Star Wars VII - Revised and Redacted

Chapter 20: Escape

In the earlier part of the fight, Kylo had used smooth and deliberate motions, turning aside Rey's attacks and battering her defenses with powerful blows, but his strategy had changed. His strikes had become much faster, and every defensive move came with a counterattack Rey had to dodge because her lightsaber had been hit out of position and couldn't be brought around to defend in time. Every punishing impact she managed to block sent painful vibrations through her hands and arms.

Kylo had been holding back, trying to teach her and coax her into joining him, but with Rey's refusal, everything about his manner and fighting style had shifted. He wasn't testing her defenses but trying to shatter them.

The ground rumbled and shook. Snow fell from the trees around the combatants. Rocks collapsed into burning wounds on the planet as great fissures opened, swallowing up the surrounding landscape. One such chasm opened between Rey and Kylo, granting her a momentary reprieve from the ferocity of his assault.

The ground on Rey's side of the fissure was crumbling fast, the edges breaking off like melting ice. Kylo watched the destruction and estimated the time she had left to live.

"It looks like I won't have to kill you after all," Kylo remarked. "The planet will do the job for me. You should've taken my offer."

Kylo turned his back on her and headed toward one of the base entrances, leaving Rey to her fate. Running from the crumbling edge of the chasm, Rey hurried to where Finn still lay unconscious.

   ***   

Alarms were going off constantly in the control rooms of Starkiller base. More than a few of the officers were noticing the plumes of black smoke and giant bursts of fire ripping free from the planet's crust.

"Begin the evacuation," Hux ordered as he hurried past his people toward the communication room to speak with Snoke. "Supreme Leader, the cannon was damaged, and we can't release the energy. The planet's being consumed."

"It has served its purpose to soften the Republic prior to our assault," Snoke replied calmly. "Leave at once and come to me with Kylo Ren. It is time to end the Republic."

  ***  

Rey dropped to her knees in the snow beside Finn, placing her hand upon his chest to check for a heartbeat. She didn't find one.

"Finn," she cried. "Finn, please."

There was no response. A few tears escaped her eyes before a thought came to her mind about how Kylo had healed her injuries after slicing her with a lightsaber. Wondering if she could do the same, she held out both hands over her fallen friend and pulled the Force through her and into Finn. A sudden gasp by Finn startled her, breaking her concentration. He opened his eyes and looked at her for a moment before slumping back into the snow, but this time, Rey found a heartbeat as he was only unconscious.

The ground shook more violently than before, and an eruption of lava shot into the sky. The portion of the world where Rey and Finn resided was about to vanish out of existence. Over the noise of the planet destroying itself, an engine roared nearby, causing Rey to look up. The Millennium Falcon swooped down out of the sky with Han at the controls. Chewie stood at the top of the open ramp, and the moment the ship was close enough, he jumped down to the ground and scooped up the wounded Finn in his hairy arms.

Rey followed the Wookiee up the ramp, and the Falcon soared skyward the instant they were all safely aboard. Behind the ship, the planet crumbled to pieces, solar energy ripping out of the subsurface storage tanks and lancing into the sky in tremendous flares of red.

When the Falcon reached orbit, Poe's black painted X-wing altered course and joined formation behind them.

More and more of Starkiller base was swallowed up by the emerging solar energy as the power of a star broke through the planetary crust and surged out into space. For a few moments, it appeared as if the planet had become a second sun, but the previously trapped energy had been spent breaking out of containment and dispersed before it reached too far, burning away every trace of the planet that had formerly been there.

The Falcon and the surviving fighters joined with the larger Republic ships before the fleet made the jump to hyperspace.

   ***   

Although there was great celebration at the Republic base for their victory and the destruction of the First Order's primary weapon, a few groups were more reserved in their response as many pilots and good friends had been lost accomplishing it.

Chewie came down the ramp of the Falcon and handed the still unconscious Finn over to the medical teams. Han was greeted by Leia who embraced him happily.

"What's wrong?" Leia asked, pulling back when she sensed something.

"Ben isn't dead," Han told her. "He's Kylo Ren."

"What?" Leia questioned in horrified shock.

"He said Luke tried to kill him, and he was going to destroy Luke and the Republic," Han answered, a quiver of emotion in his voice.

"I don't believe it," Leia countered. "Luke would've died trying to save him."

"It's what Ben believes," Han explained.

"What are we going to do?" Leia asked, leaning her head against Han's chest.

"Find Luke, protect the Republic, and save Ben," Han answered. "I don't know how, but we're going to do it. We have to."

Han glanced sideways and noticed Rey waiting nearby. Loosening his embrace on Leia, he made the introductions.

"Leia, this is Rey," Han said. "Rey, this is my wife, Leia."

"It's good to meet you," Rey began but stopped when she shook Leia's hand. Her eyes widened. "You have the Force."

"So do you," Leia replied.

"Can you open this?" Rey asked hopefully, pulling out the holocron from her pack.

"I'm afraid not," Leia denied. "It takes more than a knowledge of the Force to open one of those. It takes skill. Luke tried to train me, but I never could figure those things out. I must've spent a month trying to open one. Sorry."

"Don't worry," Han added. "Since we have the map, we should be able to find Luke, and he'll be able to open it. You'll just have to wait a little longer, that's all."

"Alright," Rey accepted. She followed the group inside to analyze the map in greater detail.