My apologies everybody. Life happened. I have not abandoned this story though. I hate when people abandon their stories and I promise I will not drop this one. I just had a lot happen to me these past few months. I will try to update more regularly, but I will never abandon this story. Now, for the chapter you've all been waiting so patiently for.

Katerina: The following is a non-profit fan-based fanfiction. Star Wars is owned by Lucasfilm, Disney, and George Lucas. Please support the official release!

Chapter 9: Stealth Mission Shenanigans

"Why did it have to be a freezing cold planet?" Katerina complained to no one in particular as they made their way through the forest. Finn led the way, followed closely by Mara. Kat followed her, a little engulfed in the large fur coat Han had lent her. The two smugglers followed, covering their tracks in the snow with a tree branch, just in case some random stormtrooper patrol decided to pass by. They'd already spent some time putting a bit of camouflage on the Falcon and were now following the former stormtrooper towards what he said would be the best entrance to sneak into the base.

"You think this is bad," Han began knowingly, "Try spending a night on Hoth."

Kat smiled under her borrowed coat, even as her teeth chattered in the cold. "Already did. That absolutely sucked." Chewbacca rumbled something that sounded suspiciously like laughter at Han's raised eyebrow, which prompted Kat to respond with "No, we didn't need to cut open a tauntaun."

"Very funny Chewie," Han grumbled, glancing around for any sign of a probe droid. The First Order had definitely improved upon the original design from the Empire, making them stealthier and better suited for scouting a perimeter. He'd had a close encounter with those things during a smuggler's run on Jabiim while recruiting for rathtar hunters and he had no desire to deal with them again.

Meanwhile, Finn and Mara were peering through the tree as they led the way, senses alert for any sort of First Order scouts. The edge of the forest was nearing, according to Finn, so Mara was scanning, with both her regular senses, still keen from all her training as the Emperor's Hand, and with the Force. Ben had recently been showing her how he had gotten so good at detecting droids, so she was searching for both people actually giving off Force signatures and signatures that were unique to droids. Normally, droids weren't perceptible with the Force alone. That was how they had managed to get the jump on so many Jedi throughout the Clone Wars.

"Probe droid patrol should be coming around in the next ten minutes," Finn warned her, "We need to get inside soon or start hiding now." It was almost as if he had read her thoughts.

"Should we use the forest for cover?" Mara asked Finn, "You're the one with all the intel about this place." She was looking at Finn, but mentally, she was looking for clusters of electricity that were seemingly moving about on their own. That was how Ben had described droids to her and she found that it was a great way to detect droids using the Force. In this natural environment, she could feel the clump of electricity underground that signified the base, but there were no small clusters of electricity moving towards them at the moment.

"If we hurry we can make it to the flooding tunnels," Finn replied, glancing around nervously. "It'll be just over the ridge past this forest."

"Finn, I know there's a lot riding on this mission," Mara began gently, "But I could feel your nerves from Tangrene if I tried. You need to relax."

"I'm trying!" Finn snapped, not exactly reassuring Mara.

The Jedi Master blinked as she noticed a slight dimming in the light. Stepping out of the forest onto the mountain ridge, she looked up to see energy streaming from the bright star in the sky towards a point beyond the horizon. "I've seen a lot in my time, from Yuuzhan Vong terraforming to deformed Imperial experiments, but this. This takes insane to a whole new level."

Starkiller Base: Interior

"Sir!" came the crisp voice of a First Order Captain, getting the attention of Kylo Ren as he stalked the corridors, hunting the scavenger. Despite her immense power, the base was simply too big and prevented Kylo from getting a fix on anyone further than a hundred yards away. "She was not in Hanger 718. But we have every trooper on alert."

"Put every hanger on lockdown," Ren commanded, "She's going to try and escape and-" he cut himself off, whirling around as though he had been stung.

"Sir?" the officer asked cautiously, a little concerned. These mystics were always a bother to him, and while he couldn't deny their usefulness in combat, he did question why they were always given a position of supreme power while the rest of the people, by some genetic quirk, had to earn their way like any other mere mortal.

Kylo Ren ignored the officer. He knew what he had felt. He whispered a name to himself, a name the officer couldn't quite catch, but it didn't matter to the Knight of Ren. "Han Solo…" He was going to prove himself, to the Supreme Leader, to his grandfather Lord Vader, and perhaps most importantly, to himself.

Starkiller Base Exterior

The group ran forward across the open snow covered ground towards a bunker in the center of the wide open field. It wasn't quite a full on sprint, but still fast enough to avoid detection from any scanner in the area. Finn took cover by the metal structure, peering around the corner for any signs of activity. "There's our way in, through the flooding tunnels," he said confidently.

Mara nodded as she looked over the wide mountain range in the distance and the crevice next to it, steam rising from the cracks. This planet-weapon was certainly something Palpatine would have loved to have gotten his hands on, though Mara figured he preferred the cold metal of a portable Death Star more than hollowing out a stationary planet. "How many guards can we expect in there?"

"About a couple of patrols, but none in the tunnels," Finn answered.

"What was your job when you were based here?" Han asked, curious.

"Sanitation," came the simple reply. There was a two second pause as Finn's response registered within everyone's consciousness. Han grabbed Finn by the shoulder and threw him against the wall of the metal structure they were using for cover.

"Sanitation?!" he growled at Finn, the young man finding himself looking into the infuriated eyes of both the smuggler and the Jedi Master. Finn gulped. Mara took a deep breath and turned around. This was their only asset with any information on how to get through this Starkiller base and NOW he was revealing what his occupation was. As small-time as a sanitation job was, he still knew his way around the interior, so Mara didn't write him off as a non-asset. Not with so much at stake. Han was not as calm. "Then how do you know how to disable the shields?!"

"I don't! I'm just here to get Rey." Now Mara was irate. This was not how she'd envisioned this mission to be going. She had thought the determination she'd felt from Finn was for saving the galaxy from this monstrosity they were standing on. Mara rounded on Finn, ignoring the temptation to use the Force on Finn in a myriad of ways.

"So you mean to tell me, that with the trillions of lives at stake here," Mara began slowly, deliberately in fact, "That you undertook this mission not to stop this superweapon but instead to rescue a girl?!"

"Well – I –" Finn spluttered but Mara cut off his feeble excuses.

"The entire kriffing galaxy is counting on us to stop the First Order here before they can destroy another system!" Mara told him.

Kat huddled up next to Chewbacca as he watched their rear. "And here I t-thought it c-couldn't get any worse," she commented to the Wookie as she shivered in the cold. Chewbacca groaned at her in response, reaching a large hairy arm out and yanking the young Jedi close to him, engulfing her in his fur. It wasn't much in terms of warmth, but it was better than nothing out here.

Finn, meanwhile was getting his bravado back. "We'll figure it out when we get inside!" He glanced at the lightsaber on Mara's hip and brightened. "We'll use the Force!"

Few statements were asinine enough to leave Mara Jade Skywalker, former Emperor's Hand and Jedi Master, speechless, but that comment from Finn managed to number among that few. Han was not quite as stunned by Finn's statement, practically yelling "That's not how the Force works!" Mara turned away, pinching the brow of her nose in an attempt to maintain her cool. A part of her wondered how Luke would've taken that. Probably with that calm, almost serene smile of his. Her Ben would've definitely gotten a chuckle out of that. She felt a pang for her missing family back in her dimension, then clamped down on that emotion as well. This was an important mission, and she couldn't afford any distractions. Not at this important stage. Chewbacca groaned at Han, getting the smuggler's attention.

"Oh really, you're cold?!" Han asked sarcastically. The Wookie growled again, indicating the shivering young Jedi he was sheltering from the biting wind.

"J-just a little," Kat admitted, though she could feel Chewbacca shivering as well. It seemed that despite all the fur the Wookie had, he was feeling the sting of the cold just as much as she was. Han just rolled his eyes as the group began to trudge onwards.

Starkiller Base Interior

Rey was trying very hard not to panic. There were so many corridors, and all of her senses were on alert. Hearing the footsteps of another squad, Rey ducked behind the corner, waiting until they had marched past before darting towards the next opening. She had to get out of this base! Ducking into the corner by the doorway, she peered into the next room, although room hardly did it justice. This doorway lead into a huge cavern with an even larger crevice. More importantly though, it appeared that this room was a hanger, with a large opening out onto whatever planet she was on, a couple of TIE Fighters sitting near the exit. Unfortunately for the Jakku scavenger, there were several Stormtroopers in between her and those TIE Fighters that could possibly get her out of this hell hole. Something told her to turn around, and glancing back, she saw a door open up and another small squad of troopers was marching her way. They hadn't seen her, but Rey knew she had to keep moving. It was dangerous staying in one spot too long. Glancing forward again, she noticed the chasm in front of her wasn't natural, but in fact covered by several metal structures that looked very climbable. An idea sprang into Rey's mind, and she didn't hesitate, strapping the stormtrooper blaster she carried onto her back. Rey darted forward and climbed off the ledge onto the metal siding. None too soon, the troopers began to pass her by. She desperately hoped that none of them would be tempted to glance over the side.

"Do you think this is another drill?" she heard one of the troopers ask his companions.

"Who knows?" responded another. "Whatever Kylo Ren orders, we do." Rey waited for several heartbeats before she decided to get a move on. These sidings had several convenient handholds, most likely for maintenance workers, and it made her task that much easier than her scavenging trips on Jakku. Rey climbed down to a lever and pulled said lever, allowing her into the maintenance tunnels. So much had gone right for her so far, it seemed crazy to hope for another miracle, but something kept telling her to keep going. Help was on the way. She didn't know how she knew, but she did.

Starkiller Base Flooding Tunnel Entrance

Mara knew that stealth was of the essence, which was why she took point as they approached the entrance. The Jedi Master had withdrawn her Force presence in order to prevent any Force users on this base from detecting her. It wouldn't be enough if these Knights of Ren came close enough, but it would do in order to avoid broader searches in the Force. She was more focused on the two guards standing right by the door who was about to open it. She motioned Finn back and prepared herself. The door opened.

"Hey!" shouted one of the guards before Chewbacca blasted him with his bowcaster, launching that unfortunate trooper back against the wall. Mara was just as quick, grabbing the trooper and snapping his neck with a quick, lethal efficiency that showed off her training as the Emperor's Hand. She regretted taking his life, but in order to keep a low profile, she had to be deadly. Finn glanced at Mara warily before stepping over the fallen trooper into the corridor.

Chewbacca and Kat moved the bodies into the doorway, hiding them from anyone who might wander down this way. "That's one helluva shot," Kat commented to Chewie, who responded with a proud roar.

Han tossed his jacket aside as he glanced down the corridor to make sure no one had heard the commotion. "The longer we're here, the less luck we're gonna have."

"The detention levels are a few corridors over," Finn began.

"Shields first, Rey second," Mara corrected. A part of her wondered just who this Rey person was that a former stormtrooper would risk everyone in the galaxy for. The name sounded familiar to her.

Finn's face fell ever so slightly before determination set in. "I have an idea about the shields." He glanced about, getting his bearings. "She should be a floor above."

"Who?" Kat asked curiously, glad to be in warm enough conditions to shed the bulky coat, revealing her silver and black outfit.

"You'll see."

The New Force Awakens

Captain Phasma was proud of her armor. It had been fashioned from the very same Nubian starship that Emperor Palpatine himself used for transport when he was still the Supreme Chancellor. As Emperor, he preferred using the Lambda Class shuttles to put on a show, but Phasma admired the man for what he had done for the galaxy, until that damn Rebellion had come along. No matter. With the New Republic shattered and Starkiller Base preparing to fire on the puny Resistance base, her dreams were on the brink of fruition. Though her idol was dead, his plans of galactic conquest lived on. Her ruminations were rudely interrupted by a roaring Wookie that came out of nowhere, slamming her against the wall and stunning the First Order captain. When she came to, she found herself with two blasters in her face, one held by an old, rugged looking man she identified as the infamous smuggler Han Solo. The other face she knew quite well.

"Hey Phasma, remember me?" Finn asked condescendingly. This woman had made his life a hell while he served in the First Order. All in the name of training, so they had claimed. Now, it was payback time.

"FN-2187," replied Phasma coolly. Finn hated that even with the helmet still on her head, Phasma would always look at him like he was something she had just scraped off of her chrome plated boot.

"Not anymore," he shot back, "The name's Finn now and I'm in charge!" Finn got no reaction from her, so he figured he'd repeat himself until she gave him the appropriate reaction. "That's right, I'm in charge!" A touch on the shoulder stopped him as he was getting worked up.

"Bring it down," Han said gently.

"You're going to help us lower the shields," Finn said happily to Phasma.

"And what makes you think I would do such a thing?" the First Order Captain asked, disdain reeking from her voice.

"Well, Chewie here can be very convincing," Han said, motioning to the Wookie. Phasma heard the roar of Chewbacca, but given the pressure on the side of her helmet, Phasma didn't dare to turn her head.

Still, she wasn't going to give in that easily. "Not even a Wookie can break First Order armor."

Han raised an eyebrow at that. However, another voice, a female voice got Phasma's attention from behind her. "Even if Chewie couldn't break the armor, I'm pretty sure the person inside the armor wouldn't last long." Phasma blinked several times to activate the HUD in her helmet. The woman standing next to Chewbacca took her breath away. She'd known about the Inquisitors of old, but she didn't expect to see the last Inquisitor of the old Empire here!

"It can't be," she gasped, turning around to behold Mara Jade with her own eyes. "The last Inquisitor!"

"Emperor's Hand," Mara corrected automatically. "Seriously Han, what gives? First Leia, then you, now this Chrome-trooper, all recognizing me as an Inquisitor. I was the Emperor's Hand! Not some dumb Inquisitor."

Han shot a look at Mara, as if to say Not in front of the prisoner. "Inquisitor, Hand, it's all the same to me. Now let's get to the control room." Mara nodded, giving Han that understanding look. She was going to need some clarification later.

The New Force Awakens

"Why did you call Master Mara an Inquisitor?" Katerina asked Han as Mara and Finn oversaw the chrome-plated stormtrooper at the shield control panel. The fight to take over the shield control room was too easy with Mara on point. Kat had defended the smugglers from any stray blaster fire while Han and Chewbacca took out the Stormtroopers with ease. Now it was a simple matter of deactivating the shields and getting the Resistance fighters in.

"Because that's what she was before the Empire fell," the old smuggler replied quietly. "After the battle of Endor, Luke found her on Myrkr with a band of smugglers during the Thrawn invasion. She tried to kill him too."

"But she was the Emperor's Hand, not an Inquisitor," Kat pointed out.

"I'm thinking this is some more dimensional shenanigans," Han said simply. "Tell me something. How are these twins of mine from your dimension?"

"I honestly don't know them that well personally," Kat answered. "You'd have to ask Master Skywalker about that. They're war heroes though! Jacen defeated the leader of the Yuzhaan Vong and Jaina was dubbed the Sword of the Jedi by Grand Master Skywalker! You'd be so proud!" Han grunted. To him, it was just one more thing he couldn't have.

"You're making a big mistake," Phasma told Finn as she keyed in the deactivation codes. Chewbacca just roared at her.

Mara rolled her eyes as Finn pointed his blaster at his former commanding officer. "Do it!" he barked at Phasma. The chrome-trooper began to type in a few more codes.

The Jedi Master nudged Phasma with the Force, enough to fling her hands away from the controls. "Take out those alarm codes you just put it."

Needless to say, the First Order captain was surprised. "How could you have possibly known?"

"You're too loyal to this First Order to not try something, even with a blaster pointed at your head," Mara pointed out. "Just plug in the deactivation codes, or we'll see how well First Order armor stands up to a Wookie." She pointed at the bodies on the floor. "I have a hunch that it won't last long."

"We aren't going to have much time to find Rey," Finn noted, getting right back to the original reason why he came here.

"Don't worry kid," Han said reassuringly. "We aren't leaving without her."

"Search and rescue," Kat said, "for one person on a planet sized Death Star."

"Sounds like another day in the Skywalker family," Mara joked.

"You can't be so stupid as to think this will be easy," Phasma retorted as she entered the final code. With the former Inquisitor watching her every stroke, the Captain had no choice but to input the proper deactivation codes. Still, this was not how she wanted to be remembered in First Order history. "My men will storm this block and kill you all!" She smiled underneath her helmet.

Mara snorted. With only one entrance, they could hold this little command center for days. "I'd like to see them try." She glanced at Katerina, who was watching the door, Force-senses extended outwards in an effort to ensure they weren't surprised.

"What do we do with her?" Finn asked as the screen indicated the shields were powering down.

"Is there a garbage chute?" Han asked with that all-too-knowing grin on his face. "Trash compactor?"

Finn grinned. "There is." Underneath her helmet, Phasma had a look of sheer disgust and indignation on her face. So much for the glorious stories in First Order history.

Hyperspace

Poe Dameran grinned as the orders came through. "Alright Black Squadron, let's do this! On my signal!"

"Copy that Black Leader," came the chorus of agreements from his squad mates. The transition from hyperspace was smooth and the X-Wings were zipping through the atmosphere towards the oscillator. Poe wondered if the legendary Rouge Squadron had ever felt this nervous when assaulting the second Death Star. It was now or never.

"Lock S-foils in attack position," Poe ordered, "Hit the target with everything you got!"

"Roger Black Leader!" Jess Testor said for everyone. Poe resolved to find the time to have a nice long conversation with that pilot when this was over, if they survived this long.

"Let's light this candle!" Poe shouted as the X-Wings began their bombing run. Several dozen proton torpedoes zipped from the undersides of the X-Wings and exploded against the black metal of the oscillator.

"Haha, direct hit!" shouted Black Five.

"It doesn't look like it did much," the old alien pilot known as the Bull noted.

"We gotta keep hitting it," Poe said, "As many bombing runs as we can get." Alarmed beeping from BB-8 got his attention. He glanced out his viewport and he felt the adrenaline of battle begin to pump through his veins. He lived for this stuff. "We got a lot of company!" TIE fighters, several full squadrons worth, were screaming towards the much smaller fleet of X-Wing fighters. Each and every pilot began the dance of death with multiple partners, where a single mistake could cost one or both of them their lives. The battle was on!

Next chapter guys, I promise Mara will meet Rey. After that, well, stuff's going down. It should be fun though. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

Response to Guest Reviews (In order with which they reviewed)

The Guest: I couldn't resist that little joke, hehe, glad you're enjoying the story and I hope to hear from you in future chapters!

Guest: 1) possibly, we'll see what happens next chapter. If a Jedi doesn't want to be found in the Force, well, there are ways to stay hidden

2) Possible, but not likely, as while she'd sense his resolve hardening, she wouldn't be able to tell what until it's too late, as it did seem like he could be swayed back to the light for just a second there.

3) Maybe, you'll have to keep reading

4) Lightsaber Duels are better on the big screen than on paper, but I'll do my best to try and capture that essence of the Star Wars lightsaber duel

JF: Glad you're enjoying the story, Mara's always been a favorite of mine. Hope to hear from you in future chapters!

Guest: 1) Han made that comment because he's a bitter old man who's seen his son become a terror to the galaxy. Then this woman shows up and claims he had twins. It's Han Solo. Of course he's going to be skeptical.

2) It's hard to ask about a dimensional counterpart while sneaking around a planet-buster base, but hey, I gave it a shot.

CG: 1) I honestly don't know. I'm making a lot of assumptions while writing this story. Whether or not Han & Leia knew about Rey from the beginning is entirely up for debate. How Rey learned the Wookie language is also confusing. Maybe Luke told them that his daughter was dead to keep her safe after he hid her (assuming Rey is a Skywalker of course). Episode 7 certainly complicated a lot of things in the Star War Universe.

2) There is so much possible material to go off of for movies. The Old Republic has so many great scripts right there in book form. With the impending success of Rouge One, I'm sure they'll sign off on a lot more independent Star Wars movies in the future (with Ewan McGregor talking about a possible Kenobi spin-off film, I'd think independent movies are going to become even more popular). It's great that one sci-fi story has brought us all together.

Guest: Glad you approve, although I'd say this is more dimensional travel than time travel. Semantics, I know. But rest assured, I will not abandon this story. I will try to finish the next chapter in less time than I did for this chapter, but life goes on. I got bills to pay, a mouth to feed, and work to do. I'll do what I can in my free time though.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? Please leave a review, as I welcome any and all constructive criticism. As an author, I'm always looking to improve. Until the next chapter my friends!

From your Nutty Buddy,

The Eagle Nut

PS: Follow me on Twitter Nuttybuddy792 for content involving sports, Star Wars, animes, and other popular stuff. Is this shameless advertising? Meh, whatever. You're not obligated to follow me, but it's greatly appreciated.