A/N: I realize some of you are sort of confused after the last chapter, but I promise it will all make sense... Eventually! :D
But if you do have any burning questions or whatever, you're more than welcome to ask!
Anyways, without further ado, CHAPTER 10!
A loud beep echoed through the ship, alerting the passengers of their ETA. Rey, who had been thinking over her dream from earlier was glad for the distraction. She carefully reached out to poke a sleeping Chewie. At first, he didn't respond, but after a few more insistent jabs, he opened his mouth letting out both a yawn and a growl.
"We're arriving in ten." Rey informed him. Chewie growled back at her as he began to ready the ship for their exit from hyperspace.
"Well, at least you got some sleep, you shaggy creature." She muttered under her breath. Chewie took a moment to whack her in the arm, letting Rey know her comment hadn't gone unnoticed. She grinned as she too began flipping switches and feeding instructions into the ship.
"Should we go over the plan once more?" Chewie grunted in response, effectively communicating his thoughts.
"Fine." Rey knew they'd done stuff like this before, but she felt on edge and couldn't quite figure out why. She figured it was due to this being her first mission since they lost Leia. And everything with Ben and Carson and-. Okay, wow. I guess a lot has happened very quickly. That's probably why I feel like this then. Rey nodded to herself, that was definitely it. Nothing else.
She was able to abandon that train of thought when they exited hyperspace and entered Dantooine's orbit. According to Poe, Dantooine used to be a rebel planet before they left to escape the Empire. Now it was just filled with people trying to live their lives without the interference of yet another galactic war.
Entering and exiting hyperspace was always jarring, but Rey never minded it when she got to see the planet she was about to land on. She could never tire of visiting new planets, and Dantooine was no different. It glowed various shades of green, promising a densely forested surface.
Rey practically beamed in approval as they broke out of orbit and began their descent to the planet. Green planets were always her favorites.
Okay, so maybe this planet isn't my favorite. Rey was weaving through the crowds of Dantoo Town, watching out for any more stormtroopers. She had taken care of most of them. She had to get back to Chewie, to warn him. Unless he already knows… With that thought she sped up, trying not to look too frantic as she shoved past hoards of people.
According to their tip, there had been two possible locations for the supposed force-sensitive family. Because of that, they split up, deciding the risk was worth it if they could save them. While it had seemed like a good idea at the time, Rey suspected the First Order had planned for them to make that decision. Easier to capture one person at a time.
Rey had reached her designated location with no problems when she began to feel apprehensive. The coordinates she had been given hadn't been for a house or any building, instead, they left her standing in the middle of an oddly empty street. She approached a vendor then, hoping to ask a few questions but was met with a frightened-looking man who wouldn't meet her eyes and mumbled in response to her questions. Standing there, it took her a surprising amount of time to realize this was a trap. People then began slipping from the alleys, all wearing clothes that were obviously too new and out of place for the town they were in. Stormtroopers then? Maybe some special force or something. She tried to look nonchalant as she started back the way she came. Rey wished she had paid closer attention during her walk over, if they had been following her she should have noticed.
Quickening her steps, she tried to take in her surroundings, looking up just in time to see a sniper on the roof. The blast they issued came flying towards Rey, and for a moment she panicked. But only for a moment.
The stun blast stopped in mid-air, and she could see the fear in the sniper's eyes as everything and everyone around her seemed to freeze for a moment.
Rey knew from her research that force wielders couldn't usually stop stun blasts. They could, however, learn how to resist the effects, which is something Rey taught herself and had begun to teach her students. But apparently, Rey wouldn't have to worry about resisting, because she could now stop a stun blast. She felt a small smile on her mouth when she looked at the frozen blue ring wiggling and shaking inches away from her, and then she looked to the shocked faces around her. And at that moment she felt powerful. Powerful and unstoppable.
So when they got over their shock, and the blasts started raining on her from above while the troopers came at her on the street-she didn't feel afraid. She felt completely focused, flinging stun blasts right back at the people above her. Once they were taken care of, she pulled her staff off her back and started in on the troops closest to her.
As she began to block and jab, Rey realized that she was going to be getting into more fights like this, and she was going to need a better weapon. Sure her staff was helpful, but with at least ten different people coming at her, she needed something with more impact.
She pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and refocused on the fight. Doing her best to kick legs out, parry blows, and fend off random stun blasts. Whenever it finally seemed like she was getting somewhere, the troops she knocked out would just get back up again. With that realization, Rey knew she needed to end this, or else they would just keep going until she was too tired to fend them off.
It would only take a moment, so Rey took the risk and closed her eyes. She reached out, marking the individuals around her, and began to take them out. As they started to fall, she could feel their alarm growing which only added to her strength. Finding no one else to attack, she opened her eyes and took in the scene around her. At least fifteen bodies lay scattered around her. Looking around she could see a few people curiously watching from windows.
Rey knew she didn't have much time, so she turned quickly, avoiding eye contact with the vendors who watched her every step with wide and wary eyes.
She practically ran until she finally came upon the busier streets filled with all sorts of people and beings. Paying closer attention this time around, Rey pushed through the crowds, deciding to check and see if Chewie had returned to the ship.
But when she got to the small shipyard they had landed in, she knew he wasn't there. Rey stood there for a moment, feeling indecisive. She could return to the ship, warn R2 and possibly contact and warn her friends. Or she could leave for Chewie, who could have already been captured.
She made her choice, and with a last glance towards their ship where R2 waited, she took off, hoping she would reach Chewie in time.
Finn had probably looked over at Poe at least fifty times by now, and each time nothing had changed. Poe was just sitting in the pilot's seat, back straight, face hard and unreadable. It had been hours since they had run into Tayo. Well, I wouldn't say run into. More like hours since we were tracked down by Tayo. Finn grinned at himself a little, but then sobered up again. Which basically described their entire trip so far.
Aside from a few quipped words as they boarded the ship, Poe hadn't really said anything, leaving Finn to his own thoughts. Obviously, he had no idea exactly what had happened between Poe and Tayo, but he could tell there was a history. Finn had gotten to know Poe really well in the past year, and he knew that Poe was always there to help. He gave great advice and was one of those people who you could tell anything. But in the past hour, alone with his thoughts, Finn came to realize that Poe never really talked about his own past. At all. Sure he shared random memories of Leia and other Resistance legends, but Finn had no idea what his life had been like. What experiences and challenges he had gone through that made him into the man he was today.
He supposed it didn't really bother him too much. It's not like Finn shared a ton about his past life, not that there is much to share. He thought to himself. But he did wonder if there was more to Poe than any of them knew, than they could guess.
Suddenly there was a loud beep from the controls, causing Finn and Poe to look to the center of the console where the holoprojector was located. The pad beside it offered an incoming communication from a ship that Finn knew was Rey's. Poe quickly jabbed the accept button, and they watched as a hologram of Rey appeared.
Poe spoke first, "Rey, is something wrong?" Her image blurred a little as she shook her head.
"No at the moment. But I wanted to let you know, Dantooine was a trap." Poe and Finn looked at each other in alarm before turning back to Rey.
"It was a trap?"
"Yeah. First Order. Chewie and I are fine though. But I do think we need to figure out which source that intel came from. They could be working with the First Order and I don't want to send anyone else into trouble."
"Alright. I'll let the others know and we'll look into it. What are you going to do now?"
"I have some other leads to follow, but I need to visit Maz first." Finn raised an eyebrow.
"What for?"
"You'll see soon enough." Finn and Poe once again traded looks, both knowing this was all Rey would tell them.
"How'd it go for you guys?" Finn waited for Poe to answer, but when he didn't say anything Finn spoke.
"Good. Everything should be taken care of." Rey nodded as he continued, "We're on our way to meet with some dealers now. We're actually almost there."
"Alright, I let you guys go then. Meeting tonight?" They both nodded, then Finn went to switch off the holoprojector as Rey waved in farewell.
Finn tapped his leg impatiently as he asked, "So do we know who the contact was?" Poe shook his head.
"I'm not sure exactly who it was, but I know they're not one of ours. Someone recommended them to us, I just can't remember who." At his last words, they both looked to each other in alarm.
"You don't think it was one of Carson's contacts?" Poe furrowed his brow.
"It's possible. We'll definitely have to look into this. But I don't think we should let too many people know about this." Finn took a moment to understand what Poe was implying.
"Oh." Poe nodded grimly.
"Just in case there's another spy."
It wasn't hard to find Maz. Rey just had to follow the sounds of laughter and the loud storytelling coming from the back of the cantina. She turned the corner to find Maz standing on a table, arms spread as she regaled her listeners with some story about an epic podrace on Tatooine.
"And just like that, the little slave boy-." She stopped suddenly, seeing Rey. The table grew quiet as Maz adjusted her goggles, looking closely at Rey.
"It's time isn't it?" Rey didn't bother wondering how Maz knew what she was there for, she just followed Maz as she hopped off the table leaving her crowd behind shouting objections.
It felt like hours as Maz brought Rey through corridors, up and down many staircases, until they ended up in front of a silver door in a dark hallway.
"Where are we?" Maz shook her head impatiently.
"It matters not. You will have all the time you need." Rey nodded and turned back to face the door.
"How do I open it?" Hearing no answer, Rey looked back and felt her eyes widen in surprise when she realized Maz had disappeared.
"Typical." She muttered. Rey stepped forward, looking for some sort of button to press or knob to turn but there was nothing. Suddenly the door flung open, urging Rey to step into the dark room that waited. She stepped forward tentatively, not able to see into the room.
The door closed as abruptly as it opened, leaving Rey in the dark room with her hand twitching at her side. Without warning the room flooded with a bright light, forcing Rey to close her eyes.
Kylo entered the command chamber, looking to Commander Hento who stood in front of a computer. The others in the room grew stiff as they watched their Commander turn to report.
"What's happened, Commander?" The man looked uncomfortable as he struggled with a response.
"Well, uh sir, we're not sure how it happened but-."
"Spit it out man."
"Yes sir, of course, sir. Somehow a group of six infiltrated your chambers and-." Kylo cut him off with a wave of his hand and turned to leave the room. He didn't need to know anything more.
The Knights of Ren were here.
Approaching his chambers, Kylo felt curious and not much else. It had been quite some time since he had seen them, and once he became Supreme Leader, he had anticipated their arrival. When months went by without any sign of them, they drifted from his mind and he focused upon other things in their wake. So when he entered his room and was faced with six figures in masks, he was only wondering, why now?
Kylo was sure the Knights had picked their positions carefully with the intent of looking threatening, but for whatever reason, it had the opposite effect on him. He clenched his teeth together, stopping himself from smirking as he stepped further into the room.
"Something amusing to you?" Ah. Yes. Kylo had forgotten the Knights could sense his emotions. Other than Rey, he was rarely around force-sensitive beings.
Opting not to respond, Kylo stayed quiet, waiting for one of them to speak first. He looked to his left then, to Sydney Ren who sat on his bed. She was the youngest of the group and had always been Kylo's favorite. She was unusually talkative and often couldn't go for too long without speaking. He was hoping she would say something, and she was obviously about to when Namber shook her head. Namber stood beside the bed, clearly there to keep Sydney in check. Since the beginning, they had been inseparable. Two halves of a whole, Sydney was impulsive and verbal, while Namber was deliberate and vigilant. The combination made them deadly, something Kylo used to envy.
"I see you're no longer wearing your mask." Kylo turned his head slowly to look at Kellen. He stood against the wall, arms crossed as he waited for Kylo's response. Kylo himself was waiting for a response. He used to be just as impulsive as Sydney when it came to responding to Kellen's taunts. Just hearing Kellen's voice would make his blood boil, but for whatever reason, the only feeling Kellen issued was the same faint amusement he felt upon entering the room.
"I'm sure that's not the only thing that has changed since we last met." Kylo finally responded. Kellen nodded.
"Of course. There is the matter of… Snoke." Sydney suddenly jumped off the bed, as if she couldn't contain herself any longer.
"Are we supposed to bow to you now?" Kylo raised an eyebrow at Kellen.
"Only some of you." Kellen laughed then, the sound distorted through his mask as he mockingly bowed. Raj, who stood beside him joined in, ever the comedic of the group. Kylo waved them off, trying to look annoyed.
"Enough of this foolishness. I assume you want something?" Zardos didn't look up from the tablet he was messing with when he said, "We just wanted to check in. You know, see where we stand amidst all this…" He finally looked up, waving his hand around in emphasis, "Amidst all this Supreme Leaderness."
"You want clarification of our relationship?" If that is what they wanted, Kylo didn't really have any sort of answer for them. Raj nodded, "I suppose you could put it that way, yes." Kylo clasped his hands behind his back as he tried to put together some sort of response. He didn't really need the Knights of Ren anymore, and he knew they had their own agenda.
"I won't try to claim any sort of mastership over you if that is what you're wondering. And I won't affiliate you with the First Order as Snoke tried to." Fantar finally spoke up from the corner of the room.
"It sounds like you're freeing us young Kylo." Kylo once again raised an eyebrow. The Knights were all around the same age, but once Fantar found out he was the oldest - though it was only by a few months - he had started acting as if he were ancient and took to calling everyone young or child.
"I suppose I am. I only ask that we remain allies. As we were before." He didn't add it but knew everyone was thinking it. Before Snoke. The room grew quiet, as they likely were all reliving moments of the past.
Before Snoke had claimed Kylo as his own, he and the others had banded together. Being the strongest of Luke's students, they used to make plans for their future. Plans to bring peace and safety to the galaxy. And somehow, throughout their adventures and escapades, Kylo had become their leader.
So once Snoke claimed Kylo and changed his name, Snoke created the Knights of Ren. A powerful group of masked unknowns led by Kylo. They followed out orders from his Supreme Leader and aided the First Order. But as time went on, Snoke slowly began to divide Kylo from his Knights. They soon became so seperate that Kylo would go months without hearing from or about them.
Fantar stepped forward then, holding out a hand for Kylo to shake.
"Allies then." He looked to the others for a moment, wondering if they felt the same way. Surprisingly Kellen had nothing to say, so when Sydney nodded at him, Kylo reached out and shook Fantar's hand.
Rose refused to feel worried as she shut off her wrist comm. She knew Rey and Chewie could take care of themselves, and if the First Order didn't come after anyone else, they would have confirmation that someone was after Rey as they had worried. Rose was just glad that Finn and Poe knew about Kylo Ren now. It got all of their information out there, so they could work better together.
She took a deep breath before turning out of the small closet she had found when Finn had first contacted her. Entering the main cabin of the transport ship Rose had to smile. The younglings lay sleeping scattered about, surrounded by blankets and pillows. She carefully made her way past them and into the cockpit where Chelien and their pilot Jessie sat talking quietly. They both looked back at her when she sat down.
"Everything okay?" Jessie asked carefully. Rose nodded.
"Finn was just checking in. How close are we?" Jessie tapped a screen to her side and they watched as their arrival time flickered up.
"A few more hours then. Are the little ones still sleeping?" Rose nodded again.
"Oh," Jessie began, "Sarah and Naja contacted us, they'll meet us there." Rose was glad, Sarah and Naja were some of her favorite people. They often worked together as Sarah and Naja were part of the team who found new recruits. Jessie seemed like she wanted to say more, but was hesitant.
"What is it?" Jessie cracked her knuckles, not saying anything so Chelien responded for her.
"They're bringing new little onesss." Rose was excited for a moment but remembered Jessie's reluctance to answer and felt alarmed when Chelien and Jessie exchanged a glance.
"Seriously guys. What is it?"
"They uh, they barely got to them in time. It wasn't a planned extraction." Rose put a hand to her mouth as all sorts of scenarios swirled in her mind.
"Simon and Jen - the younglings, they had to watch their parents and siblings burn to death. Their whole company actually." Watching Jessie's face, Rose knew she was going to have to sit down. The floor was cold and hard, but there was no seat for her. And so, after a moment, Jessie and Chelien continued, taking turns to explain what happened.
Sarah and Naja had been on the smaller Core World, Plexis, when they got word of a fight on the outskirts of town. A townie had become upset with a purchase they had made with some traveling merchants. They took some friends with them to confront the merchant. The fight turned ugly fast as the townies began to burn down the merchant's tents and supplies. By the time Sarah and Naja got there, they only found two survivors, Simon and Jen.
Being a First Order occupied planet, they knew it was only a matter of time before stormtroopers showed up to deal out punishment. Simon and Jen, however, refused to leave, forcing Naja to stun them. They brought them to their ship and left the planet immediately.
"So they're on their way?" Rose asked after a moment.
"They had to make a ssstop firssst. But we will ssseee them sssoon." Rose nodded then, deep in thought. They had dealt with situations like this before, but it still hit Rose hard every time. According to Chelien, Simon was already on his way to adulthood, while Jen had been the youngest of the family. Only five years old.
Rose sat there for a little while longer before she finally got up.
"I, uh, I suppose it's probably time for meals. I'll wake up the younglings." Jessie nodded and Chelien stood, slithering out of the cockpit behind Rose.
Expecting to see the younglings still sleeping, Rose was surprised when most of them were up and sitting in a small group. They looked up at Rose with wide eyes. Before she could say anything they started spouting excuses.
"Jak woke me up!"
"Clover was spying and she told us, but we told her not too!"
"You didn't say we had to sleep!"
"Guys!" When they kept going, Rose raised her voice.
"GUYS!" That finally quieted them, and they looked up at Rose, some with innocent expressions, others looking impertinent.
"You're not in trouble. I just wanted to know what you were doing." No one said anything, so Rose looked to Jak, the oldest and usually the most responsible. He squirmed under her scrutiny and finally broke.
"We just heard you guys talking and when we heard about the new ones we were just talking about what we could do and-." Rose held up a hand to stop him.
"You were talking about what you could do? Like to help?" Clover jumped up then, always ready to talk.
"Yeah! We've all been together for a while, and we didn't want them to be sad. We were coming up with ideas." They nodded earnestly and Rose looked to Chelien seeing the same proud look in his eyes. She felt a little choked up as she proceeded to sit down with them and said, "Alright, tell me what you've got so far."
FN-8876 froze in the training room as an alarm sounded prompting her and the others in the room to look at the screen at the front of the room. She withheld her groan, instead standing at attention as commanded. She and her fellow comrades watched, completely still, as one of the hourly messages from the First Order played on the screen.
It began as it always did, with the First Order's goals. Due to the hour, FN-8876 already knew what message they would continue with. She tried to zone out, tried not to pay attention, but that one part was coming. The one part that had never failed to bother her.
"You have chosen to be a part of this campaign, you have chosen to fight for what you believe in." It went on for a few more minutes then, but FN-8876 couldn't get past it as usual. It had only been a few weeks ago when those words had registered with her. When she realized that she hadn't chosen this fight. Or at least she couldn't remember choosing it. She wasn't sure if that was how anyone else felt, but she didn't dare ask. Didn't dare bring any attention to herself. She couldn't risk getting in trouble again.
And so she stood there, doing nothing until the message ended. Then went back to her training like everyone else.
Rey woke suddenly, hand going to wipe the drool off the corner of her mouth.
That had been the second time she had dreamed of this stormtrooper, and she didn't know what to do with it. She had finally admitted to herself what she had refused to before, that these were visions. But what they meant, she didn't know. The first time she thought it could have been a warning, of that weapon Hux had announced and the apparent trap. But this time she had only seen a small bit of the stormtrooper's life. And nothing from Hux. Or anything more about Ben missing.
A loud growl came from beside her.
"I definitely do not snore." Chewie let out a rumbling laugh.
"Shut up." Rey said playfully. She knew she snored, but not as much as Chewie. Sometimes she wished she had earplugs that could block out the loud sounds he made when he was sleeping.
The ship beeped, telling them to take over the ship. She and Chewie readied the ship to land, then waited until they felt the telling thump that announced their arrival. As they walked off, Rey patted the lump in her bag, grinning as she imagined her friend's faces.
Kylo dropped his fork in surprise. Raj looked up quickly.
"What is it?" Kylo struggled to keep his eyes on Raj.
"Nothing, I just uh… Remembered something." The rest of the Knights looked at him suspiciously but went on with their meals. When he was sure his emotions wouldn't give him away, he finally looked to Rey who stood there smiling beside the table.
"What is it?" She didn't say anything, but he knew she heard him. He could tell she was concentrating on someone else, but she was the one who had connected them.
"Is something wrong?" Once again she didn't answer, and despite her smiles, he was growing alarmed. Kylo wished she would just look at him for a moment.
But then she reached into a bag at her side and all thoughts flew from his mind.
Rey finally looked right at him and grinned as she activated her lightsaber.
A/N: The Knights are here! I'm quite excited about them, and I'm sure you'll enjoy them as much as I do.
And, I know there hasn't been a ton of Reylo lately, but it's coming! So you know, PREPARE YOURSELVES.
I'll stop now, but as always, thank you for reading!