Rey's training continued. Over the next couple of weeks, the scavenger-turned-student continued to show consistent, rapid improvement in her grasp of theory and practice. They still sparred with sticks for now, though Ben occasionally allowed her to use her staff against him. She'd even managed to land a blow, once. She'd been a lot happier about it than he had been.
Now that she had a strong handle on the basics, Ben had decided to introduce elements of the Force into her training. After they concluded their regular morning meditation, he remained seated on the boulder. Rey watched him curiously.
In the space between them, he spread out a handful of riverstones, ranging in size from the tip of a finger to fitting comfortably in his palm.
"Lift the stones without touching them," he instructed simply.
"With the Force?"
He inclined his head.
With a little self-reassuring nod, she straightened her shoulders and held her hand out over the riverstones. She screwed up her face in concentration.
Ben stifled a smirk. She was cute, even if she was going about it all wrong. "No, no," he said, voice low. "Relax, just like with your meditation. Feel the Force flowing through you. Feel your surroundings. Feel the stones in front of you."
She let out a slow breath, and he saw her frame relax. Her eyes fell closed, and she held out her hand once more. She held perfectly still, her expression peaceful except for a small furrow between her brows.
A couple of the rocks shifted.
Finally, she dropped her hand and let out a breath. "That's a lot harder than it looks!"
He nodded in acknowledgment. Climbing to his feet, he said, "There are many ways to engage with the Force; this is the simplest and most straightforward." He gave her a hand up. "I want you to add this exercise to your daily regimen. Practice with the stones, or other small objects. Work your way up to larger things." They climbed off the boulder and started back toward the base. "Once you feel comfortable with that, I will introduce you to other ways of using the Force."
She fell into step beside him. "Such as?"
He smirked down at her. "Lift the rocks and I'll tell you."
She scowled back, her jaw set determinedly.
Unbidden, he laughed. "You're so easy," he teased.
He could see the smile playing about the corners of her lips, even though she was trying to fight it. She gave him a playful shove, and he actually staggered a half-step. He laughed again.
It was no wonder he'd fallen in love with her before; it was impossible not to. He was falling harder and harder every day. He found such peace in her presence, unlike anywhere else. When was the last time he'd smiled or laughed like this? With her, he could be himself. She would never realize how much that meant to him.
…
At dinner, Rose set a battered case in the middle of the table and unlatched it to reveal five small, cylindrical comms.
"Once Ben gave me the idea, it didn't take long to put them together," she said as everyone on the tactical team took one. "They're set to run on a closed circuit, so they'll only communicate with one another."
"Does that mean they can't be hacked into?" Finn asked. "Say, if the First Order rolls up and tries to break into our communications?"
"Exactly."
"That's ingenious!" Poe commended her.
She beamed at him. "Keep them on you just in case," she told them. "Obviously I couldn't test the range very well, but if we get split up, it should be sufficient for wherever we end up going. As long as we aren't on opposite ends of the galaxy, we should be able to communicate just fine."
"Highly recommended indeed," Ben murmured, referring to Leia's recruitment of the skilled engineer. Rose blushed at his praise.
Poe looked over at Rey bemusedly. "What are you doing?"
Rey had her chin resting on her folded arms, and was scowling at the comm sitting innocently on the table before her. "Homework," she muttered.
He lifted a brow. "What, trying to figure out how it works?"
"No. I'm trying to lift it."
Poe glanced between her and Ben. "Is this one of those Jedi-Force things?"
"Yes."
Ben's lips twitched.
It didn't go unnoticed by the pilot, who shot him a glare. "You know," he said to Rey, "you can actually take a break and enjoy dinner, if you want. None of us are any good if we don't take breaks sometimes."
Ben fought the urge to sigh at the underhanded criticism. He wasn't forcing Rey to study through dinner. He would have preferred if she stopped and talked with them, too. But then he was pleasantly surprised when Rey came to his defense, without ever bringing up his name.
"I want to do this," she told Poe simply.
The pilot didn't look convinced. "Okay," he relented. "Suit yourself." Picking up his empty tray, he stood from the table. "I'm turning in, guys. I might get up and do an early surveillance flight. Rey, you haven't seen much of D'Qar other than the base—want to join me?"
She shrugged, still focused on the comm. "Thanks, but it'll depend on whether I get this working. Don't let me hold you up."
Setting his jaw in a scowl that went unnoticed by Rey but very noticed by Ben, the commander strode off. Ben smiled to himself.
…
Ben jerked awake, and squinted over at the digital readout. It was just before dawn; his alarm wasn't set to go off for another hour.
At first, in his bleary half-asleep state, he didn't remember what had roused him. But then he heard it again—an odd tapping sound on the other side of his door. It didn't sound like a knock, but something was out there.
He slowly sat up, eyes trained on the door, and waited.
It came again, a light clattering against the door, reverberating strangely through the thick metal.
As the hairs on the back of his neck began to rise, Ben summoned his lightsaber into his hand and got out of bed. He crossed the room on the balls of his feet, silently stalking over to the door. Lifting the hilt of his saber in preparation to attack, he reached over and activated the door switch.
The door hissed open—and he was met with several riverstones hovering at eye level. They continued to float in space as Rey swung into view, leaning casually against the doorframe. She smirked up at him proudly.
"Do you have any idea what time it is?" he grumbled at her, his voice slurred with exhaustion. He rubbed a hand over his gritty eyes as the rush of adrenaline left him.
Her smirk only grew wider. "Time to show me what comes next," she replied smartly.
He scowled at her. "I need caf," he said plaintively.
She had the audacity to giggle. "Well come on, then. Get dressed and let's go get caf. You have a lot of teaching to do today."
"Ungh."
In his drowsy frame of mind, it didn't hit him until they were almost to the mess hall that Rey hadn't gone with Poe on his early morning flight. She couldn't have, not if she'd come to his door instead at that ungodly hour. She'd sought him out instead of the pilot. The realization warmed him.
They were among the few to be up this early, and helped themselves to caf and breakfast in relative silence. Once the caf started to soak in and he began to wake up properly, Ben peered over at Rey.
"How late did you stay up practicing?"
"Not too late. I was actually having trouble with it, and finally got so frustrated I had to put it down." She leaned in. "Then I had a dream about it, and woke up this morning with this feeling that I should try again." She snapped her fingers. "It worked!"
He cocked his head. "A dream, you say?"
"Yeah. You were in it, too. We were sitting in the clearing in the forest, and you reached out at the same time I did. Our fingertips touched, and it suddenly made sense." She shrugged. "I woke up and tried again, and I was able to lift them."
Interesting. He thought back, trying to remember if he'd had any similar dreams last night. Could the dampening he'd put on their bond have weakened while he slept, and allowed their minds to bridge? Or had it simply been a normal dream, a product of Rey's mind processing her new knowledge and realizing a way to lift the stones? In the end it didn't matter, he supposed. Rey had learned from it, and no harm had been done. He would be more careful in the future.
They went back out to the forest after breakfast. The riverstones bobbed along ahead of them, leading the way.
"Showoff," Ben muttered. Rey grinned at him.
They climbed back up onto the boulder, settled knee to knee, and prepared to meditate.
But when Ben closed his eyes, something felt off. Frowning, he cast his gaze around the clearing, looking for any sign of another's presence or a pending attack. Nothing seemed out of place. The birds were still twittering, the insects still chirping. Rey was sitting before him, demeanor calm and breath even as she meditated, the stones floating all around her.
Trying to shake the feeling, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, but again, a sense of wrongness crept over him. The barest of tingles breathed across his flesh, like the caress of a gentle breeze. Gooseflesh prickled his arms in its wake, and the hairs on the back of his neck began to rise.
And then the deceptively gentle sensation was ripped asunder as dozens of First Order ships came out of hyperspace directly above D'Qar. Ben's eyes shot open and he gasped aloud.
Hux was on a roll.
Rey looked at him in concern. "Ben? What—"
"They've found us," he panted, reaching for her hand. "We've gotta go!" He hauled her to her feet, and they bolted from the forest.
Skidding back into the base perimeter, Ben swung his head around, looking for Luke. There was already a flurry of activity as people shouted and dashed about. Teams hauled sacks and crates toward the hangar while other individuals ran back and forth, calling out directions and frantically searching for other important cargo.
He'd warned them. He'd told them to be ready. There was no time now.
He finally spotted Luke, and he and Rey ran to him. "Luke!" Ben cried out. "The First Order—"
"I know, I felt them too," Luke said hurriedly. "One of the pilots intercepted their signal this morning and raised the alarm. Leia has already initiated the evacuation protocols. Get your bags and get to the Falcon!"
Ben turned to Rey and grasped her shoulders. "Go get your bag," he said calmly. "Don't forget the book and the lightsaber. Meet me in the hangar."
She nodded and ran in the direction of her room.
Ben rushed through the barracks to his own room. He'd had a bag packed ever since the last officers' meeting, and now he threw the last few necessities from the fresher on top and slung the strap over his shoulder. He checked his lightsaber at his belt, then swept out of the room and headed to the hangar.
When he stepped outside again, he caught the first, faraway howl of twin ion engines.
TIE fighters.
The eerie sound sent a thrill of fear down his spine, and for a moment he paused, staring up at the sky as he gauged their distance. They would be here in minutes. If the Resistance didn't evacuate right now, they were going to be blown to smithereens.
Others began to hear them too. Several recruits screamed, and people started running for the hangar as the general panic level rose. In the distance, one of the outlying caches detonated with a dull boom, and the ground shook as the fiery explosion mushroomed above the trees.
Ben ran with them, racing to the hangar and nearly crashing into Poe, who was rushing for his black X-wing.
"What, couldn't give us a little more warning?" the pilot snapped with a glare as he climbed up into the cockpit. BB-8 ascended into the droid socket.
"I thought I did!" Ben retorted sharply.
The metal roof of the hangar rumbled ominously as numerous TIE fighters flew overhead. A terrifying series of reports rang out as the enemy ships opened fire on the base. An explosion rocked the hangar, sending crates toppling over and people jostling into each other.
"Pilots, to your ships!" Poe screamed from his cockpit. "Let's go, let's go!" He shot Ben one last look before closing the windscreen and revving up the systems.
People were running for their respective ships, rushing through pre-flight checks and desperately trying to make sure friends and loved ones made it onto a transport. In the chaos, Ben saw Leia and Rose boarding one of the main transports, but Rey and Finn were still missing. Chewbacca's tall form was visible above everyone's heads as he ran the last checks on the underbelly of the Falcon. Han and Luke were already in the cockpit, firing up the engines.
Finally, Ben spotted Rey coming through the hangar doors. She looked shaken as she searched for the Falcon. When her eyes met his, she ran to him.
He met her halfway, reaching out to grasp her arms. "You okay?" he asked breathlessly.
She nodded.
"Come on, the Falcon's this way!"
They were running toward the ship when Rey suddenly cried out, "Finn!"
The ex-trooper was looking around frantically, bag in hand. Rey grabbed his jacket sleeve and hauled him along.
"Wait—Rose!"
"She's with the general," Ben assured him. "Now come on!"
The three of them hurried up the ramp after Chewie. Ben hit the door panel on his way past, and the hydraulics hissed as the ramp closed behind them.
Dropping his bag into a storage compartment, Ben led the others through the ship to the cockpit. Chewie had taken his co-pilot's seat and was helping Han prepare for takeoff, while Luke was buckling in behind Han.
"Took you long enough!" Han shouted over his shoulder at them. "Someone go man the guns; I have a feeling we're going to need some cover!"
There was no time to entertain the rush of irritation he felt at his father's tone. Gritting his teeth, Ben turned on his heel and strode for the gun turret. Rey followed him.
He headed up, and she climbed down. He buckled into the swiveling chair, then pulled on the headset and adjusted the comm.
"Rey, you copy?"
"I'm here," came her slightly-garbled response.
Had Han really never updated the comms in this old rust bucket?"Good." He switched on the guns and started the priming process. "Get ready."
The Falcon lifted off, maneuvering carefully above the other ships, and rocketed out of the hangar entrance.
Immediately, Ben cursed aloud. The sky was full of TIEs. Larger ships were still coming into the atmosphere above them. He quickly took aim at the closest TIE and jammed his thumbs into the triggers. The ship exploded in a ball of flames.
The Falcon soared upward toward space as he and Rey fired on as many TIEs as they could. The enemy fighters swarmed over the base like a nest of angry hornets, the sounds of whining engines and laser blasts filling the air. The Falcon rattled around them as it took enemy fire in return, the shields struggling to cope at such close range.
"We've gotta get out of here," Ben sing-songed under his breath. He swept the gun at several more TIEs that came in range, taking out wings and engines and sending the fighters spiraling toward the ground.
The blue hue of the atmosphere began to thin, finally falling away into darkness as they entered space. Ben looked over at the First Order ships hovering silently over the planet surface, the dozens of Star Destroyers flanking the sole Dreadnought, watching and waiting while the TIEs did the dirty work.
In another life, he'd been on one of those ships, standing at the viewport and watching this attack from afar, before climbing into his TIE Silencer and joining the attack. He'd taken out the majority of the X-wings, and had almost blown up the flagship's bridge. His mother had nearly died, and the rest of the Resistance leadership had been decimated.
He shivered.
Resistance ships exited the atmosphere and scattered into hyperspace all around them, while the X-wings and bombers worked to stave off the enemy forces. Ben watched in muted horror as another wave of TIEs overran them.
The attack was quickly devolving into a dogfight. Several X-wings and bombers went down in a horrific blaze, while many more TIEs went spiraling out of control to crash into the Dreadnought's surface. The Resistance wasn't afraid to fight dirty, but the First Order fought dirtier. The Resistance was bleeding men. At this rate, they'd be down to nothing by the time they escaped. They had to go.
The Raddus shot off into hyperspace, taking Leia and Rose safely with it. "The general's transport is away," Ben announced into his headset with a little sigh of relief.
"Copy that, kid," Han's voice came through. "Putting in coordinates for Crait. Prepare to jump to hyperspace."
"No, wait—we can't go to Crait!" Ben heard Luke interject over the comm.
"Why not?" Han snapped.
"We have to go to Ahch-To!"
"What?"
For once, Ben's thoughts echoed his father's. What was Luke talking about?
"Ahch-To! Just do it!"
Ben caught one last glimpse of another transport going down in flames before the stars smeared into strips of light, and the Millennium Falcon shot into hyperspace.