"We are back! This chapter takes place at the same time as the last chapter with Rey facing her dark side. This chapter will focus on Evelyn as she is struggling with something on the inside. Whats gonna happen? lets find out".
Chapter 29: Regret
Evelyn quickly rushed through the Tempest as alarms echoed through the hall as systems were failing under the pressure of lightspeed, despite the ship being able to fly the travel through lightspeed was taking its toll and thanks to Ranza and the Knights Of Ren the ship wasnt fully repaired.
Soon she finally came to the bridge where terminals were sparking and Javik with Finn were doing everything they can to keep the ship from blowing up.
"The ship aint gonna last long!" Poe shouted.
"Too many systems are running, everything is overheating!" Finn pressed a few buttons and soon got an electric shock and Evelyn quickly went to a large panel and with the Force she pulled the plating right off and starting rewiring the systems.
Poe looked back seeing Evelyn yanking out wires and swapping some around. "What are you doing!?".
"Re-routing all non critical power, keep us stable!" Evelyn shouted as she continued to do her part as the alarms kept ringing.
More and more sparks flew all over the place and smoke was starting to appear and Evelyn needed help, pulling out her radio she quickly called a very reliable droid. "R2 I need you at the cockpit right now!".
The moment was intense and there was a chance The Tempest could blow up at any moment and after a few moments Evelyn heard the beeps of R2 coming through the door into the bridge.
Evelyn quickly turned and moved out the way "Do your magic R2". The droid beeped and rolled to the terminal and began to work as Evelyn rushed to Poe and Finn looking at the systems going haywire.
"The engines are gonna blow!" Finn shouted seeing the status of the engine.
"R2!" Poe shouted in a panic but after a few intense moments the alarms started to quiet down and the systems soon stopped sparking, Evelyn, Poe and Finn looked at each other then looked out to see lightspeed shooting past them.
They all sighed in relief and Evelyn looked back at the droid with a smile "R2 I love you". In response R2 turned his head letting off a few happy beeps.
"The systems have stabilized, but there's a problem" Poe looked down at the terminal and Evelyn with Finn looked at him.
"What is it?" Finn questioned and Poe looked at the two of them. "The fuel cells are leaking...once we get to Moraband...we wont be able to get back home on The Tempest".
Evelyn frowned "You mean?".
Poe sighed and looked out to lightspeed "Yeah, The Tempest will be dead once we land."
The bridge fell silent as the three looked at each other and soon Evelyn sighed. "If Rey is still on Moraband we still have the Falcon, we will use that to get home".
Finn looked at Evelyn "You mean we are just gonna leave The Tempest on Moraband?".
Evelyn looked at Finn and placed her hand on his shoulder "She's only a ship Finn, besides...she's done more then enough for us".
"Its a shame...I was really loving this ship" Poe whispered looking at the terminal in front of him and Evelyn placed her other hand on Poe's shoulder and gave her friends shoulder's a light squeeze. "She kept us alive, thats what counts guys".
Soon Evelyn turned and headed out the bridge and back into the hallway to the crews quarters but after a few moments she came to a stop and just slowly looked at the hallway and gently placed her hand on the wall, gently trailing her hand on it she couldn't help but feel attached to the ship and knowing this was gonna be The Tempest's last flight was a bit emotional.
"I'm gonna miss you girl, you saved us more then once..." Evelyn whispered and soon took her hand off the wall and headed for the crews quarters.
Soon Evelyn came to the entrance into the crews quarters and she saw the Engineer holding baby Hope with Jessika checking them over and Lydia was sitting by the table with BD-1.
"Everyone ok?" Evelyn called out and everyone turned to her and Lydia's eyes widened "Your ok!" Lydia got off her chair rushing to Evelyn and she quickly hugged her waist tight relieved to see her.
Evelyn smiled down at Lydia and caressed the girl's head in comfort and she looked up to see Javik and Jaylah was no where to be found.
"Where's Jaylah and Javik?" Evelyn questioned.
Jessika turned and pointed to a private room "Javik's treating her, she's in a bad state...".
Evelyn became worried and looked down at Lydia as she looked up at her with worry "Go play with BD, I'll come back later".
Lydia nodded and let go of Evelyn and went back to the table with BD-1 and Evelyn walked past everyone and soon she came to the door leading in to the private room.
Evelyn slowly closed her eyes and took a slow deep breath, with everything that was going on she prayed that she wasnt gonna enter to find out the worst, she came to like Jaylah as a friend and it would absolutely break her heart if Jaylah was dying.
Keeping strong Evelyn slowly stepped forward and the door slid open and inside she saw Javik standing near a medical bed and right there laying on the bed was Jaylah, there was no sign of movement and her eyes were closed and Evelyn prayed this wasn't what she thought it was.
Slowly taking a few steps forward she saw Javik just look down at Jaylah. "Javik? Is she...?"
She saw Javik take a slow deep breath and then slowly looked back at Evelyn "No...but Jaylah is very weak".
"I'm...not weak..." Jaylah responded in a whisper as she slowly opened her eyes looking up at the ceiling.
Evelyn sighed in relief as she soon came closer and stood next to Javik and she saw Jaylah had a big bandage wrapped around her torso and saw blue blood was visible on it.
"I cant stop the bleeding, dont know who long she will last" Javik looked down at her wound.
"Is there anything we can do?" Evelyn looked at Javik.
Jaylah then coughed which caught the attention of the two and after a few moments she looked at them. "I have...I...slowed my heart down...".
Both Evelyn and Javik were surprised. "You can do that?" Evelyn questioned.
Jaylah took a slow breath and closed her eyes "My kind...can slow our hearts...this...will slow the bleeding down".
"We need to get her back to The Resistance as soon as possible" Javik then looked at Evelyn. "We cant lose her..".
"...Get Rey...then deal with me..." Jaylah whispered.
"You could die..." Javik looked down at her.
"I wont..." Jaylah took another deep breath.
Evelyn placed her hand on Javik's shoulder "There's a little problem...".
Javik slowly looked back at Evelyn and he could see it was bad news. "Javik, The Tempest has sustained heavy damage through lightspeed, our fuel is leaking...Moraband will be the Tempest's last stop".
His eyes widened in response. "What! How will we get back?".
Evelyn sighed "We can only hope Rey is still there, the Falcon is our only home".
"Then...thats the way...it is" Jaylah coughed once again and Evelyn squeezed Javik's shoulder. "I'll see if I can get something to help her".
Javik watched Evelyn turn and leaved the room and as soon as she left he then looked back at Jaylah "You need medical attention, what about Lelu? She needs her mother".
The mention of her daughter made Jaylah slowly open her eyes and slowly turn her head to him and she just looked at him. "Why are you so concerned...about me?".
Javik sighed "Is it wrong not to worry about a friend?".
The two looked at each other after his response and soon she responded. "Why...why did you kiss me...".
Javik slowly pulled a chair up and sat next to Jaylah's bed and just looked at her for a few seconds. "I'm sorry about that, I guess it was just tension and stress that did it".
Jaylah continued to look at him for a few seconds and then her eyes saw the blast shot on his jacket and she frowned "Your hurt?".
"Its nothing, you saved my life" Javik gave a small smile and Jaylah was confused. "How did I save you?".
After a few seconds Javik reached into his jacket where the blaster shot was. "Your gonna kill me for this but..".
Jaylah watched on and soon he pulled out a damaged cassette player and she frowned as she recognised it. "That's my cassette player...".
"Yeah.." Javik looked down at the destroyed cassette player then gently placed it in her hand and she examined as best she could. "Sorry I didn't ask for permission this time...I dont blame you if you kick my ass when you recover".
Jaylah examined the blast shot on the player and a part of her was upset that the one of the things she cherished was now destroyed but another part of her was grateful that such a tiny object was put to good use, she gently placed the player by her side then turned her head to Javik.
"I'll try and repair it when we get back, its the least I can do" Javik offered and then Jaylah looked back down at the player for a few more seconds and then looked back at him.
"At least it saved your life...I need someone to annoy me..." Jaylah stated and Javik couldnt help but chuckle.
"Glad I'm good for something, save your strength ok" Javik whispered and the two looked at each other and there was no emotion on their faces but their eyes just looked deep into the others, everything around them just faded and the two just continued to look at each other.
Back into the main hall Evelyn was walking down the hall and suddenly her mind clicked as she quickly looked down at her weapon holster taking a hold of it, her heart began beating out of her chest as she saw Han Solo's blaster was no longer there.
In the end of her battle with Ranza on that sand planet she forgot to snatch the blaster back from her enemies belt before she jumped on to the ramp of the Tempest, Evelyn hit her back to the wall and slide down placing her hand over her mouth as tears formed.
That blaster was the only memory she had of Han and she remembered him giving her the blaster to protect herself on Starkiller base but now it was in the hands of a new enemy, Evelyn felt cold and disgusted for being careless. That blaster was a relic and was something she, Leia and Rey cherished since Han's passing.
Overcome with emotion Evelyn slightly lowered her head with her hand still over mouth and tears started going down her cheek, she was left in her sorrow until she heard footsteps coming down the hall so she quickly got up and cleaned herself off while removing her tears.
Soon she tidied herself up and turned around seeing The Engineer and she could see he wanted to talk to her.
"Is everything ok?" The Engineer asked as he saw she was stressed and Evelyn waved her hand with a nod. "Yeah I'm fine, just stress that's all".
"I see" The engineer fell silent as he looked to the side for a few moments and then looked back at her. "Listen, I want to thank you for everything. Having my daughters back...I never thought I was gonna see them again".
Evelyn gave a small smile and placed her hand on his shoulder "You dont have to thank us, we hate seeing children in danger. We would never have hesitated to help...though I am sorry we took you from your home".
The Engineer gave a small chuckle "Its not like we didnt see this coming, listen I am willing to help out if you will let me. I can still fix a few things on this ship".
"What about your daughters? Spend time with them.." Evelyn suggested.
The Engineer sighed and gave a small smile "I will, just wanted to come by and say if you need help dont hesitate to ask. Its the least I can do".
Evelyn gave a small nod "Of course, now get and be with your daughters". She watched the Engineer slowly turn and walk away but after a few steps he stopped and looked back at her.
"Lydia has taking a liking to you" The Engineer gave a small smile.
Evelyn slightly tilted her head "What do you mean?".
"She thinks you look like an Angel, she heard something about them a few days ago." The Engineer chuckled as he looked down the hall to the crews quarters.
Evelyn's heart warmed up from the statement "She's a cutey and very brave, seeing her look after Hope when we rescued her...".
"Yeah..." The Engineer agreed and then turned to Evelyn "I'll head back to them and leave you be, remember to call if you need help".
Evelyn smiled and gave a small nod and she watched the Engineer go and before he was out of sight she called to him. "Hey, whats your name?".
The Engineer slowly stopped then looked back at her "My name's Kaiden, thank you Evelyn".
She continued to smile and then turned and headed towards her quarters as Kaiden went to spend time with his daughters, Evelyn continued to walk through the ship for a good few minutes and soon she came to the captain's cabin and entered to see her room quarters was still pretty much tidy as she ever hardly used it.
After checking the area out she then quickly rushed to her bedside looking for anything that can help Jaylah and as she looked for a few minutes she suddenly felt something in her mind, Evelyn felt alot of pressure and she ended up putting her hand on her head as she sat down on her bed.
The pressure was almost agonising as she could feel fear and pain of another, it was the one person she was more connected to then anyone else. "Rey...whats happening to you...".
"You felt it too didnt you" Evelyn's body froze as she heard another familiar voice, the one she never wanted to hear again. Slowly looking up to her front she finally saw someone she once called a brother standing there looking right at her.
"Don't you think you've done enough damage..." Evelyn lowered her head not wanting to look at him.
"What I am doing, is the best for the galaxy" Kylo Ren stated.
Evelyn quickly looked up at him frowned. "The best for the galaxy? What about the millions that died thanks to Starkiller Base? Your father?!, Rey's father!?".
Kylo Ren slowly looked to the side and out the window behind the bed and saw them going through lightspeed. "You dont understand what I am doing, I want peace just as much as you do".
Evelyn lowered her hand while resting her elbows on her thighs while linking her hands together. "Yeah...some peace you envisioned, killing innocents...your family".
Kylo Ren then looked back at Evelyn and she was still sitting on her bed just looking down at her hands and after a few moments he slowly moved to the bed and slowly sat down keeping space between him and Evelyn. "How is she?".
Evelyn slowly looked up frowning and then looked to her side at Kylo Ren. "Are you serious?...your gonna ask me how your mother is doing after you killed your father? your uncle?! her brother!?". She said with disgust.
"You must understand I didnt kill my father out of hate" Kylo Ren simply stated as he continued to look at his front.
"No, you did it for power...look where that got you". Evelyn sighed in frustration and got up walking a few steps while crossing her arms and it was an awkward silence between them.
"The damage you have done to your family...to Rey...Han...Leia, me...you were like a brother to me Ben. I loved you.." Evelyn refused to look at him.
"I never forgot the time we shared Evelyn, playing in the snow on Yavin 4. Looking at the stars together, I still remember reading you bedtime stories" Kylo Ren revealed and Evelyn's eyes watered as she took a deep breath remembering her childhood memories with Ben.
"They were happier times...until my time came to become what I was always meant to me, the one who will restore peace no matter the cost" Kylo Ren then looked up at Evelyn as he stayed sat on the bed and soon she turned around looking down at him.
"That wasnt a path you had to take...you chose your own selfish gain over your family, do you have any idea how many times I asked...begged Han and Leia to go visit you at your new home...they told me you went to live somewhere else to live a peaceful life.." Evelyn shed a tear and it ran down her cheek as Kylo Ren just looked at her.
"Everyday of my childhood, my years as a teenager I prayed I would see you again..waited for you to come visit. But you never did...because what you became was something I never thought you would be, a monster"
"I did want to see you again, but my mission..at this scale. Is too important and nothing will stop me from achieving it" Kylo Ren calmly spoke.
Evelyn began to frown as she removed her tear from her cheek as she looked down at him "We will stop you...".
Kylo Ren slowly stood up and came close to Evelyn and she looked up at him with their eyes not leaving the other, something inside Evelyn wanted to believe the person she saw as a brother was still in there but now she knew it was impossible.
"You will try, but I dont think you will be able to kill me. You had your chance to on Yavin 4 but you held back your true power, if you couldnt do it the first time what makes you think you will do it the next time we meet" Kylo Ren just looked deep into her eyes.
Evelyn had no words and soon she slowly walked back to the bed and slowly sat down it as Kylo Ren turned around and looked at her as she lowered her head. "If it comes down to it, if there is no other way...I will do everything in my power to bring you down. Even if it means killing you".
The room fell silent for a few seconds and soon Kylo Ren spoke. "If we meet again, if you try to stop me...I will kill you".
"I know...I met your Knights Of Ren" She then looked up at him. "I was not impressed, even Ranza Ren was useless".
Kylo Ren smirked "I taught her to know her enemies tactics and understand their power, once they know their enemy that's when they hold nothing back".
"So that was a test huh, guess I will be meeting them again then" Evelyn mocked.
"Never underestimate your opponent, thats what the Jedi follow" Kylo Ren stated.
Evelyn then got back up and approached him and the two looked right into each others eyes once again.
"I never underestimate anyone, if they want to face me again then I welcome it. I dont underestimate you either. I will face each and every one of you" Evelyn stated.
"Even Rey? If you turned to the Dark Side?" Kylo Ren questioned.
Evelyn took a deep breath as the thought of Rey turning crushed her "I wont let her turn, I will not allow another Skywalker to fall".
"Hm, guess my cousin is lucky to have you" Kylo Ren gave a small smile.
Evelyn slowly shook her head not taking her eyes off him. "I'm lucky to have her...but you, you lost everything".
"Not everything...not yet. All part the plan, THE plan. Everything, is about to change" Kylo Ren then slowly turned away from her.
"Just tell me one thing, do you have regret?" Evelyn asked as she lowered her head and Kylo looked to his side with his eyes looking back at her.
"Do you regret the time we spent together" Evelyn whispered not looking at him, Kylo slowly turned around and approached her until he was at arms length. "No, I dont".
Evelyn then looked up at him as he spoke on. "I still hold those memories, but I cant throw away everything I have built. Not for my family, not even for you".
The moment fell silent as the two looked at each other which seemed to last for eternity. "Then the brother I loved is truly dead...".
"We all have our own paths...just like you have chosen yours, we'll see each other again. Until then, I'll be waiting" Soon Kylo Ren vanished out of sight and Evelyn just stood there looking at where Kylo once stood, all she could do was close her eyes and allow a single tear to fall down her cheek.
Despite how much she hated Kylo Ren, deep down she missed the boy who became her big brother all those years ago.
"The Tempest is on its final flight to Moraband, Jaylah is severely, will she survive?. Evelyn deep down misses her 'brother' and Kylo Ren reveals he doesn't regret the moments they had but cannot abandon what he has built. Not even for family.