CHAPTER 24
THE DREADNOUGHT

THE Raddus was now chock-full of Resistance members since the evacuation of D'Qar. However, their plan, per usual, wouldn't go the way they wanted.

Raena was currently walking down the hall with her new friend, Indira, who she had gotten to know over the past few days. Her droid, EV-1, beeped along their walk. Indira was presently making fun of Commander Kylo Ren, saying that his face must have been messed up for him to wear his helmet all the time. Raena did indeed laugh along, even though she knew the truth. She chuckled through gritted teeth, hiding a small part of herself cringing on the inside. EV-1 released a joke of subtle beeps, to which the two girls laughed.

"You knew him well, right?" Indira asked, her dark boots scuffing against the clean floors. "Did you ever see his face?"

Raena swallowed hard. "Uh – yes. Yeah, I did."

"Was he ugly?"

Raena looked away as her eyes went wide. She found that her hands were becoming sweaty. "Well –"

"INDIRA!"

Both women turned at the name, only to see Resistance pilot, Poe Dameron, barreling towards them. His running speed was impeccable, and he sprinted towards them as if he was traveling through hyperspace. Poe breathed heavily once he reached Indira, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Is my engine repaired?" He asked.

"Yeah," Indira nodded, "I repaired it yesterday, remember? You were there?" Evie agreed with a string of beeps.

Poe bobbed his head quickly. "Yeah, yeah. You're right. Okay." He was running away from them again, almost tripping over his own feet.

"What's going on, Poe?!" Raena called out with her arms lifted.

"The First Order's fleets have found us after the evacuation! We're still waiting on retrieving one last evacuated ship!" Poe exclaimed, spinning on his heel to stare at the surprised expression on the females' faces. "So, uh – yeah, we need to go."

The madness in Raena's brain immediately clicked on, like a light switch. Poe ran for the hanger that held his ship, but now Raena was sprinting to the main control center of the Raddus. Indira was calling her name, "RAENA! RAENA!" She sighed loudly, dashing after her friend with her droid following in the air. "WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!"

"I HAVE TO SEE THE GENERAL!" Raena said as she ran. She shoved her way through a load of Resistance pilots that were in her way. Her breath came out heavy. She skidded to a stop in front of the control room, and the doors immediately opened for her. Indira slowed behind Raena, approaching Leia Organa's control center with ease.

Leia turned at the doors opening, and she eyed Raena for a long moment. She knew why she was here. She saw the answer in Raena's vision. She saw the hidden hatred and depth. She practically saw her son's death through Raena's eyes, which would be committed by the assassin herself. What she saw scared her, and this was a side of Raena Nhagy that she never liked to see.

"No," Leia dismissed before Raena could say anything.

Raena's mouth opened slightly. "You don't even know what I was going to ask."

"I do," the general quipped. "You're not going out there."

"Yeah," Indira agreed suddenly, "you shouldn't go out there."

Raena huffed. "I can fly just as well as any," she argued. "I'll attack their ship from head on and sneak inside. They won't see me coming. Just let me fly a ship. Please."

Leia turned and walked to Raena through the room of bustling Resistance workers. She put her hands on the assassin's shoulders and looked at her with kindness in her eyes. "You are a valued asset to me, Raena Nhagy. I need you here. You know the First Order better than anyone here, and for those reasons, I need you here and alive. You going on their ship is not part of our plan."

"Funny," Raena replied as the general strode away, "that's something General Hux would have said to me."

Leia looked at her from over her shoulder. "You stay here, Raena. Right here, in this room, beside me."

Raena ran a hand through her hair as Indira turned to her friend. "I'll be back. Just gotta check the pilots in the hanger." Raena watched her sprint offwards and out of the control room with her droid. The assassin swore under her breath before approaching Leia in front of the wired board of the Raddus.

A holographic form of the Supremacy appeared before them, and Raena's eyes narrowed at the layout. They seemed to have armored their new ship in better ways than Starkiller Base. She couldn't blame them. Poe Dameron's own X Wing appeared in front of the Superemacy, and so did his voice above the intercom: "C'mon, BB-8, work with me here."

"Just for the record, Commander Dameron," Leia grinned into her com, "I'm with the droid on this one."

"Thank you for your support, General," Poe replied sarcastically.

Raena cocked her head to the side at the holographic image before them. "Is he trying to distract him?"

They watched his X Wing suddenly shoot towards the Supremacy, leaving Leia riddled with anxiety. "You bet," she muttered softly. Raena ran towards the window beside her, and she pressed her face against the glass. She saw the Supremacy blasting at Poe from all sides, but he kept barreling through them. He wasn't trying to penetrate the armor. He was trying to distract the surface canons. They were going to drop a load of bombs on them.

Once the answer hit Raena, she sighed, wishing she were out there. She wasn't the best pilot, yes – but she at least knew how to fly. She wanted to do more than train on this ship. Raena frequently helped the Resistance with questions about the First Order, and issues concerning their main base and ships. But she hadn't been on a mission in so long. She wanted to be heard. She wanted them to know she was alive. Although, on the inside, she couldn't ignore her fear.

The last ship from D'Qar was evacuated onto the Raddus. Poe's X Wing had successfully distracted the First Order to retrieve Resistance Members back. Leia released a breath of relief. "You did it, Poe," she thanked. "Now get your squadron back here so we can get out of this place."

Poe's booming voice rang through the speakers: "NO, GENERAL! WE CAN DO THIS!"

Raena turned to General Organa, who was staring at her with wide eyes. "He's going to try to destroy the dreadnought."

"Like hell he is," Leia scoffed before turning to her com. "Disengage now, Commander. That is an order!" She got no answer, and instead, she looked to C-3PO standing to her left. "Wipe that nervous expression off your face."

C-3PO went stiff for a moment. "Oh, well. I can certainly try to!"

Raena bit her lip as she watched the squadron of X Wings get blasted into space. One by one, each ship seemed to be floating away from them, their pilots dying at the wheel. Raena kept a close watch on Poe's ship with the droid, BB-8. His squadron were falling away, even the bomber ships. They were all dying. There was only so little left.

Raena was then biting her nails. Where was Indira? Probably helping some poor pilot's ship start.

Finally, one bomber reached the dreadnought. The bombs were dropped at the last second, just as time was running out. Hundreds upon hundreds of bombs loaded the dreadnought, exploding into thin air. It was a light show before Raena's eyes. Many Resistance pilots were lost, but the control room of the Raddus erupted in applause.

Raena saw Leia shaking her head from her seat. She approached the general with a sigh, and hesitantly placed her hand on Leia's shoulder. "How many were lost?" She asked softly, though Leia could still hear it above the screams of joy around them.

"Six ships," Leia replied. The tablet before her showed the X Wings and bombers lost in red, while only a few remained in blue. Leia felt her heart sink at the losses. She needed a miracle. She needed Luke's help, but it wasn't like he would come to her aid. He was off, somewhere unknown. Luke was what she needed in these days with Han, but she had neither of them.

"Don't worry, General," Raena whispered. Her eyes found the hologram of the Supremacy again, and Leia viewed at the assassin. "I'll kill all of them."

•••

A/N: Fillers are the bane of my existence