The Rise of the Final Order - A Star Wars Story

Chapter 18

Ersela Kryze

As soon as Ersela had ended the transmission with Kelsa, she had left for Scarif. There was no time to waste, not with a Sith on the loose, and she needed to speak with Kaia and the others immediately.

Scarif was a beautiful tropical planet, with vast expanses of ocean dotted with island archipelagos both large and small, but it had not been left unscathed by the war against the Galactic Empire over thirty years earlier.

There was a large section of the planet, known as the Dead Zone, where the infamous Death Star had wiped out entire islands, and dozens of lives, and vaporized the water there, leaving an ugly, black crater where nothing grew and nobody ever wanted to go.

But there was also new, thriving life on the ocean planet. The progress on the new capital city of the New Republic was going rather well, especially with Finn and Rose there to oversee construction, and Ersela's transport had no trouble landing on one of the already constructed landing pads on the almost completed Capitol Building.

Poe, who had insisted on coming with her along with her usual guard escort and two personal aids, powered down the ship's drives and met her at the ramp so that they descended together, preceded by the first pair of guards as a precautionary measure and followed by Ersela's aids and the remaining two guards.

"Wow, Finn and Rose are doing a really good job around here," Poe marveled, looking up and around at the towering skyscrapers still mostly under construction around them. "At this rate we'll be done in just a couple of years."

"That's the idea," Ersela reminded him as both Finn and Rose came into view, emerging from inside the Capitol Building to greet them.

"It's good to see you again, Chancellor," Finn said, stopping in front of Ersela and her escort.

"It's good to see you too. Both of you." Ersela replied, dipping her head towards Rose.

"I wish it was under better circumstances," Rose remarked, her expression grim.

"As do I," Ersela agreed, as Finn and Poe shared a friendly, practically brotherly, hug of reunion.

"It's good to see you, pal," Poe was saying, one arm around Finn's shoulders as they started walking back towards the building. "This place looks great, by the way..." His voice trailed off as he got further away, until the men disappeared back into the building, leaving Ersela to walk back with Rose.

"I'm sorry to hear about your friend," Rose said quietly. "Hopefully we can find a way to save her."

Ersela sighed. "Yes, let's hope. Once the others get here, perhaps we can come up with an actual plan."

By the time Kelsa arrived on Scarif with Kaia and the others, the sun was already sinking low in the sky, and the few lights that the city had were coming to life, offering some illumination to the mostly dark cityscape.

She was slightly surprised to see that along with Kelsa's X-Wing and the Mantis, an entire Nau'ur-class yacht had come, bearing the insignia of Crimson Dawn in gold paint on its exterior. It stood awkwardly tall above the rest of the starships, being larger vertically rather than horizontally like most ships, and its black paint job made it almost invisible in the night, except for the gold accents that glinted in what lighting the city had to offer.

Kelsa was first to appear, pushing the cockpit lid up and away from her as she jumped out and landed on her feet. A few of the resident technicians on the landing pad came over to help her get her droid BB-11 out of his hatch, and then the two came strolling over, Kelsa pulling off her helmet and running a hand through her short hair.