cut their escape off. The Kyuzo, having picked up his helmet as he passed Kylo Ren, threw it up at Jax. His aim was good, and the impact knocked Jax out of the air. He spiraled out of control to the wet ground. The helmet returned to the Kyuzo as he pulled it to him with the Force.
"We just need to get to the woods for cover!" the Kyuzo called out, but only a few of the remaining Padawans could hear him. Gabo had bludgeoned one of them into the ground, and Kiam finished another off with his electro-staff. Only one human female remained following the Kyuzo.
"We're almost to the woods, hurry!" He looked back to spur them on, observing the last Padawan shot through the back with multiple blaster shots from Lura. He saw for a moment the dead bodies of all his friends scattered over the ground, the unknown attackers only a few yards away, and the dark leader approaching, wielding a red cross-barred lightsaber. He turned to run the short distance to the woods, but Kylo Ren was on him. The red lightsaber erupted out of his chest, Kylo Ren having stabbed him through the back. The Kyuzo cried out and fell over to the ground and sank in the mud.
Kylo Ren and the Knights of Ren stood over their victims, victorious and satisfied as the rain washed the blood away in rivers on their first battlefield.
….
"I have to say, I'm not really happy about this assignment," Poe said as he looked back from the cockpit into the personnel bay of the Shuttle, addressing Finn who was next to him. BB-8 beeped as if to agree. "I think there may be a conflict of interest here," he said and pointed with his chin toward Ben Solo and Rey in the rear of the shuttle. Ben Solo had previously tortured him in the name of the First Order the day that Finn had rescued him. "Even though, he went by the name Kylo Ren back then; and he supposedly is on our side now, I still don't like it," Poe said.
"I know what you mean," Finn said with suspicion in his gaze as well. "This plan doesn't make any sense . . . his plan." Finn sighed. "But we still need to function as a team, or we will all be dead."
"We may be dead no matter what," Poe replied.
Ben rose, leaving Rey and the soldiers in the loading bay. He walked up to the cockpit. The blue light from hyperspace lit his face. BB-8 squealed and rolled out of the room quickly.
"How much longer?" he asked Poe.
"Not long. You'll be home soon," Poe replied curtly making his point clear.
Ben remembered the first time he had met Poe. "Poe, I'm sorry about . . ." Ben said seriously.
"Well," Poe replied, knowing what Ben was referring to. "It's okay. I've gotten over it." It was obvious that Poe was done talking to Ben.
It was quiet again for a moment, then Finn asked, "So what are we doing again? Killing some animal that gives Snoke his power?"
"Not his power," Ben replied. "It provides a body for him. His spirit inhabits its offspring."
"So if we kill it, we kill him?" Finn asked.
"No," Ben said.
"Then what are we doing?" Finn exclaimed.
"Snoke will know when we kill it," Ben said. "Then he will come."
"Then we kill him?" Finn asked.
Ben did not answer. The silence was heavy and uncomfortable.
"Well this is going well," Poe quipped.
The shuttle exited hyperspace and the dark side of Coruscant materialized before them. Dozens of star destroyers orbited close to the surface of the city-planet, hovering with a purpose Finn could only guess at. Electric lights lit the entire surface of the planet in geometric stellate patterns, outlining Coruscant's major throughways with golden light.
"Strange that their star destroyers are orbiting so close to the planet," Poe commented.
Poe's statement was interrupted. A First Order transmission sounded over the HoloNet asking them for their purpose and security codes.
"That was quick," Finn said.
Poe replied to the transmission, "Shuttle 2254, carrying a Gorse emissary. We have been requested to appear at the First Order Palace."
There was no response for an uncomfortable amount of time.
"I have no record of any Gorse emissary," the officer responded. "Send me your clearance codes."
Poe transmitted the codes that Leia had provided. Again there was no response for a while. Finn swallowed hard and waited.
"You are cleared for landing on the palace south platform."
"Thank you," Poe replied. He looked at Finn. "No turning back now."
They descended beneath the patrolling star destroyers and entered the clear Coruscant atmosphere, heading for the First Order palace. The planet was bustling with traffic, but as they approached the palace, the traffic disappeared, except for patrolling TIE fighters. Beneath them on the surface, legions of troops lined up. Near them hundreds of military vehicles were parked; most notably the new line of First Order Walkers.
Troop shuttles were obviously ferrying troops to the star destroyers.
"What is going on here?" Poe asked.
"It looks like they are planning an attack," Finn responded.
As they approached the palace and descended they drew closer to the army. Finn looked carefully at the troops. Their armor and helmets were different from the commissioned stormtrooper outfit.
"This isn't good," Finn said.
"What?" Poe questioned.
"Those look like clone uniforms. See the more angular helmet style. Looks like the Kamino deal went through." Poe took in the implications. "They have a new army and they are mobilizing it," Finn concluded.
They approached the landing platform on the south side of the palace, with reservation and doubt in their thoughts. New control towers stood tall and unyielding having been erected next to each landing platform. First Order Walkers were sitting nearby, waiting to be manned and dispatched to a star destroyer. An officer and four squads of stormtroopers waited on the landing platform to greet Finn's shuttle.
Finn spoke to Poe. "Looks like they don't trust us. After we disembark, I want you to take off and cover us from above. We won't be sneaking in like last time."
"Yes, Captain," Poe replied. "But you do know I outrank you?" Poe smiled at Finn.
Finn, being focused did not catch the quip and continued to stare out the cockpit window to assess the plan of action.
Poe hovered over the platform. However, before he had a chance to land, his controls became rigid; and the ship was brought down to the platform without Poe controlling it.
"They have a platform tractor beam," Poe said. "So much for my covering you from above. I won't be able to take off."
Finn thought quick. "Ok, get in the back, I'll need to talk fast."
Poe and Finn entered the passenger quarters with Ben, Rey, the eight soldiers, and BB-8.
"I only have a few seconds to talk. So listen hard. It looks like we have sixteen stormtroopers out there, an officer and two palace guards at the entry point to the palace. Ben and Rey, you do what you do to protect us from the blaster fire. The rest of us will hit them hard and fast. We all rush the door. We strike first. Watch for reinforcements. BB-8, get that door open." BB-8 whistled in assent.
"Poe, you take Riven and Silas and find high ground. There is a tower nearby. Try that. Cover us when you get there if we haven't gotten through the door yet. Hopefully, we'll be making enough noise to allow you to sneak away to the tower."
"Yes, Captain," the two soldiers replied. Poe just nodded.
"Now is everyone ready?"
"Yes, Captain," they replied.
"Now lower the ramp."
The ramp opened, and the Resistance soldiers promptly opened fire on the stormtroopers. Four of the stormtroopers fell at this first attack. The rest spread out and returned fire.
Rey and Ben began deflecting blaster fire with apt precision, but they could not deflect every blast from twelve stormtroopers. Blaster fire struck one of the soldiers in the arm, causing her to drop her blaster. She clutched her arm and ducked behind Ben. Another soldier took a blaster round to the chest and fell over.
Poe, Riven, and Silas had barely managed to sneak behind shuttle in the fire and rush toward the tower. Ben, Rey, Finn, and the soldiers advanced toward the door. Finn aimed and fired at a nearby trooper on the left, shooting him in the head. There was no time for Rey or Ben to stop deflecting fire in order to Force-push the soldiers or to throw any objects with the Force. They had to rely on the soldier's ability to take out the enemy while they protected them.
The First Order officer ducked behind the door wall and called for help on his transceiver. Another Resistance soldier fell, an open carbonized wound in his chest. Three soldiers were left. They continued to fire from behind Rey and Ben, whose lightsabers were erratically dancing amidst the blaster fire. Both resisted using the dark side to stop the blaster fire.
Two more stormtroopers were killed, one by Finn and the other by one of the soldiers. The remaining five stormtroopers fanned out, two to each side and one in front of the door with the palace guards and officer. The lead stormtrooper fired on Rey. She deflected the shot back at him and hit him in the gut. He fell over in a slump and grabbed his abdomen. She then moved to the left side to deal with the two on the left, an easy fight for her as she held out both her hands and Force-pushed them off the walkway. They fell twenty feet, injuring them but leaving them alive.
Finn and the three remaining uninjured soldiers focused all of their fire on the two stormtroopers on their right. A few shots from the soldiers eliminated the stormtroopers.
Ben rushed the palace guards, which each produced an electro-staff. Ben swung a lateral attack on one, which defended his attack and counter-attacked with the opposite edge of the electro-staff. Ben jumped back to avoid the swing, but the second guard behind him had attempted a downward blow. Ben sensed the danger from behind and blocked overhead. Twisting around, he pressed the electro-staff to the side and lunged at the second guard with both fists on his lightsaber. The thrust hit its mark and impaled the second guard. The guard stepped back, staggered, and fell.
The first palace guard took advantage of the opening and jabbed the electro-staff toward Ben's side. It never made contact. Ben, having ignited the blue lightsaber, spun and cut down the guard with the whirling azure blade.
Ben extinguished his blades and replaced them at his sides. He walked up to the officer who had backed up to the door. Ben grabbed him by the collar and leaned in on him with heavy resolve. The others soon joined him by the closed door, and BB-8 worked frantically at the droid access port to open the door.
"It's too late for you," the officer said. "Reinforcements are on the way. They'll be here any second."
Finn looked behind and could see a clone transport being diverted to the landing platform and a First Order Walker was arriving from the left.
The First Order Walkers were modified from the previous Imperial AT-AT's to remedy the old model's design flaws. First, there was a ball-turret cannon on the underside of the body, to eliminate any attacks from the side or beneath. However, the greater advancements were with the neck structure and two extra forward arms. The head was closer to the body resulting in a shorter neck that was protected with a fanned head plate that covered the neck with shielded armor. This naturally resulted in less mobility of the head but was compensated for by a larger cockpit window for better visibility. To address the limited range the head cannons now had, two additional arms extended from close to the neck, with ball-jointed shoulders, and equipped with cannons. These arms also doubled as an extra pair of thin legs to stabilize the vehicle in the event that the top-heavy walkers began to tip or had to traverse uneven terrain.
The clone transport landed in front of their shuttle, and the exit ramp descended. Each clone transport could hold twenty clones. All twenty poured out and immediately fired on the Resistance party from thirty yards away. Ben and Rey deflected fire; but as the clones advanced, this became increasingly difficult. The walker moved toward the south door and readied its cannons to fire.
"This doesn't look good," Finn said.
The walker fired its cannons and Rey prepared herself to deflect the blasts, but the explosions engulfed the approaching clones instead. The walker then fired on the transport which exploded at the bottom starboard side. The damaged transport then rolled off the platform and fell top down over the edge.
"Is this high enough ground," a voice came over Finn's transceiver.
"Poe!" Finn responded.
"I've always wanted to drive one of these things," Poe answered.
Finn laughed. "Well, what do you think of it?"
"I hate it!" Poe said.
After the brief banter, Finn returned to thinking about the battle at hand. He turned to BB-8. "How much longer?"
The droid beeped and whistled. Finn checked his wrist display to interpret. "Almost there. Rey and Ben, you know where we are going from this location?"
"Yes, it's not far," Rey replied.
"Okay, everyone, we follow Ben and Rey. Provide cover. When we get in there, we will likely have more guards to deal with. Keep your eyes open."
He looked at the injured soldier, "Sayah, stay close to me."
He raised the transceiver to speak to Poe. "Poe, I want you to destroy this door after we go through. We will find another way out. Just protect our rear for a bit."
"Yes, Captain," Poe replied.
"Then I want you to surrender," Finn said.
"What!" Poe exclaimed.
"No questions. In a few seconds, this place is going to have the whole army and navy coming down on you. You won't survive. At least if we are successful, you may have a chance, but only if you are taken alive."
Poe reluctantly agreed.
"Good," Finn said.
BB-8 opened the door, and they all ran through the door.
The entry foyer was a red stone tiled room with thirty-foot ceilings and two staircases on either side leading up through large archways. Ahead of them was an artificial waterfall which ended in a small pool.
A few guards descended the stairs on either side, but they were shot down with multiple blasts from the Resistance soldiers. Troopers began filing in two abreast through the narrow archways at each side. They were easy targets for the Resistance soldiers. Their cover fire left a pile of troopers rolling lifelessly down the stairways.
"This way," Rey ordered and ran for the waterfall.
Once there, Rey held out her hand and parted the waterfall like a veil. Behind it an onyx stone slab shifted to the side to open up a dark room. They stepped into the ankle-deep pool and passed through the door. Once everyone had entered, the door slammed shut behind them; and they were overtaken by darkness.
Poe's barrage on the entry could be heard in the distance.