A/N: speed updating just to get it all done XD

1:00

Ahsoka dodged another strike, attempting to land her own but having it blocked. One minute left, she thought as she quickly deflected a blow that would have killed her. Just one minute more.

1:00

Sabine waited anxiously in the belly of the large ship. All around her were prisoners crowded in, fearful and worried. Next to her was Jacen, gripping her hand tightly, and Ezra, leaning against her.

"What's going to happen?" Jacen whispered. 

Sabine felt her own fear rising, but she tried to push it down for the sake of the boy next to her. "Ahsoka will beat that Inquisitor and she'll join us here. Then we'll escape and leave it behind forever."

"That's not true," Jacen simply said, and she looked down at him in surprise.

He stared back up at her with calm green eyes. "I feel it. The aura of death. Are we going to die?"

"No," she breathed, but somehow she doubted her own words.

1:00

Flying the ship, Vyi only felt... peace.

The banging on the doors faded away, as did the thrum of the engines. Everything was quiet in his own little world as he stared at the prison coming up fast.

This is for you, Waylen, he thought. This is for you, Sabine.

Vyi was done hiding. And now he'd take out the Empire with a bang.

1:00

Tristan ran for the nearest ship, Ketsu and Jai hot on his heels. He fired off shots with his stolen Stormtrooper blaster, killing any Imperials who got too close.

One minute, one minute. It wasn't enough. They were going to die.

They reached the ramp and Tristan threw himself in without hesitation. Ketsu shot past him, dropping into the pilot's chair. Jai fell into the co-pilot while Tristan quickly closed the ramp.

"Oh Force, oh Force," Jai was muttering to himself as his hands flew across the controls.

"Everybody shut up!" Ketsu snapped, starting up the ship. "I don't work well under pressure!"

"Thirty seconds," Tristan moaned. He really didn't want to die this way.

"I'm working, I'm working!" Ketsu practically shouted as the ship lifted off the ground.

It wouldn't be enough. They wouldn't make it. They were going to die.

1:00

Adali reached Kalar's office with barely any time to spare. She practically threw herself through the doorway and found him there, silently sitting at his desk.

"Kalar!" she burst out, the words tearing themselves from her throat in utter relief. "Come on, we need to go-"

"Ah, Adali," he simply said, his voice almost sad. "Out of everything we've worked for, this is how it ends."

"What? No! We can still live. You can still live!" she cried, hurrying to his side. She would drag him from this ship if she had to.

"Not enough time," he murmured, staring ahead of him. "There was never enough time. The Empire could never be great again, could it? Not as long as there are people like Sabine Wren fighting for the other side."

"Stop it," a sob tore itself from Adali. "You fight for a great cause."

"Wren is an honorable person and a worthy opponent," he met her eyes now, the dangerous gleam in them gone, now replaced with an overwhelming sadness. "This is not a bad way to die. A captain goes down with his ship. Without our home base, there is no Kalar Remnant. We are just another shattered, broken piece destined to die."

She grabbed his hands frantically, trying to pull him away. "No, no, no, we will not die! The fight isn't over."

"But what are we fighting for?" he turned a sad smile to her. "With people like Sabine Wren in the New Republic, maybe defeat isn't so bad after all."

She let out another sob and tried to pull him to his feet, but he wouldn't budge.

"I am sorry that you will have to die in a place like this," he whispered. "Live, Adali. Live. If there is still time, live."

"Not without you," she fiercely hissed, clutching his hand tighter.

He smiled then, a real smile. "One day, the sun will shine on us again, Adali. One day soon."

"One day soon," she repeated quietly. "I promise."

0:00

Many things happened at once as the three minute countdown ended.

Warlord Kalar's Star Destroyer rammed right into Imperial Prison 223. It instantly knocked out the generators, rendering the station dead. From the hangar bay, though, two large ships escaped, carrying the prisoners of the station with them, including Sabine Wren, Ezra Bridger, and Jacen Syndulla.

As the Destroyer hit the prison, Ahsoka Tano was knocked off balance. It was enough for Waylen Torwyn, the new Grand Inquisitor, to land a hit on her, killing her instantly. Maybe it was a good death, a better one than slowly suffocating due to lack of oxygen.

Aboard the Destroyer, a young slicer closed his eyes as he died on impact. He didn't mind, because he was welcomed into a world of light. There he saw his brother, his real brother, and he greeted him with a warm hug and a whispered word of, "I'm sorry."

Admiral Adali Navarr clutched Warlord Vorith Kalar's hands, finding strength in them as always. She was not afraid to die, not as long as she had him at her side. Kalar was not afraid either. Death greeted them with open arms.

Warden Kiyfi Quorr died in a prison cell, remembering the last words Ezra Bridger had said to her. Maybe, at some point, she had gone wrong. But she had fought for Kalar and she didn't regret it, and she didn't mind dying for him now.

Lyz Satori wasn't conscious when she died. She fell asleep to dreams of a future where she was free in a galaxy that didn't hate her for who she was.

And just before impact, Tristan Wren, Ketsu Onyo, and Jai Kell's stolen ship blasted away from the Destroyer, escaping into open space.

Meanwhile, on board a large stolen cruiser, Sabine Wren seized Ezra Bridger and kissed him. She wasn't going to wait any longer.

They were free.