A/N Ok there are shades of IDEAS from TROS in this chapter but no actual spoilers.
And please don't hate me for the end of this chapter.
Ben is pushing the First Order shuttle into space at full speed as Rey grabs the comm to hail Chewie on the Falcon the second they clear the atmosphere.
"Chewie, come in."
She pauses to listen for a response.
"Chewie, come in. Are you there?"
Ben glances over at Rey and then shakes himself out of their shared panic to focus on flying the shuttle.
"Chewie, Rose, please respond."
Ben listens impatiently with Rey for their friends to answer their hail and then he speaks.
"Try Maz on the castle frequency."
Rey presses some buttons on the comm console and tries again.
"Maz, come in. Are you there?"
The sound of static and the increasing desperation in Rey's voice is leaving a lump in the bottom of Ben's stomach that feels like a burning coal and he looks down to double check that he is pushing the shuttle as fast as it can go.
"Fourteen parsecs to Takodana."
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Ben and Rey agree that in lieu of being covert, they would land the shuttle beside the Falcon, for a faster getaway, should they need it.
Their First Order shuttle hasn't touched the ground yet and Rey is sprinting down the lowered ramp to tuck and roll onto the planet's surface. She uses her momentum to push herself to her feet and is running again at full speed towards the sound of Chewie's bowcaster, south of the castle.
Rey spares a glance for the sight of Rose, crumpled against the wall of the castle, but she doesn't slow her pace.
Ben, Rose is down at the southern entrance of the castle, I heard Chewie's bowcaster go off to the south and I'm heading that way now.
As she tells him this, Rey hears a blaster bolt and Chewie's roar of pain ahead of her. She bursts through the foliage around a landing pad to see Maz crouching down, holding pressure on a wound on the Wookie's chest. Behind them, a light craft is powering up to take off in a hurry.
Maz sees Rey and shouts over the noise, pointing to the ship with her other hand.
"HE HAS HER!"
Rey feels the blood chill in her veins.
She takes a few steps forward and throws her hand towards the ship as it lifts into the air above her. The ship hovers for a few seconds but starts to pull away slowly as Rey grits her teeth and strains against it.
He will not leave with her daughter.
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No, he will not.
And then Ben is there, arm outstretched beside her and he can feel their power melding together with a single goal. The ship lurches to one side and then with excruciating slowness, starts lowering back down to the landing pad.
Ben feels sick and exhausted from all the power he's funnelling but doesn't stop until the ship is touching the pad. Rey moves her hand over to snap the flaps down on the exhaust vent, effectively grounding the ship until the take-off sequence is re-entered. Ben is panting beside her, but he switches hands to crush and bend the metal frame around the vents, holding them closed.
He's not going anywhere.
They both take a collective deep breath and watch as the ramp of the ship lowers.
If he's harmed her in any way, he won't make off this landing pad alive.
At her dark thoughts, Ben looks over at Rey and furrows his brow in surprise at the flashes of lightning crackling around her fingers as she stares at the man walking down the ramp, holding Hanna.
Ben's heart stops at the sight of a blaster in Kane's other hand…
…pointed at Hanna's round, little tummy.