Chapter Twenty Three: Downfall
In which the Battle of Yavin ends.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: Well, this is nearly the end. It's been a fun ride, really. I'm going to miss this. Also, really liked this chapter. I really think it wrapped up the Battle of Yavin nicely.
People had their various reasons for joining the Rebellion. It could be anything, for glory, for the sake of idealism, for the sake of doing what was right, but if one was to ask why Garvin Dreis joined the Rebellion, it could be summed up in four words: the Siege of Virujansi. Garvin Dreis had been marginally aware of how ruthless the Empire could truly be, but it was another thing to see it truly in action. To see the Imperial Navy and the Imperial stormtroopers shooting down innocent civilians, raining down fire on innocent towns, on people who hadn’t done anything, all for no reason at all…the Empire probably thought that it would keep the people in line. But it didn’t.
Instead, it had started a revolution. People who hadn’t damn thought of starting a rebellion rising up if only to fight back. The Empire would probably be baffled at why they were fighting back, but when they were in people’s homes or burning their homes and killing civilians, were they damn surprised that people were going to up and fight back? Because they would. And Garvin Dreis knew that no matter what happened, he wasn’t going to let down his men. The people of Rogue Squadron. People who, though they came from all sorts of different backgrounds and experiences, were good men and women willing to do whatever possible if only to fight back against the Empire. To make a better galaxy. A galaxy where others didn’t have to live in fear of being hunted, arrested, tortured, or killed, or having their loved ones suffer the same fate.
The Empire didn’t learn, did they? After Virujansi, there was Despayre, and now there was Alderaan. After all this time, they hadn’t realized, they simply, honestly, hadn’t realized that when you attempted to rule through fear, the people wouldn’t bow. They weren’t meant for that. They weren’t meant to bow or break.
In the face of injustice and horrific cruelty, what else were they made for if not to fight back?
It was then, looking into the targeting computer, that Garvin Dreis, Red Leader, took a deep breath and prepared his shot. Don’t fail me now, computer.
And he fired. Over his headset, he heard Red Nine’s, “It’s away!” and, as it impacted, “It’s a hit!” But Red Nine was wrong. There was nothing. Nothing but at least minor explosions, hardly the larger one that they were aiming for. For all intents and purposes, he had been so close and yet he missed.
He rubbed his head. “Negative, negative. It didn’t go in. It just impacted on the surface.”
Red Five’s voice came over his headset, a sort of crisp, calm voice; for all intents and purposes, Red Leader thought, she wouldn’t make a shabby leader herself. A lot like her dad, long ago. “Red Leader, we’re right above you. Turn to point oh-five; we’ll cover for you.”
A bit too much like her dad. Red Leader smiled if only a bit before snapping back into professional leader mode. “Stay there, Red Five. I think I lost my starboard engine. Get ready to make your attack run.”
It was then that he felt the laser fire hit his ship. For all he attempted to maneuver away if only as best he could, he couldn’t dodge the laser fire forever. There was then a wall of light flashing in front of his eyes, and then there was nothing at all.
***
“He’s gone.” Even hearing Biggs’ voice over her headset, the usually cheerful young pilot sounded almost shaken. “He…he’s gone.”
I know, Mara wanted to say. I know. She tried if only to keep her breathing steady, and yet at the same time, she couldn’t. Red Leader, their leader, gone in pretty much an instant, just killed so very quickly…
She took a deep breath. “Just stay on target,” she said, “Just like he would have wanted. Let’s close it in. We’re going in full throttle.”
Wedge’s voice came over her headset in that moment. “Right with you, boss.”
Mara looked if only briefly towards the wreckage of space where Red Leader’s X-wing now floated. Her throat clenched. How old had he been? In his forties, really. He had died if only saving them, and yet she doubted there was ever more of a series of pointless deaths as there were in that battle.
“We’re going to make you proud,” she said, if only to the vastness of space where Red Leader’s X-wing now floated. “I promise you.”
There’s no time for grief. Put these feelings aside and attack the Death Star. Terminus’ voice was steady in that moment. Switch off your targeting computer.
“Are you completely insane?” Mara shook her head. “I can’t just do that…”
Trust your feelings. Red Leader failed to reach the exhaust port because he relied too much on the targeting computer. Reach out through the Force. Can you feel anything?
Mara reached out in that moment. Around her, there were the TIE fighters, clustering behind them. There was one of them, reaching out if only to fire at Biggs. Mara turned around, reaching through the Force even as she fired on the TIE fighter.
The TIE fighter burst into flames. Mara could practically feel it vibrating through the Force, the sudden shock that this happened. And even looking upon where the TIE fighter used to be, Mara doubted that she had ever felt more uncertain, or more afraid. This…this is what it’s like to die. All these people who had perished in this battle in that moment, never thinking that death would come for them. Never thinking that death would claim them. Death claimed them when they were most unprepared. Some had escaped death in the nick of time, but not all of them. And to die…
Mara squeezed her eyes shut. Even, “Good shooting, Red Five!” from Biggs was enough to make her smile, but there was sadness in it. This was death. This was what it was like to fight in this war. There was nothing about it that was glamorous or beautiful. There was nothing about it that was glorious. They were just doing this to defend others who couldn’t so much as defend themselves.
And to defend her friends. Those that were still left, at least.
Do not despair. Padme’s voice now echoed in her mind. Only remember, Mara; there is no death, there is the Force.
And there was something about that that was enough to calm Mara if only slightly. She couldn’t say that she was entirely happy with it - she could still remember all too well the screams of the dying in her head, the screams of Alderaan, the screams of the fighters who had died in that moment - and yet there was something about it that was enough to give her some comfort.
And yet…
“They died, Padme,” she said. “They all died. They just…burned like that. There wasn’t even any meaning behind it. There wasn’t any reason to it.”
Silence. I know, Padme said, and there was sadness in her voice, the sort of sadness as if she was saying that she knew this all too well. I too have experienced the horrors of such a war. People, good, wonderful people and horrible, near-irredeemable people and everyone in between those extremes, dying senselessly and needlessly. But death isn’t all there is. They are with the Force, and the Force will protect them.
Mara supposed that was right. After all, if the Force bound all living things, who said that it could not protect the dead as well? At least in a way. She took a deep breath.
Fight for the living and the dead as well. Keep going. It’s what Red Leader would have wanted. Padme’s voice was gentle, but also commanding. It’s your duty, Mara. Keep going.
Mara took a deep breath in that moment and dove towards the Death Star. Over her headset, she heard Biggs’ voice. “Mara, at that speed are you sure that you’ll be able to pull out in time?”
“Why not?” Mara said. “It’ll be just like Beggar’s Canyon back home.”
A faint laugh came from Biggs. “Yeah,” he said. “It definitely will.”
***
Terminus had spoken much about this presence that he had felt back on Tatooine, the presence that he had become all but obsessed with finding, but Ventress hadn’t expected to feel the girl’s strength for herself. In many ways, in a lot of ways, actually, he was very much right. She was strong for her age. Foolish, yes, reckless, yes, woefully sentimental like her father - no matter how he had tried to hide it - but nonetheless, strong. Even as she chased the girl through the trench, even as she fought against the towers, even as her astromech seemed to struggle to repair the X-wing where Ventress’ previous blasts had hit it, Ventress felt, almost in spite of herself, a strange sort of admiration for the girl. She was foolish, yes, but there was no denying that she had skill.
She reached through the Force now, aiming towards the X-wing on the girl’s left side. If she could at least find a way to isolate the young Force user, Mara Lars, if only to get to her, then this would be all too easy.
It reminded her too well of fighting back in the wars. Fighting for her master, fighting against the Jedi, if only to exterminate them, if only to bring their arrogance, their corruption, their cruelty, to an end. Fighting alongside Vader, before he had turned, and even, she thought, beside Terminus. She could only hope that Vader and Terminus had managed to escape the moon below. But then again, Ventress thought, they had always been stupidly noble. They wouldn’t run so easily. And there was something about it that only made Ventress angrier. Angry at Tarkin, angry at the Emperor for commissioning this Death Star. But mostly angry at Tarkin. He didn’t care how many civilians he killed, he didn’t care if even his own troops - in this case, Vader and Terminus - were on the moon below. He was going to destroy the Rebel base. He had gone mad. He cared nothing as long as the Rebellion was destroyed.
And that…that, Ventress knew, would be his downfall.
***
“Red Five, Red Three…I’m sorry.” Wedge’s voice sounded so very faint even to Mara’s ears. “I’m going to have to pull out. I can’t stay with you.”
“It’s fine,” Mara said. “Get as clear as you can.”
And even as Wedge headed off, Mara heard Biggs’ voice. “You’ve got to hurry. They’re closing in on me. I don’t know how long I can hold them.”
Mara swallowed. “I’m on my way. Artoo, try and increase the power!”
And in the back of the X-wing, Artoo beeped frantically even as he tried to increase the power. Mara headed now towards Biggs, where the two TIE fighters had now converged on him in that moment. She took a deep breath, reaching through the Force again even as she aimed at the TIE fighter that was about to fire on Biggs -
-- and it was in that moment that she was too late. Biggs’ ship was hit. It was already smoking badly.
“I’m going to have to pull out for a bit,” Biggs said. “I’m sorry, Mara.”
Mara swallowed. It looked, she thought, as if she was on her own now. “Do what you’ve got to do, Biggs. Just trust me on this.”
Biggs retreated, and it was in that moment that Mara turned towards the trenches. “All right,” she said. “Looks like it’s just you and me now.”
She switched off the targeting computer. She would have to go by instinct, at least in that moment. In the Force, she could practically feel the TIE fighter pilot’s relish even as she was about to pull the trigger. The sort of hatred and coldness and rage that was enough to scare her. She doubted that anyone, any living being, could damn have such hatred in them.
She took a deep breath, reaching through the Force; it was over the headset that she heard Dodonna’s voice. “Red Five - you seem to have switched off the targeting computer. Is there something wrong?”
“I’m all right,” Mara said. “I’m just making my run.”
And she started towards the exhaust port in that moment, reaching through the Force, looking if only to search for the weakest point of the Death Star. She could hear Artoo’s frantic beeping, and she steered her X-wing out of the way of the TIE pilot’s blasts just in time, not looking back. She couldn’t afford to look back, not when the mission was at stake.
Through the Force, she could feel the TIE pilot’s increasing frustration. Their rage. Even as they continued to fire at Mara, managing to miss in time even as Mara anticipated their blasts, Mara knew that she couldn’t damn evade the TIE pilot’s fire forever. And the TIE pilot was getting slightly more accurate. Her fighter was already suffering some damage -
-- and it was then that she felt something. The TIE pilot - the fighter, in the Force, seemed to have trembled. Mara looked up from her X-wing, only to start laughing if only in relief. Han was back. The Millennium Falcon, practically hovering up in the sky - and through the Force, she could feel Han’s absolute glee. This was the sort of thing that he was made for. This was what he had been waiting for.
The TIE pilot, on the other hand, seemed to only get angrier. They began blasting furiously at Mara again, Mara managing to dodge in time, only for a sudden explosion to wrack their fighter, leaving them tumbling off into space.
Over her headset, Mara heard Han’s voice. “Sorry I’m late, kiddo; it was kind of a long road back here.”
“It’s all right.” Mara laughed. “Honestly, I can’t believe you’re back.”
“You’d better believe it. Let’s blow this thing and go home.”
It was then that Mara reached through the Force again, towards the Death Star, towards the exhaust port. She could still feel the people still inside, running towards the hangar, making their escape, and some who stayed behind. Tarkin, for example. And the gunner, trying to buy enough time.
And it was then that Mara felt it in him. He had been the one who had pulled the trigger. And yet there was no relish in him. If nothing else, Mara found only guilt. A sort of horrifying, ravaging guilt that seemed to be slowly killing him.
She didn’t want to kill him. After all, he had done nothing wrong but simply pull the trigger, if only on Tarkin’s orders. And yet what other choice did she have? The Death Star was about to fire on the moon below. She reached into his mind now, trying to offer whatever comfort she could. She was far from good at this, but if she could almost communicate with Terminus over this link, why not now?
It’s all right. You’re going to be all right. None of this was your fault.
She reached into the Force now, pushed the button in that moment.
I forgive you.
And the Death Star exploded. Even in her mind, Mara could feel it, a whole wall of fire and flame and explosions, those aboard either screaming, furious or frightened, unable to comprehend what was truly happening, or quietly accepting their fate. Tarkin seemed to be almost in shock in that moment - and yet somehow, Mara thought, even though feeling Tarkin’s shock that his superweapon had ultimately failed was more than a deserved thing for the Grand Moff, she almost didn’t feel satisfied. Not for the deaths aboard that superweapon. After all, it wasn’t necessarily about death. If there was a way to avoid another murder, she would do it gladly.
But she had at least managed to give the Empire hell, as she should have. She had saved those on Yavin IV from suffering a terrible fate. And that, combined with Terminus’ mingled pride and sadness coming over their link, as well as Han’s “Great shot, Mara; that was one in a million!”, was enough to make her smile if only through the sudden sadness that came over her.
She headed back towards Yavin IV. The war was far from over, she knew that. The Empire would probably find new ways to retaliate. But whatever it took, they would meet the Empire in battle nonetheless.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: Well, this is nearly the end. It's been a fun ride, really. I'm going to miss this. Also, really liked this chapter. I really think it wrapped up the Battle of Yavin nicely.
People had their various reasons for joining the Rebellion. It could be anything, for glory, for the sake of idealism, for the sake of doing what was right, but if one was to ask why Garvin Dreis joined the Rebellion, it could be summed up in four words: the Siege of Virujansi. Garvin Dreis had been marginally aware of how ruthless the Empire could truly be, but it was another thing to see it truly in action. To see the Imperial Navy and the Imperial stormtroopers shooting down innocent civilians, raining down fire on innocent towns, on people who hadn’t done anything, all for no reason at all…the Empire probably thought that it would keep the people in line. But it didn’t.
Instead, it had started a revolution. People who hadn’t damn thought of starting a rebellion rising up if only to fight back. The Empire would probably be baffled at why they were fighting back, but when they were in people’s homes or burning their homes and killing civilians, were they damn surprised that people were going to up and fight back? Because they would. And Garvin Dreis knew that no matter what happened, he wasn’t going to let down his men. The people of Rogue Squadron. People who, though they came from all sorts of different backgrounds and experiences, were good men and women willing to do whatever possible if only to fight back against the Empire. To make a better galaxy. A galaxy where others didn’t have to live in fear of being hunted, arrested, tortured, or killed, or having their loved ones suffer the same fate.
The Empire didn’t learn, did they? After Virujansi, there was Despayre, and now there was Alderaan. After all this time, they hadn’t realized, they simply, honestly, hadn’t realized that when you attempted to rule through fear, the people wouldn’t bow. They weren’t meant for that. They weren’t meant to bow or break.
In the face of injustice and horrific cruelty, what else were they made for if not to fight back?
It was then, looking into the targeting computer, that Garvin Dreis, Red Leader, took a deep breath and prepared his shot. Don’t fail me now, computer.
And he fired. Over his headset, he heard Red Nine’s, “It’s away!” and, as it impacted, “It’s a hit!” But Red Nine was wrong. There was nothing. Nothing but at least minor explosions, hardly the larger one that they were aiming for. For all intents and purposes, he had been so close and yet he missed.
He rubbed his head. “Negative, negative. It didn’t go in. It just impacted on the surface.”
Red Five’s voice came over his headset, a sort of crisp, calm voice; for all intents and purposes, Red Leader thought, she wouldn’t make a shabby leader herself. A lot like her dad, long ago. “Red Leader, we’re right above you. Turn to point oh-five; we’ll cover for you.”
A bit too much like her dad. Red Leader smiled if only a bit before snapping back into professional leader mode. “Stay there, Red Five. I think I lost my starboard engine. Get ready to make your attack run.”
It was then that he felt the laser fire hit his ship. For all he attempted to maneuver away if only as best he could, he couldn’t dodge the laser fire forever. There was then a wall of light flashing in front of his eyes, and then there was nothing at all.
***
“He’s gone.” Even hearing Biggs’ voice over her headset, the usually cheerful young pilot sounded almost shaken. “He…he’s gone.”
I know, Mara wanted to say. I know. She tried if only to keep her breathing steady, and yet at the same time, she couldn’t. Red Leader, their leader, gone in pretty much an instant, just killed so very quickly…
She took a deep breath. “Just stay on target,” she said, “Just like he would have wanted. Let’s close it in. We’re going in full throttle.”
Wedge’s voice came over her headset in that moment. “Right with you, boss.”
Mara looked if only briefly towards the wreckage of space where Red Leader’s X-wing now floated. Her throat clenched. How old had he been? In his forties, really. He had died if only saving them, and yet she doubted there was ever more of a series of pointless deaths as there were in that battle.
“We’re going to make you proud,” she said, if only to the vastness of space where Red Leader’s X-wing now floated. “I promise you.”
There’s no time for grief. Put these feelings aside and attack the Death Star. Terminus’ voice was steady in that moment. Switch off your targeting computer.
“Are you completely insane?” Mara shook her head. “I can’t just do that…”
Trust your feelings. Red Leader failed to reach the exhaust port because he relied too much on the targeting computer. Reach out through the Force. Can you feel anything?
Mara reached out in that moment. Around her, there were the TIE fighters, clustering behind them. There was one of them, reaching out if only to fire at Biggs. Mara turned around, reaching through the Force even as she fired on the TIE fighter.
The TIE fighter burst into flames. Mara could practically feel it vibrating through the Force, the sudden shock that this happened. And even looking upon where the TIE fighter used to be, Mara doubted that she had ever felt more uncertain, or more afraid. This…this is what it’s like to die. All these people who had perished in this battle in that moment, never thinking that death would come for them. Never thinking that death would claim them. Death claimed them when they were most unprepared. Some had escaped death in the nick of time, but not all of them. And to die…
Mara squeezed her eyes shut. Even, “Good shooting, Red Five!” from Biggs was enough to make her smile, but there was sadness in it. This was death. This was what it was like to fight in this war. There was nothing about it that was glamorous or beautiful. There was nothing about it that was glorious. They were just doing this to defend others who couldn’t so much as defend themselves.
And to defend her friends. Those that were still left, at least.
Do not despair. Padme’s voice now echoed in her mind. Only remember, Mara; there is no death, there is the Force.
And there was something about that that was enough to calm Mara if only slightly. She couldn’t say that she was entirely happy with it - she could still remember all too well the screams of the dying in her head, the screams of Alderaan, the screams of the fighters who had died in that moment - and yet there was something about it that was enough to give her some comfort.
And yet…
“They died, Padme,” she said. “They all died. They just…burned like that. There wasn’t even any meaning behind it. There wasn’t any reason to it.”
Silence. I know, Padme said, and there was sadness in her voice, the sort of sadness as if she was saying that she knew this all too well. I too have experienced the horrors of such a war. People, good, wonderful people and horrible, near-irredeemable people and everyone in between those extremes, dying senselessly and needlessly. But death isn’t all there is. They are with the Force, and the Force will protect them.
Mara supposed that was right. After all, if the Force bound all living things, who said that it could not protect the dead as well? At least in a way. She took a deep breath.
Fight for the living and the dead as well. Keep going. It’s what Red Leader would have wanted. Padme’s voice was gentle, but also commanding. It’s your duty, Mara. Keep going.
Mara took a deep breath in that moment and dove towards the Death Star. Over her headset, she heard Biggs’ voice. “Mara, at that speed are you sure that you’ll be able to pull out in time?”
“Why not?” Mara said. “It’ll be just like Beggar’s Canyon back home.”
A faint laugh came from Biggs. “Yeah,” he said. “It definitely will.”
***
Terminus had spoken much about this presence that he had felt back on Tatooine, the presence that he had become all but obsessed with finding, but Ventress hadn’t expected to feel the girl’s strength for herself. In many ways, in a lot of ways, actually, he was very much right. She was strong for her age. Foolish, yes, reckless, yes, woefully sentimental like her father - no matter how he had tried to hide it - but nonetheless, strong. Even as she chased the girl through the trench, even as she fought against the towers, even as her astromech seemed to struggle to repair the X-wing where Ventress’ previous blasts had hit it, Ventress felt, almost in spite of herself, a strange sort of admiration for the girl. She was foolish, yes, but there was no denying that she had skill.
She reached through the Force now, aiming towards the X-wing on the girl’s left side. If she could at least find a way to isolate the young Force user, Mara Lars, if only to get to her, then this would be all too easy.
It reminded her too well of fighting back in the wars. Fighting for her master, fighting against the Jedi, if only to exterminate them, if only to bring their arrogance, their corruption, their cruelty, to an end. Fighting alongside Vader, before he had turned, and even, she thought, beside Terminus. She could only hope that Vader and Terminus had managed to escape the moon below. But then again, Ventress thought, they had always been stupidly noble. They wouldn’t run so easily. And there was something about it that only made Ventress angrier. Angry at Tarkin, angry at the Emperor for commissioning this Death Star. But mostly angry at Tarkin. He didn’t care how many civilians he killed, he didn’t care if even his own troops - in this case, Vader and Terminus - were on the moon below. He was going to destroy the Rebel base. He had gone mad. He cared nothing as long as the Rebellion was destroyed.
And that…that, Ventress knew, would be his downfall.
***
“Red Five, Red Three…I’m sorry.” Wedge’s voice sounded so very faint even to Mara’s ears. “I’m going to have to pull out. I can’t stay with you.”
“It’s fine,” Mara said. “Get as clear as you can.”
And even as Wedge headed off, Mara heard Biggs’ voice. “You’ve got to hurry. They’re closing in on me. I don’t know how long I can hold them.”
Mara swallowed. “I’m on my way. Artoo, try and increase the power!”
And in the back of the X-wing, Artoo beeped frantically even as he tried to increase the power. Mara headed now towards Biggs, where the two TIE fighters had now converged on him in that moment. She took a deep breath, reaching through the Force again even as she aimed at the TIE fighter that was about to fire on Biggs -
-- and it was in that moment that she was too late. Biggs’ ship was hit. It was already smoking badly.
“I’m going to have to pull out for a bit,” Biggs said. “I’m sorry, Mara.”
Mara swallowed. It looked, she thought, as if she was on her own now. “Do what you’ve got to do, Biggs. Just trust me on this.”
Biggs retreated, and it was in that moment that Mara turned towards the trenches. “All right,” she said. “Looks like it’s just you and me now.”
She switched off the targeting computer. She would have to go by instinct, at least in that moment. In the Force, she could practically feel the TIE fighter pilot’s relish even as she was about to pull the trigger. The sort of hatred and coldness and rage that was enough to scare her. She doubted that anyone, any living being, could damn have such hatred in them.
She took a deep breath, reaching through the Force; it was over the headset that she heard Dodonna’s voice. “Red Five - you seem to have switched off the targeting computer. Is there something wrong?”
“I’m all right,” Mara said. “I’m just making my run.”
And she started towards the exhaust port in that moment, reaching through the Force, looking if only to search for the weakest point of the Death Star. She could hear Artoo’s frantic beeping, and she steered her X-wing out of the way of the TIE pilot’s blasts just in time, not looking back. She couldn’t afford to look back, not when the mission was at stake.
Through the Force, she could feel the TIE pilot’s increasing frustration. Their rage. Even as they continued to fire at Mara, managing to miss in time even as Mara anticipated their blasts, Mara knew that she couldn’t damn evade the TIE pilot’s fire forever. And the TIE pilot was getting slightly more accurate. Her fighter was already suffering some damage -
-- and it was then that she felt something. The TIE pilot - the fighter, in the Force, seemed to have trembled. Mara looked up from her X-wing, only to start laughing if only in relief. Han was back. The Millennium Falcon, practically hovering up in the sky - and through the Force, she could feel Han’s absolute glee. This was the sort of thing that he was made for. This was what he had been waiting for.
The TIE pilot, on the other hand, seemed to only get angrier. They began blasting furiously at Mara again, Mara managing to dodge in time, only for a sudden explosion to wrack their fighter, leaving them tumbling off into space.
Over her headset, Mara heard Han’s voice. “Sorry I’m late, kiddo; it was kind of a long road back here.”
“It’s all right.” Mara laughed. “Honestly, I can’t believe you’re back.”
“You’d better believe it. Let’s blow this thing and go home.”
It was then that Mara reached through the Force again, towards the Death Star, towards the exhaust port. She could still feel the people still inside, running towards the hangar, making their escape, and some who stayed behind. Tarkin, for example. And the gunner, trying to buy enough time.
And it was then that Mara felt it in him. He had been the one who had pulled the trigger. And yet there was no relish in him. If nothing else, Mara found only guilt. A sort of horrifying, ravaging guilt that seemed to be slowly killing him.
She didn’t want to kill him. After all, he had done nothing wrong but simply pull the trigger, if only on Tarkin’s orders. And yet what other choice did she have? The Death Star was about to fire on the moon below. She reached into his mind now, trying to offer whatever comfort she could. She was far from good at this, but if she could almost communicate with Terminus over this link, why not now?
It’s all right. You’re going to be all right. None of this was your fault.
She reached into the Force now, pushed the button in that moment.
I forgive you.
And the Death Star exploded. Even in her mind, Mara could feel it, a whole wall of fire and flame and explosions, those aboard either screaming, furious or frightened, unable to comprehend what was truly happening, or quietly accepting their fate. Tarkin seemed to be almost in shock in that moment - and yet somehow, Mara thought, even though feeling Tarkin’s shock that his superweapon had ultimately failed was more than a deserved thing for the Grand Moff, she almost didn’t feel satisfied. Not for the deaths aboard that superweapon. After all, it wasn’t necessarily about death. If there was a way to avoid another murder, she would do it gladly.
But she had at least managed to give the Empire hell, as she should have. She had saved those on Yavin IV from suffering a terrible fate. And that, combined with Terminus’ mingled pride and sadness coming over their link, as well as Han’s “Great shot, Mara; that was one in a million!”, was enough to make her smile if only through the sudden sadness that came over her.
She headed back towards Yavin IV. The war was far from over, she knew that. The Empire would probably find new ways to retaliate. But whatever it took, they would meet the Empire in battle nonetheless.