The Final End/text

Above Jakku, the New Republic’s fleet had arrived. The Empire’s fleet had organized a defensive barrier above the Emperor’s observatory, and around the Super Star Destroyer Ravager. The New Republic’s fleet, was, despite being on the winning side of the war, still a menagerie of different ships of different classes and from different manufacturers. Nadiri Dockyards, a company based on Rhinnal in the Bormea sector, had manufactured four of a new class of battleship - the Starhawk. The Starhawk-class was comprised of salvaged Imperial ships all combined into one battleship, with a hatchet-shaped front with two engines, one above and one below, to allow easier maneuverability. Three of the four battleships were a part of the fleet attacking Jakku directly - the Amity, Concord, and Unity. The Integrity was remaining in a skeleton fleet over Chandrila, in case of an unexpected attack by another Imperial remnant. For the most part, the New Republic Intelligence Offices had assured the Republic’s leaders that the entirety of the Empire’s remaining forces were organized over Jakku in defense of the Shadow Council. In command of the New Republic’s fleet was of course, the Home One, the venerable MC80a star cruiser which had served alongside the Rebel Alliance for a long time. In the Home One’s bridge was Fleet Admiral Gial Ackbar, a Mon Calamari who, like his ship, fought against the Empire ever since the Alliance’s inception. To his left was Admiral Shollan, who had served alongside Raddus at the Battle of Scarif. “Fleet Admiral,” the white Mon Calamari said, his distinctive skin tone a byproduct of his upbringing near Mon Cala’s poles, “the Star Destroyers are holding strong around the Ravager. Do we plan on moving the fleet forward?” “Yes, we do.” Ackbar replied. He stared out the Home One, and saw the Concord near the front of their fleet. Commodore Kyrsta Agate, a Chandrilan native, was aboard that ship. From his perspective, to the Concord’s left was the Amity, with General Baccam Grafis in its bridge. Grafis, as well as the Alderaanian General Rieekan, were coordinating the army’s assault on the Imperial fortifications below. Rieekan was aboard the Nebulon-B frigate Solace, preparing for the ground assault while the Imperial fleet was occupied. As the New Republic’s own fleet approached the Imperial blockade, Ackbar observed as the two forward Star Destroyers parted the front of the Ravager&mdash;and the Super Star Destroyer began its barrage of the closest ships, which happened to be the Concord and Amity. The battleships’ shields held, however several starfighters leaving their hangars were destroyed.

~

Kyrsta Agate was worried. Ever since the attack on Chandrila, her once unshaken composure was, well, shaken. Her right eye was replaced with a cybernetic one, and the burned portions of her face had to undergo surgery. Admiral Ackbar had given her command of the three Starhawk battleships that were being taken to Jakku, even after she’d relinquished command. Now, she was leading the attack on the Imperial blockade. From what she’d learned, the fleet was headed by Grand Moff Randd, and the intel on him was quite thin. He was not one to have people close to him, which intrigued Agate, but did not dissuade her fears. The three battleships were approaching the Star Destroyers’ defenses around the Ravager, X-wings and TIEs dueling to the death in the vacuum of space.

~

The Imperial-class Star Destroyer Punishment was captained by Siliz Groff, a native of the Colonies. Groff was a panicked man during the Battle of Jakku - exemplified by the approaching Starhawk-class battleship Amity. Groff’s panic took hold of him entirely as he ordered his crew to ram the Punishment into the battleship in front of the viewport. He was contacted by Randd - ordering him to stand down, but it was already too late. The Star Destroyer rammed itself into the front of the Amity, the hatchet-like port and starboard bows ripping through the center of the Star Destroyer. The Starhawk battleships were equipped with highly-advanced magnite crystal tractor beams, making it ten times more powerful than a baseline Star Destroyer’s, and which the Amity’s captain Baccam Grafis put to good use. With forty years of military experience, Grafis had a few tricks up his sleeve. Using the tractor beam, instead of pulling the Star Destroyer towards him, the Punishment was instead pushed away and into the nearest other Star Destroyer - the Eradicator. Both capital ships were firing at the Amity, as its shields weakened significantly. Support from the Concord and Unity caused the Eradicator to begin to fall towards the surface. This was a massive opening to the Ravager that was not easily blocked by the other Destroyers. For the Imperials, it was a disaster waiting to happen.

~

Agate had her opportunity. She contacted Ackbar - who tried to talk her out of it. She was going to launch the Concord into the Ravager, hopefully pushing it down to the surface with the help of the powerful tractor beams that the Amity had just displayed. She was smiling as the Punishment continued to be barraged by the three Starhawks, as well as the Mon Calamari ships and Nebulon-B frigates. “''We do not need a noble sacrifice, Commodore. Don’t do this.''” he said. “I’m going to, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. Just… please, get some CR90 corvettes and starfighters to take out the Ravager’s engines.” Ackbar looked pained, but finally nodded. “Thank you, Admiral. You won’t regret this.” “Make sure I don’t.” he said, then the connection was cut.

~

The noise that had resonated throughout the Jakku Observatory was not the sound of an orbital bombardment, not this time. The borehole had reached the planet’s core. Rax smiled, as a crack appeared through the Observatory. “You better make your decision, Admiral Sloane.” Sloane stared at him, his face not showing anything but happiness. “Admiral Sloane! We need to-” Wexley began, on the opposite side of the crack, as a groundquake started up again. The sands shifted outside, and the metal floor began to submerge into the ground. “Wexley! Get out of here - now!” Sloane ordered, her eyes wide and expression grim. Wexley seemed confused, as if stuck in place. “Ah, you are still humane at heart,” Rax said, “how sweet.” He aimed his blaster, aiming to end both Wexley parents. Suddenly, Sloane short first. It was not aimed to kill, evidently, as he felt his arm go numb and the blaster fall from his hands, through the growing crack in the floor. He stared down, seeing an orange glow appearing. “How do you stop it?” Sloane asked, moving forward. Rax grimaced, breathing heavily. With his free hand, he grabbed on to his right arm, as if it were to fall off at any moment. “It’s reached the core, Admiral Sloane. There is no stopping it. We all will die, New Republic and Empire combined.” At those words, Sloane ran into the doldrums of the Observatory, and Rax slumped down on to a chair. Jakku would be destroyed, and the Emperor’s final plan realized-

~

Evidently, there was a way to override the borehole. Within the basement, there was a series of switches to crush the borehole from the mechanical tube. Sloane, not risking her own death and the death of all those Imperials above them, had pressed it, and pressed it hard. The borehole’s tube crushed itself - the pressureguard it had once used to counteract the immense gravitational pressure on it giving way to its own self-destruction. The borehole slipped into Jakku’s liquid magma core, and been melted in seconds. The groundquake slowed, then eventually stopped. The crack formed in Jakku’s crust would remain - but the threat of the planet’s entire destruction had been halted, at least for the moment. The crack would be the first of many scars that Jakku would gain during the battle that was raging above and on top of it. From space, it could be seen, a dark line running from mountain through valley and ripping through the length of a long cliff.

~

The Ravager fought back against the Concord, valiantly but with an ending both knew was inevitable. The Super Star Destroyer was being pulled by the tractor beams, the two starships sticking to each other like glue. Agate stared out the viewport as the shields became meaningless. She’d ordered all of her crew to leave, to get away. The Star Destroyer Eviscerator was firing at the damaged Amity, defended by the Unity - but Agate was not worried about them anymore. With the ship’s final remaining strength, it pushed the Ravager towards Jakku’s atmosphere. The Ravager’s bridge snapped off from its massive scale, and ripped through the central portion of the ship. Fire engulfed both, and Agate sat back down in the pilot’s chair, the viewport engulfed by the oranges and yellows, and yet everything went black.

~

In the deserts of Jakku, Norra Wexley ran towards the outstretched ramp of the freighter Moth. She grabbed hold of her son Temmin, who practically pulled her to the cockpit. Their Zabrak companion, Jas Emari, fired up the ship and lifted it into the sky. Jom Barell, a member of the New Republic Special Forces and their friend, stood in the doorway to the cockpit. “Where’s Mister Bones?” Norra asked. She looked at Temmin, who looked down to the floor, forlorn. Their reprogrammed battle droid was destroyed, Norra realized. “All I have left of him is this,” Temmin finally said, as the Moth approached the upper atmosphere. He held the storage chip of a droid brain in his hands, and Norra slowly took it from him. She sighed, and looked at her friends. Sinjir Rath Velus, an Imperial deserter, would have been with them had he not elected to remain on Chandrila. “There’s little time for mourning your droid,” Jas Emari said, “we need to get off this planet. Star Destroyers and starfighters alike are falling from the sky,” she said, avoiding a piece of wreckage falling through the sky. Norra looked to their left. “Is that the Ravager?” she asked, and slowly, Emari’s head nodded yes. “By the Force…” She watched as it plunged into the sands of Jakku, and she could see the silhouette of a Starhawk behind it. “I’d like to think that this was a victory for the New Republic,” Barell spoke, giving a smile, “so the Empire’s gone.” ~

Rae Sloane returned to the top level of the Observatory, and observed a new hologram lit up on the table. It was of Grand Moff Randd, his face showing signs of guilt. “''We’ve lost. The Ravager was destroyed… many others destroyed, as well. Where are we to go?''” “The Eclipse. I have already transmitted the coordinates to you…” he said, and cut the connection as he turned around. “You again. Why am I not surprised?” “I stopped it, you maniac,” Sloane replied, and Rax smiled as he slouched into his seat again, letting go of his right arm, resigned to death. “And you have doomed the Empire with your stupidity,” he replied, “Go ahead. Kill me, finish it. Or are you going to leave me to die like this? For the rebel scum to come and take me?” Sloane stared at the man, and closed her eyes. “Go, Admiral Sloane. End me and go to the Eclipse. It’s already programmed into the New Imperator.” Sloane shook her head slowly, and placed the blaster pistol against the Counselor’s forehead. “I trust you, Sloane,” he said, quietly, “you will make a great leader.” ~

The Moth landed in the Unity’s hangar bay, just as the final Star Destroyer jumped to hyperspace, and away from the Jakku system. The Amity was severely damaged, and was already on its way back to Rhinnal for repairs. As the Moth’s crew departed the freighter, they were greeted by the ship’s captain, Capin Harinar. “Are any of you injured?” he asked them, looking over the four of them. “No, not physically,” Temmin said. Norra wrapped her arm around her son, and pulled him close to her side. “We’re fine.” Barell interrupted, and Harinar left without saying another word. Mechanics from the ship moved to repair the damages on the Moth, and the group slowly made their way through the hangar.

~

Rax’s corpse lay on the edge of the crack in Jakku’s crust, smoke rising through the air from the hole in his forehead. Sloane was gone. She was no fool, she knew there was no use in staying on Jakku. She took the New Imperator and left, to the coordinates pre-programmed into the navicomputer. She sat, waiting, in hyperspace, her eyes closed tight. Nothing had gone right, at least for her. Sloane assumed that Rax had some sort of plan that relied on that exact series of events occurring, but didn’t know for sure. Men like him were strange in that way. She hoped she’d never meet someone like him again, make sure that he was forgotten far in the past. She reclined in the pilot’s chair of the space yacht, letting all thoughts drift away as sleep took her, finally.