That general… what did he mean when he said you have your own priorities?" Rey wondered.
Ahead of her, Kylo Ren jerked his arm to the left, force-throwing another twisted lump of metal from the path. There were many of these remnants littering the valley, artifacts of old wars perhaps. If they were, they came from wars so ancient that even the practiced eyes of a scavenger couldn't identify what they had once been part of.
He walked at a speed that forced her to jog in order to stay close enough to speak with him. His legs were much longer and his strides wider to begin with, and with her headache and churning stomach, she had considered asking him to slow down. Still, his hurry seemed to verify what he had said about the general coming after them, and he had not lost that wild-eyed look, which if she were bring honest, frightened her a little.
"He meant to imply that I put my will before the will of the Supreme Leader… that I am untrustworthy," he answered with no emotion.
"He's right though, isn't he? You are rebelling against Snoke's order. Kylo Ren is rebelling against the dark side," she said, and a small thrill went through her as the words left her mouth. For a few seconds, she imagined him returning home to General Organa's open arms, imagined him greeting Master Luke and confessing his remorse, imagined standing by his side as they gave report about all they had discovered on the Dark Moon, imagined fighting together, coming home together…
He interrupted her fantasy with a disdainful scoff.
"I am not now, nor will I ever rebel against the dark side, and my priorities seldom diverge from those of the Supreme Leader."
"You are diverging now, aren't you? Why? You said the Dark Moon is a weapon which the First Order already has in its possession. What could you possibly need to know about it that Snoke would keep from you… how to destroy it?" she guessed.
"No."
"Then you want to learn how it works… so that you can use it yourself?"
"No."
"Then perhaps you—"
"Perhaps the Supreme Leader thinks the Dark Moon's secrets are safe here in their tomb, and perhaps I think that a more securely guarded site can be found. My mother's rebels have a long history of finding small secrets and then using them to destroy the grandest ambitions. Perhaps I am only protecting him from underestimating my mother. Perhaps, scavenger, you should focus more on what you are going to do when the Tuk'ata which has been stalking us since the entrance of the valley finally picks his moment and attacks."
She whirled, igniting her saber as she scanned the boulder strewn road.
"They don't stalk the way normal beasts do," he called. "They're force sensitive creatures. They don't need to see you to know where you are. What did I teach you about sensing intent?"
Rey's face flushed at the memory. That had been a training session she's tried not to think about. She hurried to catch up to him. Her light saber still lit.
"If you had learned the lesson which I tried to impart," Kylo continued, "then you would have sensed an intent to rip you limb from limb."
Unrepentant yet curious, she did then attempt to use the Force and sense what she could. She was immediately overcome by a wave of nausea which stopped her in her tracks.
"Keep moving," he ordered. "If you stop for too long, or try to leave the road, you invite attack."
Rey took a few shaky steps, and then felt a hand beneath her arm steadying her.
"What is it?" he demanded, though his tone had lost some of its edge.
"Don't know. I… I'm sick, I think… sick since I woke up on the ship, and it's getting worse."
He gave a short sigh and rubbed his forehead in frustration.
"You're resisting it again," he warned. "I've told you already, this planet has a greater concentration of dark force than any other, and you did not train long enough or hard enough with Skywalker to be able to resist it. Your body is reacting to it as it would anything it considers a poison. Even the accomplished Jedi Master Yoda succumbed to some amount of illness and hallucinations when he came to this valley."
"Master Yoda? Master Yoda trained Master Luke after… he's dead though," the throbbing in her head made it very difficult to think. Her thoughts were disordered and hard to verbalize.
"Yes, yes, I know. You must—"
"Why did Master Yoda come to this place?" she interrupted.
"Nevermind that now. If you continue to resist you will be destroyed. This is no empty threat. You must open yourself to it, feel it become a part of you. I know you can. I've seen you do it, Rey. I trained you for this. I trained you to survive."
"Your training… I think all your training was an attempt to… to cause my mind to break. That's what Sith training is, isn't it? They torture you until you don't trust your own thoughts anymore. What is that? Is that a Tuk'ata?" she said, and pointed.
His eyes followed the direction of her finger, before returning to her.
"Stop it, Rey!" he growled, his hand tightening around her elbow. "Stop this right now. You're beginning to hallucinate and there are already more than enough real dangers."
"What is that sound?" she gasped turning slowly away from him.
"Rey…" he said softly.
When she turned her attention back to him, she was rewarded with a swift slap to the face. She stumbled backwards and shook her head, which cleared instantly. Her cheek smarted.
"How dare you!" she seethed.
"Watch your tongue, filthy scavenger! You disappoint me. You are weak and pathetic. Too weak to live. Your friends haven't tried to find you, because you are of no use to them, and I see now, that you can be no use to me either. If you—"
That was as far as he got. With a surge of rage, Rey felt the power fill her, and then explode from the hand she raised. Kylo Ren was blown off his feet. He fell and rolled to a crouched position. Wasting no time, she gestured toward a slab of rock which had crumbled from the face of one of the nearby mausoleums and force-threw it towards him. He dodged to the side, and lit his blade just as she managed to throw the next rock. It exploded into a spray of stone chips as he swung.
Panting from the exertion, Rey took a step back, watching him cautiously. He waited a moment before moving toward her.
"How do you feel now?" he asked.
"Angry," she hissed.
"Good. Stay that way. We've managed to call the attention of more than just the Tu'kata."
Though she was still considering burying him beneath a rock slide, she instead ran behind him as he hurried on. She could feel the presence of other creatures now. Giant creatures, ancient, cruel, and hungry. They could sense her as well.
"How much farther?" she demanded.
"The Tomb of Naga Sadow… it's there."
He did not have to gesture, she could feel where he intended to go and her eyes found the place, farther up in the valley. Carved into the rock wall in relief, the giant face of a sneering Sith Lord stared at her with blind eyes. Beneath his visage and framed by his powerful arms she could see a tall rectangular opening.
A bright spark of light distracted her, and she looked up to see first one, and then two transporters hurtling towards them. She almost spoke to draw his attention to them when she noticed the third transporter.
Kylo swore under his breath and broke into a full run, his cape billowing behind him. They wouldn't make it before the ships landed, she could see as much, but she could sense his intent now, to get as close to the tomb as they could and then, if talks failed, attempt to fight their way through.
This surprised her- Kylo Ren prepared to fight against soldiers of the First Order. Whatever was in the Tomb, he must have wanted it badly, though she was not sure that she believed it had anything to do with the Dark Moon. He might have gleaned memories of her mission on Ka'vec at some point during her imprisonment on Baudere and was only using the temptation of further knowledge to bend her to his will. She did not trust him, but fighting the First Order was better than imprisonment on Baudere—even so vastly outnumbered.
The feeling of being watched and of impending attack grew as the ships descended. There was restlessness in the valley of dead, and Rey soon began to think she heard whispers of threats that drifted from the open doorways in the rock walls. She wondered if she was again beginning to hallucinate.
The first transporter landed before the doorway of Naga Sadow's tomb and the others just beyond. Stormtroopers filed out, arranging themselves in formation to await their approach. It was impossible to tell how many, but certainly they were too many for her and Kylo Ren to take.
For his part, Kylo had slowed to a more dignified walk. She could sense his irritation, which surprised her. Surely, the wall of Stormtroopers between them and the Tomb should inspire something in him a little greater than irritation!
They were still a ways off, when a Stormtrooper in shining chromium descended the ramp. The armorweave cloak in red and black surely conferred some sort of important rank, but Rey was ignorant of First Order dress codes.
"Do not speak," he hissed. "Do not make any move until I do, and stay on your guard, the Tu'kata are gathering."
As they approached, the cloaked Stormtrooper strode out to meet them. Kylo stopped and waited for her to approach.
"Sir," she greeted him. "I have orders to escort you and the girl onboard the Finalizer."
"Whose?" he snapped.
"General Hux, sir."
"As you well know, Phasma, I do not answer to Hux—"
"The order was given by the General, sir, but he received it from the Supreme Leader only moments ago."
"That was fast," sneered Ren. "Too fast. As I'm sure you are aware, I have my own methods when communicating with the Supreme Leader. He knows that there has been a second defector among your ranks, and that once again he was allowed to escape. He no longer considers Hux competent. I am afraid, Captain, that General Hux has exceeded the limits of his command. He is acting on his own, I assure you. If you attempt to interfere with my orders, you will not be answering to Hux, but to the Supreme Leader, himself."
His words had a profound effect on the soldier. Though her face was obscured behind her helmet, Rey could sense her confusion. The blaster she held upright against her chest dropped slightly.
"Sir, I… I believe we may have a misunderstanding. If you'll just come with me."
Kylo Ren's light saber blazed to life in his hand as he adjusted his stance. Rey took this to mean that she should be ready as well, and she held her own saber in a fighting grip, but his intent was not—
A shock of warning shot through her, just before the first Tuk'ata leapt from the top of the tomb and landed on top of the transporter.
It was a gigantic beast on four legs, its claws at least six inches long, with triple rows of teeth, and long tail lined by spiny projections that it whipped back and forth. From its side projected two spiky extensions, which she at first mistook for wings, but which Ren later assured her were poisonous stingers.
The Tu'kata's growl echoed from the rock walls as two more of the beasts dropped gracefully from the top of the tomb, circling behind and to the side of the assembled troopers. With a snarl, the first leapt down, pinning a whiteclad trooper beneath its massive paw before chomping down on the soldier's blaster arm and ripping it off. The other two snarled and attacked, and in an instant the sound of laser blasters and screams filled the silent valley.
Captain Phasma had turned her attention momentarily to the fray, and Kylo seized the opportunity to move past her. Walking almost casually through the carnage, Rey followed at his heels, her eyes on the Tuk'ata nearest to them and her lightsaber ready.
"Ren, STOP!" ordered Phasma.
Rey turned to see the Captain had levelled the blaster directly at her.
"That would be unwise, Phasma," Kylo said calmly.
"If you resist, I am ordered to kill the girl," she shouted.
"You can try, I suppose, but you won't succeed," he assured her.
The first beast rolled past them, hitting the rock face of the wall, so hard the ground beneath them shook a little. It appeared to be dead. From the open doorway of a nearby tomb, another emerged, and raced toward Phasma.
As she turned to face it, firing her blaster repeatedly at its advancing form, he smirked and moved on.
"Stop Them!" yelled Phasma. "Kill the girl!"
With a swipe of its paw, the Tuk'ata knocked her off her feet and sent her crashing against the transporter ramp.
Her order had immediate effect. Several of the troopers turned from firing at the beasts and began to advance toward her. Rey swung her blade in a rapid arc, defending herself from the onslaught of laser blasts.
Kylo Ren outstretched his arm, and the nearest trooper crumbled and fell to the ground while several others froze, dropping their blasters. A Tuk'ata raced through the frozen soldiers, ripping them apart with claws and teeth.
"Go," he ordered. "I'll follow."
Rey hurried on. Almost to the door of the tomb, she stopped. More ships were coming, she could hear their approach. When she recognized them, a scream of relief escaped her lips.
These were X-wing fighters! These were Resistance pilots!
She shouted again, waving her arms wildly above her head, and in her excitement did not hear Kylo shout her name. Her breath gave out as his shoulder hit her chest and his arms wrapped around her waist. He tackled her, and together they crashed to the ground inside the entryway of the tomb.
He was on his feet first, and seizing her by the shoulder he dragged her fully inside.
"Stop! STOP!" she cried, struggling against him. "They're here! They can help, they can—"
His hand shot out and when he clenched it in a tight fist, the ground shook, and an avalanche of rock rumbled down, pouring over the door until they were effectively walled in. With the red glow of his saber the only light in the dark, Rey glared up at him, coughing on the rock dust.
"They will help. As a distraction," he agreed.