The roar of engines alerted Rey to the incoming of a ship. She looked up and saw the Millennium Falcon flying towards the hangar at a rapid pace. Too rapid.
"Everybody move!" Rey shouted and the people in the hangar scattered like animals. The ship landed, almost crashing to the ground, sending parts flying. The dust settled and she ran towards it, the rest of them on her heels. The landing ramp fell open and Rey ran into the ship.
"Chewie?" she asked as the Wookiee almost collapsed on top of her. "Where's Han?"
Blood was matted in his hair from what looked to be cuts by a lightsaber. He was mumbling what sounded like nonsense. Rey helped him off the ship, half carrying him. A crew of medics ran toward her, pushing through the crowd and helped her shoulder the large Wookiee.
"What happened?" she asked as they helped him onto a stretcher.
"A Destroyer…" Chewie mumbled only half making sense, "lost in the Unknown Regions… not functioning… Han captured…"
He lost consciousness and the medics took him away. Rey stepped towards the ship as everyone started whispering amongst themselves, trying to figure out what was going on.
She searched the Millennium Falcon for Han before sitting in his seat and checking the computer. The navigation systems had shorted.
Rey sighed and pulled open a panel, digging through the wires to find the two she needed. Connecting them with a small jolt of electricity going up her arm, the computer beeped and lit up. She shook out her arm as she pulled up the logs. Just as Chewie had said, they had been in the Unknown Regions.
"How did you get that lost?" Rey muttered to herself as she worked, "I should've checked the system."
Once she cleared the burnt out wires, she started the ship's engines. She was going to find Han.
It took her a few hours to reach the Unknown Regions. Rey had tried to fix the tracking systems, but they were burned beyond what she could fix mid flight.
Climbing back into the cockpit, she saw the Destroyer suddenly loom before her. Chewie had been right- it didn't look like it was functioning.
Rey flew the Falcon into the hangar and left the ship to investigate the Destroyer.
It seemed like the ship itself was dying. Cold air pressed into her arms, sending a shiver through her. Something was off about this place.
Whispers seemed to echo through the dead ship, clinging hauntingly to her as she stepped hesitantly through the hangar.
"A girl? What's she doing here?"
"She's here for the father."
"He won't let her take him!"
"Hello?" she asked, her voice echoing back to herself. Rey tightened her grip on her lightsaber and shut her eyes, reaching into the Force. She didn't have time to search the entire ship.
Her eyes flew open when she found him. But someone else was here too. Rey didn't have time to figure out who. She ran through the corridors, choosing direction through pure instinct.
Soon enough she found him. He was locked in a cell, deep in the ship. A single cold light shone down on him.
"Han?" Rey asked, kneeling by the bars, reaching through them to the hunched figure. She could see her breath in the air.
"Rey?" Han half crawled to the door, grabbing her hand. His fingers were stiff with cold. "How'd you find me?"
"Fixed the navigation systems. I'm getting you out!" Rey tugged at the bars, her lightsaber falling from her hand.
"No, you have to get out of here! Before he finds you. He wants to hurt me, but he won't care about keeping you alive."
"Who?" Rey asked, her brow furrowing. She held on tighter to his hand. Han's eyes widened, looking behind her.
Rey was pulled away from him, held in midair by a strong grip on her throat. She struggled against the Force, but the user was too strong.
"No!" Han shouted, reaching for her as her head began pounding from the pressure. A dark robed figure stepped from the shadows, hand stretched out to her. A mask hid his face, black with silver etched into it.
"Let her go. You already have me, you don't need her!" Han pleaded desperately with the figure. Her lungs were burning and spots were dancing over her eyes.
"You're right." His voice was distorted by his mask. "I don't."
He released her. Rey fell to the ground with a gasp.
"Why are you keeping him?" Rey asked when she was able to breathe again.
"It is what he deserves."
She heard a lightsaber ignite and pulled hers to her hand, blocking his strike at her neck. Rey stopped it a few inches from her face, the lightsabers sizzling and hissing against each other. The combination of blue and red light from their sabers reflected against his mask. She couldn't see his reaction under it, though his head turned slightly as if intrigued.
"You are strong in the Force," he calmly observed.
His words momentarily stunned her, allowing him to strike her lightsaber from her hands in a swift motion, sending it skittering across the floor.
Rey tried to call it back to her, but he froze her entire body with the Force. She tried to move, but her limbs refused to respond. He stepped imposingly towards her, lightsaber burning unstabley in his hand.
"Ben don't!" Han shouted, clutching onto the bars.
"Why are you here?" he asked. When she didn't answer, he held his hand up to her face, pushing his way into her mind.
Rey shut her eyes tightly, trying to push him out. She had heard of this from Master Luke, but never experienced it herself. He pushed past her defenses easily, the Force pulsing around them.
"You're here for him," he murmured, "you feel like he's the father you never had."
Rey could feel tears leaking from her eyes as she struggled against him. His probing hurt and she didn't want Han to know that.
"He would have disappointed you," he commented.
How would he know?
"You finally feel like you have a family. Chewbacca. Finn. Leia." His voice seemed to crack at the last name, but she attributed it to the mask.
"Get out of my head," Rey hissed, pushing harder against him in desperation. She had to protect the Resistance. He couldn't know where their base was or where Master Luke continued his solitude.
His breath seemed to catch behind the mask. They struggled against each other for a moment. Their minds were locked in conflict. Suddenly it reversed with a snap and she could see into his head.
Anger. Pain. Loneliness. She saw a fire burning, smoke rising from a falling building. The Jedi Academy. Luke had told her about what happened. One of his students had destroyed it all.
"Kylo Ren," Rey hissed at him before he pulled his hand away like she burnt him, releasing her body. She fell to the floor again, her stomach doing backflips.
How had she done that?
He turned away from her and Rey looked to Han, was watching the whole ordeal with wide eyes. The sick weight of fear settled in her stomach. But she wouldn't let him die here.
Kylo was still in the corner, like he was deciding what to do with her. But his focus wasn't on them. Carefully using the Force she unlocked the door.
"Run," Rey mouthed to Han before the man rounded on her again. Han shook his head as she climbed to her feet.
Rey turned her eyes defiantly up to the masked man. He seemed… intrigued, though she couldn't be sure from the mask. Shutting off his lightsaber, he gestured at her face, stealing her consciousness from her. Her body went limp and she didn't remember anything else after that.
