We are very near the end now, as we dive headfirst into the final battle. Enjoy!
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Hux stands in the Jedi council chamber on the tallest spire, surrounded by a mass of technicians and equipment monitoring the gathering below. He asks about the weather, a tech says that it might rain later but for now the sky is clear and conditions are good for the ceremony. The mother of Xindo arrives and whispers something in his ear. He perks up, looking pleased. ‘Just as Thrawn predicted’ he says. He announces that it’s time to begin, exiting into the turbolift followed by his flanking Death Troopers.
…
Rey and Finn sneak down the hallways, avoiding patrols. In the final hallway there is a captain in full silver armor on patrol. Rey grabs a tall metal pipe from an exposed access panel and knocks him unconscious. Finn asks Rey if she knew that he and Poe were a thing and she says everyone in the Resistance suspected it, adding that Finn seems to be the last to know.
At the end of the hall is the room with the cells holding the Knights of the Twelve Systems. They are guarded by half a dozen officers and troopers. Finn says they need a distraction. He says a mind trick would have been nice here, or any Force powers at all. Rey asks why, and he says that to the First Order, this Temple is basically one of the most sinister places in the galaxy, and the troopers constantly talk about how many Jedi ghosts must still haunt it. Rey looks back at the unconscious trooper, and Finn seems to get the same idea. They go over to the trooper and start to remove his armor. Finn takes a pouch from the trooper’s belt and pours the powder into a small thermos of liquid. Rey asks what he’s doing, and he says it’s a concentrated energy drink. He pours the liquid back into the pouch.
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Hux and his entourage exits the turbolift on the way to the cells. Rose and Maz quickly hide themselves in a corner as the group passes. Rose points a blaster at Hux, but Maz shakes her head. It’s not in the mission. The troopers pass and the duo make for the turbolift.
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Finn, dressed in the captain’s armor, stumbles into the room screaming and clutching at his throat. The other troopers leap to attention, weapons drawn. He shouts that the spirits of the Jedi are attacking him and tries to flee through the opposite doorway but collapses on the floor. The officers look around unsure of what to do. The lights start to flicker and Finn gasps, grabbing at his throat and rising back up to his feet as if being dragged by an invisible form. Horrible crunching sounds emanate from around his throat and a red liquid starts to trickle down his armor from his neck. His helmet twists 180 degrees with a resounding crack and he falls to the floor in a mangled heap. The troopers flee the scene, as well as one of the officers. The other officer shouts at them to come back or be executed for disobedience. Then the lights go off completely. There are several metallic thwacks and when the lights come on the knights see Rey standing over the officer, metal pole in hand. She congratulates Finn on that performance and he bows, throwing his backwards helmet to the floor. Several of the knights even clap quietly, and one says that they should probably get going.
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Maz and Rose exit the turbolift using a small hatch and make their way through the ventilation tube above the main room. Maz sees that there are too many troops to take on her own. Rose asks if they can hack the broadcast from where they are and Maz sees the jumble of cables hanging down from the ceiling right before them. She says it might be possible, and they keep moving through the ducts. The furry creature looks up from its perch on the woman’s shoulder. She pets it absently.
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Finn says nervously that this seems almost too easy. Rey says that she’s blind without the Force and doesn’t know whether or not to have a bad feeling about it. Just then they turn a corner on the way to the spire and run directly into Hux and his troops. Rey swings her pole at the Death Trooper in front of her and knocks him senseless. The others quickly surround her and cast away her weapon. Troops from all directions converge on their location, trapping the entire group.
Hux crows that this is all as Thrawn predicted. He scans the group, wondering where Rose has gone. He orders some of his men to search the temple until she is found. He says that regardless of her disappearance, he is more than happy to have Rey as a replacement. The group move through the main hallway of the Jedi Temple and its many columns into the light beyond.
The crowd roars as they emerge into the sunlight. Before them is the vast arena that Hux’s people have built, supported by colossal pillars resting on the administrative buildings below. The steps of the temple lead right to the start of this arena, and ranged around the perimeter are the siege weapons of the First Order. AT-AT’s, AT-ST’s, anti-personnel speeders, and thousands of troops in armor wielding blasters. A cage near the front of the arena holds Finn’s commando unit. There are what look like two stockades at the top of the stairs, and two troopers on either side wielding axes.
Hux strides out onto the platform at the top of the stairs, flanked by four of his Death Troopers. He greets the crowd, people from all across the city massed in the arena, and announces that this is a momentous day for the First Order, the galaxy, and the Force.
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In the crawlspace above the comm center Maz taps a line from the main hub, saying that she’s almost through. They hear noises below them, the scraping of equipment and the whirring of motors. The floor collapses under them and they fall to the ground in the middle of the comm center. Two troopers advance on them with blasters while the Techs gather uncertainly in a circle. Xindo’s mother enters the circle with her pet and she orders the troopers to keep them alive. She wants them to watch as their friends are executed below, just as her son was killed for treason. Rose makes an impassioned plea, saying that the First Order isn’t just trying to rule the galaxy but to destroy the Force itself. One of the techs, a young man perhaps just out of training, looks particularly concerned. Rose directs her words directly at the young people in the room and Xindo’s mother, who says that this is impossible.
Hux proclaims the Force has disappeared from the galaxy with the end of the Jedi and the Sith. The cameras broadcast this message to a thousand astonished worlds. Hux brings forth the Knights of the Twelve systems, demanding that they swear fealty to him and the First Order, and that henceforth their worlds and people will work for the glory of this new order.
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Poe’s destroyer emerges from Hyperspace, Red squadron emerging from underneath in practiced efficiency. Thrawn stands at the bridge of his command ship, flanked by a dozen Star Destroyers in formation. An officer informs the Grand Admiral that he is being hailed. He accepts the hail, opening conversation. “I don’t expect you are calling to surrender, Admiral.” Poe’s voice comes through, quipping that he will accept Thrawn’s surrender. Thrawn politely declines. Poe responds that he then has no choice. Thrawn reminds him that if Poe dares attack then he will have no choice but to sacrifice the hostage crews of Kylo’s fleet arrayed around him. He asks if Poe is willing to have that blood on his hands. As if in response Poe’s destroyer starts its approach, accelerating to full speed.
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On the steps of the Jedi Temple, the knights of the Twelve Systems decline to swear to Hux. The Supreme Leader bristles with anger as they announce that their worlds follow Rey and the Force, and they will fight to the last against those who commit atrocities in the name of preserving order. Hux brings Finn and Rey out to the stockades, asking if these are the traitors whom the Knights serve. They assent, and he locks them in the stockades. The executioners activate their axes in preparation but Hux says for them to put their weapons away, he will do it himself, first killing Finn, then Rey. He activates Kylo’s saber and stands over Finn. Finn asks Rey that if she manages to escape, to tell Poe…She agrees, not needing to hear the rest.
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Thrawn pulls the datapad out of his vest pocket, activating it. He informs Poe that this is his last chance before he commits the crews to their deaths. Poe says that this is a sacrifice he is willing to make for freedom.
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In the comm center, Maz glances at the time and shakes her head at Rose. They have to act now if they are to save a million souls. But they are helpless to do anything now, and Rose’s plea doesn’t convince Xindo’s mother. Maz’s timer zeroes out.
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Hux raises Kylo’s weapon, saying that here ends the original stain on the purity of the First Order.
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Thrawn says that Poe has again defied his expectations. He presses the fatal button on his datapad.
…
Hux swings the saber at Finn’s neck with all his fury.
Nothing happens. Finn’s neck sizzles where the blade has shorted out a millimeter from his flesh and bone. Hux stares at the smoking hilt, then around at the gathering. All around the arena the electronic equipment has shorted out, including the weapons of his soldiers. AT-ST’s settle down onto their legs as the crews scramble to figure out what has just happened, and soldiers everywhere fuss uselessly with their blasters and their drained power cores.
In the comm center a tech shouts that there has been a massive ionic surge from below the complex which has knocked out their communications and in fact all equipment in the vicinity of the temple. Xindo’s mother rushes over to the window and looks down, eyes wide as she beholds what is emerging from all sides of the arena. Massive insectoid machines are clawing their way onto the platform, cobbled together from rusted machinery of bygone eras. Magnetic grips and mechanical claws clamp onto the legs of the First Order siege equipment, dragging it to the ground. The crews of the machines leap and struggle free as their vehicles are dragged inexorably off the side of the arena down into the bottomless alleys of the city below.
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Thrawn eyes the nonfunctional datapad, asking for an update on the situation below. An officer says that all interplanetary communication has been knocked out and they are having trouble getting any information from the Temple area. Their scans reveal a massive EMP. The officer says that there is another hail from Poe, which Thrawn says to allow. Poe asks what has happened to Thrawn’s hostages, that surely interplanetary communication wasn’t necessary for his plan. Poe continues that he’s glad that the Grand Admiral has called his personal crews off of their stations into the forward sections of the destroyers, since this will give him at least two minutes of time with which to rip his fleet to shreds. Thrawn orders the crews to return to their posts immediately, but at that moment the fleets of the twelve systems fall out of Hyperspace around Poe’s destroyer. The comms crackle with activity as the fleets pick their targets.
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The steps of the Jedi Temple are a scene of madness. Hux orders his men to bring fresh weapons to bear, but even as they struggle to regain order a massive jointed contraption lumbers up the steps, Jawas emerging from orifices in the behemoth with ion cannons to stun any troopers who come near. The Jawdi emerge from the contraption with their cobbled lightsaber replicas and offer them to the Knights of the Twelve Systems. They activate these weapons and a metal wand shoots from each which begins to spin and generate a strong energy field. They are improvised sabers, but functional. The knights thank the Jawdi for their help and move to Rey. She is already free however, the electronic restraints falling away.
Hux casts Kylo’s nonfunctional saber down the steps and activates Luke’s green saber. Finn scrambles down toward the enclosure holding the commando unit but Hux is in pursuit. Finn shouts for Rey’s help and she reaches into her pouch, throwing something at him. He catches it, wondering what it is. He sees Kylo’s saber on the ground and realizes that it must be a new power cell. Hux strikes at him again and again with Luke’s saber but Finn launches himself from the steps and rolls across the pavement, snatching up the saber as he rolls. Slamming the new power cell in place, he gets up and slashes the padlock on the gate, releasing his men and women. Roaring with newfound hope they charge Hux and his men. The First Order troops retreat up the steps and into the shaded safety of the Temple, Finn’s forces hot on their heels.
…
Poe’s destroyer moves at ramming speed toward the Grand Admiral’s ship as the fleets target the rest of his fleet. An officer reports on Poe’s destroyer, saying that life readings indicate that their crew is massed near the back of the ship. Thrawn narrows his eyes, saying that they must have planned a suicidal ramming maneuver while the fleets deal with his other ships. Foolish, he says. He launches TIE Interceptors from his main hangar, the full complement of his entire fleet. He orders them to concentrate their fire on a line down the center of Poe’s destroyer. Poe orders Red squadron not to engage as the barrage of missiles and blaster bolts eats through the metal of the destroyer. The fighters curve away to prepare for another run and Thrawn unleashes his ship’s full firepower on this same line. Poe’s destroyer begins to crack apart like an egg, explosions rippling along the surface of the tear.
Poe orders all ships to evacuate the doomed destroyer. Fighters and transports lift off of the engines and crevices where they have been hiding in the aft of the destroyer and fall back. Gasses begin to escape and engulf the ship in a giant fireball as it splits completely apart. The gas within the ship expands and Thrawn sees that it is gas from the nebula which has been stored within every cubic inch of the ship. It now covers a large area of space and approaches Thrawn’s ship due to momentum, filled with the twisted remnants of Poe’s destroyer. Thrawn finds it interesting that Poe has seen through his deception and wonders how he could have been this well prepared. The comm crackles to life. It is Ben, who asks if Thrawn remembers him. An officer says that there is a large pirate vessel on an intercept course from below.
Poe announces phase two. His ships disappear inside the ersatz nebula as it intersects Thrawn’s ship and they begin to rake his vessel, taking out weapons emplacements and shield generators. Poe’s X-wing blasts a hole in the garbage collection doors and the landing vessels make their way inside. Thrawn orders all vents open to clear the nebula’s gasses from around the ship. Poe leads Red squadron in their circuit of the destroyer, fighting off TIE fighters so that the invasion can continue. The vents start making clearings in the gas and Poe flies through them followed by several TIE Intercepters closing fast. Red leader follows the Intercepters, saying she can’t get a clean shot. Poe orders her to fire on him, and when she questions this he says ‘Just do it!’. She does it, the blasters igniting the oxygen-rich air exiting the destroyer and detonating the Interceptors as they fly through the superheated cloud of gas.
Ben orders his first mate to pull the pirate ship alongside Thrawn’s vessel and open the docking bay doors. The ship enters the nebula and finds the side of Thrawn’s ship, the doors opening directly into the side of the destroyer. Ben goes to the embarkation point and leads his crew through the opening torn in the side of Thrawn’s ship. The pirates roar a motley battle cry as they invade the ship. R2 follows, unfazed by the blaster fire. Outside the nebula, the fleets of the Twelve systems engage the rest of Thrawn’s fleet which is only now returning to battle-ready status.