Chapter 12
Risky recon mission
On D'Qar, in the command center of the Resistance base, alarms were ringing in all directions. Although happy to have her best pilot back, General Leia Organa couldn't believe what the readings indicated. Her fears were confirmed by her communications officer.
Major Taslin Brance turns his gaze to the general, taking a moment to realize what he's about to say.
"General... the New Republic... the Senate... the entire Hosnian System... everything's gone."
A deathly silence settled over the room, everyone turning to Leia. There are forces in the galaxy that can demonstrate rare violence, but enough to destroy an entire system... it's simply impossible. Such destruction can't happen so suddenly, it can only mean one thing...
"Such a thing couldn't happen. There's no weapon capable of doing that." says Admiral Ushos O. Statura.
"No weapons to our knowledge... yet." replies General Organa.
The old lady trembles, looking for something to lean on.
"General, is everything all right?" asks her faithful golden droid, C-3PO.
Leia finally sits up, holding her head.
"I felt a great disturbance in the force... It's like Alderaan, but worse. Billions of deaths... no, tens of billions. Too many to count..."
She manages to stand up, looking terribly weak. Even if the heroine of a bygone war is no longer young, her condition at the moment has nothing to do with her physique. Leia felt something no one else in the command center did. Her link with the force made this possible.
Admiral Statura may have a lot of battle experience, but he's no exception to the shock felt by the Resistance high command. If this is true, the threat from this weapon would be worse than the two Death Stars combined.
"We must find the source of this weapon at all costs and destroy it before it can wipe out another world." General Organa says.
"Half a squadron of fighters is already ready to take off, General." Captain Wexley replies.
Leia simply nods before retiring to a quiet place. She needed time to digest the news and think of all the people who had perished. Naturally, she had a special thought for her envoy and friend, Korr Sella. Not that her life mattered more than others, but it was Leia who had sent her to Hosnian Prime, indirectly sealing her fate. Even if the Senate didn't pay her any attention, no one deserves such a fate. At this moment, it's for absolutely every person, ally or political enemy who has perished, that Leia's thoughts turn indiscriminately. Nobody deserves to see an entire planet destroyed. The former princess had seen her native world, her home Alderaan, die. And now it's happening all over again with a whole system.
"This must never happen again." she murmurs to herself as she closes her hand.
A little later, in a hangar on the base, three pilots are gathered together. Captain Temmin Wexley, his recently married wife Karé Kun and Jessika Pava stand in front of a strange vehicle.
"And so, this thing is a ship? You sure about this, Jess?"
"Of course, Snap." replies Pava "That's what we'll use to recon the First Order base, or their superweapon, whatever it is."
Wexley continues to watch the craft, as does his wife.
"You know there are no engines, weapons or even controls on your thing." Snap adds.
"Because it's not a ship you're flying. It attaches itself to the belly of an x-wing before detaching, taking the ship's velocity and gravity to do the rest."
"A rather rudimentary idea." Karé replies.
Jessika stands up to face the couple.
"Both of you, stop! General Organa wants us to find and analyze the First Order base by following the trajectory of the shot that destroyed the Hosnian System. This thing must be more heavily guarded than anything else in the galaxy, and must have a fair amount of defense both in space and on the surface. Going there with an x-wing would be the worst idea, except to die."
She points to her creation.
"So, I designed this ship without engines or controls to avoid detection by their scanners. It's light with the bare minimum, so no weapons, as it's a recon mission, not a combat one. The only thing inside the cabin is a survival ration, comms and a scanner. They won't detect any of this, and the ship is so small that at worst they'll think it's a crashing meteorite. We drop it, it scans the base, it floats up into the atmosphere, the x-wing picks it up and we're off. Any questions?"
Snap and Karé look at each other, unsettled.
"At least a dozen." he says.
"Throw in some more for me, Snap."
Jess sighs as she looks at them.
"It's all I've been able to do in the short time we've had. The First Order may already know where we are. I suspect the guys who showed up out of nowhere a few days ago and took off were spies. Anyway, I designed this pod, and I'll be sitting in it. I just need one of you two to take me there. Who's in?"
Wexley and Kun look at each other once more.
In orbit of Starkiller Base, Shon Drayen has asked some of the First Order's top officers to join him on his destroyer for a meeting. He enters the meeting room where a total of eight officers are already present, four on each side of the rectangular table.
Those present are General Armitage Hux, Admiral Vass Talar of the Supreme Leader's Will, Colonel Erich S. Datoo, Colonel Barrut of the Maxima-A-class heavy cruiser Fortitude, Commander Gideon Hask of the Retribution, Captain Moden Canady of the Siege Dreadnought Fulminatrix, Captain Edrison Peavey of the Finalizer and Lieutenant Teckly Das.
"Gentlemen and ladies, I'm delighted to see you're all here." Colonel Drayen says as he takes a seat at the head of the table.
"What's the point of all this Drayen? I'm not in a position to take orders from you." replies Hux
All the officers turn towards Shon Drayen.
"And I didn't ask you to do it, General. The reason for this meeting is much more important than you think, and I had to keep it secret to avoid any leaks. The Resistance is certainly planning an assault on Starkiller Base."
At the same time, not far away in hyperspace, the x-wing piloted by Karé Kun is closing in on the First Order base.
"Everything going well, Snap?"
While Jess should have been the one inside the pod, Snap actually insisted on taking part in the mission. He wanted to be with his wife on this dangerous mission.
"A bit cramped and I also feel very unsafe in this thing." he replies.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, we'll be there soon."
"'Better' wouldn't be the right word, given that I'm going to get dropped without really being able to do anything about it."
Karé prepares to exit hyperspace.
"You know, it's a good thing we insisted on this mission together. This conflict... we don't know how it's going to unfold; we may not have much time left. I intend to spend every possible moment with you, Snap." she confesses.
"Me too babe, me too."
The x-wing finds itself in front of the gigantic planet that serves as the First Order's base.
"Okay, I'm releasing the pod. Good luck my love." Karé says.
"It's going to be okay. I love you Karé."
At the same time, the small ship begins a rapid descent towards Starkiller Base. Karé stays out of range to avoid the sensors. The pod piloted by Snap passes close to the Servitor.
It was then that Reran Mossi spots what looks like a meteor surrounded by flames, descending on the base. She watches the object through the bridge bay from her comms station. She presses a button.
"Well, here's my hypothesis."
Just as Colonel Drayen was about to share his idea, he received a transmission from his chief petty officer.
"Mossi? What's going on?"
"I have a holographic scan to show you."
The next second, a holographic image appears above the meeting table. The object itself is not identifiable, only the trail it creates can be.
"It's just a pointless shooting star, Colonel." notices Admiral Talar.
"I highly doubt it..." Shon says scratching his chin.
Snap Wexley continues to descend.
"Captain Temmin Wexley, I'm beginning reconnaissance of the First Order base.. This thing is... massive. I have no other words. It's a planet that seems to have been transformed... into a weapon. I approach what appears to be the cannon, if I can call it that."
The pod's hull holds together despite entering the atmosphere.
"Jess did a great job; this thing holds up. I begin a complete scan of the base."
The flames get bigger and bigger, as the heat inside the vessel increases.
"Okay, now it's getting hot! Come on scan... hurry up and finish yourself."
Just after this, a small beep is heard. Snap immediately redirects trajectory to pull up and exit the atmosphere.
In the meeting room, the officers see the object make a curve on the hologram with a slight offset.
"It's a Resistance ship." notices Canady.
"But not one equipped with hyperdrive. There must be a ship that transported this pod here." adds Shon.
Karé spots her husband's ship through the cockpit window.
"Did you get everything?"
"Yeah... but the pod has taken a beating. I don't know how long it'll last..." replies Snap, having some troubles to speak.
"Don't move! I'm coming to get you!"
The dark-skinned female pilot swivels her x-wing to get closer to the battered little ship.
"No... I'll send you the data. Just take it back to General Organa."
"Snap, if you do that they'll intercept the transmission and come to your position!"
"Maybe they've already spotted me, but you still have a chance."
Karé loses patience.
"Temmin Snap Wexley, we haven't been married long enough for me to agree to become a widow. You're not sending me anything and you're going to let me pick you up and take you back to D'Qar."
Snap takes a moment to think.
"Okay, you can come."
"I wouldn't have left you a choice."
Having left the atmosphere, the pod begins to drift, chilled by the cold vacuum of space. The temperature inside becomes bearable again for Wexley. Karé makes a clever maneuver and manages to hang up the pod herself.
"Woah, nice piloting skills." Snap says impressed.
"What did you expect? Poe has a lot to worry about, I'm telling you!"
Despite this touch of humor, Snap Wexley isn't laughing.
"What's wrong, honey?" his wife asks.
"It's just... when I was down there, I saw this base up close. This thing has to be destroyed, but I doubt we'll manage it - the galaxy has never seen anything so gigantic."
"We're going to make it, I guarantee it." Karé says optimistically.
"I hope so... but I doubt many of us will survive."
As the x-wing speeds away, the senior officers aboard the Servitor see the same thing.
"You let them escape?" Barrut asks, a bit angry.
"We know where they're going. Colonel Drayen was able to identify the Resistance base via a confidential mission which he deemed unnecessary to inform the high command of, wasn't it?" Hux says looking at Drayen.
The colonel rises from his chair.
"I see you're forgetting an important detail, General Hux. My squad had been sent to Chandrilla on Kylo Ren's orders and, having identified the system in which the Resistance was hiding there, it was the Supreme Leader himself who authorized an infiltration mission. It was my men who, in two missions, identified the planet D'Qar in the Ileenium System as a Resistance base and traced the map leading to Luke Skywalker."
The other officers look at Hux.
"So, what are we waiting for to destroy this planet like we did the New Republic?"
"I second this decision, let's annihilate them if we know their position." adds Datoo.
Shon Drayen doesn't seem to think so.
"No. Now that the Resistance command will have confirmation on the base, they'll launch an attack as soon as possible. Their ship has surely had time to scan the entire base, or at least its surface."
"So, they know where the thermal oscillator is?" Erich S. Datoo asks.
"Yes, but Starkiller Base isn't an artificial base like the Empire used to have. It's a planet and we can't destroy its core. The only way would be to destroy the thermal oscillator while the weapon is recharging. The solar energy released would cause the planet to collapse, which is why it's best not to use the superweapon to destroy D'Qar, General Hux. The time to absorb a sun would allow a fighter attack and a potential danger for the base."
All the officers look at Drayen with surprise at the quality of his plan.
"I approve this plan." says Peavey "As a former Imperial, like four of us in this room, I couldn't bear the loss of a third base."
"He's right, let's not give the Resistance a chance. What do you propose to counter their assault, Colonel Drayen?" Gideon Hask demands.
"The Resistance's resources are more than limited, and they have even fewer ships than the Rebel Alliance did during the time they were based on Yavin 4. If I follow the logic of their assault on the first Death Star, they'll only send a handful of fighters, around twenty I'd say."
Vass Talar speaks up.
"That's all well and good, but what are you proposing?"
"I'll get to that." Shon continues calmly "Our Resurgent-class Star Destroyers won't be much use on their own, as their turrets will have trouble targeting such small and fast ships. Nevertheless, the TIE fighter pilots they contain will be useful as a first line of space defense."
A spatial map of the area around Starkiller Base appears as a hologram.
"Captain Peavey, you'll position the Finalizer here and you, Barrut, your heavy cruiser will serve us here." He says showing two strategic points. "As for me, my destroyer will be right here in the last line just before the atmosphere."
"Understood." replies the female colonel.
"You know that the Finalizer is my flagship, Colonel." Hux notices.
Drayen glances at the general.
"I'm aware of that, but Captain Peavey is still the destroyer's commander. You, Hux, I'm counting on you to lead the defenses in Precinct 47 with the help of Colonel Datoo. Ground turrets and our AT-PD walkers already form a good defense for the thermal oscillator, but fighters won't be in short supply to ensure aerial combat on the surface. And even if they manage to destroy their target, the base will remain functional. Only the weapon's recharging function will be affected, as we'll have nothing left to store solar energy, but this would be a minor inconvenience compared to losing the whole planet."
"Are you suggesting that the very principle of the Base Starkiller could be lost? Are you serious?" Hux asks astonished.
"This would only be a last resort, and the odds are very slim given the defenses we'll be putting in place. Be happy, General, I've come up with a plan to prevent the destruction of your precious base. Following your plan, the oscillator would have become a giant bomb which, once destroyed, would have caused the whole base to explode."
The officers continue to stare at Colonel Drayen with a sort of amazement.
"The Supreme Leader must be notified immediately." says Datoo.
"I've already told the Supreme Leader my plan. Even before this meeting, I had a private communication with Snoke to inform him that I suspected a potential Resistance attack. With the recent discovery of the enemy recon mission, I've had to adjust my plan slightly, but in broad terms, he already knows everything." replies Shon
"Well, in that case, if everything's planned, I'll go back aboard my ship." Admiral Talar says getting up.
Other officers do the same and leave the room. Just as Shon Drayen was about to do the same, he is interrupted by Moden Canady.
"Colonel, could you give me a minute in private?"
"Certainly, Captain Canady. Is it about the plan?"
"Yes and no." replies the veteran captain.
Canady takes a moment before speaking again.
"You're an excellent strategist, Drayen. Even if you've never been in battle before, your plan is very solid."
"Thank you, Captain. I've analyzed many battles from the time of the war between the Rebels and the Empire, including some of yours. With each Imperial defeat, I asked myself just one question: why did the rebels win? I took every factor into account to come up with a different plan that would have resulted in a victory for the Empire."
"You sound like Grand Admiral Thrawn. I never met him in person, but his strategies and military skills were well known throughout the Empire."
The colonel realizes the importance of these words.
"I'm a mere admirer of Thrawn's genius, I'm far from being on his level. If you ask me, people like you, veterans of the Empire, should be making the big military decisions. You were a captain then; you should be an admiral now. Hux has been advantaged by his father's name to reach his position, there's no merit in that."
"I agree with you, I despise him enormously." replies Canady "I serve the First Order as proudly as I served the Empire, but many of the officers are too young and inexperienced, like my crew aboard the Fulminatrix. You, however, may be young, but you have potential, and if this mission is a success, I would consider you a valuable asset to the First Order Navy."
The captain puts a friendly hand on Drayen's shoulder.
"Hearing this from a veteran is something I don't take lightly, and I'd be delighted to have you as my close combat partner. The Mandator IV-class Siege Dreadnought you command is a formidable warship with rare firepower. We have very little of it, so it's all the more precious. But given its usefulness in space combat, you'll understand why I have to leave you out of the attack." Colonel Drayen says.
"Of course. It's a ship with the power of a dozen Star Destroyers, used for planetary bombardment and fleet destruction. It would be useless against an onslaught of fighters."
"Precisely. I would nevertheless like to thank you for attending this meeting."
"A shared pleasure." replies Canady before walking to the door.
Just before leaving, he turns to Colonel Drayen.
"Long live the First Order." he says.
Shon, at first surprised, answers too.
"Long live the First Order."