Chapter One – A Strange Landing
"Please," Ben's voice was soft, he took a step forward, his hand trembling.
Rey felt tears running down her cheek, this wasn't how it was suppose to go. The vision she saw of Ben's future, they were standing side by side in victory against a great evil, not being torn apart like they were now. She knew if she turned him down now it would break him, and she wasn't sure if she would be able to bring him back to Light after. Rey had to keep pushing to save Ben Solo, keep the monster that Snoke was trying to create at bay, she just needed more time.
Her own body trembling in trepidation, Rey's fingers brushed against Ben's black leather glove. Short gasps escaped from both, both in surprise and relief. Ben grasped her hand tightly, as if afraid of letting her go, as if she might run. As the throne room burned around them they only had eyes for each other, their gazes locked as time seemed to slow and stretch on forever. Ben went rigid as he broke eye contact, looking past Rey.
She turned. A squad of stormtroopers rushed into the throne room, blasters raised. At the front of the group was a red-haired man dressed in an impressive officer's uniform and a scowl. General Hux looked around the throne room, eyes landing on Snoke's body and then the dead Supreme Leader's apprentice, Hux's scowl turned into a twisted frown of disbelief, shock and anger. He motioned for the troops to open fire.
Ben let Rey's hand go only long enough to put Luke's lightsaber into her palm. The air around them glowed as he ignited his lightsaber, Rey followed suit. Twirling her lightsaber she deflected a barrage of blaster fire, ready to cut her way through until Ben slammed his foot down and thrust his hand forward, the stormtroopers pushed back by a wave of Force energy.
"Ren!" General Hux yelled, the first to recover from the Force blast. He drew his blaster, his finger on the trigger just as Ben cut through the weapon and the man's hand with a hard downward swing of his saber, the tip slashing through the floor as Hux cried out in pain.
"Follow me," Ben said while flourishing the red blade. Rey nodded and the two raced past the stunned troops, weaving through the hallways of the Supremacy. Survival was first and forefront in Rey's mind, but Ben's words about letting the past die, the First Order, the Jedi, all of it, echoed as he cut down those under his command if they raised a weapon to them.
A massive shock ripped through the ship, hurling the two into a wall with enough force to knock the air from their lungs and for stars to flash in front of their eyes.
"Ben! Ben?" Rey was the first to stand, dazed from the impact but otherwise uninjured. She shook Ben's still body and was met with a low groan of pain. "Come on, get up!" Rey pulled at his arm and Ben scrambled to his feet and quickly reignited his lightsaber. The look on his face was one of grim determination, he was ready to take down the whole Supremacy if needed.
Massive fires raged inside the hangar. Stormtroopers and officers fled to the nearest ships and escape pods as everything started to crumble. Ben and Rey raced towards his Upsilon-class command shuttle, Rey barely remembered the ship from her first encounter with Ben, when he had taken her prisoner on Takodana. Ben threw his arm out in front of her, stopping her just as the walkway in front of them collapsed in a fiery inferno.
"This way!" Ben yelled over the sound of crashing metal. The Supremacy heaved again, almost throwing the two to the floor again. Rey grabbed a hold of Ben to keep herself stable as he deflected a stray blaster bolt. Smoke burned their throats and the growing flames made it almost impossible to see. Every footfall was placed with uncertainty, the ground under them trembled and threatened to disappear with every passing second.
Both were coughing from the thick smoke as they boarded the shuttle, Ben quickly climbing into the pilot seat and flipping a myriad of switches and pointing at another panel as Rey sat in the co-pilot seat. He started to say what buttons to press when he saw that Rey was already two steps ahead. With one more switch the Upsilon-class ship fired up and hovered over the quickly disappearing ground as its long wings, folded straight above the body, extended and took on an angled V-position.
"Do you know how to fly this thing?" Rey asked as the wingtips took out a small catwalk nearby.
Ben gave her a sideways glance as the command shuttle left the hangar, flames licking at the back of the ship. Rey gasped as they flew into space, the shuttle dodging massive chunks of debris, the massive amount of destruction surrounding them sobering. The Supremacy and its Star Destroyer escorts were broken, sheered like thin sheets of metal. Rey wasn't sure what happened but her heart lifted when she spotted the Resistance escape shuttles far off in the distance, headed towards a small planet.
"Ben, the Resistance, they-" Rey stopped, the look on his face cut her short. A deep, pained look that told her he was far from ready to face the people he had hunted down. She looked back at the Resistance shuttles, somehow she knew they would make it, they had everything they needed to survive and kindle the flame of rebellion. She gave Ben a small smile and put her hand over his, "They'll be there when you're ready."
The command shuttle jolted, hit by one of the cannons from the Supremacy. "Why are they firing at us?" Rey shouted.
"I don't know!" Ben growled and typed in coordinates, spinning the command shuttle to avoid another barrage of shots. The ship was far slower, far less maneuverable, than his TIE Silencer. Another blast rocked the ship, warning alarms sounded that their rear shields were down. Rey made sure the twin heavy laser cannons were online, in case they had to fight their way out of the debris field.
Just as he jumped to hyperdrive the ship was jolted again.
…
Trees jumped into view, splintering as the command shuttle crashed through a massive forest. Ben's entire body was shaking as he tried to maintain control of the ship, his face furrowed in concentration. Rey frantically flipping switches and levels as alarms blared and warning signals flashed. The body of the shuttle hit ground, knocking the two back and forth as the the Upsilon-class shuttle came to an abrupt halt.
"Are you okay? Ben?" Rey asked, the coordinates on the cracked screen in front of her made no sense, she had no idea where they had landed. The only thing she had to go on was the atmospheric data, the air was safe.
"Fine. Are you hurt?" Ben let go of the controls as the ship groaned and settled. Sparks flew from the numerous panels and fluid started leaking from overhead. They shared a look and a nod, lightsabers in hand as they exited the crashed ship, ready to confront this strange world together.
They stood near an old, dark forest. A chill seemed to come from the ancient branches that creaked and moaned despite the still summer air, Rey felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end, and was glad they had only crashed through the edge of the treeline and landed in the middle of a low, grassy plain. A massive castle sat on top of a cliff overlooking a large lake, towers that looked like they were carved from the rock of the cliff side reached into the night sky. Dozens of windows were flickering with light and the structure, and even being a distance away, felt warm and inviting. The stars above unfamiliar in the clear night sky, a single large waning moon against a backdrop of midnight. There was a small hut nearby, round and made of stone and a thatched roof, slightly crooked with smoke billowing out the chimney. Before they could investigate further half a dozen humanoid shapes in hoods and robes came rushing their way from the castle.
Ben ignited his lightsaber and took up an aggressive stance, the red glow quickly joined by Rey's blue light as they stood back to back. Ben's teeth were bared and his eyes darted from figure to figure as they formed a half circle around the pair. He flourished his weapon one-handed in a circle, almost inviting the challenge while Rey held her lightsaber with both hands, pointed upward and ready to defend.
"Expelliarmus!" One of the figures called out, waving a long, thin stick. A white flash filled the air.
Shocked, Rey felt her lightsaber rip from her hands and fly through the air, landing in the hand of the one who had spoken. Ben shared her look of astonishment for a moment before rage overtook his features, he stiffened and then charged the nearest figure with a roar.
"Stupefy!" Another figure called out. A white bolt flew towards Ben, who blocked the attack with his lightsaber.
"Stupefy!" The half dozen hooded figures all cried out in unison.
Ben was lifted from the earth and flew through the air, landing on the ground with a sickening thud.
…
Author Notes: Recently I was challenged to mash together my two favorite fandoms, the Harry Potter movies are on HBO and I just watched The Last Jedi again...so here we are. I have a rough idea of an overall story arc but this was really more for fun but I'll keep going if people enjoyed it. Also, my Husband and I debated for a long time (we debated less about what to name our first child, this debate was almost a marriage ending argument - joking) if lightsabers could deflect wizard spells.
Thanks for reading!