Kyber Heart - Poe Dameron

Chapter 39

The mineral planet Crait was oddly beautiful in a lonely and ghostlike way.

The desolate salt plains were a sight to behold. Miles and miles of bright white stretching out as far as the eye could see, framed by tall and rigid mountain ranges.

The air was thick, the smell of the substance covering the ground clinging to everything in a near suffocating manner. Unlike the smell that could be found on planets covered by oceans, the scent on Crait was of the dry variety.

The temperature was neither warm nor cold.

There were no civilisations to be seen. It did not look like anyone had been there for decades. The only signs of the world being touched at all was the great door built into the mountains – rusting with age. It came from a time before the Rebel Alliance – a hideout for a smaller rebel cell, like those from Lothal or the Atrivis Sector.

Behind the door, the mountain was hollowed out. The vast space, populated sparsely with technology that looked to have been dated even when it was in use three decades prior, felt cold and empty. Nothing of real value remained, not even ghosts of memories.

The base had been a well-kept secret of the Rebellion. Kept off any record handed over to the New Republic upon its formation at the conclusion of the Galactic Civil War. The Alliance leadership had thought it best, just in case.

Nova supposed their circumstances qualified as a 'just in case'.

The remaining few troops were disembarking from the final transport when the proximity alarm started to drone.

They had known it would only be a matter of time before the First Order had fighters pursuing them on the surface. The hit their fleet had taken had been more than substantial, but they had surviving forces to spare and to scramble at the drop of a credit.

Leia stood at the entrance, surveying the skies and salt plains over her collar. She could see them – three small crafts closing in on their location. She pulled her gaze away, retrieving her commlink with a grave voice. "They're coming. Shut the door."

The door groaned as its mechanisms strained to drag it closed, far slower than was desirable. And with the grating came an eerie tinkling – the origin of which was something quite strange but fascinating.

A skulk of vulptices; canine-like beings, covered in shimmering crystalline coats, with long bodies, pointed ears and snouts, and bushy tails. It looked as though they could have been made of the very minerals of the planet's surface. The bristles brushed against each other as the creatures moved – the light bouncing off them making them look like crystal chandeliers. They were unbothered by the Resistance presence, instead seeming rather baffled by them, ghosting their steps as they went about their hurried business.

The enemy ships drew closer at a rapid pace – a shuttle flanked by two TIE fighters.

The shuttle showed no signs of slowing or breaking its course as it got closer, hitting the ground and sliding under the door as it continued to close. The top wing was clipped in two as it struck the blast door, the rest of the ship sliding under in one piece, kicking up dirt and sparks.

The door shut with a deep boom, and the shuttle ground to a halt, scattering Resistance fighters and sending them running for cover.

Nova found herself crouched behind a stack of crates with BB-6, freeing her blaster from its place on her thigh.

Leia too picked up a rifle, beginning the assault on the front of the shuttle and shattering the viewport. Others followed her lead, with Poe and Nova pushing to the front to stand beside their General.