Author's Note: Update! Enjoy!

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"War is a slippery slope

What would you do?

Becomes

What will you do?

Becomes

My god, what have you done?"

-Jaysroy

Rey

So now what?

Great question, wish I had an answer to go along with it. I'm about to make my jump into the Unknown Region and the Resistance has no idea the path I'm going to make for them.

I'm in a stolen TIE and whatever communication I send will undoubtedly alert the First Order.

"Damn could this get anymore complicated?"

If only there was a way I could...

I stare at the wayfinder and smack my palm on my forehead.

"I'm an idiot. Of course there's a way!"

I don't even need to broadcast. I can leave markers throughout the jump and the Resistance can follow my trail without having to worry about getting lost.

That still leaves the issue of being in a stolen TIE. I can't dither here at the border for too long.

Someone from the First Order is bound to see me and I don't want them knowing Ben isn't the one in control.

No choice, I'm going to have to make the jump and pray the Resistance will take the risk of following behind.

"Come on Poe," I mutter as I set up navigational for the jump, "don't let me down. Be the reckless idiot I know so well."

If it meant taking out the First Order I know Poe would walk through hell barefoot and probably do a little dance for the fun of it. I hope he can convince the others to do the same.

Static over the comm and I halt preparations. My skin chills and the hairs on the back of my end stand on end as dread cramps my stomach.

Something bad is about to happen I can sense it.

My premonition is answered seconds later when a sinister voice crawls into my cockpit speaking a strange language I shouldn't be able to understand but do.

"Your Resistance cannot stand against us. The Sith are eternal and will rule for a thousand years and more. All worlds surrender or be destroyed. The Final Order begins now."

The message is repeated several more times but I'm no longer listening. I know who's speaking, in fact I'd be surprised if there isn't anyone who doesn't know his voice.

Emperor Palpatine.

Making certain every soul in the galaxy knows he's alive and waging this war. He will feed into their fear and destroy any hope they have of being free.

We're out of time. It's now or never.

I flip the switch as the hyperdrive comes alive and tap coordinates for Exegol.

It was time to hunt the nightmare who destroyed my childhood.

Ben I wish you were here.

Maybe I wouldn't feel so terrified about facing Palpatine if he was with me.

A faint whisper along the bond, nothing more than a ghost of a feeling but my heart pounds a frantic beat against my ribs.

We're still connected.

I reach over and touch the leather cuff on my arm, the one Ben bought me so long ago.

A dream of a different life.

I close my eyes and send a whisper through the Force praying it will reach him.

Time to go my love. Maybe fate will be kinder to us in our next life. Don't forget me.

I punch the power and dive straight into the Unknown Region.

"Damn Ben, you could have warned me!"

I dodge another gravity well and follow the steady light of the wayfinder. A small, red dot in the middle of pulsating green.

Magnetic fields, dark matter and gravity wells. I've been jumping and dodging them as they appear in my path and if not for the wayfinder I am certain I would have died a thousand times over.

I wipe sweat from my brow and readjust my course.

I've seeded markers all along my course and pray the Resistance is paying attention to the trail of breadcrumbs I'm leaving behind.

I can't believe Ben made this jump twice.

"Whoa!"

Dark matter in my view and I swerve a sharp right.

Left, right, right again, another gravity well and I climb higher. The light in the wayfinder grows brighter.

I'm nearly there.

I drop out of lightspeed and cold sweat dries against my spine as a planet cloaked in darkness simple appears out of the void.

Scattered lighting across the surface as I make my approach. I pray my sensors don't get fried.

Fear crawls up my throat as I ghost through the atmosphere and see what has been hidden from the eyes of the galaxy.

Thousand upon thousands of Star Destroyers.

Enough to take out every system in the galaxy. No world, no matter how far away, would be spared if this fleet left Exegol.

"Oh gods..."

The task before me seems impossible. Even if I take out Palpatine what chance do our fighters have against an armada?

I don't turn back. I've come too far and I won't run away anymore.

I have to trust my friends. They will have a plan on how to destroy Palpatine' fleet.

I glide through the Destroyers towards the surface where a black behemoth looms out of the darkness.

"What is-"

A memory surfaces and it's not mine. This is Ben's from when I merged with him.

The entrance to the Sith Citadel.

Ben passed through here in order to find Palpatine.

I land the TIE close to the edge, lightning strikes flashing around me and I flinch when one comes far too close to the TIE.

I study the pattern and realize they're not random at all. Something or someone is controlling them.

My hands are shaking as I shut down the craft.

"Steady Rey," I press them together and take a gulping breath, "you can do this."

I can taste your fear...feel your despair...come to me and I will take it all away and give you power...

Nausea churning in my gut as malicious words pour into my mind. I feel as if I'm trapped in childhood nightmares, too scared of the dark to sleep, praying for the sun to come back.

Memories of my terror-filled days on Jakku fuel my anger and erode my fear.

I snap open the hatch and jump down to the surface, igniting my saber. The blue glow pushes back the writhing darkness even as lightning dances around me.

It crawls over the surface, a treacherous path to the entrance.

A warning.

No, not a warning. A test. To see if I'm worthy.

I close my eyes, willing my anger to subside. This is what Palpatine wants from me. To give into my anger so he can manipulate me.

I breathe out and whisper a name on the breeze.

"Ben."

His name my talisman, I hold it close to my heart.

Again memories not my own surface of this place.

...lightning trying to impede my steps but it is child's play to turn it away...

Both my anger and returning fear subside as his knowledge gives me strength.

I walk towards the entrance using the Force to bend the lightning away. No matter where it crashes it cannot touch me.

Even when we're apart he's helping me.

"Thank you Ben."

I've gained the entrance and see the platform that will take me to the sub level where I can feel his malignant presence growing stronger.

It was time to face my enemy.

Good...come child...

"As if I need your urging. Shut up already."

I step onto the platform and hear the clank of chains as it groans, coming to life.

I descend into the bowels of hell.

The glow of my saber shatters the gloom and I watch, revolted, as shadows writhe obscenely in the distance.

My skin prickles as the platform comes to a shuddering halt. A sound almost like chanting hangs in the air.

I don't understand the words but I wish I could block them out, I feel tainted just hearing them.

A sense of violence, a lust for power. Vicious delight and cruel pleasure in the suffering of others.

I hear all of it in the chanting and I want it to stop.

But it continues heedless of my will and I grit my teeth and endure. I walk the path as lighting continues to shatter the air and shadows dance before me.

I swallow hard and remember what happened a year ago.

When I had been dragged into this screaming nightmare with Ben.

It was only because of him I escaped.

Ben, I clench my fist and whisper his name in my mind, trying to quell the fear tightening my throat.

I can feel Palpatine's presence. He's waiting for me.

Watching me from somewhere in this place.

The chanting grows louder, filling my mind and drowning out Ben's name.

Fear strangles my breath as I continue to move forward.

This place is evil. I can taste it in the back of my throat, acrid and choking.

The shadows sway and part and my narrow path opens up into a cavern.

A pulse of power beneath my skin and I turn, drawn to a sight in the distance and my feet move of their own volition.

A cruel and terrifying edifice made of obsidian shards shaped like a seat with sharp, dagger spikes towering from behind.

The sound of my ragged breathing echoes loudly and I know what I'm looking at.

...dark, hungry eyes devouring me as he sits on a throne of darkness, his hand reaching for mine...

"My Empress."

This is the Sith throne from our shared vision. I can feel power flowing from it, dark and seductive and I tremble.

If things had played out differently, if I had joined Ben instead of turning him from the dark side, I might have come here with him to sit on the throne.

I turn away, disturbed by the realization.

The shadows scatter from the blazing light of my saber and I swallow back a scream. What I thought was a shadow is actually a body hanging in the air, cloaked in darkness.

"So you have finally come home, dear child. How long I have waited for this day."

My skin crawls from the evil permeating his words. I gag on the stench of rotting flesh and force my response through clenched teeth.

"This is not my home."

...his mouth pressed against mine, desperate and ravenous...I stare into aching, drowning obsidian pleading with me to stay...

I left my home far behind me.

He turns towards me and I realize he's not actually floating but attached to some sort of apparatus.

The stench of miasma is overwhelming and I step back.

He moves closer and the muted light reveals him for what he truly is and I can't hold back my revulsion.

I cover my mouth before I can scream or throw up.

He is no longer human if he ever was.

His body is moldering beneath the heavy, black robes trying in vain to conceal the stench of rotting flesh.

Against mangled skin are sunken eyes with neither iris nor pupil, only filmed over white.

Blinded yet he stares unwavering in my direction.

The Force is strong within him and I gasp at his power.

The Jedi Temple on Emphameira, Luke's island and even Ben's meditation hall was filled with a benign power whispering of balance and tempered strength.

There is nothing gentle or balanced here.

This energy is sharp and cutting, pressing against my skin, my mind. Trying to invade rather than guide me.

Terrifying and vicious. This is the true power of the dark side.

I swallow hard as my saber trembles and shadows dance in frenzy before the wavering light.

"Yes child you sense it. Your destiny. Your birthright."

Cruel, malicious laughter as the 'arm' he is attached to moves ever closer and I stumble back, fear blanketing my mind.

"Put down your weapon. You are home," he offers me a clawed, wrinkled hand, "and it's time to take your rightful place."

I shake my head and continue to back away but I know it's futile. There is nowhere for me to run.

"I have come here to stop you."

My words lack resolve as I suffocate beneath the weight of his power.

I hear something from above, like the sound of thunder rolling through the air but it's distant and my head feels achy.

What could it be? Is it the lightning?

"Empty words. You alone cannot stop me."

The emperor's raspy voice cutting through the distraction and I turn my attention back to him.

His eyes close and a look of salacious pleasure crosses his decaying flesh and I am sickened by the sight.

He must have sensed my disgust because his dead eyes snap open and pointed, yellow teeth protrude from withered lips.

A macabre parody of a smile.

I've seen that smile in my nightmares and it left me screaming until my voice disappeared.

Terror claws at my mind and I've gone past the point of fear.

Numb horror has settled into my bones as I gaze up at my death.

Ben...oh Ben...

I was wrong. I'm not strong enough to face him on my own. I thought I could but this is impossible.

A flicker in my soul, a sense of urgency in my blood and for a fraction of a second I don't feel alone.

The terrible pressure around my mind lifts and my thoughts clear.

I look up at Palpatine and no longer see the monster in the dark but a decayed, rotting corpse that should have died long ago.

His smile vanishes and with it my overwhelming sense of defeat.

Tricks.

He used mind tricks on me and like a damn idiot I dropped my guard and let him.

I bring my saber up in defense as anger sparks deep inside.

"Get out of my head!"

"You are stronger than I imagined. Good, very good."

Anger blazing in my veins at his violation I lift my saber to cut him down.

"You know nothing about me!"

He lifts his hand and black lighting erupts from his fingertips.

Pain!

I think I scream as it slams into me but I can't tell. All of my nerves are on fire as I am thrown back and hit the ground hard.

I choke on dust and grit, something hot and wet seeping down my face.

"It is not yet time for you to kill me. Learn your place my young apprentice."

I spit blood and gravel out from between my torn lip and call my saber back to my hand.

I get back on my feet, my head reeling.

Rey! Hold on!

I snap my head around, my vision blurring as I swear I hear Ben calling for me.

But the cavern is empty except for Palpatine and myself.

I am alone.

Just like always.

No one knows I'm here and no one is coming from me.

It's a trick. Just another trick trying to give me false hope.

I bare my teeth at the madman and scrub the blood from my eyes.

"I will never be your apprentice! I am a Jedi and I will destroy you!"

"Yes," his pointed smile is back and I refuse to cower before it any longer, "give into your hate. Let it fill you, consume you. Your rage gives you great power."

His voice fill my mind and I do hate him. A red haze over my eyes as I slide closer to him.

I hate how he took my parents from me, stealing my childhood and forcing me to survive the burning wastes of Jakku.

Don't listen to him Rey.

The scent of ice in my head, a kiss of cool starlight in my soul. I blink as the red haze recedes.

Ben?

I shake my head and the sensation is gone.

Palpatine is speaking, trying to goad me into attacking but I'm done listening.

Ben's touch reminded me of why I came here, what I'm fighting for.

I lower my saber and stare at the emperor.

I no longer fear him, instead I pity him.

He is a creature of hate and anger, what could he possibly know of love? Someone who has never known love is to be pitied.

"No. I won't give into hate. That is the path you chose and I won't be like you."

He snarls at me and lifts his hand, lightning streaking from his blackened fingertips.

I lift my saber in defense but it's not use and I scream as his power crawls over my skin and once more I'm thrown off my feet.

The wind knocked out of me and I gasp as fire lances through my lungs.

I stare up at the dark ceiling and wonder if I'm about to die.

"Foolish girl you think to defy me! Let me show you the price of your feeble defiance."

A sound of screaming metal and the ground beneath my body shakes and I wonder if some kind of earthquake is taking place.

Ashe and dust rain down on my face and I realize it's not an earthquake.

The ceiling is splitting open.

I choke as a scene of devastation unfolds before my eyes.

The Resistance is here trying to fight off the Sith armada.

But they are only a handful of X and Y Wings and I watch as they fall from the sky, one by one.

My friends, my family, dying because of my weakness.

Because I'm not strong enough to defeat Palpatine.

Never!

I call my saber to my hand roll onto my feet, my bones aching.

"Stop it! Don't kill them!"

I rush back to Palpatine and he sweeps his hand in a lazy gesture. My body jerks and I can't move.

"Your defiance is futile. My armada will kill them all and you will watch their destruction."

"N-no! Let them live!"

I can speak but I feel as if I'm fighting against a current. It's taking everything I have not to drop my saber.

He turns his white gaze from the battle back to me and I see withered lips curve up as yellow teeth show through clearly.

"You wish to save them? There is only one way."

"H-how?"

"By taking your rightful place Empress Palpatine. Sit upon the Sith throne and the armada is yours to command."

I close my eyes as despair washes over me.

I never wanted to rule and I never wanted to be a Palpatine.

But now it's the only way to save my friends.

"I-"

Painfully I move my head, muscles burning as I look up into the crimson drenched sky. Two more ships fall like fiery comets and their deaths are on me.

Tears leak out of my eyes and I realize this is the end.

I can never go back after this.

I lower my head and no longer fight the dark current holding me in place.

"Alright. I'll do it."

"Excellent."

My body freed I drop to the ground, saber rolling from numbs fingers.

I look up at Palpatine from my kneeling position and don't bother to stand.

I came here to hunt monsters and now I'm about to become one.

Ben...

I should have let him kill me.