Face crawled out of the escape pod just in time to watch the Terror crash. It disappeared over a faraway mountain range, a vast mushroom cloud of smoke blew up and blocked the low sun, leaving him in a temporary cold. Moments later, a low rumbling boom echoed through the trees surrounding him. He looked up into the sky and saw four dagger-like star destroyers clustered above their defeated foe, no doubt trying to piece together just what exactly had happened. Face matched their curiosity; having been locked up in Shayde's office the entire time, he had no idea what had happened, but he at least knew something that those above didn't: his Nexu had been at the heart of this defeat. The thought warmed him, made his chest puff up in pride.
That warm feeling died when Shayde spoke.
'This is of no consequence,' he drawled, unruffled even now. Face had to give him credit for maintaining his composure even having lost a star destroyer out from under his own feet. 'You are still in my custody. And your Nexu either died on that ship or are stranded on this planet. There is nowhere for them to go. Nowhere for you to go. My plan is unchanged. Someone call our coordinates in. We need pick up,' he said to no one in particular, and a stormtrooper acknowledged, stepping back into the escape pod to make the call, the sound of the conversation the only sound in the quiet glade.
Face turned to Shayde, and smiled, and closed his eyes, enjoying the warmth on the sun, the gentle heather scented breeze brushing his skin, feeling his body relax for the first time in years. 'No, I don't think so.'
'You don't think so?' Shayde scoffed. 'Look around you. I have you outnumbered and surrounded. No one is coming. You're completely and utterly alone and at my mercy.'
'He's not alone,' the voice of Mara Jade coasted along on the breeze, coming from everywhere, all at once. Shayde and his stormtroopers looked around wildly, trying to find her.
'Come out, traitor!' Shayde yelled into the sky. He unholstered his blaster pistol and swung it about.
'I just want to talk.'
'The only talk I will have is of surrender,' Shayde snarled.
'I agree,' said Jade. Her voice seemed to come from within his own mind. 'I accept your surrender.'
Face snorted. He couldn't have put it better himself.
Shayde growled and marched upon Face, levelling his blaster between Face's eyes.
'Wait,' Jade said suddenly.
Shayde snorted. 'Not so confident now, are you? I know what you're after, and I know that I have all the leverage I-'
'I wasn't talking to you,' Jade interrupted, impatient. 'Okay. Whenever you want, Twitch.'
Something flashed before Face's eyes and he dived to the ground, trying to, somehow, outrun the blaster shot. But it wasn't Shayde that had taken the shot, and it wasn't Face that was screaming in pain. Jumping up onto his knees to look over the long grass, he saw Shayde holding his burnt hand in front of his eyes, staring at it like he couldn't believe he'd been shot. Something large and dark flew out of the top of the nearest tree and landed beside Face with a shriek that terrified him so much that he couldn't move, and the stormtroopers nearby were seemingly also too stunned to move, for they didn't resist as Mara knocked them to the ground with brutal, savage efficiency. Those stormtroopers further away were quicker to react, training their blasters on Mara, but Twitch's sniper rifle rang out with a keening whistle again, and one crumpled to the floor. They turned, rifles raised, raining fire down on the source of the shot - but some, realising they had turned their backs to the immediate danger, swung back to aim at the unarmed Mara.
That was when the other Jade turned up. Face dived for Shayde's blaster as Hoshi's brilliant purple blade swept through the glade, slicing through two stormtroopers before returning to its master, who fell on the remaining stormtroopers with startling speed, taking on those who were trying to deter Twitch's assault. Face rose and swung the butt of his pistol at the helmet of the nearest stormtrooper, battering on the plastoid helmet again and again until they fell, limp, to the floor. Face stood and surveyed the battlefield, not at all surprised that the battle was already over. The stormtroopers either dead, unconscious or surrendered, their hands held high, their blasters discarded at their feet.
As Mara prowled between the bodies of the defeated, Face rushed over to Hoshi, embracing her in a tight hug, then winced as the adrenaline receded and the pains that he had suffered once again made themselves known. 'Thank you, Hoshi,' Face beamed down at her. 'Thank you so much. And you, Mara,' he turned to her, placing a hand on his heart. 'Thank you both.'
Mara grunted and turned away, but Hoshi squeazed him again. Despite the pain, he didn't protest. It felt good to be among family once again. From out of the far trees and scrubland, came Luna, Fenn, Amoya, Vix. They were all breathing heavily, as if they had run a hard sprint - which, he realised, they probably had, trying to get there as soon as possible. He noticed that Vix, by far the most physically fit of them all, was doubled up, his hands on his knees, breathing hard, his chest bellowing like a pipe organ. 'Took you lot long enough,' he grinned at them. From further along the tree line, Twitch emerged from the brush, also breathing hard, though not quite as winded as the others. Face raised a hand to him, in thanks.
'Sorry we're late,' Luna answered. 'Us Force sensitives are a bit slower, so have to play catch up,' she smiled at Hoshi, who left Face and went into Luna's waiting arms, giving her a long, sweet kiss. Face smiled at the act of love, his heart filled with happiness for them, happy they had survived and were, relatively speaking, free and safe.
Luna broke the kiss, grinned and gave Hoshi a quick peck on her lips, and then her forehead, before stepping away to assess the scene. She pulled out her commlink and spoke into it. 'Nest, this is Five. We have One.'
'Copy that,' Tarrik answered. 'Just swinging by to pick up Ka'iulani's team. Are you still at Shayde's crash site?'
'We are,' she said curtly, looking across the field of trampled heather. Face didn't turn to see what she was looking at. 'Good work on intercepting the pick up request.'
'Of course,' Tarrik said smoothly. 'But I'll be quick. I can't be sure no one else heard.'
Luna nodded and turned off her commlink. She jutted her chin across the field. 'What do we do with him?' she asked Face.
Face sighed, turning slowly to look at Shayde. He didn't want to do this. He still felt emotionally raw and physically tired. He slowly walked up to Shayde, who still cradled his hand, but otherwise seemed to have collected his composure.
'I surrender,' Shayde said quickly.
'Oh, that's nice,' Face replied, his tone neutral.
'I have information that the Resistance would be thrilled to have. I know everything. The information I possess could swing the war in their favour,' Shayde's eyes flickered, just briefly, to the blaster pistol in Face's hand. 'I'm worth so much more to you alive.'
Face sighed, tiredly. 'That's true,' he looked around him, across the field. It was such a beautiful scene. It reminded him of home. 'You know, I pity you,' Face said sadly. 'You became what you needed to be to survive. I can't imagine what it was like, having been taking from everything you know, forced to serve them. You learned their ways, embraced their evil to live. I can understand that. The need to live, to see the next day, to somehow bring meaning to your life. You did what you had to, to survive. What you are, here, now, is a product of what the First Order made you. They are the true evil. I can't blame you for how you act, because, really, how much choice did you truly have? You were only ever a pawn to them.'
Face raised his blaster and aimed it at Shayde. 'On the other hand, you did kill my son.'
'Your son is-' whatever Shayde would have said next, died with him as Face shot him between the eyes.
