The Other Solo

Chapter 39

D'Qar

Leia stands staring at the hologram of Starkiller base. It's been a long time since she's heard word of Han. She can still feel his life force so she knows he's alive.

"General," An officer calls from one of the scanners. "Their shields are down."

"Thank the maker!" C3PO exclaims.

Leia smiles, "Han did it!" She turns to Admiral Statura, "Send them in!"

"Give Poe and Jaina full authorization to attack." He commands.

"Black Leader," Rear Admiral Gulch calls over the comms. "Go to sublights. On your call."

"Roger base," Poe acknowledges.

Jaina hears the call and steadys herself.

"Red squad, blue squad, take my lead." Poe commands.

"Dropping out of lightspeed." She replies.

The squads drop out of lightspeed and are met with the hulking Starkiller base. The air is clear of any TIE fighters. Quickly they descend on the planet.

"Almost in range!" Poe announces. "Hit the target dead center, as many runs as we can get!"

"Approaching target." Jaina declares.

Alarms blare within the base, alerting General Hux to their presence. He rushes to the windows to see their assault.

"Dispatch all squadrons." He orders.

The resistance squads zoom over the oscillator hitting it as they pass by.

"All right, let's light it up!" Poe exclaims, dive bombing the oscillator.

"Direct hit!" Yells Lt. Bastian.

"But no damage!" reports Pilot Ello Asty.

"Yeah. We gotta keeping hitting it! Another bombing run." Poe instructs.

"Remember, when the sun is gone, that weapon will be ready to fire! As long as there's light, we got a chance!" Jaina encourages.

She looks out to see dozens of TIE fighters emerging from the mountains.

"Guys! We've got company!" Poe shouts.

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Starkiller Base (Interior)

Finn, Han and Chewie sneak around the corridors until they are in front of doors that lead to the main concourse. They hide behind an archway.

Finn formulates a plan. "We'll use the charges to blow that blast door. I'll go in and draw fire, but I'm gonna need cover."

"You sure you're up for this?" Han questions.

"Hell no. " Finn admits. "I'll go in and try to find Rey. The troopers'll be on our tail. We have to ready for that."

Han glances behind Finn at a window overlooking the atrium that Rey is climbing.

"There's an access tunnel that'll lead..." Finn continues.

Han grins and lifts his chin to point behind Finn.

"Why are you doing that?" Finn asks mimicking Han. "Why are you doing this? I'm trying to come up with a plan."

This time Han points directly with his blaster. Surprised, Finn moves to the window to see Rey. He smiles back at Han and Chewie before running down the parallel hall.

They catch up to Rey, who is surprised to run into them. She at first is poised to shoot them. They raise their hands to stop her.

"Are you all right?" Han asks.