Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter.
So, I decided to not write out what I originally had planned for the next chapter, as I don't want to have too many generic battle chapters. I want to focus on what truly makes this story unique from the others in this series, that being the storyline. So, we're jumping quite a bit into the future.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 43- Passing the Torch
(October 2, 2050)
Rey smiles brilliantly as she noses the SF-15T Space Eagle she's flying. The SF-15T is a trainer variant of the venerable SF-15, which now serves as the main starfighter trainer for the Starfleet. After returning to Earth following the battle aboard the Supremacy, she had continued her training under the Skywalkers. This included further flight training to improve her piloting skills and making her more comfortable in any craft, as well as to improve her skills at aerial combat.
Now, she's on a training flight over the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern US. An experienced Terran flight instructor is in the backseat, taking mental note of her performance on this flight.
"Whoo-hoo. I like this. It handles so well," Rey says, throwing the SF-15 into several aileron rolls before reigning the fighter in again. She noses down, flying through a pass between two mountains before pulling the fighter into a climb, climbing up to 4,000 feet.
"Doing well so far, Miss Rey," the Commander in the backseat calls up to her. He then smiles as he says, "How do you feel about testing your G resistance?"
"Sure. What do you have planned?" Rey asks. Although mostly there to observe her performance, the instructor is also there to give her certain manuevers to perform to test her in certain areas.
"Just wait," the Commander says.
Rey is confused, wondering what he means by this. Then, suddenly, with no warning, she hears a beeping in her headset. The sound of the radar-warning system.
"What the-?" Rey mutters, turning her head from side to side in confusion.
"You didn't think it was going to be that easy, did you?"
Rey recognizes that voice. "Ben?" she calls out over the radio.
"You didn't think I'd miss out on this? I need to test you," she hears Ben's voice over the radio.
"Where are you?" Rey demands, swiveling her head.
"Down in my natural environment," comes the response.
Taking a hint from the word down, Rey banks the SF-15 slightly and scans the ground. Looking north, she spots something moving fast just above the Appalachians. It takes her only a second to recognize it as an F-16, moving at almost supersonic speed, heading straight for her.
"Fight's on, Rey," she hears Ben's voice over the radio before the F-16 banks up towards her, accelerating even further.
Rey noses down and banks left to close with the F-16. Seconds later, they pass, and in the brief moment before they streak past each other, Rey takes a good look at the F-16. Sure enough, she sees the chestnut-red paint scheme, with a US flag painted on one wing, an image of a horse on the other wing, and the symbol of the Jedi painted on the back. Yep, it's Ben, in his personal F-16.
The F-16 had continued to serve for a long time after the Galactic Civil War, due to its versatility and capability. However, eventually, first rate air forces began retiring the F-16, replacing them with F-35s, as the design was now over 50 years old. At this point, only Ukraine, Taiwan, Slovakia, and the Philippines still operated F-16s as combat aircraft, with a few more operating them as trainers. However, although most of the F-16s that had been retired had been scrapped, mothballed, or turned into museum pieces, a number of non-US operators had decided to offer some of their F-16s up on the public market for civilians to purchase. Given its history, its performance, and its reliability, it proved to be in high demand for fighter aircraft enthusiasts. At the moment, there are over a hundred F-16s owned privately around the world.
Ben had always been a pilot since he was little, trained by his father. After coming to Earth permanently after the destruction of the temple on Ossus, he found a private F-16 owned by a man who his father had befriended a long time ago. To his great pleasure, Ben had able to buy the F-16 from the man at a reduced price. The jet was a former Korean F-16V that had been retired in 2039. The jet had seen combat during the War on Terror and during the Galactic Civil War, with two TIE fighter kills under its belt during the defense of Earth during Operation Nightcloak.
Ben loved the jet, and had made some personal modifications to the avionics and other systems, and replaced its engine with a new engine he tinkered with himself, which increased the F-16's top speed to 1,560 miles an hour, making it the fastest F-16 ever built. Ben had named the jet Secretariat, to honor his love of horses and love of the story of the famed Triple Crown winner and a nod to its performance and speed being far beyond that of normal F-16s.
Rey watches as the F-16 goes streaking past her, turning immediately to try and get on her tail. Rey snaps the control stick in tight, turning into Ben to try and get on his tail.
The two pilots wrestle with their control sticks as they try to turn inside each other. Slowly, Ben begins gaining on Rey. Recognizing this, Rey levels her fighter and shoves the throttle forward, accelerating away from Ben. After gaining significant distance on Ben, she loops the fighter back around to face him. Coming around, she sees Ben coming up towards her, about two thousand feet below her. She smiles as she eases her turn slightly, then snaps hard towards him right as they merge. Ben immediately turns back towards her, but sees Rey has gotten the headstart on him. He quickly pulls up into a steep climb and shoves the throttle into afterburner, accelerating straight up. Rey turns towards him and then climbs up after him.
The two fighters rocket up into the air, with Ben about 10,000 feet ahead of her. Rey tries to get her gunsight centered on him, but Ben then pulls a move he's not expecting. He fully pops his speedbrakes and yanks the throttles back to idle. The F-16 stalls immediately and tumbles down towards the ground. Rey is caught off guard, and keeps climbing as the F-16 tumbles past her.
As the jet falls past Rey's fighter, Ben shoves the throttle forward and recovers Secretariat immediately, accelerating to 400 miles an hour in just a few seconds as he turns back towards Rey. Rey is trying to reverse her course and head back towards him, but cannot do it in time. Ben goes for a missile lock for his training Sidewinder, and gets a missile lock in just a few seconds.
"And, dead," Ben calls over the radio.
Rey sighs as she levels off the SF-15. Moments later, Ben carefully pulls his F-16 up into formation with Rey. He waves to her from his cockpit as he says over the radio, "Sorry, Rey. You're good, but not good enough to best me."
"I'll get you one day, Ben," Rey responds.
"Maybe. But that's not today. Ben and Secretariat win again," Ben says with a laugh before he finishes, "See you back at the field." He then banks away from Rey, heading back to the airport he flew from. Rey smiles and shakes her head before banking after him.
(Norfolk, Virginia)
As he gets out of his car, Jonathan feels a somber sense as he looks at the house his driver just parked in front of. He knows this will likely be one of the last times, if not the last time, he ever visits this house.
The last few months have been crazy for Jonathan. The war in the Andromeda Galaxy had continued to stalemate, but that didn't mean there was no action. The First Order had tried a few times to intercept Allied supply convoys. In retaliation, Jonathan had ordered a full scale attack on Kessel. He knew the Pykes and their space trade were a major supplier of funds for the First Order. The attack had destroyed the spice mines of Kessel and vast stocks of spice, as well as refinement facilities and transport vessels. The damage would likely take years to repair and get the spice operation going again, meaning that the First Order had lost a major source of funds.
The Resistance had also been busy, working to disrupt First Order supply operations and incite local rebellions against the First Order. Their biggest success came in July, when Leia had gathered the entire Resistance fleet and mounted an operation to Bothawui. The fleet had been able to destroy two ships of the First Order in orbit over the planet and devastate the garrison on the surface. The Resistance's smaller landing craft had then brought large shipments of arms down to the Bothans before the Resistance left just before First Order reinforcements arrived. The Bothans had used those weapons to since begin an insurgency against the occupiers.
Jonathan had been given leave after some time of no action, allowed to come back to Earth for a few days to visit family and confer with the Joint Command and Jedi Council in person. He had expected the brief trip to be relaxing. But he had not expected to have to make this visit.
Jonathan walks slowly up to the front door and knocks three times. A few moments later, the door opens, and a nurse answers the door. "Ah, Admiral. Thank goodness you're here. You got here just in time," she says.
"That bad?" Jonathan asks.
"Yes. Minutes at most," the nurse says before she steps aside to let Jonathan enter.
Jonathan walks into the house as he removes his officer's cap. Sure enough, resting in an armchair in the living room, looking more sickly than ever, is Thrawn.
"Admiral," Jonathan greets his mentor.
"Admiral," Thrawn says in return, nodding his head respectfully.
Jonathan walks over to Thrawn and sits down in a chair next to him. "So, this is it, huh?" Jonathan asks the Chiss.
"Indeed. Though I would much rather my death be on the battlefield than lying crippled in an armchair," Thrawn says.
"I know you would," Jonathan says with a chuckle. He pauses for a moment, then says, "Thrawn, I've always wanted to know…why did you agree to join the Alliance? You could've remained loyal to the Empire, but you chose to join our cause against the Empire. Why?"
Thrawn smiles a bit at the question. "I made the choice for several reasons. The first reason was that I saw your people as a better ally for my people than the Empire. And secondly…I had studied your planet extensively during my captivity. Your people had perfected war on a level the Empire or Republic had not. I saw a chance to build your military into a truly formidable fighting force through my tactics, and I saw the chance to test myself. I saw the potential within the Terran Alliance to one day rise up to rival the Empire. Not in numbers, but in warfighting potential."
Jonathan sits there for a moment before saying, "So, you joined us not for what we were?"
"No, not really," Thrawn says. His face grows more calm as he says, "I saw the raw potential within your people, and I wanted to be the one to help bring it out."
Thrawn is quiet for a moment before he says, "Jonathan, in my time as member of the Terran Alliance, I have seen the ability of your people to push beyond what seems possible, find hope in the midst of despair, and pull victories out of situations that would suggest defeat as the more likely outcome. But more than that, your mastery of combined arms warfare is one of your greatest military advantages."
Thrawn looks deeply into Jonathan's eyes before he whispers weakly, "Jonathan, my time has come. But before I go, I give you one last piece of advice: it is the one who is willing to take risks, and to never stop fighting, while confident in the strength of his men, who will win the victory. Numbers do not win a battle. It is the strength of the mind of the commanders and the fighting spirit of the men that win victory."
Jonathan sits there in silence for a moment, his mind replaying those words over and over again before slowly nodding in response. "I understand, Thrawn," he says.
"And remember this: it is no shame for a commander to recognize when his subordinates know something he does not, or that only they can accomplish a task he cannot. And your greatest weapon is your mind. Remember this," he says.
"I will," Jonathan says.
"Good," Thrawn says. He then rests his head back and says, "Remember what I have said here, and all I have taught you, and you will win victory." He then closes his eyes.
Jonathan sits there, watching Thrawn as he continues breathing for a few more moments before he suddenly stops. It takes Jonathan a moment to realize Thrawn has stopped breathing. "Thrawn?" Jonathan asks aloud to confirm what he already knows. Sure enough, the Chiss does not answer.
Jonathan slowly stands up before raising his hand in a final salute to his mentor as an admiral. He then pull out his commlink and presses a button to place a call to the Pentagon. As the call is picked up by Grand General Lawrence, Jonathan says, "General, this is Grand Admiral Page. I am calling to report that Grand Admiral Thrawn is dead."
Lawrence looks somber. "Copy that, Admiral. Remain with the body and await the honor guard to arrive to bring him to a funeral home to prepare him for burial," he orders.
"Yes, General," Jonathan responds before closing the call. He then looks down at Thrawn and inclines his head in respect.
(West Virginia, Skywalker homestead)
In the living room of Kelly's home in West Virginia, Kelly and Luke are sitting in the living room while on a conference call with Leia, who is currently with the Resistance fleet in the Outer Rim in Terran territory.
Kelly looks down at her phone, reading a text that she just received from Jonathan. She looks up at her husband and Leia and says, "I just got a text from Grand Admiral Page. Grand Admiral Thrawn has just passed away."
The trio are quiet for a moment before Leia says, "He may have had a controversial Imperial history, but he is the reason we won the war as easily as we did. He will be missed."
"And the benefit of consulting with him to help in the war is now gone. I just hope Jonathan will be up for this," Luke adds.
"He will. He's the best we have. He will lead our forces well," Kelly says.
There is silence for a few moments before Kelly speaks up again, "But no matter how good Jonathan is, and how many military defeats we deal to the First Order, it will mean little if we do not deal with the Knights of Ren…and their leader."
"I know. It is still hard for me to accept that my son…could fall so far," Leia says.
"I know, Leia, but we can't afford to think like that anymore. We have to deal with the fact that Kylo Ren is a serious threat. The fact he crippled Master Walker shows that," Kelly says. She pauses for a moment longer, then says, "Ben has beaten him once, but Kylo Ren will not let their next meeting be so easy, and I'm not sure Rey is ready. We need someone who can handle him. I think there's only one person out there can actually do what needs to be done and defeat him, or bring him back to the light." Kelly looks at Leia and says, "Leia, I know I don't really have the authority to tell you this. But the Resistance needs to dedicate themselves to a new mission. We need Jaina back, and I think it's up to you to find her."
Leia is quiet for a while before she says, "Kelly, I have looked for my daughter since she disappeared. But I have found no sign of her, nor has she ever tried to reach out to me. I don't know if I'll ever find her unless she truly wants to be found."
"Maybe, maybe not. But Leia, I really believe that Jaina is our best chance. We have to find her," Kelly says.
Everyone is quiet again before Leia says, "Very well. I will dedicate all of the Resistance's resources to trying to find her."
"Leia…we will bring her home," Kelly insists.
"I hope so…because I do not know if I can bear to lose another child forever," Leia says, thinking of memories of her daughter.
And, I'll end the chapter there.
Hope you liked this one, and hope you liked Ben having his own F-16. I chose having Ben name the F-16 Secretariat because I love the story of Secretariat, and because Ben's special modifications made it about 200 miles an hour faster than any other F-16, like Secretariat's large heart and his build made him so much faster than other racehorses.
Now, we come to the sad part. Thrawn's death. Thrawn had already lived longer than most other Chiss, so I figured it would be fitting to show his death. Now, I won't be showing his funeral, as I already have plans for two other funerals in this story, and I don't want to do too many funerals in this story.
Now, I've had quite a few people ask about Jaina in recent chapters. As shown in the end of this one, the search for her has really begun. Eventually, she will be found and return, but I'm not going to spoil anything about it. I will promise that you will see Jaina duel her brother at the end of this story.
Alright. That's it for today. Until next time, please leave a review, and stay tuned for the next chapter!