Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. Just writing fan fiction for fun.
Chapter Twenty-Six: Rise
1 Year Later…
Dark. Barren. Rocky. Desert flats.
Deep into the dust, surrounded by the constant strikes of lightning, and covered in the planet's dark rusty atmosphere that had an air of electricity around it didn't bother her.
She was used to it.
She was used to picking at the electrically charged dust particles off of her black cloak that concealed her and protected her from the outside forces of the planet Exegol.
She melted into it.
Day after day, month after month, Exegol had become home.
The heavy swing of iron gates creaked open, making her head pop up from the safe confinements of her folded, and huddled knees, sitting in a corner of her cell.
Two workers from the planet came to grab her out of her cell and pull her roughly outside and drag her to an adjacent room, where she could hear the tinkering of metal scraping against metal. She could see sparks fly into the darkness around her with heavy machinery that made this place all the more mysterious in her eyes.
It was only a reminder of how foolish she'd been. She knew it now as they took her towards an empty curved chair, tall and looming with ominous vibes that settled roughly inside of her heart.
From what she learned about the planet is that it was Sith driven. For years, it'd been their hiding place, concealed within the Dark Side. No one could find it. And her father had been searching for it for years. It was a miracle she found it. Was it a miracle, or a very foolish hunch that had been brought upon false pretenses? Nevertheless, she was here. A place where the Sith used to have meetings and hold rituals. It made her shiver to even think about what things could've happened here. Galactic historians couldn't even trace it on their radar. But the voice in her head told her exactly where to go and who would be here on this planet, but when she got here, she found nothing but dust.
"Elle Skywalker."
Lightning flashed around her, followed by a dark rolling thunder. The light made it easier to see what kind of equipment was around her. She glanced around her, noticing the cylinders filled with a golden kind of liquid inside of them had mauled bodies inside. She shivered.
Or so she thought.
She knew that voice. A chill swept over her.
"Emperor Palpatine," she said, trying to find her voice within the thickness of her throat closed up from utter silence.
The two workers dropped her forward, and she landed on her knees. She grimaced, feeling weak. Though she was fed, it was mostly slop, and it was just a portion a day. Her muscles were weak, and she was so tired, so, so tired, and exhausted.
"I know you've been searching for me, my dear girl, so I thought I'd do you a favor, and give you a little push," he said as his contraption that he was hooked and wired to came towards her. She looked up at him, daringly, as she feared that crackling voice her whole life. Ever since she's heard the stories, she's been afraid.
Elle closed her eyes. She didn't even know that he existed. From the stories she was told, he was dead, killed by her grandfather. She thought someone else was here instead. "Ben was never on this planet, was he?"
"I'm afraid not, but he is close," he added. "I lured you here because of your expertise."
"My expertise?" Elle whispered.
There was a pause between them as Palpatine's blue eyes danced upon Elle's figure before him as though he studied and scrutinized her, searching for any use of her he could pick at.
"You are so much like your mother, it is uncanny," he said fondly.
Another shiver swept over Elle's body. She looked up at him, feeling her heart beat slowly against her chest as it heaved up and down with feelings swirling inside of her.
A worker suddenly brought over a weapon to Palpatine. He held the hilt of a light saber in his hand.
He pressed the button, and a green light ignited in front of her. She widened her eyes, glaringly at him.
"I know you want this, and that you want to strike me down with it for keeping you hidden away from your friends and your family for so long," he said, tilting the saber sideways, observing the light in his eyes.
"It belonged to your mother after all," he added tauntingly.
Elle glared at him.
"It was I who ordered the hit on her," he smiled evilly.
Elle didn't even hesitate. She let out a grunted cry and went after him, but he struck her with his electric lightning power that sparked out of his finger tips, forcing her back down on her knees, and making her cry out to the heavens above.
"I can offer you so much more, my dear young Skywalker," he said, stopping the lightning that fizzled and wrapped around her like tiny ropes chocking her in pain and agony wrecked around her that made her curl up into a ball, trying to fight it.
"We need a spy in the resistance. I fear the light growing stronger. I thought perhaps you would be perfect."
Elle breathed out and gasped out of breath, as she looked at him irately. She gave him the most deathly glare she could muster.
"You think I'll work for you after what you did to me?" Elle whispered in shock.
He simply smiled, knowing what she truly desired. "I can bring your mother back."
"And my father?" she asked, blinking, wondering of the possibilities. She wondered how he was still alive after all this time. What Forces did he know that they didn't?
"Join me, and it will be done," he promised.
Elle looked down, almost considering it. She'd missed her father so much. She'd love to bring her mother back too, and get to know her. Stories could only capture so much, and Leia had told her quite a few of them about Mara's covert undercover missions. She liked those the best, proving that her mom was amazing and strong. She loved her parents. She would do anything to make them proud of her, anything, but joining the emperor and his order.
She looked up at him, and smirked. "No."
"So be it," he said and struck her with lightning, making her cry out as it pinched, prodded, and pinged her skin, practically suffocating her. She closed her eyes tightly, fighting through the pain, fighting to get through this electric and torturous hold on her.
Stay strong, Elle, stay strong…
As she heard her own cries out in the darkness, she listened to her past cries...
~*TROS*~
Meanwhile...
Millennium Falcon/Sinta Glacier Colony
"He can't beat us every time," Poe said, trying to figure him out, while they waited for his next move.
"And yet he does," Finn added, thinking how Elle would've just said to let the Wookie win.
"He's cheating," Poe said to Finn.
Finn nodded. "Definitely."
"I'm kidding!" Poe cried after Chewie yelled at him. "You're 250 years old," Poe exclaimed to Chewie. "Of course your better than us," the pilot looked intently to the game of dejirk in front of them while they were flying on autopilot through hyperspace.
"Elle knows I don't cheat, why can't you be like her and be more understanding?" Chewie said.
"Because she's not here, Chewie! Alright?!" He yelled at him, making Finn look at him with wide eyes as well. Since when had they gone to that conclusion? They've held out hope for Elle this long, they could still hold on.
"She's not here. She's not ever coming back! I need you to understand that, pal," Poe said softly when he saw the hurt look on his friend's face. "Elle is…" he swallowed hard. He didn't want to think about it, but they hadn't heard a damn thing from her. "She's dead, Chew," he whispered.
Finn glanced slightly at him, sensing the tension rising again, sensing Poe's anger within him that had been buried for so long.
Finn suggested only playing this game after noticing Poe's mind go astray during the mission. He knew the poor guy was dealing with a lot, especially with Elle missing.
It took every ounce of Poe to go with him on this mission. It was the only source of good news the resistance had in a very long time.
Then the alarms of the Falcon started going off, and everyone looked up, letting them know that they were almost there to the Glacier system.
Chewie mumbled a bit and pointed at it, alerting them that he was going to check it out.
"Don't worry! We're not going to turn it off," Finn informed.
"He's cheating," Finn said to Poe after Chewie wasn't in earshot.
"Definitely," Poe agreed, and turned off the game to go help him.
"Klaud, really hope you fixed that surge," Poe said, walking through the Falcon, passing by the creature as he mumbled to the pilot in response.
It didn't take long for anyone to realize where the resistance was. They'd found themselves on a very important mission that landed them on the Sinta Glacier Colony. They were obtaining data information to send to Leia.
The familiar sound of TIE-fighters couldn't be farther from the truth of how almost screwed they were. Poe's eyes were wide, and his anxiety was nigh high. There must've been a dozen of them coming their way through the thick icy tunnel.
He checked the controls. These guys were tailing them.
"Finn! We're about to be cooked!" he yelled back at his partner.
Finn rushed to the front of the cockpit, "We're almost there!"
The download on R2's unit was finally complete. Finn took out the device. "Poe! We got it!"
He looked down at the creature named Klaud, a resistance technician who was able to help them.
"How do we thank you?"
"Win the war!" he exclaimed, and Finn closed the hatch shut.
Poe pulled the lever and flew off in the other direction as fast as he could, getting away from the TIE-fighter's restless lasers. He nearly bumped into the icy wall, making Chewie roar at him.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I know!" Poe said anxiously as he cringed, trying to maneuver the Falcon out of harm's way.
Finn got into the fighter pit, strapped on, and put his headset on so he could communicate with Poe, while trying to take out the TIE-fighters. Finn started firing back but the alarms on the Falcon were going off, warning them of their enemies.
"Finn! You're supposed to be getting rid of these things!" Poe cried out to him.
Finn aimed at one, and shot at it. It twirled in the air and knocked into the wall, crashing into pieces and fire engulfing it whole.
"Ooh! I got one!"
"How many are left?" Poe asked.
"Too many!"
Poe reached for the side control panel, but Chewie started rambling at him and pointing to what was ahead of them, and how they could get rid of their enemies.
"What?" he asked, struggling to hear him.
Chewie pointed at it again.
Poe grinned. "Good thinking, Chewie," he pressed a finger to the side of his headset. "Hey Finn! We can boulder these TIES!"
"I was just thinking that," Finn said, getting the cannons ready again.
He aimed at the metal beams ahead, dropping them with fire. The beams fell and landed on top of the TIE fighters that caused them to crash into pieces, getting rid of a few squadron. More seemed to be after them though as Poe tried his best to get out of the icy glacier system. The Falcon stooped low, halting for a bit, and Poe scrambled to get the compressor running again.
"Yeah, well Rey's not here now is she!?" he said to the Wookie.
He paused when an idea hit him, glancing at the dead end they'd found themselves in.
"How thick do you think that ice wall is?" he asked, looking up at him.
Chewie gave him a crazy look. He was crazier than Han! Poe prepared for light speed, hitting every control button on the panel and pulled the lever. He got the Falcon back up in the air and punched it forward, maybe the last ever, but flew through the wall, light speed ahead, full power. TIE-fighters still followed him until he light-speed jumped through different systems until they got away, loosing their tail.
~*TROS*~
Ajan Kloss
"Be with me, be with me, be with me," Rey closed her eyes, deep within her meditation state. She was levitating in the air with rocks floating all around her.
And she wasn't alone. BB-8 and a couple of little younglings were watching the new Jedi in awe.
"Ugh. They're not with me," she exclaimed, and floated in a somersault back down to her feet. The rocks dropped gently on the ground with her, and she walked over to Leia and the two younglings with her.
"But you two are, aren't you?" she asked happily at them, forcing a smile on her face and kneeled down in front of them to hug them as they ran towards her for a hug. She smiled, hugging them both. She picked up the girl, while Leia picked up the boy.
"Rey be patient," Leia said.
"I'm starting to think it's not possible," she said, letting herself back up to face her. "To hear the Jedi came before."
"Nothing's impossible," Leia said.
"Nothing's impossible," Rey repeated with a small confused smile on her face. "Like these two kiddo's," she tickled them, making them laugh. She handed Leia the little one on the other side of her hip. "I'm going to run the training course," she said.
Leia nodded and let out a sigh as she took her walking stick, and took the saber from Leia as she held it out to her with the help of a young Skywalker in her arms.
They watched her run the training course that afternoon with BB-8 right in toe.
"Come on you two, I think it's time for lunch," she said, pivoting on her heels to head back to the small makeshift base.
~*TROS*~
By the time the Falcon had landed in the jungle planet, fire and smoke were clear in the crystal blue skies above them all thanks to a certain lightspeed jumping they'd just endured. Chewie, Poe, and Finn started to come out of it, as the ramp lowered on the ground. At least they were able to get home and get to safety before the Falcon completely blew to pieces.
"Yeah. It's uh, it's on fire! The whole thing's on fire! All of it. It's on fire," Poe cried out to the resistance crew.
"Ugh, that was too close," Poe mumbled catching up with Finn.
"That's for sure," Finn agreed. "Let's not do that again."
"Yeah," he said, nodding, trudging through the jungle as everyone in the resistance raced to help kill the fire. "Now, where are my angels?"
"Dadda! Daddy!"
"Luca! Kaylee! Oh my angels, I missed you," Poe cried happily as he knelt down, arms wide open as his little ones raced through the jungle, tearing away from Rey's arms as she let them run over to him. They ran all the way into their father's arms and he hugged them tight, all smiles on his face covered in grease and grime.
He pulled apart at arm's length and gave them a once over. He could see it on their faces. They were worried about her too. What did he tell them?
"Momma?" Luca asked patiently, peeking over his father's shoulder in hopes that he brought her home.
Poe shook his head. "I'm sorry bumble-bee. I'm really sorry." It was Kaylee who surprised him to give him a comforting hug.
Finn grinned at their reunion, but then a little bit as Rey and BB-8 made their way over towards them.
"Hey, what's with him?" Rey asked Finn. "Bad mood?"
"Always," Finn rolled his eyes at her.
"So, there's a spy?" she asked, looking down on him. Poe looked up from observing his kids, at least knowing they were okay and safe. Poe got up slowly, and motioned for them to run to Finn. They glanced at one another and beamed widely, running over to him.
"Uncle Finn!" they cried in unison, making Finn chuckle.
Poe stood up on his feet, and placed his hands over his hips. "Really could've used your help back there."
"How'd it go?" she asked.
"Really bad, actually. Really bad."
"You know what you are? You're a really difficult man," Rey continued as she shook her head in shock at him.
"And you're…you're a…" he fought for the right words to say.
"What happened with the spy?" she asked.
He wrinkled his nose in disgust and shook his head.
"Ugh," she exclaimed. "Well, any news on Elle?"
Poe glared at her. "We've been over this, Rey. She's gone, all right? And she's never coming back! Hell, I told her not to go on a stupid goose chase for some phantom Sith that may or may not exist!"
"She had to try and find out, Poe," Rey said.
"And look where that got her! Killed. Kylo Ren probably got to her and he probably killed her!" he yelled.
"We don't know that, Poe, we don't," she said, trying to calm him down. She chewed her bottom lip guilty. Poe didn't know the whole truth of why Elle risked her life to go out there. "Poe…listen, there's something you don't know."
Poe gave her a death glare, placing his hands over his hips. "What?" he snapped, gritting his teeth together.
"She thought she heard Ben out there. She wanted to go check it out for me. She went out there for me, Poe. She was killing two birds with one stone, or…"
"Or got herself caught and killed," Poe glared at her and shook his head. "Unbelievable."
"Poe, she's not dead," she tried to tell him again.
"Yeah? How the hell do you know? We haven't heard from her and she's not on our radar!" Poe said, thinking the worst. She probably went too far out, when he'd asked her to stay close.
Rey winced. "I just…I can't explain it, I feel it. And, if you calmed down, you might be able to feel it too."
"Well, I haven't done much of that lately now have I?" he glared at her.
Rey winced a bit guiltily. She looked over at the Falcon for a minute, suddenly when Chewie caught her attention.
She turned the conversation now to the Falcon. "What do you mean you lightspeed skipped?!"
"Yeah, well, it got us back here," he stated.
"Poe!" she said after Chewie told her more news about the broken Falcon. "The compressor's down."
"Oh, I know! I was there!" he yelled back at her.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Bad news, that's what happened," he said.
"Hmm, let's just go find, your Great Aunt Leia, hmm?" Finn asked the twins as they nodded, worried about their father and Rey in the middle of a fight again. Finn spotted Rose. "Oh, hey Rose. Can you take them to Leia?"
Rose grinned as she walked by. "Say no more, I'm on it," she said, and swooped them up into her arms, and walked back over to Leia at the base tent nearby. Finn nodded his thanks to her.
"No, spy?" Rey questioned.
"No spy," Poe said indefinitely that there was a spy.
"There's a mole inside the First Order and they sent us a message," Finn said, joining in the conversation as he walked over and stepped next to them.
BB-8 chimed in a beep, making Poe look down at him, and then at Rey irately. "You dropped a tree on him?"
"You lightspeed skipped," she reminded him. "Look, you know I wanted to be out there!"
Poe rolled his eyes. "But you're not! You're here, and training for what?" he asked.
"With Elle gone, you're the best fighter we have. We need you out there, not here…" he added, throat constricting tightly at the thought of Elle not being here as well.
He stormed off, shaking his head, heading back to the makeshift tent to be with his kids. BB-8 followed after him.
"He blames himself," Finn said in regarding to loosing Elle.
Rey's eyes danced around when he said that and she looked at him then at the retreating Poe, walking through the jungle. "I told him it was my fault."
"It's never anyone's fault but his. He just wants her back. We all do," Finn said.
Rey nodded. "I know," she sighed. "So do I. And she will. She'll be back."
"How do you know this time?" Finn asked.
"A feeling," she replied, giving him a small smile. Finn stared at her, hoping that she was right.
~*TROS*~
A/n: Oh my…so I've had this particular scene in my head for a long time, which literally what prompted me to write the story in the first place. Anyway, hope you guys liked! Also, I'm really sorry if I got any of the dialogue wrong. I can't find a transcript anywhere, and the movie should be out soon, so I'm trying my best through memory, since I'd seen it three times, Wookipedia, and all that jazz. Will probably go back and edit what I missed. Anyway, thank you all so much for following, favoriting, and reviewing, especially the recents! More updates soon!
