Star Wars: 30 Years Later The Real Story - Chapter 26

Takodana Orbit – Star Destroyer Finalizer

– “Star destroyers advancing to enemy’s flagship”- informed the officer to a smiling General Hux- “They are receiving massive damage, though.”

– “Five Star Destroyers in exchange for the head of one of the most representative heads of the Resistance? I’ll gladly accept that deal”- said Hux showing no regret of pity for the sacfifices the people on those ships were making- “Tell the commanders that there will be an immediate promotion for all the officers of the ship that destroys that Cruiser!”

– “Yes, Sir!”

– “The Takodana reinforces are causing unexpected casualties in our forces”- informed a second officer making Hux scowl.

– “How incompetent can they be?”- said the general without even looking at the screen o that side of the battle- “Send group 99 to support that section and I want the name of the commander in charge of that side!”

– “Yes, Sir!”

– “Lord Ren has boarded his TIE Silencer and is taking off from hangar 1A, General”

– “Humph! Stubborn rogue”- said Hux showing his total disgust at the perspective Ren trying to sabotage his efforts- “Warn the Star Destroyers in charge of the attack that Lord Renmay attack them… they hve permission toi return fire if that happens.”

– “But…”- tried to say the officer but he froze when he saw the cold eyes of the general- “Immediately, General.”}

– “Star Destroyers inform they are about to collapse and shields are almost gone!”

– “Good!”- said Hux grinning at the situation like a chess master knowing his enemy has taken the bait- “Have the commanders deploy the TIE fighters and bombers and keep shooting main cannons to the the Voyager!”

Hux relished in his victory as he saw how his forces started to swarm the enemy flagship. No matter how sturdy Mon Calamari Cruisers were, their shields would not resist such onslaught for much time.

– “Now, show me what you’re going to do, Ackbar!”- said Hux in a taunting voice- “please do not dissapoint me!”

– “Commander of the 99th division informs that the Takodana forces are destroying their forces and requests for support.” informed an officer banishing Hux’s smile from his face.

– “HE was supposed to be the support!”- said Hux with a cold voice expecting that the Rogue squadron and even Han Solo were creating problems in that sector- “what is causing the problem?”

– “According with the reports, there is a pilot using an X-Wing that seems to be extremely skilled…”

– “You are telling me a single pilot is provoking such a mess?”- Hux could not believe the level of incompetence of the commanders under him- “Tell the commanders to surround this pilot with higher numbers and also tell them that if they cannot eliminate him in five minutes, I will send them to explain themselves to the Supreme Leader for their ineptitude!”

– “Yes, Sir!”

– “Reinforces have appeared around the enemy flagship and are launching a counter attack!”

– “What?”- Hux looked at the screens in front of him and saw a small force trying to block his forces from attacking the Voyager- “Give me visuals!”

The screens changed and he could see the fleet made of basically X-wings surrounding the Millennium Falcon. Hux was stunned since he could not understand how they were in that sector.

– “Ask the commanders who are fighting the Takodana forces if they can recognise any member of the Rogue squadron in the enemy fighters!”- said Hux.

– “The commanders report that there is only one of the X-wings that the rogue squadron uses”- reported the officer- “there are no more!”

Hux clenched his fists and had he not been in front of many people he may have kicked and destroyed anything around him. He had been played by Ackbar and had permitted the elite group of the enemy to gather in front of his main force.

– “Divide the attack group in three divisions and have one of those divisions to attack the new enemies while the others keep attacking the Voyager!”

– “Enemy flagship deploying bombers and advancing in the rearguard of the new enemy fleet!”

– “It is futile, Ackbar! You are just wasting my time and patience!”- shouted Hux who was extremely annoyed by this move of the enemy- “Rearrange the divisions and have two of them focus on the enemy reinforces which will be catalogue as Rogue Squadron… have the other division continue their attack on the Voyager! Focus on the Millennium Falcon… it seems I will have two heads instead of one!”

– “General!”- shouted an officer with a shocked expression- “The star Destroyer RedHydra has lost its shields and is being bombed by the Takodana forces!”

– “What did you say…?”- asked Hux who cold not believe his ears- “how is that even possible?”

The Star Destroyer was a moving fortress that was extremely powerful and sturdy. In order to deplete its shields, it was necessary an extremely powerful army of cruisers or star destroyers. One can understand this watching the battle between the Voyager and his star destroyers. The Takodana forces did not have any cruise or battleship capable of such offensive level. Even if the had bombers, it was extremely difficult for them to approach since TIE fighters would be defending the Star Destroyer. Hux was stunned and could not understand the situation.

– “Open communications with the commanders!”- he demanded since he wanted to listen to their explanations.

– “The commander of the 99th division has been eliminated and the rest of the division is being decimated by the second!”

– “What is happening there?”- asked Hux in disbelief as the image of the Commander of the RedHydra Star Destroyer appeared in the screen. The image trembled and he could see the commander in a complete state of panic while the sound of red alert was resounding in all the place- “Inform of the situation commander!”

– “They have destroyed the shield generators and managed to compromise the life support systems!”- shouted the commander who seemed to be in such panic that his words were sometimes not understandable- “The TIE fighters have been annihilated by him… we can’t stop him! He seems to predict every move and plan!”

– “Who?”- asked Hux trying to calm down the commander- “describe the situation…”

He could not finish his question since an explosion was seen in the screen followed by the signal loss. The officer informed that the communications had been lost with the RedHydra.

– “Surviving pilots inform that the RedHydra was hit by a direct hit in the bridge and it went offline!”

– “This is impossible!”- said Hux who wanted to believe this was a joke.

– “Voyager shields have been neutralized!”- informed an officer and Hux ġrȯȧnėd like an injured animal.

– “Send all forces to attack the voyager!”- commanded Hux knowing that he still had the victory as long as he destroyed the Mon Calamari Cruiser- “Ignore everything else and attack!”

– “Star destroyer ready to shoot”- said the officer.

– “Shoot!!- Hux roared with a sound that was in the middle of furious and excited as he could taste victory.

– “Star Destroyer SkyPunisher has received a direct hit before it could shoot and is going down!”- informed the officer.

– “Nooo!”- shouted Hux having the need to kick something. He had had the victory so close and was denied in the last second- “who was it?”

– “It was too fast and we could not see the attacker”- informed the officer.

– “Order all unit to focus their fire on the enemy flagship!”- ordered Hux feeling his victory escape his hands like water through the fingers.

– “Sir! The communications in the area have been cut off”- informed the officer- “we cannot contact our forces in the area!”

– “What?”- said Hux feelingas if he had swallow fish entrails- “how can that be… the only way would be… REN!”

Hux remembered his previous interaction with Ren and all the pieces fell together. Probably the one who had stopped the star destroyer to fire had been him and now he was blocking communications to be the one who gets the kill.

– “You think yourself very smart, don’t you?”- said Hux wanting to cut the bastard into pieces- “even if he were to accuse him, he had no proof and after killing Leia Organa, the supreme leader would just rub it off as a minor thing.”

– “Lord Ren advancing to the voyager”- informed the officer and Hux only could seeth in anger watching another taking his prize.

– “It doesn’t matter who does the kill”- thought Hux trying to appease himself- “I’m still in charge of the operation and the one who created the opportunity so have your kill while I take the glory.”

– “Rogue squadron and Millennium Falcon intercepted Lord Ren and are in combat”

– “What about our bombers?”- asked Hux not believing that they would not use the opportunity to finish off the enemy.

– “Most of the bombers have been eliminsated by the Resistance forces and only seven units remain.”

– “What about the escorts?”- asked Hux

– “They are in combat with Resistance forces and Rogue Squadron”

– “A lone X-wing has entered the combat area”- informed an oficer with a suprised expression.

– “Did he pass the encirclement on his own?”- asked Hux not believing the words of the officer. In order to isolate the Voyager, he had ordered an encirclement to avoid reinforcement reaching Ackbar’s postition. How could a mere X-wing pass their systems inadvertedly- “give me visuals on this X-wing!”

The screens showed an X-wing sarfighter who was dashing through the battlefield at an incredible speed. It was not as if it was taking a walk in the park. Many TIE fighters had seen it and were on persue while many others tried to block it in a pincer attack, but for some reason the TIE fighters could not match the X-wing speed and it gunned down many TIE fighters in the blink of an eye.

– “What is that starfighter?”- asked Hux knowing very well the capabilities of every star fighter model in the present era- “how can an X-wing match our TIE fighters?”

It was not only speed, but the pilot whoever it was had a perfect control and timing. His movements were extremely refined and precise Every move showed efficiency and shouted the vast experience the pilot had. He never did any extra move and even his angles and curves were never more than was necessary. It was like a professional dancer moving around the ballroom floor that he had been using for years and Hux, who was a very hard to please person, had to admit that the pilot’s flying skills were extraordinarily graceful as they were deadly. The First order pilots in comparison were like rowdy and clumsy beasts trying to catch a faster and more intelligent prey. Hux knew that they had no chance at all and they were dispatched in a few minutes. The Resistance pilot continued his course to the Voyager.

– “Has Ren finished off the Voyager yet?”

– “Rogue Squadron has managed to hold him back but he is still on course”- informed the officer- “the lone X-wing has joined the fight!”

– “Damn it, Ren!”- swore Hux having a terrible feeling about that pilot. If his eyes did not deceived him, he could see that that pilot was not only at the same level of Ren but maybe he was even more skilled and even though he hated Ren to the core, he knew he was a necessary piece for the plans of the Supreme leader- “Order all our forces to move to the voyager and shoot it!”

– “Enemy led by the Millennium Falcon incoming to engage against our fleet!”- said the officer

– “Humph! They want to face us with such a small force?”- said Hux with a mocking tone- “Han Solo is thinking too much of himself!”

– “Coomunications restablished!”

– “Pass me with Ren!”- ordered Hux ready to unleash all his fury on the leader of the Knights of Ren and once the connection was established he would not hold back- “you really love to complicate things, Ren! I hope you had a good reason to…”

– “Luke Skywalker has returned”- said the voice of Kyloe Ren and immediately all the personnel in the area fell into silence. Hux could feel a freezing shivering running through all his body- “send some reinforcements so we can deal with him once and for all…”

Hux seemed to have been in a daze and a lightning would not have had the same effect on him. After these years, he and many officers had already came to the conclusion that Luke Skywalker had died and would never return but now he had suddenly reappeared as misteriously as he had dissapeared and it could not been in the worst moment. Hux knew that more numbers meant nothing against Luke Skywalker and the Rogue Squadron. The Rogue Squadron was already an elite force by themselves but once they were led by Skywalker, it was like giving wings to a tiger. According to what Ren had said, he was in combat against this mythic general and he deduced it had been him the one who had created so many problems in the sector where the Takodana forces had been. They had to deal with him immediately before Ren fell in combat.

– “They’ll be there in a moment…”- said Hux finally and cut off the connection- “send two squadrons at Ren’s position and destroy the enemy he’s fighting with!”

This battle had been taking too many unpredicted events and he really wanted to end it as soon as possible before something else happened.

– “Sir!”- shouted the officer- “A fleet is coming out Hyperspace.”

– “What?!”- said Hux and he paled when he saw what had appeared in their rearguard- “this cannot be happening!”

(…)

– “It’s Luke!”- said Han and everyone reacted in a shocking way- “you really took your time, old bun!”

– “Says the one who is older than me!”- a voice responded in their frequency and Leia finally knew it was really her brother- “I was going to let you have all th glory but It seems you need my help.”

– “Luke! You have a lot to explain!- said Leia who had her eyes full of tears feeling extremely happy but also annoyed by this brother of hers- “you have no idea how worried we all were!”

– “Grrrrreeeei”- said Chewee- “gruuuuuaeeiaaa!”

– “Well… that’s not good”- said Han checking his instruments- It seems that the First Order is sending all their fleet against us.”

– “Leave Ren to me!”- said Luke chasing after the Sith- “you and the Rogue Squadron take care of the incoming fleet!”

– “Of course!”- said Han with a sarcastic tone- “don’t you also want us to capture the Supreme Leader while we are at it?”

– “You only have to hold them off for some time”- replied Luke smiling at Han’s comment- “Isn’t it right, Maz?”

– “It’s good to see you back, Master Skywalker”- said Maz with a deep tone of respect- “What he says it’s true… hold them off some time!”

– “I suppose you must have a nasty surprise for them”- said Han understanding what was going on.

– “Don’t spoil, Han”- said Luke.

– “My friend… if this were a story, I think everyone would be able to predict at least that”- said Han as if the fact was extremely obvious and then he started to grin radiantly- “My friend I’ve never been so happy to see you.”

– “I’ve heard that before”- said Luke and Han could not believe how cheeky he was.

– “Shut up!”- said Han pretending to be very upset- “We have to clean the house.”

– “Let’s do so!”- said Luke who continued chasing after Kylo Ren who seemed to have recognized who was after him since Luke could also feel him through the Force.

– “Poe! Get your boys ready”- ordered Han changing course in ordeer to face the First Order fleet- “Let’s teach these greenhorns how it is done!”

Very soon the fight resumed and both sides clashed violently. The Rogue Squadron kept their formation which made extremely difficult for the enemy to overpower them. Meanwhile, Luke and Kylo Ren engaged in an amazing dogfight where both pilots showed their top notch skill. Luke noticed that Kylo Ren seemed to have improved a lot since the last time they had fought.

– “You still tend to veer to much to the right.”- said Luke managing to hit Kylo Ren’s TIE silencer. This slight movement would have been overlooked by any other but Luke would find any weakness in their enemies and use them against them.

Kylo Ren made a very risky maneuver that allowed him to position himself behind Luke, not before taking another shot from Luke. Any other would have been eliminated by Luke with that shot but Kylo Ren had managed to keep the damage in acceptable levels. He knew that it was impossible to try to face Skywalker without taking some damage. Ren ignored the damage and immediately started his counter attack. It was Luke’s turn to evade and they moved around the area in a beautiful, yet dangerous dance that could end abruptly due to the slightest mistake. Kylo Ren wanted to finish off the Voyager, but he knew that any attempt would give Skywalker an opning that he would use without hesitation so he had to deal with Skywalker first.

– “Black Two”- said Kylo Ren using his intercom- “what’s your position?”

– “Sector 98, 324”- replied Black Two who seemed to be agitated- “I’m in combat with the enemy at the moment!”

– “Deactivate the signal blocker”- ordered Ren

– “Roger that!”

– “You really love to complicate things, Ren!”- immediately he received a transmission from the Finalizer and Hux’s annoyed voice resounded- “I hope you have a very good reason for…”

– “Luke Skywalker has returned”- announced Kylo Ren and Hux shut up immediately- “send some reinforcements so we can deal with him once and for all!”

– “They’ll be there in a moment…”- said Hux after a while and cut the transmission.

Kylo Ren had not stopped the combat at all while these things were happening but he felt that Skywalker was not pressuring as he used to and he wondered why. A bad feeling rose in his ċhėst and seconds later he held his breath when he saw many cruisers and battleships appeared in the horizon.

– “This is where the real fun begins”- said Luke and increased his speed to attack Ren taking advantage of his surprise.

(…)

Takodana Headquarters

– “Flame Beard’s Fleet has arrived, Captain!”- announced one of the officers with great joy.

– “It was damn time already!”- said Maz who pretended to be angry for the delay but her expression betrayed her as she had a wide grin on her face- “Hux Kid, you need to live 10 lives more if you want to show me how to make a decent ambush! Open communication with that backstabbing worm!”

The communication opened and the face of a male weequay who had a very intense red beard that adorned the tusks in his chin which were normal in his species. Everybody knew that beards were not something that the weequay had so many people in the organization whispered behind his back saying that it was not natural and that he used a fake beard to differentiate himself from his peers.

– “Sorry for the delay, captain!”- said the pirate but his voice showed no sincerity and he seemed to be even happy to see Maz having such problems- “I came as fast as I could…”

– “Flame Beard! You filthy sack of bones! I’m sure you wanted me to die so you could take over, eh?- said Maz knowing her own people better than anyone- “As fast I could my buŧŧ! I’m sure you were dying your fake beard before even giving the order to move!”

– “Hehehe, Of course not, Captain…”- said Flame Beard not being offended by Maz comments and one could hear the laughs on the other side- “this loyal subordinate felt his heart bleed when I heard you were in danger and I even wept a little while coming here…”

– “Cheh! No sincerity at all!”- said Maz planning to teach a lesson on this ‘loyal subordinate’ of hers later- “Too bad for you, Tomato Beard, you have to wait your turn in maybe 3000 years! Never mind! I want you to kick these First Order’s buŧŧs so hard that they never forget what happens when they mess with Maz Kanata and his crew!”

– “Oh!”-said Flame Beard with a glint of madness- “does that mean I can go crazy?”

– “You have my special permission today”- said Maz- “also the loot you get from the enemies will be completely yours!”

– “Hahahaha! My dear Captain… you’re the best”- said Flame Beard while the rest of the crew cheered- “Please let me kiss you once we are back!”

– “I prefer to kiss a Hutt!”- said Maz making a disgusted face- “Now go and earn your loot and make sure your beard does not fall!”

– “Long live the Captain!”

– “Long time no see, Flame Beard!”- Han saluted.

– “Han Solo…”- said Flame Beard and his grin dissapeared immediately- “I hope you have my money ready when this all finishes or I don’t mind getting the Millennium Falcon from you as a warranty…”

– “Come on!”- said Han using his smug voice- “you still angry for the thing in DarkRay? I told you it was all a mistake”

– “You almost kill me!”

– “I knew you were going to be fine!”- said Han with an easy going voice- “anyway stop whining and give me some squadrons to lead. You can at least do that!”

– “I’ll give you my…”

– “Give him two squadrons!”- Maz ordered.

– “Yes, Captain!” said Flame Beard gritting his teeth and wanting to strangle Han Solo as soon as he saw him.

– “This is silver leader”- said Han Solo when the pirate squadrons made a formation behind him- “All units on me and don’t you dare hold me back or stab me in the back because I’ll know! I’ve been in this too long for you chicks to try anything funny. Now follow me!”

(…)

General Hux knew this was over. He had lost the momentum and the enemy had reorganized. The return of Luke Skywalker had been a devastating blow in their morale and the sudden addition of Maz Kanata pirates had his advantage in numbers vanished. However, he still did not want to admit defeat even though he knew that the more he hesitated the more losses he would have.

– “The Galactic Voyager’s shields have been reactivated and is counter attacking now!”

– “Takodana forces advancing and causing massive casualties!”

– “Kanata Pirates pressing and advancing with no stop… Commanders request for orders!”

– “Shields going down rapidly in many Star Destroyers!”

– “Enemy Cruisers deploying bombers and advancing to our forces!”

Hux clenched his fists and started trembling in fury. He was not accostumed to defeat and every time he had managed to succesfully outsmart all and every one of his opponents. Ackbar had managed to stop him before but he had never defeated him throughly so this defeat was a bitter pill to swallow but he knew that he had to survive to fight another day.

– “Retreat!”- he finally said feeling all his being burn in a furious blaze- “All units escape to the rendezvous point H-675…”

The orders were given and immediately all the forces started to gather and prepare to jump to hyoerspace. The pirates, of course would not permit their loot to go away and did their best to stop as many forces as possible but in the end, the First Order forces were very well trained and most ofthem managed to escape except for the Star Destroyers that were already offline.

– “All forces go to rendezvous point H-675”- received Kylo Ren who was still in combat against Luke.

Kylo ren felt extremely frustrated in the moment. He had his three main targets in front of him but he had lost a great opportunity and now he had to retreat like a dog with the tail between his legs. His fighter had received a big amount of damage and he knew that he was still not ready to face Skywalker. He clenched his fist and immediately activated his hyperdrive system entering the coordinates for the rendezvous and entered hyperspace escaping from Luke.

And like that, the Battle for Takodana ended with the victory of the Resistance and Takodana forces over the First Order which was later officially recognized as the first battle in the war between the New Republic and this Terrorist organization. In the end both sides had suffered huge losses but the great loser had definitely been the First Order due to the number of Star Destroyers they had lost and the quantity of personnel that had been killed or captured. Many attributed this victory to the presence of the many heroes of the rebellion like Luke, Leia, Han, Ackbar and Maz Kanata, which gave this battle the nickname of the Assembly of Legends and many stories were written about the events of this battle, many of which were greatly exagerated as it often ocurrs.

– “Leia!”- Han desperately ran to meet his wife and hugged her with all his might making sure she was fine. Leia felt a deep sense of sweetness when he saw the worry and care in the eyes of Han knowing that she was the only one who could see this side of the great general and smuggler- “I thought I had lost you!”

Leia felt a deep pain and sadness remembering all the lives that had been lost in Hosnian System. She hugged Han feeling his support in order not to collapse

– “I should have been there!”- said Leia trying not to cry for all the friends and allies she had lost in the cowardly attack- “I received the emergency call from here and my instincts told me to come. I could not have imagined it was going to be like this…”

– “It’s not your fault!”- said Han looking at her eyes and Leia felt the same strenght in those eyes that she had perceived all those years before when she fell for him- “We can’t change what happened but we will definitely return the favor to those bastards! I’m sure the stubborn folks will listen to you now after this… you’d better tell them a huge ‘I told you so’ when you see them again.”

Leia laughed at this comment and thanked the universe for having this smug and ċȯċky rogue as her beloved husband. They could fight and yell at each other a lot but he was always her source of strenght when she needed him. She hugged Chewee and felt something and turned around to see his other source of confidence in the dark times.

– “I’m sorry to be late” – said Luke and Han took Leia by the hand to meet his old friend and brother-in-law and both hugged him with great love. And finally, after a long time that for them felt like eternity, the three legendary ones were together again.