Stargaze [Star Wars Sequel Trilogy] ✔︎

XXXVII. Lightspeed Skipping

After jumping to lightspeed, it was just a smooth coast to the ice planet. Finn, Poe, Chewie, and I slid out of our seats. Finn, Poe, and Chewie began a game of dejarik. Rose joined them, living Klaud to work alone on the panels. I stayed standing and fished around for the marksman training remote. I soon found it and activated it.

The object began to fire before I even activated the lightsaber. I dodged the attacks effortlessly.

Meanwhile, Chewie leaned over the table as Finn and Poe eyed him suspiciously. Rose nudged the wookie to get him to make a move. I rolled my eyes. It wasn't smart to upset a wookie.

"You ever gonna go?" Poe finally asked. "He can't beat us every time." Finn mumbled back.

"Apparently he does." Rose responded. "How does he do it?" Finn asked. "This guy right here. It's because he cheats." Poe answered. Chewie roared in protest causing me to flinch and allow the remote to blast me in the shoulder. I flicked off the saber in annoyance as Poe shot me an apologetic look.

"I'm kidding." Poe said. "Come on take your time." Finn spoke. "You're 250 years old, of course you're better than us." Poe followed. Rose and I tried to stifle our laughs. I knew Chewie wasn't buying it.

"You're just taking forever and that's why we think you're cheating." Finn said as an alarm rang out from the cockpit.

"Don't worry." Poe said. "We're not going to turn it off." Finn said. Chewie seemed to believe them as he ran to the cockpit.

"He's cheating." Rose said as he was out of earshot. "Definitely." Poe said. Finn nodded shutting off the game.

"Klaud, I hoped you fixed that surge." Rose said as she returned to help Klaud. Klaud mumbled a response as Poe got to the cockpit before I had the chance to move. I simply slid into the seat behind him.

"T minus 5." Poe said into the coms. Finn ran to the opening in the top of the ship. A long cord to attach to R2 was fed through. "This could be big Artoo." Finn told the droid as it began to transfer the message to my aunt. We then heard a roar of tie fighters approach. Our heads in the cockpit snapped to the incoming ships.

"Finn!" I shouted. "We're about to be cooked." "We're almost there" Finn shouted back. "Do we really have to yell?!" Rose complained. A few moments of silence and then another shout.

"Guys, we got it." Finn shouted back. "How do we thank you?" He asked the alien who gave him the information. "Win the war." He said as the opening closed. Immediately, Poe yanked down the lever and jumped us to lightspeed. The fighters were on our tail. Finn and Rose went down to the gunners as Klaud joined us.

The ship jerked upwards, scraping against a wall of ice as blaster bolts tinged against the back. Chewie growled in annoyance, wanting me or Rey to fly the ship.

"I know. I know." Poe chided as the fire continued. I supposed Finn and Rose got in their position as the firing was directed back at the ties, taking out several. We heard Finn cheer through the comms.

"Alright, get us back to base." Finn said into the comms. Poe nodded as an ice wall blocked our path. "Don't try it." I said. "Too late. How thick do you think that ice wall is?" Poe said as he switched on lightspeed. Chewie growled in confusion and protest as we shattered the ice and were deposited into space. Unfortunately, the remaining ships were on our tail. Lightspeed tracking was still a thing we couldn't crack.

We lightspeed jumped again, almost crashing on a planet that looked like Mustafar but with spikes lining the planet. Poe maneuvered in-between them, taking out ties as we went. Finn and Rose ran into the cockpit. "Poe?" Finn said. "I know." He said as he activated lightspeed again.

"What are you doing?" Rose asked. "Lightspeed skipping." Poe answered as if this wouldn't destroy the ship. Sparks came from the control panel. "How do you know how to do that?" Finn asked. Poe didn't answer as we entered another planet that resembled Bespen. He moved us around the pillars, taking out all ties but 2. Chewie growled again.

"Rey wouldn't do this." I translated for the wookie. "Well Rey isn't here is she?" Poe replied annoyed. He activated lightspeed as we entered a green smoke filled planet. We could hardly see in front of us. Then a monster emerged from the smoke, it's mouth wide open. We all screamed. "Hold on!" Poe shouted as he activated lightspeed one final time as the monster swallowed the ties behind us whole. We traveled slowly this time. I then felt a pull.

My cousin placed his hand on our grandfather's melted helmet and closed his eyes. I could sense Rey now, snapping her head forward. Images began to quickly form in front of us.

"No!" Rey's child voice screamed. A ship flying away and a mother with 3 buns in her hair held child Rey close. Was this Rey's mother. Then a combination on mine and Rey's voice mentally screamed out.

"Join me." Ben spoke to her in the throne room as half of Snoke's body slumped. "Join me." The voice of Vader said. He had said this to me father. Suddenly my father's face as I knew him appeared on the cliff of Ach-To. He removed his hood to revel his frightening sith yellow eyes. More images appeared. My mother standing at Palpatine's side but then it wasn't her. It was me. Then that image went away and showed us a woman on his throne. The woman was Rey, all dressed in black with a double edged saber at her side. Her eyes were the same as Palpatine's, a milky white. I decided to push back on them.

"Ben!" A combination of my aunt and uncle's voices shouted. I saw my cousin on Mustafar shake his head. "You killed him." My father's voice said. The image of Han approaching his son on Starkiller Base and them him falling with a new saber hole in his chest. I could sense the conflict grow in both Rey and Ben as the vision stopped.

I shook my head as I felt the ship land at the base. I could hardly catch my breath. I then felt Poe grab my hands. "Are you ok?" He asked. I nodded and plastered on a fake smile. Poe nodded. Then the smell of smoke filled my nose. He and I glanced at each other. The ship was on fire.