Rise of the Order: A Star Wars Story

Chapter 35: The Battle for Gala

Once in the atmosphere of Brion, Poe's mind was swarming to their next course of action. He was punching in some coordinates, when Luke and Lando finally made their way into the cockpit, looking winded and shaky. 

Lando took a seat behind Poe, releasing a sigh. "So glad I'm rid of that place." 

Luke went and sat in the co-pilot seat. He glanced over at Poe, his lips set into a hard line. "You know what we have to do, right Poe?"

Poe nodded. He was honestly grateful that the Jedi and him both had the same idea. 

"Wait, what's going on?" Lando asked, leaning forward. 

"We're headed to Gala," Poe answered frankly.

"Are you serious?" 

"Yes," Luke said. "Are we about ready?"

"Yeah. I'm just finishing up typing in Gala's coordinates and then we can go. Fortunately, we're only a couple parsecs away--" Poe was cut off by Lando.

"Are you guys hearing yourselves?!" Lando stood up. "The First Order is attacking them now, and you want to just fly into their warzone, and most likely get us all killed? Are you crazy?"

Poe turned to him. "My sister is there, along with my friend. The Resistance can't very well help them right now, so we're their only hope."

"Rey is also down there. She needs me," Luke said and then added, more softly, "I can't lose her too."

Lando's eyes bounced off the pair of them. He huffed, "Fine," and sat back down with his arms crossed. 

R2, from his position near Poe, released his consent with a swivel of his head.

"Glad we're all in agreement," Poe said, before he jettisoned them into lightspeed, Brion disappearing into the stars.

~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, on Gala, Finn was tiring. He didn't know how long they've been fighting, nor how many stormtroopers he's shot down, but it seemed never-ending. More and more white-helmets kept appearing, and he was becoming increasingly overwhelmed. Stormtrooper protocol started coursing through his brain--reminding him of where their armor was weakest, their typical attack formations, and how they shot. 

He watched from the corner of his eyes as Rey fought with Blade. Her lightsaber had difficulty piercing through his vibrocleaver, but that didn't stop her from swinging with all her force. Finn gave the Knight five more minutes till he conceded to defeat. No one can survive against a woman of that ferocity. 

Meanwhile, to his left, Jennica fought with the same intensity. Two stormtroopers managed to corner her and grab hold of her before she could shoot them down. Finn was about to help her, when she flat out head butt one in the helmet and threw the other onto the ground. She regained her composure quickly and returned to blasting down troopers. He stood, shell-shocked, before returning to firing his own gun. 

So on they fought, their blue and red blaster fire lighting up the field. Finn was so concentrated on surviving that when Chewie roared at him, he almost shot the Wookie. 

"What, Chewie?" he called out over the fighting. 

Chewie roared once more. Little BB-8 trembling at his feet.

Finn didn't understand and shook his head. 

"He's asking us if we hear something," Jennica translated from behind.