A new beginning

The fall

"Finn, turn on the feed." Leia raised her hand to her head and I switched on the screen that was bolted into the wall above us. I gasped at what I saw. Giant plumes of smoke billowed into the sky and Mon Calamari ran from their homes, only to be gunned down by the merciless First Order. Turbolasers fired into the churning black cloud and screams were echoing across the landscape, imtermingled with the sounds of collapsing buildings and fire. More structures fell, crushing countless Mon Calamari, and then the true, felling blow came. A massive ship, easily as large as the Supremacy, was falling from the sky, engines failing and leaving it plummeting toward the ground. It disappeared in an enormous fireball and frothed into a mushroom cloud. Two more cruisers followed, then another two. The hopes of our fleet died in that fireball, as did the will of the Mon Calamari. Most collapsed to their knees and began to weep before the white likeness of Hux filled the screen. He began to speak and his voice filled the room. "Today, we welcome a new era! For the rebel scum that inhabit this prosperous galaxy are now without aid! The Mon Calamari traitors are now being held accountable for their crimes against our glowing establishment. Never again shall vile rebels threaten your existence! They dwindle in number, and will soon be exterminated from the face of this galaxy! This is the day of reckoning! And we are on the winning side!" I then went to turn off the connection but Poe held me back. I looked at him, eyebrow raised, as the black mask of Kylo Ren gazed upon us through the screen. "I have a message for the rebel scum. I will give you forty-eight hours to give me custody of the girl or the full might of the First Order's fleet will be fixed upon your destruction. If the girl is handed over within the time frame, you will be allowed to live peacefully in the First Order. If not, you will all die."

I moved to turn off the feed and looked toward Leia. To my shock, she was shaking. Her body was gently rocking and her sobs echoed around the room. I looked towards her and she glanced up, wiping her eye. "I'll be fine, I'm just going to my quarters." Uncertain, Poe moved to follow her but I held him firmly back, insisting, "she wants time, give it to her." He nodded begrudgingly and conceded. I turned to him. "Do you think your guy made it through?" Poe smirked.
"If Sehknal died to a couple of First Order fighters, I wouldn't let him hear the end of it." I laughed and our sorrows began to wash away, replaced by a soothing sense of belonging.

A few minutes later, I walked out of the War Room, feeling a great cleansing emotion sweep through my body. I walked to the medbay and sat beside the sleeping body of Rose. She was beautiful when she slept. So innocent, so carefree. It was like she was in a whole different world. Connix walked in and spotted me. She looked unusually distressed and it came as no surprise to me when the first words from her mouth were "did you hear about Mon Calamari?" I nodded grimly and she breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Thank goodness for that. I would have given anything to not be the one who told you. I hope upon hope even some of them escaped that carnage." I was doubtful, but nonetheless decided to keep my mouth shut. "Poe still thinks his guy will get through." She sighed. "You can only hope at this point." We sat in silence for a second, pondering our thoughts before she speak again, changing the subject. "I hear you met Aredo." I laughed, glad to have another distraction from the horrors of the day. "She's... different." Connix smirked, blushing a little.
"You would be surprised as to how often she hears that."
"Oh, I don't think that's very surprising." Connix sighed. "What did she do?" I tried to remember, only finding memories of shimmering patches of air and flashing blaster bolts firing on a helpless village. Pushing those thoughts away, I remembered she hadn't treated me any differently. And for that I was unimaginably grateful. I had quickly grown tired of the fame and the pressure and longed for simpler days, even if they were spent with my kidnappers. "She definitely didn't think of me any differently." Connix laughed. "Yeah, she does have a rather large problem with respecting authority."
"What is it?" I asked.
"She doesn't." We laughed together and walked out of the medbay to the clearing. Aredo was already there, idly picking at a clump of grass by her feet. She jumped when she saw us and leaned in to kiss Connix. I decided to leave the two of them alone, because even though I had had no inkling that relationships existed outside of comradeship for the larger part of my life, it didn't take a genius to figure out they probably didn't want me around. I walked around for a while, stealing glances inside rooms, armouries, old abandoned war rooms and the like. The deeper I went, the hotter it got and the sound of cogs turning and sparks flying grew heavy on the air. Eventually, I reached a dead end and turned back, surprisingly seeing no shimmering air. I tumbled into my bunk and fell into sleep instantly. It was far from dreamless, however, and my restless night was plagued with images of faint outlines holding knives. They would glint and glitter in the light, yet they were almost transparent. I was roused from sleep by the sounds of massive amounts of people thundering past my room. I opened the door and saw a herd of people moving past toward the exit. I could only assume that meant someone had arrived. I joined the crowd and ran on, breaking out into fresh daylight. I saw Connix and Aredo off to the side doing something I found utterly repulsive, but I supposed it felt nice. I walked up and saw Leia shaking hands with a giant, nearly seven feet tall at least. The general spoke with him for a moment and walked back inside and I followed her, chancing one last glance at the incredible man before I disappeared through the door. I followed her but she took a path I did not know, and I lost her at a crossroads. The tension began to tighten my stomach and I kept running, scared to lose her, though I felt like I already had. I didn't know why but I was terrified something was going to happen. I just didn't know when or how. I carried on running, hoping against hope that the thing I was dreading had not come to pass. I rounded another corner and my fear grew, though I was not sure why. My heart pounded and my breathing quickened to a pant. The heat and sounds returned to harrass me once again, hammering on my ears and pressing on my temples. The corridor thinned and it only added to the heat. I soaked my shirt through in sweat and my vision began to be dotted with black spots that flickered in and out of sight. My head ached and my legs were burning with the strain of the run. I rounded another corner and screamed. Because the body of the greatest person I had ever known lay desecrated on the scalding metal tiles.