Force Dyad
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A/N-thank you very much to everyone who kindly read and reviewed the last chapter. I am sorry for the delay in posting this one-I've been suffering with a severe case of writer's block with this story.
Thank you all for being patient and sticking with it.
Chapter Sixty-Two-Battle
Ben and Rey locked eyes-a wealth of emotion and unspoken words were exchanged during that brief infinitesimal moment, enough to last several lifetimes-then, they both spun back-to-back, and received their charge.
The Supremacy, a Mega-class Star Dreadnought that served as the flagship of Supreme Leader Snoke and the mobile headquarters of the First Order, loomed large above them. Its colossal wingspan blocked out all light, bringing with it a sense of doom. Because of its role as the First Order's headquarters, not only was the Supremacy able to carry stormtroopers into battle, but it was also capable of harbouring, building, and conducting ship repairs for the First Order Navy in its onboard hangar bays, two of which were large enough to house and repair Resurgent-class Star Destroyers.
Even though he was out of sight within the dreadnought that was disparagingly referred to on occasion by its crew as 'Snoke's Boudoir,' Ben and Rey could feel the dark presence of the Supreme Leader already attempting to infiltrate their minds. For Ben it was an unwelcome reminder of all the mental torture and anguish he had suffered since childhood at Snoke's hands. For Rey it was a first-hand peek into the overwhelming torment that Ben had so courageously endured and fought all his life.
Rey could feel Snoke in her head, his consciousness a live, hungry thing, carefully sifting and sorting through what wasn't his, what he had no right to. Rey desperately tried to erect her mental barriers in place in an effort to conceal her deepest fears from the cruel darksider.
"Stay strong, sweetheart." Ben yelled above the chaos as he they fought valiantly against their enemy. They were so in synch, like two graceful dancers in their movements, trusting one another implicitly.
They were surrounded by too may stormtroopers to count. As soon as they cut one down, another took their place. It was like battling a monster with many heads. The Force hummed around them, growing in strength as their connection united them almost like one being. They were truly stronger together, their athleticism unmatched. Where one ducked to avoid a blaster bolt, the other rose to cut off the head of the unfortunate trooper who had dared fire on them. The light coming from their sabers was their beacon in the darkness, highlighting the gruesome scene of all the fallen bodies of the stormtroopers they had already managed to fell.
From far away they heard Skywalker roar his defiance as he fought his own battle. Ben and Rey tried to move the fight in his direction, but the sheer number of stormtroopers continued to push them back, almost like they were being deliberately herded toward something.
Up above, the whine of the attacking Tie Fighters made their ears reverberate as they continued to blast Ahch-to's surface in a wicked assault. The ancient temple ruins had been completely obliterated. The smell of burning grass burned their nostrils, while the rolling black smoke stung their eyes as they continued to fight for their lives.
A veil of exhaustion covered Rey's eyes the longer the fight went on. She had lost all sense of time and place. Darkness was encroaching. Even in the velvet dark there was the light of the stars, perhaps a promise that even when one yearns for the light of the sun there will be those stars to bring hope of the dawn. It is always the light one craves, for without it what is the world?
But this darkness was different, it was black and impenetrable. Like an ominous void that wanted to suck the very life out of them. Rey heard Ben let out a frustrated yell from somewhere behind her. He called her name, but when she spun around, she found they had been separated. When had that happened?
Rey fell back and dodged a blaster bolt from a storm trooper who had crept up behind her. She cleaved the troopers head from his body and watched wearily as it hit the cold earth. Rey scanned the immediate area for any sign of Ben, a slight sense of relief washing over her when she saw the blue flash of his blade cut through another hapless trooper. She was so caught up in staring at him, that the distraction nearly ended up costing her life.
It was only at the last minute that her ears caught the hum of another bladed weapon. Rey shifted her feet quickly, raising her yellow lightsaber just in time to meet the crackling red blade of another saber that was about to split open her skull. She heard a grunt of annoyance coming from the slim figure cloaked all in black that emerged out of the shadows.
It was Voe.
And she wasn't alone.
Ren and his knights stood with her.
"She's mine." Voe glared at Rey venomously. "I have been waiting a long time for this rematch."
"Our orders were to bring her and Solo straight to the Supreme Leader." Ren's deep voice rumbled from underneath his intimidating helmet.
"He didn't say in what condition." Voe sneered. "You deal with Solo."
"On your head be it." Ren replied indifferently. He signalled to the knights with one hand, they quickly melted back into the shadows after him, leaving Rey and Voe facing one another.
"Feeling a sense of déjà vu?" Voe taunted Rey as she aimed a slash at her knees.
Rey neatly blocked her strike, pushing her weapon away before quickly slashing at Voe's face. The tip of her saber nicked the delicate skin on Voe's cheek, leaving a bloody red slash on her face. That would leave a scar, Rey thought as she saw Voe regard her with a mixture of hatred and newfound respect.
"I see you've grown in strength since we last encountered each other." Voe grinned savagely. "But its still not enough to beat me. You don't know the power of the dark side."
Rey kept quiet, wanting to save her energy, she was already exhausted enough. One mistake could be her last. She fell backward in anticipation of her foe's next strike.
Voe rushed her from the left, her red saber poised to strike. Rey brought her own blade crashing down, creating a shower of red and yellow sparks. She shifted her feet to redistribute her weight, then brought her lightsaber up in a blur, knocking aside a vicious thrust from Voe.
"You won't win. You've been fighting for hours. You're exhausted. Already your movements are becoming slow and sloppy." Voe made another vicious thrust with her saber.
Rey gritted her teeth, opening her mind to the Force, utilising its pure energy to spur her onwards. She extended her fingers, her eyes narrowing as she stopped Voe's blade from reaching her through sheer force of will. The red blade shuddered in place for a moment, before Rey's strength gave out and she released it, but not before she got in a stinging hit of her own on Voe's left shoulder.
"Bitch!" Voe snarled. "You'll pay for that!"
From somewhere nearby, Rey heard Ben's infuriated yell. She heard a clatter of armour as one of the knights of Ren went down, felled by Ben. She wished she could see him, but all that loomed in the tired haze of her vision was Voe's wicked face.
"When you're dead, he'll finally be all mine. Supreme Leader Snoke promised me that Ben Solo would be my prize. Without your stultifying presence getting in the way, he'll become one with the dark just as he was always prophesised to be." Voe taunted her.
Rage, like nothing she'd ever felt in her entire life, ripped through Rey like wildfire. "Ben Solo will never be yours! He's mine. He belongs to me. And I belong to him. Get that into your thick skull. Snoke lied to you, you stupid, stupid girl!"
The ever-shifting web of the Force surrounded Rey as she countered another vicious attack from Voe.
"The Supreme Leader is wise. You are the fool." Voe spat as she brought her lightsaber down hard on Rey's shoulder, slicing through her tunic and drawing blood.
Rey swallowed down her cry of pain. In the distance she heard Ben give another ferocious yell as he impaled another of Ren's knights on his own blade before using the Force to sweep aside another. She tried to raise her voice to call out to him, but it came out as nothing but a weak gasp. It was getting too much-even with the Force. She was tiring. She had been fighting for hours and expended so much energy. She barely dodged a slash to the face from Voe, so close she could smell the ozone.
Rey was breathing hard now. She saw Voe rush toward her. She dodged, but she wasn't as fleet of foot as usual. Voe's blade aimed for her throat, seeking the ultimate price. Her death.
Then out of the gloom strode Luke Skywalker. He carried his shimmering green blade in his hand, his rheumy eyes filled with immense sadness as he looked on his former pupil. "Voe." He whispered throatily. "Stop now."
A strange sound, almost like a child's cry erupted from Voe's throat. She stared at the Jedi master, her whole frame shuddering with the intensity of her emotion. "That's what you never understood, Master Skywalker. I can't ever stop. This is always who I was meant to be."
Wetness coated Skywalker's eyelashes as he continued to look upon her. "I failed you, Voe. I am so sorry. You leave me with no choice."
"AARGH!" Voe screamed at him like a wild thing. Her dark eyes were wild, mad with hatred. She ran toward him, her shimmering red blade poised above her head, ready to strike her former master down.
But she never reached him, a strangulated cry left her lips as she found herself impaled on Rey's lightsaber. Blood pooled out of her mouth and dribbled down her chin as she locked eyes with Rey momentarily, the mad light in them slowly dimming.
Then Rey shut down her weapon and Voe fell unceremoniously to the ground. Dead.
A/N-thanks for reading! Please review.