Across The Stars // Star Wars (Sequels)

✰Chapter 28✰

As I'm going over the reports of our battle against the Dreadnought, I conclude that our fleet has decreased dramatically. Without our bombers, any attack we'll have in the future won't be an effective one. The door to the bridge slides open and I glance up, discarding whoever entered and turning back to my work before it hits me.

"Finn!" I exclaim. "You're awake." I jump up to greet him with a hug. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," he says after I've pulled back from the hug. "Raven, where is Rey? Poe wouldn't tell me."

I lower my eyes before motioning for him to sit down, which he does. "Rey went away. We completed the map to Master Skywalker and she's the one who got to go and find him. Hopefully, she'll be back soon with him," I tell him.

His dark eyes restlessly scan the surface of the table.

"She wanted to be here when you woke up but this was important," I add.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he says. "And what's happening now? We're really nowhere. How is Rey gonna find us now?"

Standing a few feet away, Mom smiles softly and lifts her sleeve, revealing a small device around her wrist.

"A cloaked binary beacon," Finn breathes.

"To light her way home," she says.

"All right, so until she gets back with Master Skywalker, what the plan?" I ask. "I suppose we need to find a new base. We can't stay on this ship forever."

"I agree, and we need one with enough power to get a distress signal to our allies scattered in the Outer Rim," Commander D'Acy speaks up.

A sudden loud alarm starts blaring, catching us all off guard. "Proximity alert!" Admiral Ackbar calls from his seat near the front window. I run up to him simultaneously with Poe and my eyes widen.

"They found us," one of the workers says.

"That's impossible," Poe says. The next second, several First Order spacecraft exit Hyperspace and end up in front of us, including a massive ship I haven't seen before. It hovers menacingly over the other craft. The rest of the cruisers and destroyers seem insignificant compared to it.

"That's Snoke's ship," I mutter once the great disturbance in the Force reaches me. My hands instantly start to tremble. He's never been this close.

"Snoke?" Poe asks. "You've got to be kidding me." He runs off. "Can we jump to lightspeed?"

"We have enough fuel resources for one jump," Connix informs him, but the words don't reach my brain. I can feel him. Ren's on that ship too. The Dark Side of the Force lurks in the background, making my mind foggy.

As my eyes stay fixated on the ship in front of us, I am suddenly aware of everything. My rapid heartbeat, the shaking of my hands, the dryness of my throat, but most importantly, the small part of me that belongs to the Dark Side. I can feel it wanting to grow, to take over. It costs me everything to keep it contained and I sink down to my knees. I then realise I have nothing on this ship that can connect me to the Light Side. No trees, no animals, no soil. Nothing. It's just people.

My breathing quickens but I am drawn out of my head as a concerned beep sounds beside me. I glance up and find BB-8 next to me. "Hey, buddy," I say softly, fighting to keep myself calm. He chirps softly. "I'm okay," I tell him, but he just beeps again. "No, it's fine. You don't have to get Poe for me. I'll be okay." He beeps once more and settles down next to me, resting his head against my arm. Even though he's a droid, the simple gesture brings the Force inside me back to the middle. I close my eyes and my breathing finally evens out.

The blaring of a new alarm causes me to open my eyes again and I'm right on time to see BB-8 speed off after Poe. "Finn!" I call, stumbling to my feet. He turns around. "What's going on?"

"Poe's gonna blow something up," he says.

"Oh, no." I sigh and rush to the hangars where I catch up with Poe. I grab his arm to hold him back. "What are you doing?" I ask.

"Getting us to safety." He turns to BB-8 and says, "Don't wait for me. Jump in and fire her up!" The droid beeps and speeds off. "Rave, trust me. I'll be fine." Even though we're in full view of the workers around us, I know they're too busy with their own tasks to notice us, so I lean in and press a quick kiss to his cheek.

"I know. Be careful out there," I tell him and he nods, turning to the hangar, but both of us are blown off our feet as an explosion erupts in front of our eyes. I am in time to catch myself with the Force, but Poe slams into the ground with a grunt.

I sit up, coughing as smoke fills my lungs. A loud beep pierces my ears but I call out Poe's name. He sits up just as the hangar doors close. "Are you okay?" I ask once the beep in my ears has softened.

He nods, coughing softly. "Are you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," I say, pushing myself up with a groan.

"Poe! Raven!" Finn shouts, running up to us.

"We need to get out of range of those Star Destroyers," Poe grunts. I hold out a hand and hoist him off the ground. We turn to head back to the bridge, but I freeze when I sense a familiar presence. One I haven't felt in years.

It's not Kylo Ren. It's my brother.

"Rave?" Poe asks, breaking me from my trance. "We gotta go."

I nod, but when I take a step, the ground trembles under my feet. We stop again and my heart drops when I hear someone call, "It's the bridge!"

Mom was on that bridge.

Before my mind can register, I am running to the nearest window. My eyes fill with tears when I see the debris floating outside, no sign of any survivors.

But then I see her. Mom's body drifts in the void of space with one arm stretched out. I forget how to breathe when she moves back to our cruiser. Poe shouts something, but I can't move until Finn drags me with him to the door.

Mom collapses in my arms when the door hisses open, but she's alive. Unconscious and heavily affected by the explosion, but alive.

She is taken from my arms by a group of medical workers before she is brought to the infirmary. My hand never leaves hers and a few tears escape my eyes on the way as fear clouds my every thought.

"I'm so sorry, Mom," I whisper. Poe's hands are on my shoulders as I sit by her side. I close my eyes and try to find her consciousness through the Force, but something inside her fights back, telling me to save my energy. "I should never have left you," I whisper softly. "It's my fault."

"What are you talking about?" Poe asks. "If you were on that bridge with her, you would've been blasted into space as well. And you could've died. Let's just be happy she didn't."

"I let my personal feelings cloud my judgement when I ran after you. I shouldn't have done that," I say. "Look what happened because of it."

"Rave, you have to understand that this had nothing to do with you. The bridge would've been blown up whether you were there or not," he says.

I shake my head. "I can't lose her too, Poe. She's all I have left," I say quietly. I sigh and make up my mind. Even though it's the last thing I want to do, I let go of Mom's hand and shrug Poe's hands off my shoulders. "I won't lose her."

I turn to the door. "Where are you going?" Poe asks.

I glance over my shoulder and say, "To see a friend."