"Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves"
- Old Jedi Saying
It had been a scorching day in Niima Outpost.
Of course, almost every day on Rey's desolate homeworld was accompanied by the same searing heat… but as she stood waiting at the entrance of the Church of the Light; she felt sure today must be one for the kriffing record-books! Even now, with the sun dipped well below the horizon; she was sweating buckets.
"Thank the maker it was customary on Jakku to hold wedding ceremonies at dusk!"
Was it the heat that was causing her to perspire though? Perhaps it was the heavy and unfamiliar ceremonial wedding dress she was wearing instead?
She smiled as she looked down at her present attire, which had been handwoven by local Niima textile seamstresses. The bodice of the dress was made from tanned luggerbeast hide and the white skirts and sleeves were decorated with dozens of steelpecker feathers.
This humble garb could not be compared to the opulent and luxurious Coruscant gowns that she had been gifted in the past, but it was still beautiful, familiar and… honest. Her hair was arranged in a trio of buns and tied with white ribbons. It was a style she hadn't worn it in for several years, yet somehow it seemed appropriate for today. A short netted veil also framed her oval face, obscuring her almond-shaped hazel eyes and completing her traditional Jakku bride ensemble.
Covering herself had been a general necessity while she'd been staying on Jakku this past week. Her skin, which had once been bronzed like that of her fellow natives, was now as pallid as a moof-milking offworlder's! Rey had actually been obliged to protect herself from the relentless burning sunlight by using the overpriced creams that the local traders gauged visitors with. As a young girl she'd always found it hilarious when she had witnessed those sales, but now she was on the other side of the scam and it wasn't quite so amusing .
It felt strange to be home and yet… not home.
"Who are you?" she internally asked herself.
She pursed her lips with determination as she answered her own question.
"You are Rey, scavenger of the badlands of Jakku. You were no-one before you were someone and from this day forth, force-willing… you'll be no-one again."
Rey looked up at the sculpture of a star perched atop of the plain stone building in front of her. It was the emblem of the Light, a symbol of the different path she now followed.
Today she would finally commit to a peaceful future. She was looking forward to a new life where she would be blessed with a caring husband, devoted friends and maybe even children.
"I'll have 'good' people to love and they'll love me in return… won't they?."
Pessimism brought unwanted, dark memories to her mind.
All the terrible things she had done since leaving Jakku… it could all be traced back to her overwhelming childhood need for belonging and family.
The friends inside the church… they didn't know the full extent of her association with the tyrannical First Order, who now ruled the Galaxy with such an iron-grip. Although Maz seemed to suspect she was hiding something.
The truth was that she had severed her ties with her resistance friends about four years ago after leaving the D'Qar rebel base to meet up with the legendary hero Luke Skywalker.
Leia Organa's promise that Rey would become a powerful Jedi had been casually broken when the General's cold, dispassionate brother had flat-out refused to train her in the ways of the Force.
To be dismissed out of hand after she'd been through so much to find that bastard hermit was a devastating betrayal for Rey. She'd left the only planet she'd ever known and put her life on the line multiple times to protect that bloody BB8 unit! Her efforts had all been for the glory of the righteous resistance and their grand mission to find the last Jedi. But after Skywalker's rejection, Rey's trust in the rebels had collapsed.
Thanks to her role in the destruction of Starkiller base and the theft of the Millennium Falcon. The 'scavenger girl' had been branded a fugitive. There had been nowhere for her to go afterwards and she'd been alone… always alone.
Rey had managed to hold down the odd mechanic job here and there within the outer rim systems, but she'd often had to jump from ramshackle freighter to scum-ridden cantina to ensure she could keep both a low profile and scratch a meagre living.
Anger at the unfairness of her situation gnawed at her, boiling away her hope into a cloud of bitterness. It hadn't taken long for her bottled-up rage to explode.
It happened when she'd been working as a waitress for a lecherous Hutt on Tatooine.
Rey had been serving drinks wearing the ridiculous short skirt that he made his girls wear as a uniform. The filthy slug had slithered behind her and suddenly licked up the crack of her arse with his giant tongue, leaving a slimy trail on the back of her underwear. He then demanded she become his whore.
Disgusted and furious, it was the straw that broke the bantha's back. Rey unwittingly channelled her anger through the Force to fling the fucker off his sail barge. The gluttonous creature's guts had splattered in gloopy green puddles upon the concrete landing pad below and she'd laughed like a maniac at the sight of it. She'd enjoyed killing him even though it was by accident. Unfortunately Rey was still an untrained novice, and after this incident she was dismayed to discover she remained unable to call the Force at will. She'd been promptly arrested and thrown into a detention block by the slain hutt's gangster family.
A terrifying power had awakened within Rey that day.
"The Dark Side"
She'd been confused, scared and certain that her execution was imminent…
That's when he had come to claim her.
**DONG DONG DONG DING***
The clang of the church bell jolted her out of her sad reverie and she looked over her shoulder to see that the sun had now fully set and darkness had settled across the dry and empty streets.
A cool but strong gust of wind blew fine grains of sand about her feet and rattled the beaded ropes that served as doors for most of the dwellings in the desert town.
She recalled the Teedo tribe considered a cold breeze on a hot evening such as this to be an ill omen…
Rey sighed and forced a smile on her face.
Whether she was beyond redemption or not, she had to focus on the here and now. Today was her wedding day and she'd be damned if she wasn't going to move forward and live happily with Finn.
As she pulled apart the beads, illumination streamed out of the holy chapel. She stepped through the entrance and into the light.
On the outskirts of Niima, hunched behind the dunes which surrounded the outpost; a tall man with impeccably coiffed red hair stared intently at the beautiful woman through a set of macrobinoculars.
He continued to watch her until she disappeared into the church.
The man had made a concerted effort to choose a viewing spot which would conceal his presence from the residents of the shithole town before him.
His surname and rank were well-known, but tonight he went by his codename… 'Armitage'
Lithe and cruelly handsome, Armitage was wearing a long, black overcoat, which nobody could deny looked cool; but was entirely unsuited to the Jakku climate. If the hawkish man was hot or uncomfortable he did not show it. In reality all he felt right now was anticipation and a need to make a certain person suffer until her last breath. He'd been waiting for this moment for far too long to think about much else.
His eyes glittered against the green light of the filaments within the macrobinoculars, which he now lowered and discarded in the sand. He had sharply sucked in his breath when he'd seen the scavenger suddenly looking back in his direction before going inside.
"Could that bitch sense his presence? Was she able to feel his familiar hatred through the Force?"
He hoped not, it would make the upcoming confrontation all the sweeter if it came as a surprise.
Three other figures were stood nearby to him and they were equally taking care to remain hidden from view. Since Armitage had become Kylo Ren's favourite, he was usually always put in charge of their little group… known covertly as the 'First Order Elite Squad' (FOES)
They were a varied bunch, a quartet as different in appearance as they were in countenance. They weren't bosom-buddies, nor did they consider each other friends… far from it! Like rathtars and wampas, they would tear each other apart if given the opportunity.
However, despite their differences they did all share a few common traits:
The first being their desire for power, even if it meant keeping an enemy close. The second was their unique skill when it came to dealing out death. Thirdly and most importantly of all… they had all sworn loyalty to their commander Kylo Ren.
"Target is in position," Armitage confirmed to his three compatriots.
"I will relay the signal to the Supreme Leader," said the tallest of their party, her low feminine voice crackling through the voice modulator of her helmet. The formidable woman was codenamed 'Queen Chrome' and as always she was covered head to foot in shining stormtrooper armour. She began to key an encrypted code into the commlink device she was holding.
One of Armitage's other two counterparts, codenamed 'the Guavian' was cradling his modified blaster and running his gloved fingers eagerly along the trigger. He looked decidedly less professional than the others. His red combat gear was tatty and dishevelled and his greasy brown hair unkempt.
"I'm going to fire the disabler bolt" he drawled with a smirk.
"No you fucking won't!" clipped the red-haired man in response, grimacing at the thought.
The Guavian had been snorting Kessel spice on the transport to this godforsaken pit and he wasn't going to risk the chance that the idiot might screw up and miss. They'd only get one chance to nail that first shot.
"Ha! You think you're better than me with a blaster!?" said the scruffy-looking Guavian in a mocking tone.
Armitage gestured to the long-barrelled E-11 blaster strapped to his back. "Not that I'll need to be at such a close range, but I'm a fucking surgeonwith this sniper rifle! Now shut your mouth and get ready to roll out."
He turned to the remaining person in his squad, who had stayed silent since they'd arrived.
'Dolph' was standing nonchalantly in the sand, just acting out his trademark cute and compliant angel of the First Order routine. The young man was dressed in a form-fitting lieutenant's uniform with his standard issue pistol still sheathed in its holster.
Armitage knew Dolph would obey his orders without question, but the lad was a sly little shit, who'd fucked and assassinated many an officer to meet his overweening ambitions. As if to confirm his assessment, the young man winked at him.
"In your dreams," chuckled Armitage to himself.
Queen Chrome chimed in once again:
"Supreme Leader Ren acknowledges our intel on the target. He is making his approach to Niima Outpost onboard his shuttle as we speak. My best soldiers are also in position to move in after the first part of the mission is complete. We now have Ren's order to proceed to the church and carry out the instructions he has already relayed to us… but with absolutely no deviation"
With a nod Armitage stood up straight. His darling Kylo did not hesitate to punish disobedience or failure, it was one of the things he loved about the man.
"Alright let's go," he barked "It's time we reunited with our long-lost scavenger girl."
As Rey stepped into the brightly lit Church of the Light she was greeted with cheers and whistles from the small assembly of people who had gathered around the altar at the far end of the chapel. Shyly and with eyes slightly downcast, she customarily walked slowly down the central aisle to greet them.
The church was simply furnished, yet it was clean and well maintained by a handful of dutiful acolytes. She'd heard they were survivors from Lor San Tekka's Tuanel commune; a settlement which had been destroyed in a First Order attack half a decade ago. At the time that raid had seemed a trivial event in the grand scheme of the Galaxy, but it had changed the course of her life as well as countless others both on and off Jakku.
Finn had suggested they marry in Niima as it was the town where he'd first met her. Rey had agreed readily to the idea because it was also the closest place she herself could call her home parish.
Although she had no parents with her on this special day, the few close friends she did possess were in attendance and that was all she needed. Rey preferred the party to be small.
It had been just under nine months since she'd reconnected with her old friend Finn. He'd not queried her too much on where she'd vanished to for the last four years, but her own conscience had pressed her to reveal some partial truths. Rey had openly admitted to him that she'd had 'dealings' with the First Order and had been lost in a 'dark' place. The former stormtrooper could relate to that all too well.
She was aware that Finn had lost many resistance friends to the evil organisation once led by Snoke and now his successor Kylo Ren. The rebels had finally been crushed at their Ileenium base about two years ago… an event Rey had participated in and even celebrated afterward with her Master. She had not divulged these details to her fiancé however… he didn't know she'd been involved.
Finn had somehow escaped the carnage and eventually set up a small business repairing droids on Takodana. Rey knew she didn't deserve his kindness, but he'd given it to her all the same. He'd taken her under his roof when she'd had nowhere else to go and had hidden her away in the back rooms of his shop until enough time had passed to venture safely outside once more.
Rey and Finn had subsequently spent a lot of time together and they'd become very close. He had declared early on that he'd been in love with her from the moment he'd first laid eyes on her, even if she had beaten him around the head with a quarterstaff!
Finn had confessed that he'd thought about her every day since she'd left D'Qar, hoping that she would come back.
Although she was certain that she could never return the same sort of love he felt for her, she didn't hesitate to accept him when he'd suddenly proposed marriage to her. The strange thing was that Finn seemed to know that loving friendship albeit with benefits was all she could offer him and he was content with that scenario.
Her true heart and soul was inexplicably tied to another by the Force… Finn would never understand and thankfully he never raised the subject.
Takodana was a fairly peaceful world, which the First Order took little interest in, after their honeymoon, Rey was going to work in Finn's shop and then fade into blissful obscurity.
"A happy ending after all," she hoped to herself as she reached the altar.
"Wow Rey, you look gorgeous," gushed Finn, kissing her on the cheek as she stood by his side.
Likewise she thought he was looking pretty dapper too. He was dressed in a formal Coruscant suit that complemented his ebony features and well-built physique. She was a lucky woman indeed!
"Hey now, cool those thrusters Finn! You aren't supposed to kiss the bride until the end of the ceremony," chided the short and diminutive Maz Kanata.
"I don't think Rey has ever been one to stand on ceremony," laughed Snap Wexley, a former X-wing pilot who now smuggled contraband for Maz.
"That's for sure," agreed Rey's other pilot friend Jessika Pava. "Oh Snap, you should have seen her at the hen party we had last night, there was this Gammorean stripper and…"
"Well call me an old romantic, but I still believe in the old traditions," interrupted Maz, just as Finn also nervously asked Jessika…
"Did you take Rey to a strip club?!"
Maz took this awkward moment between friends as an opportunity to take Rey aside and out of earshot from the others.
"Ahhh, my dear child," murmured Maz, taking Rey's hands into her own and holding them tight. "It warms my ancient ticker that you are once again being guided by the Light."
Rey was startled at the comment, but Maz cut her off before she could say anything in response. "There is no need to explain what happened. I see it in your eyes, you were seduced by the Dark Side… seduced by him, but you're back with us now and in time, you will heal"
"You once told me that I could help bring him back to the Light, I'm afraid that didn't turn out too well."
Maz sighed and let Rey's hands go, her quirky bracelets tinkling as she did so. Lifting her oversized spectacles to her forehead she faced Rey with her mole-like pupils.
"I was mistaken… some people think living a thousand years gives you infallible wisdom, but even I am wrong sometimes. No… it pains me to say this for he is the last of the Skywalker line; but there is only one way to bring Ben Solo back to the light now and I would not ask you to do it."
"Good," said Rey, suddenly cold in her tone. "I'll take no part in any new resistance plots or cells that you might be banding together Maz. I'm done with all of that!"
"Peace Rey… I understand," Maz reassured her with a weary smile. "Besides, all is as the Force wills it. Those who live by the lightsaber, will inevitably perish by it."
Replacing her spectacles the alien pirate and tavern-keeper returned to her playful self once more. "I hope you and Finn are going to start making some adorable babies for Auntie Maz to dote on," she poked a wizened orange finger at Rey's narrow abdomen. "Those hips were made for child-bearing you know."
"Don't fret Maz," Rey whispered coyly, "I plan to start working on that task tonight." The two women snickered at the lewd implications of that statement until they were disturbed by a familiar prissy-sounding voice.
"Mistress Rey, Mistress Rey!"
It was the old protocol droid C-3PO, who Maz had somehow inherited after the fall of the Rebel Alliance.
His golden body looked like it had been excessively oiled and he 'gleamed' so brightly that Rey had to shield her eyes from the reflected light that bounced off his chest plate as he came trundling over to her.
"Ah Mistress Rey, you'll be happy to know that I have found the sheet music for that obscure Jakku hymn you wanted me to play during your wedding ceremony. Goodness gracious me, it wasn't an easy task! I had to haggle with a most disagreeable fellow in Niima market who would only deal in foodstuffs known as 'portions'… well I said to him rather firmly that I will only pay in Galactic Credits, which as you know is the established currency of civilized systems…"
He rambled on in this manner for a few minutes and Rey could see a robed priest was now at the altar and tapping his fingers on a datapad impatiently.
"Kriff Goldenrod, haven't they fitted you with a 'shut the fuck up' chip yet," she thought to herself with annoyance.
"Thank-you Threepio," she said smoothly. "Are you able to translate it and play the song on the church organ?"
"Of course Mistress Rey, I am fluent in over three million forms of communication you know," he replied haughtily, before waddling over to the aging instrument in the corner of the chapel and sitting down on the seat provided.
The droid expertly pressed his metallic digits over the keys and a dream-like melody began to echo around the stone walls.
Rey walked back to the others and entwined her right arm with Finn's left. Maz stood to her side and Snap and Jessika placed themselves to the right of Finn.
The priest was an old acquaintance of Maz, and she'd called in a favour to get him to conduct the service at such short notice. Rey didn't feel it prudent to inquire how the priest had become indebted to Maz in the first place… that was none of her business.
"Are we ready?" he asked raising his grey eyebrows quizzically
Rey glanced to Finn and he nodded back to her with a grin
"Yes, please proceed," replied Rey.
The priest inclined his head and began reading from his datapad.
"In the presence of the Force and the Holy Light which binds us, we have come together to witness the marriage of Finn and Rey. We beseech the Galaxy to accept them into the ether so we may share their joy and celebrate their love.
Marriage is a gift from the Force to all intelligent species so that they may know the grace of the Light. As two beings grow together in love and trust, so too shall the Force bond them to one another in heart, body and mind.
Marriage brings two Force-bound souls together in the delight and tenderness of sexual union. It is the foundation of family life and where we find strength, companionship and comfort.
Marriage is a sign of unity and loyalty which all should uphold and honour. It enriches our Galaxy and extends the known universe. No one should enter into it lightly or selfishly but reverently and responsibly in the sight of the Light.
Finn and Rey you are now about to enter this way of life and fulfil the will of the Force. But first I am required to ask you both if there be a reason you may not be joined in matrimony. The Force knows the secrets within our hearts and therefore you must declare now if you know of any impediment to your union."
Internally Rey felt a flash of guilt, but remained silent. Her skin was prickling and it was a bit late in the day to be having cold feet.
After a pause the priest continued:
"I must now ask all others present, if you know of any lawful impediment which…" the old cleric trailed off and stared wide-eyed towards the entrance of the church.
Rey turned to follow his gaze and her face paled as she realised instantly what was about to happen.
Four menacing commandos armed to the teeth had marched through the door and were lining up in a firing squad formation with lightning speed.
"Noooooo!" screamed Rey.
She immediately stretched out her palm in a futile attempt to attack them with the Force, but they had prepared for this and one of the squad had already shot and felled her with a stun bolt to the chest before she could mount any kind off pre-emptive strike. Numbness overtook her mind and limbs instantly.
Everything seemed to happen all at once as the wedding party faced the intruders in horror and confusion. Finn yelled out as Rey promptly fell in a heap on the floor, her head hitting the ceramic tiles with a sickening thud. They were only given a few more seconds to gasp in shock, before a cacophony of red and green blaster fire rained down in fury upon them.
The brutality of the massacre was matched in equal measure by its efficiency. Finn was the first to go down. The opening blaster shot which hit him blew off one of his arms above the elbow, he screamed in pain as blood poured from the stump, but his cries were abruptly cut off as another much more powerful blast burned straight through his chest and exited out of his back, incinerating his formal jacket.
Even after the bolt had killed Finn it continued to fly until it hit the durasteel church altar, shattering it into dozens of knife-like metal projectiles. The priest, who had somehow managed to duck behind the altar; was in the end fatally impaled by the sharp shrapnel as it exploded. Hot blood spurted from multiple wounds in his neck and groin, forever sullying his holy vestments. "Force have mercy upon our souls," he whispered as a blaster shot to the head finished him off.
Maz Kanata had sensed she was about to meet her Maker and simply stood proud as she silently accepted her fate. She would not scream for thosebeasts. She knew she had long since overstayed her welcome on this mortal plain and was ready to become one with the Light.
As the plasma lasers started searing across her ancient flesh, her body flailed and spasmed with each impact, until she was blown backwards and landed flat on her back, her spine broken in the process. The goggle-like spectacles she'd always worn had flown off somewhere into the bowels of the church, but there was a look of bliss in Maz's eyes as they glazed over and died away. She would never again serve a delicious beverage or critique another wayward traveller, the wisdom of Maz Kanata was now lost to the Galaxy.
The last thing that went through Snap Wexley's head, other than the blaster bolt that spilled his brains down his face and into his neatly trimmed beard; was that he should have worn his own trusted weapon inside his jumpsuit. At least then he might have had a chance to take one of his murderers out with him. Instead he'd left it aboard his freighter, believing it sacrilegious to bring a blaster into a church… not a universal belief it seemed. As he died, he clung hold of Jessika as she too was cut to ribbons, collapsing with blood trickling from her mouth and ears, the secret feelings which she had planned to confess to Snap after the wedding would never be uttered.
Six bodies now littered the floor, five of them dead, one of them alive. The latter wishing she had died with the others.
Acrid plasma smoke now floated like fog throughout the Niima Church of the Light and the foul stench of burnt flesh hung thick in the air. Emerging from the haze, the flailing mechanical form of C-3PO trundled forward in panic, until now he had been ignored by the wedding crashers, as he was only a harmless droid.
"Oh my! Oh dear! Maker preserve me! Artoo where are you when I need you?"
A guffaw came from one of the intruders, who squinted at Threepio and furrowed his bushy eyebrows in appraisal. "I can sell that one to Plutt for scrap," he concluded before deftly pointing his blaster at the astonished droid and shooting him square in the neck, blowing his golden cranium cleanly from the joints that connected it to his torso. The headless body of C-3PO continued to stay upright for a moment; indeed it even took a few steps forward before crumpling to the floor with a mechanical clatter.
Rey was breathing hard and almost hyperventilating. She was incapacitated, but still conscious and all too aware of her surroundings.
Of course this was deliberate, they wanted her awake; they wanted her to feel all the pain and terror that her punishment entails. She knew this because she herself had once worked side by side with these killers and taken part in similar executions. Paralyzed and cut off from the Force by a tailor-made stun bullet which she had once helped the First Order develop, all Rey could do was move her lips and shift her hazel eyes from side to side.
Her gut clenched with despair as she saw the broken body of Finn beside her. His remaining arm was laid over her abdomen, trying to protect her even at the end. Rey's white wedding dress was covered in the darkening crimson stains of her fiance's blood and the matted decorative feathers were absorbing it greedily.
Tears started to stream down her cheeks. "Finn… I'm so sorry," she faintly whispered.