Ben is beside himself. He's in his ship literally shaking with anger and frustration and dread.
He keeps pushing through the force, probing for Rey… and no response.
He knows where she is, but can't figure out how going to her and helping won't raise suspicion with Hux and the Admirals. They know he's en route… How can he save her or help her without Stormtroopers and everyone seeing it as utter betrayal against the First Order.
He suddenly doesn't care.
He drops out of light speed and sees Onkura – a beautiful green lush planet with a slight lilac sheen to the atmosphere from space. He punches in Rey's last know coordinates and turns down his First Order comms. If he went completely radio silent, they would know sooner what he was up to. He'll claim to be simply arrogant and not following protocol for as long as he can while he gets to Rey.
REY
He probes again through the force, fully knowing she won't reply – he can feel her unconsciousness… like a heaviness in their bond.
He pushes his ship to the limits and pilots towards the wreck.
In moments, he sees towns, roads, and then a thin line of smoke in the distant horizon. He flies low and aggressively, and hears static and admonishments over his comm from the other First Order pilots in the airspace.
He can't be too late.
He passes many of them ignoring the comm and demands for an explanation from the Destroyer commander in charge of the mission.
He has only one thought. Rey.
She dreams of smoke and the taste of metal.
There's a heaviness to her limbs. Her head hurts.
She's coming around, but slowly, groggily.
Her entire right side hurts. She's beginning to come around. There was a ship – and a crash.
REY
She feels Ben probing for her, slightly desperate.
Ben I'm alive.
Thank the Maker. Can you hide? Are you badly hurt? Can you move?
His questions came like rapid fire. She tried to move her head and the pain all along her right side intensified. Smoke began to fill her nostrils and she moaned.
Ben I can't really move – stuck somehow. I'm somewhere dark with smoke.
I'm close. Hang on and stay quiet. There are Stormtroopers everywhere.
She stifled a cough and tried not to focus on the pain. She began to take stock of her situation. Her mouth tasted like blood, she felt pinned under something, and although it was dark, her eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness and she began to be able to see shapes and forms in the murk. She heard a low roaring, and wondered if the ship's engines were still running somewhere. The smoke was becoming an issue, she stifled another cough as she took a deep breath and tried to look around her.
Possibly she could use the force to lift this thing pinning her? She wondered how unstable the area she was wedged into was… and thought maybe it wasn't a good idea. She coughed and that actually made it worse – it dragged more smoke deeper into her lungs and then she violently started coughing. When that subsided she realized suddenly she could feel heat from beneath her.
Fear rose in her mind.
I'm almost there Rey, just hang on. I'm close to landing.
Rey realized that the dull roar she heard was no engine.
It's fire Ben.
I'm close Rey, don't panic. Use the force around you to shield you from the worst of it. It won't remove smoke, but it could block the heat. Try. I'm so close.
I don't know how! Fear was mingling with panic as she really began to feel the heat on the back of her legs. The fire was under her somehow, she must be suspended in the wreck.
Focus on a shield under you. Create and visualize a shield. Picture the energy. I'm here – I'm coming.
Rey tried to quiet her mind and focus on Ben's direction. A shield. She closed her eyes and tried to pool the force around her… and underneath her.
"Report Supreme Leader, you should be on the Destroyer not the planet". General Hux's annoying lilt buzzed over the comm at Kylo.
Kylo decided to buy more time by being an arrogant jerk. Plus, he liked messing with Hux.
"General Hux. I report to know one. Pester me no more – I'm reviewing the mission for myself. With my own eyes."
Kylo pushed an unpleasant thought of him Force choking Hux and dangling him in the air in front of an army of Stormtroopers. Just to make sure Hux remembered his place and took his medicine.
The comm remained silent.
Kylo landed and bolted out of the ship – with all engines still engaged and running.
He basically landed on top of the wreck of cargo ship. And what a wreck it was. There was twisted metal spanning about 600 metres – almost in every direction. There were 4 main piles of debris, with the largest smashed against an outcropped rock formation.
He felt Rey. Not in the largest pile.
He felt her further away, where the smoke was coming from. Where the Stormtroopers were heading towards.
He almost burst into a run… but the Supreme Leader doesn't run. So he strode over quickly, Force moving debris out of his way with purpose.
Stormtroopers took notice and cleared a path.
He focused on the fire in the distance and used his energy to snuff the main fire out. The smoke there went from boiling black to dusty white.
He knew Rey could sense him. He sensed her injuries and that the fire was still licking all around her as she stifled coughs.
Stormtroopers continued to give him a wide berth and he made a bee-line for Rey.
"There's a survivor. I need to question her. Move, make a perimeter." He barked to the troops
They obeyed without hesitation and he Force lifted the worst of the wreckage while at the same time snuffing out the fires he saw/sensed.
The wreck where Rey was trapped was larger than his own ship and about 15 metres high. He Force lifted, bent metal, probed, snuffed fire over and over again digging deeper and deeper to where Rey was suspended, wrapped in metal wreckage with her right side broken, contorted, and bleeding.
The strain of his work was enormous and it began a crippling pain in his head and crawled up and down his spine. He felt his mind faltering under the agony and grimaced and pushed through.
BEN. Stop. Take a break. The fire's out. I can help. Stop.
Ben stopped and immediately the torment up his spine lessened and he staggered slightly, taking a knee.
"Supreme Leader. Wha- "
"It's nothing." Kylo cuts off the Stormtrooper, and rises to his feet, regaining his composure. "Maintain the perimeter."
"Yes sir, of course sir."
The wreck is creaking, metal squealing as Rey now moves and twists it to free herself.
Ben and Rey work together now. Through the force bond, they work in tandem to bend the metal out of the way while supporting Rey so she doesn't fall. She still cannot walk, in fact, her entire right side is immobile (and excruciating).
When the wreck is deformed enough for Ben to kind of walk into it, he ventures in to be able to see for himself Rey's condition.
A few paces in and he see her. Floating, supported by him – she's alive but in grave, grave pain. He sees her misshapen arm – clearly broken at the elbow. And many lacerations along her chest and side have soaked her clothes with blood.
Ben.
He feels her relief, pain, fatigue, fear. He feels all of it.
Without hesitation, he rushes over to touch her face. He dares not touch her right side or hold her – he knows the pain would be overwhelming.
We need to get you to sick bay. You have to come on my ship. You have to act like my prisoner.
You need to save us all Ben. Your mother was with me.
Ben's face fell – Rey didn't know.
Leia and the others were dead.