INSIDE THE FALCON GUN WELL AREA
Rey reaches for the controls only to whirl around when the cockpit doors suddenly slide open and both Finn, BB-8, and Zedric enter. Her eyes dart to the timer still running on Finn's wrist control showing ten standard minutes. She opens her mouth to speak.
Finn: (interrupts—no arguing) "We're coming with you."
Rey: (surprised and then determined) "What...wait..no you can't."
Finn holding up the timer: (determined) "We don't have time to argue and you can't stop us."
BB-8 hoot approval and Zedric nods in agreement.
Rey: (grateful) "Thank you."
RUINS OF ALDERAAN
The Falcon shoots out of the indicator and dives almost immediately to avoid an incoming First Order fighter. The First Order fighter streaks past and blast a TIE that was defending the indicator. Blaster fire lances out from the indicator, but misses the First Order fighter. The storage space of the fighter opens and a bomb drops. It hits the indicator and destroys one of the gravity wells.
BRIDGE OF THE FIRST ORDER FREIGHTER
Female IT: (dark blue stripe) "Partial gravity zone collapse on the far side of the battle area."
Male Combat: (orange stripe) "Significant damage to all enemy ships and average loss by Order."
Captain: "Press the attack."
Combat Male and Female: (unison) "At your command Captain."
RUINS OF ALDERAAN
Blaster Fire from another fighter closer to the First Order freighter strikes the Dark Millennial. The hit ripples out and return fire destroys the First Order fighter.
Two TIE fighters dodges blaster fire from one First Order fighter only to be destroyed by another.
An X-wing followed closer by two First Order fighters orbits around an asteroid four times the size of itself. As it rounds the asteroid, a waiting TIE fighter blasts the two fighters following the X-wing.
A First Order bomber scores a direct hit on a republican cruiser.
The Falcon twists and blaster fire misses the ship. The Falcon's sublight glows a deeper blow and it shoots forward even faster.
COCKPIT OF THE DARK MILLENNIAL
Loreanna piloting the ship looks out the viewport and sees the Falcon weaving it's way through enemy lines and drawing closer to the First Order freighter.
Loreanna: "What is the icy torments of Hoth are they doing?"
COCKPIT OF THE FALCON
Zedric is flying. The ysalmiri is now on his lap. Rey is in the copilot seat. Finn is sitting in the jump seat behind them. BB-8 is next to him.
Loreanna: (over the comlink) "Rey, we'll find another way to stop him. You don't have to do this."
Rey: "Wrong! This involves both my family and my past."
Loreanna: (over the comlink) "I can't believe this. You're volunteering to strand yourselves in enemy territory. You might never come back."
Rey: "That doesn't matter. Even if I don't come back, I'll survive...we all will."
COCKPIT OF THE FALCON
Shot of the timer showing 60 seconds remaining.
COCKPIT OF MARAE'S VICTORY: LIGHTYEAR AWAY FROM RUINS OF ALDERAAN
Poe is sitting in the cockpit of Marae's Victory with Rose behind him. A light flashes on the control board and Poe reaches up and pulls the hyperdrive.
NEW REPUBLICAN SPACE
Marae's Victory and the slaved freighter jump into hyperspace.
COCKPIT OF THE FALCON
Shot of the timer showing 30 seconds remaining.
RUINS OF ALDERAAN
Marae's Victory and the slaved freighter are pulled—thanks to the imperial indicator-from hyperspace directly behind the First Order freighter.
MARAE'S VICTORY COCKPIT
Rose: "Slave circuit jump successful."
She looks out and sees all the battle debris: "We've lost a lot of people."
Poe's grip tightens on the flight controls: "We're not losing any more."
He turns the flight controls to the right.
RUINS OF ALDERAAN
In perfect sync with Marae's Victory, the freighter also turns to the right and the two ships head directly towards rear of the freighter.
The Falcon turns upside down as it veers up and over a defense line. It spins as it dives towards the opening of the First Order freighter.
INSIDE THE FREIGHTER
The Falcon flips upside down as it sails under an outbound First Order ship.
RUINS OF ALDERAAN
A shot from the Dark Millennial destroys another First Order ship.
Another First Order fighter shoots at the oncoming slaved freighter about to ram their ship. The slaved freighter has no shields, so the shot blasts a corridor open to vacuum, but the ship continues forward as other shots set the ship on fire.
COCKPIT OF THE FALCON
Shot of the timer showing 3 seconds remaining.
TUNNEL
The Falcon sails into the tunnel at full speed.
INSIDE THE GATE ROOM
The countdown on the explosives hit zero. The explosives erupt. The Kyber crystals initially absorb part of the blast before the energy causes them to shudder and erupt with a force five times greater than the initial explosives.
Waves of flames fill the empty gate room minus a few bodies left on the catwalks and flood the tunnel
TUNNEL
Large balls of rolling fire flood the tunnel right behind the Falcon.
FIRST ORDER HANGER
The Falcon hurtlers to the left and enter the chute only moments ahead of the wall of flames.
CHUTE
The Falcon speeds up the chute with fire tailing and slowly overtaking it.
ALPHA 42
A geyser of fire erupts from the chute pouring down specks of fire that fizzle and die.
The Falcon screams out of the midst of the flames and bolts directly towards space.
BRIDGE OF THE FIRST ORDER FREIGHTER
The ship trembles a little.
Female IT scans her system readout: "Sir, we've lost gate connection."
Male IT: "Incoming freighter has increased speed and hasn't changed course. They're tracking to ram us."
There's silence for a moment.
Captain: "Order all ships to make a run for the collapsed area of the gravity trap and regroup at Prima 6."
Male and Female Combat: "At you command Captain."
The captain looks at of the viewport at the New Republican and Imperial ships that have the freighter boxed in...his gaze fixes on the Lucente.
RUINS OF ALDERAAN
A First Order fighter breaks off an attack and zooms away from the battle. Others quickly follow. The sublights of the First Order Freighter flair to life and the ship shifts and the freighter turns towards the Lucente.
COCKPIT OF MARAE'S VICTORY
Rose: (looking at her data pad)"Enemy ship on the move. Trajectory course...they're going to hit the Lucente."
Poe's face goes white and his jaw tightens. He looks over the battle field measuring the distance between themselves and the First Order freighter and the freighter and the Lucente.
Rose: "Are we going to make it?"
Poe tightens his grip on the flight controls and says nothing
BRIDGE OF THE LUCENTE
Alarms ring across the bridge. Admiral Ozard and Vice-Admiral West are standing of the bridge. A female technician on the deck slight lower than theirs rapidly reports.
The technician is an older human female.
The years of fighting between the rebels/new republic and empire resulted in massive trained personal loss on both sides, so it is not unusual to see older individuals serving in high demand positions.
Female Technician: "Sir, enemy freighter is matching course change."
Admiral Ozzard: (to the crew on the bridge) "Continue evasive attempts."
LOWER DECK ON THE LUCENTE
Vice-Admiral West (over loudspeaker) "Close the blast doors on all decks. I repeat, close the blast doors."
Large double blast doors (like the ones in Star Wars: A New Hope) close. A middle aged non-armored human male solider watches the control panel on the wall and nods in confirmation when a light goes solid green to indicate the door is closed and sealed.
RUINS OF ALDERAAN
The First Order freighter is bearing down on the Lucente. The slaved freighter is close behind.
COCKPIT OF MARAE'S VICTORY
Poe looks out the window and measuring the distance between the ships, smiles.
Poe: "Not today."
He pulls on the lever down by his side.
RUINS OF ALDERAAN
The afterburners on both the Marae's Victory and the slaved freighter burn brightly and both ships shoot forward at incredible speed to cover the last remaining short distance.
The slaved freighter rams directly into the First Order freighter. The shield initially holds, flickers, and collapses. The fiery hulk of the slaved freighter crash into the First Order freighter setting the ship on fire and tearing it to pieces.
BRIDGE OF THE FIRST ORDER FREIGHTER
The bridge shakes and sparks erupt from the control panel. The two IT techs jump up from their seats as their systems explode. The captain grabs the flight controls and shoves the thruster lever forward.
RUINS OF ALDERAAN
The engine of the First Order freighter glow deeper. The ship lurches forward and splits due to the sudden push. Half of the freighter falls barely scraping the edge of the Lucente. The other half is pushed forward directly towards the bridge of the Lucente.
BRIDGE OF THE LUCENTE
Admiral Ozzard stands unyielding as the fiery debris looms over the bridge out the viewport.
RUINS OF ALDERAAN
Remnants of the First Order freighter crash into the bridge of the Lucente. The bridge is destroyed. Flaming remains damage other parts of the ship, but the rest of the Lucente isn't destroyed.
The First Order fighters that retreated and past the edge of the gravity well trap disappear into hyperspace.
SPACE ABOVE ALPHA 42
The Falcon leaves the plant's atmosphere with several fighter close behind and another dozen blockading its path.
COCKPIT OF THE FALCON
Rey and Finn both have an intense look on their faces. Zedric is flying with his eyes closed. A shot hits the ship.
BB-8 squeals.
Finn: (as he stands) "That's it. I'm going to…"
Rey: "Wait!"
Zedric suddenly pulls back on the controls.
SPACE ABOVE ALPHA 42
The Falcon comes to a complete stop. The pursuers following the Falcon break off their attack and turn back towards the planet. The dozen ships blockading shift outwards leaving a large hole for the Falcon.
COCKPIT OF THE FALCON
Finn: "What the"
Rey's comlink chirps. She answers and a small hologram of Warden Exivy wearing her full warden outfit appears.
Warden Exivy: "You are fools to have returned."
Rey: "Yet, you're letting us go?"
Warden Exivy: "See it as thanks for liberating valuable resources."
Rey: "Explain.'
Warden Exivy gives a measured look before shrugging her shoulders: "The Force-bridge was taxing to activate. Enough wielders perished every time that the bridge would have soon been inoperable."
Rey: (shock) "That means"
Warden Exivy: "Correct, your coming here simply hastened the process a dozen or so uses earlier. Now the remaining wielders can serve other functions and thanks to your help, something far more valuable was gained."
Rey: "You mean the genetic code the Supreme Leader wants for his pets."
Warden Exivy is silent for a moment.
Warden Exivy: (sincere praise) "You do have a fine Force ability." (smirk) "Pity you still lack intelligence."
Rey tenses with anger, but before she can move or speak, Zedric gives a sharp look and shakes his head. She looks at him for a moment and then takes a deep calming breath.
Zedric pushes forward on the flight controls
Rey: "We'll see who's the fool when we meet again."
SPACE ABOVE ALPHA 42
The Falcon flies past all the blockading ships into clear space.
COCKPIT OF THE FALCON
Zedric pulls on the hyperdrive. The The stars start to streamline.
SPACE ABOVE ALPHA 42
The Falcon disappears into hyperspace.
BRIDGE OF THE INDICATOR CRUISER
The emperor in person is standing on the bridge of the indicator looking out the viewport at the heavily damaged Lucente. General D'ect is behind him. Loreanna is standing to the emperor's right.
RUINS OF ALDERAAN
The bridge of the Lucente is completely gone. There are several massive scorch marks scattered across the star destroyer with most of them clustered around the gaping hole where the bridge had been attached.
BRIDGE OF THE INDICATOR CRUISER
General Iblis approaches from behind.
General Iblis: "Emperor Stint, Chancellor Luc and the Council of Defense invite you to join them."
Emperor Stint says nothing though he turns and heads towards the communication room. Loreanna follows with General D'ect and Bel Iblis coming after them.
COMMUNICATION ROOM ON THE INDICATOR
The room has a long functional oval table in the center. The walls are unadorned. Emperor Stine, General D'ect, Loreanna, and General Iblis are seated together. Loreanna is sitting to the right of Emperor Stint. General D'ect is to his left. General Iblis is sitting to General D'ect's left. The rest of the chairs are filled with holograms of the council of defense members, and Chancellor Luc.
Chancellor Luc: (to everyone) "This is a great victory for both the New Republic and United Imperial Worlds." (more to Emperor Stint) "Though my condolences for the loss of Admiral Ozzard.
Emperor Stint inclines his head in appreciation while staying silent.
Chancellor Luc: "I understand rescue efforts are going well."
Emperor Stint: "They are. Thanks to Admiral Ozzard's lock down, only a fraction of the crew were exposed to vacuum when the bridge was destroyed."
Chancellor Luc: "May such luck be bestowed upon all our warriors."
Loreanna Solfel; (bluntly) "Luck had nothing to do with their survival. It's standard procedure to lock down a ship. Admiral Ozzard was a very capable commander."
NEW REPUBLIC COUNCIL OF DEFENSE CHAMBER
Leia winces slightly at Loreanna's lack of tact.
Chancellor Luc (slightly off balance, but ever a true politician recovers) "He was a fine commander...and will be greatly missed.
Leia: "I agree. Men of his caliber are needed now more than ever." (she pauses and no one interrupts) "The threat of the Force-bridge may be gone, but our trade lanes and hyperspace routes are still not safe so long as their ships roam our territories and threaten invasion at the border."
General Tokko: "Counselor Solo is correct. How are we going to better defend our border?"
Lieutenant Pryree: (softly) "I had a thought."
He pulls out a date card and slides it into the reader. A moment later, a hologram of the first Death Star appears.
Leia instantly stiffens, Counselor Ern'Est growls, General Bel Iblis' hands tighten, General D'ect's eyes widen, and Emperor Stint looks thoughtful.
Counselor Bittim: "Do you have bloggin brains?"
Lieutenant Pryree: (soft and firm) "We'd only build it strong enough to destroy ships not...not…." (stops and continues more firmly) It's a flying fortress. Working together we could build a modified one in several months. It alone would guard the border and free our ships for other tasks."
COMMUNICATIONS ROOM ON THE INDICATOR
Several members of the Council of Defense roil with the logic of Lieutenant's argument and the horror of the Death Star.
Emperor Stint: (gently) "An interesting idea."
Several shocked faces including General D'ect look at him.
Emperor Stint: "Lieutenant Pryree suggests a modified version that isn't as powerful. If the purpose is defense, make it offensive only when defensive."
The eyes of every hologram are on him. Loreanna smiles in understanding.
Counselor Crudgem: "We don't need word games."
Imperial Hand Loreanna Solfel: "It isn't a word game Counselor Crudgem. Simply a larger version of the Dark Millennial."
NEW REPUBLIC COUNCIL OF DEFENSE CHAMBER
Counselor Forp Eas: "I see. The Dark Millennial is covered by an ore that absorbs blaster fire. A weapon of defense that is powered by enemy attack."
Eyes widen in understanding.
Captain Mahogany: (tone demanding answers) "My understanding is that the ore is difficult to mine and shape. How do you intend to build a massive space station?"
COMMUNICATION ROOM ON THE INDICATOR
Imperial Hand Loreanna Solfel: "We won't build a space station….or at least not a Death Star."
Counselor Jaqueline, Bittim, and Crudgem looked confused. General D'ect and Emperor Stint look thoughtful and without worry because they both trust Loreanna. Loreanna pulls out a datapad and quickly enters a command.
Imperial Hand Loreanna Solfel: "The Death Star is a symbol of terror. We need a symbol of unity."
She hits enter on the datapad.
NEW REPUBLIC COUNCIL OF DEFENSE CHAMBER
A hologram of a decagon prism appears.
Counselor Jaqueline: "It looks like a lightsaber handle."
Imperial Hand Loreanna Solfel: "Jedi serve the galaxy. They recognize no political boundary. The symbol of the Jedi—this Dark Saber–will be our symbol of a continued united front.
VIEW AREA OF A SHIP AT CONSTRUCTION SITE IN SPACE
Loreanna dressed in supervisor attire is standing at a giant window with Chewbacca by her side looking out a the bare bones frame work of the construction project for the Dark Saber.
This is about a month later
ENCLOSED LIVING ROOM OF AN APARTMENT ON CORUSCANT
The room is empty except for Leia sitting in a chair and a hologram of Emperor Stint sitting on the chair across the small coffee table, and C-3PO in the background standing quietly.
Leia: (angry) "You named her your representative and gave her full authority to speak on behalf of the United Imperial Worlds for the Dark Saber project. How could you assign that to her? It's bad enough she was part of Ezra-One, but this? War should be left to adults!"
Emperor Stint: (calmly) "She's 18 this week. A few years older than yourself when you began taking part in rebel activities."
Leia humphs.
Leia: (accusive) "Do you realize how your actions could be interrupted? What some might begin to think? You can't possible intend?"
She trails off as the Emperor's steady firm gazes confirms that he does intend.
Leia shakes her head in a mix of disbelief and shock.
Emperor Stint: (firm and gentle) "Loreanna is not like you."
Leia: (accepting a hard truth) "No, she isn't. She's more like Han, Luke, and even Admiral Acbar. They were able to let things go, move on, trust that others could do the job bear the weight. I couldn't...I haven't...not since...since"
(pause)
Emperor: "Could you now?"
Leia looks at him puzzled.
The emperor holds up a small beautifully brass band box. He opens it so that only Leia sees what is inside. Her eyes widen slightly in great shock.
Emperor Stint: "You and I both know where she lacks the most, and you know better than most the training needed to overcome such a habit."
Leia's lip tightens but she says nothing.
Emperor Stint: "I expect an answer before the completion of the Dark Saber."
Leia nods in agreement.
Leia: "Does Loreanna know?"
Emperor Stint: "She does and has accepted it."
Leia: "Than she'll…"
Emperor Stint: "Yes, she will soon be named heir to the United Imperial Worlds and future empress."
Emperor Stint wants the throne to pass to the best candidate instead of a family heir. While Loreanna is still rough in some areas—mostly tact, she has the qualities to be an empress. She desires to maintain peace with the New Republic, understands the price of power, listens to both sides of the stories, knows how to delegate, can see the whole and small picture, can communicate with beings of high and low status, highly intelligent, understands tactics, values life and quality of life, is a leader, comfortably wields authority, and listens to advice. Emperor Stint approached her with his proposal shortly before her investigation of the Red Scar pirates or prior to Star Wars Alternate: The Unknown Awakens. He gave her half a year to answer his proposal. Her being his chosen heir is why he said her loss would be great. Loreanna agreed after talking to Mara.
Around the point when Mara was finally able to spend more time on Yavin, New Republic diplomats started urgently requesting Luke's personal attention on matters that took him away for weeks at a time. Mara held her tongue for months until she couldn't take it anymore and kidnapped—though Leia strongly suspects that Luke was in on the whole thing (a suspicion that Luke has never confirmed or denied)—her own husband and the pair disappeared for two weeks. All efforts to find or contact them proved useless. When they returned, neither would say where they had been. Starting from that, once a year, Luke and Mara disappear completely for two to three weeks. Leia suspects that during their disappearances, they either do one or all of the following: Go on a vacation to various wonder spots across the galaxy, go to a non-populated world and enjoy the solitude for a bit, or take down entire pirate gangs/criminal groups. (Mara did slightly confess to taking out a pirate gang on one of the secret adventures.) If New Republic officials badger Luke about leaving without announcement or a way to be contacted, Luke asks them how their most recent "business" trip to a luxury planet on New Republic funds went. (Information he has thanks to Leia.) They stop badgering him after that. Luke has noted that only those who are misusing their privileges badger him. Just officials figure out on their own why he disappears. If those same officials ask Mara, she greets them with a smile so warm and friendly that it feels like winning a grand prize before turning to an icy glare so strong that it freezes people and a tone so cold that no one has ever repeated her explanation. Mara did once explain to Leia that she can bear to share Luke with the whole galaxy as long as he is hers for at least two weeks out of the year. (Leia wasn't too happy since she herself has never been able to fully put her family before her responsibilities.)