Chapter 66.

She wanted to be a star.

With millions of yellow grained sands surrounding her,

She gazes up at the night above her,

Worshipping the unknown

Since she was just a child -

She wanted, oh, so badly, to be the sparkling dust in the sky.

( x )

In the blink of an eye, Rey was drawn back from her childish memories as she shockingly realized that the distant lights in the sky were not stars, but more ships that were piloted by members of the First Order, people that wanted to bring an end to those surrounding her, to kill them and let their legacies lay within the dirt.

Her heart clenched at the thought, and she could feel the blood rush to her ears with anger, so quick that it nearly made her dizzy. The grip on her lightsaber grew tighter.

In the far distance of the field, if she squinted her eyes, she could see their first landfall; A large space warship delivering AT-AT's, the first steps of the monstrous bots shaking the ground.

From above, TIE-fighters screeched loudly as they came closer, bolts of red and green piercing the air as they began their attack, forcing Resistance members to dodge the shots and readjust their positions.

"Hold!" Leia's voice rang in, clear and stern.

At the command, Rey's heartbeat began to pound painfully within her chest, and she could hear Ben's breathing hitch, his own agitation strumming along the rhythm that is the force.

More ships burst into their view, appearing out of nowhere with the help of traveling through light speed, just as the TIE-fighters came around for another blow.

"Steady!" Leia called again, her eyes black and hard as she tried to focus on the sight in the distance, making out the shapes of heavily armed Stormtroopers marching their way to the base, with First Order speeders passing them with ease.

The air stilled, the large group's breathing hitched as they anxiously readjusted their weapons, a few cries in the distance as more shots were blasted from the air, this time, redirected with the help of Ben.

The sudden movement of Ben's outstretched arm made everyone jump as he channeled the force to redirect the blasts into the other TIE-fighters, causing two of the spacecrafts to crash into one another, and fall to the ground.

"Hold..." Leia repeated, watching as the First Order fleet grew closer, and closer...

To the right of the bunker, Poe turned to glance a worried look towards to Leia, who only held a single finger up to him, a crease appearing on her forehead as her brows drew together, watching the sight on the field.

She took a quick moment to feel the energy surrounding her, worried about her timing, second guessing herself so much that she nearly considered surrendering...

But the thought was gone in an instant, just as fast as it had appeared right when she felt a steady wave course through her veins, a sure sign that it was time.

Opening her eyes, Leia caught a glimpse of the ships closing in on their base, and their troopers making fast footwork of closing the distance, their blasters triggering off, trying to break through the shields that surrounded them.

In the dark sky above, the last ship flew in from lightspeed, an Imperial shuttle she was more than sure carried none other than General Hux.

With everything she could muster up, Leia spoke as loudly as she could, a single word that was to trigger their plan.

"Now!"

On cue, Poe turned back to the field, repeating the command so that all could hear.

As practiced, the line of men set fire to farthest trench, drawing a line to halt any troopers that tried to pass, and the flames on the ground also cued Chewie to start up the flight control sequence, guiding the pilots that were waiting out of orbit to now approach from above.

Rey and Ben watched as several X wings appeared in the far distance above the First Order warships, catching the enemy off guard as the TIE fighters flying towards the base had to abruptly pull back and round back to the main shuttle, set to protect its leader at all costs.

With the ship's attention elsewhere, all Resistance members on the ground began their work.

Colored blasts flew through the air, aimlessly fired through the flames in hopes of reaching the Resistance members, who returned fire all the same.

Rey began to run towards the troopers on the other side of the fire, easily deflecting their shots with her ignited saber, face scrunched up with determination.

Ben followed alongside her, his long legs achieving the same distance without having to run. He watched as she growled with a huff, before getting close to the ground, her palm stretched towards the dirt as she pushed off of it with the force, launching her into the air to jump over the flames and impale her saber through the trooper within her reach.

With the force, he pulled a stormtrooper to him, directly though the flames and into his saber before tossing the white armored body to the side.

To the far-right end of the field, he noticed First Order grounded ships making their way past the flames and heading straight to the base, it's shots successfully taking out a few members that peeked over the trench shields.

With a look back to Dameron, Ben made sure the man saw the ships and was satisfied when they were taken out by the large anchored blasters that protected the small building that now held his mother.

With a clenched jaw, Ben focused back on the field in front of him, seeing that the plan was working well so far; The armed Resistance members that hid within the forest were now making their way out and were ambushing the Stormtroopers on the ground, joining Rey in taking down as many forces as they could, all while the air was occupied, now with Chewie and Finn taking control in the Falcon and trying to take down the three AT-AT's.

With a wave of his hand, Ben rolled the flames away from his path as he jumped over the lit trench and immediately engaged his saber with a doubled edged electric prod, held by a trooper of the same size as him. Their weapons clashed, and with a kick to the man's abdomen, Ben sent him to his knees before disarming him and ending the man's life with a single swing.

Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that Rey was carrying herself very well, her small frame giving her the ability to move quickly from one enemy to the next.

With a deep breath and a crack of his neck, Ben delved into the fight.

( X )

They fought endlessly, the flames around them lapping into the air, as if cheering on the Resistance to fight harder, and to move quicker.

It shocked Rey, just how easy it was for everyone to work together, to protect one another.

And just as much, it shattered Rey to see how many losses they had endured, new and familiar faces lay lifeless around the fields, bringing hot, angry tears to her eyes.

She had no idea how much time had passed, no idea if her close friends were okay.

But here, in the dirty, bloody field, she had Ben.