"Great leaders inspire greatness in others."

The inside of a stormtrooper's helmet would seem stuffy and cramped. . .but to a trooper, trained and ordered their entire life to become what their superiors expected them to be, it's the roomiest and most familiar place they knew. It was a safe haven away from all of the pressures, anxieties, and horrors of being a soldier. It was a way for the men and women who were encased inside these helmets to communicate with one another freely, battle with enhanced vision with the HUD system that was constantly feeding them data about the field and the enemy, but it was also a way for The First Order's main line of communications to its soldiers. Like the Queen communicating with her hive.

So when a red flashing alert came within view of thousands of right eyes, it caught the armies attention. Suddenly, their highly esteemed Lieutenant Peavey was speaking to each and every one the troopers clad in white. Some were running to their barracks to see if their partners were still there, some were working in the control room not far from the main bridge and some were polishing their weapons when their schedules finally rotated and gave them the off time they felt they deserved. But they all skipped a step when they received the same heart-stopping news.

"A direct alert from Supreme Leader Snoke. our General  has been captured by the Resistance! Our Commander has betrayed us, the order is to kill on sight. All currently ready deployments are being sent to the grounds of Crait within the hour. We must act with haste to defend our leaders. For the Supreme Leader!"

Suddenly the First Order ships were ablaze with militant spirit yet confusion. What could they mean by the commander was a traitor?  How? Yet those questions didn't matter now, and the troopers that were moving fast began to move faster. The Resistance would be no more, in their eyes, this was it. They will finally crush the Resistance with one crucial stroke, one last war to end all wars. For the Order.

"They're coming!" A Resistance crew member, sitting at a nearby holo-projector, yelled over his shoulder as multiple, larger objects bore through the TIE-fighters barricade to come closer to the ground.

"They're deploying trooper escorts!" Yelled one man.

"General, what do we do?" Asked another as he sat near Leia's standing position surrounded by ancient Rebellion, blue holo-maps, and data that flew about in front of her eyes.

Finn, Rose, Rey, and Ben stood stoically to her side and discussed the matter at hand.

Finn brought his right hand to his chin, his eyes darting about their boots while trying to think of a way out of this base without being caught.

"They wouldn't deploy trooper escort ships without having a plan. The First Order always has a plan." He thought aloud.

"He's right," Ben stepped forward gesturing to Finn, "they must know a way to get through the blast door if they're sending an invasion squad."

Finn scowled in his direction but kept his gaze on the floor knowing now wasn't time to complain about his present company. They all had to work together as a team for them and the Resistance to get out alive.

"What could that plan possibly be? We're sealed in airtight!" Rose exclaimed.

"Not exactly. . ." Rey's eyes swept in Ben and Finn's direction, "Isn't their tunnels that intersect about a hundred meters outside of the base?" Rey asked, remembering studying the bases innards on multiple maps for hours after she arrived. Finn's eyebrows furrowed in thought while Ben's eyes tried their hardest not to roll back into his head at her question, how could he possibly know?

Leia turned in her direction with a curious expression, "the mining  tunnels? Yes, but they're ceiled off from the outside, not unless someone opens them from the main hanger."

"Well, no problems then!" Finn said, "now there's no other way in right?"

They kept on quarreling, scrambling for a clue as the obvious slipped through their fingers like water. Ben turned away from them, unnoticed, and peered through the large viewing screen behind them. Several officers were doing the same as the trooper escort ships landed gracefully in a cloud of white salt as special operatives, heavys, and flame troopers exited its belly to quickly deploy across Crait's ground. Ben's eyes followed each group as they left crimson steps in their wake. 'They're not even heading towards the main door. . .' He thought.

"Leia-" Ben began to say before a sudden alarm ripped through the facility, red lights blared from room to room to initiate the opening of something.

"No way. . ." Finn walked up to his side to see what Ben was looking at.

Clicks out, it was as if a great mouth was opening slowly to reveal the blood-red insides of the planet. It was a long rectangular strip going on for about a mile, passed each massive metal station that patterned down the line. By twos and threes, troopers hopped into the crevasse that was opened for them. Everyone watched in a horrific silence as the last stormtrooper disappeared within the planet's surface.

Moments passed. Everyone simply blinked at the viewport, mouths open in shock, as the alarm continued to blare but no one paid any notice.

"Set up a blockade in the tunnels under the base! Quickly!" Leia shouted the order, snapping everyone out of their daze. People were everywhere, pushing and shoving shoulders, yelling and barking orders as many did in this situation. Ben felt as if he were floating, the lightweight feeling you get in your stomach as your looking down a steep valley or going over a steep hill. It made him feel sick. There was no possible way they were going to win against a fully equipped army, they were children fighting with wooden sticks against thermal detonators.

"How the hell did they get the tunnels to open!" Rose yelled at no one in particular but it was a question on everyone lips and she couldn't have asked it more perfectly.

"General!" Officer Wyomi ran up to General Leia, almost skidding to a stop, "there's been a breach in the lower detainment cells!"

"Hux!" Finn and Ben exclaimed in unison, eyes wide. Ben snarled as he clenched his fists at his side trying not to destroy the nearest data-pad.

"How could he possibly know how to open those tunnels?" Asked Rey, a passive, determined look gracing her face. She seemed so calm in all this but inside she was terrified.

"Believe it or not he's resourceful," Ben replied gruffly, "it doesn't take him long to adapt to his situation." He turned to Leia who peered up at him in an unknown expression, "wheres my lightsaber?" Ben demanded, quietly, not in an offensive way but more urgent and fearful.

Leia blinked slowly, her eyes downcast as she sheepishly withdrew a layer of her robes to reveal the copper and black, crossguard hilt that was clipped to her waist belt. He worked his jaw, she held his lightsaber so close to her when she simply could have locked it away. The same weapon that was used to murder her husband but yet the same weapon that she knew her young son built many years ago, just as he was a boy and was corrupted as he became a man, the lightsaber he built when he was young was turned into a something unstable and unbalanced. In a sick and twisted way, she felt like Han was with her while she held it.

Ben watched silently as Leia unclipped the saber hilt with a gentle hand and a careful eye. She placed it in his outstretched hands. He could feel the eyes of many watching them during this transfer of trust, many fearful eyes.

"Is this really the best idea we can come up with?" Finn asked skeptically behind him, eyeing up the very saber that sent him into that hideous bacta-suit.

"Rey and I will take out the first wave of troopers and keep them at bay for as long as possible," explained Ben as he turned to face them. He rubbed his fingers across the hilt, squeezing the metal enjoying its familiarity, he smirked down at it.

"We're not running away!" Rose complained.

"Did I say you had to?" He asked, arching a dark brow, "we're going to need some assistance," he said smoothly.

"How do we get the Order to leave Crait? They wouldn't do that while they still have the upper hand. . ." Finn exclaimed sourly.

"Then let's take away their leverage," Rose told him with a wicked smile on her face.

"While we're on the inside, Poe can be air support with the Falcon to take out those TIEs." Rey nodded to herself as thoughts kept snowballing too quickly for her to grasp and analyze. Eighteen years scavenging in the desert didn't really properly equip her for this general warfare kind of lifestyle.

"FN-2187 and," Ben craned his neck to look down at Rose, "you will meet us down by the hanger where the tunnels let out." Taking an apprehensive step back from him, she nodded. Her mouth dropped open slightly as her gaze slipped down to his waist at the cross-guard saber hilt. Her mental gears were turning and made the connections quickly and recalling things she's heard of him, the actual risk they were taking trusting him. Rose and Paige used to sit and have talks, sometimes about random things but other times they talked of the men and women that they used to see walking down the halls with them but then suddenly weren't there anymore. Killed in the line of duty, sometimes by troopers and sometimes by a man cloaked in black with blood red, sabers that cross at the hilt.

"General, the First Order has encountered our barricades!" Another officer yelled in Leia's direction from where he sat at his data-pad.

"Let's put this plan into action!" Said Rose, a little too enthusiastically while clapping her hands together once to finalize the deal.

"This is hardly a plan. . ." Finn stated while Rey began to walk past him after Ben had almost reached the door. Quickly he grabbed her wrist, Finn's eyes displayed a deep sadness that Rey would forever remember.

"Be safe," was all he had to say because he knew there was nothing he could do to change her mind. After she passed him a knowing smile he let her go, but not before narrowing his eyes at Ben who stood tall in the doorway. Ben was staring passed Finn to look at his mother, her eyes displayed a look of sadness as well but it wasn't the same. A small grin tugged at the side of her mouth before she waved him goodbye. Without having to speak she told him;

'I'm alright, and you will be too.'

•••

Alarms continued to blare in every direction, red lights rotated and flashed almost blindingly. Rey felt sick, her nose burned and her stomach clenched causing her to be slightly dizzy. She never felt like this before, all the other fights she's had to endure recently had never had this effect. Probably because she had more people that she knew she had to protect, she knew if she failed to do that, she'd feel responsible if they didn't make it. Rey gulped down what felt like a knot down her throat, tapping her foot rapidly against the floor. She was about to slam her fist against the door before Ben's chest was suddenly in front her before she looked up at his face.

"What took so long?" She asked.

"It's a lot of layering," Ben explained briefly while tugging at his gloves before striding past her in his old black garb. She was slightly startled for a moment before urgently continuing after him.

"Why did you have to change back again?"

"There's armor fibers laced within the fabric, it helps. . .sometimes," he concluded, not slowing his pace.

Rey's eyes instinctively went to his lower abdomen where she was positive the scar still remained from Chewie's bowcaster.

'Where is Chewie?' She wondered as she kept her gaze on the black heel of Ben's boots. His essence was always polluted in the force but now it felt strangely different, she felt an element of fear clouding his senses. As if he knew something was going to go terribly wrong but attempted to shove the thought away with the assurance that they would come out victorious. But after all, this was over. . . What would happen to Ben? Maybe that's what he was worried about, it's not exactly easy to come back to a more peaceful way of life when you've hurt so many people you'd be working with. It's not like he would be able to go up to the intercom and announce his newfound love of humanity and his attitude on life was so much more admirable than ever. Rey internally scoffed at the thought, maybe she could help him.

Coming around the corner into the hanger, the ba-dap sounds of blasters being fired and the smell of exhaust hit them like a cement wall. The lights have been blasted out, darkness shrouded the massive room. Glass, rubble, and footprints littered the floor as they approached the rendezvous point where they said they'd meet Finn and Rose. The sound of TIE fighters could still faintly be heard, Rey's eyes darted about in the darkness trying to make out the ships and the layout she'd seen when the lights were on so she wouldn't fall. It reminded her of when she was in Ben's mind, that dark and cold corridor she traveled into the past with. Yet when she looked to her right, the tall dark figure was with her as he led the way towards the tunnel.

"Ben, what about Finn and Rose?" Rey asked as he took one foot down a step into the mouth of the passageway.

"They're not here, forget them." He said as he turned away.

"Ben-" she was about to argue before trotting steps came sliding up to them. The sounds of their breaths were loud and puffed as Finn leaned over putting his hands on his knees for a moment to calm his heart from beating out of his chest.

"Sorry- we. . ." He began but Rose butted in and finished it for him, "we ran into some trouble but were ready." She said and wiped at something on her forehead, causing a streak of red to spread across her face. A bloody cut could be seen if Rey squinted hard enough through the dim light.

A scream could be heard as well as a barreling yodel from no doubt Chewbacca himself down in the tunnel.

"We have to go," Said Ben as he stomped down the stairwell, once again taking the lead.

•••

The bright, shimmering white light of day cast itself in beams that bent and slithered in tendrils around the bend of the last hallway. Rey's chest tightened as the horrid sounds of war grew louder by each crunching step of her boots. Even though the world outside was loud, everyone within that passageway was quiet as death itself. Each one of them held their breaths, and each one of them had something separate than the other to fear.

Rose, who had sunken to nearly the back of the group's marching line, splayed out a delicate, pale hand across the smooth marble sandstone walls that were built up around them. She kept it there, dragging along as she made her way with the others. She could feel the build-up of fine scarlet dust that was collecting in small hills behind the tips of her fingers, as well she could also feel a layer of the same dust that floated in the air matting itself as a coat resting on her skin. Her gaze flickered from one person to the next, attempting to guess what each of them was thinking. When her gaze finally landed on Finn she smiled, knowing full well that he knew he had a place in this war, he knew what he was fighting for. He was no longer running away from the fight but running to it. Rey had scooted past Finn to help take up the lead next to Kylo Ren as they reached the mouth of the exit, he looked so large it took up most of the doorway, almost as if he wouldn't fit through.

Rey had a sense of weariness about her, she swallowed hard and wiped the sweat from her forehead. Even though the air was cool, her nerves buzzed to the boiling point, the red-tinted dust turning her skin slightly pink. The white light at the end of the tunnel now basked them in its glow, the sun high and mighty in the sky. The concussion of grenades and the haunting sound of back and forth blaster fire rung throughout the salt plains. Ben hiked up the exploded rubble first, surprising Rey once she saw his black-gloved hand reach back in to assist her. Hesitantly, she took it and disappeared into the light. Then the next two came, Finn and Rose exited through the jagged rocks and into the wide open space of Crait. Off in the distance, there were salt platueas that rose and swooped across the horizon in an almost beautiful way. The sun showed so bright and reflected across the salt that they had to shield there eyes momentarily due to the terrible stinging.

A deaf silence brewed over them, but unfortunately, all good things must quickly come to an end. Red blaster fire rained down upon them from a TIE-fighter that curled through the air, cracking the ground beneath their boots with a loud resounding crunch as red crystals flurried up around their faces. The explosion resembled too closely to blood for Finn's liking. Quickly, grabbing Rose by the collar of her flight suit, he threw them both out of the way just in time as the blast struck the ground. Time slowed before both let out an oomph as their landing didn't end as well as Finn was hoping. Specks of salt getting tossed into their eyes, sending jolts of pain shooting across their faces.

Along with them, Rey had performed a sloppy duck and roll in the opposite direction. Attempting to quickly clear her dizzy vision she caught sight of Ben heaving on his hands and knees mere steps away from her. Red salt coated his skin, so much that she had to do a double take to make sure it wasn't blood. Getting to her feet she tried to control her breathing, closing her eyes while tapping back into the Force. She felt the planet beneath her feet tremble and quake in anguish from the trespassers upon its red soil, she felt death and decay boiling up all around her, the men and women fighting against each side feeling as if each of them were in the right. A thousand vendettas pitched against each other.

Opening her eyes once more she felt somehow even more anxious then before, all of this hate had muddied up the Force waters to which they were no longer a safe place to reside but now another hellish reality. Yes, Rey was scared. Her gut knotted. She found herself worrying in that flash-frame, end-of-life way about whether she would ever find about what really happened to her parents, who would win this battle in the very end, and if she would be buried or left to rot.

Everyone should face this, just once, just to know what matters.

Rey's vision blurred momentarily as she rapidly traversed the debris of the blaster fire to help Finn and Rose compose themselves before making her way back over to Ben, who had already done so. She watched as his throat bobbed nervously but the determination in his dark eyes was unmistakable. They were dark pits of swirling amber and sorrel hues that glinted white in the harsh reflections of the sun, like black holes in the vast expanse of space, they held a certain power that was unlike Rey had ever seen.

"C'mon!" Finn yelled over the wind, "let's keep moving!" Everyone agreed silently or with a nod of approval before starting the trek. Soon, Rey found herself attempting to stifle a smile after what she heard a familiar sound soaring above them. TIE-Fighters began diminishing left and right as Poe flew across the skies, piloting the Millennium Falcon as planned, taking out enemy ships one by one. Finn pumped his fist in the air, as did Rose at the sight of the legendary ship flown by one of the best pilot known to the Resistance. This was the definition of hope.

Other soldiers and crew members ran passed them, exiting the mines with ease as they clutched heavy, clunky blasters to there chests with a readiness of any war hero. A volley of cannon fire ripped in a sheet above their heads. The crowd of Resistance soldiers ahead of her parted like grain, everyone diving for any possible cover behind debris or broken skimspeeders, and then they returned fire.

Rose stood, just standing there, 'idiot, idiot, idiot'- could see bodies flat on the salt plains, picked out by the flaring light of weapons fire. She could vaguely make out the stark, rectangular outline in the glint of the harsh sun of extra riot scoops and heavy artillery troopers. They all were rushing at them. The darkness and relative quiet seconds before had erupted into a white-hot light and the deafening bdapp-bdapp-bdapp of blasterfire, and the air tasted instantly of discharge blaster and scorched hair. The sharp smell of the salts also sharply stinging at their noses and eyes, the terrain was definitely not in their favor. And here Rose was, standing in the middle of the white field, wondering why everything was taking so long.

Quickly snapping out of it as Finn's boots crunched ahead of hers, dodging fire after fire, as he simply returned the enemy fire, shooting in the general vicinity of the beams and rolled to one side towards Rey. Or maybe he fell, she didn't know due to the winds drying out her eyes, causing her arm to shield them momentarily. You can't cover your eyes in the middle of a battle! Her mind screamed as fresh tears rolled down her pink cheeks, she watched her team fight from a distance.

Rey wasn't exactly sure when she and Ben ignited their sabers but it was long after she had when she finally realized what was happening. Her body was moving fluidly left and right, cutting down troopers. She was moving on pure adrenaline and sheer survival instincts. Her movements seemed utterly graceful, yet Ben's were more like an angry animal that was just freed from its prison, roaring and lashing out at any attackers. Rey would glance at him every few deflecting swipes with her saber to check if he needed any assistance but he seemed fully capable, taking on three heavy artillery troopers at a time while she worked in only ones and twos at the most. Rey was almost mesmerized by his lack of full reliability on his lightsaber, he arched his spitting scarlet saber up into the helmet of his next attacker but as another came from behind he altered his footing to get a better range, winding up his arm to launch his fist out at them. Sending a resounding smash through the air as the trooper fell back unconscious and with a broken visor. Rey wondered if that was something Snoke had taught him because it definitely wasn't Luke. Maybe that was just Ben Solo.

Suddenly she felt her elbow crack on the ground, and the pain seared through her body right to the roots of her teeth. A First Order trooper advanced on above her before suddenly someone grabbed her shoulders roughly and pulled her away. Rey looked up, surprised to see Finn standing above her adorning a terrifying snarl, showing off his white teeth against his dark skin. He let out a war cry before throwing all of his weight into the soldier clad in white before launching the bed of his blaster across his helmeted-head.

All of this was happening too fast for everyone to comprehend all at once. This was a battle, they're not only fighting for their own lives but for the lives of millions that also wanted to rid The First order reign over the galaxy.

"May the Force be with us. . ." Rey breathily whispered before jumping back up to rejoin the fight.

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A/N

I am expecting about 2 more chapters and the story should be about wrapped up. Lot of stuff is about to happen I'm excited to get back at writing! :) Please lemme know what you all think! <3 Thanks!