Star Wars: Episode X - The Rescue Mission

Chapter Twenty: Dyad

The Republic forces jumped into hyperspace on Poe's mark, and it took only a short time for the fleet to arrive. Ben and Rey had joined Poe in the command ship—the Sunrise again—and another captain had taken the freighter, with instructions to bring it when she was called.

The Derriphan was sitting like a juicy target above the planet, and the Republic forces spread out to trap it where it was. Poe called for a surrender, but the commander of the Derriphan sneered. "Ah, just as we suspected—a trap," he informed them contemptuously. "Ballart is a fine actor, and the First Order did believe he was their man—until the last communication, at least. Two Jedi alone and vulnerable and a storehouse of kyber? Tsk, tsk. You should really be less obvious when you write your scripts."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Poe muttered.

"We'd rather die than surrender, but I don't think we'll have to. You see, the Emperor was not stupid enough to put all his eggs in one basket. We've spent the time since our crystal array was stolen visiting the Emperor's secret storehouses. We found enough kyber to rebuild our array."

"Sir, they're powering up their superlaser!" shouted the Twi'lek officer at the sensor station.

Immediately following this alarming news, fifteen Star Destroyers dropped out of hyperspace, trapping the Republic fleet between the Derriphan and the new arrivals.

"Shields up! All craft, prepare for attack!" Poe called across the comm system. He switched channels on his comms mic and spoke to Han. "General Solo, call for reinforcements!"

The sensor station officer's voice cut across the bridge again. "Sir, their laser is turning towards us! We are their first target!"

Ben and Rey looked at each other, and neither of them even had to say anything; they just nodded in understanding of what they needed to do.

"We'll take this," Ben told Poe, then clasped Rey's hand as they opened their bond. Although they didn't need to touch to share their strength, it made both of them feel stronger. The two reached for the Force, gathering as much strength as they could, and dug deep, drawing on their connection and their intense desire to save themselves, their friends, and their comrades.

Ben and Rey reached out their other arms towards the Derriphan. Pushing with all their might, they redirected the laser towards Exegol. Even though they had already had a small taste of what they could do together when they moved the crystal array on Ahch-To, the power that came out of them was still astonishing. Stopping a transport ship in flight was nothing compared to what they were doing now, moving a massive laser installation against the power of all its mechanics. The firing sequence had already begun, so the commander of the Derriphan could only watch in horror as his laser shot out at the planet below and destroyed it in a giant explosion.

Rey and Ben released their bond, gasping after their immense effort. All eyes on the bridge stared at them for a silent moment until alarms started blaring and everyone remembered there were fifteen other Star Destroyers out there.

The combined forces of the four battle groups did slightly outnumber the First Order forces, but their enemies wanted revenge and were likely to inflict a lot of deadly damage. "We're taking fire!" someone called out.

"All craft engage! Fighters, concentrate on taking out the Derriphan's shields and then their superlaser! We know how spectacularly they blow up!"

Poe changed channels and called down to the Messengers' HQ. "Messengers, do your thing! I doubt anyone here is going to have a change of heart, but you never know!"

"Yes, sir!" Rey heard Rose reply.

The battle raged, and Rey could feel that Ben was chafing at not being out there in a fighter of his own. Rey leaned over and spoke into his ear, cutting out the chatter around them. "How can we help the fleet?"