Spark of the Resistance

by Justina Ireland

  “You’re a scientist?” Rey asked.

  The woman nodded. “And someday I will tell you the story of how my team designed the Echo Horn and used it to enslave the Zixon, a terrible event that I regret. But now is not the time. I take it your ship has been disabled?”

  “Oh, we just have to replace the compressor housing and the engines should be fine.”

  “Good, because we don’t have much time. A large contingent of the First Order is set to arrive on the morrow, and it would be best if we could rescue the Zixon and destroy the Echo Horn before reinforcements arrive.”

  Poe put his blaster away and nodded. “Can’t really argue with that.”

  Glenna lowered her hands and gave a quick nod. “All right, then. Let’s get your ship fixed up. And after we do, I’ll tell you what I have in mind.”

  While Rey and Rose fixed the engines, installing the pieces of the compressor housing and then powering up the Falcon to ensure everything was working correctly, Glenna and Poe rounded up the stormtroopers and tied them to a tree. Rose walked down the boarding ramp just as Glenna and Poe returned from their final trip.

  “Are they going to be okay out in the jungle?” Rose asked, thinking of the grobel they’d seen in the tunnels. She didn’t like stormtroopers, but it seemed rather mean to tie them up so they could be eaten.

  “They’ll be fine until we free the Zixon. After that, we can worry about what to do with them,” Poe said. “I mean, they might get eaten,” he admitted at Rose’s startled look.

  “They will be fine, even though they do not deserve your mercy,” the scientist, Glenna Kip, said. Rose wanted to ask the woman where she was from and how she’d come to Minfar so long ago. She seemed to know a lot about the planet, and Rose had so many questions about the plants and animals there. But as Glenna had said, there wasn’t time for that just yet.

  “Where’s Rey?” Poe asked.

  “Trying to call the rest of the Resistance on one of the secondary backup channels,” Rey said, walking down the boarding ramp to stand next to Rose. “It might be good to get some help. We have no idea what kind of forces are here.”

  “The Ladara Vex is a light cruiser, and it shouldn’t be a problem. It’s a smaller ship, still bigger than your freighter here, but we have an easy way to get rid of it.”

  “How’s that?” Poe asked.

  Glenna Kip smiled just a little. “I’ve been building a mini reactor in my sleeping quarters on the ship. I told Commander Spiftz it was a device to locate some of the lost tech down here in the labs, but the truth is it’s really a bomb connected directly to the power systems of the Ladara Vex. As long as I can get back on board, we can destroy it from the inside.”

  Rose couldn’t help laughing. “That’s brilliant. You really weren’t here to help the First Order.”

  “No, I was here to help the Zixon. If we can retrieve the Echo Horn and destroy the Ladara Vex, we can hopefully get a few of those delightful ships we got from Aftab Ackbar on Mon Cala in place for an ambush.”

  Rose’s mouth fell open, and her shock was echoed on both Rey and Poe’s faces. BB-8 beeped something that sounded like surprise, as well.

  “How do you know about those ships?” Rey asked.

  “I have worked very closely with General Organa for a long time. I’ve been communicating with her as best I can, but until recently I have been very closely watched. There are some things in the labs, more honest weapons than the Echo Horn, that could help the Resistance even the odds against the First Order. I couldn’t get away from the First Order to find them myself, so I used their resources to bring me here. I figured it would be more useful to spend some time aboard a First Order cruiser. It gave me time to slice some codes and research their locations.”

  “You’re a spy!” Rose said.

  “I am a scientist,” Glenna corrected, “who sometimes spies. The First Order really did come to my labs, so I had no choice but to work for them.”

  “But it didn’t mean you were actually helping them,” Poe said.

  Glenna inclined her head in agreement, and a feeling of relief came over Rose. With allies like Glenna, smart allies who could make the best of a bad situation, the Resistance would soon be more than just a tiny spark.

  It would be a flame, a beacon of hope for anyone who saw the First Order for what it was and was brave enough to step forward and fight. Rose stood a little straighter and felt glad that they’d come to Minfar. This was what being a rebel was all about.

  “So, should we go save our friends?” Rose asked, and everyone nodded. BB-8 chirped and beeped happily before rolling around in a circle.

  “All right, then,” Poe said, nodding. “Here’s what we’ll do. . . .”

  COMMANDER SPIFTZ looked at the assembled group of Zixon and smiled. They stood at attention, waiting for his next command, oblivious to anything but him.

  They were the perfect little green, fuzzy soldiers.

  “Remove the flashing beacons around the perimeter and replace them with new ones,” he said, and a group of the furry creatures darted off to comply with the command.

  It was absolutely brilliant.

  Commander Spiftz had been expecting a weapon of some sort in the labs, a cannon or an untested walker like the one that Resistance woman had turned against him and his stormtroopers. That the Echo Horn was a small box was an unexpected surprise.

  Small, yet so powerful. Mighty enough to change the course of history.

  Commander Spiftz couldn’t wait to show off the device to the First Order high command. The box, no bigger than a blaster, with only a single button and a series of knobs, had completely enthralled the local populace when he’d turned it on. A weapon like that could be used to conquer an entire planet, assuming one of the First Order scientists could figure out how it worked. So far, he’d only been able to get it to work on the Zixon. But imagining the larger possibilities for the weapon made him giddy. Turn on the box, tell everyone to lower their weapons, and restore order throughout the galaxy. Or even better, command them to serve you, to answer your every beck and call. It would be even better than being an emperor.

  Instead of giving the device to the First Order, he could keep it for himself. Branwayne Spiftz could stay on Minfar and rule the entire planet. That way he wouldn’t have to risk sharing his amazing discovery with some scientist who might turn on him at any moment. After all, Glenna Kip had gone running off into the jungle at the first opportunity. He had a small contingent of stormtroopers looking for her, but he doubted they would find her. There was something odd about the woman that convinced Branwayne he had seen the last of her, and any other time he would have been rather annoyed at having been so obviously played for a fool. But that day? He didn’t mind as much.

  He had the Echo Horn. He was going to become a legend.

  But first he had to find the Resistance. Especially that irritatingly good-looking pilot, Poe Dameron. Once he’d captured them, he could deliver them to the First Order and do whatever he chose. Hidreck and the others didn’t believe the legendary weapon existed in the first place. It would be nothing to pretend the mission had been a failure and that Glenna Kip had been a Resistance spy he’d had to neutralize to protect First Order interests.

  It was everything he’d ever hoped for.

  Lieutenant Nivers walked over, her gaze skipping over the Zixon uncertainly. “Um, sir, we have a problem.”

  “Of course we do,” Spiftz sighed, watching as the group of Zixon he’d dispatched to repair a warning light returned from resetting the beacon. “Can you not see I am in the midst of an experiment?”

  Nivers frowned, her expression somewhere between displeased and horrified. “I think this might be more pressing, sir. The team assigned to guard the Millennium Falcon hasn’t reported back. And the team we sent to follow up on them is missing, as well.”

  Before Commander Spiftz could respond, the Millennium Falcon flew overhead, low enough that he could feel the residual heat of the subli
ght engines.

  “Well, there it is!” he yelled, temper fraying. So close, so close to victory, and now this. “Call the Ladara Vex and scramble the fighters. It’s one ship. There’s no reason it should be giving us this much trouble!”

  Nivers scrambled off, and Branwayne strode back to his command tent. No matter what happened, the Resistance could not get ahold of the device. That was his key to a brilliant future.

  The Zixon milled about, getting underfoot and generally being in the way, and Commander Spiftz pointed to a nearby storage tent. “Get in there right now!” They complied without any response, whiskers drooping, expressions slack. Once they were out of the way, Commander Spiftz hurried to a nearby transport, startling a junior officer standing inside. Spiftz clutched the Echo Horn tightly, refusing to let go of it for even a second. He would have to figure out how to use it on humans, but for now he just needed to get away from Minfar.

  “Once the TIE fighters are scrambled, take us back to the light cruiser.”

  The junior officer shook his head. “Umm, sir, I can’t fly this. I’m not a pilot.”

  Commander Spiftz stared at the man before shoving him out of the way.

  “I’ll fly it, then,” he said.

  It seemed as though he was once more going to have to do everything himself.

  POE WAITED UNTIL Rey and the Millennium Falcon had the full attention of the First Order before he made his way into camp. Beside him like a metallic shadow was Glenna Kip. The scientist, deadly efficient, felled the stormtroopers who crossed their path, without a sound. Poe watched in amazement as she leapt in the air, delivering lightning-fast kicks to the stormtroopers’ helmets, knocking them out before Poe disabled their blasters. Poe wondered what Glenna was planning on doing after she destroyed the Echo Horn. She’d be a fantastic full-time spy.

  And the Resistance could use all the help it could get.

  Poe waited for Rey to zoom by once more before running full tilt for a nearby storage tent. He’d watched as the Zixon filed into the space just a few moments earlier, and when he ducked inside it was a relief to find Lim staring back at him.

  “Lim! Are you okay?”

  The Zixon’s whiskers twitched, but she didn’t answer. Glenna Kip entered the tent behind Poe, shaking her head.

  “They won’t be able to answer you. The device limits their ability to communicate.”

  “What can we do?” Poe asked. He hated to see them like this, so very different from just the day before, when they were dancing and welcoming him and his friends to Minfar. Instead, their whiskers drooped, their shoulders sagged, and their eyes stared sightlessly. This weapon was worse than he’d imagined.

  There was no way the Resistance could use something so awful against people, not even the First Order.

  Glenna looked around and pointed to a nearby transport shuttle. “We have to get the device from Spiftz.”

  Poe took a deep breath and let it out. “All right, let’s go.”

  Glenna led the way, running and ducking as the stormtroopers turned their attention from the Millennium Falcon and turned their blasters on her. Poe ducked behind a supply container and fired back at the stormtroopers, but he was only one person and there were at least a dozen of them, all firing in his direction. Poe was pinned down. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a communicator.

  “Rey, can you hear me?” Poe said into the small device.

  “Yes, what’s going on?”

  “The First Order commander is escaping with the Echo Horn. We need to get rid of it before the Zixon will return to normal. Can you stop that transport ship?” A little way off, a boxy ship of the sort used to transport stormtroopers lifted off, clearly headed back to the Ladara Vex, which Glenna had told Poe was still in orbit over Minfar.

  “Maybe,” Rey said.

  Just then, a handful of TIE fighters appeared, flying overhead. Poe’s heart sank as he looked at them. There was no way Rey could fight those ships and stop the commander from escaping with the Echo Horn.

  “Poe,” Glenna Kip said, appearing next to him and startling him badly. “You need to get a ship and stop Branwayne and the Ladara Vex.”

  “How am I supposed to do that?” he asked, ducking to avoid being shot by the stormtroopers. Glenna pointed toward another of the square transport ships that the First Order used to fly short distances, this one parked nearby. It was not exactly what Poe had in mind when someone talked about flying. In fact, just the thought of trying to maneuver the slow-moving craft through the blaster fire all around them made Poe a tiny bit nervous.

  Poe really missed his X-wing.

  “When you get on board, find my quarters at the rear of the ship. The device I rigged is connected to the power lines of the cruiser. It looks like a droid in need of repair. You’ll have just enough time to get off the ship before it explodes.”

  Poe nodded. As Glenna returned fire he ducked behind the supply crates until he was close enough to get onto the ship. BB-8 rolled on board as Poe darted inside, mashing buttons until the bay doors of the transport closed.

  “All right, let’s see if we can manage to get out of here in one piece.”

  Poe strapped himself into the pilot seat of the transport, fired up the engines, and launched himself after the fleeing First Order officer.

  REY SAW THE SECOND transport ship taking off. She had just enough time to turn the Millennium

  Falcon toward the escaping shuttle before the first TIE fighter fired on her.

  “Rey, we have company,” Rose called.

  A porg landed on the control console near Rey, and she waved it away. “I see them. Can you see the shuttle? We have to stop them from getting away,” Rey said.

  “We have bigger problems right now,” Rose said. “We need to handle those fighters before they handle us!”

  “I’m going after the Echo Horn, Rey,” Poe said over his comlink. “You make sure that those fighters don’t have a chance to figure out I’m not just some scruffy First Order moof-milker running for home.”

  “I’ll try my best,” Rey said. “I’m going to try to lead them away from you.” She turned the Falcon toward the TIE fighters, six in all, and took a deep breath. “Are you ready, Rose?”

  “We can do this!” Rose yelled back from her position in the gun bay.

  And then the TIE fighters were on them.

  Rey yanked on the yoke and twisted the ship around as two TIE fighters closed in, their cannons letting loose a punishing barrage. Rose returned fire with the ventral gun, but the shots went wide, missing the enemy ships.

  The TIE fighters’ assault was much more successful, and Rey gripped the yoke as the ship shimmied and shook from the cannon fire. The porg in the cockpit screamed and lodged itself in the space under her seat. Rey couldn’t really blame it. Things were about to get interesting.

  “Rose, hold on, I’m going to try something.”

  “Go for it. Anything is better than this. Ugh. Stay still!” Rose said as another TIE fighter sped past.

  Rey took a deep breath and closed her eyes. All this time she’d been trying to reach for the Force, the spot inside of her that felt more connected to everything. Again and again it had been for naught, and she’d gotten more and more frustrated.

  But this time she relaxed into the warm potential of the Force and she asked it to guide her, to make her steady, to lead her on a path that was successful. She wasn’t a Jedi, and she was nothing like Luke Skywalker, but for a moment Rey sensed something—a spark of possibility, an inkling of potential—and she felt more centered and infinitely more capable.

  The Force was all around, just as it always had been, but this time Rey could feel it. And within that source of energy, she asked for help from Minfar.

  When she opened her eyes, she still saw the TIE fighters. She also saw a flock of the giant creatures that had attacked them on their way to Minfar, approaching at a very high rate of speed.

  “Um, Rey, are you seeing this?” Rose asked.
/>
  “Yes. Don’t worry about them, just focus on the fighters,” she said. She couldn’t have explained why, but she felt like the creatures were there to help.

  “Hey, do you see the company you’re about to have?” Poe cut in over the comlink.

  “It’s okay, Poe. We’ve got this!” Rey called.

  One of the winged creatures forced a fighter to the ground, the ship exploding in a fiery cloud. “Hey, I guess these giant flying things are here to help!” Rose yelled.

  “Yes! I’m going to take us into this canyon up ahead. Hold on!” Rey called.

  She yanked hard on the yoke, forcing the Falcon into a steep dive between two pillars of rock. Rey’s heart pounded as she negotiated the Falcon into a canyon. The sheer walls sped by, a blur of red-and-black-striped rock, and most of the TIE fighters dropped back, only two ships following them into the treacherous twists and turns.

  “Rey, it looks like we lost most of them,” Rose said, voice hopeful.

  “Let’s hope our newfound friends are taking care of them.”

  The closest fighter let loose a volley of blaster fire, and Rey flipped the Falcon at just the right moment to avoid the blasts. They hit the side of the canyon instead, causing a massive landslide of rocks and dirt, a chain reaction that began to run the length of the canyon, more and more of the canyon wall crumbling as the Falcon flew past. Rey pulled on the yoke and the ship rose, just barely missing the nearest falling boulders.

  “Um, Rey? How stable is this place?”

  “I see it, Rose. It gives me an idea.”