Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...

The galaxy has heard the call, and no one has answered. The RESISTANCE stands on the brink of extinction. 

KYLO REN reigns Supreme Leader of the First Order, a position the KNIGHTS OF REN covet. As he continues his mission to recruit REY to the dark side, a race across the universe begins.

Whilst GENERAL LEIA ORGANA has ventured out in search of the last allies she can find, both sides are desperately in search of one final puzzle piece that can bring the end to this cruel stalemate…

A violent, rolling tide surged beneath the Millennium Falcon as it raced over the surface of Kef Bir. Rain lashed the cockpit window as Poe, Finn and Chewbacca looked out over the ocean moon. In the distance, an enormous, arching silhouette dominated the landscape. 

“So, now that it’s just us, are you gonna tell me what’s so classified about this place?” Finn asked. 

“Just give it a second…” Poe lifted the Falcon a little higher over the waves, and the monstrous ruin came into view. 

Scattered across miles of turbulent ocean were the immense shards of a long-dead space station, fallen to the surface of Kef Bir after it’s destruction. The ghost of the fallen Empire: the Death Star . 

 He had thought seeing such a symbol of the enemy’s power lying broken would bolster him, but, even in pieces, it was grander and more terrifying than Finn had imagined. 

“No way, turn us around. What information could be so important that Leia sent us here?” 

“Leia got wind of an Imperial contingency plan, an enormous hidden fleet, in case the Empire ever started losing the war. We’re here to find out if there’s any truth to that story. If it’s real...”

“The Rebellion would have all the ships it needed, a new fleet. And if data on a project like that is going to be anywhere…” Finn cottoned on, his stomach sinking.

“It’s here,” Poe finished.

Chewbacca shifted uncomfortably.

After a few laps of the ruin, they found an outcropping that looked sturdy enough to disembark onto. Chewbacca, refusing to go inside, took the Falcon back into the air, awaiting their return. 

“Scans of the ruins tell us the archives are still intact. The only question is how we get inside,” said Poe, gazing up at the monstrous skeletal ruins. The near-constant rain and lashing tide meant the entire wreck was doused in salt water. A thousand tiny streams and waterfalls trickled down through it, back toward the ocean. 

“I think that would be a good place to start,” Finn replied, pointing at the shattered circular window of the throne room. “We better hurry up though, the First Order could be here any moment.”

Chewbacca steered the Falcon into place next to the shattered window, lowering the ramp. The pair stepped out and through the broken viewport, crouching low against the wind of the engines.

The room itself was crumbling; glass and broken machinery were strewn across the watery floor. Finn turned to pull Poe up into the room, their hands slippery but their grip firm. Poe’s boots squelched as he scrambled up to join Finn, the water seeping in between the seams.

“Well, this place is delightful,” Poe remarked, his eyes scanning the room. “Where are we even going to begin?”

“If I had to guess, I’d say this place would’ve worked a lot like a modern First Order base,” Finn said, cautiously edging towards the other end of the room. “Once we get into the hallways, everything should be numbered and labelled. If we can find a working terminal, we might be able to get ourselves a copy of the station layout.”

“Alright then, lead the way,” Poe smiled. It had been more of a rhetorical complaint, but Poe was pleasantly surprised with Finn’s answer. He was finding that more often. 

Traversing the wreckage was slow and precarious work. There was no telling how much weight a bar or piece of sheet metal would take until a step was taken. Finn tested the path ahead with a tentative foot whilst Poe acted as a safety net, his hand on Finn’s collar, ready to snatch him out of the air. They delicately picked their way through the dilapidated structure, pausing only occasionally to bicker about directions, or pull each other away from a deadly drop. 

After several wrong turns and exhausting climbs, they finally pulled themselves up into a data archive. A row of terminals set in front of a wall tightly stacked with data tapes. Finn gave a sigh of relief and dropped himself into the seat of the nearest terminal.  

“Told you I knew where I was going.” He gave the machine a sharp smack when it failed to respond. After a few tense minutes of ametuer computer repair and choice language, they were able to coax some life into it, and Finn began scanning through vast data banks.

“Alright, it’s similar enough to First Order storage. Every tape here is going to have a number and a spooky codename, it’s just a matter of figuring out what we need.”

Poe walked along the rows of tapes, and stopped to see if any names caught his eye. 

“Star-Alpha?” Poe asked, looking at one of the tapes. Finn tapped the code name into the terminal and shook his head.

“Catering invoices,” Finn responded dejectedly.

Poe squatted to look at the lower tapes, reading off various names. The only sounds were the dripping of sea water, and a distant howl that made Poe flinch.

“Wait,” said Poe. Finn turned to see Poe looking up through the broken ceiling of the vault. “Did you hear that?” Finn waited for a moment, listening carefully. The saltwater dripped loudly, echoing around the enclosed area. But then, far away, he heard it. TIE fighters.

“We’ve gotta hurry,” Finn said, peering over the terminal anxiously. Poe ran his finger along the wall of tapes, stopping at one near the very bottom.

“Luna-Z?” Poe guessed, turning back to Finn. After a moment of silence, Finn looked up at him, a frown on his face.

“It isn’t here,” he replied blankly.

“Guess this is our quarry!” Poe exclaimed, grinning. He gripped the handle of the tape, yanking it forward. But it didn’t move.

“What’s wrong?” Finn asked, his eyes warily looking towards the sky. 

“It won’t come out,” Poe replied, pulling again on the handle. “It’s jammed.”

Finn looked at the casing for the tapes closely. It had bent with age, clearly warped from the fall. He dug his fingers into the shelving and heaved it upwards as Poe continued to tug at the tape. 

Finally, the tape came loose; Poe rolled backwards with it wrapped in his arms.

“Let’s go,” Finn said, and together they ran from the water-logged room.

Above them, the arched walls of the Death Star ruins blocked out what little sunlight there was. They looked down the echoey tunnel into which they had emerged, examining the wrecked pillars that loomed out of the water.

But it was too late to begin their escape: the lone TIE was already upon them, flying close over their heads, this time accompanied by blaster fire. Poe instinctively ducked, pushing Finn to the floor. Together, they shuffled around the corner of the metal walls, attempting to hide themselves from the view of their pursuer.

Poe could hear the engines of the TIE getting louder but he didn’t dare to risk looking for it. They hugged the wall, disappearing into the darkness of the ruin.

The roar of the TIE fighter rushed past them, almost ripping them both from their hiding position. Through the gap in the roof, Poe could make out the outline of another ship heading straight towards them. He squinted at the chasm, a grin spreading across his face. 

The Falcon descended before the fighter could make another pass and they hurried inside as quickly as their weary legs would carry them. Poe made his way to the cockpit to join Chewbacca, and Finn slid down a ladder into the gunner’s seat.

The whine of the TIE fighter was getting louder again, and Finn scanned the length of the corridor as the ship ascended back through the hole. Chewbacca gave a concerned growl, shuffling over as Poe threw himself into the pilot’s seat.

“Of course, it’ll be worth it,” Poe said, reassuringly. Frantically flicking switches, Poe and Chewbacca lifted the ship into the atmosphere, the TIE following closely behind, swerving to avoid a volley of fire from Finn.

“I’m not complaining.” Finn hammered on the trigger. “But why only send one?”

A moment too late, the Falcon ’s radar trilled. A second TIE broke through the clouds above them as they ascended, twisting and turning in and out of view. Poe wrenched them into a steep downward arc, and the newcomer dived after them. 

“We’re not going anywhere until we lose these guys, Finn!” Poe called back. 

“I know,” Finn grumbled. It was hard enough to return fire as the Falcon swerved and rolled to avoid its pursuers, but the newcomer was especially elusive, ducking in and out of sight, always pulling away the moment before Finn could lock on to them. 

“Okay, I have a very bad idea,” said Poe. Chewbacca roared. “Nope, and not very safe either.” 

“Well, it’s probably safer than out here!” yelled Finn, as the TIEs converged on them. The Falcon swung low, hovering over the turbulent blue waves of Kef Bir. The TIE fighters followed closely as Poe steered the ship closer to the wreckage of the Death Star . The gunner’s seat wrenched as the ship whirled upwards and into the remnants of the space station.

There was no clear path through the twisting and rusted ruin, but again and again, Chewbacca and Poe found some small gap or unseen turn for the Falcon to slip through, and for a moment, the TIEs were forced to focus on matching their course, firing only sparse, inaccurate shots as they banked and flipped. 

Finn aimed his canon at the disintegrating wreck, firing to block the path of their pursuers. Shards of metal and debris began to rain down in their wake. The TIE fighters expertly weaved through the new path, but the gap between the two ships began to grow.

The light burned Finn’s eyes. The dark clouds were still brighter than the inside of the destroyed Death Star. Poe and Chewbacca hurtled the ship downwards, evading the great waves that continued to crash around them. The TIE fighters swerved the waves that licked at the towering remains. The murky blue water rose up around them, enveloping the chase.

“Here we go,” Poe murmured to himself as he guided the Falcon through a now-tunnelling wave. The ship tumbled through, racing towards the other side. As the wave collapsed upon itself, they pulled upwards, soaring into the sky and through the planet’s atmosphere. The TIE fighters were too far behind now to catch up with them, so Poe launched the Hyperdrive forward and they lurched through the vacuum of Hyperspace.

The hangar engineers gave Night Buzzard a wide berth as they rushed to receive the returning TIE fighters. The Knights of Ren were rarely seen to leave their ship while docked with the rest of the First Order fleet, but Cardo had taken to perching atop it and taking potshots at passing repair droids. Only their leader, Kylo Ren, had the authority to stop him, and Kylo Ren didn’t care. 

The two pilots made their way back to the Buzzard, scattering crewmen and droids as they went, and disappeared within. Trudgen sat sharpening a great broad blade and looked up at them in question.

“They slunk away,” Ap’Lek said, before settling himself into a corner.

“Why not take the whole fleet with you next time, if it’s going to be so much trouble?” Trudgen said, returning to his weapon. He always greeted them with a barb such as this, but none of his comrades had taken the bait in years. If it came to blows every time Trudgen opened his mouth, they would have very few limbs between them.

Kuruk placed his weapons on the table, hands working robotically. 

“Rusty old freighters aren’t supposed to fly like that. Modified beyond anticipation,” he said flatly. It wasn’t an excuse. If Kuruk had missed, a hit had never been possible, and he was simply explaining the reason.

Another shot sounded outside; this time accompanied by the yelp of an unfortunate Gonk Droid.

“I’m sure the Supreme Leader will be very unders

tanding of your situation,” said Trudgen, 

as if the words were sharp in his mouth.

Moments later, there was a chirp from the holo-projector, and, as if summoned, the flickering visage of Kylo Ren walked among them. 

“Report from Kef Bir.” 

Kuruk holstered the blaster he had been working on and turned to Kylo.

“Readings were confirmed as a YT-1300, matching descriptions of the Resistance vessel Millennium Falcon.” 

“Was it destroyed?”

“We intercepted the ship and chased it off-world shortly after it arrived,” Ap’Lek spoke from his dark corner. His voice was always a surprise, even when he stood in plain sight. “It would be wise to ensure the vessel is destroyed when next encountered. It is unclear what information the crew might have been able to obtain from the remains of DS-2.” 

“I will inform you when and where your talents are needed, Ap’Lek,” Kylo said coolly. 

If Ap’Lek was the sort to reveal any upset or displeasure, he might have done so now. Instead, he simply waited and listened from behind the gaunt features of his mask.

“Ensure you are ready to fly on my order.” 

Chapter Text

It had never been simple for Rey separate herself from everything going on around her and focus as Luke had shown her, but it was certainly easier in places like this. The surface of Ajan Kloss was an endless tangle of roots and branches, of gentle chirrups and distant, foreboding howls. You didn’t need to walk far to be free of the clamour of the Resistance airstrip, and Rey was glad of it.

She settled herself between the roots of a large tree and allowed her breathing to steady. She closed her eyes and reached out. The wind rippled through the branches of the broadleaf trees above her. Insects skittered and chirped on the roots below. She flinched as a branch snapped loudly next to her ear, though it was miles away. Slowly, as the Force began to flow through her body with each breath, she began to rise into the air. The movement was imperceptible to Rey; all she could sense was the life thriving around her. 

BB-8 rolled around beneath her, crunching over twigs and branches that covered the mossy jungle floor. Rey’s eyes twitched at the sound, but gradually it faded into her periphery. The noise of the jungle fell upon her in gentle waves, and she was at one with Ajan Kloss. But something reached her from much farther away.

Why are you blocking me out? 

For a moment, she tried to re-focus, ignoring his voice, but it was impossible. Soon the sounds and sensations of the forest became dull and distant again, and there was just Kylo Ren.

You can’t avoid me forever.

“Yes, I can,” Rey responded, indignantly. 

Skywalker bought you time but left you without a teacher. Soon you’ll have neither. 

“I don’t need much longer,” Rey said, sensing his presence in the clearing. 

The Resistance can’t hide forever, and the next time we meet, you’ll take my hand when I offer it. 

“No, Ben-” 

That name died with my father. Rey could sense the anger in his voice. 

“There’s still light in you, I’ve seen it. Han saw it, too.” 

Kylo said nothing. Rey knew she had touched a nerve, which she took as a good sign.

“There’s still time for you, too,” Rey said, gently. His appearances did not disturb her tranquillity as much as they once had. She was proud of herself for that.

I will find you. Rey could sense his presence close to her now. She refused to open her eyes, to let down the barriers she had put up against these kinds of intrusions. 

Kylo took another step toward her, but as he neared the light of the clearing, the familiar roar of the Falcon washed over the forest, scattering birds, and bringing Rey back to reality. Her eyes snapped open.

Kylo was nowhere to be seen. 

As it landed, the Falcon was swarmed by Resistance fighters. Finn was the first down the ramp, to a chorus of cheers and relieved welcomes.

“We got it.” Finn looked at the group, his face a mixture of relief and concern. 

He looked slightly affronted when a pair of Resistance officers quickly snatched away the data tape and whisked it away for analysis.

“Just doing their jobs,” Poe reassured him, patting him kindly on the shoulder as he disembarked the ship, Chewbacca close behind.

The group followed the officers, relieved for the shade from the jungle heat. They made their way towards the command centre, where the remnants of the Resistance congregated.

“Any word from Leia?” Poe asked Lieutenant Connix as they entered the building together.

“Nothing yet,” Connix replied, a flash of unease appearing across her face. Poe and Finn made their way to the centre of the room, gathering around the control panel.

“What have we found out?” Poe asked, looking at C-3PO, who was now holding the tape.

“Sir, we believe it’s the plans to the Hidden Fleet,” C-3PO responded. The droid inserted the tape into the control panel, and the projector began to cycle images. Star Destroyers, TIE Fighters, formations dozens strong. Rey silently slipped into the room behind the crowd, making her way to the control panel. “The information recovered confirms the existence of an Imperial Era fleet, constructed and hidden as a contingency. It is fortunate they were not able to bring it to bear.” 

“Alright, so it’s just a matter of finding it,” Poe said. There were murmurs of interest from the onlooking rebels. It was such a little thing to pin their hopes on, but Poe had a knack for making any gambit seem a sure bet. 

“We believe the inscriptions on the device itself may give us insight into the location,” C-3PO responded. “But it is not in any language we are aware of.”

“Can I see?” Rey asked, making her presence known. C-3PO removed the tape and handed it to her. She turned it over in her hands, examining the inscription. “I’ve seen this somewhere before. This language...”

Abruptly, Rey pushed her way back through the crowd. Finn and Poe shared a bewildered look before following her as she made her way to the Falcon . 

Armitage Hux strode briskly down uniform halls, slaloming to avoid trails of dust and dirt left in the wake of his guests. He stopped briefly at a console on the wall to summon a maintenance droid to the offending corridor, before taking a deep breath and continuing on his way. 

Wrangling Kylo’s entourage into some kind of useful application was among his least favourite duties. It wasn’t technically his duty, but he was a dutiful man and liked scheduling meetings. 

There was a set of doors toward the end of the hall, slightly ajar and conspicuously lacking a pair of guards, so he concluded the Knights of Ren must be inside. Pausing for just a moment, he straightened up and entered.

The Knights had taken to arranging themselves in a wide semi-circle around a room they occupied, as to automatically surround anyone who entered. This habit wasn’t new, but it still caused people to start slightly when they arrived. Hux was, to his own annoyance, no exception.  Only one of the Knights bothered to look up as he entered. Two stood looking out of the wide viewport, into the inky blackness.

The number of hygiene, uniform and firearm safety regulations being violated simultaneously was truly staggering, but he wasn’t ready to have that conversation with them yet.

“Gentlemen,” he began, as brightly as possible. “The Supreme Leader has requested that when you are not under his direct command, you are to be treated as an… extension of the First Order’s combined armed forces.”

Bored silence. Given how their past interactions had unravelled, he assumed they must think of themselves as very civil.

“That would mean,” he continued. “Working within standardized mission parameters, and reporting to Command.”

Another civil silence.

“Which means me,” he said, pointedly.

He flinched slightly as Trudgen shifted in his chair for the first time, swinging his boots up onto the clear glass table, scattering dust across the entire spotless surface.

“So, we stick to a plan, and tell you what happens?” Trudgen asked.

“Pretty much,” said Ushar, swatting at a passing messenger droid with a lazy swing of his club.

“Pretty much,” concluded Hux. This was as close as he was ever going to get to being on the same page with the Knights, so he decided a discussion about vibro-weapons on the admin level could probably take place another time.

When Finn and Poe caught up to Rey, she was already rummaging through drawers, throwing papers and tools across the Holotable. 

“Ah ha!” she exclaimed, raising a withered book into the air. She began to fan through the pages, frantically searching for something. She stopped on a particularly weathered page and held it up for them to see. “There’s only a brief mention of it, but the inscription matches the examples of Sith from the Jedi Texts.” 

“There’s a Sith language?” Finn asked.

“Yes, but we have no way of translating it.” Rey sighed.

I'd be glad to help. Kylo’s voice echoed in her mind. She flinched, looking up at Poe and Finn.

“We’ll go back to the command centre and see what we can dig up. You see if there’s anything in that book that can help us,” Poe ordered, marching back off the ship. Finn glanced at her, his eyes narrowing.

“Are you okay?” he asked. She nodded and he returned the sentiment, turning and following Poe back out of the Falcon .

“Get out of my head,” Rey murmured. She looked up and saw Kylo standing across from her. She thought he looked tired, almost dishevelled. She supposed the stress of running a military junta was getting to him.

A fleet like that would keep the Resistance alive for some time. Even without the ships to oppose the First Order, they’ve proved difficult to finish off.

“What do you want?” Rey seethed. 

I can translate for you. His voice rang through her ears. But I need something in return.

“What do you want?” Rey repeated. How had he gotten into her mind again? She was determined to try harder to block him out, but, for now, she had to deal with him. She stood up, slowly, and glanced over at Anakin’s lightsaber, lying on the repair bench where she had last been working on it. 

I want you to join me. Your allegiance for my help.

Rage surged through her. Her hand grasped for the saber, willing it into her grip. Before her mind could catch up with her movements, she was swinging at the vision of him. But Kylo was gone, again.

Rey returned to the command centre, her blood still boiling after her encounter with Kylo Ren. Before she stepped inside the still-crowded room, she took a moment to compose herself. Whilst her breathing slowed, she considered Kylo’s proposition. He had been, quite irritatingly, correct. The Resistance was used to fighting with very little, and a fleet like the one they were searching for would repair years of setbacks. But, if she accepted, she’d be trapped by him and at his mercy. Then again, how else were they going to translate the inscription?

She regretted that Leia was not here to help her, though she understood the importance of the General’s mission. Their attempt to send for help on Crait had been ignored; clearly, there was no belief that the Resistance still had a chance of winning. Leia had decided that, if anyone would listen, they would listen to her. Her political charm, faded though it was, was the Resistance’s final plea to the rest of the galaxy for aid.

“Malachor?” Rey heard Finn ask as she entered the room. The projection in the centre displayed a bleak, uninviting planet, which Resistance intelligence was able to tell them very little about, other than an approximate location. 

“The name comes up in dozens of spooky stories about the Sith, but I don’t think most people knew it was a real planet,” Poe explained, still flicking through pages of vague, heavily redacted data on the world. There was no guarantee the planet would help them, but it was something.

“So, we go there,” Rey offered, eagerly. She clung to the idea immediately, desperate to find any way of translating the text without Kylo’s assistance. Any idea, dangerous or otherwise, was preferable to risking the fall into the dark side with him. Rey was pulled from her thoughts at the sound of R2-D2 chirping happily in agreement.

“Yes, quite. With a few more examples of this Sith language, R2 and I should be able to discern the location of our hidden fleet,” C-3PO affirmed.

Finn looked at his two friends, seeing a flash of optimism spread across their faces. He grinned at them.

"Let's go." 

“Rey!” She heard her name called from behind in a familiar voice. Rey turned and saw Maz walking towards her. Rey smiled at her friend, embracing her tightly. “Rey, Leia wanted you to take this.”

Rey looked down at Maz’s hands. She was cupping, very carefully, a small, blue crystal. Rey recognised it at once.

“A Kyber crystal?” Rey asked. She looked at the rock, studying the way it shone, seeming to change shape as it refracted the light. 

“Indeed,” Maz nodded, solemnly. “Ben Solo’s, before he became Kylo Ren.”

Rey gasped, looking down again at the crystal. It was a reminder of everything Leia’s son had been before the dark side of the Force had ensnared him. As she stared at the crystal in Maz’s palm, she began to feel the connection between her and Kylo again. Looking back at Maz, she willed it away.

“Why did Leia want me to have it?” Rey asked, frowning.

“She knows you and Kylo Ren will meet again,” Maz explained, pushing the crystal into Rey’s hand. “She knows you have the power in you to change his fate.”

Rey frowned. She had tried, before, to convince Kylo Ren of the light she saw in him, and she had failed. As she glanced again at the rock, she was filled with the fear of failing him again. And a fear of failing herself. Maz sensed the concern on Rey’s face and patted her reassuringly.

“Rey,” Maz said, looking her in the eyes. “The Force is with you. Remember that.”

Rey nodded, carefully placing the Kyber Crystal in her pocket. She would return it to its rightful owner. To Ben Solo.

Chapter Text

Given how long it took the crew to get to Malachor, Rey had time to modify her lightsaber. She ensured the crystal was safely secured on its mount before closing up the hilt entirely. When she had attempted to strike Kylo Ren, she had become aware that the handle was still loose from when she had last tinkered with the weapon. She was glad it had held together when she lost her temper.

Finn, Poe, Chewbacca, and C-3PO remained in the cockpit, watching the stars fly past as Chewbacca and Poe guided the ship through the emptiness of space. The crew had agreed it would be best for all of them to go, lest they be confronted by the First Order on their journey. Rey still hadn’t told the others about her conversation with Kylo. As far as she was aware, he didn’t know her location, nor their intended destination. She resolved to try harder in blocking out his voice if he called again. If she were to cause the downfall of the Resistance through carelessness, she didn’t think she’d be able to forgive herself.

She quietly joined the others as the ship fell out of Hyperspace above the dark planet of Malachor. R2-D2 rolled towards her, almost nuzzling her leg as they watched Poe guide the Falcon down towards the planet’s surface. The horizon seemed to stretch on endlessly and Rey could see nothing but a wilderness of withered soil. It seemed wholly barren, apart from one large stone pillar that appeared to rise out of the ground.

“It is rumoured this planet is home to a long-abandoned Sith temple,” C-3PO informed them as the Falcon descended upon the desolate surface. “However, there doesn’t appear to be much left of it.”

A silence fell over the crew as the ship landed a short distance from the pillar. They filed out of the Falcon and down onto the rocky surface. Chewbacca remained on the Falcon , bringing it back up into the air and ready to make a fast escape should they need it. It had been decided that the data tape should remain with the rest of the Resistance, so as to keep it safe. If anything were to happen on Malachor, the tape was the rebellion’s last hope.

As soon as Rey stepped down onto the planet, she sensed the strength of the Force. It was dark, darker than she had ever experienced previously. The feeling seemed to move up through her body, sending goosebumps rippling down her arms and legs. She thought of Kylo and the power she felt when she was near him. Malachor exuded that same energy.

The group moved forward silently, eyes scanning for life, movement, or any indication that they were heading in the right direction. As far as Rey could see, the flat expanse of darkness went on for miles ahead. As she looked up at the looming pillar, her hand quivered over her repaired lightsaber.

The stone pillar seemed to grow out of the wasteland before them, but it was clearly not organic in any way. From a distance, it appeared it was cracked and weather-beaten, but as they drew closer, they realised the pillar was covered in small markings. A few patches had faded or been worn away, but for the most part, it was exactly what they were looking for. Hundreds of rows of sharp, tightly packed symbols, running the length of the pillar. The language of the Sith.

“Looks like we’re in the right place,” said Finn.

“How long do you two think you’ll need?” Poe stood a few paces back from the others, eyeing the relic with unease. He had been fighting the First Order for years and heard stories of its sinister masterminds for longer still. But being this close something so dark filled him with quiet dread. Standing near it was like being deep underwater. It pressed at his edges, and he couldn’t bring himself to stay so close to it.  

Rey and Finn seemed to cope better, but Poe had resolved to focus himself on problems that could be run from, flown, or shot.

“Once R2 and I have collected a few more samples of the language, work can begin on translating it,” C-3PO explained, as the two droids worked their way around the pillar. “We should have everything we need within ten standard minutes.” 

Out on the silent wastes of Malachor, it certainly felt like a lot longer. Finn and Poe shared a pair of binoculars, scanning the featureless horizon. Rey stayed close to the pillar, finding it both fascinating and deeply unsettling. It drew and repulsed her all at once. To read the words upon it, though she did not understand them, felt like leaning over a steep and jagged cliff.

The noise of the others dissolved into nothingness behind her. Her body felt as though it had entered a void; only she and this memorial to the dark side existed within it. Her heart seemed to stop beating, but her body pulsed with the power it radiated. Before she even realised, she had reached out. She laid her fingers on the pillar and it drew an icy cold breath from her lungs. A million different voices called her name out at once, screams and whispers fusing together. But then she heard only one.

“Rey,” he breathed her name. She froze on the spot, terrified to turn around. Her lightsaber hung at her side and her eyes shot down to her hand, which had grasped the hilt. Her fingers flexed, testing the frosty metal. Feeling the Kyber crystal in her pocket, she forced herself to let go. To confront him without anger. Closing her eyes, she drew in a deep breath and turned on her heel.

His eyes immediately connected with hers. He could see her, clear as day. And she could see him. Rey felt no movement behind her. No Poe. No Finn. She stared at him, waiting for him to make the first move. And so, he did.

“Join me,” he whispered. Rey could feel him trying to infiltrate her mind. She wouldn’t allow it. She gripped her lightsaber firmly, focusing all of her energy on resisting him, pushing away the instinct to attack.

Slowly, he stepped forward. If he could just get to her. Just touch her, for one moment, he knew he’d be able to convince her. He stepped forward again.

“Stay away,” Rey said. Even she could hear how it sounded. Part of her, no matter how much she tried to press it down inside, wanted to join him. She looked closer at his eyes; they seemed to darken as they continued their stand-off. He stepped forward again. 

Rey changed her stance, ready to fight. She removed the lightsaber from its hook and rolled it in her hand. She was ready. Kylo saw the determination in her eyes and halted his movement.

“So be it, then,” he muttered. He pulled his lightsaber up and ignited it, the flaming red blade spitting. He widened his stance, ready for her to attack.

Rey ignited her saber and pulled it up towards her. But something was wrong.

Her blade was red. 

The cold metal seemed to burn in her hands. She gasped, dropping the saber, leaving herself defenceless. Kylo rushed at her, his saber high in the arc of its swing. Rey closed her eyes, awaiting the inevitable. She felt him grab her arm, pushing her back against the pillar. And then, darkness.

Kylo skidded to a halt in his quarters. A vision, that’s all it was. Just another vision. But, in the vision, her blade was red. He recalled the look on her face, one of disgust and guilt. He’d felt that same expression on his own face before. He reprimanded himself, internally, for not trying to convince her further. 

The visions they had shared before had just been of each other like a communication only they were privy to. He could rarely sense her surroundings unless he was truly focused on the bond. But this time, he had seen where she was, and he had recognised it instantly. Her closeness to a place so rich with the dark side of the Force had enabled the bridge between them to reconnect, but he had still been unable to convince her. He drew a deep breath.

One good thing had come of this.

He marched out of his quarters and down the halls of the Steadfast , officers and troopers flinching as he walked. General Hux had remained reluctant to accept Kylo as his commanding officer, but the determined sneer that had appeared on the Supreme Leader’s face convinced him to concede to his commands on his occasion.

Kylo continued down to the hangar, the sounds of droids yelping as he approached. The Knights stood ready, as they always were, waiting for the command of their leader.

“Prepare your ships,” he commanded, entering his TIE fighter. “I’ve found the girl.”

Chapter Text

“Rey!” Finn was suddenly at her side. He looked up at Poe, frantic. The pilot crouched down beside him, testing Rey’s pulse. 

“She’s okay,” Poe consoled his friend. “How long left, Threepio?”

“We will need a little longer than we initially predicted, sir,” the droid responded, solemnly. “These markings are incredibly old. R2 and I will need more time to decrypt them.” Poe nodded, slight disconcertion washing across his face. 

A crack sounded in the sky above them. The crew looked up, faces falling as they saw a Star Destroyer enter the atmosphere. Poe cursed to himself, looking down at Rey’s limp body.

“We need to get out of here,” he said to the others. Finn began to pull at Rey’s body, trying to lift her up. The familiar, yet disquieting, sound of TIE fighters began to fill the air. Finn looked up and saw what he dreaded most. Kylo Ren’s ship. He looked to the rest of the group with concern. Poe shared in his anxiety; Kylo Ren’s presence drew a fear in him that he felt in the pit of his stomach. The memories of his interrogation, when the young Sith had probed his mind so severely, made him shudder still.

“But sir,” C-3PO protested as Poe attempted to pull the droid away from the pillar. “We haven’t finished our translations.”

Poe shot C-3PO an urgent and anguished look. Before he could respond, lasers began to fire upon them. Poe ducked, reaching for Finn instinctively. The group crashed to the floor, narrowly avoiding the green fire overhead.

“Chewie get back here. We need a ride!” Poe yelled into his intercom.

“Leave the girl!” Kylo commanded the Knights. “We need her alive .”

His TIE fighter raced through the air, bullets streaming at the pillar, destroying it. The Knights were behind him, following his lead and rapidly ripping the unsteady pillar to pieces. Cardo swung below the rest of the brigade, aiming lower at the small crawling shapes on the ground.

Below them, the group clambered away from the pillar. Its surface was torn apart and beginning to collapse. Finn desperately pulled at Rey’s body, dragging her towards the Falcon . The TIE fighters circled around above them, looping back, all blaster fire aimed at the struggling rebels.

Trudgen swooped sideways, diverting away from the other fighters, coming in low to get a more exact aim on the group. His lasers flew over their heads; Finn ducked to avoid a particularly low shot.

“Leave the girl,” Kylo repeated, almost spitting into the comm. Reluctantly, Trudgen pulled back towards the ships, grumbling quietly as he did so.

Rey's head hit the floor. She looked up at the blurry movements above her. Debris fell in all directions; she could make out the collapsing figure of the pillar. As she lifted her head, she saw Finn on the ground beside her, a sweltering wound on his leg. The pain made his face twinge and she reached towards him. 

"Finn!" she heard Poe's voice from behind her. She looked back towards the pilot who was sliding towards them. "Finn, are you okay, buddy?"

Finn nodded, wincing as he tried to stand. Rey looked back towards the falling pillar. Through the dust and chaos, she could see Kylo marching towards them, the Knights following him, weapons in hand. He was real this time, and she felt the fear of his approach fill her.

"Get to the ship," she ordered Finn and Poe, whipping her head back to them. Poe pulled Finn up onto his shoulder and they limped together towards the Falcon . Rey turned back to Kylo, reaching for her saber. But it wasn't there. 

Across from her, Kylo ignited his own saber. It flickered red, sparking wildly as he continued towards her. The Knights looked on from behind and Rey realised he had no intention of killing her. He wanted to capture her.

She knew he was moments away from reaching her, and she was still defenceless. Her eyes darted around wildly, trying to sense her saber. Then she saw it… in his hand.

In a moment so quick it seemed like lightning, she pulled the lightsaber from his grip and it flew through the air towards her. It ignited in her hand, clashing with his immediately. She looked at her blade, this time shining that same pure blue as it had before. So, it was just a vision .

"You need my help," he seethed as their blades collided. "Join me, Rey."

Rey broke away, swinging around and under his saber and lifting her blade to attack from behind. Kylo hurled around and their blades collided again, crackling with energy.

Take your place with me . She heard his voice inside her mind again. Their blades disconnected and she swung towards him, the top of her blade narrowly avoiding his waist. In the distance, she could see Finn and Poe stumbling up the ramp together. She just needed a few more moments. 

Breaking her out of her contemplation, Kylo's sputtering red blade slashed towards her face. She parried it, sweeping around him again, her back to the Falcon . He looked at her, trying to see her next move. His eyes focused on hers and he felt a sadness spreading over her. And then he felt nothing at all. 

"Goodbye, Ben," she whispered. The Falcon came towards them and she launched herself off the ground, landing on the now-closing ramp. She had cut the connection between them. She was gone.

The Falcon swerved up into the air, Poe meticulously piloting the freighter. He and Chewbacca were pinned to their seats, and the Falcon climbed, engines roaring to carry them away from the dead planet. Poe looked at Chewbacca, tentatively resting his hand on the Hyperdrive. Chewbacca roared at him in disapproval. 

“Everybody hold on, we’re going to be jumping to light speed a little ahead of schedule,” Poe called back through the ship, and Chewbacca gave a reproachful growl.

“Yeah, I don’t like it much either,” Poe conceded. “But we’re running out of lucky breaks.”

He pushed the handle forward and the ship lurched worryingly, fighting the planet’s gravity, pulling the ship in two directions. Metal creaked and reality strained, before the Falcon leapt forward, and across the stars.

Finn groaned as Rey tended to his wound. The supplies on the Falcon were low; the Resistance had been taking many casualties of late.

“Finn, please, I need you to hold still,” she murmured, looking at the wound on his leg. It had seared the skin from him, almost puncturing a hole straight through him. He squirmed in pain; his eyes squeezed tightly. Rey looked at her friend, her heart throbbing with sympathy. She tried to focus on him but knew that some part of her mind had to remain concentrated on blocking Kylo out. She wondered how long she could manage it.

As the ship rocked through Hyperspace, she rested her hands upon Finn’s leg. He twinged again; his face anguished. She closed her eyes. His agony swept through her, tears budding beneath her eyelids. 

Focusing on the Force around her, she willed Finn’s pain to leave his body. She lightly held his leg and felt him relax under her grip. She opened her eyes again, looking at Finn’s resting frame. She had healed his wound, entirely.

“How did you do that?” Poe asked from behind her. She turned as he walked towards Finn, gently prodding at his friend’s leg. He looked to Finn. “Does it hurt?”

“No…” replied Finn, still bewildered at the appearance of Rey’s new power. The group looked at each other, waves of surprise and relief washing over them. From the cockpit, they heard Chewbacca roar. They were safely back at the Resistance base, but they had returned empty-handed. 

Kylo tried again to connect with her. It was like hitting a wall in his mind, blankness filling the space she had occupied previously. His face spasmed as he forced himself to his limit. She was blocking him out, this time for good.

He could feel the eyes of the Knights boring into the back of his head. He turned, cape swooping, and marched back to his TIE fighter, avoiding the stares from the cohort.

“Should have just killed her,” Trudgen murmured, anger pervading his voice. Kylo winced and looked at him.

“We need her alive,” Kylo responded. “The dark side is in her nature. If we kill her, we are committing genocide of our kind.”

He continued back towards his ship, the Knights reluctantly following, all sharing the same thought.

Chapter Text

Rose rubbed the back of her head absent-mindedly. The tumble she had taken in the ski speeder on Crait had left its marks, most notably the large bump on the back of her head that had been taking its time to heal. With every pang of pain, she remembered the death-defying act that had caused it.

Finn had reprimanded her quite fully as soon as she was well enough to listen, and she had taken his criticisms duly. Despite that, she didn’t regret what she had done, or what she had said. The war between the light and dark was something she had experience with growing up on Hays Minor and it was a battle she was determined to see the end of. Whatever the cost.

Nevertheless, as Finn had reminded her, she needed to stay alive in order to do that.

The familiar rumble of a ship landing outside sounded and Rose was waiting for the crew as they quietly left the Falcon . The defeat was clear on their faces, so she decided not to pry too much into what had happened on Malachor. C-3PO kindly informed her on the basic facts of their excursion, but the setback overwhelmed the group as they returned to the command centre. Rose folded her arms, looking at the wistful group.

“I have some good news,” she said, her voice breaking the oppressive silence. “We may have found another way to locate the Hidden Fleet.”

Finn, Poe, and Rey’s heads snapped up in attention. They looked at her, eyes wide, willing her to tell them more.

“Leia has sent word of a defector,” Rose began, slowly. “Apparently they have information that could help us.” Finn jumped up, hugging Rose tightly. Poe shook a small frown from his face.

“Where is the defector?” Poe asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Leia has forwarded coordinates to meet with them,” Rose responded, pulling away from Finn. “She doesn’t know how much information they have, but it’s a start.”

Relief washed over Rey entirely. The guilt from allowing Kylo into her mind again, and for him to find her because of her recklessness, began to fade as Rose told them more about Leia’s contact. 

“The contact is an ex-mechanic from the Kuat Drive Yards,” Rose explained, her brow furrowing as she brought up the schematics of the Hidden Fleet on the control panel again. “Which makes sense, but the model numbers on the data drive don’t match any Kuat ones we’ve seen before.”

“Perhaps it was a secret division,” Finn suggested. “The First Order did that sort of thing all the time. Black sites, hidden orders, secret divisions.”

“It does sound like them,” Poe agreed, nodding. He looked back to Rose. “So where do the coordinates take us?”

Rose flipped a switch on the control panel. The hologram fuzzed and displayed the flickering image of a dusty, desert planet.

“Pasaana,” she responded. “In the Expansion Region, home to the Aki-Aki people. It’s practically all desert and dunes, but it’s a safe enough place to meet.”

“So, back aboard the ship?” Poe asked, excitement sparkling in his eyes.

“I want to come, too,” Rose said, abruptly. They all looked at her in surprise. “I can’t keep standing on the side-lines. I want to help.”

Finn and Rey glanced at each other. Rose had never shown reluctance to the Resistance mission in the past, so this wasn’t surprising. But her readiness to sacrifice herself gave them pause. Poe broke them out of their shared reverie.

“The more the merrier,” Poe said, slight sarcasm cutting through his voice. Finn hid a smirk from the rest of the group.

The weather on Ajan Kloss seemed gloomier than when they had initially left. Many of the Resistance officers had taken to huddling in the barracks, poring over plans and diagrams of attack. The atmosphere among them felt different, though, more determined than Rey had sensed it before. Their dwindling numbers continued to plague her, but she reminded herself of her need to focus on blocking any intrusions to her thoughts.

She tried desperately to think of anything that could distract her from her situation, but he seemed to be dragged into her thoughts. She thought back to their conversation in Snoke’s throne room, how they had discussed her parentage. In that moment, loneliness had consumed her, and she had been so close to taking his hand. She could understand, though never condone, being pulled into the inviting arms of the dark side.

As her thoughts attempted to drain her of hope, she looked up into the canopies of Ajan Kloss. The planet was beautiful, something she tried not to forget whilst the Resistance was based there. The peace of the jungle noises battled with her darkening contemplation before being interrupted by Finn’s arrival.

“How did he know we were there?” Finn asked, approaching her. “Kylo. How did he know we were on Malachor?”

Rey’s eyes widened as she looked at her friend. She knew, of course, that it had been her fault. She had been negligent of Kylo’s power to overcome her and the moment she slipped, her curiosity of the dark side enveloping her, she had put them all in danger.

“He and I…” she began, carefully. “He and I have a connection. Sometimes, I can see him, and he can see me. When I touched the pillar on Malachor, we had a shared vision, and through that he found me. Found us.”

Finn studied her face. She looked sorrowful, clearly burdened by the weight of this responsibility. He couldn’t discern how he knew, but he sensed remorse within her, mixed with that ever-present curiosity of the Force. 

“How long has this been happening?”

“Since Ahch-To,” she responded. “I thought it was Snoke, but…”

“But now you think it’s something else?” Finn guessed. Rey nodded and looked down at her hands. She was still holding her saber and she thought back to when it flickered red on Malachor. The fear of falling to the dark side had become a lingering thought in her mind and she wondered if Kylo had sensed her self-doubt. The only ray of hope she was able to cling to was that she had seen a similar doubt in him.

“You can’t keep these things a secret,” Finn said, his arms suddenly around her. “You can’t keep trying to win this war alone.”

Tears fell almost instantly at his words, tumbling down onto Poe’s jacket, that Finn continued to wear. The two held each other for a moment, their emotions overwhelming them. And then, it was time to leave.

Chapter Text

From all available information about Pasaana, Finn thought it would be as empty and desolate as Malachor, a desert world of dusty plains and rocky outcroppings, stretching as far as the eye could see. The coordinates Rose had been given for their rendezvous were for the outskirts of a tiny native village of a dozen or so buildings. Finn looked out toward the horizon as the Falcon raced over the surface, hills and valleys flickering beneath them.

Poe had gotten used to manoeuvring the freighter delicately over rocky terrain, a skill that had not slipped through Rey’s notice. Poe and Chewbacca hadn’t been co-piloting for long, but Chewbacca recognised talent when he saw it. The Resistance pilot seemed to know how to fly any ship, even if he had never sat in its cockpit before. He smiled, feeling the eyes of his comrades watching him as he guided the Falcon closer to the Aki-Aki settlement. 

“I’d bet there are more of us on the ship than there are in this whole village,” Finn remarked as the ship skimmed over the planet’s surface. 

“Better to have someplace quiet to meet,” said Rose. “That way we can have Chewie blast our mystery guest if things get out of hand.”

Poe and Finn shared a concerned look, as the Falcon rose over a final crest. An explosion of noise and colour washed over them. Poe pulled up suddenly to avoid a tangle of kites and banners, the engine of the ship shuddering at the abrupt upswing. 

Stretching out across the valley below them were thousands upon thousands of pavilions, tents and stages all painted and adorned to stand out as much as possible from the dull desert sand. A dozen bands played over each other, and people moved between the many attractions in great noisy rivers.

“What is this?” Poe asked, turning to C-3PO expectantly. “It’s not quite as discreet as I’d imagined.”

“I believe, sir, it is The Festival of the Ancestors,” C-3PO responded without hesitation. “A rare sight, indeed, occurring only once every forty-two years!”

Poe looked back at the droid incredulously before returning his gaze to the festivities below. There seemed to be movement in every direction they looked, with people of all races dancing in unison. 

“I hope your guy gave us a good description,” said Finn, and they all looked at Rose sceptically.

“He said he’d be wearing goggles,” Rose offered.

“Goggles,” Poe repeated. He turned back to the controls; eyebrows raised. “Alright, so we’re looking for a guy wearing goggles.”

The ship weaved over the crowd before Poe found a space to nestle it between two large mesas that populated the otherwise barren dunes. 

“Threepio, you come with us,” Poe remarked before bending down to meet BB-8’s level. “You need to stay here, buddy. I don’t want you getting lost anymore.”

BB-8 beeped sadly, and the pilot rubbed the droid’s head affectionately before joining the rest. The group pulled their shemaghs up around their mouths to protect themselves from the clouds of dust being produced by the festivities and began to make their way into the crowd.

Hundreds of different species mixed together, and the music and conversation overlapped into one large cacophony of joyous sound. Rey grinned under the fabric of her scarf, watching children run around her, chasing each other, and enjoying the buzz of the festival.

Chewbacca was acting as their landmark, in case anyone got lost, and had adorned a truly garish yellow cape to assist in this purpose. They had assured him his stature would be more than sufficient, but it seemed to put him in a good mood, so they let him be. 

Poe steered them between groups of festivalgoers, ever the leader, all eyes scouring faces for the pair of goggles they were looking for. It was difficult not to get distracted, though, by the Aki-Aki people who surrounded flaming pyres in celebration. Rey curiously adventured closer to them, watching the locals burn effigies in their ancestors’ honour. The loneliness began to settle into her mind again, and she grabbed Finn’s arm instinctively. He patted her, knowingly, and they continued to traverse the busy festival grounds.

“I’m seeing some kind of game stall that’s going to require immediate reconnaissance, Commander Dameron,” Finn said, nodding his head in its direction. Poe turned, smiling. He was reluctant to join in with the festivities, but truly times of happiness had been few and far between of late. He couldn’t help but indulge the ex-trooper, though only for a short while.

The group made their way over to the tent Finn had gestured to. As they traversed through the crowd, Poe spotted the large bays of ships parked along the perimeter of the festival. He gawked at the models, recounting stories of flying various A-Wings and yachts. 

C-3PO translated the game rules: a simple shooting game one might find at a galactic circus. Finn stepped up, picking up the bola gun and aiming it at the colourful targets that lined the back of the tent. He levelled the weapon; his shoulders and feet shifting robotically into a firing stance and pulled the trigger. There was a loud thwap and the bola shot forward, flying between the many bright distractions swinging throughout the stall, and knocked over the closest target.

“I thought Stormtroopers were meant to have bad aim,” Poe remarked, smirking a little as the stall manager handed over Finn’s prize. Finn turned to him, wrapping the prize garland around Poe’s neck. 

“Usually the targets were moving,” he shrugged, the dark humour of his comment tickling them slightly. 

“Not to interrupt,” Rose said. “But I think I’ve found our guy.” The group looked to where she was now pointing and saw a man clothed in black standing high on an outcropping of rock above the festival.

Like many of the people in the crowd, he was wrapped in a heavy shawl, to protect him from the drifting sands, and from under his hood, a pair of large dark sand goggles glinted. The stranger regarded them for a moment, before walking away from the ledge, and out of sight. Chewbacca gave a low growl and checked his bowcaster.

“I suppose we’d better go and introduce ourselves,” said Rey.

They weaved their way through the throng, and broke free, walking between the tents, and up toward the hill where they had seen the informant. He wasn’t making any effort to hide. He sat cross-legged, at the top of the hill, but just out of sight from the people below. The group approached him with caution, Rey leading, her hand wrapped around her lightsaber.

“Are you the informant?” Rey asked, her eyebrow raising at the sight of the defector. The group stopped behind her, a little way back in case Rey needed the space to swing her blade.

The man turned around slowly, his Mandalorian axe gripped tightly in his gloved hand. He nodded once in response. Finn narrowed his eyes on the renegade mechanic, looking at the dark wraps that shrouded his body. Rose moved forward slightly; her hand close to the taser she continued to carry.

“What information do you have for us?” Rey asked. The defector peered at her through the sand goggles, taking in her full appearance before he responded. He stepped towards her, his gait familiar. Rey watched him carefully as he lifted his head, saying something in a language she didn’t understand.

“Translation, Threepio?” Poe requested, turning back to the droid.

Finn kept his eyes trained on the man in black. He could feel something moving in the air around them, like wind without sound. His eyes drifted behind the informant as C-3PO translated for them, focusing on some distant out-cropping.

“Well, sir,” C-3PO began. “It’s a dialect I don’t quite recognise, but as far as I can understand it, he said ‘rebel scum.’”

Finn’s hand reached for his blaster, the other pulling Rey down to the floor. A shot flew past them, ringing in their ears. He looked up at the informant who held a small silver canister in his hands.

“The Knights of Ren,” Rey breathed as the images of Kylo’s disciples flashed through her mind. Finn’s blaster fired close to her ear, the bolt hitting the canister and sending a cloud of multicoloured smoke over the group.

Chapter Text

Rey’s lightsaber flew towards Ap’Lek; she had dived forward through the dust and disarray, swinging towards the dark warrior. She stumbled on the rocks and saw his axe carving through the bright mist.

"Finn!” She heard Poe call behind her. More footsteps sounded around them now and she was sure that the other Knights had arrived, though she wasn’t confident she knew how many of them there were. Her lightsaber lit the vibrant haze and she tried to sense the movements around her. Dark shapes moved through smog and it began to dissipate over the ledge.

She raised her lightsaber, attempting to light the path in front of her, but careful not to swing too erratically, lest she hit one of her companions. Ap’Lek’s axe swung close to her face again and she fell backwards, her feet tripping over themselves and sending her over the side of the cliff-face. 

As soon as the smoke bomb had exploded, Finn had felt Rey remove herself from his grip. He could still make out the light of her saber moving through the mist, but its glow was fading. 

“Finn!” Poe shouted. Finn scrambled on the floor, keeping his blaster steady as he moved towards the sound of Poe’s voice. He could sense that there were more movements now, though he couldn’t see anyone through the thick fog.

He heard metal against the rocky floor and looked down to see a scythe being dragged across the rocky plain to his right. He stepped away from the weapon, his back hitting something behind him. He spun around, falling face-first into a shroud of brown hair.

“Chewie!” Finn whispered his excitement. He was glad, for once, to see the Wookie towering over him, bow-caster in claw.

A sharp crackling sound, and heavy footfalls, reached them. Chewbacca bared his teeth. From within the smog, stepped another black-clad Knight, a broad and heavy blade across his shoulder, and a patchwork mask obscuring his features.  

He walked a slow circle around them, weighing the handle of his weapon. 

“FN-2187”

“I don’t go by that anymore,” said Finn.

“The First Order disagrees, and they want you brought home alive,” Trudgen stopped and brought his blade to his side.

“There’s no way I’m going anywhere with you,” Finn levelled his blaster at his enemy.

“No, there isn’t.” 

Finn fired, but there was a slash of silver, and the blaster bolt ricocheted off into the distance. With a bestial roar, Chewbacca barrelled through Finn, knocking him to the floor, and swatted Trudgen with a huge fist, sending him flying across the rocks. 

Finn scrambled for his blaster, but it was nowhere to be seen. Cursing Chewbacca silently, he clambered to his feet in time to see Trudgen fly out of the fog, slashing at his companion, and forcing him to backpedal. 

Finn saw the smaller, curved blade Trudgen wore at his side, and without thinking, nor caring for the distance, he reached out for it. The weapon seemed to fly into his hand, and he swung it towards its previous owner, slicing open the back of his coat. 

Finn felt the tight grip of Chewbacca’s claw pull him up by the back of his jacket, hurling him into the air. He watched as the Knight swivelled, fading into the mist again.

Poe pulled the scarf up around his mouth, anxious not to inhale any of the mist that had enveloped the group. His eyes twitched as they adjusted to the thick cloud surrounding them. Rose grasped the back of his shirt and the two moved away from where Ap’Lek had been standing.

The mist swirled with movement, but no figures emerged as they steadily crept out of the blossoming cloud. The sound of a blaster made them both jump and worry filled Poe’s heart.

“Finn!” he cried, desperate for any response. Rose pulled him swiftly backwards and out of the fog, right into the path of two more of the Knights. Poe cried out as the first grabbed Rose, shuddered for a moment, and slumped to the ground. 

Rose holstered her taser, looking mildly impressed with herself. Poe gawked at her, astonished, but was pulled back into the moment by Ushar’s swinging club narrowly missing them both. He shot towards the Knight with his blaster and the both of them slid past, back down the rock formation’s steep incline. Chewbacca roared behind them and the group sped towards C-3PO, who greeted them as only he could.

“Oh heavens!” the droid exclaimed as Poe yanked on his arm, all of them racing back towards the Falcon .

“Wait!” Finn skidded to a halt, looking back up the hill. “Where’s Rey?”

Being alone came with the intrusive thoughts it always had. Kylo handled his saber, thoughtfully rolling it in his hands. His thoughts dragged him back to moments he rarely wished to revisit: the death of his father, his battle with his old master. His strength had eclipsed Snoke’s, he had always known that, but when he had awoken on the Supremacy as Supreme Leader, he felt none of the satisfaction he had expected.

His rage riddled him, sending shocks of shame through his body. He had been so sure, once, that this path was the right one. The dark side continued to provide him with the power he desired, but the light still tugged at him. His grandfather’s voice was no longer the presence it always had been, not since he had killed Snoke. The war within him had been raging for so long he no longer knew which side he was fighting for. The dark side of the Force seemed to flow through him so naturally. It was easier, in a way. 

He thought of his mother. She filled his thoughts more often these days, but the words of his grandfather, the words of Snoke, battled with the memories of his childhood. He had been cast out, neglected because his family had seen dark in him. He questioned why they were so afraid to embrace it as he had so willingly done. Strength and energy flowed through the dark side irresistibly. 

He shook his head to rid himself of the self-doubt. He had undertaken this path long ago and resolved to continue down it. Journeying out of his quarters, he roamed the ship, idly navigating his way to the hangar. But the Night Buzzard was nowhere to be seen. An undeniable fury began to overwhelm him, and he sought out Commander Hux to question him.

"Who gave them clearance?" he demanded. "Who gave them the authorization to leave?"

"I did, sir," Commander Hux said, hiding a smirk from the Supreme Leader. Hux hadn’t always enjoyed the presence of the Knights, which was one of the reasons he wanted to be rid of them, but knowing it would provoke Kylo Ren was the central goal of his transgression. Only when he saw the fury colouring Kylo’s pale face did he realise his mistake.

Kylo's eyes narrowed, looking at the pale man before him. Rage moved his hand faster than his mind could follow, scorching Hux's chest with his saber. He watched the Commander's limp body drop to the floor before him. He turned to the officers in the command room.

"Prepare my-" Kylo began, but he was cut off by the vision that clouded his view.

Chapter Text

Time seemed to stand still. All Kylo could see was her face, swimming in front of his eyes. She had let her guard fully down and their minds seemed to merge, information flowing between them rapidly. 

His voice echoed in her mind, but he wasn’t saying anything to her: these were thoughts, the ones that permeated his every waking moment. In an instant, she had read the same ancient pages he had, the same word repeated among them: dyad.

It felt like a ripple. Like holding your breath underwater for too long. Their eyes saw each other and themselves simultaneously; looking in a mirror and seeing another’s face. 

He blinked as the image of the Sith language and his translation drifted between them, their pupils enlarging as they both realised what it meant. Rey looked down at the fall below her, the image floating in front of Kylo's eyes like a memory.

The wall between them began to rise again, but he felt her reluctance. 

He peered through her sight, taking one last look at her surroundings. As she looked back up, he saw Ap'Lek standing over her, ready to push her. Anger rose through him and the barrier between their minds resealed. 

Rey's lightsaber still swung in her other hand. Ap'Lek's feet were on the fingers of her left hand and she knew she didn't have much energy left to hold onto the ledge for much longer. Her years of scavenging had taught her how to scale cliff-faces, but the arch of the rock seemed too steep to hold her. 

Desperately, she plunged the saber into the rock and allowed it to glide down, her legs guiding her downwards. Ap'Lek watched from above, the other Knights joining him. Rey's feet found their landing at the base of the precipice. She looked back up to the peak, but the Knights had all but disappeared.

The festival seemed uninterrupted by the scuffle; Rey couldn't see Finn, Poe, or even Chewbacca among the crowd. She raced around the crag, determined to re-join the rest of the crew. She saw the Falcon in the distance, the small specs of her friends standing beside it.

Her and Finn's eyes locked on each other and she began to speed towards them. Finn did the same, blowing dust up into the air around him. The speed of their collision almost knocked Finn off his balance.

“Finn,” Rey panted. “I know where the fleet is.” 

“Where?” he asked, equally breathless. “How did you find out?”

“Kylo,” she responded, anxious not to reveal more. “They were coordinates, written coordinates.” She began to recite them to him; he committed them to memory as quickly as he could.

“Wait, why don’t we do this on the Fa -”

Before he could finish his sentence, the familiar metallic sounds of weaponry found them. Rey turned, pushing Finn away from her as Ap’Lek’s axe cleaved the air between them.

“Finn, go,” Rey murmured, her blade ready in her hands. “I’ll buy you time and meet you later. Now, go.”

He started towards her defiantly and she raised her hand to him, Force-pushing him away from her. Finn stared at her, frowning. He knew that she wouldn't ask him to leave without good reason. Poe skidded down the ramp behind him and ran to join Finn.

"What is she doing?" Poe asked, watching Rey enter her battle stance, lightsaber outstretched.

"She's giving us a chance," Finn responded. The two turned and re-entered the ship. Finn's insides began to crumble as the Falcon lifted off the ground. Poe and Rose watched Rey through the viewport, the Knights still advancing on her. Chewbacca manoeuvred the ship into the air before activating the Hyperdrive and diving into the tunnel of Hyperspace.

Rey examined the Knights as they circled around her, weapons in hand. She drew a circle in the sand with her feet, watching for any incoming attack. The Knight to her right, holding a Vibro-cleaver, began to move toward her and she held her saber high to parry his attack. She could feel Ap’Lek closing in behind her and spun on her heel to force him away. 

She noted that only five of the Knights were present, and remembered the sniper watching from afar. Everything was happening so quickly, that her movements became instinctive. She thought of Ben and their link.

In her desperation, she had let her guard down, and he had been able to infiltrate her mind again. As she hung over the ledge, she had considered why Kylo had not been there himself. She understood now that the Knights were acting for themselves, confirmed by the surprise on his face when she had re-established the connection between them. In the few short moments when their minds had been bridged again, she had seen so much of him. That word flickered in her mind again.

Dyad.

Blasters sounded around her, and she deflected them naturally, preserving herself but unable to escape their barrage. Her arms were tiring but her head swum with the information she had assimilated from him. Dyad . She repeated the word in her mind. Two that are one.

Ap’Lek’s axe narrowly missed her again and she was drawn back to reality. Her breathing was heavy, and her eyes fluttered as sand was thrown into the air by the chaos. The noise of the festival had faded somewhat, and the sky was darkening. She didn’t have much time left.

Back to the festival grounds and saber humming, she faced the Knights, attempting to detect them through the wall of dust. A movement to her right caught her attention: a crackling red hue. Her legs trembled with exhaustion and she began to move backwards, watching the large dark form move between her and the attackers.

Chapter Text

Kylo shifted his weight and spun out of the way as Ap’Lek’s axe sliced the air where his head had been. Standing in the twilight, the Supreme Leader stared down his opponents one by one. Rey shuddered behind him, the cool chill of the desert evening settling. Her lightsaber was still lit, hanging at her side limply. Why was he doing this?

“Your allegiance is fractured, Kylo Ren,” Ap’Lek spoke. His voice crackled with hatred. 

“Traitors,” Kylo muttered. 

“You’ve betrayed our mission to the dark side. The scavenger girl is nothing,” Trudgen spat. Before Kylo could respond, Ap’Lek’s axe lurched towards him again and he slid sideways to avoid the attack. His gloved hand gripped his lightsaber and he vaulted towards Trudgen, the blade of his lightsaber sparking with fury. 

The Knights had encircled Kylo, who wheeled in all directions, sparks flying with every parry and slash. Rey turned back to the crowd behind her. They were far enough to be safe but close enough for her to run for cover. Needing a way to escape the planet and join the others, she searched the area for Kylo’s TIE fighter, but it was nowhere to be seen. 

Her eyes adjusted to the dark that had settled over the planet, a shroud of shadows obscuring the night sky. As she scanned the dwindling lights of the festival, she remembered the ships on the periphery of the pavilions. She glanced back at Kylo, his blade swinging and clashing, a red streak in the black, before racing towards the bustling celebrations.

Kylo dropped to one knee as Ushar slammed his club into his chest. It winded him, taking the breath from his lungs. Cardo pressed his foot into Kylo’s back, pressing him into the ground. 

The Knights began to circle him like vultures. Every time he attempted to lift himself from the ground, another blow would force him back into the dust.

“Snoke was right,” Trudgen taunted, swinging his blade back over his shoulder. “You are a child.”

Sand had clouded his vision almost entirely, but Kylo could feel the Knights moving away from him. He gasped, grateful for the reprieve.

A shock of pain screamed through him and he raised his head to see Cardo’s blaster smoking. Kylo reached down and felt the scorching hole that ripped through his gut: a fatal laceration and a mark of their betrayal. 

There were probably hundreds of ships, Rey realised as she approached them at speed. Behind her, she could still feel the movement of the fight, but she focused her mind on getting back to Finn and the rest. The Resistance’s last fighting chance was in the information she had relayed to them and she knew now would be the only time she had to escape. 

Tucked behind the crowds of transporters, she spotted an old B-Wing with its hatch open, clearly abandoned by its owner who was now presumably enjoying the festivities. As a scavenger, she had learnt how best to steal vehicles, but it made it a lot easier when they were already open. Sneaking carefully around the edge of the ships, she made her way towards the vacant starfighter.

She looked back towards the dunes but the red glow was distant now. As she was about to step into the cockpit, a twang of pain hit her between her ribs. She looked down, sure she had been hit by something, but her belt remained intact. The pain began to spread through her, and her surroundings began to melt away.

Realisation dawned on her as quickly as the pain had hit her. She dropped back down to the sandy floor, her feet moving back towards the fight.

Finn sat in the gunner’s seat of the Falcon , watching as the ship raced through the hyperspace lanes. There was nothing to shoot at, but there was only room for one, and he felt like being alone. 

After half an hour or so, he heard steps on the ladder above him.

“Room for one more?” Poe’s boot tapped him on the shoulder.

“Nope.”

“Sure, there is,” he said, and quite inelegantly wedged himself behind the gunner’s chair. 

There was a comfortable silence for some time as they watched the galaxy pass by. 

“You didn’t leave her behind, you know. She made a tough decision.”

“She shouldn’t have had to,” Finn toyed with a latch over his head.

“Rey’s smart, she won’t give you anything to worry about. And besides, we’ve got a job to do. Let’s make sure we find this fleet and get this Rebellion back up to speed.”

“You’re going to be so boring if we find it,” Finn smirked. “I thought you’d almost used up all your pilot trivia.” 

“ When we find it. And yes, I’m going to be extremely boring,” he squeezed Finn’s shoulder and clambered to his feet. “I got pretty close, though!”

Finn stretched out in the seat and smiled to himself. 

“We’ve still got time.”

Poe checked in with Finn twice more over the next few hours, and each time he felt better about Rey’s chances, and theirs. Finn had nearly dozed off when Chewbacca announced their imminent arrival. 

The crew strapped themselves into their seats, BB-8 being scooped into Poe’s lap at the last minute, as the Falcon dropped out of Hyperspace with a gut-wrenching lurch. 

“Oh no,” Finn whispered as their destination came into view.

Below them, the wide, metal-specked deserts of Jakku gleamed in the harsh sunlight.

“I mean, who would suspect?” Poe wore a sheepish smile.

“Don’t worry, buddy, I’ll hold your hand the whole way.”

Chapter Text

The red glow had gone out and there was little to light her approach to the figures on the dunes. She stayed low, anxious not to be caught. Pasaana’s only moon gave off a faint glimmer and she could see the shadows of the Knights moving away from her. She moved deftly, the soft sand quietening her footsteps.

Dust had settled around Kylo, his lungs heaving as he tried to breathe at a regular rhythm. Rey could see the sharp rise and fall of his chest and the pain he felt flashed through her as though it were her own. Once she was sure the Knights were far enough away, she crawled closer to him.

“Ben,” she whispered, looking down at his pained face. He made no movement and said nothing, but she was sure he knew she was there.

The wound in his abdomen made her cringe as she ran her fingers over it. The bolt had ripped a hole in his tunic, revealing the sizable gash he had acquired. She drew in some deep breaths, pulling him onto her lap softly.

As she closed her eyes, she thought she could hear him saying something, but she couldn’t tell if it was aloud or simply his thoughts running through her mind. Knowing she didn’t have much time, she placed her hands on him gently, allowing the power they both felt to flow between them. 

When she had healed Finn, she had only felt his pain during the process. In this instance, it felt as though she was healing the same pain within herself. Their breaths began to synchronise and beneath her fingers the laceration sealed itself, leaving only the tear in the fabric as a memory of the conflict.

Rey kept her eyes closed as his breathing settled, allowing herself to relax somewhat. There seemed to be no sound around them, that same empty dimension it seemed only they could enter. He shifted beneath her and she opened her eyes, only then realising that tears had begun to flow down her cheeks. As they looked at each other, both bewildered by the experience, Rey began to make sense of the words that echoed through their connection.

“The dyad,” she said, softly. “That’s how I knew. If we are one, how can you deny the light I feel in you?” She began to move away from him, her hands trembling still. As she stood, she remembered the small crystal in her pocket, taking it out and carefully placing it in his hand. He looked at it, incredulously, before staring back at her, still silent.

“You know what you have to do,” she said, beginning to walk back towards the B-Wing. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

He watched as she disappeared into the darkness, his mind racing after her. The link between them began to break before snapping entirely and leaving him alone in the desert, looking up at the stars.

The B-Wing was old, Rey had realised as she climbed into the pilot’s seat. Very old, in fact. She wasn’t certain that the Hyperdrive in it would still function but put her faith into the machine as she lifted it into the air.

Outside, the dying light of the festival still glowed, though somehow in a much more melancholy way than it had during the daylight. There were still crowds gathered and she watched them fade into small specks as the B-Wing rose above the clouds. She glanced over into the desert plains, now too dark to make out any movement, before rising up through the atmosphere of the planet.

It had been a long time since she had flown alone and the darkness of space seemed to close in around her, enveloping the ship as it sped through the endlessness. Remembering the coordinates, she punched them into the ship’s navigational system and activated the Hyperdrive. The B-Wing sputtered slightly at first, but soon enough the familiar engine roar that accompanied Hyperspace travel shuddered through the ship.

Ben Solo stared up at the dark sky and the stars, in turn, peered down at him. He didn’t know how long he and Rey had been there, but now she had gone he wondered if it had been hours. He moved his hand down to touch the ripped seam of his clothing; the wound had healed but the odd feeling still settled on his chest.

He removed his gloves and raised his hand up to his face, wondering. His fingers traced the length of his scar, but the tissue had healed entirely. Why had she healed him ? He lay back again, still holding the Kyber crystal. His saber lay next to him on the ground and he held the two items in the air, contemplating them carefully.

He had been so certain once. His heart had been set, or so he had believed. The Knights had the same path as him, one that led to the dark side, and he had followed that path dutifully. The crossroad lay before him, diverging his soul. 

No. He thought to himself. Our soul .

He got to his feet, trembling slightly, his saber gripped firmly in his ungloved hand. Rey was right.

He did know what he had to do.

Chapter Text

For all their jokes (and, in Finn’s case, genuine displeasure) about the visit to Jakku, the crew of the Falcon were in good spirits. They were minutes away from restoring the Rebellion to fighting strength, and despite Finn’s initial panic, he was feeling far less worried for Rey. She had chosen to stay and was more than capable of looking after herself. 

More than that, however, Finn felt he would know if anything had happened to Rey. It was the sort of sadness he knew would have reached him, despite the unthinkable distance.

“So, let’s say these ships are out here,” Finn began, stretching out in his seat. “How come no-one ever found ‘em before?”

“Most of the scavengers on this planet can barely afford to feed themselves, let alone mount expeditions this far out,” Poe explained. “Not to mention the sinking sand, and delightful wildlife.”

Poe’s eyes kept flicking back to the navigation screen. They had cleared the most remote outposts some time ago, and watching their blips fade further into the distance made him slightly uneasy. The only reason to come to Jakku was to harvest scrap from the ship graveyards, and those were far, far behind them. Nobody came out here because there was nothing to find. 

The chatter on the Falcon stopped as they approached their coordinates, each of them filled with quiet anticipation, expecting to see some grand silhouette on the horizon. But as the Falcon zeroed in, and Poe set the ship down on a great flat dusty plain, they realised there was no shipyard. There was no Star Destroyer to blot out of the sun. There were no endless rows of TIE fighters sitting waiting for them in the sun. They had been so ready to believe in their miracle solution and now felt like fools for taking it so literally. 

There were a few minutes of tense silence, as they all tried to catch on the missing detail, the obvious final step they were missing. No-one wished to admit what they were all thinking. Finn walked up to join Poe and spoke so only he could hear. 

“So, what’s the plan now?” 

BB-8 rolled between their feet, jostling for attention.

“Not right now, Buddy,” Poe cooed, patting the droid affectionately with his boot. “Alright, we head back and find Rey, she’ll have been smart enough to keep her head down and -”

Thonk. BB-8 had bashed his small domed head against the ground, desperate for Poe to focus on him.

“I’m talking to Finn right now, little man, and it’s very rude to - “

Thonk-thonk.

Chewbacca had wandered over now, to see what all the noise was about.

“Poe,” Finn said, cottoning on.

Thonk!

“No, don’t indulge him, or he’ll be like it the whole flight ho - “

“Poe!”

“What?!”

“Sand -” 

Thonk!

“Isn’t - “

THONK!

“Solid!”

Poe looked at Finn, looked at BB-8, and they dropped to his knees, brushing away the sand and pebbles, digging like a mole. After a moment, a sheet of cool grey durasteel revealed itself, emblazoned with a sand-scarred black cog, the insignia of Palpatine’s Empire. Poe jumped to his feet, cackling with glee.

“Aha, you did it! Oh, my clever boys!” In his delight, he gave BB-8 a small kiss.

“Alright!” Finn clapped his hands. “I guess we should get digging…” His face fell slightly at the prospect. But Poe was already marching back toward the Falcon .

“Have I taught you nothing in our time together, Finn?” he said, smiling over his shoulder.

“Can I shoot it?”

“No.” Finn frowned.

“Can I run from it?” 

“I mean, you could. But I don’t see how - “

“Can I fly a spaceship at it?”

Finn took a long pause.

“I don’t think my answer is going to stop you from trying.”

“No, Finn. It is not.”

Finn and BB-8 had been dropped at the top of the nearest hill, to gauge the success of Poe’s plan. 

Above them, the Falcon swooped low over the uncovered ship, engines firing on full. In its wake, vast clouds of sand were blown away from the partially covered ship, which turned out to be a Tartan-class patrol cruiser. Chewbacca managed to wrench open a maintenance hatch, and Poe had disappeared inside. After a few worrying minutes, and several echoing clanks, the ship had flared into life, the cockpit lighting up and the engines firing.

“Designed to shoot down fighter craft,” Poe informed them. “So, we’ll use it against their TIEs.”

To Poe’s credit, his swoop-oriented plan was making more progress than Finn had thought it would. Before long, the features of half a dozen vessels of various sizes were visible through the sand. But progress was still slow.

“Well we’re getting somewhere,” Finn conceded. “But how long can we keep this up? And how long till the wind picks up and buries it all again?”

“We’ll have to come back for most of them,” Poe replied. “We’ll let the Rebellion know we’ve found what we’re looking for and ship some sailors out here to raise as many as we can.” 

They regrouped on the Falcon , watching the sands obscure the ships again, and sending the coordinates to the Resistance base. After deciding a short rest was due, Finn and Poe sat on the ramp of the Falcon , shaking the pebbles out of their boots.

“So, this could be it then. A new fleet, ready to take it to the First Order!” Finn smiled. He hadn’t really dared to hope yet, but they had everything they needed in hand, and it finally seemed like they would be back up to speed soon. 

“On the home stretch now!” Poe exclaimed. “As soon as we get what we’ve found out of here, there’ll be no more hiding in caves or planet-hopping. We can get back to the important stuff.” 

Rose and Chewbacca joined them, watching the twin moons of Jakku rise as the evening set in and, for the first time in a while, they let themselves feel a little hopeful. 

“Sir,” said C-3PO, breaking the tranquillity of Jakku twilight. He was standing a little way under the ship, apparently to avoid the gusts of sand blowing between his metal joints. “I don’t believe I recognise this component. Is this a new module?”

Poe got up from his seat beside Finn, running his hand along the underside of the Falcon as he joined C-3PO. He looked to where C-3PO was pointing, his eyes narrowing as he studied the new addition. Recognition flickered across his face and he turned back to the others, mouth agape. Before he could say a word, a familiar crack rippled through the sky above them.

“Oh no,” Poe murmured, looking back at the blinking tracking beacon as the Knights of Ren descended on the planet.

As the Night Buzzard settled, the moons of Jakku continued to rise into the sky, giving the sand that soft, ominous glow that Rey had despised as a child. Smirks spread across the faces of the Knights, though beneath their black masks such expressions were indiscernible.

“So nice of them to do the hard work for us,” Ushar muttered to his cohort as they walked out into the cool desert plains. Across from where they had landed, the Falcon stood, though its crew were nowhere to be seen. The Knights marched together, weapons tightly grasped in their gloved hands, down towards the buried ships. Silently, they spread out across from the Falcon , lining the perimeter of the valley in which the hidden fleet lay.  

Poe and Finn watched through the viewport as the Knights raised their hands simultaneously. 

“What are they doing?” Rose asked, squeezing her way between them.

For a moment, everything was quiet, as though the sound had left the planet entirely. Only when the floor of the ship began to move below them did they realise what the Knights were doing.

The sand quaked on the planet’s surface, a sinister rumble rising from beneath them. Suddenly, the patrol cruiser burst from beneath the dunes, spraying sand over the Falcon ’s windows. Slowly, but surely, ships began to rise into the inky night sky, hovering shakily in the pale light of the moons.

The journey seemed like seconds, though Rey was so entranced in her thoughts that she had no way of knowing how long it had truly taken. Rather than the graceful dive she was used to, the B-Wing seemed to be spit out of Hyperspace.

“Oh no,” Rey said as the ship tumbled down awkwardly towards Jakku. The planet’s appearance through her viewport made her wince slightly, but as she raised her gaze to the hundreds of First Order ships that littered the airspace around it, her breath seemed to leave her entirely.

Chapter Text

With the Knight sufficiently distracted by their haunting ritual, the Falcon was in the air again, roaring up into the atmosphere. Though the distance between them and their enemies was growing by the second, Finn felt a prickle on the back of his neck, half expecting one of the Knights to be standing over his shoulder in the gunner’s seat.

The sky above them was hardly more comforting. Rows of First Order ships lined the skies and, while it wasn’t an inviting sight, Finn preferred their chances in a dogfight to a duel with the Knights. 

“I can’t believe we’re running again,” Finn smacked his hand against the wall in frustration.

“We just need to stay alive until the Resistance arrives and evens up the fight. Leia won’t let us down,” Poe assured him. A shadow fell over the cockpit and Poe turned to see a Star Destroyers, sand still pouring from their enormous hulls, rising over them. The silhouettes of First Order TIE fighters could be seen high above, careening down toward them. “Alright, everybody hang tight!” 

But as Poe moved to take manual control of the Falcon, Chewbacca placed a great paw on the throttle and gave Poe a meaningful look. 

“Right, this is probably your forte.” Poe conceded. Chewbacca gave a commanding growl in Poe’s direction.

“Raising deflector shields, yessir,” Poe smiled, busying himself with the dials above his head. 

As more and more TIEs dived down toward the planet’s surface, the ghost fleet rose up around the Falcon , climbing to escape. With Chewbacca at the helm, the Falcon flew with unmatchable style.

 They banked and dived through the narrowest gaps, leaving the Hidden Fleet far below them, and made the First Order TIEs look positively sluggish compared to their patchwork freighter. Despite the utter terror of their situation, Poe smiled and inwardly conceded that, while there was nothing he couldn’t fly, there was no-one alive who could have flown the Falcon better.

After several minutes of exquisite piloting, and stomach-churning rolls, the Falcon was free of the swarm of rising ghost ships, hotly pursued by an increasing number of First Order TIEs. While Finn was able to pick off the occasional pursuer, with a victorious yell following each, they were as trapped as they had been on the surface. Rose followed suit in the second gunner’s seat but had none of the experience of the other crew members. Every direction pointed to a larger First Order ship. 

“Great flying, Fuzzball!” came the call from Finn. “But I can’t see us going anywhere until-”

There was a flash of crimson blaster fire, and more TIEs than Finn could take credit for erupted into flames, spiralling down toward the planet’s surface. Poe gave a triumphant cry, as a flight of X-wings tore through the sky above them, banking around to fall in line behind the Falcon. 

“Glad we finally caught up to you,” Wexley’s voice lit up their comms. “Looks like you could use a hand, Black Leader.”

“Oh, I suppose I can find something to keep you busy, Wex,” Poe smiled. “How about we clear up the rest of these TIEs before the rest of our friends arrive. You did bring friends, didn’t you?”

“Plenty, Poe. Best we tidy up the airspace.” 

The B-Wing wasn’t much, but Rey was thankful that it held together as she descended through the chaos of Jakku’s atmosphere. She didn’t feel particularly glad to be returning to the planet; familiar nausea filled her, one she thought she was long rid of. Beneath the sandy tundra, she could see the Knights in their formation, hands raised as they lifted the fleet from the desert floor.

She supposed it was their presence that made it seem as though the walls of the cockpit were closing in on her. The darkness of the Force around the Knights reached up to her, its dark tendrils crawling over her skin. She manoeuvred the B-Wing through the clouds of dust and perched it on a dune opposite the Night Buzzard .

Of course, the Hidden Fleet was here . Rey looked around, scowling at the desert she knew well. The perfect place to hide something: where no one would think to look.

Hoping her nerves would hold out, she advanced on the group of Force-sensitives. The desert floor was barren: all of the action was happening in the sky. Rey knew this would be her only chance to confront the Knights without First Order intervention and steadily continued on her path towards them. Up above her head, the Hidden Fleet swung in the air menacingly, but she could see the instability to them. The Knights were Force-sensitive, that much she knew, but their powers were untrained, and they were inexperienced. She concluded that the strength of the group was what maintained the Hidden Fleet’s stasis. 

Breathing in deeply, she widened her stance, briefly checking for her lightsaber at her side. She wondered, for a moment, if Ben was still lying in the darkness of Pasaana’s night, before bringing her mind back to the moment at hand. She raised her hands slightly and focused on the ships above her in the sky.

A great, terrible weight was suddenly in her hands as she attempted to pull the phantom navy from the grip of the dark side. The gravity seemed to crush her, and, through the Force, she felt the grasp of the Knights tighten: they had noticed her interference. She refocused her attention, her eyes briefly sweeping over where they stood. All five seemed to feel the same pressure she felt under the weight of the fleet. 

Wait . She halted, her eyes turning back to the Knights. Five?

Before she had time to search the dunes for the last Knight, a shot flew past her shoulder, singing her sleeve with a fiery glow.

Kuruk stood beside the Night Buzzard , shrouded in the darkness that the night allowed. His gun was aimed across the plain, his sight set on the girl that kept getting in their way.

“Should have killed her on Malachor,” he muttered to himself, carefully placing his finger on the trigger. He knew, this time, his shot would hit her. The first had only been a warning, after all.

Before he could fire, his head was against the sandy floor, a large black boot pressing him down into the ground. He felt his gun slip from his grip, the barrel of it replacing the boot.

Kuruk looked up at his attacker, scowling. A bright flash of white light sparked through the area and Kuruk’s eyes closed as the saber exited his body.

When the second shot didn’t come, Rey turned back to the ghostly armada, retraining her focus on bringing the ships down from the sky. The Knights had maintained their firm grip, unhindered by the commotion above them. Rey felt the weight of the fleet again as she tried to pull them from the dark sky. Her arms began to tremble as she pulled against them and she noticed the nearer ships sink slightly.

Still, she was struggling against the power of the five remaining Knights, whose tight hold seemed unwavering. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to the limit of her powers. The weight seemed to lessen. And then it halved entirely.

She opened her eyes again, looking around at the chaotic scene and, next to her, saw Ben, his eyes also trained on the sky.

You’re here. She didn’t have to speak aloud; she knew he would hear her.

I’m here. He responded.

The wall between them seemed to disappear entirely, as though it had never been there at all. The Force flowed through them the way it always should have and, gradually, they began to pull the ships out of the sky.

Despite the struggle against the Knights, the ships began to descend, slamming into each other as they hit the earth and sending shockwaves through the sand beneath their feet. Explosion after explosion rippled through the night air as the Knights lost control of the Hidden Fleet. Ben and Rey glanced at each other, smiling as the power surged through them. The ships began to move easily and they both turned to see the Knights approaching them, the dark side of the Force emanating from them in waves.

“Ready?” Rey asked, igniting her saber.

“Ready,” Ben responded, doing the same. Rey’s eyes widened as she stared at his blade. It was the same cross-guard hilt, of that she was sure.

But his blade was blue.

Chapter Text

Rey and Ben watched as the Knights surrounded them, holding their sabers up closely in defensive positions. They could once again hear each other’s thoughts, but instead of the distraction it had once been, their minds seemed to unite, tactically building their next coordinated movement. Despite the chaos of the Hidden Fleet plunging into the sandy plains around them, their focus remained on the battle at hand.

They seemed to move simultaneously, hands reaching out to push away the attackers on their left. Rey swerved around Ben, meeting Ushar’s club with her saber, sparks flying as they collided. Ben moved beside her, parrying Vicrul’s attack and bending low to avoid the swing of his scythe.

It felt, to them, as though their movements were one and the same. Ben warned Rey of Ushar’s wicked blade before she could even see it, allowing her time to dodge nimbly. Where one was looking, the other didn’t have to.

Ushar’s attacks were harsh and unforgiving and, despite Ben’s help, Rey struggled to keep up with the constant barrage of strikes. Her saber seemed to miss him by the tiniest of distances and she found herself lunging towards him in great strides, allowing him extended time to prepare his next attack. As she lurched forward again, Ushar’s club swung towards her outstretched arm, knocking the saber from her grip and rolling through the sand beside her.

Got it. She heard Ben’s voice in her mind, feeling him reach for it as he continued his duel against Vicrul. She looked back to Ushar, her eyes narrowing. She stretched out her arm, watching as Ushar’s club fly through the air towards her. It was familiar in her grip, similar to her old quarterstaff, and she started towards the Knight, swiftly knocking him to the ground. She reached for her blaster, sending a shot through the mask of her opponent.

One down. Ben smiled at the sound of her voice in his head, a sensation he hadn’t felt in a long while. He continued towards Vicrul, avoiding his scythe as it sliced through the air. Behind him, he could hear Rey dodging the incoming attacks of Cardo’s gunfire and knew he had little time left. He swung both sabers towards Vicrul, who stumbled backwards as he went.

Ben flipped the hilts in his hand, sending the blade of the first into Vicrul’s shoulder. The crossguard blades burned the scaly material of Vicrul’s coat and Ben winced as he plunged the second saber through the Knight’s torso.

Technically three . Rey heard Ben add as he joined her, both sabers still in hand. The remaining Knights glared at them, waves of rage rippling from them. They raised their weapons, charging forward in unison.

  While the combination of the Millennium Falcon and Black Squadron was mighty, the sheer number of First Order TIEs in the air meant they were constantly on the defensive. For every fighter that blasted away, three more took their place.

“It’s no good, Chewie. We need another fighter in the air, Falcon just hasn’t got the agility.” Poe wrenched at the controls, struggling to keep the nimbler TIEs in their sights. 

Chewbacca gave an offended growl.

“She’s a lovely ship buddy, but she’s not what I need right now.” Poe stretched over the console to look below them. “Finn, meet me at the ramp. I’ve got a stupid idea.”

“This many in one day? You’re really treating us.” Finn smiled and unhooked himself from the gunner’s controls.

Poe had elected not to explain his idea until the very last minute, and Finn was about to find out why. The wind whipped around them as the landing ramp lowered, to reveal the starboard hangar of a floating Star Destroyer. Within, rows upon rows of unused TIE fighters, waiting to be flown.

“We need to get one of these in the air and help clear out the First Order before Leia arrives!” Poe yelled over the howling wind.

BB-8 and Rose gawked behind them as they attempted to fix various malfunctions in the Falcon .

“They’ll get themselves killed,” she muttered to the droid. BB-8 beeped a sharp response in return.

“You’re right, this is a stupid idea. This is insane!” Finn called. 

“I know, and I’m not stupid enough to do it by myself!” Poe smiled and held out his hand. Finn took it and screaming in unison they leapt into the hangar. The Falcon raced away, and Chewbacca’s voice reached them over the comm.

“We’re fine Chewie, go help out the rest. We’ll be with you soon,” Finn answered, racing deeper into the hangar after Poe.

“Alright, let’s get one of these in the air and get back to the fight,” Finn said breathlessly, finally catching up to Poe as he appraised a row of TIEs. 

“Absolutely, just give me one second to properly evaluate…” Poe trailed off.

“Are you really doing this to me right now?”

“What? Selecting the right ship at this critical moment could very well- “

“These things are all completely identical.” Finn held his head in his hands. “I know, I guarded the factory, it’s like a big cookie cutter. It just attaches cockpits to wings all day long, there’s no difference.”

“Okay well, when you’ve flown for as long as I have, you-” Poe made a vague gesture in place of meaningful retort.

“Stop caring? Fantastic. C’mon Mister I-Can-Fly-Anything.”

Their fascinating exchange continued until they rounded a corner, and saw the fighter already loaded onto the launch rail, and both of them stopped dead in their tracks. It was, quite simply, exquisite. It was a TIE fighter with sleek arrowhead wings and red-windowed cockpit. Unlike the ones they had seen before however, the cockpit had been extended backwards to accommodate a gunner’s seat and underslung turret. They looked at each other for a moment. 

“This one,” Finn said, before climbing up to the entrance hatch.

“It’s beautiful, Finn.” Poe stopped and placed two hands on the wing. 

“I know. Let’s go blow stuff up.”

After a moment’s experimental button pressing and shaky steering, they roared out of the hangar and raced to re-join the fight. 

Ap’Lek’s axe was bigger than it had seemed on Pasaana. Rey deflected it with the club as best she could, the metal of each weapon ringing as they collided again and again. Beside her, Ben was using one saber to deflect Cardo’s gunfire, whilst using the other to attack Trudgen.

She pivoted around Ap’Lek, striking the back of his shin with the club, and sending the kinetic energy of the concussion field generator into his legs. She smiled as she heard Ben’s appreciative thoughts regarding her fighting ability, sending another strike into Ap’Lek’s shoulder.

Ben’s saber slashed across Trudgen’s torso with a hiss, knocking the Knight’s blade from his hand. He fell to the floor and Ben returned to Cardo, using both sabers to deflect the bolts flying rapidly towards him.

Rey swerved another of Ap’Lek’s attacks; he brought his axe closer and closer to her face with each dodge. She raised the club in response, the metal clashing loudly in her ears. Ap’Lek’s hands moved faster than she or Ben could follow, sending the blade through the middle of her club and splitting it in two. Blinking with surprise, Rey reached for the handle of the axe and the two wrestled for control of it, Ap’Lek’s gloves wringing the grip.

Duck . She heard Ben’s voice echo through her, and she leaned back instinctively, watching as the blue blade soared through the air above her, the blade slicing a neat hole through Ap’Lek’s darkened mask. She loosened her grip on the axe as the Knight fell back into the sand, before grasping the hilt of the saber out of the air, twirling to re-join Ben’s attack on Cardo. 

She thanked him internally, knowing he could hear her, and the two advanced upon the lone gunman, bolts bouncing from their blades. Rey’s mind raced as they moved towards the remaining Knight, formulating a plan to finish the fight. Ben nodded slightly in agreement, crouching down to prepare for the attack. 

Rey sprinted away from the gunfire, spinning in the dusty plain before swivelling back towards them. Her boot landed firmly on Ben’s back as he continued to ricochet gunfire from his blade. Rey lifted her lightsaber into the air, aiming the tip at the top of Cardo’s helmet, before descending upon him, the full length of the blade tearing through him. She landed softly, turning back to Ben and grinning.

“Good to be back,” he smirked. As they deactivated their sabers, their eyes turned to the sky above them, still dark, but filled with hundreds of ships, some flying, some falling. Gunfire streamed over them, green and red lights clashing and colliding like violent fireworks. Their minds, ever-connected, seemed to have the same thought simultaneously, neither knowing where it originated.

They raised their hands towards the First Order fleet, the weight heavy but easier to manage as they shared it between them. The closest Star Destroyer began to shiver in the air, their invisible grasp tight around it. Gradually, it began to sink from the sky, down towards the dark, dusty planet.

“Attention! Thirty seconds until drop from Hyperspace. All hands to battle stations,” the alert echoed through the ship and the bridge of the Cloudburst buzzed with activity. Lando Calrissian sauntered between the control stations and officers rushing here and there, to find Leia stood looking out into the void.

“Well, everyone seems terribly excited about our arrival,” he remarked, side-stepping a group of crewmen as they raced toward the elevator. 

“And everyone seems to have something to do except you, Lando.” Leia didn’t stop to look at him as two more officers approached with new questions.

“As I gracefully advance in years, I find my talents best suited to an advisory role.”

“Maybe you can advise Blue Squadron on how to properly cover our frigates. In about fifteen seconds it’s about to get a lot more crowded around here.” Leia took her place in the captain’s chair.

Leia’s trip around the galaxy had been arduous, but now more than ever did she feel the fatigue of it hit her. When she had found Lando, on some distant snowy planet in the Outer Rim, a certain hope had refilled her; it was a hope that she hadn’t felt since her brother had said his final goodbye.

She closed her eyes for a moment, the clamour of the ship fading into the background of her thoughts, and let her mind drift to happier days. Her son occupied a large portion of her thoughts in these moments, but images of Han Solo would find their way into her mind. Her memories were faded, but she couldn’t help but smile when she recalled the sound of his voice.

He had given her hope, after all. Those she loved gave her hope even now, after they were gone.

No one’s ever really gone .

Her brother’s voice seemed so real to her now, as though he were there with her. Perhaps he was.

The ship gave a great lurch, and the next moment, Jakku shone beneath them, it’s atmosphere buzzing with First Order ships, TIE fighters racing to meet them. 

All around them, the dull thuds of other Resistance vessels exiting Hyperspace, alongside those Leia had recruited along the way. The story of her brother’s sacrifice and the hope she had for Rey, had helped to convince so many. She smiled as she watched the ships enter the airspace above Jakku. A handful, a dozen, and then too many to count. Starships of all shapes and sizes, led by three Mon Calamari cruisers, appeared from nothing. 

Instantly, the comm was alive with desperate voices and triumphant calls. 

“Good to see you, Rebels!” came the cry of relief. 

“And not a moment too soon!” Poe’s voice chimed in.

“Glad to hear from you, Poe,” Leia smiled. “Where do you need us?”

“Everywhere boss, but I’d say the Falcon needs you more. They’re down in the thick of it.”

The console in front of Leia chirped, as Poe transmitted the Falcon ’s location. She was peeved, but not surprised, to see it surrounded by more TIE fighters than a ship of its kind could ever hope to fend off. 

“See what you can do to help them. I will have reinforcements with you shortly. Lando and I are going to -” 

And then she felt it. As they neared the planet, something broke through the wave of noise and movement of battle. Somewhere far below them, a power surged from the planet’s surface that she hadn’t felt in years. 

Ben .

Her eyes flicked up towards a First Order Star Destroyer, its canon aimed at the sand plains far beneath them. She was jolted back to the present by her first mate.

“General, what are our orders?”

“Engage the First Order and keep them away from the surface. I want the weapons on that Star Destroyer crippled before anything else.” 

There was a great flurry of action as her order made its way down the chain of command. The ship made a hard right and the green flash of turbo-laser fire lit up the sky. Leia looked down through the glass floor of the bridge and frowned in confusion. 

Far below the battle, the First Order ships closest to the planet's surface were rolling and sinking unnaturally, as if they had suddenly lost the power to keep themselves airborne. And even further below, on the sandy surface itself, the Force rippled with a great effort. Not just Ben, but another. 

“Star Destroyer main batteries disabled, General!” came the call from behind her. 

“Excellent.” She breathed a sigh of relief, though the battle had barely begun. “Tell the rest of the fleet to maintain their current headings. As for us, full power to shields and tracer guns. Get us down closer to the surface.”

The sky was electric with the lightning of battle. Poe’s eyes flicked between the ships that surrounded them, full of fighters of legend.

An older X-Wing tumbled past them, shots firing too close to be a mistake. Poe fiddled with the comm controls, wheeling around another Star Destroyer that seemed to drop from the air. He radioed a call sign to the surrounding ships, begging that his message would get through the busy communications.

“Be careful there, Wedge,” he heard Wexley admonish through the comm. “Almost hit our best pilot.”

Poe smirked, spinning the TIE fighter through a series of loops and twirls.

“Don’t get us killed trying to show off,” Finn warned softly, but Poe could hear the smile in his voice.

“How do you think Leia wrangled all these fighters here so quickly?” Poe asked Finn as another blaze of fire screamed overhead.

“By the looks of it,” Finn said, watching as another squadron of veteran X-Wings raced past them. “They’ve been waiting and ready to join the fight for a long time.”

Rose plugged another leak with the roll of bonding tape BB-8 handily held out to her. She was trying desperately to ignore the bumbling of C-3PO who kept muttering about the safety of their current situation.

The Falcon continued to lurch in circles and she clung to the old panels to keep herself upright. It seemed pointless to be standing still in the middle of a battle, but as she secured BB-8 to the floor of the ship, a thought crossed her mind.

Outside, the gunfire was heavy and fierce and it seemed to be tearing the Falcon to pieces: if she wasn’t there to fix it, who would be?

She spared a glance down the hallway to Chewbacca, wheeling the ship around another flock of TIE fighters. Perhaps fighting didn’t always mean fighting . 

Fire and destruction seemed to surround Rey and Ben as they pulled the ships down towards the planet. As far as they could see, the entire surface was covered in the inferno of fallen Star Destroyers. The Falcon swooped over them, still chased by hungry TIE fighters, shots blazing between them. The sand shuddered and swirled beneath and behind them as they focused on dragging every last First Order ship down towards them. 

Rey grabbed for another smaller vessel and felt the air leave her lungs. She turned to Ben in time to see Trudgen standing shakily behind him, his blade in Ben’s back. She ignited her saber and threw it through the dark, cleaving through Trudgen and causing him to slump to the ground. She slid to the floor, catching Ben’s falling body, pain echoing through her.

Guess I didn’t quite finish him off . Ben looked up at her, eyes blinking rapidly. She repeated his name in her mind, begging him to stay with her, to stay awake. Behind her blazing ruins fell through the dark sky, but all she could see was him, the light slowly leaving his eyes.

“Don’t,” she whispered, tears now beginning to fall. “Don’t go.”

But it was too late. His eyes closed lightly, leaving her alone, again, on the desolate planet.

Chapter Text

Ajan Kloss was practically silent compared to the destructive calamity of Jakku. Rey took a deep breath in, allowing the crisp air to flow through her body, almost healing her. 

The celebration of the First Order defeat had been short-lived once everyone realised how much clean-up was left to be done. Still, the Resistance and its many allies allowed themselves a moment of respite after all the effort.

Poe and Finn had regaled her with the story of their triumphant dogfights at least twice before they had gotten back to the base. Rey watched as people cheered and held each other, savouring the moments they had together after watching so many of their comrades fall.

A sadness had filled her since they had left Jakku, though she guessed it would ease with time; it hadn’t yet been a full day since the battle.

The base was still busy, medics tending to the wounded, pilots congratulating each other and discussing manoeuvres. She caught sight of Lando talking with older Rebellion members, greyed with age but still ready to fight. She travelled through the crowds, BB-8 trailing along quietly behind her. Her eyes settled on Chewbacca, who stood tall above the rest.

“I hear you’re going back to Kashyyyk?” she asked as she approached him. He gave a melancholy growl in response and she nodded, understanding. “You’ve been fighting for a long time, Chewie. It’s time you get some rest.”

She looked up at the Wookie, towering above her. He opened his arms in welcome and they embraced, both exhausted with loss and grief. There had been many of his species that had come to help at Leia’s request, and she thanked them all profusely, wishing that they never again had to engage in the conflict of the rest of the galaxy.

Many people wanted to talk to her, but all of her energy seemed to be lost. C-3PO accosted her with a barrage of praise, which R2-D2 attempted to stop by ramming into his legs repeatedly. She searched for Poe and Finn through hordes of Resistance crewmembers, all patting her on the back and congratulating her victory. 

“Where’s Finn?” she asked Rose, who was still helping set up temporary med-bays. Rose directed her towards the maintenance workshop and Rey nodded silently. 

“Should have guessed,” she muttered to herself.

There seemed to be hundreds of ships dotted about the area, but a scarcity of mechanics among them. She concluded that many of the Resistance members had elected to join the rest of the crew, continuing to celebrate without the weight of impending repairs. Rey weaved her way through X-Wings and stolen TIE fighters, as well as the many transports that had brought so many fighters to Jakku.

“Oh!” she exclaimed when she found Finn and Poe, her face flushing slightly. The two pilots stepped away from the kiss they had been caught in, both reddening with embarrassment. “Sorry, I didn’t know you two were-”

“You didn’t?” Poe asked, raising an eyebrow. “I thought it was obvious.”

Rey giggled slightly, smiling at her friends. 

“I just came to let you know I was leaving,” she said, looking at Finn, whose face dropped at the news. “I still have a lot of learning to do.”

Poe glanced at Finn, his face a picture of disbelief.

“I- We understand,” Poe said, putting a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “You better come back though.”

“Of course,” Rey agreed, sparing a glimpse at Finn. “I won’t be gone forever.”

Finn stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Rey tightly. She closed her eyes, returning the strength of the embrace, reaching out a hand to Poe to join. The three stood, squeezing each other in the empty clearing, waves of emotion crashing over them.

“Wait,” said Finn as they disentangled themselves. He reached into his pocket, placing something firmly in Rey’s hand. She looked at it, curiously.

“A binary beacon?” Rey asked, looking up at him.

“So that you can find me,” he said, looking at Poe. “Find us.”

Rey smiled, pocketing the beacon.

“Thank you, Finn.”

“Wait, wait,” he said, grabbing her arm. “I have something to tell you.”

“Don’t worry,” she said, smiling. “I know.”

“Know what?” asked Poe, looking at each of them. Rey ignored him, turning on her heel and marching away.

“I’ll be back to train you,” she called. Finn smiled inwardly, wrapping an arm around Poe warmly. They watched her leave, leaning their heads together and feeling the cool breeze of Ajan Kloss.

Leia had not left the Falcon after Rey had told her what had happened on the surface of Jakku. When Rey found her, Ben’s head was lying softly in her lap, his eyes closed as though he was dreaming.

“He looks peaceful,” Rey commented, kneeling down beside her, sweeping the hair from Ben’s face. She had lifted the ship off the planet’s surface and into the darkness of space: a peaceful quiet in which to mourn.

“He had so much left in him,” Leia said. Her voice was soft but croaky with grief. Rey looked at her as she continued. “I had so much hope for him.”

“That hope wasn’t misplaced. He helped me on Jakku. I only wish there were more I could do for him now.”

Leia looked at her, her eyes swimming. They had discussed their options thoroughly, but Rey could see no way to bring him back without sacrificing her own life, which Leia was vehemently against.

“He’s still holding on,” Leia murmured. Her voice trembled. She held Rey’s hand, her other on Ben’s cheek. “I would give anything…”

Rey looked down at Ben’s body. His face was pale, but Leia was right, he hadn’t faded yet. She pondered whether their link, their dyad, had anything to do with it. The connection had broken as he had died in her arms on Jakku, but she still seemed to sense him. Some part of him was still here, perhaps beside her even now.

She looked to Leia, her mind racing.

“Perhaps,” she began, slowly. “Perhaps there is a way. I think you know.”

Leia nodded, not taking her eyes away from her son’s face. Rey placed her hand softly on his chest, tightly gripping Leia’s hand with the other. 

“Are you sure?” Rey asked. Leia could only nod again. Rey closed her eyes, silently letting the energy of the Force flow through her. Leia’s skin was warm, but as Rey let the power circuit through them, her hand began to feel cold. 

The hand Rey had laid on Ben’s chest seemed electric, her breath seemed to crackle with energy as she concentrated the power through her, from one hand to the other. She opened her eyes in time to see his flutter open, focusing on the face of his mother.

Leia pulled him into her arms, her face colourless and her eyes dull.

“Ben,” she murmured into his shoulder before her body fell back in his arms. He looked at her, bewildered as her body seemed to fade from existence, leaving the soft material of her uniform lying limply in his hands. He turned to look at Rey, their eyes meeting, and the bridge reconnecting.

“She sacrificed herself… to save me,” he breathed.

“She loved you, Ben,” Rey said. Their arms were suddenly around each other, mourning silently as the ship flew through the stars.

Chapter Text

Specks of light shone through the roof of the ramshackle building. It wasn’t a new construction, but it was far from old either. The wood panels swayed a little in the wind, but inside it felt warm and homely.

Outside, waves crashed against the rocks, but the noise was drowned by the hum of a lightsaber. 

“Once,” Rey said, holding her lightsaber up to the class. “There were the Jedi. And there were the Sith.”

She moved her lightsaber through the air, movements flowing together like a dance. A dozen eyes watched her closely, their ears perked to listen to her story. A small litter of porgs nestled in the corner, chirping quietly to each other.

“The Jedi believed in peace, whilst the Sith believed in power. Both tried to attain these goals through the use of the Force,” she continued. “But each came with a sacrifice.”

Rey’s feet moved through the dust, the saber buzzing with every step. Behind her, soft hands worked on the hilt of a lightsaber, piecing it together slowly and carefully. The workbench was strewn with letters and communications, notes and diagrams, the odd saber part. BB-8 sat under the workbench, beeping quietly to himself.

“Both sides tried and failed to operate at these extremes. On one side, the Light. On the other, the Dark. But these are two sides of the same coin,” she said, moving the saber carefully through the air. “What the Force desires is balance.”

She smiled, ending the demonstration, and deactivating her saber. She looked down at the Younglings, their bright faces ready to learn.

“That is what we strive for. To bring balance to the Force,” she concluded, turning to smile at Ben. He looked up at her, returning the sentiment and rolling a new lightsaber in his hands. 

The connection seemed natural now; their hearts beat to the same rhythm. Years of darkness had finally been solidly supplanted by the light of the future. Contentment flowed between them effortlessly. Their bond was stronger than ever.

The End.