Sorry for the late update guys. I've been slaving away at home. My parents have been renovating for quite a while and they saw me as an extra pair of hands and put me to good use. This is the last chapter that I have currently written - the future chapters will be whenever I have time. As of now, I'll still try to update every Wednesday.
Thanks to all the readers!
The streets were empty now.
Rey's footsteps were like thunder in the night sky. Everywhere around her was abandoned. Some homes had their door securely fastened, and other doors were wide ajar. A stark contrast.
A perfect metaphor for her.
Rey didn't know what got into her. She ran and ran, letting the Force guide her more than her own eyes, for they were obscured by the heavy whirlpool of tears that poured down and left a trail of wet stains noticeable enough for anyone to track.
How many blocks has it been? How long has she been running for? Rey could feel the connection fighting—Kylo had been trying to edge himself into her conscious for the past few minutes but she found it was easy to shut him out with the sting of reality and the massive disappointment she held within herself.
But, as she ran, even more doubts began to swarm in her mind. Memories of the night after their first training session in Rey's room was the complete antithesis to how she saw Kylo now. If there was anything she held utmost certitude toward, it was the ability to Force heal. Master Luke had taught her that it was exclusively an ability only Light-users had used, and Kylo had literally admitted to healing Rey in that manner. That couldn't have been a lie. Kylo had never been good at concealing his emotions, and his elevated voice at her question that night was enough verification to prove that he did have the ability to Force heal.
Then how could someone who was so light inside cause all this mayhem, all of this destruction across the galaxy? Was it Snoke, who manipulated and rooted himself so deeply in Kylo's mind that Kylo just simply changed? Or was Kylo already in-midst of turning dark and all he needed was a small push by the former Supreme Leader?
Rey was lost, both metaphorically and physically. Unbeknownst to her, she had been running in the direction of yet another explosion. If her memory served, she was heading east, toward the rendezvous. That meant Kylo wasn't too far behind her.
There was another explosion nearby to her right and Rey's footsteps slowed to a stop. The villagers had probably all evacuated already, given the transport ships she saw taking off at the platform in the middle of the city earlier, but what if there was someone who was, say, delayed in their travels?
In the end, it didn't matter. Rey chose to ignore the explosion and pressed forward. She didn't feel like she was worthy of saving lives when she could just as easily take them, as selfish as that sounded. Right now, all she wanted was to return to her AT-AT on Jakku, eat a quarter portion, and then cry herself to sleep, where she could escape the monstrosities of reality.
A few blocks later, she heard voices. Rey pressed herself against the wall. The Force was screaming at her, telling her that she needed to be careful around them. So she took the warning to heart, trying her hardest to sniffle out the Force signature within her so that they wouldn't be able to sense her. She had always struggled with it, but perhaps the current state of her mind allowed her to
"Is that all?" she heard.
"It doesn't matter. Supreme Leader gave us orders to stay here until his little party arrives."
"Watch your tone, Deimos. You're already on thin ice." A different voice.
"As if Kylo himself would pay us any more attention than he needs to. How do we even know he's here? He could be on his vessel, safe and lording about on his throne. Leaving his Knights to do all the work," the Knight named Deimos finished with a scorn.
"Don't try to pretend like you don't enjoy your so-called work. You have the biggest bloodlust out of all of us." The first voice was back.
She could just imagine the sneer on Deimo's face. "I'd rather be playing with his new toy."
Rey had enough. She was tired of listening. She made sure her hilt was easily visible as to ascertain her strength, when in reality she was more nervous at the sheer aspect of meeting them. But the Knights didn't need to know that.
The one closest to her was the first to notice her. His head swiftly twisted on its side as he acknowledged the presence of a newcomer. Even though his mask was on, Rey could feel him scrutinizing her before his eyes landed on her weapon.
At that point, the other two took notice as well. Their reactions were more or less the same, and one of them—Rey assumed it was Deimos—actually began walking toward
That was it. Rey quickly looked around to see three Knights. She didn't recognize any of their masks and her heart sank. If only Sula was here—she would definitely make the proceeding interaction less tense.
"You must be the scavenger that Deimos is obsessed with," the first Knight said.
"Leo…" Rey heard the Knight walking toward her growl.
There was a tiny prickling sensation on the back of her head, but Rey tuned it out.
The Knight stopped near Rey and she had to withhold the urge to take a few steps back. She had underestimated him. He was tall, around the same height as Kylo, and his body language screamed dominance.
"By the looks of things, if I was the Supreme Leader, I wouldn't let this one out of my sight."
There was a pause. Rey didn't even bother playing polite.
"You are a disgusting pig."
"Hey, hey. No need to be so rude. You shouldn't be treating your comrades with such disdain."
"I heard everything you said. And for the record, Kylo is here, in Rost. You have no right to accuse him of anything otherwise!"
"On first name basis with him already?"
"Deimos, that's enough. You know the orders. Leave her alone. The girl can't be touched."
"Ah, but that's where the line gets blurry." Deimos turned around to look at whoever was under the mask behind him. "Touch, no. But—"
Rey's head exploded in pain.
"This should be fine."
Rey didn't know what was happening. All she knew was that her head was on fire. It was like her head was being stabbed with sharp weapons over and over again. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she vaguely knew what was happening. Although she didn't know Deimos, she could feel him and know that it was him attacking her mind. His presence left behind a mark as he pushed deeper and deeper into her psyche. This was far worse than when Sula mentally attacked her.
Rey didn't know what to do. The pain was obliterating, erasing any pretense she had of defending herself. She had never learned how to stop these attacks other than through her instincts, but the pain was so great that she didn't have the mental capacity to feel the darkness flowing through her to throw him off. She could sense as his presence flipped through each layer of her brain, unveiling memory after memory. She witnessed him observing the same countless nights as she lived in her AT-AT on Jakku. She witnessed him press deeper and flicker through memories of Unkar Plutt before it shifted to memories of her and BB-8. He slowly pushed deeper and deeper until Rey unwillingly gave him information that made her want to throw up and cry out in sad frustration. She gave away memories of the Millennium Falcon and Ahch-To, of Luke Skywalker and her amateur training. A single tear dropped down her face as she witnessed herself pushing Leia to the ground, and then another tear as Luke was mercilessly slaughtered by Kylo Ren.
Then her memories changed to those of more recent ones. Deimos continued his assault and Rey was helpless to stop him. He saw her fiery nature as she resisted the First Order and Kylo Ren. He saw her training with him and, oh Maker, the desire that flowed through them as they animalistically groped and kissed one one another. He saw her make her own lightsaber and how she used it to cut down Damesh's men not more than fifteen minutes ago.
The deeper he went, the more it hurt.
"Deimos! That's enough!"
The presence in her mind gave a quick jerk and Rey whimpered. It sorted through a couple more of her memories before receding back even faster than it had gone in—from all the way deep down in her subconscious until it hit her consciousness and finally retracted out of the most superficial layer of her thoughts.
She heard the footsteps of someone approach her. She cringed backward, but all pretense at fighting left her when she felt the familiar presence of Sula's mind spread into her and ease some of the pain.
"Lady Rey…let me help you to your feet."
Rey didn't even know she was collapsed on the ground. She gave a butch grunt when a hand clasped around her own and pulled her up to her feet. The framework of Sula allowed her to keep her wobbling at a minimum. Her head was light and vision was slightly skewed, but she had enough sense to see that the other Knights backed off.
"What is the meaning of this?" she demanded.
One of the Knights shrugged but Deimos was quick to pick up on his slack.
"Who gave you the right to command us?" he sneered.
"Do not push your luck, Deimos," Sula retorted with an equally impressive sneer. Rey couldn't see her face but knew her features well enough; not enough to know what she'd look like with an expression like that, however. But she was sure it was intimidating.
"You know just as well as Lype and Leo that I have every right to command you, Deimos." Sula hadn't even turned her head in his direction. She chose to look straight at Rey instead.
"Yeah, yeah," he waved off. "Master of the Knights of Ren. A position that should've been held for any one of us. Instead he gave it to you."
"Because I, unlike you, have the mental capacity to be compassionate. I am not a disconnected swine as you are. Lady Rey was on the ground in pain. I should have your head."
Deimos raised his hands in mock surrender.
"Relax. I was just getting to know her a little better. Isn't that right, sweetheart?"
"Don't call her that."
"So what if I looked into her mind? There's nothing like getting to know someone by seeing all their secrets. Might as well cut through all the bullshit formalities anyways. I see that Kylo has been busy with her. Quite preoccupied, as a matter of fact—"
Sula left Rey's side so fast that she almost fell down. Her attention was focused on maintaining her balance, but it completely shifted when Rey heard the unmistakable silence.
Sula and Deimos were standing side by side, almost touching. At an angle, one could have even said that they were locked in a passionate stance, but Rey knew this was anything but. Sula's karambit was hovering dangerously close to a thin gap in Deimos's attire at his neck. Deimo's hand was settled at his belt.
"My knife will slice through your neck faster than the time it will take for you to turn on your lightsaber and pierce through my heart." It was just a whisper, but Sula's voice was steady and magnified in clearing. Rey could hear the threat, and oh, it was real. Her voice was thick with truth. "It only takes a nick for the poison to enter your bloodstream. Think about your decision, Deimos. I'll even spell it out for you if you need me to."
Deimos gave a rough grunt. The threat of a simple brush of the knife against his neck seemed to at least deter him, and he stepped back after a few glares and seconds of silence.
"Deimos—"
"Yeah, I know, Leo. It's whatever." Deimos grunted and strapped his lightsaber back to his belt. "Master of Knights, my arse. Since when have you been such a protector? Let's leave and let her continue to fawn over her Lady."
He gave the pair a second look before walking off. The Knight known as Lype followed without a glance at Sula or Rey, but Leo stayed behind. He looked behind him briefly at his comrades then turned to them.
"If you have nothing to add, then leave."
"By the way, just so you know, Lype wheedled some information out of a man he caught." He looked to Sula and she nodded.
"Proceed," Sula commanded, tucking her knife back beneath her attire. She gave Rey's hand a small squeeze.
"The explosive sites weren't randomized as we originally thought—each explosion took place over key spots—the structural foundations. He's planning on sinking the city. I reckon he'll only need to detonate a few more before the city goes down. So far he's gotten nine."
"And Damesh?"
"He may have vacated the premises already. It's impossible to tell. His men are loyal to the death and I wouldn't put it past him to leave some behind and foresee the explosions themselves."
Sula gave another nod. "Thank you, Leo."
"Of course." He turned his attention to Rey for the first time. "I advise staying away from Deimos. He's been more unhinged as of late, and you've seen first-handedly his volatility."
"I've noticed," she wheezed.
Leo made some sort of noise and it took Rey a few seconds to gather that it was actually a laugh.
"On the other hand, you're always welcome to come see me, though. Things get old real fast on Coruscant. I could do with the company of a beautiful woman as yourself."
Rey was completely caught off guard by his last remark and she found herself turning red by his unabashed remark.
"Leo, that's enough."
"My offer still stands," he said. "But remember: keep away from Deimos. Guy's a maniac."
"And what about the other Knight?" Rey inquired, doing her best to ignore the stare under his helmet.
"Lype? He's the silent type, always brooding. You don't want to be around him unless you enjoy pretending. Pretending that he's an inanimate object, that is."
He gave another nod to Sula and left. Now it was only Sula and Rey in the clearing. The only alive ones, that is. There were a few slain bodies nearby. Damesh's men. Rey did her best to tear her eyes from the site. If she didn't, then she wouldn't be able to ignore her own personal misgivings.
"Does your head still hurt?" Rey's attention was drawn to the purity of her voice. She had taken off her helmet and let her features show. Her hair was tied in a neat bun, much like Rey's but not in a group of three.
"Just a little, but it was nothing compared to his attack earlier."
"Deimos is strongest with his mind. I should have anticipated his intentions. I'm sorry for not coming to your aid earlier, my Lady."
Rey didn't even bother correcting her. She was much too weary.
"That's alright, Sula." She gave her a small smile to try to set her mind at ease. "I should have anticipated him. From what you and Kylo have told me, the rest of the Knights aren't very…congenial."
Sula grunted and Rey smiled again at the sound. "Still, it's my fault. The other Knights are usually tolerable. It's just Deimos who's the troublemaker. He's been restless ever since Kylo assumed the role of Supreme Leader and even more so after I ascended to Master of the Knights of Ren. Speaking of Kylo, do you know where he is?"
Rey clamped her mouth shut. "I don't know, Sula," she finally admitted, trying her hardest not to discuss him as much as she needed to. "But I can sense that he's okay." Physically, she added to herself.
"Let's get going, then. I can take you to him." Sula yanked her communication device—
"No!" Rey protested, raising her hand right before she was about to turn it on. She quirked an eyebrow at her.
"I mean," she tried backpedaling. "Kylo and I…"
"Are currently not on good terms."
Rey nodded and tried her hardest not to blush. "Is it that obvious?"
"Would you like to talk about it, Lady Rey? I advise against this, seeing how time is limited—"
"No, no. You're right. Let's just get going, okay? What is it we need to do?"
Sula checked a wristwatch strapped on her left wrist. "We haven't been able to locate Damesh, but no unidentified ships have left Numina's atmosphere since our arrival."
Suddenly, three more booms ricocheted through the distance. The ground began wobbling beneath Rey's feet and she had to catch herself from falling. The two of them stared off into the distance before Sula spoke.
"Leo was right," Sula pressed, talking much faster now. "I slashed through a few men themselves and got what I needed from their minds. The city doesn't have long before it sinks and we need to be out before it happens. I know the way."
"But Kylo…" Rey couldn't help but feel the flicker of worry that spread through her.
"Kylo will be fine. He can take care of himself. He's the Supreme Leader, after all."
"Not you too," she grumbled, but allowed Sula's words to comfort her nevertheless.
"We don't have time. He is more than capable than any one of us here. He'll be fine, Lady Rey. I promise."
Rey nodded. I hope you're okay.
The bond was still closed from her earlier decision, however, and her message floated aimlessly inside her. But she knew he had heard her. He had to.
The rumbling beneath their feet started up again, and this time, it didn't stop.
"We need to leave. Now!" Sula shouted, yanking her helmet back on her head.
The two of them took off at a fast run, side by side. The city was entirely deserted and it made doing so much more easier. It unsettled Rey, however, knowing that a place so usually full of life was now completely abandoned and desolate. Haunted.
They had been running for a few minutes and Rey's lungs and legs were beginning to feel the toll of her exertion.
"Where's the other Knight? Jarrok?" she shouted above the growing noises of the city caving in.
"I don't know!" Sula shouted back. "But I'm sure he's still at the gates. I just talked to him over comms. Our first objective is to get reconvene to the ships and proceed from there!"
For some reason, the only thing Rey could think of was the pair. It was probably the worst time to ever have a discussion over their relationship.
"You're not afraid of letting the other Knights hear what you two have to say?"
"We keep it strictly professional!" she shouted back. "And we have our own private communicators!"
"That's sweet!" Rey flashed her a smile but then it faded. She stopped moving when she heard a sound in the distance. The only reason it called out to her was because it was unlike the other sounds that was hearing—the sounds of a city crumbling.
Sula noticed her sudden halt and turned to her.
"What are you doing, Lady Rey?" she asked.
Rey strained her ears and let the Force enter her. "Hold on, Sula."
"We don't have—"
Rey held up a hand to stop her. She craned her neck, begging for her ear to not let anything go amiss. There it was. She could hear the desperate plea again.
"A child," she breathed. "I hear him over that way." She pointed in the direction they had just came from.
"There's no time!"
"The child…we have to go back and save him."
"No!"
"No?"
Worry vanished and irritation and comprehension replaced it for the first time ever at Sula, nipping at Rey's heels at his lack of compassion and how he could just turn a blind eye toward a human life in need.
"I thought I knew you better, Sula! This is a human's life we are talking about! We have to help him! I'm going!"
"Let me get one thing through to you, Lady Rey," Sula urged, unexpectedly yanking her arm and drawing Rey closer to her. She winced at how tight his her grasp was. "I am under strict orders by the Supreme Leader himself to keep you safe and out of harm's way. Given our friendship, I can cut his orders some leniency, but even I know where the line must be drawn. This mission of yours is suicidal. The city is going to collapse at any given second. Buildings have already began to crumble under their foundations. We have to go. There is no time!"
"I don't care! We can't just let an innocent person die!"
Rey couldn't let the child die. She couldn't let another person whom she could save perish. She turned tail and ran.
"Lady Rey! No!"
Panic seemed to fuel Rey's determination to save the child. Even though she couldn't see them, she brought up her hand and hastily flicked it. Debris in the middle of the ground shot toward them, and she felt Sula's Force pull waver as she redirected her focus toward the mass of rocks threatening to crush her.
"Rey, no!" she heard Sula shout, but it was too late. She pressed forward, rounding the corner and pressing forward, ignoring the infrastructure crumbling around her. She took part of her arm wrap and covered part of her face in a second-nature fashion, much like she did to protect her face from the sandstorms on Jakku.
"Come on, where are you?"
As if the child heard her plea, he began crying again.
"Left," she spoke to herself. "Come on."
Rey ran three blocks, passed a few more homes, and rounded another two corners before the crying grew louder. Dust flew into the air when she skidded to a stop in front of a house threatening not to crumble on its foundation. The ground had begun to sink, and the shift in angle had begun to split the house in two.
Hesitation would get her killed. Rey ran into the entrance of the house and shut out all sound except for the crying. She shut out the sound of the house collapsing. She shut out the sound of silverware clacking around on the ground, and glass shattering until she located where the crying was coming from. The second floor.
The first bedroom was empty, but in the second one, a suspicious sound came from a closet. Rey bolted to the corner and yanked the door open to find a child, at the latest ten, rubbing his eyes and balling his eyes out.
"Where are your parents?" she asked. At the sound of another voice, the boy opened his eyes. Rey resisted the urge to gasp out in shock. Call it coincidence, but the boy was familiar. He was the same child who had thrown the toy at her before she entered the city.
"Mo—mommy?" he asked.
"No, but I know where mommy is. You want her, don't you?" Rey stretched out her hand, ignoring the unsteady shake of the ground beneath her feet.
The boy seemed to recognize her after rubbing his eyes with his fists and clearing the tears away.
"It's you!"
"Yes, it's me," Rey urged. "Come on. Let's get you back to your mommy, okay?" Rey asked, trying her hardest not focus on the debris flying around her. She had to get him to the middle clearing. Chances are, the transport ship was still there when his parents realized that their child wasn't with them.
The child blinked at her before offering Rey her hand. She tugged him to her body and held him close. A piece of something flying across the room caught her eye and she used the Force and brought the tiny little figurine over to her—the same one that was thrown at her. For some reason, it seemed like the right thing to do.
The duty of protecting an innocent child seemed to spurn her with a new energy that was not born from the depths of her anger. It was easier to sense danger around the corner, and every time detritus rained down from the sky, Rey easily deflected the debris away from them with a unwavering brush of her hand. The child looked at her in awe each time she did this, his tears stopping for just a slight second as he stared at her display of power.
A few instances required them to cut through narrow corridors, detouring through them instead of the main passageways due to an unbudging obstruction, but unexpectedly, the next hallway turned into an environment where her surroundings were not made translucent from the thick fog. How they both escaped into the open area of the city without harm bewildered Rey, but she would not be one to complain.
In the middle of the city, where there was a large clearing, only one ship had not left. It had to be one of the city evacuation ones. Given its bulky mass and oddly-bent wings, it surely wasn't the First Order's.
Two people stood in front of the ship. The male had both hands cupped around his mouth and the female had her hands over her eyes, protecting her from any flying particles while she scoured the area for someone.
Both of them stopped what they were doing when they saw two specks in the distance. Rey could only think that they were both squinting their eyes, trying their hardest to identify who was running toward them. But then both of them threw caution to the wind and began to move too.
"Mommy!" the boy shouted, leaving Rey's side and running right into his mother's waiting arms. The two of them collided in a passionate display of tender care that shot pangs through Rey's heart.
The child had such a loving family, far more than what she ever could have asked. For a brief instant Rey imagined herself in his shoes, wondering how her life would be if she had a family who was as any bit concerned for her than the boy's family was for him.
The father stepped forward. It didn't escape Rey's notice that he stood directly in front of his family in a protective manner.
"I didn't know the First Order concerned themselves with the safety of those they view to be beneath them. Especially after the destruction of the entire city shortly after your arrival."
"I'm not with the First Order," Rey rebuffed.
"No? But you are working with them."
"Daddy, she saved me! She was the woman I met earlier today! She can move rocks with her wrist!" the boy interjected, tugging on his father's belt from behind.
Rey saw the father's hands ball into tight fists.
"So there are two of you. You and the devil who calls himself Supreme Leader."
His wife moved forward to try to say something but he waved her back.
"I mean no harm," she said, raising both her hands up. "There was a criminal on the loose and we were trying our best to stop him. The unfortunate destruction of the city was a product of Damesh's doing, and the result would have been the same nonetheless if the First Order had not intervened." Maker, even what she said sounded bad to her own ears. Taking a deep breath, she tried again.
"We, no I, am on the same side as you. I never wanted any of this to happen. You have to believe me."
Rey was sure the father was going to rebuke her when he opened his mouth, but the mother intervened just before he managed to get any words out.
"We believe you. I apologize for my husband's behavior."
She turned to him.
"What matters in the end is that we are all together, as a family. If she is who she says she is, then I have no doubt she wouldn't have brought Cam to us. Think about it, Weo. The First Order wouldn't care about us. They were here to do their own job."
The mother turned back to Rey.
"Thank you. Thank you for saving our child." Rey saw her eyes swimming in tears.
"You're quite welcome," she responded, her throat closing.
"Really. We are forever indebted to you. What's your name?"
There was a humongous bang behind her, and she knew her time was running short.
"Rey. My name is Rey."
She turned around but before she could depart, a soft hand grabbed her wrist.
"Are you going back there? It's not safe! There is shelter with us!"
Rey smiled, warming to the lady. "I can't," she replied. As much as her heart had been yearning for a family her entire life, one thing was blindingly apparent: her destiny was not here. The chain of events over the last couple of hours showed her this. She was not meant to live an ordinary, normal life.
The woman dropped her grip and hugged her instead. Rey could feel the woman's motherly tendencies soaking up her devastation and her eyes began to water.
The husband gave her a curt nod to express his gratitude, and the child gave her a toothy grin. Rey returned the smile, and then without looking back, set back into the carnage. She would make it. She had to make it.
The city's infrastructure was reaching critical capacity. Rey could feel it. The ground was vibrating incessantly, and with every step she took, the ground splintered just a little more.
Rey retraced her steps but came up short when her reflexes were called into sudden action when a sizeable chunk of a home broke off from the rest of its foundation and toppled over directly in her path, blocking it. The debris was twice, if not three times as tall as her, and it was very well beyond her control with the Force. She was forced to turn around and take an alternative route.
She had been running for a few minutes in the chaos before she realized she was hopelessly lost. Every corridor seemed the same, if not worse for the wear, and there were no landmarks she could identify that she memorized on the way to the child's parents, for everything had shifted around in the last few minutes.
"Kylo!" she desperately screamed, pushing a large boulder to the side with the Force so that she could proceed.
Trying to focus on Kylo inside of her failed as well. She could very faintly sense him, but his presence did not clearly point a direction as to which way she needed to go. His presence existed, but didn't guide. He was heavily focused on something, but what it was, Rey didn't know.
There was no time to meditate.
She had to be nearing the extraction site. She passed a few dead bodies on the ground and by the strange blade poking out of the dirt, she knew she was near.
She ran forward for another minute before she had to take a detour. Soon thereafter, Rey skidded to a stop. The dust around here was minimal, and she could see far ahead and identify a speck of black in the distance. Kylo's command shuttle.
She would make it. Sprinting forward with unbelievable athleticism, Rey pushed all of her energy into her legs so that her center of balance was in her two feet, and relied on her maneuvering skills and Force-pushing to block any of the falling debris from fatally smashing into her.
She had to make it.
With an improvised maneuver where she Force pushed herself off the ground, Rey jumped forward and tumbled into the clear, narrowly escaping doom behind her. Her eyes widened as she turned her head around and viewed the chaos she had just escaped from. The entire framework of which the city had been built on sank on its knees and collapsed, spilling every constructed building and flattening them. Had she been a second too late, she would have been dead. Even still, it was not over. The collective collapse of the city sent a wave of dirty air toward her. Rey snapped her eyes shut, held her breath, and buried her face in the grass as the dust storm from the collapsed debris rushed toward her like a sandstorm.
When the howling wind vanished and she could hear again, Rey slowly got to her knees. With her mouth obstructed from heavy breathing into the makeshift face gear, she unwrapped her clothes from her face and rejoiced.
She gave a hearty cheer and laughed. She laughed. It couldn't be helped. It had been ages since she was in real danger, and yet, her reaction was like a force of habit.
Nature. This enemy was unrelentless. It was more dangerous than anything she had ever dealt against. It was formidable, frightening, but what set it apart from the rest of the galaxy was one thing: nature was not evil.
Suddenly remembering the ship, she turned back to it. Her smile slipped a fraction when she realized that the black hull and wings were slightly different than Kylo's command shuttle.
The hangar door hissed, smoke seeping around the exit. Rey saw the faint outline of boots.
Sula came with them on Kylo's ship, which meant whoever piloted this aircraft was a different Knight of Ren. She really hoped this ship didn't belong to Deimos. Her observations and brief personal experiences with the rest of the Knights didn't leave a positive impression on her, but she had to make do with what she had. Officially, they were allies. She was completely sure that Kylo was waiting for her, but minutes of sprinting had led to her panting and exhausted, and excess use of the Force depleted her energy and she was spent. She also didn't have the energy to care about her massive feud with Kylo. She would seek refuge in this Knight's ship until he dropped her off at the Finalizer. Yes, that's what she'll do.
Rey always had a knack for recognizing danger before it manifested, and this was one of those times. The hairs on her neck and arms stood up fractions of a second before she heard a new voice, one that radiated decree and authority—one she couldn't mistake for anyone else.
"Well, well, well," Damesh said, strolling down the rest of the platform and coming to a stop a few lengths away from her.
Rey stumbled to her feet, unstrapping her staff saber and igniting it, holding it at the ready.
"Look who it is. Kylo Ren's toy."
Dun-dun-dun! Resistance soon :)
