The Force Awakens (Star Wars) (19 page)

The trooper halted. His evident discomfort at having to speak to Ren bolstered his superior’s
shaken persona.

“Sir! The Supreme Leader has requested your presence.”

Ren nodded and headed off in the necessary direction, accompanied by the trooper. The latter did not pay any attention when the tall figure he was escorting looked back over his shoulder.

In the holding cell, Rey relaxed against the platform. That she could relax at all was significant in itself. Something of great
consequence had just taken place. How and what, she did not know. Even in her present situation she felt encouraged, though why that should be she was still uncertain. One thing was clear.

She was going to be given time to contemplate it.

In the main conference room of the base on D’Qar, an ongoing strategy session had brought together the leaders of the Resistance. Leia, Poe, C-3PO,
Han, and an assortment of senior officers including Statura and Ackbar were assembled around a three-dimensional map of an isolated, frozen planet that up until now had not been worth a hopeful visit from a minor trading ship. Finn was present, too, since it was his information about the world in question that had prompted the gathering.

“The scan data from Captain Snap Wexley’s reconnaissance
flight confirms everything Finn has told us,” Poe announced to the group.

Wexley spoke up. “They’ve built a new kind of hyperspace weapon within the planet itself. Something that can fire across interstellar distances in the equivalent of real time.” His expression showed his incredulity. “I’ve had my share of technical training, but I can’t even imagine how that’s possible.”

This time
Finn responded. “I can’t, either, but those of us assigned to the base heard rumors that it doesn’t operate in what we’d call normal hyperspace. It fires through a hole in the continuum that it makes itself. Everybody was calling it ‘sub’-hyperspace. That’s how it can arrive in moments across a distance like that between the base and the Hosnian system. The amount of energy required to do that is…”
His voice dropped. “Well, we’ve seen how much energy is involved. All I know is that it involves a lot of zeros following the primary number.”

Wexley nodded slowly. “We’re not sure how to describe a weapon of this scale. Our people have come up with some ideas regarding the rapid overheating and subsequent implosion of a planetary core, but the mechanism to induce that so far escapes them.”

One of the oldest officers in the room gestured sharply, a look of horror on his face. “It’s another Death Star!”

Poe’s expression tightened. “I wish that were the case, Major Ematt. But in analyzing everything Finn has told us and coupling that with the information we have been able to gather, this is what we are
facing.” He waved a hand over a nearby control. An image of the Death Star
appeared beside that of the frozen world.

“This was the Death Star,” the pilot observed. Another control and the image shrank, down to near nothing, until it was a small sphere beside the cold planet. “This is what Finn tells us is called Starkiller Base.”

Leia stared at the invidious imagery. If not for the harsh fact that tens of millions of deaths were involved, the side-by-side comparisons
would have been laughable. Once more, memories of the destruction of Alderaan flooded back and once more she had to force them aside.

“How can they power a weapon of such magnitude?” she asked.

Poe and Ackbar looked to Finn. Unsure of himself, he hesitated. He was no scientist, no engineer, not even a technician. Yes, he had overheard a number of related conversations, but given what was
riding on what up until now had been only hearsay to him, he was reluctant to share them.

Sensing his hesitation, Leia was quick to prompt him. “Finn, please speak up.”

He looked across at her. “I’m not sure of the authenticity of what I’ve heard or been told.”

“Whatever it is, it’s volumes more than anything we know,” she assured him. “Tell us, and let our technical people be the
judge of your words.”

Taking a deep breath, he gestured at the image of the base. “As you already know, I was assigned there. In the course of performing my duties, I was rotated to multiple locations around the planet. One is on the side opposite from where the weapon is discharged.”

An incredulous Statura cut him off. “The weapon system is situated on both sides of the planet?”

Finn looked at the admiral. “Not only is it located on both sides, the system actually runs through the planetary core.”

Murmurs of disbelief rose from those gathered around the projection console.

“As near as I understand it,” Finn continued, “enormous arrays of
specially designed collectors use the power of a sun to attract and send dark energy to a containment unit at the core of the
planet, where it is held and built up inside that containment unit until the weapon is ready to fire.”

“Impossible,” Ackbar insisted. “Although we know there is more dark energy in the universe than anything else, and that it exists everywhere around us, it is so diffuse that it can barely be detected. Let alone concentrated.”

Finn persisted, despite the discomfort he felt at disagreeing
with someone of Ackbar’s rank and experience. “It can be, and it is,” he responded with certainty.

Statura, at least, seemed ready to believe. “If the engineering could be worked out,” he observed, “one would have access to an almost literally infinite source of energy.”

Finn nodded. “General Hux told us it’s the most powerful weapon ever built. He said that it can reach halfway across
the galaxy.” Fresh murmurs of disbelief greeted this latest assertion. “And in real time. Because it doesn’t reach
across
the galaxy; it reaches
through
it.” He shook his head, which was starting to hurt from the effort of trying to explain what he had overheard but did not understand.

Han Solo understood, all right. Understood what had to be done.

“Okay, so it’s impossible, and it’s big.
How do we blow it up?” The attention in the room shifted to him. His expression was knowing. “I don’t care how big it is; there’s always a way to do that.”

Having cut through the science, he waited for suggestions. None were forthcoming.

“We have to wait until the technical staff have run their detailed analysis,” Wexley said. “Then, once they’ve done that—”

Leia cut him off. Han grinned,
but not so she could see it. She was good at cutting people off, he knew.

“We don’t have time to wait on analyses and scientific hypotheses. Han’s right. We have to act, and act
now
.” He eyed her in surprise—and concealed that reaction, too.

“This is the moment that counts,” she continued. “Everything we’ve ever fought for is at stake. We can’t wait on theories. We need
something, anything,
so we can fight back!” She straightened. “We have to take this weapon down before it can be used again.”

It was not surprising to her that it was Statura, the most senior officer in the room with an actual scientific background, who finally put forth a notion.

“I can’t prove this, but for this amount of power to be restrained until such time as it is released, or fired, there has to be
some new, advanced kind of containment field.” He nodded toward Finn. “Our friend here confirms as much. The question is: What kind of field?”

“I heard that it involved the planet’s own magnetic field,” Finn told him, “and something more.”

“Yes, yes.” Statura was deep in thought. “A planetary magnetic field, even a strong one, would not be enough to contain the amount of energy that we
have seen deployed. Also as you say, Finn, there is more involved. I am thinking some kind of oscillating field. If it oscillates rapidly enough, much less energy would be required to sustain it than if it was maintained at a steady state.”

“I don’t know about stuff like that.” Finn leaned into the holographic map and enlarged a section of planetary surface until a massive hexagonal structure
came into view. “But this is where the containment and oscillation field control system is located.”

Statura was most pleased. “Excellent, Mr. Finn!” The admiral’s gaze traveled around the circle of colleagues. “But disabling this, while a relatively straightforward proposition, would not necessarily destroy the weapon—only render it temporarily unusable until the control system could be rebuilt.”

“We’d likely get only one shot at it,” Poe put in. “What Admiral Ackbar said about keeping it secret would only work as long as its location remains unknown. Once the First Order realizes that we know where it is, they’d throw everything they’ve got into defending it with ships, mobile stations, and long-range detectors. We might never get close to it again.”

Leia nodded agreement. “Then
our first attack
must
succeed.” She looked across at Statura. “What do you recommend, Admiral?”

“Assuming for the moment that my hurried supposition is reasonably correct, the weapon would be at its most vulnerable when, as it were, it is fully loaded.” Once again he regarded the others. “If the containment field oscillator were somehow destroyed at that moment, it would release the accumulated
energy not in a line of fire, but throughout the planetary core where it is being held. If it did not result in the complete destruction of the base, at the very least it would permanently cripple the weapon.”

His flare of white hair and beard giving him the look of a prophet, Major Ematt spoke up. “Maybe even the entire planet on which it’s based.”

As the discussion continued, an officer
appeared and handed Leia a readout. She studied it intently as the debate swirled around her.

“None of this is possible,” a downcast Ackbar postulated. “While the planet in question may at present be deliberately underdefended, the instant we move forces out of hiding and in its direction, the First Order will realize that we know the location of the weapon. They will mobilize everything in
the vicinity to protect it. Their fleet is too large for us to fight our way through. Additionally, despite what Poe theorizes, I would wager they must already have at least a minimal planetary shield in place. Plainly, they can access the energy to support such a defense.” He looked at Finn, whose reply was not encouraging.

“Yes, such a shield does exist.”

“The situation could not be
worse,” C-3PO murmured.

Raising a hand for attention, Leia held up the readout. “According to this, we don’t have time to study the situation even if we decided to do so. Our team has detected an enormous quantity of dark energy surging toward the world Finn has identified for us. That can only mean one thing.” She paused for emphasis. “They’re loading the weapon again. I think we can all
take a good guess as to what their next target will be.”

C-3PO lowered his golden head. “I was wrong. It can be worse.”

Seeing the downcast expressions of those around him, Poe reached
out and indicated the containment control structure. “They may raise their shields, but if we can find a way past them, we can and will hit that oscillator with everything we’ve got.”

Han grinned broadly.
“I like this guy.”

Ackbar remained pessimistic. “Any plan is pointless as long as their shields are in place. A proper planetary defense system, as this one is sure to have, will not allow for ‘a way past them.’ ”

Han was not so easily discouraged. “Okay, so first we disable the shields.” He turned to Finn. “Kid, you worked there. Whatcha got?”

Finn’s eyes slowly widened as he thought
back. “I can do it. Shut down their shields. I—” He was nodding vigorously, as much to himself as to the others. “I know where the relevant controls are located.” Realization dampened some of his initial enthusiasm. “But I need to be there, of course. On the planet, with access to the location.”

“I’ll get you there.”

Gazing at Han, Leia saw something that had been absent from her life
for a long, long time: Solo bravado. “Han,
how
?”

He grinned broadly at her. She had missed that, too, she realized.

“If I told you, you wouldn’t like it.”

An energized Poe took over. “All right, so we disable their shields, take out the containment oscillation controls, and destroy their big gun. Even if it can fire halfway across the galaxy and it’s too big for us to destroy, we can
make sure it blows itself to pieces. Sounds like a plan. Let’s move!”

I
N THE VAST
, darkened assembly chamber of Starkiller Base were only two figures: one tall and uncertain, the other looming and imperious. For all their isolation, they seemed to somehow fill the room.

There was as much curiosity in Supreme Leader Snoke’s voice as there was disappointment. “This scavenger—this
girl
—resisted you?”

“That’s all she is, yes. A scavenger from that
inconsequential Jakku. Completely untrained, but strong with the Force. Stronger than she knows.” His mask off, Ren replied with what seemed to be his usual assurance. No one else would have sensed a difference. Snoke did.

The Supreme Leader’s voice was flat. “You have compassion for her.”

“No—never. Compassion? For an enemy of the Order?”

“I perceive the problem,” Snoke intoned. “It
isn’t her strength that
is making you fail.
It’s your weakness
.” The rebuke hurt, but Ren didn’t show it.
“Where is the droid?”

Smooth and unctuous, the voice of General Hux rang out in the assembly hall before Ren could respond. “Ren believed it was no longer of value to us.” Turning, the quietly livid younger man followed the approach of the increasingly confident officer.

“He believed
that the girl was all we need. That he could obtain from her everything necessary. As a result, although we cannot be certain, it is likely that the droid has been returned to the hands of the enemy.”

Though visibly angry, Snoke’s tone remained unchanged. “Have we located the main Resistance base?”

Hux was clearly gratified to be the bearer of good news. “We were able to track their reconnaissance
ship back to the Ileenium system. We are coordinating with our own reconnaissance craft in the area in order to lock down the specific location of their base.”

Snoke replied with cold satisfaction. “We do not need it. Prepare the weapon. Destroy their system.”

Collected and composed as he was, Hux was not immune to surprise. “The
system
? Supreme Leader, according to the most recent galographics,
at least two and possibly three habitable worlds circle Ileenium. Following the destruction of the Hosnian worlds, would it not be worthwhile simply to destroy their base and claim the remainder for the Order? We will have the location of the base within a matter of hours and—”

Snoke cut him off. “We cannot wait. Not even for hours. Hours that may permit as little as one ship to depart with
the information that will allow them to find Skywalker. That would be one ship too many. The more time we give them, the more likely the chance, however slight, that they will find Skywalker and convince him to return to challenge our power. As soon as the weapon is fully charged, I want the entire Ileenium system destroyed.”

Daring to disagree, Ren took a step forward. “No—Supreme Leader,
I can get the map from the girl, and that will be the end of it. I just need your guidance.”

“And you promised me when it came to destroying the Resistance you wouldn’t fail me.” The threatening figure of Snoke leaned toward Ren. “Who knows if copies of the map have already been made and sent out of the system, to other, minor Resistance outposts? But those who are most aware of its significance
will all likely be gathered at their main base. Destroy that, destroy them, and we may at least feel a little more confident that the way to Skywalker is eradicated. Even if copies have been made and exported, the annihilation of their leadership will give pause to any survivors who might dare to contemplate further resistance to us.” He sat back. “For that reason alone I would order the destruction
of the system, even if there was no assurance it would also put an end to this accursed map.” He turned to Hux.

“General, prepare the weapon. With the same efficiency you have already demonstrated.”

“Yes, Supreme Leader!”

Buoyed by the praise, Hux turned and strode quickly out of the hall. That left Snoke to fix his eyes on its sole remaining occupant.

“Kylo Ren. It appears that
a reminder is in order. So I will show you the dark side.
Bring the girl to me
.”

Slightly apart from the rush of activity that filled the Resistance base, an unlikely pair was going through the stages of performing a final checkout on an old but deceptively fast freighter. Chewbacca and Finn moved quickly to comply with Han’s orders.

“Chewie, check the horizontal booster.” A growling
response provoked an equally terse one from the
Millennium Falcon
’s owner. “I don’t care what the onboard readouts say: There’s no substitute for a final visual inspection. You know that. Finn, careful with those dentons. They’re explosives.”

Halting, Finn gaped at the load he was carrying. “They are?” He faltered. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Didn’t want to make you nervous,” Han replied.
“When you’ve finished loading those, go talk to some of those X-wing techs and see if you can scare us up a backup thermal regulator.”

The voice that joined in was one that had always been able to bring him to a stop whatever he happened to be doing. He turned to see Leia approaching.

“No matter how much we fought,” she said, “I always hated watching you leave.”

He grinned. “That’s
why I left. To make you miss me.”

For the first time in quite a while, she laughed freely. It was infectious, happy, and, these days, all too rare. “Well, thank you for that, anyway.”

He turned reflective. “It wasn’t all bad, was it? I know we argued a lot.” He smiled affectionately. “Maybe it’s because we both have such shy, retiring personalities. Of course, if you’d only done what I
said…”

“And you’d only done what I asked,” she riposted, still smiling.

He chuckled softly. “I mean, some of it was—good.”

“Pretty good,” she agreed, nodding.

“Some things never change.”

“Yep.” She glanced downward, remembering, then met his gaze once more. “You still drive me crazy.”

“Crazy as in crazy good, or crazy as in borderline insane?”

“Probably a little of
both,” she admitted.

He put his hands on her shoulders, and thirty years fell away in an instant. “Leia, there’s something I’ve been wanting to say to you for a long time.”

Fighting to hold back tears, she put a finger to his lips. “Tell me when you get back.”

He started to object, caught himself. There’d been too much arguing over the years, he knew. This time he really might not
come back; the last thing he wanted was to part on even a semblance of a spat. Instead, he took her into his arms, which really was much better than arguing, or even talking. They stood like that for a long moment, holding tightly to each other.

“If you see our son,” Leia whispered, “bring him home.”

He nodded without speaking. If nothing else, in thirty years he had learned when to be
quiet.

What had happened?

Shackled and unable to move, Rey lay on the inclined platform in her restraints, pondering the encounter with Kylo Ren. At first there had been the same pain and fear she had felt in the forest on Takodana. It had intensified as he had probed deeper and she had fought to resist. Then—she
had
resisted. More than that, it was as if her resistance had somehow
turned the probing back on him. For a brief instant,
she
had been in
his
mind. She could remember clearly his shock, then concern, and finally a retreat. He had pulled away from her, and out of her mind, with a suddenness that bespoke—not fright; something else. Apprehension, she decided. Whatever she had done had thrown him badly off balance. He had withdrawn: no doubt not only to consider what
had taken place, but also to decide how to proceed with her. That meant, most likely, he would be back. She would do anything to avoid that.

And that is what she proceeded to do.

If she could push him out of her mind and enter his, what else could she do? What might she be able to do with regard to someone else? Someone less skilled, untrained in the ways of the Force? The single guard
posted just inside the front of her cell, for example?

“You!”

He turned toward her, patently unconcerned and not a little bored. She studied him closely. As he was about to speak, she addressed him clearly and firmly—and not only with her voice.

“You will remove these restraints. And you will leave this cell, with the door open, and retire to your living quarters.”

The guard eyed
her silently. He did not look in the least intimidated. Her confidence wavering as she shifted slightly in her bonds, she repeated what she had said with as much authority as she could muster.

“You will remove these restraints. And you will leave this cell, with
the door open, and retire to your living quarters. You will speak of this encounter to no one.”

Raising the heavy, black-and-white
rifle he held, he came toward her. Heart pounding, she watched him approach. Was she going to be killed, freed, or maybe laughed at? Halting before her, he looked down into her eyes. When he spoke again, there was a notable alteration in his voice. It was significantly less confrontational and—distant.

“I will remove these restraints. And leave this cell, with the door open, and retire to
my living quarters. I will speak of this encounter to no one.”

Working methodically, he unlatched her shackles. He stood and stared at her for a moment, then turned and wordlessly started for the doorway. Lying in shock on the reclined platform, Rey hardly knew what to do next. She was free. No, she corrected herself: She was free of this cell. That hardly constituted freedom.

But it was
a beginning.

As the guard reached the doorway, she spoke hastily. “And you will drop your weapon.”

“I will drop my weapon,” he responded in the same uninflected voice. This he proceeded to do, setting the rifle down on the floor, then turning left into the outside corridor to depart in silence.

For a long moment she stared at the open portal. Deciding that it was not a joke and that
the guard was not waiting for her just outside the cell, she moved to pick up the weapon and leave.

Normally there was something relaxing about traveling in hyperspace, Finn mused. There was no fighting in hyperspace and very rarely any kind of surprise. Hyperspace travel allowed time for reflection, for casual conversation with comrades, for checking out and preparing one’s equipment.

Not this time. Not in the course of this jump.

Weary of living with only his own thoughts, he left the lounge and
moved forward into the cockpit, where he found Han and Chewbacca in their respective seats, monitoring the journey.

“I haven’t asked you,” he said to the pilot. “How are we getting in?”

Han explained without looking up from his console. “Any kind of defense will be geared
to guard against an attack in force. They shouldn’t be prepared for an attempt by a single ship to slip in. That would obviously be suicide.”

Finn nodded as he pondered this. “Okay, now I’m really encouraged. Let’s say that your optimistic assessment is wrong, and they’re even prepared to detect and destroy a single ship. How do we avoid that?”

“No planetary defense system can be sustained
at a constant rate. It would take too much power. Besides, it isn’t necessary. All planetary shields have a fractional refresh. Instead of being constantly ‘on,’ they fluctuate at a predetermined rate. Keeps anything traveling less than lightspeed from getting through. Theoretically, a ship could get its nose in when a shield is off. Half a second later, the shield snaps back on and—well, it
isn’t good for anyone on that ship.”

“Okay, I get that,” Finn told him. “Which brings me back to my first question: How are
we
getting in? Without being cut in half by an oscillating shield?”

“Easy.” The way Han said the word made it sound like the simplest thing in the world. “We won’t be going slower than lightspeed.”

Unsure he’d heard correctly, Finn gaped at him. “We’re gonna make
our landing approach at
lightspeed
? Nobody’s ever done that! At least, I’ve never heard of anybody ever doing it.”

One did not have to be fluent in the Wookiee language to get the gist of Chewbacca’s comment.

Han smiled pleasantly. “We’re coming up on the system. I’d sit down, if I were you. Chewie, get ready.”

As the wide-eyed Finn scrambled for a seat and harness and found himself
wishing for a number of very large, soft pads, Chewbacca groaned his readiness. Han studied the readouts before him. The Wookiee raised a hand over his own console.

“And…” Han followed the declining fractions intently.
“Now!”

Human and Wookiee hands flew over the main console, supplementing as best they could the approach and landing information they had preprogrammed into the
Falcon
’s
instrumentation. Not unexpectedly, more than one last-second override was required in order to make the ship do something that was against its nature and perform maneuvers for which it had never been designed.

And just like that, they were inside the shields.

At that point they were traveling at very much sublightspeed, continuing to slow at an incredible rate, and heading above snow-covered
ground directly for a forest that was not as tall but was far denser than the one on D’Qar. Chewbacca howled loudly enough for Finn to hear him clearly above the wild, blaring alarms.

“
I
am
pulling up
!” Han yelled as he fought with the recalcitrant controls.

While the trees were packed more closely together than those that formed a canopy above the Resistance base, they were much smaller
in diameter. The
Falcon
went plowing through them as both pilot and copilot struggled to bring the ship up. A moment later it was clear of the ground and shooting skyward—which was an equally undesirable outcome.

“Any higher, they’ll see us!”
Han shouted. Of course, if the vicinity of the First Order base was monitored by ground-scanning satellites, they were likely to be seen anyway. They
could only hope that the instruments on board any such reconnaissance craft were aimed out toward space and not down at the landscape.