Chapter 25: The Stand

The Acronemsis moved forward slowly, cautiously, reaching out through the Force to take in the scent of fear ahead. She led her squadron of troops silently through the forest, stopping here and there to ensure that they were not walking into a trap. The recognition of their hubris had stung the Acronemses who had walked right into a trap without stopping to sense the emotions coming from the ship. In their eagerness, many had been lost, including three of the original six Acronemses who joined on this mission. There would be no such errors this time as they had homed in on human emotions radiating throughout the Force from a rocky outcrop surrounded by dense forest.

There was a rustling in the bushes, and the Acronemsis stopped. Her squadron behind her stopped in unison, and they saw a small canid creature hurrying out of sight and into the safety of the trees. The Acronemsis continued, aware that their companion squadrons continued at an equal pace to the left and to the right. It would not be long now before they reached the outcrop, where their prey would undoubtedly be waiting to ambush them. A surge of emotion erupted directly ahead, no more than a dozen meters in front of the company. The Acronemsis ordered six of her twenty troops forward, and she remained in the rear. They fanned out in a semi-circle, with the outer edges moving ahead in a pincer movement to flank the human whose emotions she had just sensed. Through her psychic link with the troops, she ordered them to hold as she sensed a sudden shift from the emotions in the human ahead. The surge of emotion had been something akin to fear, but it had shifted instantaneously into triumph. Sensing the trap, the Acronemsis ordered her troops back when a dozen explosions erupted around her company ahead, killing a third of her troops and wounding another five.

She surged forward to pursue the attacker, who had gleefully raced to the outcrop. Through her sense she could feel the other two squadrons moving ahead in response to the attack, and she charged ahead to catch up to the human. She was nearly to the outcrop when she hit what felt like a solid, invisible wall. Struggling to move forward against the unseen barrier, she did not register a more subtle shift in emotion as somebody attacked from her flank. With a flash of golden blades, the Acronemsis fell to the ground, cut in two. Her legs fell to the ground, and she swiveled her head to the left. In her last burst of awareness, she looked through a gap in the trees to see the form of Leia Organa holding her hand out, having used the Force to stop her in her tracks.

Blaster fire erupted from the two squadrons on the wings as they reached the base of the outcrop. Han and Chewie were near the top of the north side of the outcrop, sheltered among boulders so that they could fire down on their incoming attackers. Kit and Jax were on the other side, firing on the attackers on the south flank. Return fire had come swiftly, and the quartet quickly became pinned down. Chewbacca roared as he threw the last of his charges down into the forest – the remainder had been set to detonate when the central column approached. The charge erupted in the middle of the north column, disrupting their fire, and taking down half a dozen soldiers. Han fired into the scattered soldiers as sporadic return fire resumed, but as he gazed down from his perch, he could see a brilliant purple blade slashing and hacking, then disappearing. It then reappeared moments later, and several more soldiers went down. Leia dodged and weaved, and the return fire dwindled as Leia cut her way through the attackers at the base of his side of the rocks.

Kit and Jax were having a tougher time keeping the fire down. One of the shots from the oncoming attackers hit the rock behind Kit, sending scorching fragments of rocks into her arm, which burnt and cut into her skin. Jax fired rapidly into the trees, not certain if he was hitting anything, but intent on disrupting their attack long enough for Kit to apply an emergency dose of bacta solution to the wound. The return fire was starting to overwhelm him, and he was about to dive back into complete cover when a pair of golden blades sliced through the forest below, cutting down trees and attackers alike as Kira's blades completed a circle, crossing through the air in the center of the circle before returning to her. With half of his foes now downed, Jax had resumed firing.

The blades returned to Kira, and just before her lightsabers flew into her hands, she felt a surge in the Force warning of imminent danger. She rolled to the side, and her lightsabers flew past her, landing in a bush five meters to her right. The twin blades of one of the Acronemses cut through where she had been standing, and the creature pivoted and launched itself toward her. Using the Force, Kira pulled the creature toward her, kicking her leg up to send the creature past her. It overshot Kira and stumbled forward, hitting the ground in a somersault, and then springing to its feet directly ahead of her. It charged toward Kira as she called her sabers back to her, igniting them in time to parry a vicious swipe from the creature's blades.

Nearby, Leia had cut her way through half of the attacking forces while Han and Chewie had continued to pin the rest down. Methodically, she worked her way forward until she sensed the presence of a nearby foe. She paused her attack on the soldiers, turning around to see an Acronemsis standing between a pair of trees, both lightsabers ignited. Leia assumed a defensive posture, holding her blade in front of her. The Acronemsis began to circle her, assessing Leia's ability, and Leia began to circle as well. Suddenly, the creature sprang forward, lightsabers whirling. Leia ducked and rolled, dodging the swipes. The Acronemsis pivoted, springing forward once again. It swung its blades in vicious arcs, and Leia, her face set in serene concentration, whirled and dodged, deflecting the blades.

On the south side of the outcrop, Kira continued to battle her foe to a stalemate, with fatigue beginning to set in. The Acronemsis did not seem to become fatigued the way she did, but remembering how she gained an advantage the last time she faced one of these creatures, Kira reached out through the Force to disrupt its mind. As before, the creature became angry and agitated, swinging more aggressively, but without refined control. Kira was able to dodge the attacks, occasionally parrying with her blades when the attacks came nearer. Curiously, she noticed that there was communication passing through the Force between the various attackers, and she began to suspect a psychic link between each of the creatures. She pressed forward with the advantage as the Acronemsis became disoriented. With its attacks becoming wilder and less disciplined, she used the creature's own momentum as it charged her to send it forward directly into a tree. Stunned, the creature reeled backward, and Kira cut its head off neatly with her blade.

Leia continued to hold her attacker off, probing its weaknesses and analyzing its attack pattern as she continued to maintain a defensive posture. She felt Kira's momentary surge of triumph, which was followed by her voice, echoing through the Force, saying, They have a psychic link of some sort. Try disrupting its mind. Leia began to follow Kira's suggestion, and just as Kira had found before, the Acronemsis became disoriented. Just as the Acronemsis was on the verge of falling over due to its disorientation, a blast came out of the forest and shattered the branches above Leia. Leia sensed the branch about to fall on her, and she rolled to the side to avoid being crushed. The Acronemsis had regained its equilibrium quickly without Leia's psychic interference, and it surged toward Leia, doubling its onslaught to prevent her from disrupting its psychic activity again. Leia was unprepared for the ferocity of the attack, and her parry was too slow. The Acronemsis's blade grazed her shoulder, causing her to drop her lightsaber. She felt a searing heat burn through her skin where the blade had connected, and she fell backward in agonizing pain. The Acronemsis kicked her in the chest, accelerating her fall backward and sending her hard into a tree.

Just as the Acronemsis stepped forward to land a killing blow, Kira lunged ahead, slamming into the Acronemsis and knocking it off its balance. Kira also lost her balance, and she once again lost her lightsabers. She crawled toward the blades, but the Acronemsis had stepped between her and her weapons. It raised itself to its full height then advanced toward her slowly, raising its blades to attack.

Kira scrambled backward, trying to escape. She stood, then attempted to call her blades to her. The Acronemsis anticipated her attempt, and it deflected both blades back into the trees. It approached Kira as she backed toward a thicket of impenetrable brambles, where she found herself cornered.

The Acronemsis swung at her, and she ducked to dodge the blade as it cut through the brambles. The creature was backing her into a corner where she would be trapped long enough for her foe to land a killing blow. Leia lay on the ground, struggling to prop herself up. Kira looked at the creature's malicious, jewel-black eyes as it prepared to strike again. Kira heard Leia's voice in her head, saying, Don't hold back.

Kira pushed hard with the Force, sending the Acronemsis back five meters until it could arrest its momentum. Kira heard Leia's voice again, No, the darkness. . . use it.

Not allowing herself time to question Leia's orders as the Acronemsis was now approaching her once again, Kira summoned her anger and her fear, and she unleashed a furious blast of lightning on the creature. The lightning entangled the creature, which writhed in agony as a coronal haze crackled in the air. Kira held the charge, and the creature released an ear-splitting scream before it crumpled to the ground, still writhing. Kira called her lightsabers to her, igniting them. She lunged forward and stabbed the Acronemsis through the heart.

Leia had gotten to her feet. Kira looked at her, stunned. "It was forbidden. . ."

"Kira, it's not what you do, but why you do it," Leia said, smiling proudly at her pupil. "Just because you share that power with the Emperor, it does not make you like him. Use it to protect. Never use it to dominate."

"Yes, Master," Kira said, wary and disgusted by the smoking body of the creature she had just killed.

The blasts from the outcrop drifted back to them, and they noticed the firing had intensified. Kira helped Leia forward as she struggled from the effects of her wound. She recalled something that the doctor treating Ben after he lost his hand had said about a neurotoxin that had infected his injury, and she began to worry for Leia. Her reactions appeared uncoordinated, and she struggled to walk.

Suddenly, the top of the outcrop exploded, sending fragments of rock everywhere. Chewie and Han came pelting away from the outcrop, and Jax and Kit soon caught up.

"Go! Go!" Han shouted, waving his arms away from the outcrop, beckoning to Kira to run as well. An assault ship soared over their position, laying down fire. Kira reversed course, helping Leia along to a different direction. Kit and Jax fell back, holding down fire as Kira struggled to pull her increasingly disoriented mentor along with them.

Han and Chewie had gotten ahead, and they charged out of the forest into a clearing, only to be turned back by blaster fire. Han and Chewie broke right, keeping to the cover of the trees. Now separated from Kit, Jax, Leia, and Kira, they slowed their pace, trying to rely on cover as much as they could. They had gotten some distance from the soldiers in the clearing, but Han heard a rustling up ahead. He turned to his left to see a quartet of insectoid beings holding blaster rifles. Their faces were covered in a jet-black, matte finish helmet, and their shells glittered. A breathing apparatus over their faces obscured their mouths, but their glittering black eyes glimmered coldly and maliciously. They raised their blasters, taking aim to kill.

A green lightsaber blade cut through the soldier on the left. The other three soldiers pivoted to see the attacker, but they were too slow to react as Ben Solo slashed and hacked his way through the creatures. With the four soldiers dead, Ben turned toward his father.

"Ben!" Han cried in triumph.

Ben smiled at his father despite the seriousness of his purpose. Then, with his seriousness returning, he asked, "Where's my mother?"

Han's smile faltered, and he answered, "She's wounded. Come on!"

Han started back toward Leia's position, and two dozen Republic troops emerged from the forest beside Ben, and he directed them back toward the clearing to take out the soldiers there. Ben, Han, and Chewie then jogged toward a location where they had last seen the others.

Han had gotten only twenty meters when something unseen caught his feet, throwing down hard to the ground. He turned and saw nothing on the ground, but as his head swiveled, looking for whatever had tripped him, he saw a shadow dart between the trees. Ben and Chewie had already moved ahead, but they stopped to look back toward Han. Han got to his feet and saw the shadow dart through the trees again. He called out, "Ben, there's something. . ."

Han had been unable to finish his sentence. A cloaked and hooded figure stepped out from behind a tree next to Han. His lightsaber ignited in a crimson blaze, and the figure stabbed Han through the chest. Han staggered back, then crumpled to the ground.

Chewie roared, and Ben echoed him, shouting, "NOOOO!!!!"

Ben rushed forward toward the cloaked figure, who turned and ran into the forest. Ben got to where his father was, then stopped, kneeling to the ground. His father gasped for breath, struggling to remain conscious. Han Solo raised his hand to his son's face, grazing his cheek. Then, as a rattling breath escaped his mouth, the hand fell limp to the ground. Chewie rushed toward Han, picking his body up and cradling him while bellowing in anguish. Ben, rage and pain etched into his face, stood, looking after the fleeing figure who ran into the forest. He looked down at his father's staring, unseeing eyes, and a rush of red rage flooding his mind, took off after the attacker.

Chewie roared after him, but Ben did not stop. Breathing hard, Ben ran through the forest, his father's murderer up ahead. The murderer reached the edge of the forest then ran out onto a rocky flat. A pair of speeders sat there, waiting. The cloaked figure leapt onto one of the speeders, kicked it into gear, and set off down into the valley below.

Ben jumped onto the second speeder, kicking it into gear and taking off in pursuit.

***

Kit and Jax continued to lay down fire, and with Kira helping Leia, who slumped against Kira's shoulder, they forged ahead to the meadow close to where Kira had left her ship. Troops had taken up positions around the edge of the meadow, firing on the quartet as they struggled through the boggy flat. Halfway across the meadow, Kira froze. As she stood supporting Leia, her mind drifted to a vision of Ben looking down on his father, with his father reaching up to touch his face. Kira then saw Ben stand, look down at his father, then race after the man who killed him. Leia's legs gave out, and Kira knelt to ease Leia to the ground.

"Han. . ." Leia murmured, as sadness and pain fought through her disorientation.

Kira nodded, feeling tears well up in her eyes. "Ben is going after the attacker," Kira told her. "I saw him leave."

"Go to him. . ." Leia whispered, and then she gave in to unconsciousness, falling asleep in the grass.

Kit and Jax caught up and ducked down into the meadow's grasses. The grass shielded them from view of their attackers, and the fire stopped momentarily as the soldiers at the edge of the meadow paused in apprehension at their sudden disappearance.

Kit knelt and took Leia's pulse. Kira stopped her, "It's okay. She's just unconscious." Then, she looked to Kit and said, "I'm going to clear the way for you. My ship is on the other side of the meadow in the forest. Get her onto the ship. I overheard the doctors who treated Ben for this that there's a simple antidote. My droid will help."

Kira made ready to stand, and Kit whispered, "Good luck!"

Kira nodded, then peered through the grass, watching as the insectoid soldiers fanned out through the meadow as they approached their position. They were looking to encircle them, but Kira was not going to give them a chance. Summoning the power that had long been forbidden to her, she stood, unleashing a volley of lightning toward the approaching troops. She caught five of the six approaching soldiers with the blast. The last raised its blaster and fired on her, but she deflected the shot back into his chest with her lightsaber. The meadow appeared clear for now, so she took off running to the spot where Ben had been.

She dashed through the forest, lightsabers ignited. As she ran the half kilometer between the meadow and where they had split from Han and Chewie, she encountered the occasional soldier, but she cut them down before they had a chance to get a shot off. Within minutes, she arrived where Chewie was firing into the trees, staving off the last of the attackers that were not fighting the Republic troops that Ben had brought. Using the Force, Kira pulled one of the soldiers toward her, cutting through it as it flew past. Chewie hit the last one with his bowcaster, and the forest fell silent.

Kira knelt beside Han, and she told Chewie, "My ship is a half-kilometer that way," she said, indicating the direction from which she had come. "Leia is wounded. Get him to the ship and get out of here before more troops arrive."

Chewie rumbled a query, and Kira responded, "I'm going after Ben. Don't wait for me. I'll call you when I've got him."

Chewie roared again, this time more distressed. Kira shot back, "That's why he needs me." She put an arm around the Wookie, and up close she could feel his emotional devastation at Han's death. "Go! Leia needs you." Then releasing him, she shot off toward the spot where Ben had taken a speeder.

She scanned the area looking for another speeder, but there was none. As she searched here and there, the distant sound of a speeder grew as it approached her location. The speeder shot through the trees ahead, moving past her in Chewbacca's direction. Using the Force, she yanked the soldier off the speeder. Without somebody to power it, the speeder lost momentum and came to a stop. The soldier got to its feet and took aim, but Kira once again used the Force to pull him toward her, slashing through the creature with her blade.

She jumped onto the speeder, flipping switches and adjusting a few knobs to get a feel for the controls. She started the speeder forward, turning it in an arc to trace the approximate path she assumed Ben had taken, and she shot off after him.

***

Kit and Jax hoisted Leia's unconscious body up, then started to walk her across the meadow to the woods on the other side. They had made it nearly all the way across the meadow, when the sound of trees crashing against metallic clanking reverberated across the open space. Jax and Kit turned their heads to the south side of the meadow on their right in time to see an enormous, black assault walker emerge from the forest. It walked on four metallic legs, and the thin torso rising from the leg joints supported a rounded, elongated control cabin bristling with blasters. A pair of claw-like weapons clusters swiveled, attached to a boom and an arm that allowed for unlimited range of motion. Another two dozen soldiers emerged around the walker, raising their weapons to target Jax and Kit.

The walker stopped, and the cab turned in their direction, spotting Jax and Kit standing exposed nearly three-quarters of the way across the meadow. Jax took Leia's full weight as Kit began to fire on the walker. The blasts deflected harmlessly, but her shots did help the walker pinpoint their location. The body of the walker turned toward them, and the weapons prepared to fire.

A new sound emerged behind Jax and Kit, and they turned to see what new horror might be approaching. Directly behind them where the forest stood between their position and Kira's ship, the sound of another ship, this one with a vastly different sonic signature, rumbled and shook the ground. Rising over the forest, a T-65 X-wing cleared the tree cover and opened fire on the walker. A torpedo from the X-wing hit the walker's cab, which erupted in a massive explosion that showered the meadow in fiery debris. The X-wings four laser cannons erupted, cutting down the soldiers on the edge of the meadow.

"Luke!" Kit shouted, triumphant. Luke Skywalker had found them at last.