Hey guys! First time author on here! So yeah, I saw the Force Awakens back in December last year and I loved every second of it. Of course, I fully expected and hoped that Reylo would be a thing. It was almost instantly and thank god for that. I've been reading a few of the other stories on the site and you guys inspired me to start my own. Love it, like it, dislike it, hate it; it's up to you. I prefer to think of this as my way of wasting time until episode 8 finally swings around. Anyway, without further ado, I'm gonna get writing!
Her eyes shot open. She wasn't ready for this; ready to die. Her attacker, a bulky character in mismatched robes and a hood, shoved her from his blade with a kick to the back. As the cold metal wrenched from her shoulder, she slumped to the ground. Her vision began to blur and her head began to spin, her throat burning with every panicked breath she drew. While her own blood slowly pooled around her, a voice shouted something in the distance. There was a blinding flash of light, but her head was spinning too much for her to take much notice. With one final whimper, she slipped into unconsciousness.
Several minutes earlier…
The hulking Republic cruiser looked oddly peaceful from the shuttle window. As it drifted through the vast emptiness of space, flames dancing across its hull in vibrant oranges and reds, Rey found herself falling into a daydream. She was tired. Her journey from Ahch-To had been long and exhausting. It'd been a few months since she'd left the planet, and as she sat by the small window staring into the blackness beyond, she was reminded of the eerie stillness of it all, but at the same time by its odd beauty and tranquillity. The shuttle interior was suddenly bathed in red light, causing her to snap back to reality. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes quickly, looking around to see if anyone had noticed her lapse in focus. She was relieved to find that the ragtag group of Resistance fighters that had come along for the mission were too busy checking over their equipment.
"One minute until deployment" came a voice over the intercom. Rey suddenly felt a pang of nerves in her stomach that caused her to stiffen up a little. Closing her eyes, she thought about why she was here; what had led to this point. She'd been training for over a year now with Luke Skywalker, making unbelievable progress with her studies and further mastering her control over the force. However, this was her first mission, her first real test. She pulled her lightsaber from where it had been holstered on her hip. She found that the cold metal of the weapon was oddly calming. Maybe it helped knowing that this lightsaber had previously belonged to Luke himself, but having it with her made her feel safer. Stronger.
The shuttle slammed down into the hangar and the loading ramp thudded down onto the dust covered floor of the ship. Debris scattered the vast landing area, several small fires illuminating the otherwise completely dark space. Rey gestured to one of the troops, flicking her fingers towards a door to their left. He nodded and the squad set off in that direction. She took a deep breath and began walking towards the other side of the hangar. With a loud crack, her lightsaber jumped to life, its shimmering blue light causing her to feel a little more at ease.
She'd been sent here after a distress call had been received by the Resistance forces on D'Qar. The cruiser was relatively small when compared to the likes of the capital ships used by the rebel alliance against the Empire, but a good 2,000 civilians had been on board at the time the mayday was sent out. So far, they were nowhere to be seen. The ship had clearly been attacked by people who knew what they were doing, that was clear, and Rey had her suspicions as to who was responsible. The First Order had carried out several attacks like this in recent months, but for some reason this was the first time a Jedi had been called for assistance. Luke had insisted that she go, reassuring her that she was ready. She disagreed.
Rey turned a corner and jumped a little as a Mynock frantically shot past her down a long empty corridor. Regaining her composure, she pushed on. Her time on the island had been fairly lonely, and after her early life on Jakku, Rey was surprised at how much it affected her. Sure, Luke was there, but he wasn't very talkative. Not as talkative as Finn and Poe. It'd been so long and she missed them. She wanted desperately to see them again. Her trail of thought was suddenly cut off as her comms burst into life.
"Paladin-1, this is Enforcer-4. We're under attack, it's…"
Static cut the message short. Rey's breathing picked up. She shook her head and grit her teeth, before turning on her heel and running back to the hangar. This was it. This was what she'd been trained for.
"…they're slaughtering us! Call for backup, we have 5, wait, no… 6 men down. I repeat, we have…"
This time, the message was cut short by a shrill scream and a burst of frantic crackling. The communicator remained on, Rey knew that, but she was paralysed with dread, too scared to speak. Her throat felt like it was closing up as fear began to take over. All of a sudden, the whooshing hiss of a lightsaber powering down boomed out over the speaker and then the line went dead. Rey slowed, her running, putting a hand to her head before she stopped completely. Her mind was racing; she wasn't ready for this. Surely Luke had made a terrible mistake sending her here. She recognised that rumbling, that lightsaber. She'd heard it back on Takodana and nearly been killed by it on Starkiller base. She furrowed her brow and tightened her grip on the saber. She was out of her depth.
Before long she reached the hangar again. The ship she'd arrived in was in flames and the lifeless bodies of her squad lay scattered around the room. The sight of the corpses made her feel sick and her eyes began to sting. Regardless she pushed on, slowly edging down the dark corridors of the cruiser. She thought back to what Luke had told her. What his master had told him. Do or do not. There is no try. Her eyes narrowed and she sighed deeply. What was she thinking, of course she was ready for this. She was Rey, Jedi knight. Nothing could stop her. She'd beaten him before, she could do it again. A smirk crept across her face and she relaxed a little. Then, without warning, she was thrown against the far wall of the corridor. She hit it hard and rolled across the floor. Quickly getting back to her feet, she looked up just in time to see a gloved hand slam into her throat and lift her off of her feet. She spluttered and coughed, her lightsaber falling to the floor and powering down. The absence of the blue light cast her and her attacker into absolute darkness. Taking a moment to focus, she pulled the saber from the floor and into her hand. It ignited and she ran her attacker through without even taking a moment to consider who it was or what they looked like. As the cloaked slumped to the floor she sighed. Rubbing her neck, she turned.
Footsteps echoed down the halls, but nobody was to be seen. Bright white lights suddenly flickered on, burning her eyes as they struggled to adjust. She raised a hand to shade her face, but this left her vulnerable to a new attacker. This figure seemed bigger, stronger, and he seemed to appear from nowhere. Wearing a similar outfit to her previous challenger, he lifted her above his head and slammed her onto the ground with extreme ease. Once again, her lightsaber rolled across the floor and she reached out for it. She hadn't been ready for this. She suddenly realised the danger that she was in. However, before she could pull her weapon over to her, a boot slammed down onto the hilt of it. She jumped up and dived towards her aggressor, but before she connected with him a sharp excruciating pain shot through her shoulder. She blinked several times, realising that she'd been hacked at with what seemed to be a large metal axe of sorts. The crude blade was wrenched from her shoulder and she fell to one knee, clamping her eyes shut as her heart rate shot up. Before she had time to fully understand what was going on, the weapon cut through her flesh once again, this time lodging itself stuck as it connected with bone and cartilage. Rey cried out in pain.
Her eyes shot open. She wasn't ready for this; ready to die. She could see more hooded figures approaching from down the hall, but she was in too much pain to care. She had given up, and as she slowly slipped into unconsciousness, her final thoughts were of death. For the first time since she had left Jakku several years before, Rey was truly alone.