The Shadows of the Past Trilogy
Episode 9: Nemesis of the Force Part 16
Over Uratsixo, the First Order finally breaks through the Zyn Empire’s forces, exposing the Vengeance just as it fires upon another Star Destroyer. Only ten of the Star Destroyers remain against four of the Zyn’s warships including the Vengeance. Only two New Republic capital ships remain as well.
As the Vengeance reduces the number of Star Destroyers to nine, Hux gives the order. “Fire on that ship! Now!” And with that, the remaining nine Destroyers pummel the Vengeance, blasting into its shields and threatening to tear it apart.
But then, unexpectedly, the remaining New Republic warships advance swiftly against the Finalizer, which is now also exposed. Aboard the bridge of the Restoration, Hera shouts out orders. “Get Hux’s attention! Our only hope is to keep that flagship alive!”
From the bridge of the Finalizer, Hux looks at the concentrated attack. “Now what?”
“The last two Resistance ships... They're hardly scratched, Sir. While we've been focusing on the Zyn warships, they've been mostly holding back. They’re at full shields, and they're attacking the Finalizer!”
Hux’s eyes narrow. For a moment he considers his course of action. Then he barks out the order, “Continue firing on that Zyn flagship. It is still our biggest threat.”
“But Sir!” Traisl is beside himself.
“You heard me!” snaps Hux. "Focus all firepower on that ship. We MUST destroy it before it can fire again - on US!”
The turbolasers continue to pummel the Vengeance, punching through its shields. The ion cannon begins firing again, but a direct hit destroys the powerful gun, cascading volts of energy over the Vengeance’s bow. The remaining three Zyn ships try to maneuver in front of the Vengeance to protect it from taking a beating. They also join with the New Republic ships, pummeling the Finalizer. Swarms of Dart fighters and New Republic fighters also join in, the TIEs having been thinned out considerably which allows them access to focus on the bigger flagship.
On the surface, Kylo steps up to Rey, saber pointing at her face. He seems to be struggling. Behind him, the voices of the other Knights of Ren can be heard like whispered chants or the voice of Snoke or Vader - issuing out from each of their helmets. “Finish it!” “Kill her!” “Don’t be weak!” “Join me!” “It is the only way!” “End this destructive conflict!” “With our combined strength…” “Perfect balance.” “There has been an awakening - the Dark Side…and the Light.” “Do it! Do it quick!”
In the distance, barely seen on the borders of the screen's view, the battle continues to rage around them as lightning flashes and rain falls. However, here in this place, only Rey and Kylo and the Knights of Ren exist. Finn, still unconscious, lays on the ground unmoving - possibly dead or dying. “Jacen!” Rey tries one more time. “Jacen!” Tears stream down her face. “Don’t do this.” She shakes her head, desperate. “Don’t leave me! I need you!”
“Lying viper!” Snoke’s voice crackles like the thunder around them. “She tries to seduce you with her sentiment. Don’t be as Vader. His weakness was his wife - Padme - and his son, Uncle Luke." His voice drips with sarcasm and hatred as he says "Uncle". "Strike now! DO IT!”
Kylo Ren raises his lightsaber in the air, angling it over his right shoulder with his left hand stretched out in front of him. Rey is frozen, as if unable to move to stop his attack. She seems to be fighting against the Force ability he is using to paralyze her, but to no avail. Kylo lets out a blood-curdling shout and then brings the blade down in a deadly arc…
…and it passes over Rey’s head to strike at an invisible foe behind him and just to his left. A shining Cortosis blade blocks the blow effortlessly, and in that moment, a shadowy figure appears. The rest of the Knights of Ren are gone, but Sala-tzar's army has returned, surrounding them on all sides. Still, the army is focused on Rey's forces; not on the two facing Sala-tzar.
Jacen and Rey stand together facing Sala-tzar who is now in full ceremonial Sith combat armor, designed in black with red trimming. In his hands is a two-handed, finely crafted, runic Sith Sword. He sneers wickedly at Jacen. “Such a pity,” he says with intense disdain. “You had such potential.” And then, all at once, Jacen, Rey and Sala-tzar are fighting in the midst of the sea of Massassi and other creatures.
Some distance away, Aritra hurls Massassi after Massassi, boulder after boulder as Golrit continues to hack and slash as any get near her. Amelia continues to whirl around with her two blades, sometimes throwing and guiding the silver and sometimes just swinging it and stabbing with it and its twin. The enemy warriors are still too numerous, and they seem to now be focused on Aritra, Golrit, Amelia and the few remaining Republic troops with them. Tanks are smoldering and abandoned, and the last of the walkers falls to the ground.
And then, all at once, powerful blasts tear up a huge portion of the enemy troops, sending them flying through the air. Looking up, the enemy warriors spot Poe’s Black X-wing, and the rest of his squadron behind him, zooming overhead. The fighters loop around swiftly and return to strafe the enemy a few more times.
At the same time, Zyn war tanks and walkers are spotted moving over the countryside along with a huge number of clone troops. Blaster fire pours into the enemy ranks from these new units, finally freeing up Amelia, Aritra and Golrit. Both women turn towards one another and then look off towards Rey, Jacen, and Sala-tzar.
Aritra looks at Amelia and then at Rey. “I have to help them fight Sala-tzar. They won’t survive if I don’t.”
Amelia shouts at her over the rain, looking exhausted. “But isn’t the objective inside the temple? They’re distracting him. If we hurry, we can stop Sala-tzar once and for all.”
Aritra looks at her and then back at Rey again. Then she shakes her head. “I’m not leaving my daughter. I won’t make that mistake again.”
Amelia is furious. “That’s exactly what Sala-tzar wants you to do! I can’t face the temple alone. You know better than anyone what awaits us in there.”
Aritra continues to shake her head. “You won’t face it alone.” She then gestures at a speeder that is racing towards the temple, plowing through enemy lines. It is coming from the Zyn forces, and it is escorted by a plethora of speeder bikes. The vehicles are armed with cannons and mowing down Sala-tzar's troops. “I’m sorry. I can’t.” Aritra then turns to Golrit. “Go with her.”
And with that, Aritra races off towards the duelists, stretching out her hand to yank a polearm into it with the Force. She then imbues the weapon with Force energy, and it begins to emanate a blue aura. Charging at Sala-tzar, she joins the fray just as Sala-tzar throws Rey backward with an almost effortless up-swing that she barely manages to block. Now, with Aritra joining in, Sala-tzar dodges, spins, twists, flips and deflects blow after blow as he continues to draw his combatants further and further away from all of the other combatants.
Seeing them engrossed in the battle, Amelia sets her jaw and shouts out to the surviving New Republic soldiers, Oniho included among them, as is Temiri and Arashell. “To the temple! For the Chancellor!” They all roar in agreement, along with Golrit. Then the remnant of the New Republic forces join a mass of newly arrived Zyn clone troopers as they push the enemy back towards the dark temple in the distance.
In that moment, aboard the Finalizer, Traisl receives a report from one of his officers. “The Incinerator has reached critical mass,” he announces. Traisl then turns around to face Hux.
Hux nods, a moment of relief playing across his face. “Activate the Incinerator. Burn that structure and all around it into ash.”
The Incinerator, the massive spire that plummeted deep into Uratsixo's surface, suddenly begins to light up, many of its gears spinning and twisting. The upper portion splits open, and a large cannon begins to extend towards the sky. Once fully extended, it tilts in the direction of the temple and then locks into place. From deep within, the metal is glowing so hot that it seems it should be melting. A few moments later, there is a deep, rumbling sound, like that of an earthquake. And then, the Incinerator is shown drawing lava up from the mantle of the planet - a volcanic eruption!
Suddenly, lava is projected out of the Incinerator’s barrel and cast like a steady beam of light across the countryside, smashing right into the temple from the rear. The temple has an energy shield around it which prevents the lava from immediately pouring down onto the structure itself, but it instantly creates a fast-moving lava tide that surges around and over the energy dome towards the main entrance and the battlefield beyond.
Besides this, like a raging volcano, ash is projected from the mouth of the Incinerator, plunging the countryside into an even darker veil of shadows only lit by the fire of the planet’s hellish mantel. As the rain pours down on the lava, it immediately superheats the atmosphere, creating clouds of deadly steam. To make matters even worse, an earthquake begins to tear the landscape apart. The flat desolate terrain begins to split open, forming crevasses. New shelves of land are created as some portions rise and others drop.
At the last moment, realizing the entrance is about to be cut off from them, Amelia projects herself forward with the Force, shooting like a blur the last few hundred meters to the door of the temple, leaving everyone behind. As she rolls inside and uses the Force to slam it shut behind her, the last thing she sees of the battlefield is the remnant of the New Republic and Zyn ground forces, including Golrit, about to be consumed by the ash and lava of the Incinerator. They are seen fleeing. She is all alone, then, in the dark temple, with no one to help her.
The ground quakes and splits even more as the bright lava casts an eerie glow upon the combatants still fighting for their lives. Rey, Jacen, and Aritra continue to fight Sala-tzar, and now that Aritra has joined them, Sala-tzar seems to be having a much greater difficulty fending them off. And so, seeing he is outmatched, he flips away from them, landing on a sinking pillar of stone amidst the swiftly approaching lava. He cackles. The dark ash clouds then engulf him.
“We can’t let him get to the gateway!” Aritra cries. “We mustn’t let him stop Amelia!” She then charges after him, leaping from their position onto the sinking pillar to continue the fight. Glancing around at the ever-increasingly devastated battlefield and realizing there is no other way to go anyway, Rey and Jacen follow.
In the sky above, Poe stares down at the Incinerator’s powerful blast, a look of dread on his face. “Okay, Buddy,” he says to BB8. “We’re the only ones who can take that thing out.” He then gives orders to his squadron. "Black Squadron, attack my target." And he spins his X-wing and begins pummeling the Incinerator with lasers and missiles. The rest of his squadron join in, but it seems to have its own shields.
The fight continues between Rey, Jacen, Aritra and Sala-tzar as the pillar of stone drops at an incredible rate into the depths of the molten landscape. But then, just as it appears that Sala-tzar is about to stumble backward and fall to his death into the lava lake, he flips off of the pillar and into a cave that has just come into view - barely seen through the choking ash clouds. “This is my battlefield!” he shouts back at them. “I control it all.” Then with a wave of his hand, the pillar plummets even faster.
But Aritra extends her hands upward, stopping the pillar from its descent. Chunks of stone break away, and the top portion ascends back up, carrying them with it. She then guides it towards the cave that Sala-tzar has vanished into. The three jump into the cave and begin rushing forward. The only things that light their way are their lightsabers.
Inside the temple, Amelia continues through a massive chamber. It is dark and quiet, almost like a crypt. Then, all at once, a terrible creature lumbers out of the shadows. It is a Krayt Dragon about fifty yards in length from tail to nose. It has no wings, but it has horns, spikes, sharp claws and teeth. The Krayt Dragon has been mutated, and it snaps at Amelia and pursues her as she flees through the massive chamber.
As if things couldn’t get worse, other creatures, like nightmarish dogs or cats, begin bounding along in a mad attempt to catch her or cut off her escape. Amelia sees an entranceway before her and hurries towards it, using Force Speed, but just before she can reach it, several of the twisted creatures blocks her way, barely able to be seen in the dim light of her sabers. Behind, the dragon comes charging, mouth agape.
In the sky above the temple, Poe and his squadron dive one last time and blow the Incinerator to pieces at last. Huge amounts of lava spew from it, as if it wasn’t quite ready to give up the fight. However, after a moment or two, it finally sputters and dies out, the rain helping to cool the flow and eventually stop it. “Yes! That did it! Looks like we’re done here. Let’s get back to the fight above.” BB8 chirps in reply as do the rest of Black Squadron.
In space, another of the Zyn ships blows up. It managed to maneuver around to shield the Vengeance in time to save the flagship. Now, only three Zyn capital ships remain, including the Vengeance. As for the New Republic, the Restoration and one other battle cruiser still remain, but both look as if they are not going to last much longer. In spite of Hux's best attempts to destroy the Vengeance and focus on it, to defend their flagship, several First Order Star Destroyers turned to attack the Republic. Still, nine Star Destroyers remain. However, with the Finalizer now weakened, the main cannon of the Vengeance begins to fire up again.
“We need to give the Zyn flagship at least one more shot!” Hera says, lights flashing wildly on the bridge of the Restoration.
Commander Ki-isha replies from her B-wing. “Stripping shields from the Finalizer now, Admiral. This should get their attention.” She and her remaining squadron mates then fire full salvos of heavy missiles right at the bridge of the First Order flagship. The shields are then seen rippling away, leaving it exposed.
Aboard the Finalizer, Hux sees his doom coming. He is thrown into a panic. “Blast that ship! Blast it! Vindicator! Avenger 2! Get between us and…”
The Vengeance explodes, its cannon backfiring unexpectedly and tearing it apart from within. Huge fragments of the ship are projected at incredible rates through the battlefield in space.
Aboard the Finalizer, Hux sighs in relief. Then, a cocky grin plays across his face. "And with that, the battle is over. Traisl, pull the Finalizer back and let the others clean up so we can go home."
"With pleasure, Supreme Leader," says Traisl, clearly just as arrogant.
And then, all at once, another voice is heard over the com channel. It is small, but Hux clearly recognizes it. “Mind if we rejoin this party?” Poe says, and suddenly his X-wing squadron streaks into view near the forward tip of the Destroyer, launched through space again at incredible speeds by their boosters. "Blue Squadron. Cover us."
Hux’s eyes go wide as he realizes Poe’s intent. “Focus fire on those fighters!” he bellows, and he spins on his heel to try to escape the bridge. He shouts back as he flees. “Take out those fighters!”
"Supreme Leader, where are you going?" Traisl asks, stunned at Hux's flight, but Hux gives no reply.
“This one’s for the Hosnian System,” Poe says over the com, and he and his squadron unleash proton torpedoes, veering away just as they explode through the unshielded bridge of the Finalizer. As with the Executor all those years ago over Endor, the Finalizer’s bridge becomes a flaming ruin as the entire vessel begins to descend towards the planet’s surface.
Aboard the Restoration, Hera and the crew begin hooting victoriously. However, for Hera, there is only a moment of celebration. She hits the com. “Now! The First Order’s leadership is dead! We can’t take much more of this. Withdraw! All units withdraw before there is nothing left TO withdraw!” She then checks a few scanners. “Looks like the Zyn are thinking the same thing. They’re starting to pull back as well.”
Streaking through space in his A-wing, Chegon and his squadron, and a few others as well, engage one of the remaining Star Destroyers. “We helped take down the Finalizer’s remaining shields,” says Chegon. “Just eight more to go! Even a single Star Destroyer can send down enough troops to end this thing too quickly for our ground forces.”
Hera is displeased by this, and she grits her teeth and issues the order. “Chegon! Do as ordered! We…”
“Agreed!” Poe adds over the com. “All units, fall back! Hopefully, the First Order will withdraw as well. With their leadership gone, they may not even know why they're here.”
But then, new blips appear on the holo-projector image in front of Hera. A new fleet has arrived right behind the Star Destroyers. It immediately begins firing. To counter this, most of the Star Destroyers begin to turn to engage the new threat.
Leia is then seen on board one of these new vessels along with General Rellis, the leader of the Hapes Consortium. "Looks like we're not too late," Leia says, relief flooding her features.
"All units," says General Rellis. "Our top priority is to draw the First Order away from the planet's surface and save as many of our allied ships as we can."
Hera shakes her head, and a huge smile plays across her face. “The Chancellor! Reinforcements have arrived.” She then spins on her chair. "All units, continue to withdraw."
“What? Who?” asks Ki-isha over the com.
“Chancellor Organa! She did it! Looks to me like the Hapes Consortium!” Poe yells, exhilarated. “The New Republic just gained some new allies.”
"Admiral Hera," says an officer, drawing her attention. "Some of the Destroyers are still attacking us. We won't last much longer."
She frowns, weighs the odds for a few moments, and then gives the order. "Alert all crews. Abandon ship. Evacuate via the starboard hanger port."
A bit further away from the battle, another Zyn ship drops out of hyperspace behind the Republic ships. Having taken secret hyperspace routes that only the Sith Legacy Computer knew about, the ship carrying Stalker - himself a walking copy of the Sith Legacy Computer - arrives. Aboard the bridge of this vessel, Stalker stands with the ship’s captain. The droid tilts his head towards him. “Do what you can to keep the First Order away from the planet,” is all he says. The captain gives a signal.
From inside the Zyn warship, dozens of Darts fly out of the hanger and straight for the Star Destroyers. The Darts zip through space like a barrage of missiles. Stalker then turns and walks off of the bridge. “I will be taking a shuttle below to extract the Empress and Lady Saydra," he says as he exits.
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