The three runaways got out of the speeder along with BB-8 and ran into the old and battered Millennium Falcon.
Barging into the ship, Kylo Ren ran pass them and into a different corridor that diverged to their right.
"Where is he going?" Finn asked, the confused ex-trooper had no idea what to do as he looked around the hallway.
"He's probably going to the pilot deck; gunner position is down there!" Rey pointed to a flight of stairs going down to the bottom of the ship before breaking off to help Kylo Ren.
"You ever fly this thing!?" Finn questioned as he got into the gunner seat.
"No! This ship hasn't flown in years!"
"That's just great." Finn sighed as he messed with the controls attacked to the gunner position causing seat to spin back and forth in an awkward position. "I can do this, I can do this." He repeated to himself to calm his raising anxiety.
Rey reached the pilot deck and saw that Kylo Ren already began pressing a multitude of buttons and switches. Hurrying over to the empty co-pilot seat next to him, Rey stated to press a few different buttons and switches too. "Do you know what you are doing?" She asked him in a concerned tone. Rey had been in this freighter several times since it was brought to the planet by UnKar Plutt years back. She had some knowledge of how to start and control ships through her years of scavenging, but the Falcon was one of those older vehicles that she hadn't scour fully.
"This should answer your question." Kylo Ren stated as he pressed one more button, and the entire aircraft began to hum to life. Shockingly, the ship began to move a little off the ground, surprising him because he half expected the junk ship to fall apart and explode. Kylo Ren turned to the scavenger besides him watching her play with the buttons. He was going to tell her to stop toying with the controls, but she seemed to have some knowledge of the ship as she flipped a panel and turned on the shields and sensor modules.
The Falcon shook in the rear as the two TIE-Fighters sent another wave of blast towards them, barely missing their engine before flying overhead.
The Millennium Falcon detached itself from the ground as Kylo Ren tried to steer it up, having not been in the ship since his childhood, he was still hazy with the controls, causing the right side of the Falcon to scrape across the desert ground.
"Watch out!" Rey grabbed onto Kylo Ren's right hand and pulled back sending the ship to float upwards and only scrapping the entrance of the Niima Outpost. The Falcon picked up speed as it finally got up into a horizontal position and took off into the desert staying low to the ground.
"What are you doing, fly up we have to get out of here!" Rey told Kylo who was too busy figuring out where they were heading in this wasteland.
"He can't, we have to stay low to confuse their tracking." She heard Finn's voice through the intercom.
Kylo Ren jolted the controls as the twin TIE-Fighters made their way back to them and managed to hit several spots on the ship causing the him to get irritated.
"What are you doing, are you ever going to fire back!" Kylo yelled a Finn.
"Sorry Sir, working on it! It's not so easy sitting in this thing" The ex-trooper saw that his tracking systems finally booted on and began to return fire at the enemy aircrafts.
Rey gave Kylo Ren a perplexed stare, "Why did he call you sir?"
Shaking his head in annoyance at his former subordinate's poor choice in words, Kylo Ren turned to give Rey a quick glance, his expression of pure frustration caused Rey to avoid eye contact and stare frontwards, "It's a long story, I'll ask later." She whispered.
"We need cover, fast!" Finn yelled, as the Falcon took several more blasts to its rear.
"Were do we go?" Kylo Ren asked Rey.
She quickly scanned the area and realized that they were close to the star destroyer graveyard. "Turn right."
Kylo Ren did as she instructed and flew right, at the sight of massive wreckages he swore to himself, this is going to be a tricky escape.
Rey heard some clanking behind her and turned around to see their droid companion wiggling around the floor, "BB-8 hang on." Complying, the droid beeped and shot out its grappling hook in several directions, clinging on for dear life.
Turning on the ignition to full speed and then swerving to the left in a daring move that might have caused them to crash into the bottom side of a destroyer, Kylo Ren was able to split the two TIE-Fighters up. Finn took this opportunity to lock onto the TIE-Fighter with the cannon and blast the lower left wing of the fighter causing it to crash and slide across the fine sand. "I am getting pretty good at this."
Speaking too soon, suddenly the remaining fighter appear and took aim at the cannon, hitting the widgets that connected it to the main body. Finn moved the controls but to no avail. "The cannons are stuck in forwards position, I can't move it, you are going to have to lose them."
Rey looked onwards, spotting the two towering thrusters of a half-buried destroyer, thus sparking an idea. Looking back at the man she saved, she realized that now that she still didn't know what to call this stranger. I'll have to asking him after this, if we survive. "You, turn in there!" she told the man pointing to the massive cylinder thrusters sticking out of the sand.
"You're crazy." The man muttered, looking back at the scavenger.
Rey gave him a confident glare, "Trust me."
Sighing once again, he prayed to himself that this girl would not be the end of him as he flipped some switches located above him and prepared to enter the belly of the tarnished star destroyer. The fighter still tightly glued to their backs and sending non-stop barrages of blast their direction.
"Are we really doing this?" Finn yelled as he watched from the back, knowing that they flew into some enormous vehicle.
"Finn, get ready!"
Kylo Ren did his best to steer the Falcon as they zigzagged their way across the hulls and components of the destroyer. Rey eyed the opening of the ship and pointed to the broken wall up ahead "Turn right through the hole and then flip this ship to give Finn the right position to fire back."
Giving Rey a subtle nod, he smirked a little appreciating that this girl was a fast thinker and was smarter than she appeared.
As they closed the distance between the gap, Kylo quickly drove the ship out of the destroyer before dimming the thrusters causing the Millennium Falcon to till to the front. This sudden movement allowed the back of the vehicle to face the TIE-Fighter chasing them. Finn getting a full lock onto the enemy vehicle fired the cannons with a direct hit, causing the fighter to fall and crash into some nearby debris.
Rapidly adjusting cours, Kylo Ren pulled down the ignition shift and sent the Millennium Falcon flying up into the atmosphere and into the pitch black of space.
Kylo Ren lessened his grip on the ignition switch, they made it out of Jakku and there doesn't appear to be any more First Order vehicles coming after them. He stood up, the feeling of being able to stand and relax felt amazing as he threw back his head, taking in a deep breath.
Suddenly, he felt to arms wrap around him. Looking down he sees the girl, Rey, was holding him in a tight embrace. He could feel the movement of his stilted heart pump a few beats faster as she held onto him for a brief few seconds. He slowly wrapped his arms around her small frame in a reassuring way, before she let go.
Feeling the awkwardness in the air, Kylo Ren scratched the back of his neck as the girl looked at him with amazement. "You were great, that was some amazing flying!" she told him.
"Thanks…um, you weren't half bad. Where did you learn to do that?" Kylo Ren said in a curious manner.
"I don't know."
Peaking his curiosity, Kylo Ren raised his eyebrow. "No one trained you?"
"I've flow some ships, but I've never left the planet." Finally regaining her composure, she looked at the man that had just save her life again. Still feeling a little shaken up by the past two days, she was gracious that he had helped her through everything. Not knowing whether it was just the extreme circumstances that she had endured or just being lonely on the planet she felt an unspoken connection to this stranger. Her wall of caution towards him had slowly dropped. Rey gave him a small smile as she remembered to ask him a long overdue question "I still don't know your name."
Kylo Ren was captivated, for the first time in years he had met someone that he couldn't read right away. This girl was definitely force sensitive that might have been the reason he felt drawn to her, but even without that there was a spunk to her that he liked. Not knowing how to reply, he was contemplating giving her his real name over the one he gave himself after his change of allegiances. His mouth quivered as he decided to go against his façade, "I am… Ben."
The scavenger held out her hand, "I am Rey." Ben, gave her a small smile, the first genuine one he's had in a long time as he held out his hand to take hers. "I know."
"WHOO!"
The abrupt yell made them pull apart. Finn got up onto the deck. "That was some piloting you guys did back there!"
Rey walked over to him, "Thanks. I am Rey by the way."
Before they could continue with their greeting BB-8 strolls up to them beeping. "Hey what's wrong?" The scavenger said as she kneeled to talk with the droid. BB-8 gave her several more beeps before a small utensil poked out of its side and pointed at Finn.
Rey turned around "It says that you rescued his master, but he disappeared, and that now you promised to take him to The Resistance to give them the missing map piece to Luke Skywalker."
"Woah, there. I promised to get us off Jakku, that all." Finn said defensively.
Rey turned her attention to the droid. "Don't worry, we'll get you back."
A loud hissing noise fallowed by a cloud of smoke erupted out of the flooring next to them.
"Piece of junk!" Ben breathed as he walked over to the panel. "Quick, help me with this."
…
A tall man walks into an empty dim light room. His outfit screamed high ranking and the way he cared himself called for attention and obedience. The redheaded man was non-other than General Hux, the second in command of the First Order after the treachery of Kylo Ren. Stepping to the center of the room, he kneeled and waited.
A giant fading blue holograph materialized in front of him, and what appeared to be a deformed humanoid being.
"Supreme Leader Snoke, we were unable to acquire the droid at Jakku."
The giant hologram did not speak as it listened intently to his general's words.
"It escaped capture aboard a stolen Corellian YT model freighter."
The supreme leader leaned in, "This is the doing of Kylo Ren I presume."
General Hux takes his eyes off the ground and looks up, "He had help, from a traitor believed to be FN-2187."
"Anything else general?" Snoke acquired as he clasped his hands.
"Yes, they were accompanied by a girl."
A smile curled around the deformed lip of Snoke as he leaned back into the comfort of his chair. "You are dismissed."
Taken back by his leader's tranquil attitude Hux stood up. "Are we not going to do anything about this?"
"Everything is going as intended."
…
"It's the motivator, grab me a Harris wrench. Check in there." Rey told Finn.
"How bad is it?" Finn asked as he rummaged through a box full of tools.
"If we wanna live, not good." Rey replied.
"They are hunting for us now, we've got to get out of this system!" Finn told her.
Kylo Ren franticly tried to reattaching wires that had been blown out from the overheating, the smoke was blocking his vision and getting in his face.
"BB-8 where is your resistance base?" Rey said, poking her head out of the hatch.
BB-8 gave her several beeps.
"The IIeenium system?" Rey said as Finn threw her the wrench.
"The lleenium system?" Kylo Ren squinted as he mentally cursed himself, why did I not bother checking there before, damn it. The bursting wires sparked furiously, sending some flares into Kylo's face.
"Are you alright." Rey said as she finished tightening some loose bolts.
"Yeah, I am fine." Kylo Ren stood up and looked at the ex-storm trooper. "YOU, give me the binding tape"
Finn looked around, "This one?"
"no"
"This?"
"no."
"This?"
"Ah, forget it." Using the force, he pulled a roll of yellow tape from a scattered pile of trinkets into his hand before going back down to seal off the propulsion tank to prevent the place filling up with poisonous gas.
"You're going to get them there right?" Rey said to an occupied Kylo Ren.
Not replying wasn't a good sign, Kylo Ren was busy with actually trying to fix the ship; he really didn't want to reply until after they fixed the motivator.
"Ben? Will you?" Rey persisted.
"Augh, sure whatever." Kylo Ren spoke, clearly with irritation as he put on the final strands of tape to seal off the cracked pipes. Instantly, the smoke fumes stopped escaping.
"Ok, after that, you have to take me back to Jakku."
"Jakku!" Kylo Ren yelped, getting up a bit too soon he hit his head again the metal rim of hatch.
"Ben." Rey walked over to him and touched the upper side of his head where he hit it. Pulling her hand away, Kylo Ren observed her, a serious expression was plastered over his face which took Rey back. "Why would you go back there? You're a fugitive now, there's nothing on that planet for you to go back to."
The words that came out of Ben's mouth hit Rey hard, she promised herself to wait there until her parents returned and to have a compete stranger tell her that no one was coming back made her blood boil. "None of your business, that why."
Shortly, the lights inside the Millennium Falcon turned off and red lights indicating a warning signal turned on.
Rey, Fin, and Kylo Ren made their way to the pilot room to check the controls. "Someone's locked onto us. All the controls are overridden" Kylo Ren spoke as read the interphase projected on the dash board. Over them they saw a massive cruiser trailed above them, seemingly pulling the Falcon up into its landing deck.
Suddenly, Kylo Ren felt a familiar presence sweep across him. Turning around, Rey and Finn were running back to the motivator hatch.
"What are you doing?" Kylo Ren asked the two.
Finn grabbed BB-8 and jumped down the hull, Rey dropped a gas mask down there for him.
"Ben, come on I am going to open the seal, Finn said the First Order's masks filters out smoke not poisonous gases." She handed him a mask and was about to join Finn, Kylo Ren grabbed Rey's hand and turned her to face him.
"Rey…" Hearing him say her name for the first time made the scavenger's heart skip a beat.
"Why are you going back to Jakku?"
"Ben, this really isn't a good time." She told him.
"You guys come on!" Finn said looking up at the two, BB-8 beeped in agreement.
Kylo Ren gave the trooper a glare that he knew was not meant to be taken kindly, and slowly pulled the panel over to his head to cover the opening.
"What are you doing?" Rey yelled at Kylo Ren.
"I am serious Rey, there is nothing there for you."
SLAP. Kylo Ren was not expecting that as he rubbed the stinging sensation off his cheek. Rey pointed a finger up to Ben's face as she stared at him with a deadpan expression "Don't you ever say that." As she turned around to reopen the hatch, from outside the Millennium Falcon several grunts and noises could be heard.
"Get behind me." Ben states.
Complying, Rey stood behind Ben as he positioned himself to face the corridor leading to the entrance. Kylo Ren tenses as his hand slowly straggled down to his lightsaber. There were some banging noises before the hissing of the doors being opened. Kylo Ren and Rey looked at the entrance, anticipating a whole squad of storm troopers to burst through the hallway.
"Chewie… were home."
Kylo Ren's world came to a halt as he heard the voice. "It can't be…"
Peeping out of the corner, a grey-haired man in is later ages holding a blaster along with a Wookie companion turned the corner.
The two men looked at each other with complete stillness and surprise, Kylo Ren could see the mix of emotions come forth through the eyes of the older man. Fear, anger, disappointment, a bit of hope.
Kylo Ren straightened his posture, confronting the man. "Han Solo." His emotionless voice hit his father hard as he sees the old man tighten his free hand into a fist.
Lowering his blaster Han looks in disbelief, almost like seeing a ghost standing before him.
"Ben."
From the reviews I got for the previous chapter I take it that you guys like the story so far, so will continue on with my idea dumping. Again, please drop a follow, favorite, or review. Your feedback is truly appreciated.
Thank you so much, and like always have a great day.