Star Wars IX- The Rise of Skywalker

Chapter 22- Second Battle of Endor

The steep, crumbling cliffs of Kef-Bir amongst the grassy plains was where Rey currently stood with Poe.

"I need to get to the wreckage within it."

"We have a skiff. It'll get you there," Poe answered.

Great, more skiffs.

"Get back to the ships; they'll need you, General Dameron. I'll be fine alone." 

Rey didn't turn to Poe just stepped forward to the craft, preparing to head to the Death Star once more. Poe nodded before turning to head back to the atmosphere of Endor and the battle that would soon commence.

The craft ricocheted against the angry waves, plummeting down towards each trough before soaring steeply towards another crest. Upon the skiff, Rey was jostled and buffeted by the waves rebounding from her destination before her, a substantial section of the Death Star. The section she sought gave her the best advantage of getting to the throne room. She needed the large viewing window from the vision she and Ben had seen when Darth Vader had thrown Palpatine down the shaft. Aboard the shuttle, she had studied the old technical data. She had been able, from her years of scavenging to almost visualise the entire interior of the old space station. Finding that particular piece of wreckage she needed was not going to be easy, particularly from the stormy sea. Going from within the wreckage would be easier. Before boarding the skiff, she'd decided where she was headed: the great flat section where she and Ben had fought. Landing the skiff on the broad surface from here, she would climb.

-X-

In the atmosphere around Endor, Admiral Nunb awaited the inevitable arrival of the First Order fleet. Communication had been received from General Calrissian, and they had been successful on Mustafar. The Imperial fleet was gone, but the First Order fleet would arrive outside Endor shortly. The treachery currently unknown of multiple First Order members would serve the Resistance well. Calrissian within the Falcon was following behind with a somewhat larger contingency of ships of Resistance supporters. General Dameron had been right; people had followed with the Resistance leading the way.

Within the hangar of Admiral Nunb's Star Cruiser, Poe had returned and was preparing Black One. Pointless arguments had been made that the leader of the Resistance shouldn't be piloting with the squadrons, but Poe had argued that he was a pilot. He belonged out there, not barking commands on a ship. Back in the cockpit of his X-wing, Poe felt great, nervous but great. This mission would be a challenge, but he had missed this feeling. He felt at home in a cockpit with his hands moving over the instrumentation, feeling the ship coming to life around him as he ignited the engines and it began to hover.

"Colonel Dameron, your squadrons can depart," Admiral Nunb gave the command from the deck.

"BB8, how are we looking back there?" Poe spoke into the mic on his helmet.

BB8 chirped and tweeted back at Poe. Poe got the impression from BB8's beeps that the little droid was as excited as he was.

"Yeah, me too, buddy. Black Squad, this is Black One check-in."

Poe got confirmation from his squadron pilots: "Black Two standing by," Rose responded. 

"Black Three standing by." "Black Four standing by." "Black Five standing by." Full house.

"Blue Leader, Gold Leader, Red Leader, White Leader, we all set?"

A moment of static white noise filled Poe's headpiece as each of the squadrons checked their pilots. One by one, they responded.

"Ready to execute on your command, Black Leader."

The double wings on Poe's X-Wing split apart, displaying four wings. The wing-mounted armament and quadruple engines deployed gave Poe maximum firepower and manoeuvrability. I love these ships! Poe left the hangar, followed by the Black assault squadron, then Blue Leader and their assault squadron. Behind him, he could see Gold Squadron, Red Squadron and White Squadron departing their various hangars. Shields were up; everyone was at their posts.