The Rise of the Final Order - A Star Wars Story

Chapter 29

Lyra Solo

"Lyra Solo to the Mantis, do you copy?" Lyra asked into her comm as she knelt down beside Hux, who was leaning against her for support, having sustained several injuries from being Force thrown into a wall.

"We copy," Greez's voice responded. "What's the situation?"

"We did it," Lyra reported. "We got Cora, and we're ready to come back, although we might need some assistance.."

"Alright, well there's a New Republic shuttle waiting out here to take care of anyone who needs it," Greez responded. "Want me to send them in?"
"Yes, that'd be great," Lyra replied. "Tell them they need a stretcher for Cora, but the rest of us can walk."

"OK then, see you soon," Greez said.

"Yep, see you soon."

Lyra shut off her comm and clipped it back onto her belt, then glanced over at Hux. "OK, let's do this."

"You really expect me to walk in this condition?" Hux demanded incredulously.

"Yes, I do," Lyra responded, getting to her feet and pulling Hux up along with her. "You'll be fine, trust me."

Hux sighed. "If you say so." He put one arm around her shoulders to support himself, as she grabbed that hand with one of her own and wrapped her other one around his waist so that she could keep him steady and offer him some support of her own.

They started to walk back towards the temple's base, with Hux limping heavily and wincing dramatically with every other step, with Ben and Kaia, Ben supporting Kaia much like Lyra was Hux, quickly catching up behind them. It took them several minutes, but eventually, they made it back outside, just as the medical team rushed past to retrieve Cora from the cavern.

The battle was still raging on above them, although Lyra could tell that the Final Order was starting to weaken and fall back, having no doubt heard about the fate of their leader. But, at least for now, it seemed clear to cross over to the Mantis and the New Republic shuttle waiting for them, and so they did, moving as quickly as they could across the barren, ash-covered ground. But even still, it wasn't fast enough.

Suddenly, a turbolaser struck the ground only a few feet away, the power of the blast sending everyone hurtling to the ground as heat blazed against their skin and the sound of the impact deafened their ears. Lyra hit the ground hard and rolled several more feet, and when she finally came to a stop, her whole body sang with pain, and her ears were ringing violently. She forced herself to sit up, coughing up the ash that had made its way to her mouth, the taste of it bitter and unwelcome on her tongue, ignoring the stinging pain on her leg where it had scraped against the ground, and looked around for the others.

Hux was sprawled out not far away, while Kaia and Ben had landed a little further from her, and luckily, they both seemed to be recovering from the blast as well. Lyra pushed herself back up to stand, ignoring the fact that her legs were shaking, and half-walked, half-stumbled over to Hux, grabbing his arm and pulling him up to his feet again. She started to walk again, knowing that Ben and Kaia weren't far behind. Hux leaned more heavily against her than before, his head lolling to the side so that it was almost resting on her shoulder, and she could see the blood still oozing from his ear down the side of his face, dripping down onto his tunic.

All around them, more turbolaser fire pounded the earth, stirring up ash and shaking the ground. But they still kept moving, although their pace was slower now, their ships growing closer and closer until finally, they reached them.

Merrin was the first to meet them, as she always was, coming running down the Mantis' ramp to reach them, followed closely by several New Republic medics from the shuttle. "Oh, thank the spirits you're alright!" she exclaimed, looking over each of them with a caretaker's eye. Her brow furrowed with concern as she took in their various injuries. "Are you alright?"