Last Shot - A Star Wars Story

Chapter 17

"Come on we have to move," Kaia urged, starting to pick up the pace again. She paused and turned around when she realized Cora wasn't following her. "What is it?"

"Why do you want to go in?" her friend demanded. "If Rey and Kylo Ren are already in there, why do we need to be?" Kaia stared at her friend with a mixture of shock and confusion.

"We want to destroy Palpatine, don't we?" she asked uneasily. "He's a threat to the entire Galaxy."

"Can't you sense the power?" Cora pressed. "We don't stand a chance. We should just go back to the Mantis while we still can."

Kaia shook her head, her voice firm as she responded, "No. We have to help." She took a few steps back towards the darkness of the temple.

"I can't let you do that," Cora replied grimly, activating her lightsaber so that her face glowed with blue light.

"Then I'm sorry," Kaia muttered, reaching out with the Force to push her friend backwards before she turned and sprinted into the temple, BD-1 digging his feet into her shoulder a bit painfully to stay on. She heard footsteps behind her, and she activated her lightsaber just in time to parry a strike from Cora that was aimed at her legs. She knew her friend was trying to slow her down, to prevent her from interfering, but she wouldn't let her win.

The two duelled, blue and green blades flashing and hissing, moving deeper and deeper into the temple. When Kaia noticed a large chain in a hole that led to an area below them, she kicked Cora backwards before she leapt down the hole and landed, Cora thumping down behind her a few beats later.

"Just let me do this," she pleaded as they fought, though neither intended to harm the other. They passed several bodies, which Kaia recognized as the Knights of Ren, and she was almost certain that Ben had been the one to take them out.

"I can't let you die!" Cora yelled back, shoving forward and causing Kaia to stumble and fall. Cora held her lightsaber close to Kaia's chest, keeping her on the ground, and Kaua deactivated her own, knowing there was no more use in fighting.

Then she felt a sudden feeling of loss rush over her. She could see Cora felt it too, and she pulled away and deactivated her own lightsaber, looking shocked. They couldn't feel Rey anymore.

Cora offered a hand to Kaia and she accepted it, allowing her friend to pull her to her feet. "We have to find her," Cora told her, and Kaia nodded in silent agreement. They raced through their dark surroundings until they came upon a large area, open to the sky, where a fight had clearly just occured, and a big one at that. Huge chunks of rock lay everywhere, and a cloud of dust hung over everything.

Kaia paused for a moment, sensing something else, and she realized that she could feel Rey again, but someone else was fading. She stopped breathing once she spotted who it was, and she heard Cora gasp beside her. It was Ben Solo, no longer Kylo Ren, and he was giving his life force to save Rey.

"No," Kaia murmured, racing through the debris, Cora struggling to keep up behind her. Just as Ben fell away from Rey's kiss, his last breath leaving his body, Kaia reached them, and Rey looked up at her with a mournful and confused, though somehow peaceful as well, expression. "No, no, no, no." She knelt beside his body, running one hand gently along his cheek, tears burning in her eyes, unsure of what she was doing. BD-1 hopped off her back and stood beside her, beeping sadly.

Less than a second later, there was the sound of footsteps, and Kaia looked up to see Lyra coming towards her, looking utterly distraught. "Ben, no!" She sank down beside Kaia, her eyes already glazed with tears. Kelsa arrived a few moments later, but Kaia hardly noticed her. She heard Kylo Ren's message from her vision whispering in her ear. There is still hope.