Star Wars: 30 Years Later The Real Story

Phindar orbit

The massive Mandator IV-class Siege Dreadnought which was almost three times the size of a Resurgent class Star Destroyer was simply a behemot that could bring terror to any crew by its mere appearance. As soon as this vessel had entered the battlefield it had immediately silenced the enemy fleet by shutting down their systems and did not waste any time by unleashing devastation on the republic vessels by using its 2 orbital autocannons to massively damage the Republic starcruisers and their 26 dorsal point-defense anti-aircraft cannons to rapidly get rid of any starfighter or bomber which had the bad luck to be in its range.

- "Republic flagships tagged, Grand Admiral"- reported an officer showing the targets on the screen- "ready to attack at your command!"

- "Let them for the end"- said the man in the helm of this vessel with an impassive air- "get rid of the trash first."

Enric Pryde had always been someone who aspired to be on the top of the top. Since his childhood in his mother planet Alkasan, he had always admired the practicality and decisiveness of the Empire and he had always been molded to become someone who could reinforce the tenets of such rule. As soon as he could, he had entered the Imperial Alkasan Academy where he had surpassed his peers and had shown great talent and promise. His mentors had noticed this and he was soon recommended to be transferred to the Imperial Naval Academy in Coruscant where only the cream of the most talented individuals were gathered to be trained as top notch officers. Once again, he had been selected as the most talented officer and not long time passed before he had been sent to serve in the Star Destroyer Steadfast just 6 years prior to the Battle of Yavin.

- "You will go there and find those rebels even if it means to reduce the town to rubble, am I clear captain?"- said an imponent figure dressed in black and with a robotic voice.

As a young fleet officer, Pryde fought against the Rebel Alliance and personally witnessed Darth Vader in action, a memory which had stayed with him until the present day. Lord Vader was the epitome of practical method where no weakness nor waste of time was permitted. He was in the eyes of Pryde, the perfect general and one who he aspired to be.

- "If only that perfect world had lasted"- he thought with regret- "stupid rebels..."

After the "Steadfast" was destroyed at the Battle of Jakku in 5 ABY, Pryde was forced to flee into the Unknown Regions as many other Imperial officers had done after the Empire's defeat by the New Republic. Now a veteran of the Imperial Military, he was one of the former Imperial officers, nobles, technologists, and warlords that created the First Order as a way to show that the Empire's spírit was still alive and preparing to fight. In the unknown regions, they met a powerful figure who took the command of this newly formed organization due to his great insight and strategic mindset. And thus, the Supreme Leader Snoke took control and nurtured the First Order in order to return in full power to the galaxy that had forced them to flee. While the mysticism of his powers were alien to him, Pryde knew more about the Supreme Leader's machinations than many of his peers, and used his power and insights to cement his own power, obtaining the rank of Allegiant General just behind a newcomer who had shown great potential.

- "Grand Admiral, General Hux requests an audience"- reported an officer and Pryde sneered at this wondering if this call copuld be a mere coincidence.

Hux was the son of a failure officer that had been executed many years ago. His prowess could not be denied and so he heard about the many exploits of this young and power hungry officer who in a matter of a decade had already climbed to his station and was now competing with him for the rank of Grand Admiral. Even though he considered this offensive and insulting, he was patient and just waited since he knew that a shooting star would vanish as fast as it appeared and it finally ocurred 3 years ago in the Starkiller base. Pryde had been stationed far from there in another mission and he had heard of how Hux had ruined the great project that had taken so much time and resources to build much later. It was obvious that he had fallen from grace in the eyes of Snoke and Pryde was not going to let such an opportunity go. He started to move his pieces overshadowing the young officer who now had to watch him using the mantle which he so much had dėsɨrėd knowing it was far from his reach. A good lesson of humility which he was willing to give the annoying and proud brat who did not respect his elders.

- "Open communication"- ordered Pryde and soon the holographic figure of Hux appeared in front of him.

- "Greetings, general Pryde"- said Hux with a very forced smile which Pryde found extremely satisfying to watch.

- "It's Grand Admiral, I must remind you of your station once again, General"- said Pryde who let some seconds pass enjoying the twitch in Hux face- "I must say I did not expect the delay you forced us to have. We lost more vessels and personnel because of your lateness."

- "It was Kylo Ren who..."- tried to counter Hux.

- "Who is in your division as far as I know"- cut him off Pryde who seemd like a parent telling off his naughty child- "also, Lord Ren had never delay such behavior when he worked with me, it's so convenient for you he did it now."

- "If you doubt my word..."

- "Never mind your excuses, general"- said Pryde without even flinching at Hux attempt to explain- "I am capable enough to cover for your shortcomings. It's not the first time I do anyway... I'm not here to teach you how to command, I just need you to send your reports."

- "I already sent the information of the operation to date including the flagships which are the top priority to destroy."- said Hux whose expression seemed as if he had choked with a fishbone.

- "I'll decide what to destroy from now on, General. You are hereby releaved from your command of this operation, Stay in your position and await for further orders."

The transmission was cut and Pryde could imagine the rage and tantrum Hux must have been doing at this moment and he enjoyed the thought. He read the flagship list and decided to leave them fro the end. .

- "Unleash the TIE fighters and bombers"- he ordered- "let's destroy them slowly and painfully, make them suffer as they made us suffer 30 years ago!"

(...)

Planet Phindar - Outskirts of Helanmip City

Luke had been flying his personal starfighter alongside the Rogue squadron in search of Kylo Ren. He then was surprised to see that the presumed last batallion of stormtroopers was outside the city as if waiting for them. This surprised and puzzled Luke since he knew they would not be able to resist a bombardment. He could not continue his line of thought since all the circuits of his fighter just shutdown, he noticed he was not the only one since he could see many fighters going down.

- "Artoo, prepare for emergency landing"- said Luke but his friend did not respond nor did any of the other pilots since the communication systerms had also shut down.

He was worried for his little companion, but he knew he had to deal with the problem of landing first. So he tried his best to glide as much as he could preparing for the hard landing.

- "It's going down too fast"- thought Luke calculating the distance with the ground- "I have to reduce the speed."

He closed his eyes and focused remembering the first time he had seen master Yoda use the Force to take out his X-wing from a swamp in Dagobah. Luke knew he could not completely stop the vessel due to the distance with the ground, but he managed to stabilize the aircraft and reduce the speed just enough to land the best he could. The impact was still very hard and still shaken, he knew that he had to go out when he heard the shouts of the stormtroopers rallying against the shocked members of the Republic army.

- "Let's go!"- Luke used Force push to make the ċȯċkpit windshield fly in the air and he grabbed his lightsaber almost praying for it to be working yet.

Swizzzzzz... Buzz

It was working in perfect conditions, which brought him great delight. He saw his silent friend still attached to Red 5 and promised to return for him later. He jumped in the air and landed as he waved his arm dissipating the dust from the area so he could see the enemy approaching. The numbers now were not on their side. The good news was that for some reason they seemed to be unable to shoot blasters. The bad news was that they all had melee weapons while the republic forces did not. Luke knew it was bad but he had to rally the forces.

- "REPUBLIC FORCES... TO ME!!!!"

He roared trying to inspire his soldiers and started to run trusting that he would be followed. The Republic forces reacted almost immediately and threw themselves against the First Order forces both sides shouting like feroucious bloodthirsty animals. Luke looked for Kylo Ren and he knew he was in the back of the army that was coming to him so if he wanted to reach him, he would have to pass these stormtroopers. He could almost imagine his taunting expression.

- "You'll have to survive them if you wish to face me"- he could imagine him saying.

It was very obvious that he was expecting him to get tired and waste energy with the stormtroopers that were attacking them. Luke would also prefer to go directly to him but it was something that would not happen and he had been such positivist. He could see that the Republic forces had caught up with him with blades put into their blasters in the form of bayonets.

- "How good it would be to be just 10 years younger"- Luke thought as he saw the enemy troops shorten the distance in a matter of meters- "however, this old man still have much to offer!"

Luke dashed to the first enemy that entered his range and very easily, slashed the ċhėst of the stormtrooper who had no time to react before falling to the floor. Immediately, two more enemies entered his vision field and easily knew the route of their attack due to their posture. After so many years of fighting there is a moment in which you literally can predict your opponent's movements just by their posture and foot work. He easily dodged both attack and positioned himself in the middle of both soldiers who must have been thinking how it was possible for such old man to move like that. This would be however their last thought before feeling their flesh being pierced by a terrible burning sensation and being sent to the eternal darkness.

- "What a waste of potential"- thought Luke feeling pity for the fallen warriors.

- "I must reach Kylo fast"- thought Luke, knowing that was the fastest way to put an end to this battle and for that, he needed to open the way the fastest way and not waste energy.

Obviously, Luke was not the only one fighting. All around one could see a brutal scene. It was a very bloody and gore scene and many soldiers asked why they had to be doing this in such savage way when blasters could give them a far faster and merciful end. Luke did not lose sight of the battlefield and managed to see places where the battle were not going in their favor and he managed to help as he continued advancing. In one of those situations, a simple Force push or a saber throw made a significant difference in tilting the balance of a skirmish. In other circunstances, he would a more active role but now he had a mission and he had to make sure to achieve it.

- "There you are"- said Luke when he felt the position of Kylo Ren.

The Sith lord was fighting some of the Republic forces that had managed to arrived to his position reach before the Jedi master. Luke did not doubt and advanced with great determination. Kylo also looked at him and he also walked in his direction. A group of stormtroopers tried to cut his advance but Luke cut throught them like a hot knife through buŧŧer. His movements were so accurate and fast, most of his enemies did not even managed to react when he had already kill them. Luke did not kill all of them of course, since his aim was to manage his energy the most efficient way. If the most efficient was to kill, he would kill, if the most efificient was to injure, he would not waste more energy going for the kill. In other situations a simple evasion was enough leaving the most of the enemies forces to his allies who were all around him. Kylo was also butchering his way towards him. However, he did so as if the Republic soldiers were nothing more than insects in the way to his prey. Once they managed to get close enough they both dashed to each other and crossed lightsaber with a huge impact. Luke started to feel a tremendous bloodlust and resentment from his nephew a few seconds before both of them pushed back each other taking distance.

- "I thought you would be here faster, old man"- said the cold robotic voice of Kylo Ren as he adopted a fighting stance which would use his physical strenght to the limit- "you're getting rusty"

- "You'll get there too, Ben"- said Luke also adopting a stance which focused more in defense and counter attacks- "if you're lucky..."

After a few moments in which they both felt as if the world around them dissapeared, they both jumped to each other with their light sabers on the ready. Kylo put all his strength on the hit but made sure not to compromise his posture. Luke parried the strike and countered immediately but Kylo blocked the hit and used the momentum to also counterattack. Both warriors tried to use their best moves to create openings in each other since the beginning. They both knew they could not underestimate the other for that could be their last mistake. Luke noticed that Kylo was still extremely agressive and each blow contained pure hatred and raw power, but he also noticed that his attacks were now extremely sharp and accurate.

- "He has grown again"- thought Luke feeling a mix of emotions to this fact- "much stronger than last time."

Ben had always had a great potential and has always shown a faster progress than any padawan in his age. He was without a doubt a prodigy, and time after time he had manage to surpass his limits in ways that he had never seen before. Unfortunately, this was also the reason why he had grown impatient and had decided to go to the dark side for more power when he felt that he had reached his limit. Luke could not help him that time since Ben had closed his heart and was simply blinded by his dėsɨrė of power. This was also the worst regret of his life. He had been unable to help his family and it was due to him he had gone to the dark side. If he had tried to help him more, maybe ...

- "You dare to get distracted in front of me?"- shouted Kylo Ren breaking Luke's defense in the short moment his thoughts had wandered- "your guilt is deep, old man. I can feel it... you still dream about making me go back even when you deeply know it will never happen..."

These words cut through Luke since he knew it was real. For these 3 years, he had heard about the terrible things Kylo had done. Crimes worthy enough for being executed 1000 times. All in search of power. He had tried to maintain his hope but every crime and brutal deed, weakened his resolve. Wouldn't be faster if he just cut him down here? Leia would never forgive him, but... He managed to avoid a stab directed to his neck and Luke jumped back trying to create space. He knew Kylo would not permit such act but he was ready he used a Force push that Kylo received directly and he just broke through it like a dashing bull. Luke landed and tried to recovered his balance, but in that moment his supporting leg seemed to waver and did not support him enough making his posture break and literally fight to avoid falling into the ground.

- "You seem tired!"- said Kylo Ren who did not look surprised to this show of weakness.

Luke could not do anything to avoid Kylo Ren's powerful shoulder slam which he received directly on his ċhėst. The impact was so strong that it made him feel as if his internal organs had swifted inside his body and he was sent flying some meters. Luke landed heavily on the ground which made him dizzy and had to fight against the dėsɨrė to faint. Instead, he forced his body to roll backwards in order to tried to stand up, but immediately saw a red blade approaching. Just by reflex he managed to parry the slash against his face, but he could not stop the punch that came afterwards which had definitely broken his nose. Luke felt tears and blood inside his mouth but they were coughed out when he felt a powerful kick on his gut which sent him to the floor.

- "Cough* cough*"- Luke tried to stand up but the air had escaped from his lugs and his nose could not breath normally, so he started to cough while fighting to take air.

He knew this was bad. Kylo Ren had gotten him for good. He had made sure Luke would fight nonstop being on land or in air making him exhausted. Had this happened some years before, Luke would have been fine, but he was not young anymore and every battle depleted his energies much faster than before. Kylo Ren had used this against him and the last fight had proven that even though his will was stronger than ever, his body was not able to resist the abuse anymore. Luke knew the attack would come from behind and blindly sent a Force push while calling his lightsaber to his hand. He saw Kylo Ren standing a few meters looking at him and for some reason he could imagine a wide grin on his face behind his helmet.

- "Your face is a mess..."- said the Sith lord with a mocking tone- "it's just a small payback for what you did to mine"

Luke did not kow why he was talking when he could have finish him off before, but he was using these precious seconds to recover his breath.

- "Don't misunderstand, old man"-said Kylo Ren walking slowly to Luke who prepared for his attack- "I don't want to win by a mere lucky incident... I want absolute domination! I want you to despair and curse the day you let me go! I'm this way because of you, so I want you to savour every second of your last breath as you die by my hands... now... kneel before me!"

At this moment, he felt a suffocating suppresion which made his already difficult struggle to breath even worse. Luke opened his eyes wide since he felt as if he was drowning and suffocating.

- "This is..."- Luke said remembering the last time he had felt this seansation when he was in the destruction of the Starkiller base- "Snoke's ability..."

- "We call it Dark Ocean, old man"- said Kylo approaching his former master- "it's the Sith version of your 'Force Light' and as you can see, I have managed to master it in a way superior to the strenght you showed in Starkiller base... rest now old man"

He tried to cut him down but Kylo Ren felt a potent hit on his side which made him stumble some meters to the right. He saw that there was a Republic soldier who was pushing him trying to separate him from the general Skywalker. Kylo Ren did not understand how he had overlooked this person, but this made him extremely angry and stopped the push with his leg while hitting the man and creating enough distance to wave his lightsaber. The soldier jumped back trying to avoid the slashing attack but he was too slow and he received the attack and fell down to the ground not moving again.

- "Stupid garbage..."- said Kylo Ren but then he noticed his body go numb as he felt his senses go crazy and his connection to the Force reduce- "I thought you were finished, old man!"

- "He gave me the seconds I needed, Ren!"- said Luke whose body was shining with a luminous aura- "let's see if your Dark Ocean can compare to my Force Light!"

Kylo felt his Dark Ocean domain diminish in front of Luke's Force Light and soon he felt his powers being suppresed. Kylo had lost his upper hand and he knew that Luke was now being extremely serious.

- "I can't let you grow more in the dark side, Ren"- said Luke approaching the Sith lord ready to stop him even in pieces if necessary- "I will stop you here!"

In that moment Luke heard the sound of engines and busters and saw a dozen of TIE fighters coming their way ready to unleash destruction in all the area.

- "I'm afraid you wont have the chance...."- said Kylo Ren with a victorious tone.