The Rise of the Final Order - A Star Wars Story

Chapter 2

Darth Caedaris

As Darth Caedaris powered up her X-Wing and eased it into the air, she didn't bother to look for Kelsa. It didn't matter whether or not she was alive, though it would certainly be preferable if she were dead. Still, she had more important things to do, namely rebuilding the Final Order.

Yes, that is your destiny, a voice whispered in her mind. Restore the Sith to their rightful place as the rulers of the Galaxy.

Go to Exegol, another voice said. There you will find what you need.

An army, yet another voice chimed in, fainter than the rest.

"I will do as you command," Caedaris said aloud. But I'm going to need a bigger ship.

She cleared Arkane Prime's atmosphere, entering the star-speckled blackness of space and considered her next move. The fleet on Exegol had been entirely destroyed, and her X-Wing would never fit an army.

She had two options: purchase a ship...or steal one. If she were to buy a ship, there was a chance that the New Republic could track her purchase, and she couldn't risk them finding her before she accomplished her mission.

Alternatively, stealing occurred all over the Galaxy. One more stolen vessel wasn't going to get the Republic involved, especially if it wasn't one of their own.

On Caedaris' scanner, a small red dot appeared, and she looked up to see an ancient looking freighter emerging from hyperspace. It seemed to be aiming for the debris of a Final Order Star Destroyer that had been destroyed a week earlier, one of the few remaining that had tried to retaliate against the New Republic.

Perfect, Caedaris thought with a grin. A freighter could definitely transport what was left of the Final Order, which she suspected was only a small amount, the building blocks of a stronger and more powerful army.

She angled her X-Wing toward the freighter and slowly made her way towards it. When she reached the wreckage of the Star Destroyer she powered off her engines and shut down the power to her ship. Then she waited.

After a few minutes, the freighter drew near, and Caedaris felt her fighter shutter as the other ship's tractor beam started pulling it closer. The cargo bay opened up, and Caedaris' X-Wing was settled inside as the bay was sealed again. Still, she didn't move.

She heard the sound of footsteps growing near, and she heard a raspy male voice ask, "What 'ave we here?"

Another voice, this one female, but equally unpleasant, replied, "Looks like one of 'em Republic fighters. Caedaris heard feet thump down behind her, and she guessed that the woman had clambered onto her X-Wing to inspect it. "Wait a minute, I think there's someone still inside."

"Are they alive?" the other voice demanded. The feet thumped again, and Caedaris looked up to see the face of a female Weequay staring down at her, looking surprised.

With that, Caedaris grabbed her lightsaber in one hand and reached out with the Force to tear the canopy off her fighter, sending it flying across the cargo bay. She activated her lightsaber as she leapt out of the cockpit and sliced the female pirate from her hip all the way across to her other shoulder, killing her instantly, then spun around to face the other Weequay.

"A Jedi!" he cried, raising his blaster.

"I am no Jedi," Caedaris responded, launching herself off her X-Wing. The Weequay fired at her, but it was no use. She deflected his shots easily, then sliced him in half as she landed. The two halves of his body tumbled to the floor, and Caedaris deactivated her lightsaber, turning her attention toward the corridor where the two Weequay had come from.

She extended her Force-awareness to the entirety of the ship, searching for any other life forms. There were eight beings-Caedaris suspected more Weequay-clustered at the other end of the ship, where she assumed the cockpit was. This was almost too easy.

She started down the corridor and met no resistance until she reached the door to the cockpit. Two Weequay carrying heavy-looking blasters stood guard outside, and when they saw her approaching, they both bristled and raised their blasters.

One of them raised a comlink to his mouth and informed whoever was on the other end, "We found the intruder, sir. We'll take care of her." As he spoke, Caedaris activated her lightsaber with a familiar snap-hiss.

"A Jedi!" the other Weequay cried. Before he could fire on her, Caedaris sliced through the barrel of his gun and whirled to stab him in the chest.

His companion, who had been taken off guard by her sudden attack, was fumbling to get his blaster aimed at her, but she pulled it out of his hands with the Force and cut it in half as it flew past her. The two halves clattered loudly to the durasteel floor and the Weequay took several more steps back, his hands up in surrender.

Of course, that did him no good, and less then a second later his head toppled off his body and onto the floor. Now that the hallway was free of annoying distractions, Caedaris drove her lightsaber into the blast door separating her from the cockpit and began to cut a circle big enough for her to fit through, because she knew without testing the control panel next to her that the door was sealed from the other side.

She could sense the fear coming from the pirates on the other side, and she relished in it. She could hear a gruff voice shouting orders and smiled. There was nothing these Weequay could do to save themselves anymore.

She completed the circle and sent the chunk of the door she had cut out flying into the cockpit, taking two pirates with it. The remaining four Weequay in the room hesitated only for the briefest of moments before they opened fire, but still, they were no match for Darth Caedaris.

She deflected the blaster bolts back at the pirates, easily taking down two of them, but the remaining two dove for cover before resuming fire.

Growing annoyed at their resistance, she threw her blade towards one of them, and it made a dangerous humming noise as it spun through the air and took the head off of her target before she summoned it back to her hand. She tossed away the crate the last pirate was hiding behind using the Force, but he wasn't quite ready to die yet.

He lept at her with a vibroblade aimed at her throat. Caedaris jerked back and brought her blade up, slicing through his arm. He roared in pain and stumbled back, dropping his vibroblade and clutching the stump where his arm had once been.

"You're not a Jedi," he hissed, then he suddenly gasped and clawed desperately at his throat with his remaining hand as Caedaris reached out with one hand, as if she was to strangle him, even though she wasn't touching him. The Force would do that for her.

"You're right," she responded, her voice cold and full of menace. She tightened her grip into a fist, and the pirate started to choke even harder, until a sharp snapping sound came from his neck and he went limp.

Caedaris tossed his body away, then deactivated her lightsaber and snapped it back onto her belt before going over to the pilot's seat and sitting down. She plugged in the coordinates to Exegol on the navicomputer and pulled back on the lever that activated the hyperdrive. The stars in the viewport stretched into brilliant blue and white streaks as the freighter made the jump into hyperspace.

Good, one of the Sith voices purred. Soon you will have an army.

And the Sith will be restored, a female voice added.

"The Final Order will rise again," Caedaris assured the voices. "And the Sith will reign forever."