Chapter 32 - In Enemy Territory (2/2)

- ”Dont waste time trying to understand...”- said Han putting on the helmet- ”believe me... it's easier that way.”

Finn was still in shock but after hearing what Han had said he understood by his tone that he was being serious. Finn was about to interject but then he remembered Luke's words... he had to focus in the moment and put aside the useless thoughts. He had come for Rey and to destroy the shield generators, nothing else mattered.

- ”Let's go, Big Deal”- said Han with the machine like voice of the stormtrooper helmet- ”we've got work to do.”

(...)

In other part of the base Kylo Ren was watching the battle in the screens of the Main quarters when he felt something. He immediately turned around and started to concentrate to amplify the connection he was feeling.

- ”Skywalker and Solo are inside the base”- said Kylo Ren informing his knights of Ren and the FN Corps- ”go to your posts and follow the plan.”

- ”It will be done, Milord”- said the voice of the leader of the Knights of Ren. He then changed to private intercom with Phasma.

- ”I also feel FN-2187 with them”- said Kylo Ren and he could imagine the fiery grin she must be having at the moment- ”they must be looking for the girl.”

- ”On my way to the block 8232A”- said Phasma with a delighted tone and showing a wide sadistic smile which she always had subconsciously when a battle approached.

- ”Bring me Solo alive.”- reminded Kyo Ren knowing that once the battle started it was very difficult for Phasma to show restraint and transformed into a bloodthirsty beast.

- ”Roger that!”- said Phasma placing her spear in her back and grabbing her personal blaster to go in the direction Kylo told her.

Kylo Ren felt Han and FN-2187 moving through the base but from time to time he lost the connection with Skywalker. This confused him but he still started to walk in direction of the last place he had sensed his fomer mentor. He would just let the Force guide him since he knew that his fated encounter had to be today.

(...)

StarKiller Planet Orbit - Finalizer Star Destroyer.

Hux saw in delight how the battle progressed and he could not help but grin noticing that it was tilting on his favor. His strategy of divide and conquer was going better than he had expected.

- ”Yes this is how it should be”- he thought feeling his blood boil every time there was an exchange or an skirmish in the screens. He had to admit that controlling so many fronts was extremely difficult and heavy on his mind, but it also gave him a sense of excitement that he could find nowhere else.

- ”Front E suffering massive casualties”- said an officer reporting immediately and waited for orders.

- ”Have the forces retreat to point 132, 564 and resist until reinforcements arrive”- said Hux immediately- ”Tell team JayHax to support!”

- ”Front J has taken the upper hand but the commander thinks it is a trap”- reported another and Hux immediately changed his attention to that specific front.

- ”Tell the commander it's not!”- ordered Hux without a speck of doubt- ”double the attack and crush the enemy with no hesitation!”

- ”Front B, the enemy has been encircled and now trying to breakthrough our forces”- reported another officer- ”enemy has deployed Preybird Starfighters”

Hux immediately looked at the last front the screen ȧssigned to it. This front was the one in which the pirates from Maz Kanata. His strategy had worked and due to the perfect coordination of his forces, he had surrounded the pirate forces and were now being under a barrage of fire from 360° and Hux could see their poor attempt to breakthrough the encirclement by sheer force.

- ”Not bad!”- said Hux and he grinned at their effort since it would not be fun if they just die like that.

- ”Let teams K1, G2, G7 and I8 to let them pass”- ordered Hux- Once they do, concentrate fire on the rear of their battle cruisers. Let see how much their shields last!”

- ”Yes, Sir!”

Even though the pirates were correct in trying to escape the encirclement, their attempt would only expose their rear which was the weakness in most ships of that size since the models would give priority to the front shields. If they were the Mon Calamari Battle cruisers, Hux would not try to do this attack since their battle cruisers had a perfect balance of shield defense all around, but the pirate Battle Cruisers did not share this feature which meant they would suffer a huge damage.

- ”Front C, enemy retreating in zone 904, 555”- reported another officer- ”the commander request permission to chase”

- ”It's a ruse”- said Hux after analyzing the map- ”Cease the chase and join team FlameKirin in the front D to crush the enemy. The retreating forces will return in haste which will give him an opportunity to finish them off!”

- ”Yes, General!”

- ”Front A! Star Destroyer MghtySpear has fallen!”- reported another officer with a worried expression- ”Star Destroyers RedLinux and TrascendingDragon are in critical conditions!”

- ”Keep fighting until the end!”- said Hux with a cold and deatched expression which indicated he did not care for the lives of those ships at all- ”as i thought, Ackbar is the only one who can really give me the pressure and make this bout interesting!”

- ”Front A, Sir, massive losses detected”- reported the same officer- ”They are about to overwhelm us.”

- ”Patience, officer”- said Hux with no worry at all- ”They are exactly where I want them. Call for the bombers and launch a direct attack on the Battle Cruisers.”

The officer hesitated but he still complied. The bombers were deployed and they did damage but they also suffered greatly. The Star Destroyers suffered massive damage and the officers saw Hux with fear. They could only imagine the terrible sight of having the crew of those ships being obliterated but Hux only stood there with a wide grin in his face.

- ”Message incoming from headquarters”- reported an officer- ”the prey has entered the trap!”

- ”Finally!”- said Hux with a fiery glint in his eyes- ”it's time then! Call the reinforcements!”

- ”Yes, Sir!”- said the officer with a sighing with relief and transmitting the message to the teams.

Just when the teams were about to be overwhelmed in many fronts, the Republic and Kanata Forces received multiple transmissions and they were surprised to see a new fleet appearing from behind their lines from hyperspace.

- ”Attack at discretion!”- said Hux and his grin was full of sadism and anticipation- ”destroy the enemy!”

The attack was so fast and merciless that the Republic forces could not react and received extreme damage. The First Order forces which were in front of them also attack and now the Republic forces were in the middle of a pincer attack that had the potential to annihilate them. To make things worse, a new wave of Bombers escorted by TIE fighters appeared in massive numbers and were now going to provoke even more damage.

- ”Massive damage to the enemy in all fronts”

- ”Enemy shields at critical level”

- ”Keep fire at will!”- ordered Hux grinning at this victory- ”and ordered the TIE bombers to turn and prepare another round.”

- ”Yes, Sir!”- said the officer who looked at Hux with great respect and admiration, something that share with the rest of the officers.

- ”What will you do now, Ackbar?”- thought Hux with a sense of expectation for his enemy's next move- ”Don't dissapoint me... I would hate a boring and tasteless victory like this one.

(...)

Han and Finn advanced in stormtrooper armor while having Chewee play the role of prisoner. The security was lacking, probably due to the battle that was ocurring in the space.

- ”What I told you”- said Han with a ċȯċky attitude while advancing in direction to the prison area- ”it never fails.”

- ”Grrrraeeeer”- said Chewee

- ”It only happened twice”- said Han in a very annoyed tone- ”and stop complaining.”

- ”The prison area is around the corner”- said Finn but if we don't have the codes, we won't be able to enter”

- ”Leave that to Luke”- said Han without stopping- ”in case it doesn't work we will just use Chewee to access the area.”

- ”Arrrrrgheeeerr!”

Finn only smiled and kept walking to the prison and once there they use the intercom to ask for access.

- ”FN-4566 and FN-5543 escorting prisoner to cell”- said Finn using numbers of stormtroopers he knew that were alive and in duty.

- ”What?! What happened?”- asked the guard of the prison looking at them with suspicion since the protocol stated that once a prisoner was captured, it had to be informed to all facilities immediately but he had not heard about this at all.

- ”Do we need to repeat the same thing again?”- said Han using a tone that sounded as if he thought the guard was stupid or retarded- ”look, I don't have time for this... we just want to deliver this prisoner that was captured sneaking around the base!”

- ”A prisoner?”- the guard looked at Chewee with a confused expression- ”why didn't you inform about the capture before?”

- ”We did but it looks like many people are not on alert due to the battle”- said Finn under the helmet- ”it's disgraceful... I'm sure Captain Phasma will love to hear about that. Also about you who seems to like wasting time instead of securing the prisoner who could potentially use this time to escape!”

- ”Of course I'm not doing that!”- said the guard who panicked at the mentioned of Phasma's name- ”I'm just wondering why the protocol was not followed!”

- ”We can debate that later!”- said Han who sounded very angry- ”now let's secure this prisoner! Wookie are extremely cunning and I don't want to be crushed under his arms due to not putting him in a prison! Unless you want that...”

- ”Of course not!”

- ”Then open the door and tell us the number of the cell you want us to put him!”- said Han totally exasperated and a second later the door opened and they could see the guard who was looking at them with suspicion.

The guard was in a panel and he was protected by two stormtroopers next to him. There were other two stormtroopers guarding the access to the prison and they approched and checked that Chewee was safely handcuffed.

- ”Good job!”- said the guard with a false smile- ”we will take care from here... you can return to your posts!”

In that moment Han noticed that his intercom was blinking which meant that Luke was trying to communicate with him.

- ”Excellent!”- said Han pretending to go- ”just becareful with him... during the escort he tried to escape three times”

- ”Oh...”- said the guard looking at Chewee with apprehension- ”but he is handcuffed”

- ”Not really...”- said Han and he rose his blaster- ”Now!!”

Immediately Chewee freed his hands and grabbed the two stormtroopers his powerful arms hitting his heads so strongly with each others that the helmets broke and bent by the might of the impact. At the same time Han and Finn pointed their blasters at the stormtroopers that were protecting the Officer and shot them down and Han shot the officer just to be sure he did not sent the alarm. All of this happened in mere seconds and the First Order forces had no chance to retaliate at all.

- ”Hey Luke!”- said Han responding to the call- ”what you've got?”

- ”The safety locks of the prison area and the Shield Generator area are lifted”- said Luke- ”I'll head to the shield generator area so hurry and free Rey. She is in the block 8232A, Cell number 413.”

- ”On our way”- said Han with a wide smile- ”see you there... what did I tell you? I'm sure it was a walk in the park for Luke!”

- ”Let's go for Rey!”- said Finn and he immediately dashed to the door that gave access to the prison and they quickly moved looking to the place where Rey was.

- ”That should be the place”- said Han looking at the corridor that was mark as 8232A- ”let's grab the girl and go to...”

He could not finish his words since they were received by blaster fire and they had to throw themselves behind some supplies boxes.

- ”Cease fire!”- said a voice who was cold and familiar and Finn felt his hands tremble.

- ”Phasma...”- said Finn who started sweating profusely- ”this was a trap...”