Surprise! I'm back! I'm so so so so so sorry for having you guys wait months for this chapter. I got so caught up with college stuff and school work that I hardly had any time to finish it. I totally don't blame any of you if you forgot about this, really I don't. Truth be told I had already had quite a bit of this done before I couldn't work on it as much, and knowing that this chapter wasn't complete was killing me. But I somehow managed to get over that roadblock and finally finish it so I hope that it's worth the wait. Anyway, let's get to the reviews from the last chapter.
C.Z.B.- Glad to hear that you like the two becoming closer, it's definitely something that I enjoy writing. Hopefully you're nerves about her squad will be stopped this chapter, guess you'll just have to wait and see what happens to them, I've definitely grown quite attached to them. As for the vision, I can't say much about what I'm planning for it, but the worry you feel is very well placed for it. Hopefully you enjoy the action in this chapter, I certainly did. Thank you, I finished the school year well and I must've picked the best chapters from this story because I got accepted into the school that required the portfolio, yay! It was my first choice and I'm actually going there, so yeah, everything worked out well. Hope that the rest of your school year wasn't as rough, at least it's summer now! Thanks so much for the support and of course the review, it means so much!
TheKyloFanatic- Glad to hear that the wait for the last one was worth it, hopefully the same can be said for this one lol. I love her relationship with the troopers as well, even they need to be shown a little love and Rey is the perfect candidate for the job, plus it puts a smile on my face whenever I write it. You may be on to something with the vision being a bad omen, guess you'll just have to read and find out if it's true. Thank you so much for the wish good luck, working on the portfolio wasn't easy, I had to come up with a lot of new stories on the spot just so I'd have enough. Thanks so much for the review and support, I'm not kidding when I say it means a lot.
Blake2020- Glad to see that you're all caught up and I'm so happy to hear that you like it. It means so much to me that you think my writing is that good, it's a relief to hear that considering that it's what I'll be planning to do the rest of my life. The support is greatly appreciated, it really motivated me to get this done, knowing that you and others like what I write is just so amazing. Thank you so much for the review from the last one and the others from when you were catching up, seeing all of them just made me smile, even the one word ones.
Guest- Whoever you are thank you for your review and I hope that you see this. I apologize for not updating since November, and don't worry I never forgot about this or you guys, I was literally beating myself over the head for not finishing it. Your concern touched my heart and I'm so happy that you're in love with this story, hopefully you'll be able to check in and see this update.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed, it really makes me happy to know that you guys love this so much. And I can't thank all of you enough for all of the support that you've given me. You guys are truly the best and I can't express my love for you guys enough. But enough of all that gushy stuff, you guys want to get to the action, am I right? Well without further ado, let's get started.
Chapter 38
Kylo's command shuttle was the first to leave the hangar with seven ships right behind him. All loaded with weapons, troopers, and supplies. They made the jump to lightspeed and it was only a matter of time before they would arrive at their destination. Rey had finished a conversation with Austin on her comm link when she saw Kylo get up from his seat. She watched him go into the back of the ship, intrigued she followed him.
Not wanting to make her presence known, she didn't go too close to him and hid behind a crate. She watched him sit down on the floor and put his hands up to his helmet. He didn't remove the bucket on his head, instead he kept hitting his hands on it. Something was clearly bothering him for him to be acting this way.
Rey closed her eyes and tried to feel his thoughts with their connection. She tried to push through his mind to try and find an answer, but all she found was his barrier surrounding all of his thoughts. She focused all of her strength on breaking the barrier, but it was too strong. Whatever he was hiding must be pretty bad if he was keeping it this well protected.
Rey decided that it was hopeless and left the connection. But as she did that she heard the all too familiar mechanical voice of Kylo. "I know you're there Rey. Come out." Rey cursed under her breath, she always forgot that he could tell when she was using their connection. She came out of her hiding place and went to stand in front of Kylo. He didn't waste any time with questioning her. "Why did you follow me?"
"Because I thought there was something wrong. You just got up and walked away."
"Everything's fine."
"Clearly it's not if you're banging your hands against your helmet. You even had a barrier up and I couldn't read your thoughts. What's going on?"
"Nothing you need to concern yourself with." Rey sighed and sat down next to him. He was so damn stubborn sometimes.
"Kylo, you don't need to deal with everything by yourself."
"I know."
"Then why aren't you telling me what's going on?"
"I don't want to worry you."
"I can't help you if you don't tell me."
"I won't tell you. But I'll allow you to feel my emotions."
"I guess something's better than nothing. But I still don't see why you can't tell me."
"I already told you. Rey, if I feel the need to inform you I will. But right now I just can't. You have to understand that."
"Alright. I understand. Go ahead and lay your emotions on me. I'll take what I can get." Within an instant Rey began to feel everything that Kylo was feeling. She felt the familiarity of his anger and rage, but she also felt concern, worry, and fear. That last one came as a shock to her. Kylo had never expressed any signs of fear to her, or to anyone. For him to all of a sudden be afraid is extremely alarming.
She could feel his emotions begin to leave her, but she herself was beginning to get upset at the thought of him being scared. In an attempt to comfort him she slipped her arm through his and placed her hand inside his. Their fingers interlocked and she put her head on his shoulder. They didn't say a word, they just sat in silence and let their thoughts drift away.
After several minutes Kylo got up from the floor. He decided that it was time to get back to the task at hand, he couldn't be worrying about Rey right now. He helped her up and the two went back to the front of the ship. Not one trooper said a word about where the two had been, afraid of what Kylo's reaction might be. As the two sat down, only one trooper approached them. "Sir, we have arrived and are making the jump out of lightspeed." Kylo made no sign of a reaction as he answered.
"Good. Are the others aware of the situation?"
"Yes sir."
"Then make the jump."
"Yes sir." As the ship jumped out of lightspeed Rey saw the planet of Coruscant in front of her. It was filled with twinkling lights, something that she'd never expect to see from space. Rey could feel her adrenaline begin to increase as the rest of the ships left lightspeed and started their descent towards the planet. They would arrive within minutes and would soon be engulfed in battle.
She closed her eyes and began to breathe slowly to calm herself down. As long as she trusted her team everything would be just fine. They landed on the outskirts of the soon to be battlefield, careful not to draw any attention. Kylo instructed the crew to stay on board and to keep the engine off, he would use the comms to give the order to start them back up.
Kylo and Rey left the ship and saw that almost all of the troops have been accounted for with the exception of a few still on the ships. Austin immediately came up to them with news. "Sir, I've sent out a small reconnaissance party to scope out the area. We should be hearing back from them within minutes." Kylo nodded his head, pleased at the efficiency that Austin was portraying.
"Very good Commander. As soon as they report in we leave. Check to see if everything is accounted for and prepare the men."
"Yes sir." Austin left to do as he was told, while Kylo started to pace in anticipation for the fighting to begin. Rey watched him from a distance, if she never knew or saw the man behind that mask she'd probably be completely terrified of him right now. He was sort of hunched over and he was beginning to get ancy from the waiting. His fists were clenching and his hand hovered over his saber, ready to use it at a moments notice. For a quick second Rey almost didn't recognize him, instead she saw the monster that everyone was so afraid of, ready to kill anyone that crossed him.
But she knew that what she currently saw before her, what everyone assumed he was, wasn't the Kylo Ren that she knew and cared about. Before she could put any more thought on the matter she saw Austin running up to her. "Austin, what's wrong?"
"The scouts have reported in Commander, the targets are in position."
"Perfect. I'll inform Kylo, is everyone ready?"
"Yes, we're just waiting for the order."
"Good. I'll be right back." Rey went up to Kylo and he stopped pacing when he heard her approach him. "Master, the targets are in position just as we planned. The troops are awaiting your order."
"Good, let's move." Kylo and Rey proceeded to the front of the troops. Rey motioned for Austin to follow them. The three stopped at the front of the large mass of white troopers, they stood there as everyone stood at attention. Rey wasn't sure what was happening, she'd never been in this position before, but Austin and Kylo seemed to know so she followed their lead.
Rey wasn't sure if they were supposed to be talking or just wait for something to happen. To be honest it felt kind of awkward standing in front of everyone like this, in a leaders position. She was going to ask Austin what was going on, but he suddenly began to speak very loudly. "I want everyone to listen! The target is in place, I want each and every one of you to not show any mercy! I don't care if they destroy half of our forces, you do not, under any circumstances, pull back! We are the embodiment of the First Order, we are the finest troops they have to offer! And this is our chance to strike fear and to show that the First Order and it's troops don't tolerate rebellion of any kind! Do I make myself clear!?"
"Sir, yes sir!"
"Excellent! Now, the leaders of this operation will like to address you." Rey felt herself freeze up. She didn't know that she was supposed to talk in front of everyone, the thought terrified her. Public speaking wasn't something that she particularly liked. Kylo must have felt her fear and panic, as he took the liberty of speaking first.
"I'm not much for encouragement, so I'll be blunt. Don't let anyone stand in your way, kill everyone if you have to. Follow your orders and get the job done. Trust in each other and we will show these rebel scum what the true power of the First Order and the Dark Side really is. Rey, anything you'd like to add?"
Rey could suddenly feel the eyes of every single trooper focus on her. She took in a deep breath and spoke. "As a matter of fact, I do master. I'm new at this, so I don't really know exactly what to say. But I do know that every single one of you was picked for a reason. Whether it be your rank, your skill, or your squad, you're here because your great at what you do. You can get the job done, and I know that we will be successful. To those rebels you're not people, you're just mindless drones that follow orders and look the same on the outside. But I know that's a lie. Each and every one of you is different in your own way, you're not the bad guys for fighting for what you believe in. You're not mindless, you know what you're doing. You have personalities, friends, and most of all, heart. You know the cause you fight for, and you will die for that cause if you have to. Trust in each other, follow us, protect your comrades, show them that we are efficient and know what to do to get the job done. But most of all, may the force be with you."
She saw the crowd of troopers begin to raise their fists as she ended. They clearly liked what she said and she could sense determination in the air. She could also feel pride coming from Kylo, and that was the best feeling of all. The three of them turned and began to lead their troops to the battlefield so they could take their positions.
As they approached their destination they could already hear blaster fire from the troopers stationed there. The fighting had started before they arrived, but the true fun wouldn't begin until they got involved. Rey couldn't wait to see the faces of the enemy when they realized what Kylo and Rey were.
Before they came into view of the others, Kylo and Rey broke off with their respected troops, while the others went to go provide back up. Rey and Austin led their squad to their position, they were only a few paces in front of the rest of their troops, but they were completely hidden from the enemy.
Kylo was in a similar position, except he was closer to the middle of the battlefield. Rey waited for her signal to start her attack, she knew the plan like the back of her hand. Wait until their reinforcements show up, or have them think they're winning. Either way, when they get close enough, she and Kylo come out and lead the attack full force. She would then go behind enemy lines and kill whoever was left, simple.
She watched the fight in front of her. There were far more rebels than she thought, and they somehow managed to get their hands on advanced First Order blasters that had the capacity to destroy entire buildings if put to the correct setting. Clearly the rebels didn't know that, considering that they were just using the normal blaster function, but even that setting packed a punch.
As she observed the stormtroopers she saw that they were doing extremely well. With all of the cover provided they weren't being picked off that much. Naturally a few got hit, but other than that they were doing just fine.
She was so distracted by their side that she didn't notice what the rebels were doing until Austin tapped her on the shoulder. "What is it Austin?"
"Commander, they have a tank."
"What? That's impossible, how can these people manage to get a tank?"
"I don't know, but you better turn around." Rey turned in the direction of the enemy and her eyes widened. They did have a tank, and it was a First Order tank. How could they manage to steal one? Rey immediately turned on her comm link to talk to Kylo.
"Master, are you seeing this?"
"Yeah. I don't believe it, it's impossible."
"How did they get it?"
"I don't know. We only kept those in the storage warehouse near the loading docks. We never needed them, they were only there for safety precautions. There's no way that they got past security."
"Apparently they did. Do you think that's where they got the blasters too?"
"Probably."
"Should we move in?"
"Not yet. Let's see if they actually know how to use it." As if on cue, they could hear the tank gun begin to charge up and the screaming of the troopers to get down. The gun fired on the troopers and those that were targeted were instantly killed.
"Now master?"
"Now." Rey smirked as she gave Austin a nod of her head. He nodded back and motioned his hand for everyone to follow them.
The rebels began to advance on the stormtroopers with overconfidence, they thought that they had the battle in the bag. But they didn't get too far when Kylo and his troops, and Rey with hers came out in front of them.
Kylo and Rey were concealed by their troops, ducking down in the back so as not to be seen. They needed to make an entrance after all, image was everything when it came to striking fear. The rebels stopped, but they didn't open fire, instead one of them decided to make a comment. "Ha! You think that more bucketheads are going to help you! Your bigger idiots than we thought. We have force users on our side, you can't stop us!"
Austin chuckled at him, and the rest of the troopers around him followed suit. This made the man confused, he just insulted them, why are they laughing? As their laughter died down, Austin began to enlighten the man. "You call that an insult? Please, don't embarrass yourselves anymore than you already have. Your so called "force users" are most likely fake. But, just in case they aren't, we brought a few of our own."
"Oh yeah?! Like who?!" Kylo and Rey took it as they're cue to stand up, as the troopers in front of them began to move out of the way to make a path. The two began to walk to the front, completely silent and intimidating.
As the last troopers in the front allowed them to pass through, they were directly in front of the rebels, and they were shocked and terrified. The man who'd been talking began to shake from fear, he must've thought that Austin was joking. He tried to regain his composure to speak, but you could clearly hear the fear in his voice. "That's Kylo Ren. You brought Kylo Ren."
Rey had a feeling that Kylo was smirking under that helmet. As if the man wasn't already afraid, as soon as he heard Kylo's mechanical voice he looked as if he was going to faint. "Yes, they did. Now where are your so called force users?" The man seemed to completely disregard the question as he was now looking at Rey.
"Who's that?"
"My new apprentice. But that's not the answer I was looking for." Kylo extended his hand and began to force choke the man. He was barely choking for a few seconds before he gave in.
"Alright. I'll tell you. They're inside the tank."
"Then have them face us."
"No. We'll never comply to your demands."
"Fine, then we'll just have to draw them out." Before the man could get another word in, Kylo crushed his neck and let his body drop. "Alright Rey, ready for some fun?"
"Took the words right out of my mouth master." They simultaneously removed their lightsabers from their belts and activated them, revealing the familiar red glow.
The rebels began to fire on them, but they easily deflected every single shot as they began to advance. Rey knew that the troops needed some cover, so she instructed them to get some, while she and Austin stayed up front with Kylo to diminish their forces.
Kylo and Rey began to chop down every single rebel that crossed their path, showing absolutely no mercy. The rebels realized that they needed to diversify themselves, they were getting killed off too quickly. Soon they had spread themselves out to the point where Rey had blaster fire coming from all directions. She yelled at the top of her lungs for everyone to hear her orders. "Everybody spread out! Cover more ground now!"
Every trooper did as they were told and only a select few took cover, the rest were completely exposed and were taking the enemy head on. Rey had fire coming from all directions, she twirled her lightsaber in front of her, deflecting every shot, while also using the force to get as many people away from her as possible.
She chopped down everyone she came into contact with, trying to make a path towards the tank. It had begun to fire again and it was taking out quite a few of their men. Rey tried to not focus on the dead and wounded, she needed to find Kylo and Austin, and fast.
Kylo was the easiest to spot, his lightsaber could be seen slicing through men one by one. She began to make her way over to him when someone managed to sneak up behind her and began choking her with his blaster. Rey tried to use her lightsaber to stab him, but he was directly behind her, she couldn't stab him without stabbing herself.
It didn't matter anyway, other rebels decided to utilize her situation and started firing on her, she needed her saber to protect herself. Not that she was doing that great a job with the man choking her. Her deflections weren't aiming back at the rebels, she just put the saber blades in front of the blaster fire and hoped that it would bounce off.
Suddenly Rey had an idea that would deal with both problems. She stepped on the attacker's foot and she could feel him go off balance as he moved away from her, while still managing to keep his blaster at her throat. She then quickly turned around so that he was facing the other attackers, and sure enough they stopped firing, afraid of hitting their comrade. Rey dropped her lightsaber on the ground so she could have both of her hands free to attack.
Without her attacker suspecting it, she quickly elbowed him in the stomach several times until she could feel him begin to hunch over from the pain. She then proceeded to take the opportunity to remove one of his slightly loosened arms from around her neck. She then got out of his grasp entirely and twisted his arm behind him.
She took satisfaction from the outcrys of pain and didn't stop until he dropped the blaster, unable to use it because of the pain. She let go of him and went to face him, he clearly wasn't happy about what she'd just done, which only made her smirk. He took the opportunity to try and punch her, but she easily blocked it. He was unbalanced and clearly didn't know what he was doing.
She allowed him to attack her for a little bit, just to see what he'd do. She had to admit, a lot of his moves were unexpected, but she managed to deflect them all easily. She decided to end it and began her own attack, throwing punch after punch, adding in a few kicks here and there, until she managed to pin him to the ground. She called her lightsaber to her and ignited only one blade. She brought it down next to his neck and made a clean line straight through it, decapitating him. She watched the head slightly roll away as she got off of his body. The sight of the head made her a little queasy, she made a mental note to get used to decapitating people at some point.
As she observed her handiwork she completely forgot about the other rebels that were shooting at her before. One of them managed to graze her left arm and Rey backed away from the pain. "Aggh, shit!" She brought her hand to her arm to cover up the wound, she began to move towards them, trying her best to dodge the blasts.
Before she reached them she saw a red beam stick out from the torso of one of them, before being extracted and having him fall to the ground. The same happened to the other one, and Rey knew who'd done it. She ran up to Kylo immediately, while trying not to get hit by anyone else.
He didn't say a word as she came up to him, instead he gently grabbed her injured arm to inspect it. But Rey didn't want to remove her hand, for fear of how much blood she would lose if she did. "Rey, remove your hand."
"I can't. What if it's really bad and there's blood gushing out of it. I'll get light headed and faint, or worse."
"Relax, everything's going to be fine. Just let me see it." Rey looked at him with uncertainty in her eyes. She knew she was being foolish, yet she couldn't help herself for being frightened. It was her first battle injury, she couldn't help to think that it could possibly kill her.
She sighed and removed her hand from her arm and winced, prepared to see how bad the wound was. To her surprise, it was barely anything. Yes, there was blood starting to come down her arm, but it wasn't as much as she thought it was. Kylo seemed relieved as well. "You're going to be fine. We'll fix it up when we get back, just fight through the pain."
"Alright." Kylo let go of her arm and she took a look at her surroundings. "What's the plan?"
"Take out the tank. Use our strategy and improvise. The tank is our main concern, I'll handle things here."
"And the force users?"
"They're clearly fake, but draw them out of the tank, we need to deal with them personally."
"Right." She quickly scanned the crowd for Austin, which was harder than it seemed considering he was in a sea of white. But she recognized the all too familiar sound of his voice, giving orders not too far away, even through the deafening noise surrounding her.
Rey immediately made her way towards Austin through the crowd, dodging fire and killing people in her way. She managed to reach him but he was too preoccupied to notice her. There was a swarm of rebels beginning to circle them, Rey put her back to Austin's, ready to protect him. "Glad to see you showed up Commander Kenobi."
"Wouldn't miss it for the world. How many can you take?"
"That depends on how well you back me up."
"So, half then?"
"Half." Rey smiled and took her defensive stance, ready for the fire from her end. The rebels seemed to be overconfident, thinking they had the advantage, but they were about to find out how wrong they were. They began to fire and Rey immediately deflected every single shot back at them, protecting herself and Austin.
Austin was doing well, surprisingly he was able to move quite freely in his armor, dodging almost every shot. Most shots missed and you could clearly tell that these men haven't been that used to blasters, which gave them an advantage, and an opportunity to go on the offensive.
Rey slightly strayed away from Austin so that she could attack the enemies closest to her. She could see the look of terror begin to show on their faces as she began to spin her saber. The blades almost becoming a blur to the rebels made them even more scared, as they slowly backed away from her. But she wasn't going to let them off that easy.
The few that tried to shoot her had their attempt fail as soon as the shot made contact with her blades. Frozen by fear, Rey took her chance to cut them down. She stopped spinning and used both blades to her advantage. She ran at two of her attackers with her saber parallel, aiming at their chests. They barely moved before the two blades perfectly cut both of the men in half. Hearing the shocked screams of their colleagues made her smirk.
She turned to the rest and didn't haste to use this opportunity while they were distracted. One by one she chopped off their heads, torsos, and chests. She didn't stop until she was sure that they were completely dead.
Rey turned around and looked at her handiwork, the disembodied body parts and the pools of blood all over the place were an oddly satisfying sight. She managed to take out fifteen armed men within a matter of minutes, something that she never thought she'd ever be able to do in her lifetime.
As the moment of pride slowly ended she made her way back to Austin, who was struggling with three men attacking him. Two of them were trying to pin him down while the other was trying to get a clear shot at him. Rey's blood began to boil at the sight, nobody was hurting him on her watch.
She immediately ran over and yelled at the top of her lungs to get their attention. "Hey scumbags! Get away from him!" Well her plan worked, they were now looking at her. But they didn't seem to care that she was running straight at them, if anything they began to laugh at her.
"What are you gonna do, huh? Cry and hope we let him go?" They laughed and Rey immediately filled up with rage. Nobody talked to her like that, nobody. They were gonna pay.
"Aaaaaaah! You little pieces of shit!" She began to run faster, straight for one of the men holding Austin and all laughing ceased. She didn't stop until she heard the sound of her blade running straight through him. She looked into his eyes, watching the light fade away as his body dropped to the ground.
Austin took the opportunity to punch the other man holding him so that he could get free. He picked up his blaster from the ground and shot him. He turned around, prepared to finish off the last one when he stopped. Rey had chopped him into a dozen pieces out of her rage.
He made his way over to her, careful not to do anything rash. He could see that she was calming herself down, she was breathing heavily and she had turned off her lightsaber. "Rey? You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"You sure?" She turned around and he could see that there was still anger in her eyes, but she was calmer.
"Yeah. I just get so angry when people insult me like that. Make me feel like I'm stupid or useless."
"You're not stupid or useless. You showed those idiots just how wrong they were, and they deserved what they got."
"Thanks Austin."
"Anytime. Besides I should be the one thanking you, you saved me."
"Are you kidding, I wasn't going to let you get slaughtered like that. Your my friend, and my best second in command."
"I'm your only second in command."
"Which makes you the best."
"Either way, I owe you one."
"You would've done the same for me. But enough of that, we have to continue with our assignment. What's the status with the rest of the squad?"
"We're at full functioning capacity. No losses, only a few injured. But they can get the job done."
"That's what I like to hear. Get them on the comm, tell them to meet us over in that alleyway." Rey pointed to an alleyway straight ahead of them that was completely empty and out of sight from the rebels.
"Got it." Austin turned on his comm link to the rest of his men. "All squad members report to the empty alleyway with the crates on the right hand side immediately. Attack plan delta is now going into effect." He shut off the comm as he and Rey made their way over to the alleyway. They could see several of their troopers begin to make their way towards them, trying their best not to get killed.
Once everyone was assembled, they quickly went over their strategy, Rey taking charge of the situation. "Alright boys, this is it. If we don't succeed, it's game over and I'm most likely going to get punished by Snoke, so we can't fail. Our priorities have changed, we need to take out that tank and draw out the so called "force users". The injured will attack with their blasters from afar under cover, I don't want you guys getting killed. If you feel like you can advance, do so, but be careful. Austin and I will attack head on. Austin, you and your men take care of anyone protecting the tank or the other targets."
"Yes sir, shall we disarm the tank as well?"
"No. Provide the cover, I'll handle the tank and what's inside. My master wants them drawn out so they can be dealt with. But I need to know, was there any sign of bombs or any kind of small hand explosives that we can utilize?"
"For the tank, sir?"
"Yes, if destroying it with my lightsaber doesn't work. Did you see any?"
"Two full crates of them. All grenades."
"Perfect. Grab as many as you can or take the whole thing. We're going to get even and destroy the rebels with them."
"But how will we do that without hurting our own men?"
"I don't know. I'll think of something, but for now we need to take out that tank otherwise they'll be no more troops to save. Is everyone clear on the plan?"
"Yes sir!"
"Good. Move out!" The group carefully left their hiding spot and began to sneak behind enemy lines, staying as close to the shadows as possible. Lucky for them, all of the rebels were focused on the battle in front of them, and didn't pay any attention to their surrounding flanks.
Once they were fully behind enemy lines, the wounded men began to find cover, while Rey, Austin, and the rest of the squad proceeded towards the tank. They had managed to stay undetected for a few minutes when someone from behind shouted "Intruders!" Rey took this as her cue to leave while Austin and the rest of the troopers took care of the incoming rebels.
Rey stuck to the shadows and when needed, she took out anyone that noticed her with the force, not wanting to draw any attention by using her saber. She had managed to make her way towards the tank, now she just had to get inside and grab her intended targets. She carefully made her way up to the top of the tank and opened the hatch, careful not to draw too much attention.
As she dropped down, she found that the inside was quite spacious, there were several consoles all over the place with men positioned at every one. The best part was that they were so concentrated on locking onto their targets, that they didn't notice her come in. However, there was one downside, there was no sign of the "force users" anywhere.
As she was coming up with possibilities of where they could be, one of the men had turned around and had noticed the strange girl in their cockpit. "How did you get in here?" Rey turned around, panic beginning to rise within her.
"How do you think I got in here?"
"Are you a rebel?"
"Come again?"
"Are you one of us? Or are you one of them?" The rest of the crew had started to take an interest in what was going on, Rey knew that she had to choose her words carefully.
"I'm a rebel, just like you."
"Then what are you doing here? We weren't told of anyone else coming into the tank."
"I was told to collect the force users, the First Order has made it quite clear that they wanted them. I thought that they were in here."
"Yeah, they were, before their position was revealed."
"Then where are they?"
"In the building behind us. I don't know why you were told to collect them, they're perfectly safe."
"Not anymore, a group of troopers came behind enemy lines. I have to get them out of here before they find them."
"What makes you so qualified? I've never even seen you before."
"Um…." Rey's eyes darted between each of the men, panic beginning to rise, she didn't know what to say. The only thing she could think of was that she was one of the best fighters among these rebels, but they wouldn't buy it if they had never seen or even heard of her before, especially if they already knew who the best fighter was in this small rebel group.
Before the man could get another word in, she ignited her saber and stuck the blade straight through his heart. She took advantage of the other crew members being in shock to kill them as well. A few began to pull out blasters to attack her but she eliminated them before they could even pull the trigger. When she was done she looked around and exerted a sigh of relief. "That was a boring conversation anyway."
But the moment didn't last long, she had a job to finish. She scanned the control panel for any kind of self destruct button or anything that would fry the circuits. It took her awhile to find a way to blow up the tank, she made a mental note to get familiar with all of the machinery within the Order at some point.
Rey ripped apart one of the control panels and rewired the tank so it would explode within the next 5 minutes. She considered using her saber to destroy it, but this was a more surefire way to get rid of the tank that didn't include getting herself killed, plus she could use the rewiring practice. When she was done she quickly got out of the tank, careful not to get spotted by anybody. As she dropped down she scanned the area for any signs of Austin and the rest of the troops, thankfully they were close by but far away enough so that the explosion wouldn't affect them. She quickly made her way over to them to relay the new information.
Everyone was huddled behind a large stack of crates that concealed them from view of the enemy. As Rey approached them she was glad to see that they weren't missing anybody, although it looked like some of the men had taken a bit of a beating judging by the dents and scratches on their armor.
As she was looking them over there was complete silence, and for a moment Rey was completely oblivious to the fact that they were expecting her to speak. She finally realized this after a minute of full on staring and mentally slapped herself in the head. "Is everyone alright?" The men nodded their heads yes, at least it was off to a good start.
"Austin, how did it go?"
"It went pretty well for the most part. There weren't a lot of rebels staying near the tank or behind the battlefield in general. I think that most of them are out fighting everyone else."
"By the looks of it they weren't easy to handle."
"Tell me about it. They kept throwing grenade after grenade and only fired machine guns. They made it extremely difficult to cover any ground, but we got the job done. How was the tank?"
"I wired it to explode in the next few minutes, but the force users weren't inside. They were moved to the building behind the tank."
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get them."
"Hang on, I want to see if the tank blows up, I want to make sure I rewired it correctly. Otherwise we're gonna need those grenades. You did manage to take some right?"
"Yeah, we took as much as we could carry."
"Good. We'll go on my signal." The group had waited for several minutes for the tank to blow up, but when it looked as if it was never going to happen Rey finally gave up. "Damn it, I must've rewired it wrong. Hand me a couple of those grenades." But just as Austin was beginning to hand her the grenades the tank exploded into pieces, sending debris all over the place.
As Rey admired her handiwork she heard Austin's voice behind her. "Nice work Rey."
"Thanks." She could feel her cheeks start to warm as the rest of the men were conversing about the tank. She's never felt so much appreciation and acknowledgement for anything like this before, it was very satisfying.
"Guess we don't need these grenades anymore."
"Keep them Austin, we might need them later."
"Alright, what's our next move?" Before Rey could give the order she heard the subtle beep of her comm going off on her arm. She pressed the blinking green button and within seconds heard Kylo's voice.
"I take it that was your doing. Nice work."
"Thanks. How are things going on your end?"
"Pretty well for the most part. We're really starting to diminish their numbers, they've got nothing to back them up now. What about you? Did you get them?"
"Not exactly."
"Rey. What happened?"
"They weren't in the tank, they moved them to the building behind it."
"I don't see how that's a problem."
"I never said that it was. I was about to go get them before you called."
"What's your plan then?"
"Uh. Well. I was thinking that we go in through the front door or something."
"Did you check to see if they're still in there?"
"No. Was I supposed to do that?"
"It would've been a good idea."
"Oh okay. Is everything all right? You sound a little snarky."
"Well I'm a little distracted at the moment. They're bringing out the machine guns."
"Are you okay? Do you need backup?"
"I'm fine, I can handle this myself. I gotta go, they found the faster speed setting. Call me when you've secured the targets."
"Yes master." Rey turned off her comm link and looked upon her men waiting for her next order. She examined the men in front of her and her eyes landed on BU, now known as Bullock, and WT, now West. "Bullock, West."
"Yes sir." The two straightened up as they heard their names.
"Go see if our targets are still in the building. We'll be waiting nearby, and don't forget to tell us everything that you see."
"Yes sir." The two immediately got up and headed for the building that the targets were located in. Rey watched as the two troopers carefully made their way towards the building, trying to avoid anyone that might still be lurking about. They made their way towards one of the windows and crouched down underneath so as not to be seen by anyone inside.
Rey felt her heart begin to quicken its pace from the anticipation. If the force users weren't inside that building the whole mission will be shot, she wouldn't know what to do next. But she was more afraid of Kylo's disappointment and potential rage, along with Snoke's when he found out. She tried to push those thoughts out of her mind, they weren't a certainty yet, her mission might not be a total failure.
There was a sudden beeping coming from her arm that almost caused her to fall back in alarm as she emerged from her thoughts. She looked at Bullock and West and saw that they were both looking into the window, with Bullock having his arm raised to his helmet, no doubt calling her. Rey once again pressed the flashing green button and answered the call. "What do you see Bullock?"
"Well there's good news and bad news."
"Tell me the good news."
"Our targets are inside the building, just like you said." Rey let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding as all of her fears were put to rest.
"That's great! What's the bad news?"
"There appears to be a few bodyguards, so to speak."
"Well that's nothing we can't handle. How many are there?" There was silence as Rey waited for his answer. She could see West physically counting each one, which didn't look promising. When West was finished he looked at Bullock and gave him his total.
"There appears to be about 30 bodyguards present, all heavily armed."
"You've got to be kidding me. Why would they need 30 bodyguards for just those people? It doesn't make any sense."
"I'm not sure sir."
"Unless all of this was a lie and they're faking it, therefore needing the extra protection. A true force wielder wouldn't need that much protection. How many of the targets are there Bullock? I want a head count since we never received one."
"There's four of them, they're all male, and they have small blasters on them. But they don't look threatening whatsoever."
"Which means that they were picked to portray as force users because they can barely fight as it is. They're most likely new recruits to the cause. This just got a lot more simpler."
"Sir?"
"They'll be easy to capture once we take out the guards. I have a plan, we'll meet you at the front of the building." With that she turned off her comm link and motioned for the others to start heading over. When everyone was together she motioned for them to gather around her so they could all hear.
"Alright, here's the plan. I'm going to have Vos, Nix, Dagger, and Quell be posted on the two adjacent windows from the sides. When I give the order, you guys will start firing on the windows so they'll break. Once they do I want you to come up to the windowsill and start firing at the enemy, be careful not to get hit. The rest of us will go in through the front door. I'll try to use the force to break it down, but if that doesn't work we'll just use brute force. Once we're in, I'm gonna be out front, providing you guys with the cover as you enter. The rest is pretty straightforward, we shoot to kill and when the guards are taken care of we grab our targets and get out. If any of them start to run from the fight, whoever is closer to them just grab them and knock them out or something. Any questions?"
As she looked around her men they all shook their heads and straightened, ready to follow their leader into battle and win. A smile spread across her face, she was beginning to really like these guys. She nodded her head in acknowledgement, "Alright then, let's get to work."
Rey moved a couple of feet away from the entrance so she'd have enough space in case anything went wrong, her men were quickly behind her. She waited until Vos, Nix, Dagger, and Quell were in position before she started. When they gave her a thumbs up she nodded and closed her eyes. She outstretched her hand and concentrated on the force, having it build around her until she felt it was ready to be used. She remained focused as she slowly made the force go down her arm and into her outstretched hand. When she felt that she had it in her control she pushed with all of her strength towards the door. She heard a loud bang and quickly opened her eyes, hoping that she hadn't been off target.
Rey couldn't believe the sight before her, not only did she manage to break down the door, but she managed to take quite a significant amount of the surrounding wall with it as well. A smile spread across her lips, all of that training was really starting to pay off. But time was of the essence and she couldn't waste it admiring her handiwork. There was so much dust surrounding the entrance to the building that you could barely make out the people inside, not only that, but it was a great cover for a surprise attack.
With a quick motion of her hand telling her men to follow her, Rey ran straight for the building as fast as she could, the adrenaline fueling her legs. Just before she reached the entrance she grabbed her lightsaber from her belt and ignited it, the red blades providing the only light through the dust cloud.
She arrived at the entrance within seconds and wasted no time in getting to work. There were three bodyguards already near the entrance, just starting to get over the effects of the dust entering their lungs. Before they even had a chance to react she cut them down, drawing the attention of everyone else in the building. Her men quickly filed in behind her and began to shoot at the rebels.
The rebels quickly overcame their shock at seeing Rey and began to immediately fight back. Just like the others they weren't as good with blasters, but they at least had decent aiming. As she began to deflect shots back at the enemy she noticed that two of her men had already fallen, as she glanced at them she was relieved to see that they were only injured, the shots not even close to anything vital. Unfortunately, judging by the fact that they were having trouble getting up, they wouldn't be able to continue the fight. She saw one of them turn their head to look at her and she mouthed the words "stay down". The trooper gladly obliged and nodded his head in understanding. Rey smiled as she turned away, a loyal trooper was willing to fight when he couldn't, but she would never forgive herself if he got killed because he couldn't fight back.
After a minute or so, Rey noticed that they were beginning to make a real dent in diminishing their numbers. It looks as though fifteen of the rebels have already been killed, which meant it was time to finish them off. Rey activated her comm link and began to give her next orders. "Alright boys, you're up." With a resounding four "yes sirs", the four men outside began firing at the windows.
It only took seconds for the windows to break and for the troopers to begin firing inside. The rebels were completely dumbfounded as to what was going on and didn't know what to do. Rey used this to her advantage and quickly cut down the men nearest to her, the rest of her squad doing the same. It wasn't long before a mere six guards were left standing, trying to protect the accused force users at all costs. A smirk began to rise on her face at the sight before her, the targets were frozen in fear, one of them was even shaking. She outstretched her hand and pulled one of the guards towards her, holding him in midair so she could examine his face.
She could see beads of sweat begin to drip down his face and his eyes widened in fear as he stared at her. She loved that she was able to cause this fear in someone, it made her feel so powerful, and in a way, fulfilled. But she didn't want to kill him just yet, oh no, she wanted to see him be destroyed as the last of his fellow rebels died trying to protect the lie that fueled their pathetic little rebellion. She slowly turned him around so he could see them for the last time. "Kill the rest of the guards."
Her troops gladly obeyed the order and swiftly killed the remaining five guards, leaving their targets completely defenseless. She let the sight sink in for the man and she could hear the wimpers begin to come from him, knowing that he would be next. Deciding to end his misery she thrust her saber straight through him until she felt him go limp through the force. As she released him from her hold the thud echoed around the now empty building.
Austin came up beside her, waiting for his next instructions. "Have some of the men help the wounded and tell the boys outside to guard the perimeter of the building until we come out."
"Yes sir." Austin quickly stepped away to do as he was told, while Rey began to approach the four men in front of her. In a last ditch effort to save themselves they pulled out their blasters, but she quickly waved them out of their hands with the force. Having nothing to defend themselves with they were frozen yet again, waiting for what she would do next.
Rey couldn't help but laugh at them, they're faces were just priceless. "You boys have caused me a great deal of trouble. Not to mention what is going on outside with the rest of the troops." She watched as one of them moved to speak, choosing his words carefully.
"You don't scare us."
"Oh really? Why is that?"
"Because we can use the force and can take you out." Her eyebrow raised in curiosity, how was he going to do that when he couldn't use the force?
"Show me." The man gulped, not expecting the answer.
"What?"
"You heard me." She deactivated her saber and clipped it to her belt. "I'm unarmed, show me you can use the force. Attack me." The man was hesitant and didn't do anything. "Well? I'm waiting."
"It. Uh. It comes and it goes."
"Huh, interesting. I've never heard that excuse before."
"What?"
"I mean I haven't been in this situation before but that has got to be the stupidest answer I've ever heard. The force can't come and go, it's all around us and is always there for the ones who are supposed to wield it. This only confirms my theory."
"What theory?"
"That you boys are faking it and did all of this just to get your little rebellion started." She could see the men's eyes begin to widen as she exposed them.
"Are you going to kill us?"
"Oh no, no. My master has plans for you boys. You'll be coming with us. And to make sure that you don't cause any trouble, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to put you to sleep." Before they could protest she threw them up against the wall with enough force to knock all four of them out. Without haste her men began to throw them over their shoulders and Rey let out a satisfied sigh.
"Are we ready to go sir?" Rey turned around to look at Austin to see that he removed his helmet. He had a slight smirk on his face, happy knowing that the mission was a success.
"Yes, Austin, I am. Let's head back to the ship." The group left the building and began to make their way back towards the ship. Rey turned on her comm link and waited to hear Kylo's voice.
"What?!"
"A little angry there, huh master?"
"Rey! Sorry, these rebels are really starting to get on my nerves."
"From what I can see I think we're almost done with them."
"You're near the battlefield? Where? I thought you were completing your mission."
"I'm right behind enemy lines. And for your information I did complete my mission."
"You have them?"
"Yup, we're heading back to the ship."
"Great! Head back and then come straight.." A shot could be heard coming from above and Kylo's voice stopped. Rey looked up and saw a sniper from atop one of the buildings.
"Austin, kill him!" With no hesitation Austin shot and killed the sniper, even with the threat gone Rey began to panic. She tried to comm her master again but he wasn't answering. "Master! Master! Kylo come in!" She cursed under her breath. "Austin take the prisoners to the ship, I'll meet you there."
She didn't even wait for his answer as she ran straight for the battlefield. She tried to make her way through as quickly as possible until she found Kylo's large black mass on the ground. He was bleeding pretty bad and she immediately came to his side. She checked his pulse and thankfully he was still breathing, but the wound was really bad, potentially fatal.
She tried to stop the bleeding as best she could, but she knew that it wouldn't do anything. Her comm link suddenly went off, distracting her from the sight in front of her. "Yeah?" It was Austin.
"Sir? Is everything alright? What happened?"
"The sniper was aiming for Kylo, he's hurt really bad. I'm trying to stop the bleeding as best I can but I don't think it will do much. We're gonna need a medic."
"Is he the only one that was hit?"
"It appears so. The sniper was a good shot, if he's not treated soon I'm afraid that this could end up becoming fatal."
"I'll let one of the medics know immediately. I'm going to come and help you, someone needs to watch your back while you care for him."
"No. You need to stay with the prisoners and make sure they don't get into trouble."
"But sir."
"No buts Austin. I'm not just saying this as your commanding officer, I'm saying this as your friend. I'm staying with him alone, whether that means I die protecting him in the process. He's my master and I love him, I need to do this on my own, please."
"Alright. But first sign of trouble I'm coming straight for you."
"Thank you, just send the medic, I'll be fine."
"You're sure?"
"Yes."
"I still don't see why you need to do this by yourself."
"I'll explain later, I promise."
"Alright, see you soon." The conversation ended and Rey sighed. Rey herself didn't even know why she needed to protect and care for him on her own. Maybe it was a way of saying thank you for everything that he'd done for her. Or maybe even a way to prove to herself that she could handle this on her own without any help. But deep down she knew that if there was a slight chance that he wouldn't make it before the medic arrived, she would be the only one by his side when it happened, the way he would've wanted it to be.
She knew that she wouldn't be able to keep the pressure on the wound forever, so she tore up some of the clothing from her arm and wrapped it around his chest until the wound was secured enough. She glanced down at the still figure, watching as his chest slowly rose. She gently caressed the side of his helmet as if it were his face with a small smile on her face. "Please be okay Kylo, I can't lose you like this."
With that she got up and called Kylo's lightsaber to her. She clipped it to her belt and ignited her own as she took a protective stance over him, ready for anything.
Well what do you think? I hope that this chapter was worth the wait and that it was enjoyable. Hopefully the next one won't take so long to come out, seeing as I finally got over my little funk. Feel free to review about what you thought.
Also, in an unrelated note, who else is excited that the Clone Wars is coming back?! I know I am! I almost cried when I first heard Rex's voice, I missed him so much!
Until next time, see ya!