For trope_bingo
Oct. 13th, 2017 10:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladyofleithianTitle: Spark to a Fire
Summary: The final fight, against the Dark Side.
Prompt: Against all odds
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: So, this title was based on Poe's speech from the TLJ trailer -- sort of. Also hope this works -- I had a lot to tie up.
Rey and Finn aren’t just going to sit idly by while Poe goes off to find Kylo Ren alone. They’re going to find him too. Maz, Luke and Rose have agreed to come along too. Rey is grateful. They could use all the soldiers they can get.
Even heading out, Rey looks at the scorched ruins of Milara, and she can't help but wonder why, if someone's thinking of resurrecting an Empire, anyone would pick this planet. It's nothing more than a wasteland. She can't imagine anyone building an empire out of that.
She seems to be in good company with Finn. "Why would he choose a place like this?" he says.
Maz is grave even as she speaks. "This place," she says, "This place is where Snoke was born. This is his origin. He was born in a civil war, born in hate. Milarans can live for many years, and even in his old age Venkar the Butcher was ruthless and cruel. And the Council, unfortunately, did nothing. A whole planet, devastated for years thanks to the cruelty of that animal, and it took Snoke to stop him." Silence. "His name was Aldric then."
"Aldric?" Rose says. "And he changed it to Snoke...why?"
"Snoke is not a name. It's a title. There have been many Snokes -- Snoke the Adventurous, Snoke the Avenger. This one..." Maz looks somber. "This one may very well be Snoke the tyrant. Snoke the murderer."
"Snoke the Destroyer," Rey says. Snoke the man who separated me from my family. Even with his background, Rey still hates him just for what he's done to her, to so many.
Now they're entering his throne room to take him down.
They enter the building, which is already suspiciously free of guards. Suspiciously free of anything except strange spotted cats with jagged sharp teeth. They snarl at Rey, looking, for all intents and purposes, like they're ready to tear her open.
"What are they?" Rey says.
"Junglecats," Maz says. "Milaran junglecats. Snoke must have bent them to his will. Dark Siders have done that before, with beasts."
They continue forward in, and it's there that Rey walks in on the eerie sight of Poe Dameron being levitated in the air, Snoke's taloned hand lifted, carefully controlling him. Poe's screaming in pain, and Kylo -- Kylo's trying to get the Supreme Leader to stop. Rey already feels white hot anger build behind her eyes.
"Let him go, Snoke!"
Snoke turns to look at her and says, in a voice that sounds almost fatherly, "Unless you want him to crash to the floor, I suggest that's a very poor choice of words."
He lowers Poe to the floor nonetheless. Poe stumbles to his feet, and he runs towards Rey and Finn and Rose, embracing them tightly. Rey swears that Kylo's staring at them, almost as if envious.
It's his own fault, she thinks. He, after all, was the one who tortured his own husband. He was the one who fell to the Dark Side. It's his own fault.
Poe draws away in that moment, turns to look at Snoke and draws his blaster. He shoots. Snoke freezes the blaster bolts in midair. They hover in the air between the group, too still.
Snoke looks upon the group, his eyes settling on Luke. "Master Skywalker," he says, his voice mocking. "I presume you've returned from exile. Ready to admit to your own cowardice then?"
Luke looks abashed. Rey steps in. "He's not a coward," she says.
"You really don't know, do you?" Snoke says. "This man, who with your mother, hatched a plan to leave you on Jakku. This man, who fled the galaxy instead of facing me again himself. Coward. Every last inch of him, to the core. You think I am the source of all your troubles, young Skywalker? Your own father is proof that the junglecats eat their young and you don't acknowledge it because you're afraid."
"No. He wouldn't..."
And yet Rey knows that Snoke's telling the truth.
Luke speaks up. "That was one of the worst things I did," he says. "I thought I was protecting you, Jaina -- "
"Were you?" Snoke says. "Why didn't you track me down and fight me...coward? It seems you and your sister have something in common. So willing to dump their offspring on someone else instead of fighting back..."
Rey looks from Luke to Snoke, and already she's lost. She looks towards Kylo, expecting him to gloat, but there's nothing like that in his eyes -- he clearly hasn't been told this either.
"If I knew where you were -- " Luke says.
"But you didn't, did you?" Snoke looks down at him with the sort of contempt that could sear.
"No. But I can make up for it now."
"Can you?" Snoke says.
Luke draws his lightsaber, and it glows green in the light. "Yes," he says.
Snoke draws his lightsaber, a double-bladed red lightsaber. "You'll try," he says, coldly.
They duel, their lightsabers meeting, and Rey goes for Kylo, who's currently defending the Leader. Others go for the Praetorian guards who have just sprung to life in order to duel the others. Rose has her vibroblade, Finn has his double-bladed staff that he uses against one Praetorian guard, Poe has his vibroblade, Maz her lightsaber. They duel, and Rey knows that the fate of the galaxy lies in the balance.
Praetorian guards fall one by one, and Rey and Kylo duel, throw everything they have at each other. Force powers, lightsaber moves, plenty more. They are just about evenly matched in that moment, bolstered by both their training.
And then Kylo speaks. He makes the mistake of speaking, as he did during their duel on the Starkiller planet. "We don't have to fight."
Rey pauses, disbelieving. Their lightsabers lower, and they get a long, critical look at each other. The scar that Rey gave him in their first duel gleams in a thin line down his cheek.
"After all you've done?" she says. "You can't be serious..."
"I am. Jaina..."
Kylo looks at her, and it's clear in that moment that in his own twisted way, he loves her. Loves his little cousin even after everything. No doubt thinks he's saving her.
"You have no right," Rey says. "After all you've done..."
"I did all I needed to do."
"You didn't have to do any of it," Rey says. "You can stop this now."
Silence. Then, "Jaina. Do you think there's any saving me?"
Rey doesn't know. But she knows that there was good in her cousin, long ago. He can access it once again. "I know that once upon a time, you were much better than this."
"Was I? Or was I weak?"
"You were strong," Rey says. "Long ago. And you can be again."
Silence. The look in Kylo Ren's eyes -- he's about to weep. Rey knows it. It was the same look he had after Han said he missed him. She couldn't quite sense his intentions on the bridge that horrible day, but she can now.
And he's completely honest.
The other Praetorian guards have gone down, and now the others have zeroed in on Snoke. Luke is already ailing, but he's still fighting. Snoke knocks the others across the room, no doubt with his telepathy, before taking his lightsaber.
"Now, Skywalker," he says, "Your reign of terror is over."
He plunges his lightsaber through Luke's chest. Luke falls to the ground, and Rey screams in agony. It's the same scream that she had after Kylo Ren killed Han Solo. It's the agony of losing family all over again.
Rey charges at Snoke. Their lightsabers clash, and Rey is bearing down on Snoke like she did with Kylo Ren not long ago on the Starkiller planet. Bearing down on him with such hate, such anger. Snoke grabs her with telepathy and Rey's lifted into the air. It's a dizzying sensation, and she hates it.
She can hear Kylo's voice, pleading with Snoke to stop.
"She defeated you," Snoke says. "Humiliated you. Don't you want her to suffer?"
"Please." Kylo's voice is quiet. "Put her down. Don't hurt her anymore."
Snoke isn't willing to oblige. And that's when Kylo charges. Snoke is so shocked by this that it breaks his concentration, and Rey falls to the ground. She gets up, and that's when she charges with Kylo.
It's a strange feeling, fighting alongside her cousin as opposed to fighting against him, but there she is now.
They beat Snoke back. Rey slices through his hand, and Snoke's lightsaber goes flying. He falls to the ground, looking not like the menacing figure who took her from her family, but like a broken man.
It's so tempting to kill him. But it's there that she hears a voice. Luke's voice. Don't give into hate, Rey. Not here. Not now.
"This beast is why Ben fell," she says. "This man is why I didn't have a family." This man is responsible for every pain I ever had.
I know. But remember Starkiller. Remember how close you came. There's a legacy of anger in our family, Jaina, but you can break the curse right now...
Rey takes a deep breath and deactivates her lightsaber. "Get up," she says.
Snoke does so. He glares at her. "You're just as vicious and cruel as Yoda ever was," he says. "And you..." He turns to Kylo Ren. "I would have given you the stars if you would have asked. How dare you betray me?"
"I couldn't let you hurt her," Kylo Ren says.
Rey speaks up. "You're not the mighty Supreme Leader, are you?" She's shaking still, shaking with residuals of her anger.
"How you dare -- "
"You're just a man," Rey says. "Letting a confrontation from years ago poison your mind and your heart."
"He betrayed me -- "
"He did his job," Rey says. "You were committing murder left and right. You started out with good intentions, but they got corrupted. And look at what's happening. Listen. Really listen, and feel as I do."
Snoke closes his eyes. And it's there that he obviously feels something. The ships shooting at each other, brother against brother, lover against lover, so many people going up against each other. The dead on the floor.
He opens his eyes, and he looks like someone who's awoken from a disturbing dream. He says, "Jaina...I need to do something..."
And before her eyes, Snoke does something that Rey never expected that he do.
He picks up his comlink with his remaining hand and speaks into it. “General Hux,” he says, “Call off the fleet.”
Rey can’t believe what she’s hearing. The Supreme Leader of the First Order, he who good as set up camp on the Dark Side, so far it seemed beyond redemption, is calling off the fleet. Making the first move to end the war, making the first move to stop it.
“What?” Hux sounds disbelieving.
“There’s been enough killing. We all did terrible things in the name of preserving order. Too many terrible things, in fact. But we can stop this at once.”
Hux’s voice is a sneer over the comlink. “I always knew you were weak,” he says. “Completely, utterly weak. Disgustingly weak. You think I ever would have followed a decrepit thing like you? It was not your position to rule the new Empire, it was mine, mine alone, false Leader. I always knew my destiny was to rule the galaxy.”
“Then you have delusions of grandeur,” Snoke says. “You no doubt used them as comfort when you were young. Nobody would dare laugh at you any longer. But being a ruler has a heavy price to pay.”
“More Milaran wisdom of yours?” Hux says. “I grow weary of this. Mitaka...destroy everything!”
Snoke’s eyes become almost a thousand yard stare. “Venkar,” he murmurs. “I’ve created another Venkar.”
Rey turns towards him. “Then we have no time to waste,” she says. “We have to stop Hux.”
And it’s then that Rey feels it. It’s a tug in the Force, but it’s there. Holdo. The Resistance is here, just coming out of hyperspace.
Everything’s going to be all right.
***
Holdo’s practiced for this moment for a long time. Contemplated what she would say to the man before he was executed for war crimes. How many times had she practiced in front of her mirror, imagined the outcome of the whole event? Imagined the satisfying moment where she could slap the smirk off the General’s weasel face, or tell him how much he had destroyed lives. Too long. Now...now such evil, such wickedness, will be punished without a doubt.
Hux’s flagship is just in range, and she turns towards one of her officers. “Fire on that fleet with all you have,” she says. “Don’t stop until Hux is vanquished.”
The ships fire. And with one critical hit, the Finalizer breaks in two, and Holdo watches as it goes down.
***
Snoke’s running out of energy. He can feel it. The wounds that Jaina Skywalker gave him are starting to take their toll. As are the wounds he’s getting from his own Praetorian guards, which he slices down with the others because he must. He hates killing his own kin, but it seems even they have turned against him. Such is the price for doing the right thing in the end. They meet up with Hira, the medic, who looks like she's had her share of taking down Praetorian guards.
"Are you all right, Hira?" Snoke says.
"I am. What about you? You're hurt..."
Snoke forces a smile. "I have had worse injuries, Hira. Come...we should get out of here."
Lisaris blocks their way in that moment, looming like a shadow. "You betrayed us," he says. "You betrayed the cause."
"It was necessary. Everything we did...we did a terrible wrong. It isn't too late to right it, however."
"I would rather die a thousand deaths than betray the First Order."
Lisaris draws his lightsaber, and he and Kylo duel. Snoke can only watch even as his two apprentices duel. Long ago, Lisaris had been an innocent child. Now...now he is akin to Venkar. Snoke, instead of creating heroes, created monsters like Venkar. And that...that he can't bear.
Kylo struggles. He is badly wounded, after all, but eventually, it's Lisaris who struggles, who falters.
When Kylo deals the killing blow to Lisaris, he's gasping. His wounds are just taking their toll, and he's about to fall unconscious at least. "I should have done that a long time ago," he says.
"Yes." Snoke can only hope Lisaris gets a proper funeral. He cannot help but mourn him in that moment. All he could have been, if ren had been happier.
They run out towards the light, where the sky seems to be raining ash. Snoke looks up, blearily. "The Finalizer is dying," he says.
“Holdo did it,” Jaina says.
“She has the spirit of a Milaran warrior,” Snoke says.
Jaina looks stiff, as if wondering how to take that compliment. There is no need for shame. They are all Milaran warriors, and they have saved Milara from certain doom and destruction. And that...that is one of the highest honors.
They are more of Milaran heroes than he could ever be. When he set off on this mission, had he ever imagined becoming like Venkar? All this time, he thought he was Snoke, but instead, he became much like Venkar. Too much like Venkar. And he created more beings like him. To think he had the best of intentions, and they had all turned out so wrong...
Kylo Ren is currently unconscious after having battled the guards. Poe Dameron’s next to him, patching up his wounds as best he can. FN-2187 is assisting Rose and Jaina. Snoke — Aldric of Milara — is looking up at the ash raining from the sky.
“So this is how I die,” he says.
Hira looks over him. “You must hold on,” she says. “The shuttle’s within sight...”
“Death is on my doorstep, Hira. I have lived too long and done too much evil. Oblivious, I condemned many to death. Some I ordered directly, others were ordered by others after me, but the blood of innocents is on my hands. Evil done with good intentions is still evil, after all.”
“But we all did good in the end.” Jaina’s voice.
Snoke smiles. “We fought like Milarans,” he says. “And that’s what matters most.”
Silence.
“Forgive me, Milara. I’ve done so much wrong. I can only hope that in another life, another cycle, I can begin to atone for the wrongs I have done...”
The world starts to go white, and it’s then that a familiar black-haired woman steps out of the light. A shimmering blue Force ghost, and she looks down at Aldric. “Hello,” she says, and her smile is bright.
“Alaina. Forgive me. I was such a fool...”
“You did it, Aldric,” she says. “You saved them.”
And even heading after her into the afterlife, where all are luminous beings and not this crude matter, Aldric knows that he saved his own soul as well.
Summary: The final fight, against the Dark Side.
Prompt: Against all odds
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: So, this title was based on Poe's speech from the TLJ trailer -- sort of. Also hope this works -- I had a lot to tie up.
Rey and Finn aren’t just going to sit idly by while Poe goes off to find Kylo Ren alone. They’re going to find him too. Maz, Luke and Rose have agreed to come along too. Rey is grateful. They could use all the soldiers they can get.
Even heading out, Rey looks at the scorched ruins of Milara, and she can't help but wonder why, if someone's thinking of resurrecting an Empire, anyone would pick this planet. It's nothing more than a wasteland. She can't imagine anyone building an empire out of that.
She seems to be in good company with Finn. "Why would he choose a place like this?" he says.
Maz is grave even as she speaks. "This place," she says, "This place is where Snoke was born. This is his origin. He was born in a civil war, born in hate. Milarans can live for many years, and even in his old age Venkar the Butcher was ruthless and cruel. And the Council, unfortunately, did nothing. A whole planet, devastated for years thanks to the cruelty of that animal, and it took Snoke to stop him." Silence. "His name was Aldric then."
"Aldric?" Rose says. "And he changed it to Snoke...why?"
"Snoke is not a name. It's a title. There have been many Snokes -- Snoke the Adventurous, Snoke the Avenger. This one..." Maz looks somber. "This one may very well be Snoke the tyrant. Snoke the murderer."
"Snoke the Destroyer," Rey says. Snoke the man who separated me from my family. Even with his background, Rey still hates him just for what he's done to her, to so many.
Now they're entering his throne room to take him down.
They enter the building, which is already suspiciously free of guards. Suspiciously free of anything except strange spotted cats with jagged sharp teeth. They snarl at Rey, looking, for all intents and purposes, like they're ready to tear her open.
"What are they?" Rey says.
"Junglecats," Maz says. "Milaran junglecats. Snoke must have bent them to his will. Dark Siders have done that before, with beasts."
They continue forward in, and it's there that Rey walks in on the eerie sight of Poe Dameron being levitated in the air, Snoke's taloned hand lifted, carefully controlling him. Poe's screaming in pain, and Kylo -- Kylo's trying to get the Supreme Leader to stop. Rey already feels white hot anger build behind her eyes.
"Let him go, Snoke!"
Snoke turns to look at her and says, in a voice that sounds almost fatherly, "Unless you want him to crash to the floor, I suggest that's a very poor choice of words."
He lowers Poe to the floor nonetheless. Poe stumbles to his feet, and he runs towards Rey and Finn and Rose, embracing them tightly. Rey swears that Kylo's staring at them, almost as if envious.
It's his own fault, she thinks. He, after all, was the one who tortured his own husband. He was the one who fell to the Dark Side. It's his own fault.
Poe draws away in that moment, turns to look at Snoke and draws his blaster. He shoots. Snoke freezes the blaster bolts in midair. They hover in the air between the group, too still.
Snoke looks upon the group, his eyes settling on Luke. "Master Skywalker," he says, his voice mocking. "I presume you've returned from exile. Ready to admit to your own cowardice then?"
Luke looks abashed. Rey steps in. "He's not a coward," she says.
"You really don't know, do you?" Snoke says. "This man, who with your mother, hatched a plan to leave you on Jakku. This man, who fled the galaxy instead of facing me again himself. Coward. Every last inch of him, to the core. You think I am the source of all your troubles, young Skywalker? Your own father is proof that the junglecats eat their young and you don't acknowledge it because you're afraid."
"No. He wouldn't..."
And yet Rey knows that Snoke's telling the truth.
Luke speaks up. "That was one of the worst things I did," he says. "I thought I was protecting you, Jaina -- "
"Were you?" Snoke says. "Why didn't you track me down and fight me...coward? It seems you and your sister have something in common. So willing to dump their offspring on someone else instead of fighting back..."
Rey looks from Luke to Snoke, and already she's lost. She looks towards Kylo, expecting him to gloat, but there's nothing like that in his eyes -- he clearly hasn't been told this either.
"If I knew where you were -- " Luke says.
"But you didn't, did you?" Snoke looks down at him with the sort of contempt that could sear.
"No. But I can make up for it now."
"Can you?" Snoke says.
Luke draws his lightsaber, and it glows green in the light. "Yes," he says.
Snoke draws his lightsaber, a double-bladed red lightsaber. "You'll try," he says, coldly.
They duel, their lightsabers meeting, and Rey goes for Kylo, who's currently defending the Leader. Others go for the Praetorian guards who have just sprung to life in order to duel the others. Rose has her vibroblade, Finn has his double-bladed staff that he uses against one Praetorian guard, Poe has his vibroblade, Maz her lightsaber. They duel, and Rey knows that the fate of the galaxy lies in the balance.
Praetorian guards fall one by one, and Rey and Kylo duel, throw everything they have at each other. Force powers, lightsaber moves, plenty more. They are just about evenly matched in that moment, bolstered by both their training.
And then Kylo speaks. He makes the mistake of speaking, as he did during their duel on the Starkiller planet. "We don't have to fight."
Rey pauses, disbelieving. Their lightsabers lower, and they get a long, critical look at each other. The scar that Rey gave him in their first duel gleams in a thin line down his cheek.
"After all you've done?" she says. "You can't be serious..."
"I am. Jaina..."
Kylo looks at her, and it's clear in that moment that in his own twisted way, he loves her. Loves his little cousin even after everything. No doubt thinks he's saving her.
"You have no right," Rey says. "After all you've done..."
"I did all I needed to do."
"You didn't have to do any of it," Rey says. "You can stop this now."
Silence. Then, "Jaina. Do you think there's any saving me?"
Rey doesn't know. But she knows that there was good in her cousin, long ago. He can access it once again. "I know that once upon a time, you were much better than this."
"Was I? Or was I weak?"
"You were strong," Rey says. "Long ago. And you can be again."
Silence. The look in Kylo Ren's eyes -- he's about to weep. Rey knows it. It was the same look he had after Han said he missed him. She couldn't quite sense his intentions on the bridge that horrible day, but she can now.
And he's completely honest.
The other Praetorian guards have gone down, and now the others have zeroed in on Snoke. Luke is already ailing, but he's still fighting. Snoke knocks the others across the room, no doubt with his telepathy, before taking his lightsaber.
"Now, Skywalker," he says, "Your reign of terror is over."
He plunges his lightsaber through Luke's chest. Luke falls to the ground, and Rey screams in agony. It's the same scream that she had after Kylo Ren killed Han Solo. It's the agony of losing family all over again.
Rey charges at Snoke. Their lightsabers clash, and Rey is bearing down on Snoke like she did with Kylo Ren not long ago on the Starkiller planet. Bearing down on him with such hate, such anger. Snoke grabs her with telepathy and Rey's lifted into the air. It's a dizzying sensation, and she hates it.
She can hear Kylo's voice, pleading with Snoke to stop.
"She defeated you," Snoke says. "Humiliated you. Don't you want her to suffer?"
"Please." Kylo's voice is quiet. "Put her down. Don't hurt her anymore."
Snoke isn't willing to oblige. And that's when Kylo charges. Snoke is so shocked by this that it breaks his concentration, and Rey falls to the ground. She gets up, and that's when she charges with Kylo.
It's a strange feeling, fighting alongside her cousin as opposed to fighting against him, but there she is now.
They beat Snoke back. Rey slices through his hand, and Snoke's lightsaber goes flying. He falls to the ground, looking not like the menacing figure who took her from her family, but like a broken man.
It's so tempting to kill him. But it's there that she hears a voice. Luke's voice. Don't give into hate, Rey. Not here. Not now.
"This beast is why Ben fell," she says. "This man is why I didn't have a family." This man is responsible for every pain I ever had.
I know. But remember Starkiller. Remember how close you came. There's a legacy of anger in our family, Jaina, but you can break the curse right now...
Rey takes a deep breath and deactivates her lightsaber. "Get up," she says.
Snoke does so. He glares at her. "You're just as vicious and cruel as Yoda ever was," he says. "And you..." He turns to Kylo Ren. "I would have given you the stars if you would have asked. How dare you betray me?"
"I couldn't let you hurt her," Kylo Ren says.
Rey speaks up. "You're not the mighty Supreme Leader, are you?" She's shaking still, shaking with residuals of her anger.
"How you dare -- "
"You're just a man," Rey says. "Letting a confrontation from years ago poison your mind and your heart."
"He betrayed me -- "
"He did his job," Rey says. "You were committing murder left and right. You started out with good intentions, but they got corrupted. And look at what's happening. Listen. Really listen, and feel as I do."
Snoke closes his eyes. And it's there that he obviously feels something. The ships shooting at each other, brother against brother, lover against lover, so many people going up against each other. The dead on the floor.
He opens his eyes, and he looks like someone who's awoken from a disturbing dream. He says, "Jaina...I need to do something..."
And before her eyes, Snoke does something that Rey never expected that he do.
He picks up his comlink with his remaining hand and speaks into it. “General Hux,” he says, “Call off the fleet.”
Rey can’t believe what she’s hearing. The Supreme Leader of the First Order, he who good as set up camp on the Dark Side, so far it seemed beyond redemption, is calling off the fleet. Making the first move to end the war, making the first move to stop it.
“What?” Hux sounds disbelieving.
“There’s been enough killing. We all did terrible things in the name of preserving order. Too many terrible things, in fact. But we can stop this at once.”
Hux’s voice is a sneer over the comlink. “I always knew you were weak,” he says. “Completely, utterly weak. Disgustingly weak. You think I ever would have followed a decrepit thing like you? It was not your position to rule the new Empire, it was mine, mine alone, false Leader. I always knew my destiny was to rule the galaxy.”
“Then you have delusions of grandeur,” Snoke says. “You no doubt used them as comfort when you were young. Nobody would dare laugh at you any longer. But being a ruler has a heavy price to pay.”
“More Milaran wisdom of yours?” Hux says. “I grow weary of this. Mitaka...destroy everything!”
Snoke’s eyes become almost a thousand yard stare. “Venkar,” he murmurs. “I’ve created another Venkar.”
Rey turns towards him. “Then we have no time to waste,” she says. “We have to stop Hux.”
And it’s then that Rey feels it. It’s a tug in the Force, but it’s there. Holdo. The Resistance is here, just coming out of hyperspace.
Everything’s going to be all right.
***
Holdo’s practiced for this moment for a long time. Contemplated what she would say to the man before he was executed for war crimes. How many times had she practiced in front of her mirror, imagined the outcome of the whole event? Imagined the satisfying moment where she could slap the smirk off the General’s weasel face, or tell him how much he had destroyed lives. Too long. Now...now such evil, such wickedness, will be punished without a doubt.
Hux’s flagship is just in range, and she turns towards one of her officers. “Fire on that fleet with all you have,” she says. “Don’t stop until Hux is vanquished.”
The ships fire. And with one critical hit, the Finalizer breaks in two, and Holdo watches as it goes down.
***
Snoke’s running out of energy. He can feel it. The wounds that Jaina Skywalker gave him are starting to take their toll. As are the wounds he’s getting from his own Praetorian guards, which he slices down with the others because he must. He hates killing his own kin, but it seems even they have turned against him. Such is the price for doing the right thing in the end. They meet up with Hira, the medic, who looks like she's had her share of taking down Praetorian guards.
"Are you all right, Hira?" Snoke says.
"I am. What about you? You're hurt..."
Snoke forces a smile. "I have had worse injuries, Hira. Come...we should get out of here."
Lisaris blocks their way in that moment, looming like a shadow. "You betrayed us," he says. "You betrayed the cause."
"It was necessary. Everything we did...we did a terrible wrong. It isn't too late to right it, however."
"I would rather die a thousand deaths than betray the First Order."
Lisaris draws his lightsaber, and he and Kylo duel. Snoke can only watch even as his two apprentices duel. Long ago, Lisaris had been an innocent child. Now...now he is akin to Venkar. Snoke, instead of creating heroes, created monsters like Venkar. And that...that he can't bear.
Kylo struggles. He is badly wounded, after all, but eventually, it's Lisaris who struggles, who falters.
When Kylo deals the killing blow to Lisaris, he's gasping. His wounds are just taking their toll, and he's about to fall unconscious at least. "I should have done that a long time ago," he says.
"Yes." Snoke can only hope Lisaris gets a proper funeral. He cannot help but mourn him in that moment. All he could have been, if ren had been happier.
They run out towards the light, where the sky seems to be raining ash. Snoke looks up, blearily. "The Finalizer is dying," he says.
“Holdo did it,” Jaina says.
“She has the spirit of a Milaran warrior,” Snoke says.
Jaina looks stiff, as if wondering how to take that compliment. There is no need for shame. They are all Milaran warriors, and they have saved Milara from certain doom and destruction. And that...that is one of the highest honors.
They are more of Milaran heroes than he could ever be. When he set off on this mission, had he ever imagined becoming like Venkar? All this time, he thought he was Snoke, but instead, he became much like Venkar. Too much like Venkar. And he created more beings like him. To think he had the best of intentions, and they had all turned out so wrong...
Kylo Ren is currently unconscious after having battled the guards. Poe Dameron’s next to him, patching up his wounds as best he can. FN-2187 is assisting Rose and Jaina. Snoke — Aldric of Milara — is looking up at the ash raining from the sky.
“So this is how I die,” he says.
Hira looks over him. “You must hold on,” she says. “The shuttle’s within sight...”
“Death is on my doorstep, Hira. I have lived too long and done too much evil. Oblivious, I condemned many to death. Some I ordered directly, others were ordered by others after me, but the blood of innocents is on my hands. Evil done with good intentions is still evil, after all.”
“But we all did good in the end.” Jaina’s voice.
Snoke smiles. “We fought like Milarans,” he says. “And that’s what matters most.”
Silence.
“Forgive me, Milara. I’ve done so much wrong. I can only hope that in another life, another cycle, I can begin to atone for the wrongs I have done...”
The world starts to go white, and it’s then that a familiar black-haired woman steps out of the light. A shimmering blue Force ghost, and she looks down at Aldric. “Hello,” she says, and her smile is bright.
“Alaina. Forgive me. I was such a fool...”
“You did it, Aldric,” she says. “You saved them.”
And even heading after her into the afterlife, where all are luminous beings and not this crude matter, Aldric knows that he saved his own soul as well.
