Where It All Ends: The Death (and Life) of Rynn Zenat

Rynn had been feeling so weak. She had dismissed Luke's help, when they fled the city of Kaltrais, in the middle of a laser battle, and somehow survived. Jesrit and her fellow Nagai comrades heeded Luke's plea to help Rynn. They planned to get her medical attention as soon as possible. Mantvir said that seemed like her life was being drained out of her. That didn't seem right, not at all! How could it happen when no one was around to take her life away? There were no blasters, no explosions, no nothing. It made no sense! Mantvir's mother had been a doctor. He had shadowed her for years. In all his time with her, he had never seen something so all-consuming, something that made it seem like Rynn was being lost to the world. He was deeply worried about what was happening to her.

Seconds later, an explosion hit their craft. Rynn and Jesrit were kidnapped. The others were left to die, with the idea that the harsh elements would "take care" of them. The villains hoped that the rebellion by the Nagai would dissipate. Although the pilot's three friends, smuggler Han Solo, New Republic agent Bastion, and a cyborg named Beilert Vallance, soon found the former Nagai royal palace, the villainess was becoming more impatient with every passing minute. She was determined to win. She would do anything to ensure her victory, no matter if others were hurt in the process.

"I hope you bring good tidings, Venk. I'm growing weary." As she said those words, he walked in triumphantly. "We've captured Jesrit, Reyna Oksure. The Nagai Rebellion is finally dead." She was extremely skeptical. She didn't believe these claims. Not one bit. "Is it though? Tell that to the armies of Nagai I must destroy—right outside my window. Resources better served against the New Republic." Venk tried to uplift her spirits. She knew she could easily allay the villainess's concerns. "Yes, but the tide continues to turn in our favor, leader." Reyna was still unsure. She hoped his optimism was well placed. She then saw that woman again. "Ah. The pilot Zenat—you captured her as well. What an unexpected delight." As she said those words, she jumped toward Rynn.

She touched her face with her right hand and boldly declared, "I owe you so much, Rynn Zenat—more than you will ever know." The pilot had no idea what to say to her. No idea how to respond. All she could mouth were two words: "You monster..." Staring at her deeply, like her blue eyes were staring into her soul, she smiled deviously. She was proud of what she was doing, in her own way. That's who she was. "In some ways, yes. Perhaps to frail, hapless creatures such as yourself, I am a monster. You have but yourself to blame for all this." Jesrit tried to warn Rynn to not provoke Reyna, but she did not listen. She wouldn't accept this. Why should she? "You're mad—there's no way you can win here. I had nothing to do with your schemes." This damn villainess had to be lying.

Reyna couldn't believe what she was hearing. She wanted to set the record straight. "My, my—I'm almost hurt. You don't remember?" She paused. "In your desperation to find your beloved Jedi—to defeat the errant Moff Adelhard once and for all—you forgot all about me." She told her how she used tendrils which came out of her face to suck out Rynn's life force and sea of memory, in order to reignite her own flame. She said that she was injured and near death. She boasted that she had gained a great power from her, a power allowing her to flee, power allowing her to thrive.

This revelation horrified Rynn. She refused to believe that it had happened. She had to live so she could see the precious woman she loved. She couldn't let this woman take from her what was rightfully hers. Her life was her own and no one else's. Reyna grinned. She was almost impressed with Rynn. "Don't torture yourself. There will be plenty of time for that. I'm amazed you've lived this long." Soon thereafter, Reyna learned that three people had come to save Rynn and Jesrit. Venk was sent to take care of them. Rynn was led to another location as was Jesrit.

The villainess didn't mind making bold declarations about this ace pilot. She sneered, saying there was still "a little bit of energy left in this meal," when referring to Rynn and her remaining life force. As she saw it, it would be enough to keep her content on her journey back home. She ordered that her ship be prepared for departure. Everything was ready. Her underlings readied her vessel. Rynn goaded her, calling her a fraud, a pretender, and a woman desperate for power and clout. This infuriated her to no end. She grabbed the pilot's throat and declared, "do not mistake my glib demeanor for weakness, spice runner." As she groaned, she went onto say that she would live to fight another day. She'd bask in her power, and she'd be able to rule entire star systems. Her hand went around the pilot's neck even tighter, putting her in even more pain. Luckily for Rynn, she was interrupted by a nearby explosion. This caught her somewhat off guard. Her lackeys fired at the intruders.

In another universe, they would be at an advantage. In this universe, they arrived a bit too late. Reyna boasted about how vibrant and full of life this pilot was, hoping to feed on her, saying boldly and more directly, "You saved me—kept me alive...once before." All Rynn could say was "Oskure—" She would have used her knee to knock this villainess in between the legs to get back at her, to show she had some fight left in her. Instead, the tendrils had weakened her so much that she slumped onto the ground. The villainess carried the now-barely-alive pilot onto her ship. "Au revoir, rebels...this is only the beginning." The ship blasted off from the landing pad and into the sky. Her friends fired their blasters at their highest power level, doing all they could to try and stop the vessel. Their efforts were to no avail. Rynn had been taken away. Reyna pressed a button and her entire fleet, made of Imperial junk, exploded, turning into a huge fireball. They needed to get Rynn back, somehow.

Back on the ship, as she hung in there for dear life, Rynn thought back to how she was once a spice runner and had become an accomplished fighter for the New Republic. Now she was dying. It was all that damn villainess's fault. She soon realized that she could feel every bump, every bruise, and every ache. Her body was screaming out in pain. She realized that this woman did something to her, something she had done to destroy many others across the galaxy. She was sick. She didn't know if she would survive or not. She started to think that this woman left a part of herself in everyone she affected, a sort of darkness that could consume you whole if you weren't careful. She thought about the woman she loved, a woman who would clearly miss her if she were to pass on.

She began thinking about all the good times she had with her girlfriend, all the times she wouldn't have in the future if this woman succeeded in her evil plan. She had no idea how to get out of this situation. Could she even effectively fight back against her? Or would this be the end? She did not know, but she was ready for anything. That's what she was taught as a pilot for the Rebel Alliance and now the New Republic. She had promised her girlfriend that she'd be there for her, no matter what. She had no idea whether she'd be able to fulfill that promise. She hoped she'd be able to do so.

Pulling a lever, the villainess moved the ship into hyperspace, then placed it on autopilot. The mystic approached her with a devilish smile. Her white hair reflected off the bluish color of hyperspace and illuminated her pale skin. As tendrils extended from her face, she came closer to Rynn, who attempted to slide away from her. "Now, now, now. Don't do that. I'm not done with you yet...your life force...still needs to revive mine." She sucked at her once more, as she had in the past, causing her to groan increasing pain, as she attempted to resist. She felt her life fading away before her very eyes. She was losing more and more of herself with every passing second. She couldn't stop it despite her continued efforts. "Such vigor and vitality. I like that from a rebel like you," Reyna said.

Rynn now felt like nothing more than a husk when she fell into the ship's floor. She remained, somehow, alive despite everything this woman had done to her. She hadn't slipped away just yet. This woman had one more power play. She thought of it on the spot. She reset the coordinates and turned the ship around. Not long after, the vessel arrived around orbit of Nagi. She would show them who was the one in charge. They certainly wouldn't try to destroy her ship. After all, she had their prized ace pilot. They wouldn't attack her, right? This 'Rynn' meant too much to them.

She played with the controls and made the ship begin a sharp noseward dive toward the planet's surface. She used as much fuel as possible to get there as fast as possible. On the way to the surface, the ace pilot felt everything. She was only barely alive. The ship crashed into the earth, even causing Reyna to get slightly injured. She did not care. In fact, she was jubilant and gleeful.

The villainess opened her ship's landing ramp. The rebels were waiting. They had her surrounded. She cackled. "I've got all I could out of this meal...I'll be the one calling the shots in this damn galaxy now...not the New Republic!" With their guns pointed at her, she rolled the woman toward them. One woman, whose brown hair and dark brown skin stood out, caught her. Rynn looked up at her. It was the one she loved. "Preeti. I love you so much." As she said these words, she slumped into her arms. She was stunned. She didn't know what to do with herself. What could she do?

It hit her. She soon realized what had happened. Rynn was dead. Without the woman she loved to comfort her, she totally lost all control. She couldn't stop herself. She couldn't hold herself back. Not anymore. She shouted at Reyna at the top of her lungs. "You sadistic fucker! You are gonna pay for that! You will NEVER get away with what you did." In one fast motion, she pulled out her blaster from her holster and fired. It happened so quickly that Reyna couldn't stop it, not even with her now-enhanced mystic powers. Luke couldn't hold back Preeti, nor could Han or Leia. They urged her to be merciful, telling her this wasn't the way the New Republic did things. They told her that this was not how the New Republic behaved. She refused to heed their warnings. She blocked out their voices. The laser bolt went straight through Reyna's body.

She kept walking forward and firing one shot after another from her blaster. It was overkill. She didn't care. She felt that this woman deserved to die this way for doing this to her, for taking away the woman she loved. The villainess's dream had been smashed into a thousand pieces by none other than a pilot. Preeti was the one person that Reyna had never expected to attack her, the one person she thought would be restrained. She had completely read her wrong. She had underestimated the love between these two women and to her peril.

Reyna laid on the ground. She was dead. Leia, Luke, and Han came over Preeti and gave her a big hug. "I'm so sorry Preeti. I'm so sorry," Leia said. Tears streamed down Preeti's cheeks. Leia was crying too. She knew how important Rynn had been to her. She wasn't sure how this pilot would go forward. She knew, more than anyone, that grief that came from loss. She had seen so much death and suffering over the years, including when the Empire callously and cruelly destroyed her home planet of Alderaan as a "test" of the power of the Death Star. She had never forgotten that. How could she?

This was not the way this was supposed to go. Rynn and Preeti were supposed to live a happily ever after. Their love was supposed to transcend the chaos and destruction across the galaxy. She wasn't sure what was left in her life now. Did anything have any meaning anymore? She didn't know. She would certainly have a long and hard road ahead. She didn't know what she'd do.

Luke, Leia, Han, and her other fellow comrades, were willing to help her find peace, no matter the difficulties she would soon face. She had no idea what was next for her, but her friends would make sure she'd be ready for whatever life threw at her. She'd have to grieve the death of her beloved Rynn, although she had no idea how she'd go through that, as she'd never faced had such a terrible loss. Preeti would keep living. Her friends and allies would ensure that she'd be prepared for whatever challenges she faced in the coming days, months, and years of the New Republic era...