CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Crait
“I’m not sure how I feel about this.”
General Leia Organa stood at the meeting room table surrounded by her fellow generals and the holographic forms of the Resistance’s allies. In addition to Talon Karrde from the Smugglers’ Alliance, Kadar and Argus Ordo of the Mandalorians, and General Onyx of the Glorian Remnant, they were now joined by a woman known as Danielle Kieran, Pirate Queen of the Veiled Sorority.
Leia had been told about her by Han shortly after the incident on Ord Mantell, although she had long heard rumors about Han having an illegitimate daughter running around. It didn’t really surprise nor upset her, having long since come to terms with the fact that her husband had had plenty of flings well before meeting her. Still, based on some of the research she had conducted on Kieran’s backstory, some elements didn’t line up, as her supposed year of birth contradicted the dates of when Han would have known and engaged in any sort of relationship with her mother Qi’ra. And if Kieran’s date of birth correct, then it meant she would have been born when Han was still in the servitude of Garris Shrike.
In any case, now was not the time to dwell on those facts. Instead, the leaders of the Resistance were gathered here for the first time since the Battle of Mandalore to debate Kieran’s proposal, as well as the prospect of allying with the Imperials that Commander Dameron’s team had encountered on Darkknell.
Under different circumstances, Leia would have rejected the proposal outright. But given their current predicament, she had no choice but to take it into serious consideration.
“How easy would it be for use to even retake Corellia?” she said, her attention focused solely on Kieran. “Isn’t it still under the Alliance’s control?”
“Based on intelligence reports, the Corellian government is in shambles in the absence of Thrackan Sal-Solo,” said Admiral Ackbar. “The acting governor-general has placed the entire sector under lockdown, citing local unrest. As far as we know, the Alliance has not yet moved in to address the situation.”
“They’re probably trying to cut their losses after the Sal-Solo fiasco,” muttered General Helricks. “I wouldn’t be surprised if the First Order moved in to take it, especially if they’re still trying to pretend that they and the Alliance aren’t allies in all of this, if not the same entity.”
“That is a strong possibility,” said Argus Ordo. “The First Order was abrupt in its withdrawal from Mandalore and didn’t really give us much of a fight. They still have a blockade around our sector, but a lot of their capital ships have been called away. It’s possible they’re being recalled for a move on Corellia.”
“I can confirm that the First Order’s presence out here in Wild Space has become increasingly less stronger than it was at the start of our mission,” said General Onyx. His holographic image flickered in and out due to the remoteness of his present location. “I’m not sure if their ships are being called to replace those missing in the Outer Rim or if there is something else afoot.”
Leia pressed her hands down onto the table. “And what about these Imperials on Darkknell? How do we fit them into all of this?”
“We don’t,” Helricks said firmly.
Commander Dameron shifted on his feet. “I have a direct line to Admiral Horan if you would like to speak to him, Generals.”
Helricks shot him a look. “What did I just—”
“Do it,” Leia said.
While Helricks stared at her in disbelief, Poe patched in a call to Darkknell, making sure the channel was secure so that it would not be intercepted by the government in Xakrea. Within moments, the holographic image of a man in an unkempt Imperial officer’s uniform joined the rest at the table.
“Admiral Trebor Horan reporting in,” the man said with a bow. “A pleasure to meet you personally, General Organa.”
Leia offered a wane smile in return. “Likewise, Admiral. We do owe you for helping us at Rhen Var during the… previous war.” She glanced furtively at Onyx, apprehensive of how the Glorian would react.
To her relief, Onyx seemed to take Horan’s presence with grace. “Ah, so you are one of the men responsible for General Dalax’s defeat. I must say, I hold genuine respect for anyone capable of besting a Glorian in combat.”
Horan smiled thinly. “I can’t personally take the credit for that, General. But thank you, nonetheless.”
Helricks hung her head low. “I can’t believe this,” she muttered. “What have we come to, resorting to allying with smugglers, Mandalorians, and our own enemies in order to find success?”
“I must admit, I thought the same at Mandalore,” Leia said. “But the Mandalorians and the Imperials have helped us in the past, and the Glorians aided us at Mandalore.” She then smirked. “Plus, I am married to a smuggler. So please, keep present company in mind and be open-minded to opportunities that may prove fruitful.”
“Agreed.” Horan rubbed his hands together. “Now then, does anyone care to catch me up on present matters?”
After he had been told about Kieran’s proposal, the Imperial admiral was left rubbing his chin in thought.
“It’s certainly a drastic move,” he mused. “One that would certainly throw the whole galaxy off-balance. Well, more than it is already.”
“I see the potential in such chaos,” said Onyx. “As I’m sure many of you here are aware, my people had infiltrated your respective governments prior to our invasion in an effort to seed imbalance and leave your galaxy vulnerable for our conquest.” He instinctively raised his hands to ward off the glares that Helricks and several of the other commanders were sending his way. “I understand that, in our hands, such a strategy proved to be harmful towards you and many innocents. But in your hands… perhaps it can do some good instead.”
“Are you suggesting we infiltrate the First Order and the Alliance?” asked Leia.
“If you think such a strategy would work. But I was thinking more generally along the lines of instigating instability. After all, what is the opposite of order… but chaos?”
Talon Karrde stroked his beard. “If we take Corellia and establish a new government, then we give systems an option other than the Alliance or the First Order.”
“And if the true Empire reestablishes itself,” added Horan, “then we give them another.”
“Jagged Fel is an agent of ours,” Leia pointed out. “He might be able to get you in touch with the Chiss Ascendancy and they could potentially work with you towards making that happen. I understand that Grand Admiral Thrawn had attempted to build his own Empire combining Imperial and Chiss ideologies….”
Helricks glowered at her. “You can’t seriously be considering this. If we go through with this, then we will create complete pandemonium in the galaxy. Countless innocents may die because of this, trapped in the crossfire.”
“They are dying already,” Argus Ordo said pointedly. “Might as well have them die for a good cause.”
Leia glanced at Helricks, and while she could tell the other woman was still heavily skeptical about—if not outright opposed to—the plan, the gray-haired general offered no further objections. Leia then turned her attention back to the rest of the table.
“Very well. Let us not waste any more time with deliberations. It’s time to put this plan into motion.”
* * *
“You’re leaving?”
Toah paused on his way to the Renegade, awaiting him in the vast hangar bay of the Crait Outpost. He looked over his shoulder to see Finn rushing up to him and stopped to meet the younger man.
“Yes,” Toah replied. “I’m on my way to Tython. I have to inform the Council about what happened on Darkknell.”
“About Rey, you mean?” Finn said.
Toah bowed his head and sighed. “Yes, essentially.”
Finn fidgeted for a moment before saying, “I want to come with you.”
Toah looked up at him in surprise. “You do?”
“Yes.” Finn nodded firmly. “I want to learn the ways of the Force. You know I have it. I want to become a Jedi.”
Toah stared at him, searching the other man’s eyes. The eagerness he saw in Finn’s eyes was the same eagerness he had seen in Rey’s when he had first met her on Jakku and brought her to Tython. The events of the past few months came rushing back, culminating in his vision of Zarin’s death at Rey’s hands, and he closed his eyes to shut them out.
“No,” he said quietly, about to turn away. “You’re needed here.”
Finn grabbed his arm to stop him. “I’m just a soldier here. A soldier that nobody trusts. No one’s said it to my face, but I know some people here still blame me for what happened on D’Qar. I’ve even heard some whispering about me being an Imperial plant who led them to the remnant on Darkknell.” He shook his head in exasperation. “I can’t stand it anymore. I need to be somewhere where I won’t be judged for my past.”
Toah arched an eyebrow. “I don’t think you know the Jedi Order that well if you think they’re completely free of judgment.”
“I understand that. But don’t the Jedi teach forgiveness? Besides, it’s not like I used to be a Sith Lord or anything like that. I don’t have that kind of baggage.”
Toah couldn’t help but snort at that. “You have a fair point there, I will admit.”
He looked back at the Renegade, chewing his lip in contemplation. He then said to Finn, “Are you all packed?”
Finn nodded.
“Have you told General Organa?”
Finn shook his head.
“Then I’ll take the earful for you. Come on, let’s go.”
Finn beamed gratefully at him before leaving to fetch his personals. Sighing to himself, Toah resumed his trip to the Renegade, wondering if he had made the right choice… or, as with Jakku, he would come to regret his decision.
* * *
“I know we’re dropping your old man off on Tython, but… are you staying there as well?”
Cera did not look up at Typha as the two of them sat at the Renegade’s holotable. “I’m not sure.”
Typha bit her lip as she shifted uncomfortably. “Look, I will support you no matter what, okay? Wherever you go, I’ll go. I’ll always be there for you. Besides, I’m sure they have places for non-Jedi to live on Tython, don’t they?”
“I don’t know,” Cera admitted. “I’ve never been there. I’ve only been to Ossus.”
“Right.” Typha tapped her fingers nervously on the table. “Do they still preach the whole non-attachment thing or was that only something the old Jedi did?”
Cera finally glanced up at her. “Who says I’m going to become a Jedi again?”
“I mean, why else would you go back to Tython?”
“Who says I’m staying there? I already told you that I’m not sure.”
Typha blew out her breath. “Well, I think you should.”
Cera blinked in surprise. “What?”
“This isn’t the life for you anymore,” Typha said, gesturing to the rest of the ship. “You’re not Sare Valrisa the renegade bounty hunter anymore. The Malvis Cabal is gone. The whole Charge Matrica thing has been resolved, I guess. The Chief of State is clearly off his rocker, so stars know what he’s going to do next….” She reached across the table to put her hand over Cera’s. “But more importantly, you’ve found your family. Your real family.”
“I already found my family,” Cera said quietly, squeezing her partner’s blue hand. “I found you. Dani and Toah… I mean, I am glad I found them, don’t get me wrong, but it’s still hard to see them as Mom and Dad.”
“I know. But you have to admit they’re better candidates than that Dowager schuuta ever was.”
Cera shrugged. “Fair enough, I suppose.” She paused in thought for a moment before then saying, “You also make a good point. I’ve been living this life for twelve years now, and it’s not one I want to live forever. I left the Jedi because I felt that I didn’t fit in… but I’ve changed and learned a lot about myself since then. I’m sure they’ve changed as well. Maybe this time, I will be able to find my place in them.”
Typha beamed at her. “I’ll be right there with you, no matter what.” She then retracted her hand and ran it through her hair awkwardly. “I should probably mention something though….”
“What is it?”
“You know that job I mentioned earlier? The one where I met Tivec? Well, there was a Jedi there too and—”
Cera shook her head in bemusement. “Sorry, what?”
“…And we may or may not have had a thing during that time. It was really brief though, and—”
“Typh, you are too much sometimes, you know that?”
“I’m just saying, if we run into anyone who recognizes me…”
* * *
Rey sat in the copilot’s seat of Kalen Rusher’s personal starship as it traversed the stars, cutting through the systems of the Trailing Sectors as they jumped from hyperspace route to hyperspace route in an effort to evade First Order patrols. They had just arrived in the Ando system when Rey decided to ask the question weighing on her mind.
“What happens now?”
Kalen did not glance at her as he set in the coordinates for their next jump. “Your training begins.”
“I know that, but… what are we going to do about the First Order? We’re not going to hide like Master Jarsan—I mean, Toah did, are we?”
“Of course not. There are others we need to connect with; contacts I’ve made and followers I’ve gathered over the past several years. It will take time to gather them all, so you must be patient. But in time, we will be ready to make our next move.”
Rey nodded as she cast her gaze out to the vast field of stars that laid ahead of them. Suddenly, she felt a strange sensation at the back of her mind and she instinctively dug into the pockets of her jumpsuit, bringing out the Sith holocron she had been carrying with her ever since Batuu. She was surprised Toah hadn’t taken it from her. Perhaps he had failed to sensed it, which she found difficult to believe.
Kalen glanced at the artifact in her hands. “Where did you find that?”
Rey told him and the former Jedi nodded in response.
“Hang on to it,” he said. “I have a feeling it will prove useful down the road.”
“How do you mean?” Rey asked.
“All in due time, my apprentice.”
Accepting this answer, Rey held the holocron in her lap as Kalen pulled the hyperdrive lever. The stars stretched before them and the ship launched them towards their next destination.
Ahch-To
The waves crashed against the shores of the island below. A pair of suns glowed on the horizon as they began to set, allowing the chill of night to slowly take over.
The man formerly known as Kylo Ren stood in the shadow of the fire he had created. The remains of his TIE Silencer burned before him, casting a blanket of warmth over his body. The presence of the fire seemed to have caused a minor annoyance for the native avian population of this world but they carried on with their work, seeming to grudgingly accept the visitor’s arrival. It was not as if either of them were in any power to do anything about it.
In his hands, he carried the last two relics of his past life: his mask and his lightsaber. He could still remember the day he had created the latter, bleeding the cracked kyber crystal on Mimban and placing it in the weapon of an ancient Sith Lord. It had been on that day, fourteen years ago, that Kylo Ren had been born. But now, it was time to put him to rest.
He tossed the lightsaber into the fire. There was a small burst of red energy as the kyber crystal was shattered by the flames. He then held up the mask, staring into the face he had worn for so long. In hindsight, he realized that he should have left it behind on Mustafar… but at least now he would not need to worry about ever being tempted by it again.
Without a second thought, he hurled the mask into the inferno and allowed it to be consumed by the blazes. Immediately, his shoulders felt as if a weight had just been lifted from them. He took in a deep breath, savoring the acrid smell of the fire. It reminded him of the fires of Mustafar and gave him the full taste of the freedom and liberation he had nearly achieved back then. But now, he could finally say he was free, well and truly.
For the first time in years, Ben Solo smiled.
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