The Rise of the Final Order - A Star Wars Story

Chapter 23

Lyra Solo

After Kaia and Ben returned from their secret mission to Coruscant, without the StealthX prototypes they had somehow managed to steal and instead with an old clunky freighter that looked like it could barely stay in the air, they were promptly lectured by Ersela and Poe, and rightly so, if Lyra was being honest. She had been called to listen in on the conversation, as had Hux, Finn, and Rose, and now they watched as Lyra's brother and her friend made their case to the Chancellor of the New Republic and one of her closest advisors.

"We had to go," Kaia was saying to the two holograms in front of her, and Lyra could hear the conviction in her voice. "I had a vision-Ben did too-and we knew we had to leave as soon as we could."

"Yeah, but did your vision involve stealing two very expensive prototype starfighters and then getting them blown up?" Poe's hologram demanded, arms crossed.

"Well, no," Kaia responded carefully. "That wasn't supposed to happen. That's on us."

"That's on me, actually," Ben said, always quick to defend Lyra's friend. It was honestly kind of adorable. "It was my idea to take them in the first place." He turned to look at Ersela's hologram, who was watching him with quiet interest.

"I don't care whose idea it was, it was still a terrible idea!" Poe exclaimed. He pinched the bridge of his nose with one finger and sighed, forcing himself to calm down a little. "What were you even doing on Coruscant anyways?"

"We already told you, we had a vision," Kaia responded. "We saw Caedaris on Coruscant, and she was-she was stealing a child."

Poe's eyes went wide and Ersela's expression became one of shock. Lyra felt a tingle of dread run down her spine. She glanced over at Hux, who was standing close beside her, and he met her gaze with a frown. Beside them, Finn and Rose looked equally stunned. This was bad.

"Were you able to stop her, at least?" Ersela asked after a moment.

Kaia and Ben exchanged glances before Kaia responded quietly, "No. We tried to, but something happened when we tried to chase her down and she got away."

"Did you at least save the child?" Ersela pressed, concern in her voice.

Kaia shook her head. "No, we didn't. And I fear that wasn't the only child she's taken so far."

"This is not good news to hear," Ersela remarked, and Lyra could hear the worry creeping into her otherwise controlled tone of voice. "Do you have any idea why Caedaris is doing this?"

This time, it was Ben who responded. "She's going to train them. She knows the Jedi outnumber her, so she needs to find more Sith."

"But there aren't any," Poe said. Ben nodded in acknowledgment.

"That's why she needs to create them," he continued. "And for that, she needs children. Force-sensitive children."

"I have to tell Rey about this," Ersela murmured. "We can't let this continue."

"I agree," Poe chimed in. "Every day we wait, we allow Caedaris and her army to grow stronger. We have to make our next move, and we have to do it now, especially if what Ben is saying is true."

"Which it is," Ersela clarified pointedly.

"Right," Poe agreed with a curt nod.

"Well, thank you for this new information," Ersela said to Kaia and Ben. "It's unfortunate what happened with the SleathX's, but that's far from important right now."

Poe snorted at that, but didn't comment any further. Because Ersela was right, the fate of the StealthX's, while very unfortunate, was not as important as the looming threat of Caedaris, especially with this new information.

"I need to address this now," Ersela informed everyone. "I'll contact you again when I figure out what to do about this."

"Understood," Kaia responded with a brief nod. And with that, the transmission ended, the holograms of Ersela and Poe blinking out.

For a moment, no one said anything. To be honest, Lyra wasn't quite sure what to say. Just a few hours ago, she had been fast asleep, unaware of the trouble her brother and friend had gotten themselves into, and now she was faced with it and the knowledge they now had of Caedaris' plans. It was a lot to take in.

Rose was the first one to break the silence. "I can't believe you got away with that."

"Trust me, I can't either," Kaia agreed. "I told Ben it was a bad idea." She gave him a look, but Lyra could tell that it was more accusatory than actually angry. And even then, it wasn't quite hostile either. It was more reproachfully annoyed than anything.

Ben sighed heavily. "Yeah, you're right. You did." He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "I wasn't really expecting them to get blown up though. That wasn't part of the plan."

"I would hope not," Kaia replied.

"Yeah, Poe's not happy about that," Finn remarked. "But at least you were able to get some more information about what's goin' on here."

"Yeah, now we know what Caedaris is up to," Rose agreed. "So we can put a stop to it."

"I only wish we had known about it sooner," Lyra lamented. "Then we could have stopped her before she had a chance to take any children at all."

"Well, we can stop her now," Hux pointed out. "And we will." He looked over at Kaia, who nodded.

"We're going to put a stop to this," she responded. "All of this. We have to. For the good of the Galaxy...and our friend."

A/N: Sorry this one is a bit shorter than usual! It's really just a filler chapter to be honest, but there's some really good chapters coming soon, trust me!