Star Wars: 30 Years Later The Real Story - Chapter 38

Takodana Planet – Maz Kanata Castle Headquarters.

The main room where they where and in general every single place in the base had exploded with cheers and shouts of happiness. The relief that every person felt was shown in different ways according to each individual. Some started to shout lie madmen, others hugged anyone in their reach and started jumping and dancing all around. There were also those who felt to their knees and started praying to their deities wtith deep fervor and tears. Some just collapsed on the ground after the relief turned into exhaustion and there was a case in which a very shy individual shouted his feelings for the person he loved in the heat of the moment. Even though the actions were very diverse, in general it all could be described as a crazy celebration.

– “Well, that was extremely close”- said Maz Kanata who could only breathe normaly again after the confirmation of the success in the mission- “This is why I prefer to be in situ fighting instead to be in the back of the action.”

– “I know what you mean”- said Leia looking around the happy faces of the officers wishing she could share that moment with them.

However, Leia could not do that. Even though she was happy for the victory, it had been just too costly for her. She was smiling just to not make the things weird for the rest but her smile was sour and empty. It would totally affect the morale if she were to cry in this moment so she toughened up knowing that although this was an important victory, the war had just started.

– “Open communications to the fleet”- said Leia knowing that they still had to take the fleet out of the area

– “At once, General”- said an officer

– “Admiral Ackbar!”- Leia said using the communication systems- “what’s the situation with the enemy forces?”

– “They are retreating and the systems indicate they are about to jump into hyperspace”- informed the Mon Calamari commander- “we’re doing as much damage as we can but it won’t be possible to destroy a fleet of that size completely.”

– “Abort the attack and make your arrangements for retreat”- said Leia knowing that the battle was already over- “the planet will collapse in some minutes and I don’t want more casualties in this operation.”

– “Understood, General”- said Ackbar and he started to give instructions to his officers.

– “Most of the Rogue Squadron has already returned.”- replied Ackbar- “the IronBone Squadron already left and have safely reached their stations.”

– “Good”- said Leia with a tone of relief- “retreat as soon as possible, General.”

– “Copied!”- said Ackbar cutting down the transmissions.

– “General”- said an officer- “we have received a communication from the Centrist and Populists fleets.”

– “Open communications”- said Leia and soon she cold see he faces of the leaders of both factions- “Amylin… Ransolm… you have really saved the day and you have my deepest gratefulness.”

– “You have nothing to thank, Leia”- said the leader of the centrist faction scarfo- “we are just showing those brats of the First Order the cost of messing with the Republic.”

– “My dear Leia…”- said Holdo while smiling elegantly- “the Populist faction will always serve the Republic to the best of our abilities.”

– “Hmph”- Casterfo made an ironic sound.

– “Anything to say?”- asked Holdo with a cold voice.

– “You…”

– “My dear friends…”- said Leia with a conciliatory tone- “I’m sure we all have much to say but you also know that this is just the beginning of a a war that will reshape the galaxy.”

– “You are right”- said Casterfo using his serious tone- “the most important thing now is to stabilize the system and bring order to the broken republic.”

– “I heard many groups that sympathize with the First Order had started to cause riots in many systems”- mentioned Holdo with an annoyed expression- “they must feel emboldened after what happened to the Senate.”

– “The destruction of the base will slow them down”- said Maz Kanata with a firm voice- “but if the Republic do not use this momentum, it will only show openings for the enemy.”

– “Amylin… Ransolm… I know you must be tired after the battle but I have to ask for your help again”- said Leia with a kind of embarrased tone- “I will send a message to all the Republic members to have an emergency meeting where we will discuss our future actions. I wish you could help me passing the message.”

– “Of course”- said Holdo with a tone that showed her eagerness.

– “Where shall be the meeting?”- asked Casterfo using a fearless grin- “I suppose there is only one possible location.”

– “Yes, we have no other choice”- replied Leia and Holdo immediately had a change in her face.

the tyranny we all had to suffer and…”

– “Only Corruscant has the facilities to held a meeting of this size while providing the necessary security of the event”- said Casterfo who seemed to be enjoying Holdo’s reaction- “It’s kind of poetic in my opinion… we’ll use the symbol of the Empire to make plans to destroy its renmants in the First Order. I want to see their faces when it happens.”

One of the first things the New Republic did after the treaty was signed and put an end to the war against the Empire was to change the location of the Capital to symbolize the dread all felt for the Empire and their actions and to mark a new beginning for the galaxy. So, Corruscant was left behind and even though it was still a metropolis who a vibrant economy and important social hub, it was also branded with the stigma of being the symbol of the nefarious Empire under Palpatine which made many talk badly of not only the planet but also its inhabitants.

– “Amylin… I understand your feelings”- said Leia using her most diplomatic tone- but we have no other choice”

– “I understand”- said Holdo who seemed to have an internal battle- “Corruscant is it then.”

– “Yeah it seems it all returns to the beginning”- said Leia imagining the reactions of the many systems, especially those who suffered the most under the Empire, after the announcement is made. She had a headache thinking of that now so she put it aside for the future- “We still need to wrap the things up here… We’ll be in contact…”

As soon as the communications with the representatives stopped, another entered.

– “Communications from the Millenium Falcon”- said another officer.

– “Open it”- said Leia and immediately the voice of his beloved friend sounded.

– “I know… I know, Chewee… I felt it”- said Leia with a choking voice and immediately Maz placed a hand over hers to show her support- “it’s not your fault…”

– “Grieeeeeraaa”- replied Chewee

– “Chewee… where are luke and the the rest?”- said Leia surprised to not listen the voice of his brother along with Chewee’s

– “Ggrrr… gorrraaaaaeee”

– “What?”- replied Leia with desperation looking at the countdown for the planet to collapse- “still there… but then…. oh no!”

(…)

The planet was cracking and every second the damage extended more and more. However, the two masters looked at each other keeping a stoic semblance ignoring the collapse and measuring the other ready to move as soon as the other did. They both knew that one misstep could mean their end.

– “So you must be the one behind all of this”- said Luke finally laying his eyes on the puppetmaster- “the leader of the First Order… the Supreme Leader Snoke.”

When he said that, Snoke’s aura changed and his body was surrounded by a dark energy which made Luke feel a terrible and overwhelming suppression capable of ruling everything under its range. The power emanating from Snoke was even more intense than the one Palpatine had shown many years before and Luke felt an incredible feeling of weakness sapping through his body. He increased the domain of his Force Light and immediately he felt the suppression diminish and he also felt Snoke moving uncomfortably on the other side.

– “The same to you, Supreme Leader”- said Luke understanding that the dark aura in Snoke was like his Force Light which weakened dark side users- “The domain of your own technique has reached an incredible level. Any other Jedi would have been defeated by now. However, it seems we are tied up in this aspect.”

Snoke who had a tint of annoyance in his voice. Like any other dark side user, his pride must have felt hurt for not having the overwhelming superiority he imagined.

– “You and me know neither of us is using its maximum power, Master Jedi”- said Snoke keeping his cool- “we will never know who would win if we were to fight with all we have. However, in this moment my priority is Kylo Ren. I’m afraid I cant let you take him with you for now.”

– “I’m sure you can spare some minutes”- said Luke returning a fearless smile- “I must say I’m very interested in having a bout with you.”

– “You honor me, Master Skywalker”- said the Supreme Leader grinning at the offer of Luke and he could see the fighting spirit in his eyes- “but Kylo Ren will be the one to put an end to you… its necessary. But don’t worry, I ȧssure you he will give you a surprise the next time you see him, he’ll be much more powerful by then.”

– “You are mine…”- said Kylo Ren in frustration trying to stand- “I’ll destroy you… with my own hands!”

– “I’ll never permit you to go deeper than this, Ben…”- said Luke with an unwavering voice- “I couldn’t protect your father… but that’s the last I’ll let you go.”

– “We’ll see about that…”- said Kylo Ren whose eyes were completey tinted in a reddish yellow showing his deep connection with the dark side of the Force.

In that moment, the ground shook and broke, opening a breach between the two parties making them get more and more separated. However, the three of them just kept looking at each other as if they had all the time in the world.

– “I can imagine”- replied Luke with a smile who showed his satisfaction for the victory of the Resistance- “However, Im sure we’ll see each other again.”

– “That is if you do not meet Kylo Ren first”- said Snoke returning a confident grin- “but for now, I’ll just say… until the next time…”

– “Of course”- said Luke still waiting for an opportunity.

Before he could say more though, Snoke grabbed Kylo Ren’s shoulder and Luke felt the Force trembling and being shaken behind Snoke. It was as if time and space was being bent and almost immediately a dark rift opened behind the cloaked figure. The shock made Luke forget about Snoke and Ben for a second ad when he returned his attention to them, Snoke just pulled his apprentice into the rift and he just dissapeared in the air whie the rift closed and dissapeared as if never had existed.

– “Teleportation?”- thought Luke still surprised for what he had seen- “I had never seen that kind of application of the Force…”

Luke had heard about strange abilities of the Force that had been used by legendary figures of the past. Luke had been studying the ways of the Force for many years now and he had discovered many secrets on the road and he was still investigating many applications of the Force but this experience only reminded him of his naivety and how little he knew about the Force.

– “It seems I still have a long way to go…”- said Luke and then he started running to where Rey and Finn were.

– “Hes not reacting…- said Rey who had been trying to wake Finn up and was about to cry thinking the worst- “he still has pulse but…”

Rey saw around her as if she had just rmembered where she was. As she saw how the planet was collapsing, her eyes showed great concern and fear. They were in the middle of the destruction with no way out.

– “What are we going to do?”- asked Rey trying to hide her worry.

– “Chewee must be on the way”- said Luke taking a small transmissor from his pocket and passing it to Rey who received it in confusion- “he must have caught the signal, so we can only wait.”

His serenity impressed Luke. How could he be so sure that Chewee was coming? What if the signal was interrupted by the collapse of the planet? Their voice intercom were dead after all… Shouldn’t they indicate their position more clearly with a flare or something like that? All of that passed through Rey’s mind but she did not voice them since she saw Luke examining Finn with great attention.

– “Let me see”- said Luke and focused to analyze the state of Finn. The damage in his spine was extemely serious and he needed urgent medical attention which obviously was not possible here- “I can only try to estabilizing him until we can reach more proper treatment…”

He closed his eyes and went deeper into his connection with the Force. He felt like floating in the space and then he felt all his surroundings being filled with the Force. Many had tried to describe it but everyone had sa different feeling of it. For some people it was like an infinite ocean since it could fill any place and you could submerge into it until losing yourself. For others, it was like being floating in space reaching absolute freedom leaving behind any restriction you had. For some users it was something solid and gave them stability like the land. Sometimes it was gentle and conforting like a bonfire in winter but it could also be violent and destructive as an uncontrollable fire razing a forest.

– “It could be many things and at the same time it could be nothing at all.”- had mentioned a master in his meditations- “It could be an impersonal energy but you can feel its will guiding you steps even before you considered them.”

For Luke the Force was all of these things and he also had his own interpretations of this unmeasurable energy which bound everything together. He felt that the Force talked to the users but Luke felt that he could also talk to it and make known his wishes. This time he also made known what he wanted and he knew that Force would help him as long as he let it be one with him. After years of practice, his affinity and connection with the Force had reached levels that would have made many masters of the past green of envy.

– “What…?”- Rey felt something surrounding her and she felt it was something very familiar which had tried to help her before when she was in front of Kylo Ren- “what’s this?”

Luke got surprised that Rey could feel the Force in such a ay without previous training and he thought that it was not a cincidence that these two younglings had ended up together. He had understood very well through the years that the Force acted in misterious ways but that everything had a reason. The will of the Force had brought these two to him and he would have to wait to see what theit meant in the end but this was not the time.

– “I’ll use something I found some years ago”- explained Luke to calm down Rey- “during the Clone Wars a Jedi master developed a tecnique which allowedthe user to heal another being using the Force…”

He remembered the teachings of master Jedi Ki-Adi-Mundi a hero from the Clone Wars which had left behind in a holocron.

“Must relax… reach out with my mind… reach inside… through the pain… to touch the Force!”- repeated Luke like a mantra- “Knit bones… mend flesh… renew!”

These words that sounded like a magic spell was the guidance to apply Force healing which was a way to accelerate the natural mending of the own body. Luke knew he could not cure Finn completely but due to the natural fitness and young age of him, it would permit him to at least stabilize him while waiting for proper surgery.

– “Incredible…”- said Rey while watching fascinated how the most severe wounds dissapeared and Finn’s breathing calmed down.

In that moment, they both heard the turbines of the Millennimum Falcon and Luke lifted Finn while boarding the Falcon with Rey. They were greeted by Artoo who had returned the ship much earlier and had let the systems ready to go as he waited for them to return.

– “Take us out of here Chewee…”- said Luke while accomodating Finn in the same bed where many years before he had rested also injured and continue with the Force Healing.

– “Garrrrrrrr”- replied Chewee ascending with great maneuvering and soon he took them out of the atmosphere where many other ships were preparing to jump to hyperspace.

Just as the last ships had managed to jump to Hyperspace, the planet which had caused so much harm and pain exploded and dissapeared completely, putting an end to the massive weapon and the plan of the First Order to destroy the Republic for good.