Chapter 1
Kylo Ren stalks about the Finalizer like a hungry animal in a cage. He is brooding, seething, his Force imprint rolling from his body in waves.
He should feel powerful - the last Jedi, the paranoid uncle who never gave him a chance, who only saw the powers of Ben Solo and not the person, is dead. Luke Skywalker is dead. Han Solo is dead. He has killed his uncle and his father. And he toppled his Master, the Supreme Leader! No Sith has ever dared to commit such murder!
So why does he not feel like the heir to the First Order, heir to the galaxy, that he is? He wishes it would take longer than it does to reach the answer. It's because of her. The Girl. Rey. The bewitching Jedi pretender who dared to spurn him, reject his offer to become his Queen. Queen of the Galaxy! Why would a poor scavenger not desire such riches?
The Force and his thoughts consume him so that Kylo Ren pays absolutely no attention to where he is walking. Sense of direction is thankfully not necessary, however, as First Order officers all but dive out of his way when he is observed stalking down the corridor. These subordinates do well to avoid him, not ask questions, not even look askance at him. The First Order is not about relationships. No military operation ever is. The only relationships that matter are those steeped in rank. This had been the Empire's way, Vader's way, and in Kylo's mind, it is chillingly practical.
The First Knight's meditation in motion is interrupted by the one person who could possibly not stand aside in a physical corridor and maybe get away with it: General Hux. Even so, Kylo Ren snaps at him as if just awoken from a deep slumber.
"What. Is. It?"
And then there is a sight the Sith never thought he would see: the General visibly gulps. He doesn't look remotely imposing anymore; with a pallour more ghastly than is even usual for his skin, he looks weak-chinned and feeble. Then again, Ren has never thought Hux was anything but weak-chinned and feeble, but nevertheless has let the ginger-haired officer's fantasies go where they will. Until now. After choking Hux with the Force upon finding Snoke dead, there will be no more argumentative banter between them. And absolutely no questioning Kylo's ascension.
"Th... There is no sign of the Falcon, sir. We have no estimates on the number of Resistance survivors, but..."
"No more than twenty," Ren pronounces as if it is positive proof. Even then, his guess is liberal at best. The Falcon never seemed very big to him, even as a young boy. It always appeared as confining to him as the rest of his old life.
Hux wisely takes the total as confirmed, with a meek, "Yes, sir. And when we find them?"
"I want them," the mask not distorting the hatred the way it does Ren's voice. "Dead. All of them."
The sunlight sparkles off of Finn's ebony skin as he sends an errant kick into a mound of dirt. He leaps back in time to recognize it as an ant hill now disturbed.
"You're right, there's not much left," he calls back over his shoulder.
After fleeing Crait, the long flight to Ahch-To had been mostly silent and sullen. Forsaking the luxury of lightspeed, for fear that the First Order may have projected a tracker onto the Falcon during battle, had given the last of the Resistance time to see to the wounded... and count everyone up.
Unknowningly, Kylo Ren's estimate proved perfectly accurate. 20 life forms survived the Battle of Crait - including the three droids and Chewbacca.
But even then, the numbers would dwindle.
Deep in space, one hellish night had seen Rose Tico's life support fail her. Finn had been understandably distraught. And then, General Leia herself had passed due to what many believed was a broken heart for her brother. No sign of a body was ever found, which befuddled many until Rey informed everyone that she felt Leia become one with the Force.
Now, the Resistance is down to a mere 18. Finn looks back upon not hearing a reply right away to see Rey on a rocky outcropping, sadly holding what look to be Jedi robes.
"No, there wouldn't be, would there?" She murmurs despondently. "Master Skywalker lived a meager existence near the end of his life."
"I'll say!" The voice emanates from a stone hut before Poe Dameron's head can catch up with it, poking his crop of black hair out of the entryway. "This shack even has a hole in it!"
"Oh, that was me. I shot a blaster through the wall," Rey fesses up, a little embarrassed.
Across the way, Commander D'Acy inspects another Hut. "At least yours has a door, Dameron! This one's been blasted off its hinges!"
Rey jogs over. "That was also me. I Force pushed it. Luke wasn't very keen on meeting me when I first arrived."
At this, Poe gets a idiotic grin on his face and stares at an unsuspecting Rey with pure admiration, warranting a questioning look and silent You OK? from Finn.
Remembering this hut to be Master Skywalker's, Rey ducks in to salvage what she can. Another pair of Jedi robes. Some wooden hangers. But she has all the Jedi texts. And there is no lightsaber. She brings what little remains out to her friends.
"Commander D'Acy, take these to the ship for safekeeping. Captain Peavey, scout ahead to set up a perimeter." She seems to notice Poe for the first time since they were introduced on the Falcon. "And what are you staring at?"
"You're beautiful when you get assertive," Poe practically drools, the same shit-eating grin on his face.
Rey stiffens with a frown, flushing as she briskly bustles past him. Finn's eyes narrow at the exchange, even as he and Poe follow Rey back to the Falcon. Though Poe has accepted the mantle as Leia's successor, the Resistance looks to Rey for guidance, as she is truly now the Last Jedi.
Rey tucks herself away in a corner, pulling out the Jedi texts and pouring over them. She should have suspected that Luke would not have a spare lightsaber, given how totally he exiled himself from the Force. But... barring that...
She leafs through the first manuscript, the leather bound pages trickling through her fingers. The Journals of...
"Finn? Have you ever heard of Obi-Wan Kenobi?"
Finn's head snaps up from where he has been inspecting the wiring through the trapdoor. "Of course. We... were programmed on old Holonets of him, to train in... hunting Luke." He drifts closer, staring. "Is that...?"
Rey holds up the book with a tight smile. "His journals. I'm going to build a lightsaber with it."
Finn and Poe sit cross-legged beside her, rifling through the other texts. "Where did you get these?" Poe asks.
"I smuggled them onto the ship when I left. Luke wanted to destroy them."
Both men seem shocked, but do not press Rey on why. If she wants to extrapolate further, she will. Rey frowns as she traces a hand along the instructions for building a lightsaber, many of them hand-drawn. "It takes much meditation, concentration... it's tricky..."
"We can help," Poe volunteers eagerly, gesturing between himself and Finn.
Rey raises her eyes to him, taken aback, but also... touched. "Sure. Thank you."
Gradually, over the next few weeks, the Resistance sets up a meager base on Ahch-To. There is not much an ex-Stormtrooper, a Jedi-in-training, a pilot, a Wookie, three droids and a dozen soldiers can do, but the little band makes the best of it. The Caretakers are eager to help, and Rey shows her skeptical friends how to harness green milk. Not everyone is at ease about the chosen location, as it is a historic refuge for Jedi. Luke's lingering presence only adds to the nerves.
Zeb, an elderly Resistance fighter, is particularly concerned. "How do we know that Ren fellow won't track us here?"
"Snoke read my mind on Luke's location, but he's dead. Kylo was never made privy to that information," Rey assures him. Although she feels she is convincing herself just as much as him.
There is not much on the island in way of metallurgy, to create a lightsaber hilt. But Rey is inspired to repurpose her Jakku staff.
"When it's finished, the lightsaber blade will come out both ends," she explains to Poe and Finn, as they watch her tinkering one morning on what has been dubbed Shaved Rock Ridge.
Finn grins. "Wicked! Say, I think there used to be a Sith many years ago who had a design like that. Cause one time, I caught Kylo Ren watching old Holonets of this guy with double red blades. He was a... Zabrak, I think. At least, he looked like a Zabrak."
"How powerful is a lightsaber, anyway?" Poe wonders aloud.
"Powerful enough to slice through rock," Rey answers without looking up from her staff.
"How do you know that?" Poe questions.
"Because THAT was also me," and Rey points back to Shaved Rock, remembering the blue lightsaber that once belonged to Luke's dad. The lightsaber she and Ben destroyed. "The Caretakers weren't too happy with me."
Poe beams, once again completely enamored with her. Finn feels an odd impulse to glare at the pilot, though where such an impulse comes from, he cannot say.
"Right," Rey announces, standing up to inspect her staff. "There's just one thing left. Kenobi's Journals say I need a kyber crystal."
"A what-now?" Finn garbles.
"A kyber crystal. It's the source of a lightsaber blade's energy."
"Great," Poe grins tightly, enthusiastically ready to assist. "Where do we get one?"
Rey half-scoffs, half-laughs. "Not here. They're in caves. The Caves of Illum."
Finn and Poe exchange glances. A mission. Leaving the island. On likely the most-wanted ship in the galaxy. And does Rey think she will go on her own?
No. Finn stands and suddenly wraps her in a hug. The gesture surprises Rey, but she accepts it, because it is Finn.
"We're coming with you," her first true friend declares.
