The Shadows of the Past Trilogy
Episode 8: The Last Jedi Part 2
The scene
cuts to space above D’Qar. Immediately,
the Fulminatrix and dozens of other First Order warships drop out of hyperspace
right above the planet’s surface. Aboard
the Fulminatrix’s bridge, Captain Moden Canady is seen, the picture of
stoicism. An officer approaches
him. “We have arrived in the D’Qar
system, Sir. Shall I prepare the main
cannon to fire upon the Resistance base?”
Canady quotes Tarkin. “You may fire when ready.”
The scene cuts to D’Qar. Leia is standing amidst a host of Resistance
members who are rushing about. She is barking orders in an effort to prepare the evacuation. She stands as the picture of strength, and
her words are inspiring…until an alarm siren blasts, causing them all to lift
their gaze above to the skies.
As the entire host of Resistance
members scatters in terror, Admiral Holdo
approaches Leia swiftly. “The First
Order has found us somehow. It looks
like the bulk of their fleet is here. We have
no place to go, and transmissions are being jammed. We won’t be receiving any backup.”
Leia immediately walks off with
Holdo and the rest of the command staff, briskly heading towards the landing
fields where all of the ships are docked.
“We don’t stand a chance against such a force,” Leia replies. “Our only hope is that Admiral Ackbar’s small
fleet and the planetary shield can hold long enough to make a quick
evacuation. Standard emergency evac
procedures!” she barks. “Erase all
essential data from our systems and…”
“Leia!” Holdo replies sharply,
cutting her off and stopping her to look her in the eye. “Remember the rumors about that dreadnought
intelligence was telling us about?” Leia
sees the seriousness in her eyes and nods.
“Oh no!” Leia replies. “They’re true.”
The scene switches to show the
Fulminatrix fire upon one of the Resistance ships, devastating it as the rest
of the First Order fleet moves into position to prevent any escape. On the bridge, an officer asks Canady, “Sir! What about the base? Aren’t we supposed to…”
Canady cuts him off. “There will be plenty of time to destroy the
base. We need to ensure no ships are
able to leave the system. The Resistance
dies here…Today.” Then, to himself, the
senior officer adds, “At last…Retribution!
This is for that hellish nightmare you put US through back on Jakku,
Rebel Scum!”
On the bridge of the Resistance
flagship, the Raddus, Admiral Ackbar barks orders to his crew. “No!
No! Fall back. We cannot hope to win this fight. We need to simply buy the General more time. Scramble all fighters. We need to do what we can to hold off against
that dreadnought!”
Poe suddenly scrambles into the
bridge. “Admiral!” he cries. “I have a plan. It’s a bit insane, but it may buy us some
time.”
Without hesitation, Ackbar replies,
“Do it!” Poe then disappears out of the
bridge as quickly as he entered.
Back on the surface of D’Qar,
Leia is on the landing field barking orders.
“No! Forget the equipment. Forget everything! It’s all replaceable. You aren’t!
You!” she barks at several soldiers rushing across the field. They freeze as she sharply addresses them
with a pointed finger. “Quickly! Help the medical staff move the injured onto
that transport! Now!” The group of soldiers complies and rushes to
the medical staff just as Finn is ushered into view in his stasis pod. The group rushes Finn onto the transport.
In space, another blast from the
Fulminatrix devastates another Resistance capital ship. Now, fighters have been deployed as TIEs,
X-Wings, A-Wings and the like flood space with laser fire. The Star Destroyers are now also engaging
several of the Resistance fleet's fleeing ships.
Aboard the Fulminatrix, Canady is seen again, beaming with pride. “We are recording this, as the Supreme Leader
Ordered…correct?” asks Canady.
“Yes, Sir,” replies an
officer. “We are flooding the hyperspace
communication channels with the broadcast.
Everyone is seeing this.”
“Excellent. We want the whole galaxy to see what will
happen to all who oppose us.”
In the hanger bay of the
Resistance flagship, Poe rushes up to Paige Tico, Rose Tico’s sister, who is
standing with her pilot near her bomber, the Cobalt Hammer, as it prepares to
launch. Rose is seen making last minute
modifications, along with a massive team of other engineers, to huge boosters
that are strapped to the bomber. “Okay,”
says Poe. “Let’s do this. Prepare for my signal and then launch. When you get within range, stay close to me
and let me worry about keeping any fighters off of you.”
“Roger!” says Paige and her
pilot together.
Rose then approaches. “Sir,” says Rose, concern written all over
her face. “This is crazy. These engines are experimental. If there’s even the slightest malfunction…the
payload this fighter is carrying will…”
“I know,” says Poe. “We don’t have a choice.” Then he slaps her on the shoulders
reassuringly and rushes off towards his X-Wing.
“Come on, Buddy!” she shouts to BB8.
“Let’s do this!” BB8 is then seen
hurrying up into the X-Wing as another team of technicians hurries away from the
ship, which has also been refitted with the same boosters that the bomber was
outfitted with. Then Poe jumps into the
cockpit, and as it closes he launches out into space.
Rose is then seen with her
sister as Paige is about to enter the fighter.
“Be careful out there, Paige,” she says with dread on her face. “I hate to think of you flying without
me. What if you forget how the guns
work?”
Paige laughs and pats the
gunsight as she climbs into the bubble.
“You just checked them,” she says.
“Besides, we’ve got your experimental boosters and those bafflers which
you said should hide engine emissions.
We’ll be on top of that dreadnought before they even know what hit
them.”
“But I want to go with you,”
says Rose, with pleading eyes. “We’ve
never been apart.”
“You’ll be with me,” Paige says
as she pulls out her medallion. Rose
pulls out hers as well. Rose then nods
and drops her gaze to her feet. Paige
sighs and shakes her head. “I’ll be
back. I promise.”
“Right,” says Rose, continuing
to clutch the medallion for reassurance.
Tears continue to stream down her cheeks.
“Rose!” Paige says. “I’ll be fine.”
“I know, Pae-Pae. You’re the best gunner in the whole
Resistance, after all.”
Paige smiles at her and gives
her a quick hug. And then, all of a
sudden, the pilot shouts, “Here we go!”
“Already?” says Paige in shock
as she and Rose separate. Paige begins
closing her hatch.
“Looks like those boosters
work,” replies the pilot.
“Of course they do,” says Paige
as the ship launches into space. “My
sister designed them.”
Then the ship is seen departing
from the Raddus, along with several other bombers just like it, all strapped
with those same boosters. A moment
later, the pilot announces he is engaging the boosters. And then, the experimental engines ignite on
all of the bombers, and they launch at tremendous speeds straight through the
battlefield in space, weaving recklessly past TIEs, X-Wings and other
fighters. Unable to succeed in avoiding
all combatants, several of the bombers collide with other ships exploding in
massive fireballs and wiping out huge numbers of ships, friendly as well as
enemy. In the end, only Paige’s ship and
three others zoom out beyond the battlefield and streak off through the void to
the Fulminatrix.
The scene cuts to show Poe
weaving about the Fulminatrix, as in the original movie, as he is trying to
disable the cannons. Similar to the
original movie, Poe barely manages to disable the last of the cannons just as
Paige’s ship and the other survivors arrive.
But then, much to Poe’s horror, one of the experimental engines
overheats, creating a chain reaction within the ship that explodes it into a
million pieces. The resulting explosion
hits both of the other bombers. At the
end of the blast, Paige’s ship is the only one left, and it is severely
damaged; her pilot obviously dead.
Then, just as in the movie,
Paige crawls to the release switch, injured and dying herself. She then barely manages to hit the switch,
releasing the payload. The resulting detonations
tear the Fulminatrix apart, briefly showing Canady on the bridge as he stares
stoically as the fireball consumes him.
Paige’s ship is also shown being consumed by the blast, leaving only
Poe’s fighter to escape back towards the battlefield.
On the planet’s surface, Leia
sees the destruction of the Fulminatrix as she boards her own shuttle. “That’s it!” says a communications officer. “The channels
are clear.”
“Send the distress call,” orders
Leia. “Tell them to meet us at the
rendezvous point.” Then, to another, she
says, “Get us out of here.” Then, to
another, she says, “Drop the planetary shields.
If the First Order doesn’t blow up the base right away, have a couple of
Y-Wings hit it. There are too many
secrets in those datafiles. We can’t let
the First Order get their hands on them.”
Then the transports meet up with
the few remaining warships that the Resistance still possesses. The Resistance base is seen being blown up by
one of the Star Destroyers, which orbitally bombards it. Leia gives the order for a full retreat, and
the Resistance turns tail. Poe meets
back up with the Raddus along with just a few surviving Starfighters. Then, the entire fleet makes the jump to
lightspeed.
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