The Shadows of the Past Trilogy
Episode 9: Nemesis of the Force Part 19
Back up on the Gateway platform, Sala-tzar finally gains the upper hand against Saydra. A blast of lightning hits her in the face, and her defenses drop for a moment. With his staff, he swats her lightsaber away from her, sending it skittering over the edge. Then he bashes her in the stomach, smashes her shoulder laser so that it explodes, swings the staff behind her knees and sweeps her off her feet. A moment later, he pins her to the ground with the spear end of his staff right through her cybernetic right side.
He laughs, though he is breathing heavily now. “I’ve longed for this moment as well, My Dear. You are a blight to the Force. I’m going to make you and your annoying daughter’s deaths very painful.” Then lightning cascades down the staff and into Saydra. She screams in agony and convulses on the floor. He then presses the staff’s point deeper into her, causing more lightning to cascade over her.
The ship draws ever closer. It is now only a few feet away. Rey begins to recover as Finn and Rose help her to stand. She looks around the platform then, as if everything is in slow motion. Jacen still clutches his wound, and he looks as if he is dying. Golrit, now regaining consciousness too, staggers to try to continue the fight, but seems unable to. Amelia is clutching her bloody face, and as she tries to grab one of her sabers to attack Sala-tzar, lightning bursts from his outstretched hand. It courses through her, engulfing her in electricity. Her voice joins Saydra’s in the nightmarish chorus of agony. It seems all is lost.
And then, Luke’s voice comes to her; the calm amidst the storm. “The more you trust the Force, the more it will replace your natural skills. The stronger the Force becomes for you, the weaker your skills become. However, the problem is, you won’t even realize it, if you aren’t careful, until it is too late.”
The ship connects to the platform and begins to draw it in. Luke's voice continues. “Everything has limits, Rey, except the Force. It is unlimited. Therefore, all limited things have a certain, limited perception of the Force, and a certain measure of how much of the Force they can control or allow to pass through them. There is always a way to destroy all things except the Force, and there are always ways to further increase or decrease all limited things.”
“When one climbs to such great heights, he neglects to realize just how far he can fall. He is so busy staring out at the world at his feet…at the horizon…that he forgets “where he was…what he was doing.” That, Rey…That is the danger of legends and stories. They make a person feel far better about themselves than they should - so much so that they forget that they can make mistakes.”
Her Force vision suddenly focuses on R2 below her, setting the last of the charges and then flying back to the tunnels. It then shifts to Kika, holding the vial of Nemesis in her hand and Saydra's lightsaber in the other. The entire case of Nemesis is under her arm. Then it shifts to Oniho back on the Restoration, and she hears him saying, “You fought with Jacen Solo. He thought you were dead, but you hid from him with the Force.”
“It’s one of my spesh-ee-alities…” Kika’s voice replies.
Rey's eyes then come to rest on the Gateway of the Whills even as the ship continues to pull it in off the column. The Gateway platform slides into the ship's cargo hold, detaching a little at a time from the column it rests on. Sala-tzar’s back is completely turned to Rey as he mocks and laughs at Saydra and Amelia.
And in that moment, Rey realizes what they have to do. She touches minds with Kika, and Kika suddenly realizes her role as well. She stares down at the vial in her hands, and she pops the grenade-like device off of it. Then she looks up at the platform above her. Closing her eyes, she suddenly vanishes from view as if she had never been. A grappling hook launches into the air, connecting to the platform above.
"Chewie," Kika's voice is heard echoing through the passage to the Wookiee. "Get back to the Falcon. Get all the survivors on board the ships. Tell everyone to take off. All of you, get out of here."
Rey then turns her focus back to the Gateway. “Finn, tell R2 to detonate the lower levels immediately,” she says. And then, she extends her hands forward towards the flames in the center of the dais. She proceeds to cup her hands in her field of vision as if she is cupping the flames with them. Then, all at once, she begins to try to force her hands closed, and as she does, the flames begin to condense as they spark and fizzle.
Turning, Sala-tzar suddenly realizes what is happening. He releases Saydra and Amelia, focusing his attention, now, on the closing Gateway. The flames on the pedestals crackle and dance as Sala-tzar extends his hands out to the Gateway as well, in the opposite fashion as Rey. The central flame flickers and shifts. There is a fierce roaring sound that begins to surge across the platform.
“You!...Wretched… Annoying…Girl!” Sala-tzar shouts at her, but it is clear that he is straining himself against her. Having expended so much of his own energy, Sala-tzar fights to keep the gate open against Rey even as the ship moves to swallow up the chamber about halfway. The other half of the chamber is still locked onto the column.
And then, Finn shouts into his comlink. "R2! Now!"
R2 is seen in the lower passages within the temple. He emits a series of beeping sounds as his extender claw presses a button on the detonator device. The charges he set explode, devastating the foundation and support structures all around the Gateway including the column that Sala-tzar's Gateway rests on. The entire column begins to shatter and crumble back down into the ruined temple. As it goes, it puts a great deal of strain on the freighter, dragging it down with it. The freighter fights against the descent, struggling to remain in the air. However, the fact that the platform is not fully secured inside the ship causes it to lose altitude at a substantial rate.
Sala-tzar is thrown into a full panic as he sees his plans suddenly unraveling. He tumbles into one of the pillars and grabs a hold of it, even as everyone on the platform fights to hang on to whatever is closest to them. The wind picks up again as Sala-tzar fights to distract Rey and hurl her and the others off the platform. Everything is twisting and turning precariously because the ship is fighting to stay level while it still continues to try to draw the Gateway in. More lightning and rocks begin to be hurled at everyone, but Sala-tzar's aim is entirely thrown off by the turmoil.
And yet, Rey is the picture of calm. She is unrelenting, not allowing her concentration to be broken by Sala-tzar’s efforts even as she clings to one of the pillars on the far side along with Finn and Rose. Seeing her goal and realizing what she is doing, Jacen begins to help, hurling some of the stones away from her to protect her from Sala-tzar's attacks.
Then, recovering a little, Amelia begins to try to close the gate with her own powers, adding what little strength she has left to Rey’s. Saydra, shaking and still lying on her back, pinned to the floor, unleashes Force lightning on Sala-tzar with all the strength she has left in her. Sala-tzar cries out in rage and fury and pain. Rey joins in his cry, screaming with all her might in an effort to extend her own strength beyond her limits.
The gate seems to be closing ever so slightly. It begins to turn a bright, blood-red, and Rey sees it is like the image in her vision from Maz Kanata’s castle…the light that shone just as her parent’s ship was vanishing into the distance. The voices crescendo, the roaring increases with it. Saydra's lightning stops as she loses consciousness.
And then Kika appears as if out of nowhere. Saydra's lightsaber ignites in her hand. She slashes Sala-tzar in the back along the spine, breaching his armor and exposing his softer flesh. Then she leaps with the Force onto his shoulders and stabs him with the syringe from the Nemesis case. The vial of Nemesis is clearly attached to it. She jabs the needle into Sala-tzar’s spine, and she jams the plunger hard. Sala-tzar, stunned from this sudden, unforeseen attack, releases his hold on the Gateway and screams in agony. Kika rolls away from him and lands deftly on the tilting floor. Just as her feet hit the ground, the Gateway slams shut, and the flames snuff out.
The stones drop to the ground, lifeless. The lightning ceases. The roaring stops. However, Sala-tzar’s screams replace them as he grabs the syringe and yanks it out of his back near the base of his neck. Staring at it in horror, he spins around to face Kika, eyes wide with disbelief. “Wha…what have you done?”
Rey sneers at him. “There are worse fates than death, Snoke,” she remarks coldly.
Snoke stares down at the vial again, and then up at Kika. He is horrified, and for the first time in his existence, he feels completely powerless and weak. “No! NOOOOO!” He struggles to move, but his legs seem to feel weak. They wobble beneath him and he collapses to the ground as the greenish/yellowish disease begins to visibly course through his veins. He screams again in pain and deep agony as he slumps to the floor convulsing. “I…I cannot feel it! The Force! I…I cannot feel it!” He becomes hysterical.
Just then, the ship smashes into the top of the temple, and the entire vessel tilts backwards. The platform with the gate starts to slide out of the cargo hold. Everyone holds on for dear life except Sala-tzar who tumbles off the edge and vanishes into the debris cloud of the ruined section of the temple.
"Quick!" cries Rose. "Before the platform slides all the way out of the ship. If we can get into the cargo hold."
The ship temporarily rights itself, listing in the opposite direction to try to correct itself. Rose, Finn and Rey scramble across and leap into the cargo hold, tumbling as they land. Golrit immediately recognizes the wisdom in this, and he uses the force to hurl Amelia unexpectedly into the cargo hold. Rey sees her flying in her direction, and she uses the force to catch her and guide her safely down. Golrit then does the same for Jacen, and Rey likewise catches him.
Kika takes off running as well, the Nemesis case strapped to her back. Shadow appears behind her, hot on her heels. They both escape into the cargo hold just as the ship lists again back towards the ruined temple. The platform shifts and various mechanisms break. The platform tumbles out, and everyone within the cargo hold likewise slides and rolls towards the yawning opening as they scream.
Golrit, still on the platform, reaches Saydra's side just as the ship lists. He yanks Sala-tzar's weapon out of her, and he scoops her up over his shoulder. The platform falls and spins sideways, but Golrit is seen using Force Speed to race vertically up. He reaches the edge and jumps.
He isn't able to reach the cargo hold, but Kika is then seen holding onto her grappling launcher and dangling off the edge. Shadow is clinging to her ankle. She uses the Force to catch them in midair as Sala-tzar's freighter rights itself and slowly ascends back into the sky. Focusing with everything she has, she draws the Coway Giant and his comatose bundle up into the ship and drops them on the floor near where Rey and the others are recovering. Finally, she activates the launcher cable, and it pulls her in.
But the danger isn't over yet. As the Gateway crashes into the ruins, the charges 3P0 planted detonate, blowing it to smithereens. This unleashes a wave of the Force, along with a burst of stony debris, that smashes into the freighter's underside and sends it spiraling away from the temple out of control. For several moments, everyone in the cargo hold is seen tumbling about amidst crates and such. Then the ship smashes into the countryside on its belly some distance away where it comes to a halt after its cockpit smashes into a massive boulder. The boulder topples over, pinning the ship underneath.
The scene cuts to show the freighter that the Felderra Dragons had taken to Korriban. It lands near Sala-tzar's crashed freighter along with the Falcon and the shuttle Stalker took to get to the planet. New Republic and Zyn troopers hasten down the ramps of all three ships, rushing to the rear of the crashed vessel. Bannick, Zelia, R2, 3P0, and Chewie are also seen among them.
Inside the cargo hold, Finn is battered and bruised. Weakly, he looks up, and it shows, from his point of view, New Republic troopers arriving. "There's one! Commander Finn! Quick! We need a medic over here." Chewie roars. There are more shouts and muffled voices. His vision blurs, and then everything goes dark.
Back in the ruins of the temple, Sala-tzar tries to pick himself up off of the floor, but he finds himself too weak to do so. The rain simply pelts him in the face, driving him insane. “No…no…” he mumbles weakly, his body shaking violently. “It…it cannot end this way…The Force...I cannot...feel...the Force...It is dead to me. Dead...dead...” And his voice trails off as if he loses consciousness as darkness engulfs him.
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