"We are entering the strongest gravity field of the wormhole," Lando explained to Finn in the Falcon's cockpit. "The Falcon is having a bit of trouble navigating through it."
"What? Does that mean we're all going to be spaghettified?" Finn's voice shook with his words.
"Oh, sit down, kid! Quit being annoying!" Lando pushed the young man back into his seat. "I'll figure it out." Soon after he said that, a communication came through on the console.
"We need to be quick about this. The Beacerika is stalking us." Kylo Ren actually sounded a bit panicky. "I also feel that Rey is in danger."
Lando smirked. "Not to worry, kid. We'll save your girlfriend."
"She's not my girlfriend!" However, Lando knew Ben was blushing from his Silencer.
Finn scrunched up his nose when he heard his response. "Kylo Ren likes Rey? Oh, that's disgusting."
"I heard that!" Annoyance was not Ben's cup of tea. He did not like Rey! He just needed her in one piece if he was going to train her. He punched his flying console and turned off the communication. He prepared his blasters in case the Beacerika ambushed him and his allies. That allowed him some time to collect his thoughts.
***
The figure on the throne did make Rey edgy, but simultaneously, she felt peace. She tried not to let that show, but it was too late.
The figure cackled menacingly. "Hm, it looks like we don't have much to do. You're already really in-tuned with the Dark side," he said.
"You're not going to turn me." Rey clenched her fists. She had to look brave before the faceless monster.
He tightened his grip on his throne's arms and asked, "Oh, really? How would you react if I told you you've already turned?"
Rey froze. "What do you mean?" she nervously said.
The second she asked that, the figure tapped his foot. Rey felt her feet move by themselves. Like in Snoke's throne room six months prior, the Dark side user used the Force to pull her uncomfortably close. The cloth fell from her arm.
Rey tried to move, but she couldn't. The closer she edged to the man, the more her arm screamed in agony. She stopped beside him, shaking with both fear and excitement. At that point, she did not know if choosing the Star Destroyer over the Mon Calamari was good or bad. She just followed her instincts.
The man lifted his wrinkled hand and reached for her right arm. "Hm, you've got quite the injury here. It's filled with Dark side energy. That tells me you used the Dark side to encounter the Beacerika on the island."
"How do you know about the Beacerika?" Rey flinched when the man grabbed her arm.
He used his abilities to search the injury for light, but he felt none. "There is no light left in you. Therefore, you have already turned."
"I refuse to believe that."
"You don't need to make this any harder than it already is, child."
"I refuse to believe that," Rey repeated. There was no way she was already part of the Dark side. The man just wanted to get in her head. Nevertheless, she let out a piercing scream when he shoved her away.
The girl crashed into the floor and performed a backflip. She rose to her knees but again yelled when she learned she could not move her right arm. Tears of excruciating pain streamed down her cheeks.
The man rose from his throne and started toward her. "So, with that said, let's complete your training."
***
"Rey!" Finn shouted from out of nowhere. Everybody in the Falcon's cockpit jumped. "We've got to get to Phonolukamy. She needs us," Finn continued.
The second he said that, a massive gravity blast hammered the Falcon. It spun out of control and soared by Ren's Silencer.
He watched it with widened eyes, but then he sensed the Beacerika. Without a second thought, Ren shot his blasters into the vast unknown. "Accelerate!" he shouted at the occupants of the drunk Falcon. "If we're going to escape the Beacerika's grasp, we must accelerate! I'm sure Rey did that to get out of here."
"Right on, Captain," Lando communicated back. "Buckle in, everybody. We're going to go fast."
"Are you sure we're not going to be blown to bits?" Rose asked. The doubt in her voice was firm.
"Rose, I made the Kessel Run with Han Solo in twelve parsecs. This ship can survive anything." Lando knew what he was saying. He cracked his knuckles and punched the accelerator. The force of the jump ripped Rose's fingers from the back of his chair and tossed her into the common room. Laughing, Lando peered back at her. "I told you to buckle up." Under his command, the Falcon escaped the wormhole unscathed.
Kylo Ren never saw the Beacerika (it camouflaged with the wormhole's walls), but he heard it. Unlike Rey, it did not torture him, but it definitely was in the wormhole with him. He followed the Falcon outside and punched his own accelerator right when the Beacerika's face leaped out of the wormhole behind him.
Poe pointed at him. "There he is," he announced.
"Why don't we just let him rot in space?" Finn asked.
Rose appeared behind him. She massaged her sore head and said, "Yeah. He's going to destroy us if he gets any closer."
"You guys aren't very hospitable," Temiri admitted. "Just give him a chance. He's looking for Rey, and so are we."
Chewie nodded in agreement.
"He's going to hurt her if we let him tag along," Finn argued. "Trust me, guys. I worked with that monster my whole life."
"But keep in mind that we're all going to Phonolukamy," Temiri argued back.
***
The pickle Rey was in beat all the days she nearly starved on Jakku. She crawled back when a small army of Droideka droids emerged after a request from the hooded man. Their built-in forcefields popped up, and they pointed their blasters at her.
Rey hopped to her feet. She pressed her back against the wall. Her hazel brown eyes rolled over to a lightsaber on the throne's arm.
Chuckling, the man patted its gray hilt. "You want this. You know this is the only way you're going to defeat your enemy. I feel your anger, child. It's giving you power. I see it now. You, a new Vader. Who needs Kylo Ren when I have you?"
The Destroyers moved in close to Rey, causing her to clutch her aching head. Her eyes kept switching from the droids to the lightsaber.
"Do not fight your urge," spoke the man. "Give yourself to the Dark side of the Force, and I will make you my apprentice."
"You're selfish," Rey growled, but she continued to shake her head. The temptation. The temptation to Force-grab the lightsaber was too much for her to bear. Clenching her teeth, Rey grabbed the red lightsaber and ignited it.
***
Kylo Ren's TIE Silencer and the Millennium Falcon ducked into Phonolukamy's gray atmosphere. Instantly, Kylo Ren noticed something glittering on the dry ground below. "Hold it! I see something down there."
"What do you see?" Lando asked from the Falcon.
"I think I know what it is, but I'm not sure. We need to get a closer look."
"I agree."
"Oh, now what?" Finn groaned from his seat. "Don't tell me we have to travel through another wormhole."
"Kylo just sees something, kid." Lando followed Kylo to the rocky, bare surface. They lowered their ships' landing gears and landed with a gentle plop. Dust spewed up when they did, but that was because Phonolukamy was so dry.
Lando leaned back in his seat and slapped his hands together. "Land ho! Now that's what I call a 'perfect' landing."
"Sure, but what trap is Kylo Ren leading us into?" Finn wanted to know.
Temiri rolled his eyes. "It's not a trap."
"How do you know?"
"Come on, Finn. It's obviously not. Kylo is interested in something. Look." Temiri pointed outside.
The hatch of the TIE Silencer whistled open. Kylo Ren emerged from it, a little wobbly on his feet after sitting for so long. He headed toward the glitter with a curious look on his face.
Rose, Poe, Finn, Chewie, Temiri, C-3PO, R2-D2, and BB-8 followed him, even though Finn doubted the conflicted man. However, he, too, became interested when Kylo stopped and stared at something a few feet away from him. By then, he just had to find out what grabbed his attention.
Finn pulled his friends behind his arm. "Wait here," he said. He moved in on Kylo. They came within reach of the glimmer. Finn stopped over it. His jaw dropped, and he fell to his knees. "It's Rey's lightsaber," he spoke under his breath. Sure enough, he was right. Finn scooped it up from the ground.
Rose, Poe, Chewie, Temiri, and the droids moved closer to Finn and Kylo Ren to get a better look at the discovery.
"This is Rey's lightsaber," Finn explained to them.
"Then she's got to be here," Poe said.
Hand still on the lightsaber hilt, Finn rose to his feet. He peered over his shoulder to Kylo Ren and nodded to himself. The young man took a deep breath and approached the Dark side user.
Kylo confusingly watched him. He almost gasped when the ex-stormtrooper held the lightsaber out to him.
"Take us to Rey," Finn begged.
Kylo said not a word. Instead of sensing Finn's doubts, he now felt a touch of hope. A minute passed until he lifted his shaking, gloved hand and reached for the lightsaber. Kylo wrapped his fingers around its hilt and pulled it away.
Finn backed away from him the second he had it in his hand. He said not a word.
For a long time, Kylo stared at the weapon. He stared, stared, and stared until finally... buzz. Ren ignited it.
***
Rey ran her lightsaber through each Destroyer. For the entire round, she yelled with fury.
From his throne, the man laughed and clapped his hands.
Rey tore off bits and pieces of the wall and threw them into the droids. She swiped her legs under one of the robot's legs and knocked it to the ground. Again, Rey turned extremely violent toward her enemies. She let go of all the fear and anger she had mustered in the past year and a half. She wanted revenge. She wanted to kill. Her arm tingled with the Dark side energy the Beacerika gave her. She lifted her leg and kicked the last Destroyer into the wall. Rey crushed it into a little ball and tossed it like a bowling ball across the room.
"Well done, Rey. Well done," the man cackled from his throne.
With the lightsaber still ignited, Rey clenched her teeth and glanced at him. Eventually, her evil look faded, and she peered down at the red lightsaber she held. "No," she mumbled under her breath. "Please tell me I did not just do that." She turned off the weapon and glanced at the man. "You can try, sir, but you will never turn me to the Dark side."
"I expected better from you, young Rey." That time, the man did not sound proud but angry.
Rey glared. "You can kill me, but at least I will die trusting the Force."
With each passing second, the man grew angrier and angrier. "If that's what you want, then I will give you the most painful death you have ever experienced."
Rey did not move from where she stood, even when he lifted his hands and shot Force lightning at her. However, unlike Luke when he confronted Emperor Palpatine all those years ago, the lightning never struck her down.
Rey closed her eyes and waited for the sizzling pain. However, she opened them when she suddenly heard, "Stop!" behind her.
Kylo Ren. With Poe, Finn, and Rose close on his heels, he slid out of the tunnel she fell through and leaped before her. Ren ignited her blue lightsaber and held it like a shield before him. The Force lightning crashed into the blade, but the kyber crystals sucked the bolts in like poison. "Run!" Ren yelled at Rey, but she continued to stand frozen. She could not believe what just happened.
Finn came at her from behind. "Rey!" He grabbed her arm.
She yelled in pain and tried to pull away, but he held her tightly. At the same time, the four friends sprinted toward an emergency exit hatch in the Destroyer's side.
Kylo Ren glared at the man creeping toward him. "Nobody touches her but me!" he shouted, lifting his hand. From the engine down, Ren crushed the Star Destroyer like a can. A pile of debris fell on top of the mysterious, hooded man. Kylo ordered some debris to head for Finn, Rose, Poe, and Rey.
The friends yelled when pieces of the Star Destroyer crashed into their backs and shoved them out of the emergency hatch. They rode the debris like sleds down the face of the wrecked ship. Finn and Rey rested on their fronts while Rose lay on her back. Poor Poe found himself in a very uncomfortable side position. The sleds hit the desolate landscape below, and wham! They flipped and chucked the party forward.
Behind, the Star Destroyer began to fall. Its tail headed straight for Rey, who was too beat up and mind-probed to move. Besides, she could not push herself to her feet with her arm in such horrible shape.
Finn lugged Rose and Poe out of danger, but then his eyes landed on his exhausted, injured friend. "Rey!" He hurried toward her like a mother running to meet her child.
Kylo Ren appeared unharmed on the side of the starship and tumbled down with it.
Finn snagged her good arm and dragged her to safety just before it could squash Rey.
Ben waited until the last second, and then he jumped. Rey's lightsaber swung on his hip as he tallyhoed through the air and landed in a puddle of water not far from the impact zone.
Crash!
The Star Destroyer, tail and all, smashed into Phonolukamy's dry, desolate landscape. Instantly, the ground under the friends' feet shook, and a fissure appeared under them.
Rey gasped when it split under her, but Finn pulled her out of the way again before she could fall to the lava bed below.
Ben quickly sat up in the puddle, covered in mud. He shook his head. All around him, fissures appeared, and the ground shook like it was subject to a spaz attack.
An earthquake just hit the Moceka Graveyard.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
