Force Destiny

Ben Solo

The Resistance fighters were no longer on the offensive. They had retreated to defend the allied cruiser and freighters, which were taking heavy fire from the Finalizer. Poe rolled the fighter to avoid another missile from the two TIE fighters tailing him.

He was exhausted. There were just too many of them. The morale of the Resistance was dwindling with their numbers. He had brought the last of the galaxy's defenses to the grasp First Order. It was supposed to be a surprise attack. They were supposed to catch them unawares. But instead of crumbling under the loss of their leader, the First Order promptly initiated a counterattack. Since then, they had systematically and effectively decimated the remnants of the Resistance.

He focused his sights on a fighter that was targeting one of their X-Wings. Before he could get off a shot, the Tie Fighter in front of him exploded, followed by the two fighters tailing him. A light freighter dove past him, taking out several more TIE fighters. Then it targeted two of the Hutt's largest cruisers by flying sideways in between the two vessels. The pilot was a mad-man, and the triggerman was one of best shot he had ever seen. The ship maneuvered with agility around the explosive destruction of TIE fighters it left in its wake, as it targeted the other two main Hutt cruisers.

There were cheers from the other pilots over the comms. There was a renewed life to the fight around them as morale soared. Whoever this mysterious team was, he was grateful they showed up when they did. The momentum of the battle was changing, and Poe could feel hope returning like the sunrise after a long, dark night.

The freighter pivoted and rolled, drawing several fighters with it as it rocketed off toward the Finalizer. He followed, intrigued, easily eliminating the fighters that gave chase. The freighter aimed for several turrets near the bow of the ship. It was obvious there was a strategy behind the destruction.

He heard...laughing over the comms, and that's when it clicked.

"Is that...the Millennium Falcon?" he whispered to the inside of his cockpit.

"Hello?" a voice rasped over the comlink he had given Finn. He pulled it out of his jacket and nearly dropped it in his urgency.

"Hello?" He responded back. He didn't recognize the voice.

"Uh...is this the Resistance?"

"Yes..." he answered slowly. "Isn't this?"

"No," the voice replied, "But I can help you."

Poe followed the freighter as it dipped under the destroyer. Curiously, it wasn't targeting weapons turrets. It had nothing to do with the weapons systems at all. He had no idea what they were shooting at, but it certainly wasn't indiscriminate, if the swarm of TIEs had anything to do with it. Whoever this was, they had intimate knowledge of First Order ships. "Cone tower, fifteen degrees northwest, two hundred and fifty meters," he heard distantly over the comlink. The freighter rolled to the left, and, seconds later, a cone-like structure was destroyed.

Poe destroyed three TIEs that were following the freighter as he tried to work out what was happening and who he was speaking to. "Is this...is this Millennium Falcon?"

"One and only," he heard the voice chuckle softly. "What is your plan here?

"It's a coordinated effort with allied forces across the galaxy. We're taking the entire fleet down at one time," he answered, though he realized he had no idea who he was communicating with.

"I need to talk to the general...Dameron."

"Poe Dameron here." His mind still attempted to connect the voice to the Millennium Falcon. This voice was a man's, but it wasn't Finn. The voice was familiar, but only Rey, Finn, Rose, and the Wookiee left on that freighter, and according to intel, they had all been captured. Was it a defected Stormtrooper?

"You can't do enough damage with their deflector shields up," the man said, "Just trust me, and pull your cruisers back, out of the distance of their ion cannons. I can get on that destroyer. Rey and the others were taken prisoner by the Knights of Ren under orders of Armitage Hux. He is using clones as a decoys, but it's all Hux. I'm going to rescue Rey and lower their deflector shields. I can take their entire weapons and defense systems offline...for the entire fleet if I can take both bridges. I will contact you once the bridges have fallen. Just buy me some time."

"Who the hell is this?" Poe demanded. He stared at the comlink in his hand, his brow furrowed at the absurdity of the conversation.

Inside the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, Kylo stared nervously at the comlink in his hand.

Uh, this should go well.

"Chewie, get up here!" he yelled down to the dorsal turret. He maneuvered the Falcon to the bow of the Finalizer. He positioned the freighter in the path of the tractor beam projector and released the controls as it locked on to the ship.

I'm coming, Rey.

He breathed anxiously as he was slowly drawn onboard his former star destroyer.

Let's go do what I do best...destroy.

After a moment, the Wookiee stumbled into the cockpit and collapsed into the co-pilot's chair. His breathing was ragged. Kylo eyed him carefully, but he showed no indication of injury.

"This reminds me of a crazy, half thought-out plan my father would come up with." Kylo sighed. Chewbacca whimpered in agreement.

"I hope you're right, Chewie."

"Hello? Are you there?" Poe asked over the comlink. "If I am going to put the entire Resistance on the line, I need to at least know who this is."

"He wants to know my name," he whispered. The Wookiee smacked him upside the head with a growl.

"Of course, I didn't forget!" he barked. The Wookiee groaned in rebuttal, shrugging his shoulders. He leaned his head back in the seat and closed his eyes.

Why is this so difficult? All he wants is a name!

But he knew the words he chose next were far more than a name. He opened his eyes with a huff, when a glint of gold caught his attention. He reached up, carefully wrapping his finger around the chain, stunned to feel them solid in his hand. He rolled the dice in his fingertips wistfully, a small smile breaking the tension in his face as the memories flooded back to him. An idea surfaced in his mind as he stared at the dice—a means to realize the vow he made to his father. It decreased the odds stacked against them...not that his father had ever cared for the odds anyway.

The Wookiee's whine broke him of his reverie. He closed his fist around the dice protectively and placed them in a pocket on his belt. He knew the answer; he had known it for longer than he cared to admit. Side-eying Chewbacca, he swallowed thickly and lifted the comlink.

"This is Ben Solo."