After all of the chaos and adventure of the last several days, Rey is pleasantly surprised when dinner passes with no complications. The food is amazing, so much better than the portions she'd eaten year after year on Jakku. Finn sits by her side, joking around with her about some of the weirder-looking foods. Occasionally she catches him looking at her like she's hung the moon and the stars, like he can't believe that she's here with him. And yes, she admits it is a bit strange to know that Finn was once a Stormtrooper, but he'd defected to the Resistance and put the First Order behind him. She'd meant it when she'd said she thinks of him as a hero.
Maz eventually agrees to give Han a clean ship so they can deliver BB-8 to the Resistance. Han looks a bit spooked at that—perhaps because he's leaving the Millennium Falcon behind, perhaps because he's nervous about seeing Leia again—but he voices his acceptance. "Chewie can return your ship once it's all over," he says with a grin. "Then you two can catch up."
Since Chewbacca had elected to not join them for dinner, Rey's not sure how the Wookiee will like that idea, but Maz nods like it's just fine by her. "You must get going quickly," she says crisply. "The First Order may well be on your tail already."
BB-8 gives a chirp of fear, and Han pats the droid on the head rather absentmindedly. Then he gets up, stretching his back as he does so, and she and Finn take that as their cues to rise from their chairs as well. "Thanks for the hospitality, Maz," he says. "Really. I owe you one."
"I'll add it to your tab." It's hard to tell if she's being sarcastic or not, but the way that this tiny alien is staring down Han Solo makes her snicker. Then Maz's eyes (magnified to enormous proportions by her spectacles) turn to Rey, who instantly goes on her guard. "I would like to speak with you before you depart, child. It is of the utmost importance."
Rey's eyes widen. What could Maz Kanata want to say to her? Moreover, why? They hadn't spoken directly to each other since she'd asked about the fight against the darkness and Maz had told them all that Rey had the eyes of a survivor. If it's really important she ought to talk with Finn or Han. They're the real heroes. I'm just a scavenger.
"We'll wait for you here," Han is saying. He sends her a brief glance as if to say don't worry, kid, and Finn squeezes her hand supportively. BB-8 impatiently beeps hurry up so we can go home! and she raises an eyebrow at the little droid.
Maz takes off down a nearby hallway, and Rey follows closely behind her. After descending a flight of stairs, they continue down a basement corridor. It's a lot colder down here than it is upstairs, but she's handled many freezing, windy nights on Jakku and this is practically nothing. Still, she has no idea why she'd agreed to follow Maz down here at all, and she swears that she can hear the far away sounds of something (or someone) crying out.
The door at the end of the corridor swings open once they are a few feet away, and Rey enters first—somehow she'd gotten ahead of Maz. This dark, small place must be a storage room, and she takes a few moments to admire the treasures that line the floors and walls, but her attention is quickly drawn to something else: a wooden box. There's nothing particularly special about it—it's dusty and old and has no elaborate designs—but she moves to it anyway, feeling unsure.
It's unlocked. She opens it.
Inside is a lightsaber. Her hands shaking, she reaches toward it, and her hand makes contact with it and—
Suddenly, the piercing sound of a lightsaber igniting fills the air and she startles, jumping backwards with fear. All around her the storage room morphs into a dark, dimly lit hallway that she's never seen before. Disembodied voices fill the air and her heart is beating so quickly that she's afraid it'll jump out of her chest at any moment. Then there's the same cry again—but this time she realizes that it's not something, it's someone, a little girl—and a boy materializes at the end of the hallway. She starts toward him but she trips and falls.
The world turns inside out and she lands on dry ground. The sky is red, there's heat and dust everywhere, and ash is falling like rain. Someone is yelling, a horrible, grieving yell that she can feel all the way down to her bones, and she looks around to see a small, silver-blue R2 unit. A figure is crouched near it, clutching the top of the droid with a prosthetic hand.
And then it's raining and suddenly a man falls with a scream in front of her, his chest pierced by the full force of a lightsaber. She's on a battlefield now, the screams of the dead all around her. Her hand flies to her mouth in horror as she finds herself confronted by seven tall figures, dark and foreboding, all armed with lightsabers of their own. The one at the front, their leader laughs and swings his lightsaber at her and—
"NO! COME BACK!"
She pivots around and suddenly she's back on Jakku, but this time it has to be a dream or a vision or something, because wailing in front of her, sobbing like her heart will give out at any moment, is herself as a young child. Unkar Plutt is grabbing onto her with his meaty, disgusting hand and snarling for her to be quiet.
"Stay here, Rey." This voice comes from far away, from the recesses of time and memory. "I'll come back for you. I'll be back, sweetheart. I promise."
"NO!" A starship zooms across the too-blue sky and young Rey howls in Unkar Plutt's grip. "NO, COME BACK, COME BACK, PLEASE—"
And the world around her changes again. It's night now and she knows she must be losing her mind because she's in a snowy forest and her breath is visible in the frigid air and she'd just been on Jakku moments ago. She runs, trying to find a way out, but suddenly Kylo Ren emerges from behind a tree, his lightsaber lighting up the night around him and she screams, stumbling backwards and—
These are your first steps, Rey.
She falls back, out of the room, suddenly sitting in the storage room again. Her heart is in her throat and she's out of breath and terrified and confused beyond belief. What had just happened? What had she seen? Had she ever left the room at all, or had that been some sort of vision?
"It called to you."
Rey's head snaps up. Maz is standing before her now, her eyes no longer magnified behind her spectacles. She doesn't look angry at Rey for going through her belongings; in fact, she looks almost triumphant, as though a belief of hers had finally come true. "What was that?" As the adrenaline leaves her system, she can't help but look back at the box. It's still open, inviting her to look at the lightsaber again. "I shouldn't have done that."
"That lightsaber was Luke's," Maz continues, ignoring her last statement. "And his father's before him and now, it calls to you!"
She's overwhelmed and emotional and speechless all at once but still manages to get to her feet. She can't think about this right now. Not when she'd seen battle and death and destruction. Not when the memories of her abandonment are fresh in her mind for the first time in years. "I need to go back to Jakku." Yes. She needs to go back to the place where things had actually made sense, to her home before she'd gone on this whirlwind adventure. But what about her promise to Finn?
"I know." Rey doesn't jerk away when Maz reaches out and gently takes Rey's hand in hers. "Dear child," she murmurs. "I see your eyes. You already know the truth: whomever you're waiting for on Jakku, they're never coming back."
Stay here, Rey. I'll come back for you. I'll be back, sweetheart. I promise. Tears trickle down her face.
"But there's someone who still could," Maz is saying. "With your help."
Her eyes return to the lightsaber. "Luke," she whispers, knowing instinctively that she is right.
"I know you are conflicted about what will happen after your mission is complete. I know you have doubts about your place, about where you belong." Maz squeezes Rey's hand tightly. "The belonging you seek is not behind you, child. It is ahead."
Rey is rooted to the spot, unable to move, unable to breathe. All she can do is stare at the tiny alien in front of her and listen intently.
"I am no Jedi, but I know the Force. It moves through and surrounds every living thing. Close your eyes. Feel it. The light. It's always been there. It will guide you."
Despite herself, Rey closes her eyes. She lets Maz's words wash over her like a cool breeze and tries to feel the light. There is something around her, in the air. Something almost invisible yet palpable at the same time.
"The saber. Take it."
Her eyes snap open, the air vanishing from her lungs as the images of battle and death and destruction and the memory of a starship zooming across the Jakku sky all come back to her at full force. She suddenly stands—when had she knelt down? "I'm never touching that again." Her voice is shaking, she is shaking, and she cannot deal with this right now. "And I don't want any part of this."
Maz opens her mouth to say something, but Rey is gone before she can hear it.
Finn has no idea why he'd suggested to go outside less than a few minutes after Rey and Maz had disappeared downstairs. It is a nice day, though; a pleasant breeze wafts through the air (which beats the scorching heat of Jakku by a long shot) and Solo lets out an appreciative hum upon exiting the castle. He starts saying something about the ship Maz had lent them, about the Resistance, and Finn is about to work up the nerve to tell Solo about his past as a Stormtrooper when a chill runs up and down his spine.
He looks up, his blood running cold and his heart sinking as he sees a path of fire tearing its way through the sky. His ears are ringing; it feels as if he'd just heard millions of voices crying out in terror before being suddenly, abruptly silenced. There's a crowd forming behind them, all of them murmuring speculations and wild theories. Someone says something about a star going nova before being shot down with the precision of a Trooper firing squad, and Solo pulls out a miniature telescope and aims it at the sky, trying to get a good look.
His dreams from all those days ago return to him, unbidden. General Hux talking about the First Order's weapon, about destroying the Republic and the Resistance before either of them could reach Skywalker. Supreme Leader Snoke saying that if Hux's operative fails, he has permission to use the weapon. Oh Force, no. No.
"It was the Republic," he says numbly. He feels a million sets of eyes turn to him. Chewbacca is running up to them and BB-8 beeps furiously at his side. "The First Order. They've done it." Solo's expression is stoic as he exchanges a glance with Chewbacca, but Finn would have to be blind to miss the concern in his eyes. They both know what this means. They need to get out of here and get back to D'Qar as fast as possible. "We need to get Rey."
Before Solo can say anything, Maz appears next to them. "You three come with me," she says. Her Order is so fierce that it would put some of the seasoned Trooper commanders to shame. "There's something you must see."
The five of them end up in a storage room in the castle basement, where rows of treasures line the walls and a wooden box sits on an old table. Maz briskly walks towards the box and opens it, and Finn almost faints on the spot once he sees what's inside. It's a lightsaber. Not like the one that Kylo Ren carries around Starkiller Base; this one looks significantly older. Solo looks particularly thunderstruck. "This is Luke's lightsaber," he says. Finn's eyes nearly bug out of his head. How the helmet did she get Luke Skywalker's lightsaber? "How—Maz, where did you get that?"
"A good question," Maz says, "for another time." She brandishes the lightsaber at Finn. Thankfully it's not turned on, otherwise he would have gotten skewered. "Take it! Find your friend!"
Finn takes the lightsaber just as the room is shaken by an above ground attack. Screams echo from upstairs, as do the unmistakable signs of blaster fire and X-Wings. Shit.
"Those beasts," Maz hisses. "They're here."
By the time Rey finally comes to a stop, she's overwhelmed and her chest is heaving and exhaustion seeps all the way through her muscles and into her bones. She hadn't been paying attention to where she'd been going, and now she looks around as she slowly catches her breath. She's in the forest, a good distance away from both the castle and the Millennium Falcon. Under any other circumstances she'd probably take the time to admire the nature around her, but all she can do is lean against a tree and try to come to terms with what she'd seen.
Had it all been some sort of hallucination? Had Maz somehow seen what Rey had seen? Why had touching the lightsaber triggered those images (not to mention her memory of being abandoned on Jakku all those years before)? And Maz had said something about the lightsaber of Luke Skywalker calling to her. She might not know much about the Jedi but she knows that only those who are Force-sensitive can truly wield a lightsaber. And I'm definitely not Force-Sensitive, she thinks. I can't be.
After a few more moments of resting and contemplation, she pushes herself off the tree and starts to head back toward the castle. She's definitely not about to touch that lightsaber again but maybe she can ask Maz or even Han Solo about why she'd seen what she'd seen. They might know.
Suddenly a gust of wind whips through the trees, and Rey looks up to the sky just in time to see a fleet of First Order ships roaring overhead. They're heading toward the castle, she realizes. The First Order must have tracked them down somehow, and now Finn and Han and BB-8 and Maz and everyone on Takodana is in terrible danger.
Racing through the trees and back toward the castle as fast as her legs can carry her, Rey slows down just in time to see Maz's castle being attacked on all sides. First Order ships zoom around, blasting at the turrets, and more TIE Fighters than she can count are flying close to the ground and obliterating every alien trying to make a run for it. Other TIE Fighters and transporters land, and her heart leaps into her throat when she sees entire battalions of Stormtroopers exit the ships and prepare to attack. I've got to get to Finn and the others.
Just then, the sound of a filtered radio call gets Rey's attention and her blood damn near freezes in her veins as she sees nearby Stormtroopers gazing at her in disbelief. The staring contest only lasts a second before one of them fires at her, and Rey jumps behind a tree just in time. She doesn't have her staff on her; all she has is the blaster that Han had given her earlier and had taught her how to use. Point and shoot, just point and shoot.
She grabs the blaster from where it's been hastily holstered at her side and aims it at the Stormtroopers, but it won't fire. What—oh, the safety, the safety! She switches off the safety and starts firing back. Two Troopers collapse to the ground but more are coming towards her, and she sets off at a run. She'll lose them in the forest and then head back around to the castle, find Finn and the others, get BB-8 onto that clean ship that Maz had promised them and—
Kylo Ren appears from behind a tree.
Operating on pure instinct, Rey fires. Then again, and again, but he keeps using that lightsaber of his to deflect every blast and he keeps coming toward her and even though the odds are starting to get stacked against her she is not about to give up now. She raises her blaster to fire again, but suddenly his hand rises and she can't move. She can't move.
Oh kriff, oh no, oh no…
"So you must be the girl I've heard so much about." His voice is muffled by his mask but he still manages to sound impressed and almost condescending at the same time. She's so frightened that tears well up in her eyes but she won't let them fall. He takes a step closer to her, his hand rising once more, and the worst agony she's ever felt tears through her body. It's like a thousand white-hot knives stabbing her all at once and a scream rises in her throat but she can't release it.
He pulls his hand away and she gulps down air the same way she drinks water after a long day of scavenging in the desert. "You're just a Jakku scavenger," he says almost dismissively before raising his hand again. Now she understands what he's trying to do and she fights to keep her mind blank, her memory hidden and locked away, but the effort makes tears stream down her face. "And you've met the traitor that was once one of our operatives. Interesting. You've even begun to care for him."
Suddenly memories of her and Finn dancing together and kissing in the AT-AT flash before her and she tries to hide them away because he has no right to see those, no right at all, and she forces her mind to go anywhere else, to a galaxy far far away from here...
"You've seen it." He lowers his hand slightly and her pain vanishes, though her terror remains. "You've seen the map."
There's a noise from behind, the sound of someone clearing their throat, and a Stormtrooper says, "Sir, Resistance fighters just arrived." The Resistance. Thank the Force, maybe the others can still be saved. "We need more troops."
Silence. Kylo Ren is still staring at her when he answers, "Pull the division out. Forget the droid." She doesn't have to imagine what his expression is behind the mask; she can hear it in his voice. A cold triumph. "We have what we need."
He waves his hand, and everything goes dark.
It takes them what feels like hours to work their way through mounds of rubble and debris before finally making it out of the basement. The castle is completely destroyed; only two of the walls are still standing and it doesn't appear that they'll last much longer either. BB-8 stays by Maz's side as Solo and Chewbacca run toward the fight with their blasters in hand. Hundreds of Stormtroopers swarm across the grounds, each one wielding a weapon more deadly than the last. He's going to need a weapon if he wants to stand a chance of fighting back.
"Go," Maz snaps at him. He has a feeling that she'd shouted this to him before but he had been too busy observing to listen. "Go and find your friend."
Maz had said that Rey had run off after being shown the lightsaber, but he doesn't think that that's the full story. Either way, his best guess is that she'd run into the forest, and he hopes that she's not in any danger. "I left my blaster down there," he says instead. "I need a weapon."
Maz grabs the wrist holding the lightsaber and raises it up. It's a surprising show of strength for an alien that's a hundred times his age and half his age. "You have one!"
For a moment, all he can do is stare. She can't be serious. Does she really expect him to use the lightsaber? He knows blasters and pulse rifles like the back of his hand but he's never held a lightsaber in his life, nor does he know anyone who has (with the exception of Kylo Ren, of course, but that doesn't count). Still, he needs to find Rey, and any weapon is better than none at all. He activates the weapon, admiring the bright blue beam before setting off into the fray.
Charging, he moves behind a Stormtrooper that's sneaking up on Solo and Chewbacca and impales him with the glowing blade. Then another, and another. Despite his lack of training, wielding one of these isn't as bad as he'd thought.
"Traitor!"
Finn whirls around. Standing before him is a Trooper with a shield and a mace, looking ready to kill. For a second, he wonders if that Trooper had heard part of his broadcast to Captain Phasma, or only heard about his original 'defection': either way, he's clearly been recognized, and now he's been branded as a traitor for doing the right thing. He doesn't hesitate before charging, his lightsaber at the ready.
Finn realizes he's in over his head right away. For one thing, this Trooper had probably trained with the mace for as long as Finn had trained with a blaster; he's fantastic, and it's all he can do to block his blows as he is driven backwards toward a stone wall.
He lunges forward and the Trooper slams into him with the mace, sending him flying backwards before landing with a thud. Electricity sputters through his system and he's still got a good grip on the lightsaber but he doesn't have the strength to raise it, to defend himself. The Trooper raises his weapon for a killing strike—only to fall backward, shot by blaster fire before he could deliver the blow.
Finn's never been more relieved in his life to see Solo racing toward him, blaster in hand and Chewbacca on his heels. Solo hauls him to his feet. "You alright, Big Deal?"
He can't help but grin. "Yeah. Thanks."
Before Solo can reply (with something snarky, no doubt), ten Stormtroopers come over the rise. Each one is holding a blaster, and each blaster is aimed directly at him, Solo and Chewbacca. "Don't move," their leader orders once the Troopers have them well and truly surrounded. "TK-0338, we have targets in custody."
Finn swears under his breath. He's heard of the TK unit before—who in the First Order hasn't? They're the best of the best, the ones that General Hux personally sends to deal with civilian unrest and mutinies. And now the TK unit has them surrounded and is in the process of confiscating their weapons, including the lightsaber of Luke Skywalker. Oh, kriff.
He and Solo and Chewbacca are marched by Stormtroopers toward a transport, their hands on their heads. Finn's mind is working furiously, trying to come up with a way out that doesn't involve getting shot, but just as he's about to voice one of his ideas to Solo, a familiar roar rips across the nearby lake. Finn's heart skips a beat. Could it be?
X-Wings and TIE Fighters appear in the distance, firing at the First Order ships as they get closer. Finn grins, and the corners of Solo's mouth quirk upward to form a crooked yet hopeful smile. "The Resistance," he says, confirming what Finn already knows. "They're here."
The Trooper in charge immediately begins barking orders into his commslink. "We have incoming at two-eight-point-six! Move! Scramble all squads, repeat, scramble all squads! Anti-air cover en route to our position!"
One of the X-wings swoops down in the middle of this conversation and opens fire on the parked TIE Fighters and Troopers. The Stormtroopers around him and Solo and Chewbacca are practically thrown off the planet by the force of the ensuing explosion, causing their confiscated weapons to go flying. The lightsaber lands at his feet and Finn picks it up, holstering it for safekeeping at his side before picking up one of the abandoned blasters on the ground.
Chewbacca picks up his bowcaster and Solo takes the blaster, both of them shooting as many Troopers as they can see. The X-Wings are still soaring above them, dancing out of the way of First Order blaster fire, and Finn lets out an appreciative whoop when the first X-Wing gets an enemy TIE Fighter in one blast. "That's one hell of a pilot!"
Nearby Stormtroopers start shouting about pulling back the tree line. Solo and Chewbacca are working side by side, and Finn takes out two Troopers with his blaster before they can attack his friends. In the distance he can hear Maz rallying the remaining aliens and even BB-8's familiar beeping, and he turns around, deciding to go over there and help where help is needed, but he stops in his tracks before he can move.
Kylo Ren is there. The leader of the First Order, one of the Knights of Ren, pupil of Supreme Leader Snoke, is there, exiting the forest with a legion of Stormtroopers around him. And there, lying unconscious in his arms, is Rey.
"No!" The cry has barely left his lips before he's racing as fast as he can, trying with all of his willpower to make it to Kylo Ren's shuttle. He ignores the blaster fire from the retreating Stormtroopers, the shrieks of the civilians, even the X-Wings in the sky: he needs to get to Rey. "No, no, no—let her go! Rey! REY!"
He's about halfway to the shuttle when it lifts off and rises toward the clouds. Irrationally, he tries to follow the ship even as it gets too far away for him to even spot in the sky, disappearing into space with the rest of the First Order fleet.
No, no, please, no. This can't be happening. It can't be happening. He looks around desperately, as if hoping hard enough would make Rey appear unharmed at his side, but to no avail. His knees give out from under him and he collapses to the ground, but he can't bring himself to give a damn. Rey is on a shuttle heading toward Starkiller Base, in the hands of Kylo Ren and the First Order.
Rey is gone.