Star Wars VIII: Stand of the Republic

23: Enemies Onboard

"Are you sure about this?" the guard questioned Holdo as they stood outside the reinforced door.

"Do you trust me?" Holdo asked in return.

"Of course," the guard answered instantly.

"Then don't worry," Holdo assured him with a gentle smile. "I know how to handle them, and they're one of the few people on this ship we know won't side with our enemies."

Entering her access code, Holdo unlocked the door and it vanished into the ceiling. Walking boldly down the corridor beyond the access door, Holdo looked over the prisoners in their cells. Captives in garb the color of ash were restricted by a forest of metal bars. The only access points to the improvised prisoner transport cells were the narrow doors secured to the floor and ceiling at the front of each unit.

"Servants of the Galactic Empire," Holdo called to them. "Prisoners of the Republic. I need your assistance to take this ship from a group of traitors."

"Why should we help you?" one of the men shouted.

Holdo smiled and shot the Republic guard walking with her. His lifeless body toppled to the floor with a thud that ushered in a stunned silence.

"My identification code is JR9384M," Holdo announced.

"That's the ID of a deep cover Imperial agent," one of the oldest prisoners stated in awe. "A personal servant of the Emperor."

"I worked for the Emperor until his death, feeding him information and lies to the Rebellion," Holdo explained as she opened the first of the cells. She opened the next as she continued. "When the Empire fell, I maintained my cover until the First Order called for my service. Now, they call for yours. There is a First Order fleet in pursuit; if we take this ship, we can join them. Who here would like to help bring down Republic and restore our proper control over the galaxy?"

Holdo reached down and scooped up the blaster of the dead Republic guard, offering it to the nearest prisoner. The Imperials crowded eagerly behind her as Holdo showed them out of the prison and toward the armory.

***

Poe dropped out of hyperspace. A red-brown world with swirling clouds of white and green was in front of his ship, but he didn't recognize it. Not particularly caring where he was, Poe ignored the planet and checked his display for hostiles. Seeing no immediate threat, he switched on his communication gear and began transmitting his distress signal for the fleet.

"Let's hope someone hears this," Poe said to BB-8. The droid gave a confirming series of beeps.

***

"General Hux," Kylo called from his position by forward windows of the Star Destroyer's bridge. "What does that look like to you?"

The General stared hard for a moment toward the Republic cruiser before answering. "It looks like blaster fire."

Hux turned toward the tactical officer. "Enhance sensor scan and enlarge visual."

The image came up on a nearby computer screen where Hux and Kylo could inspect it. Below one of the rear thrusters of the main engines, a window faced toward the First Order fleet. As the image increased in magnification, red lines of blaster fire could be seen crisscrossing inside the ship.

"It would seem there's some dissension in the ranks," Kylo commented, crossing his arms over his chest. "If they're fighting among themselves, wouldn't it be a perfect time to pay them a visit, Admiral?"

"It would indeed," Hux agreed. Turning, he shouted the orders, "Load the assault transports. Ready boarding teams!"

***

Poe's x-wing arrived back in the Crait system to find the fleet less than ten minutes from the edge of the interdictor's field, but his hopes sank as he realized they'd be too late. First Order boarding shuttles where streaking toward the command ship like missiles. Even with his engines at maximum, Poe knew he wouldn't arrive in time to prevent them from successfully boarding the cruiser, but he shoved the throttle to its forward limit all the same.

***

The moment the cockpit canopy lifted up, Poe leaned out with his sidearm and fired, taking out one of the First Order stormtroopers rushing past in the corridor beyond the hangar bay. He took out two more before jumping from the powering down x-wing, rolling across the deck and barely avoiding the return fire he was attracting.

BB-8, still hooked into the fighter's control systems activated the weapons and fired a flurry of lasers into the corridor. The majority of the shots were well above the heads of the enemy troopers, but the explosions of sparks at every impact made them duck back and out of the way, giving Poe the time he needed to find proper cover.

Poe dived behind some supply crates and fired a few blind shots over the top just to keep the enemy back for a few seconds more and give BB-8 a chance to exit the x-wing and join him. Poe knew the fighter, though armed with powerful guns, would be a very large target the stormtroopers couldn't miss, and he had to get BB-8 out of there before the boarding parties destroyed his ship and the droid together.

The orange and white droid came rolling up beside Poe, and letting out a string of beeps and whistles in excited electronic chatter. Poe quickly scanned the hangar, looking for ways out as the number of opponents was quickly increasing to the point where it would be suicide to stay and fight. Carts full of tools and supplies had been parked near the various ships, and the landing gear provided intermittent cover across the spacious room. Poe spied a door on the far side of the hangar, but he'd never been through it before, so he didn't know what lay beyond. As blaster fire sparked off the crate he was hiding behind, Poe realized anywhere would be better than staying where he was.

"Let's go," he said to BB-8 before running full speed toward the door. He stayed hunched over to try and avoid the blaster fire chasing after him while shooting his own weapon on the move. He missed most of his shots as he was running too fast to aim properly. Poe slammed his fist into the door controls, and the door vanished into the ceiling. Lasers impacted all around him in bursts of white hot sparks. As he dived through the door, one shot found its mark and hit Poe near the shoulder of his left arm. The impact threw him forward and face first onto the floor as a lightning storm of pain erupted in his arm, spreading outward to his fingers, shoulder and neck.

The door automatically shut, but Poe dragged himself back into a sitting position, aiming his blaster at the door and the enemies he knew were only a few seconds away from coming through and finishing him off.