Force Destiny

Finn's Revenge

Finn was not Force-sensitive; he had never felt a mystic energy calling to him, telling him what was right. That didn't mean he didn't believe in the Force. He faced a man who looked identical to Ben Solo, formerly known as Kylo Ren, with the soul of the dead Supreme Leader, who was actually the reincarnated Emperor. It was difficult to comprehend; then again, it had been explained to him by the man who had been able to touch his best friend—whose mind was currently being controlled through the Force—from across the galaxy, as if he was in the room. If Finn had accepted all of that, then he could believe that Force could call to him.

If Ben told him that he could do this, that this was their one shot to save his family, then Finn would trust it. He would trust him. Finn was trusting him with the lives of the two people he loved most, after all. Even without a weapon, Ben had the Force. Finn knew he would protect Rey at all costs. He believed that Ben would do everything he could to protect Rose as well; he was the only reason she was alive. There was no room for debate that his fiancée would have been killed by that blaster bolt if Ben hadn't risked his injury to intervene. He knew Ben would lay down his life for any of them. His only fear was what Ben would do if he had to choose between them.

Finn shook the thought from his mind. He had a mission that he couldn't fail; the lightsaber burned in his hand in his desire to wield it. He'd always allowed his intuition to guide him, and if Ben suggested that was the Force, then he would follow its guidance. In his hatred for the man who stood blocking blaster bolts with ease, Finn wanted to sprint screaming at him from the second Ben's lightsaber touched his hand, but he waited. As the other troopers fired upon the former Supreme Leader, Finn circled behind him. He fired his blaster in hope that he wouldn't draw suspicion, but he was waiting for the perfect moment to move in. He hoped there would be a sign.

Rose was brought back to him via a quick flight through the smoke. His woman tumbled to the ground before him, immediately picking up the blaster to fight. They took shelter in a room as the clone sent every bolt they shot at him straight back at them. Finn watched as one of the other troopers fell, and he wondered if that would be the reward for all of their loyalty. He had never been the one for others to look to—the leader—but he felt all of their eyes on him now. It seemed they had reached an impasse until Ben came tumbling through the smoke. He ducked into an adjacent room, which Finn assumed was for cover until Rey jumped through the smoke and stalked in after him. Finn knew Ben wasn't foolish enough to back himself into a corner unless he wanted to be there.

His presumptions were confirmed when the clone halted all the blasterfire, his attention fleetingly diverted to something the rest of them couldn't see, something that had occurred in the direction of Ben and Rey. "Yes!" The clone hissed, and Finn tried not to allow his mind to wander to what could have happened. With a twitch of his hand, the creature allowed all of the hovering bolts to crash into the wall of the room simultaneously. The wall exploded inward, and Sidious waved his arm to tear down the rest before stepping in the room himself. Finn reluctantly followed, hoping Ben was still standing.

Rey had backed Ben into the darkness, but Finn could see their silhouetted forms every time the emergency lights flashed. Ben was weaponless, and though he couldn't see the light from Rey's lightsaber, Finn wondered how long the former Knight could hold her off. There was nothing Finn could do as he followed the clone around a three-meter-wide hole in the floor. Sidious was speaking to Rey—or Ben—he couldn't hear it over the blasterfire and sirens. What he did know was, from his limited perspective, Ben and Rey seemed to be struggling over her lightsaber. The clone was distracted by their struggle, and it seemed like it could be his chance. He had hope...

...until a pressure around his throat brought him to his knees.

Finn glanced across the pit to see Rose on the ground, too. He didn't have to search for the other troopers to know they were in similarly dire circumstances. Everything in him wanted to crawl to his beautiful fiancée, but he knew what he had to do. Ben was still on his feet; Finn had a mission to complete. There was a deep tremor in the floor, and the grip around his throat loosened minimally. He knew that if it caused an entire Star Destroyer to tremble, it was something very, very bad. None of them were likely making it off the ship alive. If they died trying to save the galaxy, well, then it was a death worth suffering.

It was still a struggle to breathe, but he found the strength to crawl torward the clone. The lightsaber was ignited in his hand, its vibrations traveling up his arm as he pushed forward. Finn didn't dare look to his Rose or Rey or Ben, because his will to fight was dependent upon his belief that they were all still alive. His sights were focused on the raven-haired clone, whose face was turned as he arced lightning at Rey, which she was gathering like a ball of energy into her hand. As he moved within striking distance, Finn had begun to wonder whether he would feel the guidance from the Force.

It wasn't until Ben threw an object to Rose that he felt that familiar prickling on the back of his neck. She barely caught it as it tumbled over the side of the pit, but when she pulled it up, her eyes met his. Her finger moved to the button and she nodded at him, before rolling to her back. Finn had no idea what that button would do, or whether it was a death sentence for all of them. What he presumed was that it controlled something inside that pit, and he had to make sure the former Emperor fell into it wounded, but still alive.

The tremors around them had all but disappeared. Finn felt hope as he pushed himself up onto his knees, the world around him moving in and out of focus as his body began to shut down. The prickling on the back of his neck grew stronger, and time slowed to a crawl. He suddenly had a feeling that whatever was supposed to happen had to happen right then. A terrible feeling started to trickle through him, but he shut it away. There was no time for second-guessing.

The creature either didn't see Finn behind him, or he underestimated him as a threat. Just as Finn raised the blade, the pressure around his throat was released. Sidious's hands had fallen to his sides, his eyes alight in a wicked mirth; a bloody, predatory smile crossing his torn face. Fighting the urge to fall forward and gasp for breath, Finn directed all the strength left in his body into the lightsaber instead. The energy from the blade vibrated through his bones. He grit his teeth in an effort to wield it, thrusting it forward in a powerful strike. He could almost see it, almost feel it, in the seconds before the blade hit its mark.

The blade experienced a surprisingly limited amount of resistance as it pierced through the clone's body. As he ripped the crackling weapon from Sidious's body, the momentum dragged the creature backward...and into the pit. Finn's eyes locked with Rose, and he knew she understood—it was time. Finn wondered what to do if the creature tried to escape or formed a counterattack. Ben had made it clear that his injuries could not be fatal, but Finn had heard legends, this man was one of the most powerful men in the galaxy. He held the weapon anxiously, waiting for what came next. I hope you're right, Ben.

He didn't have to wait long. Looking over the edge into the three-meter-deep hole that held the former Emperor, he saw the man collapsed on his side. Crimson surrounded him as he quickly bled out through a rupture in his wound. Sidious was not focused on him, however, but on the struggle between Ben and Rey. He only hoped once this creature died, it would end the control he had over Rey. There was an evil grin plastered on the clone's split face. It made him more terrifying than Kylo Ren had ever been.

"You fools!" The clone laughed as he pushed himself to a stand. "You should have killed me!"

The creature was still laughing when a strange chemical sprayed from the sides, enveloping him in a cloud of mist. Finn stumbled backward from the hole; the temperature blowing up was near freezing. When the mist cleared, the former Emperor was gone. In his place was a grey, rectangular slab. In the center was the creature's likeness, the smile still plastered on his face.

His eyes flashed to Rose, whose fingers still depressed the button on the remote. "Rose?" he shouted into the darkness, "what just—"

The words were lost to the stars as the floor fell out from under him.